[R-G] Afghans to Obama: End the Occupation

[Anthony Fenton]

Afghans to Obama: End the Occupation

November 30, 2008 By Sonali Kolhatkar

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/19791

President Elect Barack Obama wants to increase the number of US troops  
in Afghanistan. But the US/NATO occupation is less popular than ever.  
Eman, an Afghan woman's rights activist with RAWA tells Uprising host,  
Sonali Kolhatkar, that Obama must end the occupation. RAWA, the  
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, is the oldest  
women's political organization in Afghanistan, struggling non- 
violently against foreign occupations and religious fundamentalism for  
more than 30 years.

Sonali Kolhatkar: Many on the American left are celebrating the  
election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the US. But while he has  
pledged to end the Iraq war, he has also promised to increase troops  
in Afghanistan. What is your opinion of Barack Obama and his stated  
policy on Afghanistan?

Eman: We can easily judge Obama from what he said in one of his recent  
interviews that he does not feel the need to apologize to the Afghan  
people. We do not consider this [the result of] a lack of information.  
But didn't he feel the need to apologize for the wrong policies of the  
US government for the past three decades in our country? Didn't he  
feel the need to apologize for the fundamentalist-fostering policies  
of the US government in creating, arming, and supporting these brutal,  
misogynist groups like the Northern Alliance and other fascist groups  
during the past three decades? Didn't he feel the need to apologize  
for the occupation of our country under the banner of democracy, the  
so-called "war on terror," and women's rights, but then compromise  
with terrorists like the Northern Alliance, who cannot be  
distinguished from the Taliban in the history of their criminal acts?  
In fact these murderers were the first to destroy our nation. And even  
after seven years of a very long and very costly "war on terror,"  
terrorism has not been uprooted in Afghanistan but has become stronger  
and the Taliban are becoming more powerful. Plus recently [the US is]  
talking about negotiating with the most wanted terrorist, Gulbuddin  
Hekmatyar, and with the Taliban, which is in contradiction with what  
they claimed and what their main objective was in occupying Afghanistan.

 From his statements during his election campaign, we don't think that  
Obama's position is different from the Bush administration; it is the  
continuation of Bush's foreign policy. As Obama's first message to our  
country was that of war, we cannot be hopeful about him.

Kolhatkar: Do you think the troops should be withdrawn and if so, what  
will happen in Afghanistan if US/NATO forces leave Afghanistan?

Eman: RAWA strongly believes that whatever happens, a withdrawal of  
foreign troops should be the first step, because today, with the  
presence of thousands of troops in Afghanistan, with the presence of  
many foreign countries in our nation, for the majority of our people  
particularly poor people in the other provinces of Afghanistan outside  
Kabul, the situation is so bad that it cannot get any worse. Today  
they are also suffering from insecurity, killing, kidnapping, rape,  
acid throwing on school girls (as happened just last week), hunger,  
lawlessness, lack of freedom of speech (with journalist Parwiz  
Kambakhsh being imprisoned), After seven years of occupation [the US]  
failed to bring peace, security, democracy, and women's rights that  
they claimed. I think seven years is quite enough time to prove that  
democracy and peace cannot be brought by foreigners. It can only be  
achieved by our own people by democratic organizations and  
individuals. It's our responsibility to become united as an  
alternative against the occupation, to rise up, to resist and to  
organize our people.

Obviously it is very difficult. No one can predict how long it will  
take, how much blood, how much sacrifice, and what price should be  
paid. But this is the only solution, as RAWA has always emphasized.

Right now our people are under attack from different sides. From one  
side we have the Taliban, from the other side are the US air strikes,  
and from another side are the Northern Alliance warlords in different  
provinces. We are in a political confusion. With the withdrawal [of  
troops] our people will at least get rid of one of these enemies.

We believe that even with the withdrawal of the troops they have a  
moral duty towards Afghanistan as they have empowered these dangerous  
fundamentalist groups economically; and given them arms which were a  
big threat to the security of our country. If the US and its allies  
are kind enough to try to help us and they are honest in their claim  
of helping our people then they can prove it in other ways. They can  
prove it by the disarmament of armed groups. They can prove it by  
stopping any kind of support, help and compromise with any  
fundamentalist groups by helping our people to prosecute our war  
criminals of three decades. They can do this by supporting democratic  
voices. So they have other alternatives to help us if they really want  
to.

Kolhatkar: Hamid Karzai's tenure is up next year and there are to be  
new elections. What do you think needs to happen before the elections,  
and is there any chance the elections could bring some positive change  
inside Afghanistan?

Eman: We have two kinds of elections ahead of us: parliamentary and  
presidential. About the presidential election, everyone knows that the  
White House determines who is going to be the next president. Our  
public's votes are just used as a formality. But what we are sure of  
is that the next president will not be independent or a real democrat.  
So our people are not so hopeful about those elections.

About the parliamentary elections, it is important to state that this  
election, like the last one, will be conducted under the shadow of  
guns, airpower and money. So we cannot call it a fair and free  
election. For a fair and free election to be held we think that  
disarmament of the powerful warlords which have private armies in  
different provinces, is a necessary factor. Otherwise it will be a  
repeat of the last election. For example, according to a law made by  
the Election Commission, warlords cannot take part in the elections.  
The last time, our people appealed to the election commission against  
criminal candidates and drug lords with evidence but nobody paid  
attention to them and these most-wanted murderers found their way to  
parliament. There were just a very few exceptions who were really  
elected by the people. The majority were well-known murderers,  
criminals, and rapists.

Kolhatkar: In RAWA's recent statement on the 7th anniversary of the US  
war on October 7th, you say "Our freedom is only achievable at the  
hands of our people." How strong are democratic grassroots forces in  
Afghanistan, and are they capable of rising up and leading the country?

Eman: Unfortunately the democratic forces are very weak due to many  
reasons. The two main reasons are, firstly, financial problems because  
there is no government support at all, and powerful international  
forces like the United Nations have never been interested in  
supporting democratic groups, individuals, and voices. Secondly they  
are weak for security reasons, which have always suppressed these  
groups. We believe that the main source of power lies with our   
people. Today they have become hopeless with false promises from the  
West of establishing democracy. And moreover people are fed-up of the  
fundamentalism of the Taliban, Northern Alliance, and Gulbuddin  
Hekmatyar, etc. So today if we witness demonstrations organized by our  
suffering and tired people, tomorrow they will be much more organized  
under the leadership of democratic movements. So we should not lose  
our hope. The groups are weak but they exist. I think it's the duty of  
democratic forces all over the world to support democratic movements  
in Afghanistan and they should show their practical solidarity with  
them.

Kolhatkar: When we started our conversation, you weren't very  
optimistic about Barack Obama's stated policy on Afghanistan. What  
advice would you give President Elect Barack Obama, when he takes  
office in January?

Eman: We believe that if the American government does not have any  
bad, expansionist, hidden intentions regarding our country then they  
have to accept and change their long-term mistakes and wrong policies  
in our country. In the early 1990s they supported the anti-democratic,  
anti-women forces and they still have not learned a lesson and still  
they rely on and compromise with the different fundamentalist groups,  
which makes the situation of our country even worse. So from one side  
they are still nourishing and working with those drug lords and  
warlords of the Northern Alliance. And from the other side they  
complain about drugs, corruption and insecurity which is a painful  
game with the destiny of our people, who do not want more troops and  
war. Our people want justice, peace, and democracy.

As the US failed with spending billions of dollars on the presence of  
thousands of troops for the past seven years, I'm sure that they will  
fail even if they bring millions more troops as long as the American  
government does not change its policies in Afghanistan.

Kolhatkar: Finally, what advice would you give the American anti-war  
movement on what Afghanistan needs from them?

Eman: Since the US government has always supported fundamentalist  
groups and ignored democratic voices in our country, I think that the  
US government does not represent all American people. But there are  
great American people and great peace movements who have always raised  
their voice against war and defended peace with justice. History shows  
that these movements have always affected government policies, for  
example on the Vietnam war. So I think that they have a great  
responsibility to put pressure on their government and especially its  
foreign policy, to change the policy and to withdraw their troops from  
Afghanistan. And they have to show their solidarity with the  
democratic movements in Afghanistan. It's very very important for us  
and we need their voices. But I just read an article that some parts  
of the US peace movements are supporting the Iranian government. We  
condemn this position because we consider the Iranian government a  
fundamentalist, fascist government. But as long as the peace movement  
is concerned, we need their solidarity and we are very happy to have  
their support.

Find out more about RAWA at www.rawa.org. Sonali Kolhatkar is host and  
producer of Uprising, at KPFK, Pacifica Radio, www.uprisingradio.org.