Has it ever been more apparent that it is time to get out of Afghanistan? Has it ever been more apparent that we are on the path to yet another and even more dangerous and perhaps regional war? We've been here before. We know the signs and they are all around us.
I haven't written much about the war in Afghanistan lately or the drum beat for war with Iran, but I look for news about it every day and it is always on my mind. I know that the same is true for many anti-war activists here and others who see what is happening and want to do something about it.
The reason that I don't spend much time writing about it, and upon consideration this is not a good enough reason, is that, for the most part, there is no audience for diaries about our wars here on DailyKos anymore. In fact, there is no audience for stories about our wars in America. I find this to be very, very troubling. People have an insatiable appetite for minutiae when it comes to the clown show that is the Republican primary. But there is, apparently, no appetite for details about the war in Afghanistan and the multiple covert wars that we are fighting.
In the early and mid 2000s, we had a strong anti-war voice in the progressive blogosphere. Over time, it fizzled out. Yes, we have withdrawn combat troops from Iraq. But the war in Afghanistan is bigger and worse than ever. The covert wars are more widespread and more dangerous than ever and show no signs of abating. And now we have the ever increasing drum beat for war with Iran -- a proposal that drew a loud cry of opposition when Cheney was pushing for it but that now draws relatively little response here.
In the early to mid 2000s, progressive bloggers protested and lamented the lack of good and honest journalism on the war in Iraq. Bloggers countered the war propaganda on a regular basis and the number of readers and writers grew and became stronger and stronger. It could no longer be ignored by the politicians and the media. It took time and perseverance, but we made a difference.
But nowadays, the left in general and the progressive blogs, this one in particular, are failing miserably at this task, a task which I think is one of our most important. There are many good writers dedicating their time and energy to this subject but they are mostly at the smaller, lesser read blogs and web sites. There are also a number of good journalists who have been devoting a lot of time and news space to the subject of Afghanistan and Iran and they are doing a much better job than the netroots.
It is a grave failure on the part of the netroots. Maybe it is a sign of the end of an era, I don't know. If it is, this is a tragedy, in my opinion. Maybe we are becoming the thing that we once loathed. Maybe a new movement must rise up and take on the task that the Democratic netroots refuses to do when their party is in power. I really am not sure what the reasons are but I do know that nothing good will come from continued silence.
I am not just talking about the front page writers at DailyKos, though, with the exception of Meteor Blades, the silence on the issue of war there is deafening. I am also talking about the many strong writers in the community who are able to easily put diaries on the rec list for long periods of time, diaries which draw thousands of readers and page views. Very few of us are dedicating our time and energy to the cause of the anti-war left. Too much time is spent on low hanging fruit, IMHO, or on breathless but often shallow subjects that have a high probability of rising to the top.
Many front page writers and diarists are hard at work on the areas in which they have become subject matter experts and "go to" people for those issues. I am not begrudging them and in fact I salute them every day. But would it hurt for them to use their valuable voices and notoriety to help with the cause of the anti-war left every so often? After all, I can hardly think of another issue more dire and that has more impact on every one of us.
Perhaps even more importantly, the broader community of people who read, recommend and comment need to give more attention and support to the issue of war. Front page writers and diarists can get the ball rolling but if their posts are largely ignored, we don't get anywhere. So in the end, I believe it is all of our responsibility, all of us who care about ending the wars and preventing more war, who need to step up to the plate and do what is right. Many hands make light work. I believe we all need to do our part. I know that there are thousands of us here who care deeply about this.
When Cheney was calling for an attack on Iran, we thought it was insanity. But what about now? It seems more possible and more close than ever and where is the opposition from the anti-war left? Where are the hundreds of thousands of people in the streets in anti-war protests? Are we going to allow ourselves to be led into a possible WWIII with hardly a whimper simply because the guys ready to take us there are from our side? Perhaps most importantly, where are the grassroots organizations that we have helped to build, that we have supported? Where are they?
AFGHANISTAN
The situation in Afghanistan is dire. It never was very good but now it is a crisis. A crisis that is not just what some may see as an overreaction to the burning of Korans which is the oversimplified reason given in the headline news. Most Americans, if they know about it at all, probably think that it is an outburst that will blow over, not realizing that this has been building for a long time and it is a much more dire signal than they realize.
This is not just about burning Korans.
Blown Away
How the U.S. Fanned the Flames in Afghanistan
The results are now available for all to see in an explosion of anger spreading across the country. How far this can escalate and how long it can last no one knows. But recent experience indicates that, once a population heads for the streets, anything can happen. All of this could, of course, peter out, but with more than 30 protesters already dead, it could also take on a look reminiscent of the escalating civil war in Syria -- including, as has already happened on a small scale in the past, whole units of Afghan security forces defecting to the Taliban.
Unfolding events have visibly overwhelmed and even intimidated the Americans in charge. However, as religious as the country may be and holy as the Koran may be considered, what's happened cannot be fully explained by the book burning. It is, in truth, an explosion a decade in coming.
Apologies alone and doubling down will not fix this situation.
And yet, the response by U.S. officials seems mind boggling.
Washington and its allies want to have the US-Afghan strategic partnership agreed before May, when a Nato conference in Chicago is expected to pledge long-term help to Kabul with finances and military training.
But negotiations have dragged on for over a year and Karzai is adamant he will not give ground on his two main demands – for Afghan control of jails and an end to night-time raids on Afghan homes.
Western officials say the first is not practical and the second would compromise the military effort.
(Emphasis added.)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
US Vows No Change of Course in Afghanistan Despite 17% of NATO Deaths in 2012 From Fratricide
Displaying a remarkable inability to process the meaning of ongoing events, both White House spokesman Jay Carney and Pentagon spokesman George Little ventured dangerously close to “Baghdad Bob” territory on Monday, declaring that there is no reason to change the strategy or timetable for withdrawal in Afghanistan despite violence levels that have been on a steady rise since the US diverted its attention from Afghanistan to Iraq in 2003 and a rising toll of NATO forces being killed by Afghan forces.
White House Press Briefing:
Q So you just sort of recounted the case there of how the President redefined the mission and how it’s important to stick with it, to stay the course. But I’m wondering what you do about the attitudes of the American people who, in the case — more than one case in this last week — they say the people that we are going to war with, in some cases, are killing us. Why should we still support this war? How do you make that case? And do you worry that it’s going to erode — the American public support will continue to erode in an election year?
MR. CARNEY: Well, the incidents that you refer to are tragic and horrific and indefensible, there’s no question. But it is important to remember that 95 to 97 percent of the missions the U.S. forces embark on in Afghanistan, they do so with their Afghan partners. We’re talking about thousands and thousands of operations that proceed successfully with Afghan partners without anything like this happening.
These are isolated incidents — which does not, of course, mean they are not terrible — and are being investigated by both the Afghan government and ISAF. But the overall importance of defeating al Qaeda remains and that is why we need to see — to continue the focus on that; to continue the process of, in the implementation of the President’s objectives, transferring security lead over to the Afghans so that American troops can come home.
It’s important to remember the President has already, through his strategy, laid out a process by which American troops will come home as we turn over security responsibility, security lead to Afghan forces. And as we do that, we will be unrelenting in our pursuit of al Qaeda and unrelenting in our efforts to remove leaders of al Qaeda from the battlefield.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Pentagon Briefing:
The Obama administration will not swerve from plans to move into an advisory role in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said on Monday, despite the killing of U.S. advisers over the weekend that underscored the risks foreign soldiers will face as they rush to train Afghan forces.
“We’re not going to let the events of the past week, which are regrettable and unfortunate and tragic, influence the long horizon view that we’re taking,” Defense Department spokesman George Little told reporters at the Pentagon.
“There is absolutely no reason to change course when we’re making the kind of progress we’re making,” Little said later.
http://www.reuters.com/...
IRAN
The pressure to wage war with Iran and to risk setting off a wider regional conflict grows every day. Some say it is just more bluster. But it seems that there are many more who are taking this very seriously. After the most recent assassinations of Iranian scientists, everything changed. The sabre rattling was no longer ignored and there have been daily developments and rumblings of an attack that might occur within a short period of time -- weeks or months. It is no longer a series of vague threats.
Israel confirms plans to test missile system as Obama meeting looms
First test of Arrow 3 interceptor system intensifies speculation that Israel is planning for military confrontation with Iran
The announcement that the first test of the Arrow 3 interceptor system would be performed "in the near future" was made as Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu flew to North America ahead of a crucial meeting with President Barack Obama at which Iran will top the agenda. Netanyahu is expected to press for a clear US commitment to military action if diplomacy and sanctions fail.
The Arrow 3 test would confirm "the interceptor missile's effectiveness", said Itzhak Kaya, head of the Arrow missile programme at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on Thursday. A number of different tests would be carried out within a short period to "establish its high level of reliability".
This week, there will be critical meetings between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu (March 5), an AIPAC conference at which the president will speak (March 4), and in general, a lot of other meetings and activities on the issue of Israel-Iran are taking place this week.
Israeli PM demands Obama commit to military action if Iran sanctions fail
Binyamin Netanyahu pressing for explicit threat from US ahead of crucial meeting with Obama next week in Washington
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is expected to raise the issue at a White House meeting on Monday after weeks of intense diplomacy in which Obama has dispatched senior officials – including his intelligence, national security and military chiefs – to Jerusalem to try and dampen down talk of an attack.
[ ... ]
More than half the members of the Senate have backed a resolution that some see as pressing for an attack in declaring that the White House should not pursue a policy of "containment".
[ ... ]
Israeli officials told the Associated Press this week that Israel will not notify the US before an attack on Iran. US officials scoff at the idea that Washington would not know an assault is coming, and the Israeli position may be intended to allow the White House to deny any responsibility.
Call to Action
Diarists, activists, DailyKos community, I call on you to use the resources that you have to focus more attention on this subject, to write more and support more writing about it, to pressure our government, to call for and participate in direct action and protest and if you are an organizer, to organize.
The fact that the drum beat to war with Iran continues and is following the same path as it did with Iraq is partly our fault. We have been too silent. We should be shouting from the rooftops: "No, we will not do this again!" "We see what is happening here and we know where this leads!" "Out of Afghanistan Now!" "No war with Iran!"
This very week, the president will be meeting with PM Netanyahu and at the forefront of the discussion with be the subject of war with Iran. Our president says that he believes in the effectiveness of sanctions, that he does not want to attack Iran. We need to get behind him, loudly, on this during these next few days. We need to push back against those who want to attack and who seek to pressure the U.S. to join in that attack or defend against retaliations as a result of that attack.
The anti-war left, and frankly all progressives, IMHO, should be doing their best to push back against Netanyahu and the neocon right and telling them No War With Iran. We should be pointing out the insanity of starting yet another war, and worse, a war that could inflame the Middle East and turn into WWIII. We should be emphasizing that now is the time to withdraw from Afghanistan, disengage in Iraq completely, and not to get into a new war and escalate the ones we are already involved in. We've spent more than a decade at war in the Middle East. The majority of the people in this country want peace. We need to use our voices to make that loud and clear. This week is the perfect opportunity to renew our committment to getting out of the wars and to do what we can to prevent a new one.