Poisoning a Subcontinent

Originally posted: November 22nd 2008.

"The error of Afghanistan is far more serious than the error of Iraq. If the resulting insurgency is now exported to Pakistan, both errors will seem peccadilloes. Pakistan is the sixth largest state in the world, and nuclear-armed. The awful prospect is that Obama and Brown may feel too weak to learn from Iraq and pull back. They will blunder on, not to a clean defeat but to something far worse, a war of attrition whose poison will spread across a subcontinent."
http://tinyurl.com/5rrwrg
Thus spake Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins. This explains the urgency of the case the Stop The War Coalition put in a letter delivered to Gordon Brown on Thursday 20 November, the seventh anniversary of the attack on Afhganistan, planned some three months before the Twin Towers bombing. The text of the letter, reprinted in The Guardian, is:
"Seven years after the supposed liberation of Afghanistan, there is now conclusive evidence that the Nato occupation is a disaster. The civilian death toll is mounting. The level of violence is higher than at any time since the invasion in 2001. The UN reports that, under occupation, life expectancy has fallen to 43 years and one in five children die before they reach their fifth birthday. Afghanistan is now fourth from bottom of the UN's league table of development. The mounting violence has caused a refugee crisis and, according to Acbar, the umbrella group of Afghan NGOs, it is making the delivery of aid to the majority of the country impossible. The NGOs warn that there is a very real danger that thousands of Aghans will starve this winter. The end of the Bush era should be a moment to reassess our foreign policy: 68% of the British public now believe the troops should leave Afghanistan within a year; and 125 British soldiers have already lost their lives in a war that even the UK ambassador to Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, has said is unwinnable. We urge Gordon Brown to recognise the facts, respect public opinion and order the withdrawal of British troops."
The letter was signed by Nazir Ahmed- House of Lords, Julie Bowman- Military Families Against The War, Louise Christian human rights lawyer, Jeremy Corbyn MP, George Galloway MP, Lindsey German- Convener: Stop The War Coalition, Elfyn Llwyd MP- Plaid Cymru UK parliamentary group leader, Rachael Massey- Military Families Against The War, Andrew Murray- Chair:Stop The War Coalition, Michael Rosen- poet & broadcaster, Nitin Sawhney- musician and Walter Wolfgang- Labour CND.
GUARDIAN, 21.11.08, http://tinyurl.com/6pj8a7