|
It seems clear from this statement thatAdmiral Boyce sees the punishment of Afghancivilians, including their children, as an importantpart of the US/British strategy. On September 16the New York Times reported that our governmenthad demanded from Pakistan "the elimination oftruck convoys that provide much of the food andother supplies to Afghanistan's civilianpopulation." Food shipments fell drastically, althoughthe border has remained porous, especially tothose who pay bribes. The Taliban is even able tomake money by exporting things as big as logs. In recent weeks the UN World FoodProgramme has increased its shipments. But theseare still far short of the amount needed to preventmass starvation during the winter. The increasedrisk to truck drivers, the breakdown in law andorder, and other disruptions due to the war aretaking their expected toll. There are currently about 5.3 millionpeople receiving food aid, and this is expected toincrease to 7.5 million in the near future. In abouttwo weeks winter will begin, many roads willbecome impassible, and people will have to relyon stockpiled food. Relief groups have called for ahalt in the bombing so that food -- as well asblankets and medicines -- can get through beforeit is too late. But their appeals have so far goneunheeded. And everyone acknowledges that the airdrops of food from US planes are so small thatthey are little more than an exercise in publicrelations. What is terrorism? Edward Herman,Emeritus Professor from Pennsylvania's WhartonSchool of Business, has offered a politicallyneutral, straightforward definition of terrorismthat is difficult to argue with: "the use of force orthe threat of force against civilian populations toachieve political objectives." A strategy to "squeeze" Afghanistan,through bombing and starvation, "until the peopleof the country themselves . . . get the leadershipchanged" would certainly qualify as terrorismunder this definition. Most Americans would like to see OsamaBin Laden, and anyone else that was responsiblefor the atrocity of September 11, brought tojustice. But they would certainly be ashamed ifthey knew that their government was pursuing astrategy that involved starving hundreds ofthousands, and possibly even millions, of innocentpeople. Of course this is not the first time that ourgovernment has used collective punishment, orterrorism, in order to achieve its political goals:there was Nicaragua in the 1980s, Vietnam priorto that, and many other examples. In fact, by anyobjective definition of terrorism -- one thatincludes the terrorism of states as well asindividuals --the United States has been its largestsingle sponsor over the last half-century. This war is different, in that it originatedwith a horrific terrorist attack on Americans. Butthe collective punishment of the people ofAfghanistan is no more excusable than the crimesof September 11. As such, it will only inspiremore hatred and terrorism against us. There is no military solution to theproblem of terrorism within our borders. We willhave to change our foreign policy, so that ourgovernment does not make so many enemiesthroughout the world. Those who collaborated inthe crimes of September 11 will have to bepursued through legal and political channels,including the United Nations. A good start would be to cut off the majorsource of Bin Laden's funding and support, whichis not in Afghanistan but in Saudi Arabia. TheBush Administration has done very little on thisfront, due to a combination of big oil and other"geopolitical" interests. Our government is willingto risk American lives, at home and abroad, andkill any number of innocent Afghanis, but it isapparently not willing to risk disturbing itsrelations with the Saudi royal family. Going the legal route won't boost thePresident's approval ratings the way a war does,nor will it make the world fear our military power.But at least we won't be fighting terrorism withmore terrorism, and fueling an escalating cycle ofviolence. Mark Weisbrot is co-director of the Center forEconomic and Policy Research (www.cepr.net),in Washington, DC. ###
| 
