THE 2001 SEPTEMBER 11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York was seized on by President Bush as the green light for an onslaught on Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, using the infamous ‘weapons of mass destruction’ lie as its cover, and enlisting the then UK Labour PM, Blair as his chief unquestioning supporter.
Blair insisted that the UK must take part in the action and misled Parliament in order to steal Iraq’s oil and dominate the Middle East.
While preparing to attack Iraq, the US invaded Afghanistan, supposedly to kill Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Twin Towers attack.
It could not get hold of bin Laden but did overthrow the Taliban government of Afghanistan, despite the fact that both bin Laden and the Taliban were supported by the USA and armed by it for the purpose of driving the Red Army, and the Najibollah government out of Afghanistan. This they did. The Red Army left the country and Najibollah, who led the Afghan government, was hung by the Taliban.
They then in 2003 attacked and destroyed Iraq as a modern state, with their ferocious onslaught, creating Isis and its Caliphate out of its ruins.
Now 18 years after the US and the UK intervened in Afghanistan, occupying it, losing thousands of troops in the process, the US has been forced to begin serious peace talks with the Taliban, officially recognising that not only have they been unable to defeat the Taliban and the Afghan people, but that they cannot fight both the Taliban and Iran. In fact, they are admitting that they cannot win a land war in Asia!
The USA is now eating dirt in Afghanistan, with Trump trying to cover over his debacle by saying that he could end the war in 24 hours by wiping out millions of Afghan men women and children, by nuking them, but he of course prefers peace.
The US has been beaten by the Taliban and its defeat, its greatest since the Vietnam debacle, will strengthen all anti-imperialist movements in Asia in particular.
Last Saturday, ‘peace talks’ were resumed between the Taliban and the USA in the Qatari capital of Doha, with US officials describing it as the ‘most crucial’ phase of negotiations to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
Officials close to the discussions said a peace agreement is expected at the end of the eighth round of talks, which began on Saturday. The US special representative for Afghan peace and reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has held a series of meetings with Taliban leaders since last year, confirmed Washington is pursuing a peace agreement with the militant group.
‘Just got to Doha to resume talks with the Taliban. We are pursuing a peace agreement not a withdrawal agreement,’ Khalilzad wrote on Twitter on Friday night. He said that Washington was ‘ready for a good agreement’ with the Taliban.
Two Taliban spokesmen Suhail Shaheen and Zabihullah Mujahid said a 19-member Taliban negotiation team will represent them in the Doha peace talks.
‘The issue of forces withdrawal has prolonged the peace talks and delayed the deal,’ said a senior Taliban commander based in Afghanistan. ‘There was no way we would allow permanent stay of US forces in Afghanistan after signing a peace deal with them,’ he said, adding that the Taliban will provide complete assurances that no foreign militant group will be allowed to use Afghan soil against the United States and its allies.
Taliban leaders have repeatedly said that a ceasefire will not take place until the United States announces a plan for foreign force withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Washington is hoping to strike a peace deal with the Taliban by September 1st – ahead of Afghan polls due the same month, and US presidential elections due in 2020. The Taliban will then be able to deal with the US-UK puppet government at its leisure.
When the US and UK troops leave Afghanistan, it will be a bigger strategic defeat than the Vietnam debacle, and enormously strengthen the drive of the Asian and Arab peoples to expel the imperialist powers from their territories so that they can take full ownership and control of their own countries and their massive resources.
US and UK workers must welcome this defeat for the imperialist powers and recognise that their enemy is not the working class and the farmers of Asia or the Pacific region but is at home in Wall Street and the City of
London.
Their best support for the embattled people of Asia would be to expropriate the bosses and bankers of Wall Street and the City of London and to bring in socialism in place of the capitalist law of the jungle. They have not got a moment to lose in carrying out this vital task!
