Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism

(Photo from The Guardian)

Afghanistan and the War on Terrorism

       Fighting terrorism is a different situation than fighting a conventional war because it is not about one nation in conflict with another nation.  Terrorists embody an ideology which conflicts with established culture and values.  In the case of Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, radical interpretations of Islam were used to recruit jihadists to wage guerilla warfare against all people in the West and even other Muslims who did not agree with their interpretation (9-11 Commission, 2004, pg. 55-68).   This defies both the jus ad bellum and jus in bellum traditional requirements for just war.

Jean Bethke Elshtain and the War on Terrorism

       Osama bin Laden fought as a freedom fighter (mujahideen) in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union.  After the Russians were driven out of the country, he organized the terrorist group, Al Qaeda.  The CIA did not become aware of Al Qaeda and its leader until 1996-1997 (9-11 Commission, 2004, pg. 55-68).  After the August 7, 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Osama bin Laden became one of the FBI’s “most wanted fugitives” (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2017, pg. 390).  After the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush ordered the creation of the Department of Homeland Security with Executive Order No. 13228 on October 8, 2001 (Exec. Order No. 13,228, 2001, pg. 51812). 

       Although Osama bin Laden and the majority of 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, the Al Qaeda training camps were located in Afghanistan.  In fact, forces within Afghanistan and Pakistan were collaborating with the terrorists.  Al Qaeda also had the support of regular citizens in both Afghanistan and Pakistan who felt a strong hatred for the United States.  The Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic group, had taken over large parts of Afghanistan and supported the use of terror against the West (9/11 Commission, 2004, pg. 47-68).

       Invading Afghanistan was a natural response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.  But the U.S. military should have stayed focused on destroying the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan before embarking on a war in Iraq, especially since the 9/11 Commission found no involvement by Iraq with the attacks on the World Trade Center (9-11 Commission, 2004, pg. 47-80).  Imposing economic sanctions on Pakistan instead of giving them economic aid, in my opinion, might have yielded results sooner.

       The invasion of Afghanistan was justified, from the point of view of Jean Bethke Elshtain, because “those who launched the 9/11 attacks cannot be reasoned with, in the manner the ‘humanists’ would like – and that no change in U.S. policy would have that effect – for the simple reason that: they loathe us because of who we are and what our society represents” (Rengger, 2018, pg. 220-221).

What Role did the U.S. have in Afghanistan Beyond Military Action?

       “In October 2001, the United States of America initiated air strikes on Afghanistan, followed by a ground offensive called Operation Enduring Freedom, to topple the Taliban government and drive out Al Qaeda forces hosted in Afghanistan following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States” (Bella, Giacca, & Casey-Maslen, 2011, pg. 47, 48).  A new government was installed, and with a new regime in control, U.S. troops became peacekeepers, which undermined the original military offensive.  Al Qaeda and the Taliban continued to push back at the expense of American troops.  Although bin Laden was finally killed in 2011, this did not extinguish Al Qaeda or the Taliban.  The U.S. concentrated on re-building Afghanistan, and a new terrorist threat emerged under President Obama: ISIS.

       Elshtain believed that the United States’ War on Terrorism was just because “the United States must take the lead – not alone, to be sure – but it must take the lead in defending human dignity. ‘As the world’s superpower’”” (Rengger, 2018, pg. 221).  If the United States failed in Afghanistan, in my opinion, it is because we lost sight of our goal to destroy the terrorist camps and the power of the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  By not going in and finishing the job, the United States left itself open for more terrorist attacks on American soil, especially since the Taliban now control Afghanistan.

Given the Larger Human Rights Implication that Elshtain Addresses, what Role did the World at Large have in Combating Terrorism?

       Few countries in the world have been left untouched by terrorism, whether it is direct terrorist attacks or taking in refugees from war-torn countries.  For security reasons alone, the United Nations and all countries in the world should be working together to address the issue – which certainly will not go away anytime soon.

       Ultimately, it is the non-combatant citizens who suffer the most when terrorists are wreaking havoc in a country.  According to Amnesty International (2011): “The Taliban and related insurgent groups in Afghanistan show little regard for human rights and the laws of war and systematically and deliberately target civilians, aid workers, and civilian facilities like schools (particularly girls’ schools)” (Bella, Giacca, & Casey-Maslen, 2011, pg. 51).

       The larger humanitarian issues of violence, refugees, homelessness, poverty, and starvation affect all nations in one way or another, and all nations have a moral obligation to address it.  Elshtain called it the “principle of equal regard, faced with a terrible situation, an enormity, one is obliged to think about what is happening, and to conclude that the people dying are human beings and as such equal in moral regard to us” (Dissent, 2005, pg. 60).                                                                                                                                         

References

9-11 Commission. (2004). 9-11 Commission report. Retrieved from

https://www.9-11Commission.gov/report

Bellal, A., Giacca, G., Casey-Maslen, C. (2011, March). International law and armed non-state 

       actors in afghanistan. International Review of the Red Cross 93(881), 47-79.

       Retrieved from https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/r27089.pdf

Dissent, The Editors. (2005, Summer). Interview with jean bethke elshtain. Dissent. Retrieved

       from http://www.dissentmagazine.org/wp-content/files_mf/1390329368d1Interview.pdf

Exec. Order No. 13228, 66 Fed. Reg. 196 (October 10, 2001)

Haddow, G.D., Bullock, J.A., & Coppola, D.P. (2017). Introduction to emergency management.

       (6^th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Elsevier

Rengger, N. (2018). Jean bethke elshtain (1941-2013). In D.R. Brunstetter & C. O’Driscoll

       (Eds.), Just war thinkers: From cicero to the 21^st century (216-226). Abingdon, Oxon: 

       Routledge

Dawn Pisturino

Thomas Edison State University

December 23, 2021; April 1, 2022

Copyright 2021-2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

An Open Letter to my Niece and Nephew

Dear Niece and Nephew,

I am much older than you, and what you don’t realize is that the Democrats have been spouting the same rhetoric for 50 years. It never changes, it just gets worse. I have been hearing the same crap for 50 years, only it’s gotten more extreme and insane. I don’t blame you for that because you don’t know any better. The younger generation doesn’t know any better. Especially since they don’t do any research to figure it out. Racism has become a buzz word for the Democrats and the Left which they use when they have nothing else. It’s turned into a form of extortion, which I have pointed out to you in the past. Reverse racism is still racism, no matter who or what color or nationality is involved. Barack Obama is a racist. Rev. Al Sharpton is a racist. John Lewis was a racist. They don’t preach equality, they preach reverse racism and historic hatred. They use the past to promote hatred and racism in the present. They promote racism to gain power and to enrich themselves. Joe Biden – whom I assume you support – voted against every piece of Civil Rights legislation. He supported segregation. He campaigned with Senator Robert Byrd, a well-known member of the KKK. He continues to make racist remarks against blacks and other minority groups. And this is the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party????????? The whole history of the Democratic Party is racist and bloody. The KKK was founded by Southern Democrats to terrorize blacks. It was the NRA which provided guns to former slaves to protect themselves from the KKK. It was Southern Democrats who lynched blacks and tried to suppress the black vote. The Democratic Party continues to exploit black Americans. This is real history. Look it up yourselves. It’s also the reason many blacks are leaving the Democratic Party.

1. Enforcing immigration laws is not racist. It’s following the law. The plain and simple truth is that our immigration laws have not been enforced by various politicians for various reasons, mostly to get cheap labor. Both parties are guilty of this. Putting American workers first is not racist. It’s common sense. Calling President Trump a racist does not make him one. Enforcing our immigration laws – which a majority of Americans support – is not racist. It’s a matter of national security. The countries which have not secured their borders are now suffering the consequences. In fact, the whole COVID-19 thing has highlighted the importance of controlling immigration and securing our borders.
2. People who hate America – for whatever reason – should do us all a favor and leave. It’s that simple. No matter what changes are made, they will always hate America. That was true in the 1960s, and it’s true now. So leave. Most Americans just want to go to work, give their kids a good education, enjoy a certain amount of prosperity, and be happy. They don’t want to be bothered with this constant political nonsense 24/7. People are turning off the news, turning off sports, and tuning out Hollywood because of it. The Silent Majority rules – not the people who are always running their mouths.
3. Denying the violence in Seattle, Portland, and other liberal cities is astounding, at best, and ignorant, at worst. To say that President Trump and the media made all that up is sheer nonsense. For someone like Rep. Jerry Nadler to call it a myth just proves how completely out of touch the Democrats are with reality. Their silence and inability to publicly recognize what’s really going on will hurt them in November and beyond. To put it plainly, average Americans are sick of it. And Antifa and the radical Left have no loyalty to any party. They don’t give a fig about the Democrats or Republicans. Their entire goal is destruction, and they will ultimately destroy the Democratic Party, which tries to exploit them for their own ends. Sorry, but that’s not how these groups operate.
4. Black Lives Matter started out as a terrorist group that called for the killing of police, and it hasn’t changed. It’s just gotten wealthier as corporations – afraid of being branded racist, and fearful that their facilities will be burned down – donate money and give public lip service to their cause. Defunding the police is the dumbest idea yet, and in high crime areas, that is the last thing people want. They want the bad cops to go, yes, but they rely on the police for protection. In the end, however, there aren’t enough police to protect everyone. That’s why the police tell people to learn how to protect and defend themselves. That’s why gun and ammunition sales are up. Not because “they use any excuse to buy guns,” but because people are afraid.
5. There’s absolutely nothing you could say to me that I haven’t heard a hundred times before over the last 50 years. It’s not because I think I’m smarter than you or anyone else. It’s because I’ve already lived through it and heard it.
6. People change as their knowledge and experience change. If I want too know what’s going on and what people think and want, I talk to real people. I don’t listen to Fox, CNN, or any of the other media. I knew Hillary was going to lose just from talking to real everyday people. And the first thing you learn in Sociology 101 is that polls are easily manipulated. I don’t pay attention to polls or political pundits.
7. “Systemic racism,” “white guilt,” and “white privilege” are all liberal bullshit, created by liberal professors, sociologists, and activists. Systemic racism no longer exists on a wide scale. You will never completely eliminate racism because it’s part of the human condition. Many people become racists based on negative experiences they’ve had, even if they were taught otherwise. Making all white people feel guilty for being white, when they haven’t done anything wrong, just makes people angry and creates a backlash and more racism. And groups like the Nation of Islam promote the misguided belief that all white people are inherently racist, while being racist themselves. As far as white privilege goes, do you two feel guilty for being white, comfortable, and successful? If that’s the case, you should sign over the deeds to your houses to the next black family you meet, and voluntarily give up your jobs to a black person. For myself, I worked for what I have, and nobody is going to take it from me.
8. American history is an extension of British history. The British, French, and other groups brought slavery to America. Blaming America for slavery is ludicrous when the country didn’t even exist then. Blaming the Founding Fathers is ludicrous because it was an accepted practice AT THAT TIME. And we fought a Civil War to end it, so this constant narrative, destroying statues, and trying to erase history, is harmful, stupid, and a waste of time. YOU CAN’T ERASE HISTORY, no matter how hard you try. My British and German ancestors have been on this continent since the 1600s, and I haven’t found any evidence that any of them owned slaves. Barack Obama’s direct ancestor, Samuel Dunham, who lived in Virginia, owned 2 slaves, and that’s in the census records. Is Barack Obama to blame because he’s half white? Of course not. You can’t judge history by the standards of today.

I love both of you, and regret that our disagreements have turned into such a terrible mess. It’s a reflection of the times in which we live. People have a right to believe what they want and to vote for whomever they want. And to condemn people for exercising their constitutional rights is wrong. That’s what makes America unique and great as a country.

Love,

Your Aunt Dawn

***

Dawn Pisturino

August 9, 2020

Copyright 2020 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.

Radical Writings: Political Corruption and Global Capitalism

 

One of the myths perpetuated by American business is that wealth is somehow created out of nothing. Wealth, under capitalism, is not “created,” it is merely transferred from one segment of the population to another.

This can easily be seen on a global scale. When Asia’s economy was booming, the American economy was lagging behind. Now that Asia is struggling to maintain itself, the American economy is “robust” (according to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan) [1999].

The Middle East has been a key contributor to American [and European and Russian] prosperity at its own expense. Dr. Ilyas Bayunus, professor of sociology at SUNY Ithaca, explains it this way:

“When looked at from a Muslim and Third World viewpoint, we can see an . . . answer: that of neocolonialism, or the use of local proxies to exploit local resources for the former colonial master’s benefit. Muslim countries, regardless of their colonial past . . . are now submitting to neocolonialism . . . [which] seeks indirect rule through rationalizing, apologizing, seeking excuses for its actions. However, the option to intervene with force is always open. It is a form of remote-control colonial rule and is far more economical and cost effective in terms of men, machines, and time invested.

“In essence, colonialism and neocolonialism serve those multinational industries that are (or were) in the vanguard of creating western global hegemony. Both seek to ensure perpetually dependent ‘peripheries’ ruled by a technologically superior industrialized western global economic system. Hence, colonialism and neocolonialism use ‘undeveloped’ countries as reservoirs of cheap resources and dirt-cheap labor, and thus actually discourages any significant industrialization in the Third World . . . What this means is that western economics and industrial progress depends on the rest of the world remaining impoverished.

“In this respect, the west lures, intimidates, bribes, and props up insecure and archaic monarchs, undereducated but arrogant military rulers, and opportunist pseudodemocrats. This is especially so in the Muslim world, where the West sometimes even handpicks ‘yes men’ to rule on its behalf . . .

“Americans [and Europeans and Russians] are the inventors as well as the greatest beneficiaries of neocolonialism . . . As the economic interests of American multinationals expanded, American power also expanded. In the Middle East, this was especially true after WW II. Those who resisted and continue to resist this policy of neocolonialism were called ‘fundamentalists’ and other names, ostracized internationally, and branded as practitioners of ‘state-sponsored terrorism.’ Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Syria are cases in point.

“American multinationals are the dynamos behind and the main beneficiaries of American neocolonialism. Some of the major American multinationals are legends: Exxon, General Electric, General Dynamics, Union Carbide, General Motors, Bank of America, and IT&T. Today, there are new players, such as IBM, Microsoft, CNN, Texas Instruments, Smith Corona, McDonalds, CocaCola, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. We now speak of the “McDonaldization,” “Colaization,” or Marlboroization” of the world.

“If highly developed western businesses expand in the Third World, they invest in poor countries and provide jobs. In this transaction, however, Third World countries become partially or totally dependent upon the investing business, which entails negative consequences . . . In general, the multinationals’ influence is seen in their contribution in terms of investments, taxes, bonuses, and other charitable contributions if and when it suits them. They invariably try to bribe or intimidate host officials to create monopolies, even though this means tampering with the host country’s power apparatus both economically and politically. Whoever challenges their hegemony faces great personal risk: President Allende of Chile, a highly reform-minded and elected leader was overthrown and murdered by his military, which was believed to have been carrying out the orders of IT&T [ which was recently indicted for corrupt business practices] . . . [1999]

“Even if a Third World worker finds a job paying subsistence wages, he or she remains vulnerable, because of job insecurity, to employer blackmail. Economic investment in the Third World, however sizable, remains under the auspices of these multinationals and does not constitute progressive development [in spite of the claims put forth by the U.S. government and its involvement with GATT and NAFTA] . . . It creates serious wage stratification and differentials and, especially in smaller host economies, engenders inflation to such a degree that those who are unemployed or have low-paying jobs have to resort to illegal means to survive. Whenever or wherever these multinationals have been given a free hand, they create monopolies [illegal in the U.S.], pay the lowest possible wages [why we have a set minimum wage in the U.S.], fix prices [also illegal in the U.S.], and take excessive profits [considered immoral by many people]. Obviously, none of this benefits the host economy [except the politicians who accept the bribes and perks offered.] And so most of the Third World remains Third World, even almost fifty [or more] years after de Gaulle coined the term.” (Islamic Horizons, September/October 1996)

The turbulence in the Middle East will not end until America — the bully, the “Great Satan” — removes its presence and stops interfering in Middle Eastern culture, religion, politics, and economics.

Dawn Pisturino

1999

Published in Discussion Bulletin, March-April 1999. Featured on the Committee for Direct Democracy website and in the Committee for Direct Democracy Information Packet, 1998-2000.

2019 Response:

The world is a different place than 1999. Globalization, which propped up other countries and exploded corporate profits, hurt American workers. No matter how much Americans complained, no one listened. President Barack Obama told the American people that the jobs were not coming back and we should just get over it. Radical Islamists in the Middle East, who did not want Islam subsumed by secularism, turned to anti-American rhetoric and violence to make their message heard. We saw the rise of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the 9/11 attacks on American soil. The country went through a recession which seemed like it would never end. Donald Trump came along with his “Make America Great Again” message and won the 2016 election. Since then, he has been harassed and persecuted by the very same people and organizations who supported the global economy and ignored American workers. President Trump is making sure that the wealth is flowing TO America and American workers and not AWAY from America and American workers. Competition is the heart of capitalism. But competition has to benefit AMERICA and not just the other party. This is at the core of President Trump’s message.

Dawn Pisturino, June 3, 2019

Copyright 1999-2019 DawnPisturino. All Rights reserved.