As the Obama administration, the Pentagon, the big-business media and the ruling elite engage in an intense struggle over a new strategy, U.S. imperialism is facing mounting obstacles to its fading colonialist foothold in Afghanistan.
 Hamid Karzai, pictured here with Senator Kerry at a press conference, is a U.S. puppet |
On Nov. 1, presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the Nov. 7 run-off election between him and Hamid Karzai. On Nov. 2, the election was canceled and Karzai declared the winner. A fitting end to a fraudulent colonial election process that has created deep legitimacy problems for U.S. imperialism.
In a widely covered news story, it was reported that President Hamid Karzai’s brother, Wali Karzai, has been on the CIA payroll since 2001. Wali Karzai has been accused of being one of the country’s largest opium growers and exporters. Sections of the imperialist establishment are promoting the story for a variety of reasons, including using it to blame Hamid Karzai, a U.S. puppet, for U.S. failures in Afghanistan.
The attacks on the current president and the open struggle in ruling circles over the leadership of the government in Afghanistan exposes the colonial nature of the occupation and highlights the extent of the crisis for the war planners in Washington.
On Oct. 27, it came to light that Matthew Hoh, a top official in the U.S. foreign office in Afghanistan, resigned in September over the Afghanistan war. In a widely publicized four-page resignation letter, Hoh compares Afghanistan to Vietnam and suggests that “success” is impossible, even if trillions of dollars and massive numbers of troops were mobilized over decades to come.
On Oct. 28, militants staged another high-profile attack—this one on a U.N. building in Kabul, killing 11 people, including five U.N. employees. The Taliban has stepped up its attacks in urban areas and had called on the country to boycott the upcoming presidential run-off elections on November 7. The Taliban now effectively controls around 80 percent of the country.
The perceptions that Afghanistan is a “lost cause” or “not winnable” are gaining ground in the debate within the imperialist establishment. But a defeat, or the appearance of defeat, in Afghanistan would be a serious blow to the long-term goals of U.S. imperialism. Establishing a “stable” colonial or neo-colonial domination of the greater region, especially along the natural resource rich central axis of intersection between Africa, Asia and Europe that runs from the Middle East through South Asia, is of central importance to imperialist planners.
Failed colonial elections
The Aug. 20 elections in U.S./NATO occupied Afghanistan ended in failure, with low voter turnout—38 percent—and epic levels of reported election fraud.
The United Nations-backed auditors found so many questionable voting discrepancies with the Aug. 20 election results that President Karzai’s ballots fell below the 50 percent needed to avoid a run-off election.
Ballots were disqualified for both candidates, Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, but the vast majority of the votes that were disqualified were cast for Karzai. The Independent Election Commission, the main Afghani elections body, is believed to be largely under the influence of Karzai.
On Oct. 21, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that at least 200 of the district elections commissioners—the center of much of the fraudulent activity—would be replaced in the upcoming elections. Afghanistan is formally occupied by a U.N. effort, although the United States is the imperialist power in the driver’s seat.
On Oct. 20, Karzai, with Sen. John Kerry whispering in his ear, announced that he would accept a run-off election with Abdullah Abdullah.
The run-off election would have had only the names of the two presidential contenders on November 7. Neither one would have legitimately represented an independent Afghanistan.
The two candidates were both more than willing to manage a colonial-style government for the United States. The two candidates represent two different ethnic groups in Afghanistan, but both belong to families that had strong links to the former king deposed in 1973. Both also were linked to CIA forces that fought against the revolutionary government of Afghanistan from 1978 to 1992.
The United States, the United Nations and NATO run the elections in Afghanistan.
The solution: U.S. Out of Afghanistan Now!
The setbacks for U.S. imperialism flow directly from the desire for independence and sovereignty of the Afghan people, who reject the colonial-style plans for Afghanistan of the U.S. government. The people of Afghanistan have the right to determine their own form of government, completely free from U.S. and NATO interference.
The irresolvable contradiction for the Pentagon is a simple fact: The people of Afghanistan will never willingly give up complete control of their country to serve the interests of foreign governments and transnational energy companies.
The U.S. ruling elite’s foreign policy establishment is exerting great effort to find a way to tilt the facts on the ground in a more “winning” direction or somehow reverse their losses. For working people, the strategy is clear: The problem is the occupation; the solution is to bring the troops home right now.
