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Thursday, December 03, 2009

Response to Obama's Surge in Afghanistan

A statement of the Socialist Party USA

On December 1st, President Obama has announced that he will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. The justification is paper thin. Far from creating security, the occupation itself has created a state of lawlessness in Afghanistan. The fraud ridden reelection of the puppet Karzai regime has put popularity for the US mission in Afghanistan through the floor, and further inflamed anger in the middle east. Far from building Afghan sovereignty, Obama's policy is to deepen support for an illegitimate regime with tight associations with oil companies, drug lords, and warlords. Americans are waking up to the fact that, like the occupation of Iraq, this occupation isn't making us any safer, nor is it bringing development, democracy, security, or women's rights to Afghanistan. Rather, it is killing Afghan civilians and U.S./ NATO troops while stealing badly needed funds from housing, jobs, healthcare, and climate protection.

Even before the election, Obama refused to counter McCain's assertion that the surge in Iraq had worked. Instead he said US policy should turn toward Afghanistan. One year into his administration and we are on course to double the number of troops in Afghanistan from Bush Administration levels.

The anti-war movement is slowly and painfully learning several important lessons. First, that these occupations do not represent the mistaken policies of a peace-loving government, but rather are due to a global system emanating from Washington that can only be addressed in their entirety. And second, the Democratic Party will not move one inch toward a less belligerent policy.

Read the full statement here.

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