[Marxism] Af-Pak is Obama’s War

[Nasir Khan]

Af-Pak Is Obama’s War

Margaret Kimberley | Black Agenda Report, May 18, 2009

President Obama, who campaigned behind a thin veil of peace, dragged
two heads of client states into the White House to demand “that both
Afghanistan and Pakistan allow their citizens to be murdered and or
displaced in the thousands” – or else. Obama read Presidents Zardari
and Karzai “the riot act” to let them know who is boss in the military
theater called “AfPak.” Obama claims to “want to respect their
sovereignty, but” – there’s always the imperial ‘but’ – America has
“huge national security interests” in the region. Afghanistan’s Karzai
later wondered, “How can you expect a people who keep losing their
children to remain friendly?”


“Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans are now refugees or
living under the constant threat of American military violence.”

Two central Asian nations bordering one another, Afghanistan and
Pakistan, have the grave misfortune of being American client states.
They get lots of money and political support, if they’re lucky, but
always with terrible strings attached. The current President of the
United States, Barack Obama, is demanding that both Afghanistan and
Pakistan allow their citizens to be murdered and or displaced in the
thousands. In order to accept that a huge body count is necessary, we
are told that the two countries, nicknamed AfPak, are on the verge of
being over run by the Taliban or al-Qaeda or both.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have been rebranded with a name seemingly
devised by a Madison Avenue marketer who could just as easily be
referring to a health insurance company or an overnight delivery
service. Americans don’t know very much about the rest of the world,
but they have a vague notion that brown-skinned Muslims are a crazy
bunch who must be kept under control by Washington. So AfPak it is,
and the bloodshed instigated by the United States continues. Hundreds
of thousands of Pakistanis and Afghans are now refugees or living
under the constant threat of American military violence.

Full article: http://sudhan.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/af-pak-is-obamas-war/