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November 2, 2001
Alexander Cockburn
FBI Eyes
Torture
November 1, 2001
Dean Baker
Dying
for Patents
Sami Amarah
US Attempts
to Recruit
Russian Vets of Afghan War
Molly Secours
Where
Are the Voices of Reason? Let the Women
Be Heard
William Blum
Unleashing the
CIA
October 31, 2001
Tom Turnipseed
Terrorize
the Poor,
Subsidize the Rich
Chris Clarke
Thank God
for Berkeley
Steve
Perry
The
Silent Genocide
October 30, 2001
Rep. Ron Paul
War on Terror
Bad as War on Drugs
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Flying
Blind:
The Predator's Problem
Ali Abunimah
Dear Colin
Powell
St. Clair/Cockburn
Atomic
Trains Grounded
Maud Hurd
We Need a Real
Stimulus Package
Dr. Susan
Block
We're
All Afghans Now
Tariq Ali
Busted in Munich
Francis
Beer
Toward
the Terrorist
Anti-World
October 29, 2001
Alexander Cockburn
The Left
and the Just War
John Pilger
Hidden
Agenda
of the War on Terror
David Krieger
Nukes on
the Loose
Jack McCarthy
Neo-Nazis
and 9/11
Marina Kalashnikova
The Brzezinski
Interview
Richard
Manning
Terrorism:
a definitive history
October 27, 2001
Edward
Said
A
Vision to Lift the Spririt
October 26, 2001
CounterPunch
Wire
Genocide
Scholar Gagged
Over Comments on the
Bombing of Afghanistan
Rahul
Mahajan
Poisoning
the Well
Sen. Russ Feingold
Why I Opposed
the
Anti-Terrorism Bill
Resources:
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War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a
History of Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden
and Bush Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden
Hype of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh
on Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin
Tells Bush: Nuke 'Em
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Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
Responses to 9/11:
Chomsky, Russell Banks,
Zinn, and Alice Walker
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A Pocket Guide to
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November 3,
2001
A War On Civilians?
by Mark Weisbrot
President Bush has declared a "war on terror,"
and political leaders such as House minority leader Dick Gephardt
insist that "this is not a strike against the people of
Afghanistan."
But the evidence is accumulating that
our current military campaign is indeed, as most of the world
sees it, being waged against the Afghan people.
Consider this statement from Admiral
Michael Boyce, Chief of the British Defense Staff. Referring
to the bombing campaign, he said, "The squeeze will carry
on until the people of the country themselves recognize that
this is going to go on until they get the leadership changed."
It seems clear from this statement that
Admiral Boyce sees the punishment of Afghan civilians, including
their children, as an important part of the US/British strategy.
On September 16 the New York Times reported that our government
had demanded from Pakistan "the elimination of truck convoys
that provide much of the food and other supplies to Afghanistan's
civilian population."
Food shipments fell drastically, although
the border has remained porous, especially to those who pay bribes.
The Taliban is even able to make money by exporting things as
big as logs.
In recent weeks the UN World Food Programme
has increased its shipments. But these are still far short of
the amount needed to prevent mass starvation during the winter.
The increased risk to truck drivers, the breakdown in law and
order, and other disruptions due to the war are taking their
expected toll.
There are currently about 5.3 million
people receiving food aid, and this is expected to increase to
7.5 million in the near future. In about two weeks winter will
begin, many roads will become impassible, and people will have
to rely on stockpiled food. Relief groups have called for a halt
in the bombing so that food - as well as blankets and medicines
- can get through before it is too late. But their appeals have
so far gone unheeded.
And everyone acknowledges that the air
drops of food from US planes are so small that they are little
more than an exercise in public relations.
What is terrorism? Edward Herman, Emeritus
Professor from Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, has
offered a politically neutral, straightforward definition of
terrorism that is difficult to argue with: "the use of force
or the threat of force against civilian populations to achieve
political objectives."
A strategy to "squeeze" Afghanistan,
through bombing and starvation, "until the people of the
country themselves . . . get the leadership changed" would
certainly qualify as terrorism under this definition.
Most Americans would like to see Osama
Bin Laden, and anyone else that was responsible for the atrocity
of September 11, brought to justice. But they would certainly
be ashamed if they knew that their government was pursuing a
strategy that involved starving hundreds of thousands, and possibly
even millions, of innocent people.
Of course this is not the first time
that our government has used collective punishment, or terrorism,
in order to achieve its political goals: there was Nicaragua
in the 1980s, Vietnam prior to that, and many other examples.
In fact, by any objective definition of terrorism - one that
includes the terrorism of states as well as individuals - the
United States has been its largest single sponsor over the last
half-century.
This war is different, in that it originated
with a horrific terrorist attack on Americans. But the collective
punishment of the people of Afghanistan is no more excusable
than the crimes of September 11. As such, it will only inspire
more hatred and terrorism against us.
There is no military solution to the
problem of terrorism within our borders. We will have to change
our foreign policy, so that our government does not make so many
enemies throughout the world. Those who collaborated in the crimes
of September 11 will have to be pursued through legal and political
channels, including the United Nations.
A good start would be to cut off the
major source of Bin Laden's funding and support, which is not
in Afghanistan but in Saudi Arabia. The Bush Administration has
done very little on this front, due to a combination of big oil
and other "geopolitical" interests. Our government
is willing to risk American lives, at home and abroad, and kill
any number of innocent Afghanis, but it is apparently not willing
to risk disturbing its relations with the Saudi royal family.
Going the legal route won't boost the
President's approval ratings the way a war does, nor will it
make the world fear our military power. But at least we won't
be fighting terrorism with more terrorism, and fueling an escalating
cycle of violence. CP
Mark Weisbrot
is co-director of the Center for
Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC.
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