What are we doing in Afghanistan?

Cole Harrison

thanks to Steve Burns, Tom Hayden and Connie Frisbee Houde

What is the US doing in Afghanistan?

• Military• Diplomatic, “nation building”,

“democracy promotion”• Reconstruction

Afghanistan civilian casualties

CIVILIANS KILLED BY US-LED MILITARY ACTION

4,800-6,873 [2001-2008, est.]

TOTAL CIVILIANS KILLED AS RESULT OF WAR

6,069-7,607 [est.]

PERCENTAGE OF CIVILIAN DEATHS CAUSED BY US

79%-90%

Source: average of multiple surveys, high and low estimates.

• “U.S. Killed 90 in Afghan Village, Including 60 Children, U.N. Finds” -Carlotta Gall, New York Times, August 27, 2008 (image accompanies)

• “Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan Are Undermining Allies’ War on the Taliban” - Carlotta Gall and David E. Sanger, New York Times, May 13, 2007

• “A special investigator for the United Nations on Thursday accused foreign intelligence agencies of conducting nighttime raids and killing civilians in Afghanistan with impunity...he was accusing the Central Intelligence Agency or American unconventional-warfare units of operating without accountability…”

- New York Times, May, 16, 2008

Extreme Poverty in Afghanistan

Afghanistan ranked 173rd of 178 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index in 2005.*

“A troop increase is likely to inflame Afghan nationalism because Afghans are more foreign than we acknowledge and the

support for our presence in the insurgency areas is declining. The Taliban, which was

a largely discredited and backward movement, gains support by portraying

itself as fighting for Islam and Afghanistan against a foreign military occupation.”

- Rory Stewart, Time, July 28, 2008.

http://www.peacefultomorrows.org

What’s happening in Pakistan

• Pakistan contains four main ethnic groups – Punjabis, Sindhis, Baluch and Pashtun

• Punjab and Sind are more economically developed and populous; Baluchistan and Pashtun areas are less so

• Baluch and Pashtuns have grievances which have not been addressed for decades