the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 4, 2019
On February 28, the New York Times published an article about a new so-called Afghanistan “peace” plan being negotiated by Pentagon generals with the Taliban.
As reported by the Times, the Pentagon wants to reorganize who will do what to carry out the war for the next five years. U.S. troops, along with an untold number of CIA and contractor fighters, will take over combat roles in Afghanistan, while European and other foreign troops will take over the training of Afghan Army forces that the U.S. has done up to this time. Negotiations with the Taliban and other forces, both foreign and domestic, will continue for the next five years–supposedly to set up a new coalition government.
The “peace” plan is first of all a plan for more war. The bloody 17-year-long U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan is going to continue. The U.S. military, defending the interests of U.S. imperialism around the world, cannot afford for Afghanistan to slip into complete anarchy. It sits at a key strategic spot in the world–both in political terms, as well as in terms of oil shipments.
But the Pentagon’s announcement was also a way to check Trump, who thought he could make publicity for himself by announcing in December that he would pull troops out of Afghanistan.
The Pentagon was simply letting Trump know who makes policy in this country–and it’s not any president, much less a megalomaniac who can announce something one day, only to completely change it the next.