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stillcool

(32,626 posts)
11. don't know, but here's some history
Sun Aug 15, 2021, 05:28 PM
Aug 2021

An archive of interesting articles from back in the day can be found at Third World Traveler
https://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/
From William Blum


Afghanistan, 1979-92:

Everyone knows of the unbelievable repression of women in Afghanistan, carried out by Islamic fundamentalists, even before the Taliban. But how many people know that during the late 1970s and most of the 1980s, Afghanistan had a government committed to bringing the incredibly backward nation into the 20th century, including giving women equal rights? What happened, however, is that the United States poured billions of dollars into waging a terrible war against this government, simply because it was supported by the Soviet Union. Prior to this, CIA operations had knowingly increased the probability of a Soviet intervention, which is what occurred. In the end, the United States won, and the women, and the rest of Afghanistan, lost. More than a million dead, three million disabled, five million refugees, in total about half the population.
https://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/US_Interventions_WBlumZ.html



https://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Afghanistan/Afghanistan_page.html

Afghanistan page

Afghanistan, the CIA, bin Laden, and the Taliban
The Real Afghanis
How can the US bomb this tragic people? - Robert Fisk
A Resource War - Afghanistan
The Fire Down Below
The Truth About Afghanistan
Betrayal (1/04)
War Without End - Afghanistan (9/04)
'One Huge US Jail' (3/05)
The U.S. War In Afghanistan Continues (7/05)
Women and Warlords: Letter From Afghanistan (5/06)
Afghanistan: The Other Lost War (9/06)
Abandoning Hypocrisy - Canada in Afghanistan (9/06)
Afghanistan - Foreign Troops and the Insurgency (9/06)
Who benefits from the Afghan Opium Trade? (9/06)
Afghanistan: Five Years Later (10/06)
Afghanistan Unliberated (10/06)
Women in Afghanistan (11/06)
Afghanistan - The Bloodiest Field for Slaughtering Human Rights (12/06)
Iran Is Seeking More Influence in Afghanistan (12/06)
Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence - by Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls (3/07) - a book review
Occupation Forces Support Afghan Narcotics Trade - Multibillion dollar earnings for organized crime and Western financial Institutions (4/07)
The US and Her Fundamentalist Stooges are the Main Human Rights Violators In Afghanistan (12/07)
Women's lives worse than ever [in Afghanistan] (2/08)
Afghanistan, Another Untold Story (11/08)
The Other Front [Afghanistan] (12/08)
The Afghan Scam (1/09)
'The Killing of Women Is Like Killing a Bird Today in Afghanistan' (7/09)



https://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/US_Interventions_WBlumZ.html
Following its bombing of Iraq in 1991, the United States wound up with military bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Following its bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the United States wound up with military bases in Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia.
Following its bombing of Afghanistan in 2001-2, the United States wound up with military bases in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Yemen and Djibouti.
Following its bombing and invasion of Iraq in 2003, the United States wound up with Iraq.
This is not very subtle foreign policy. Certainly not covert. The men who run the American Empire are not easily embarrassed.
And that is the way the empire grows-a base in every neighborhood, ready to be mobilized to put down any threat to imperial rule, real or imagined. Fifty-eight years after world War II ended, the United States still has major bases in Germany and Japan; fifty ears after the end of the Korean War, tens of thousands of American armed forces continue to be stationed in South Korea.
.... we must maintain the mechanisms for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role."
1996: "We will engage terrestrial targets someday-ships, airplanes, land targets-from space.... We're going to fight in space. We're going to fight from space and we're going to fight into space.

About as much as other Afghanies. Sneederbunk Aug 2021 #1
That's my hopeful thinking as well. honest.abe Aug 2021 #2
The Guns & Islamic Discipline Will Force Them To Give Up Those "Freedoms." SoCalDavidS Aug 2021 #4
Not when you will become quickly indebted to the Chinese. roamer65 Aug 2021 #3
Interesting viewpoint jmbar2 Aug 2021 #24
With Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar under the Chinese sphere of influence... roamer65 Aug 2021 #26
I hadn't ever thought of it from that geopolitical perspective. jmbar2 Aug 2021 #28
Iran. tblue37 Aug 2021 #5
As long as we were there, they were fine with it. No army was formed, or not enough of one PortTack Aug 2021 #6
The people will not rise up. SoonerPride Aug 2021 #7
China had to relent eventually and allow their people much more freedom. Irish_Dem Aug 2021 #8
74% of Afghanistan's population is rural, and 57% illiterate dalton99a Aug 2021 #9
It's really simple. GrassClippings Aug 2021 #10
don't know, but here's some history stillcool Aug 2021 #11
Thanks for the massive number of links jmbar2 Aug 2021 #16
Wrong question. It never was a single political entity in reality. Hekate Aug 2021 #12
Go back and look at Afghanistan in the 60w and 70s... brooklynite Aug 2021 #13
The links above are eye opening jmbar2 Aug 2021 #18
They have no intention of "driving the car." GoCubsGo Aug 2021 #14
This is correct sarisataka Aug 2021 #15
they have the ability to kill anyone who tries to stop them, which is all that matters Takket Aug 2021 #17
I think it will remain fractionalized Johonny Aug 2021 #19
Think so, too Deminpenn Aug 2021 #23
the iranian clerics seem to be performing adequately. rampartc Aug 2021 #20
You know what? It's not our problem FakeNoose Aug 2021 #21
I agree that we can't fix them jmbar2 Aug 2021 #25
They don't govern. They rule, and they'll be there for the forseeable future...nt Wounded Bear Aug 2021 #22
Look At Iran Deep State Witch Aug 2021 #27
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