The Bergdahl Swap and Beyond: The Fundamental Lie of the Afghan War

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/gary-leupp/56339/the-bergdahl-swap-and-beyond-the-fundamental-lie-of-the-afghan-war

The Bergdahl Swap and Beyond: The Fundamental Lie of the Afghan War
by Gary Leupp | June 11, 2014 - 9:23am

As a general rule, U.S. wars are based on lies. Some of these are soon exposed; the lies about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and al-Qaeda links used to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq were exposed (to anyone paying attention) within a few months, or at least by the end of 2003. The lie that Spaniards mined the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898, used to justify U.S. war and the colonization of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines, was exposed much later. The lies about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of 1964, used to justify the escalation of the Vietnam War, were only exposed in the 80s and 90s. The Big Lie surrounding the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan has not yet been adequately exposed and discussed.

The lie was hinted at, rather than expressed outright. The lie was there that was no distinction between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. “We make no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them,” declared George W. Bush. This is the heart of the Bush Doctrine. The point was to justify the overthrow of a regime by actively confusing distinctions, encouraging people to see the Taliban as actively in cahoots with al-Qaeda plots, hence enemies of America and “terrorists” by definition.

Most people in the U.S. initially bought Barack Obama’s differentiation between the second Iraq War as “war of choice” and “strategic blunder” and the Afghan War as a “necessary war” to punish and crush al-Qaeda.. (That’s what the polls suggested; they never, unfortunately, allowed those polled to describe either conflict as neither a necessary war nor a war of choice but as a “criminal war.”)

But now (or as of February, according to a Gallop poll) 49% of people in this country consider the war beginning in 2001 as a “mistake,” while 48% disagree. If there was once a consensus that Iraq was a mistake, but Afghanistan a good cause, there is a growing realization that there is no “good war,” or at least little likelihood that U.S. troops will enter one on the right side anytime soon. Look at the splendid results of the U.S./NATO assault on Libya, and the ongoing agony of an Iraq wrecked by its encounter with would-be “liberators.”

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In 2007 my chapter of the Veterans For Peace held a fundraiser for the upcoming Winter Soldier hearings in MD, and Howard Zinn was the headliner.

The evening of the fundraiser had around 10 ~ 12 inches of the white stuff on the ground. Traffic sucked and I was asked if I could pick up Howard and bring him to the fundraiser.

While I was taking Howard home we were chatting about 'stuff' and Howard asked me "What do you think of the Iraq War?" I told him it reminded me how we got into Vietnam.

He then asked me "What do you think of the Afghanistan War?" I told him "It feels wrong".

Seven years later I can say the same thing: It feels wrong.