The Fifth Afghan War

Vijay Prashad wrote in a ZNet Sustainer Commentary on October 30,

On the 3rd of October, 2001, I wrote a ZNET commentary called "Forward into the Past: US War Aims." This was four days before the bombardment began. Already the war aims of the administration seemed to escalate as each day went by. First we heard about retaliation for 9/11, perhaps the capture or murder of bin Laden and the top al-Qa'ida leadership.

But, since the Bush doctrine spoke about "those who harbor" terrorists, it had become clear that the Taliban would face the barrage as well. But the jargon of political science departments flew from Bush's mouth: he did not want to conduct "nation-building," we heard, although "regime change" was on the cards.

As I wrote then, "US war aims, then, are simultaneously as brutal and unfocused in Afghanistan as they are in Iraq - to overthrow one corrupt regime and put in place another, but this time friendly with the US." When I wrote of Iraq then, I meant the Gulf War of 1990-91, not the impending chaos.

So it is fitting, one year later, to assess the war aims, to see what the US has done both with the war and with the region, to tally up the accounts of the Fifth Afghan War...

Read on.