Withdrawing US Troops From Afghanistan Is Only a Start. We Have to End the Air War Too. – The Nation
A US Predator drone flies over the moon above Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan. (Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP Photo)
In recent months talk of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan has increased once again. Its not the first time during the course of the nearly two-decades-long war that weve heard this, and at several points since the war began in 2001, some troops have actually been withdrawn. But somehow, almost 20 years in, there still isnt very much talk about what it will actually take to end US actions that kill civilians. We hear talk about the forever wars, of which Afghanistan is of course the longest, but not much about what their first perpetrator, President George W. Bush, named the Global War on Terror (GWOT)and the effect that thats had.
The shift in name and definition of war in Afghanistan (and related post-9/11 wars in so many countries) away from GWOT to forever wars reflects how the wars have been and continue to be fought. Bushs war in Afghanistan, and many years of Obamas war there, and beyond, were characterized by large troop deployments and the occupation of cities and huge swaths of Afghanistan and its people. Arrests of thousands of Afghans accused, often wrongly, of sympathy with the Taliban, pitched battles with the Taliban, and deadly US air strikes, all devastated the country and the people.
Obama began reducing ground troops only after years of escalating deployments on his watch, during which time the emphasis of the war also changed. It had morphed into an air war, a war of drone strikes, bombers, and more, along with the deployment of US Special Forces for targeted operations. US casualties dropped to near zero; by 2011, Afghan civilian casualties had significantly escalated. That war in Afghanistan continues, under the guise of counterterrorism. The forever war in Afghanistan, the one that involves US troops on the ground, mainly training and assisting Afghan troops, continues today, though with dramatically reduced deployments.
While he was in office, Donald Trump, for reasons seemingly unrelated to actual US strategy in Afghanistan, and definitely unrelated to any concern about the still-climbing numbers of Afghan civilian casualties, withdrew some troops and talked about pulling out more. That withdrawal process escalated in early 2020 after the signing of the US-Taliban peace deal, which called for a complete US withdrawal by May 2021 in return for the Talibans cutting of ties with Al Qaeda, ending attacks on US troops, and opening negotiations with the Afghan government.Current Issue
Subscribe today and Save up to $129.
When Trump actually began withdrawing troops in November 2020, despite that commitments being key to the US-Taliban agreement, supporters of the war, Republicans and Democrats alike, erupted in opposition. They raged that Trumps decision would mean betraying the US service members who had died there, or ditching the corrupt and feckless Afghan government the United States had installed, or forsaking our Afghan allies in the military our troops continued to train, or abandoning Afghan women, ormaybe the most iconic warninglosing the war and allowing the Taliban to win. For some Democrats, the fact that it was Trump calling for withdrawal was all the evidence they needed that US troops should remain.
Among all of those Washington insiders outraged at the prospect of pulling troops out, few seemed willing to ask what the consequences would be if they stayed. Or, for that matter, what the consequences have been of the US troop presence in Afghanistan for almost two decades. For many people in the States, the war in Afghanistan had largely become invisible. US casualties had dropped to near zero, which meant that coverage of the war in the mainstream press had dramatically fallen off.
The impact of the December 2019 Afghanistan Papers, documents published by The Washington Post proving that senior US officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable, was short-lived. At that point, there were about 13,000 US troops remaining in Afghanistan20 were killed in combat that year, and that was actually the highest number of US casualties since Obamas 2015 reduction of combat operations and their replacement with the train-and-assist mission that remains in place today. But the Pentagons separate counterterror war continued throughout the 44th presidents tenure and beyond, with little discussion back home. With annual American deaths in combat barely over single digits, press coverage disappeared, and it was much easier to keep up the deadly air war with few people paying attention. And so the number of Afghan civilians killed, whether in funeral processions, wedding parties, or trying to simply live their lives, has not led to debate about the legitimacy and human costs of the war.
There are answers, of course, to the claims asserted of why the war needed to continue.
Threat or no threat, US forces have continued killing civilians. McChrystals strategy was supposed to move away from just killing bad guys to also protecting civilians, which required more troops. His successors during the next few years oversaw Obamas huge escalation of boots on the ground. That didnt win the war either. By 2014, ground troop numbers were massively reduced, but the counterterrorism focus on air strikes and Special Forces remained.
That counterterrorism emphasis continues today, rarely discussed publicly except to mention, almost in passing, that no decision to withdraw ground troops will impact on continuing counterterror activitiesin Afghanistan, Yemen or elsewhere. By 2019 the United Nations reported that the United States and its allies were responsible for more civilian deaths than the Talibanand that aerial operations were the third-highest cause of civilian casualties. The [UN] report attributed almost all of those casualties to American air strikes. The 2020 UN casualty report documents a slight decline in civilian deaths, with numbers dropping after the signing of the US-Taliban agreement but increasing again as the talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government began. US air strikes dropped precipitously, but those by the Afghan air force increasedwith the United States still training pilots, delivering parts for the planes, and providing the bombs. So Washington still bears responsibility for the deaths of thousands of civilians every year.
The 2020 UN report also called on the United States and its allies to increase transparency of investigations into civilian casualty incidents and communicate results to civilian victims and their relatives.
Ironically, while continuing its air war against Taliban fighters, the United States has simultaneously partnered with the Taliban in its conflict with ISIS, or the Islamic State, which has a small number of fighters in Afghanistan. In the fall of 2020, as if to prove that there is no military solution to terrorism, only a permanent game of lethal whack-a-mole, Taliban and ISIS fighters were fighting for control of the Korengal Valley. According to The Washington Post, US Special Operations forces were preparing to intervene in the fighting in Konar province in eastern Afghanistannot by attacking both sides, but by using strikes from drones and other aircraft to help the Taliban.
If you like this article, please give today to help fund The Nations work.
The public text of the US-Taliban agreement does not mention CIA personnel remaining in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of troops. But public reports make clear that while reducing the number of such agents and perhaps moving them to the US embassy in Kabul was discussed during the negotiations, there is no reason to think CIA agents wont remain even when all foreign forces are withdrawn.Unending War
Pulling out the ground troops is important. Theyre not keeping Afghans safer. Theyre not building democracy. Theyve been there far too long, and we signed a peace deal promising to get them out.
But pulling out the ground troops is not enough. If were serious about ending the US role in the war, and we must be, we need to get serious about ending the war thats still killing Afghans almost two decades after the United States invaded the country. Calling the air war counterterrorism isnt a sufficient reason to continue military campaigns that kill civilians.
Ending the US military role will not in and of itself bring peace to Afghanistan, but its a necessary precondition to end the war. Malalai Joya, then the youngest member of the US-installed Afghan parliament and one of very few women, was driven out of parliament by threats and attacks, including from government supporters. In the Taliban time, she said, we had one enemy: the Taliban. Now we have three: the Taliban, warlords [inside the US-installed government and parliament] and the occupation forces. The US and NATO presence is making the struggle for justice and peace much harder because they empower these reactionary terrorists, who are great obstacles for true democratic-minded elements in my country.
Here is the original post:
Withdrawing US Troops From Afghanistan Is Only a Start. We Have to End the Air War Too. - The Nation
- Fremont homicide suspect was once U.S. Army translator who fled Afghanistan, lawyer reveals - The Mercury News - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Cant work, sing, travel, study: All the ways the Taliban are restricting lives of women in Afghanistan - The Independent - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- ABC to review editorial policies after investigation finds gunshots inadvertently added to Afghanistan footage - The Guardian - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- In defiance of the Taliban, three young women flee Afghanistan for an education at Berkshire Waldorf High School in Stockbridge - theberkshireedge.com - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- The chance to reframe international engagement with Afghanistan - The Interpreter - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Pakistan: Border forces kill several militants trying to infiltrate from Afghanistan - VOA Asia - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- 'Afghanistan is facing gender-based apartheid, world must come together to address it' - Firstpost - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Afghanistan vs Bangladesh 1st ODI: When and Where to watch AFG vs BAN match in India? - The Indian Express - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor calls for reopening of trade routes with Afghanistan - Amu TV - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- India reaches out to first family of Taliban in Afghanistan - Deccan Herald - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Afghanistan vs Bangladesh 2nd ODI: TV channel, online live stream and how to watch AFG vs BAN ODIs from India - Sporting News - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Republican Tim Sheehy, accused of lying about his time in Afghanistan, clinches victory in Montana Senate race - The Independent - November 8th, 2024 [November 8th, 2024]
- Iran starts construction of a wall on the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan - Militarnyi - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- Radio Free Afghanistan the Taliban, the tribal warlords and the TV tycoon - Financial Times - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- Pakistani security forces kill 9 militants in a raid in the restive northwest near Afghanistan - The Associated Press - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- Afghanistan: the EU, in partnership with WHO and UNFPA, supports access to reproductive, maternal and child health and non-communicable diseases... - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- Afghanistan to Boost Oil Production in the Amu Darya Basin - Times of Central Asia - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- IND A vs AFG A Semi Final Live Cricket Streaming: When and where to watch India A vs Afghanistan A ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2024 match - The Indian... - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- The legacy of isolation is a double-edged sword for children in Nuristan, Eastern Afghanistan - Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- Beyond the Talibans Shadow: Forging a Path to Justice in Afghanistan - JURIST - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- The women of Afghanistan need more than our sympathy they need our action - PoliticsHome - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- As heroin in Afghanistan dries up, Europe could face an overdose crisis like the U.S. - Salon - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- Kazakhstan and Afghanistan Seek to Increase Trade to $3 Billion - Times of Central Asia - October 24th, 2024 [October 24th, 2024]
- The EU is helping Turkey forcibly deport migrants to Syria and Afghanistan - POLITICO Europe - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Family of Afghanistan refugees living in Lacey thriving in school, workplace - KING5.com - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Afghanistan citizen living in OKC accused of planning Election Day attack - KOCO Oklahoma City - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Russia Calls On West to Lift Sanctions on Afghanistan - The Moscow Times - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- House speaker blames botched Afghanistan withdrawal and Harris-Biden admin open border policies for ISIS-inspired Election Day terror plot - New York... - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Canadian subcommittee on international human rights acknowledges Hazaras prosecution in Afghanistan - Amu TV - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- World's oldest Hebrew book unveiled at Museum of the Bible after being found in Afghanistan cave - The Christian Post - October 11th, 2024 [October 11th, 2024]
- Soldier awarded third purple heart for bravery in Afghanistan - United States Army - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- More airlines fly over Afghanistan in last week as Middle East tensions rise - Middle East Monitor - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- What Companies Can Learn from a Carbon Accounting Pilot in Afghanistan - HBR.org Daily - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Lawmakers React To Arrest Of Afghanistan Citizen In Oklahoma Accused Of Planning Election Day Attack - news9.com KWTV - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- One year after the earthquakes in western Afghanistan, UNICEF calls for greater support to childrens basic needs and community resilience - UNICEF - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- DOJ: Afghanistan citizen living in OKC planned Election Day terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS - KOCO Oklahoma City - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Russia, Central Asia, and the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan - War On The Rocks - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Ret. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie on Mideast Tensions and Afghanistan Withdrawal - C-SPAN - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- 23rd anniversary of US invasion of Afghanistan - Amu TV - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- Womens Rights in Afghanistan: Will the Taliban Adhere to CEDAW? - The Diplomat - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- China and Afghanistan are the Main Importers of Kazakh Grain and Flour - Times of Central Asia - October 9th, 2024 [October 9th, 2024]
- A Groundbreaking Move: Challenging Gender Persecution in Afghanistan at the ICJ - EJIL: Talk! - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Afghanistan: International legal initiative an important step toward tackling the Talibans war on women - Amnesty International - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Students Weigh in on Womens Rights Issues in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan - Villanovan - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Taliban who banned women from public spaces say no one faces discrimination in Afghanistan - The Associated Press - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- Afghanistan - Key Message Update: Average orchard production is expected in central and western provinces in September/October, September 2024 -... - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- How Soon Will The US Return To Afghanistan? Analysis - Eurasia Review - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- 10 Democrats vote to censure Biden officials over Afghanistan withdrawal - The Hill - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- Americans deserve the truth about the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan - Marshalltown Times Republican - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- The GOPs Risky Plan to Link Kamala Harris and the Afghanistan Withdrawal | Politics | U.S. News - U.S. News & World Report - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- Afghanistan: Cats have more freedom than women, says Meryl Streep - BBC.com - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- House Approves GOP Resolution Condemning Biden and Harris over Afghanistan Withdrawal - Military.com - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- House votes to condemn Biden, Harris and other admin officials over Afghanistan withdrawal - New York Post - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- Afghanistan: A Society in the Pit of the Banality of Evil - Hasht-e Subh Daily - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- New bill would prohibit US financial aid to Afghanistan until wrongfully detained Americans are released - Fox News - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- House Foreign Affairs chair moving forward with plan to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress over 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal - CNN - October 1st, 2024 [October 1st, 2024]
- At town hall, Trump mixes up Alaska and Afghanistan with confusing remarks on oil - Alaska Beacon - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Where is Afghanistan Three Years into Taliban Rule? - United States Institute of Peace - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Blinken subpoenaed to appear next week before House committee over Afghanistan - Reuters - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Afghanistan reopens its embassy in Oman, the Taliban say - The Associated Press - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Afghanistan vs South Africa 3rd ODI Highlights: South Africa Register Consolation Win Over Afghanist.. - NDTV Sports - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Why Does the Taliban Hate the Women of Afghanistan This Much? | Opinion - Newsweek - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the UN says - The Associated Press - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- The tragic politicization of the Afghanistan withdrawal - Columbia Journalism Review - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- State Department accuses House GOP of calling Blinken to testify about Afghanistan when he's away - The Associated Press - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Afghanistan vs South Africa 3rd ODI Live Streaming: When And Where To Watch - NDTV Sports - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- ABC admits video of Australian soldiers firing from helicopter in Afghanistan was incorrectly edited - The Guardian - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- AFG vs SA, 3rd ODI Live Cricket Score: Afghanistan bat first against South Africa - The Times of India - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Afghanistan script history with first ever win over South Africa - ICC Cricket - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Afghanistan advances to knockout stage of Futsal World Cup - Amu TV - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- Terrorists Use Weapons Left by U.S. in Afghanistan to Attack Civilians, Police in Pakistan - Judicial Watch - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- South Africa clinch consolation win against Afghanistan in third ODI - The Times of India - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- How will Afghanistan feature in the race for the White House? - Arab News - September 22nd, 2024 [September 22nd, 2024]
- The Observer view on Afghanistan: Britain and the US are complicit in the Talibans oppression of women - The Guardian - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- GOP probe of Bidens Afghanistan exit expands as election nears - The Washington Post - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Everything To Know About Taliban's New "Vice And Virtue" Law In Afghanistan - NDTV - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Opinion: The Taliban are waging war on women in Afghanistan. This is how we are resisting - The Globe and Mail - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Aline Jalliet, author: 'In Afghanistan, the female voice itself becomes an act of dissent' - Le Monde - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- Analysis | Trump appears to have misled Gold Star families on troop deaths in Afghanistan - The Washington Post - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]
- GOP-led House panel tells Blinken to testify on Afghanistan withdrawal "or face contempt" - Axios - September 8th, 2024 [September 8th, 2024]