Afghanistan: Destined for misery?
ByLal Khan - Pakistan's fight
The serious strategists of American imperialism understand that a military victory was ruled out in Afghanistan. At the same time, Russia, India, China and other powers are maneuvering to take advantage of the situation. All this is the result of the reactionary defeat of the SAUR revolution of 1978. Now, Nevertheless, The memories of that period are returning between workers and youth, that seek an alternative to both reactionary fundamentalists and the current regime. We share a revealing article the SAUR revolution of Afghanistan of 1978, originally written in 2010 By comrade Lal Khan, which gives a detailed story of the events never mentioned by corporate media.
"The geographical position of Afghanistan and the unique character of its people as a whole confer such political importance in the affairs of Central Asia that is impossible to overestimate". (Fredrick Engels 1820-1895)
As in several other "inflammation points" around the planet, The geostrategic importance of Afghanistan has become a curse rather than a blessing for its people. For centuries, Afghanistan has been the battlefield of indirect wars, insurgences and the great game, in which the imperialist powers competed for the control of Central Asia. In the past it was a conflict between Great Britain and Russia. Now Russia is again involved in intrigues with the populations of Tayikistan and Uzbekistan in the north. Iran is extending its influence on Dari's speakers and Shiites. China is anxious to exploit Afghanistan's mineral resources, where it has the largest copper mine in the world. By last, But not least, India is also actively intervening, What aggravates the conflict with Pakistan, who sees Afghanistan as his own backyard. This cynical exhibition of regional power policy could possibly lead to Afghanistan's division in its constituent parts in the future. This unhappy country is found in the claws of a brutal imperialist invasion and is wrapped in a bloody wear war without an end in view.
Maybe you are interestedLIS Statement on Afghanistan: Against the barbarism of the Taliban and imperialism, solidarity with the working people and women of Afghanistan
Imperialist aggression has failed. The elections to the "Loya Jirga" (parliament) They have not resolved anything. The image can hardly be more bleak. A narcoeconomics directed by gentlemen of the war traitors, The brutal imperialist aggression, The universal corruption and savagery of the dark Taliban: This is the reality of today's Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, This was not always the case. There were times when Kabul was known as the "Paris de Oriente". The victory over the British in the third Anglo-Fgana War of 1919 ended approximately a century of imperialist incursions and some precarious national sovereignty was achieved. The Soviet Russia, Under Lenin and Trotsky's leadership, It was the first country to recognize Afghanistan as an independent nation. Nevertheless, This independence lasted little and the Nadir dynasty imposed a monarchical autocracy in 1929.
The current war did not begin with the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. This aggression dates back more than thirty -two years ago. Muhammad Daud's military coup in 1973 represented the interests of the great landowners and the bourgeoisie. He received help from American imperialism and the Stalinist bureaucracy in Moscow. Both tried to court the Daoud autocratic regime during the Cold War.
The PDPA (Popular Democratic Party of Afghanistan) It was formed in the Unit Congress of the different factions of the Communist Party 1 to declare itself a provisional government and above all to prevent the advances of the protesters from the suburbs 1965. He 17 April 1978, Mir Ali Akbar Khyber was killed by the Daoud regime in the Pul-A-Chakhi prison in Kabul. There was a manifestation of spontaneous protest of more than 10.000 people in Kabul who shook the repressive regime. Daoud planned to kill the other PDPA leaders who languished in prison.
The PDPA had no choice but to retaliate. He 27 April 1978, The army PDPA officers and the Afghan Air Force overthrew the oppressive Daoud regime through a bloody blow. The walls of the Pul-A-Chakhi prison were bombarded by the armored body and the PDPA leaders were released. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was proclaimed and a revolutionary council and a new government were formed, headed by Noor Muhammad Taraki, PDPA General Secretary.
One of the first decrees issued by the Revolutionary Council was the total prohibition of the purchase and sale of women. Women in the prerevolutionary Afghanistan aran deprived of any right. They were essentially a merchandise whose purchase was barely evening for the payment of the bride's money in the prefeudal Afghan society. Nevertheless, These barbarian acts still prevail in Afghanistan today, Not only in the areas of the Taliban but also in those under the "democracy" imposed by imperialism.
In July 1978, The decree no. 6 canceled all debts with landowners and lenders. This meant that, of a stroke, more of 11,5 millions of people, he 80 percent of the rural population was no longer retained by the lenders. The total value of abolished debts amounted to 33.000 Millions of Afghanis. The new government also carried out an agrarian reform. Five percent of the population had three quarters of the entire cultivated land. In the fall of 1979, All this land was expropriated and granted to more than 300.000 Landless peasants.
The role of intermediaries in agricultural products was also abolished. The first census was carried out. Radical measures were taken to improve medical care, the House, Food supply and to eliminate unemployment. In 1978-79 More than 600 Schools and Higher Education Institutions. 800.000 workers and peasants began to attend literacy campaigns courses. Large capitalists and "national" bourgeois and bourgeois bourgeois were nationalized.
Naturally, The new revolutionary government was seen as a threat to the imperialists. Among the many slander launched against the SAUR revolution (primavera) It was that it was "sponsored by the Soviet". This is completely false, As even some western media were forced to admit. For example, The magazineTime wrote in its edition of 28 to declare itself a provisional government and above all to prevent the advances of the protesters from the suburbs 1980: “The Marxist blow in which Noor Muhammad Taraki overthrew Daoud in April of 1978 He surprised both the Soviet and the Americans. Western intelligence has not been able to find Russian fingerprints in the scene of ‘The April Revolution’ ”.
In a speech pronounced 9 April 1979, Taraki said:
“There were no external forces involved in the April Revolution. Afghanistan does not matter or export revolution ... He has embarked on a new direction, to build a society free from man exploitation by man ".
The radical measures taken in the first months after the revolution had a huge impact, especially in the south, Center and West of Asia. Imperialism was terrified by the possible repercussions throughout the region. That is the real reason why the greatest covered operation was unleashed in the history of the CIA against the Afghan revolution. It is also when the current war began, with the reactionary insurgency that was organized by imperialism under the flag of an "Islamic Jihad".
HeWashington Post wrote the 15 February: “The key committees of the Congress responsible for supervising undercover activities have been informed of the actions of the State Department and the CIA… the undercover transactions could, ultimately, Raise questions about whether the rebels secret help, While harassing and immobilizes Russian forces, You can also hinder your departure, which is the declared objective of the administration ".
The main executioners of this covert operation of the CIA to overthrow the leftist government in Kabul were the dictatorship of Zia in Pakistan and the Saudi monarchy. The "jihad of the dollar" was launched no less than by the national security advisor of President Carter, Zbigneiv Brzezinski, In the fall of 1978 In Khyber's passage. He was the one who recruited Osama Bin Laden for this "holy war". Even sang "Allah-O-Akbar" in its launch.
Nevertheless, Ideological deficiencies, The close nationalist confusion and perspective of the PDPA's direction hindered the formulation and execution of a class and internationalist revolutionary policy to combat and defeat the imperialist insurgency. The ideology of PDPA leaders was dominated more by nationalist tendencies than by Marxist internationalism. This reflected its background and Stalinist education.
Try to gain support for the revolution on the basis of Pashtoon nationalism (and others) was intended for failure. As the pressure of the insurgency increased, Internal struggles broke out among the PDPA leaders, which also reflected national and ethnic divisions. As a result, Taraki died and the Russian tanks entered Afghanistan, They crossed the oxus river and crossed the Salang's passage. This transformed the entire dimension of the conflict.
The consequences were predicted only by the Marxists. Ted Grant wrote in June 1978, A few weeks after the SAUR revolution:
“Yes (PDPA leaders) contemporizan, possibly under the influence of the Russian regime, They will prepare the way for a fierce counterrevolution based on the threatened nobility and the mulás. If it succeeds, The counterrevolution would restore the old regime on the bones of hundreds of thousands of peasants, the massacres of radical officers and the almost extermination of the educated elite ”.
This extraordinary prediction has been carried out to the letter in the later period. The Taliban took Kabul in 1996 With the help of the United States. The main person who orchestrated the "conquest of Kabul" for the Taliban under the Mulá Omer, He was the former Undersecretary of State of the United States, Robert Oakley. Acted in collusion with the Benazir government and the secret services of Pakistan (The ISI).
After the withdrawal of the Soviet troops in 1987, The Americans abandoned Afghanistan to the tender mercy of the reaction forces they had created. These wreak havoc and chaos in this unhappy earth. But in 2001, Frankenstein's monster they had built turned against them with force. This was what led to the imperialist occupation of Afghanistan, who has brought devastation and misery without palliative to the masses already impoverished.
After almost nine years of direct occupation, The defeat is now looking at the Americans in the face. The group of experts "Stratfor" created by the former CIA staff, In your latest report of the 6 September makes the following amazing admission:
“(Es) particularly raw given the fundamental reality that the United States will not achieve a victory in Afghanistan in any conventional sense ... Taliban will probably have to be part of any arrangement that can precede the withdrawal of the United States ”.
Given the weakness of the coalition dominated by the United States, The controversial president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, It has gone from being a puppet from Washington to an open critic from the United States. Washington is alarmed by the terms of the peace agreement that is now exploring Karzai. The pentagon, The State Department and the CIA are bitterly divided on this “negotiated” agreement project.
The White House looks for an elegant exit. But the conditions on the terrain rule out such a result. The United States NATO allies are not humorous to stay. The American people now yearn for a withdrawal. But the pentagon cannot afford one. The United States General Commander, Petraeus, He has strongly pressed to Obama to delay any serious retreat of troops until far beyond the term of July of 2011 favored by the president. Obama is apparently moving away from the deadline. The United States armed strategists and forces are involved in a mess of their own creation. They cannot afford to retire, But they cannot sustain such a terribly face and bloody war. As Howard Hart said, A former CIA area chief, a Nicholas Kristof del New York Times: "The mere presence of our forces is the problem. The more troops we put, greater is the opposition ".
What western media hides is that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are not the only opposition. They ignore the growing wave of mass demonstrations on social and economic issues that have taken place in most of the main cities of Afghanistan. Numerous leftist elements, nationalists and others are involved in the national resistance against foreign occupation. Manifestations of protest in the cities of Afghanistan are increasing in frequency and militancy. The more devastation the occupation forces are inflicted, stronger will become resistance.
In some sectors there is fear that the withdrawal of NATO's troops causes anarchy and a bloody civil war. Others ask how much more carnage and chaos can arise from extreme turbulence and massacres that are already being inflicted by the occupation forces. Taliban reactionaries are using this as a alibi to kill and assault innocent people.
Desperate, Imperialists can consider dividing the country to give way to an "elegant exit". There are ethnic tensions among most Pashtoon (44%) and the Tayikos (27%), Uzbekos, Hazas and other minorities from the north, what, As we have pointed out, They are being exacerbated and exploited by foreign powers. These national conflicts do not completely rule out the country's buccanization. But it is not the most probable perspective in the short term. If the imperialists embarked on this strategy, there would be an even more frightening blood bath in Afghanistan.
The possibility of achieving stability under occupation is decreasing day by day. General McChrystal deliberately caused his dismissal in anticipation of an imminent defeat deliberately. his successor, Petraeus, It has not reduced the casualty rate or has made significant advances in the war. HeAssociated Press He informed that he said the 4 of September: "It does not leave an industrial level insurgency killing and capturing".
THE ELECTIONS TO THE LOYA JIRGA (A pre-medieval tribal assembly) They were as manipulated as the presidential. This parliamentary farce is a misleading attempt of the imperialists and their puppets for gaining some credibility in the eyes of the western public. Intends to provide some kind of justification for an adventure that has come terribly bad. The only option that the Afghan masses had in these elections was among different warlords and war criminals. They are mercenary thugs that have won millions with this war through drug trafficking, kidnapping to ask for bailouts and blackmail based on changing loyalties.
In Afghanistan, Capitalism cannot develop society or improve the fate of the millions of Afghan. Under the current mafia-capitalist relations, a formal national economy cannot be established, Not to mention the other tasks of the National Democratic Revolution. The entire economy is based on foreign aid and drug trafficking. In this narcoeconomics, with a 70% illiteracy, a broken social fabric, Medieval dark domination, Extreme poverty, Misery and disease, No "democratic" system grafted by imperialism could ever work. The reconstruction, Development and prosperity are a chimera that is not related to reality. In this swamp of explosive contradictions, There is no way out. Afghanistan cannot overcome ethnic conflicts, economic imbalances, Chronic instability, The wars, bloodshed and deprivations without a fundamental break with the past.
The image painted in the west of the Afghan town as Islamic fans and supporters of the Taliban is completely false. The dark forces of fundamentalism and the corrupt liberal democrats do not attract the masses. But there are the beginnings of a significant resurgence of the left forces. There has been a resurgence of the PDPA that has recently held a Congress in Kabul. Other leftist parties have also been activated again.
The memories of the achievements of poor peasants, workers and youth after the revolution of 1978 They have been transmitted to the new generation. The period of the first months of the “SAUR” revolution gave an idea of what could be achieved with the overthrow of this decomposition capitalist system and the establishment of a planned economy, Even in the form of a cartoon.
The imperialist propaganda that presents the spectrum of a ruthless dark domain and the Talibanization of Afghanistan as the only alternative to imperialist occupation is an absolute nonsense. In 1978, Afghanistan was the only country in southern Asia where landowners and capitalism had been overthrown and imperialist domain had broken. Learning from the mistakes made by the old leaders, A new generation of young people and workers from Afghanistan could carry out a socialist revolution at a much more advanced level.
The resurgence of the old obsolete system through imperialist aggression and religious fanaticism has meant a disaster for Afghan society. The new generation has grown up in atrocious conditions. They have been raised in the school of tyranny, exploitation and painful work. Nevertheless, It is not the inevitable destiny of the people of Afghanistan to support this suffering. The new generation advances towards revolutionary conclusions. In a recent debate on a popular Afghan Youth website, more than 70% I was in favor of studying and understanding Trotsky.
Internationalism is the key to the success of the future Afghan revolution. Today more than ever, Afghanistan's fate is linked to what happens in Pakistan and Iran. Strong historical ties, cultural and economic have joined these societies for thousands of years. Our organization, The struggle, He has also developed modest but firm revolutionary forces in these countries. The foundation of a place in the center of Kabul is not a minor achievement for the growth and development of revolutionary Marxism forces.
The forces of revolutionary Marxism can grow rapidly in the stormy events that are coming. A socialist victory can put themselves at the agenda before what most people could imagine today. History has decreed that this region or descend to the abyss of barbarism or jump the different stages of capitalist development through a socialist revolution. That is the only way to advance. It is the only way to survival and emancipation of the millions of exploited and oppressed people who yearn for a change.
