Bombing Afghanistan is not the answer

[A statement of the National Executive Committee of the
Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
Oct. 15, 2001]

It is just one month since the terror attacks on September
11.

The thousands who died there were the innocent victims of
attacks directed against the peace and security of all
nations -- a crime against humanity. These acts call for a
searching debate about how to defeat terrorism and to mount
an effective international response to apprehend the
criminals and bring them to justice.

Yet, with practically no examination of the consequences or
the alternatives, the bombing of Afghanistan has begun. The
US military is raining an unimaginable tonnage of deep
penetration and cluster bombs on one of the poorest
countries in the world.

In our view, this policy is morally unjustifiable and
counterproductive. It is watering the soil from which
terrorism springs. And it is foreclosing the building of an
effective international coalition in defense of peace and
security, acting with strengthened and impartial legal
authority, which is necessary for the world community to
answer this grave threat.

What has this assault wrought?

* It has killed hundreds of civilians, including four UN
 mine-clearing workers. It has destroyed nonmilitary
 property despite claims of pinpoint targeting. Eyewitnesses
 have reported the deaths of dozens of women and
 children. But combatants who may once have occupied the
 training camps are certainly long gone.

* It has provoked the enmity of millions in the Islamic
 world and has turned millions from mourning and sympathy
 for the loss of life on September 11 to rage against the
 US.

* It has created a staggering humanitarian crisis, with over
 7 million hungry and homeless refugees engulfed in
 disastrous circumstances. The dropping of 37,000 ration
 packets in the face of this massive crisis is little more
 than a cynical attempt to make the bombing palatable and to
 promote the contention that "we are not at war with the
 Afghan people" while their impoverished, backward land is
 being bombed to oblivion.

* It has elevated, not diminished, the status of Osama bin
 Laden among many in South Asia and the Middle East.

* It has done nothing to bring the perpetrators of the
 crimes of September 11 to justice. It has not allowed for a
 thorough, internationally coordinated investigation of who
 planned the attacks. Nor has it dismantled Al Qaeda, which
 reportedly maintains cells in dozens of countries and whose
 communication and financial networks apparently extend from
 Pakistan, not from Afghanistan.

* It has raised the specter of a destabilized Pakistan, a
 nuclear state.

* It has set the stage for the present deployment of US
 military forces in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, as well as
 special forces operating inside Afghanistan. This upends
 the precarious status quo among regional nuclear powers
 China, Russia, India, and Pakistan and threatens to inflame
 the half-century of tension between India and Pakistan. It
 also fuels the well-grounded suspicion that Washington is
 seeking to use military force to consolidate its already
 substantial hold on the oil of the Caspian Sea and the Gulf
 region. And now, the Bush Administration is threatening an
 imminent ground war in Afghanistan.

* It has intensified the drive to shred civil liberties and
 revive a repressive national security state at home. It has
 fed the bigotry and violence against Arab Americans,
 Muslims, and immigrants in this country.

* It has undermined the possibility of creating a
 politically, geographically and ethnically inclusive
 coalition to fight terrorism.

Many in our country who are understandably fearful of
terrorism and enraged at the September 11 atrocity have gone
along with the bombing of Afghanistan because they have not
perceived an alternative which can effectively curb a
scourge that is nihilistic and reactionary at its
core. Others are wary of reliance upon international
juridical agencies which have traditionally acceded to US
demands and have often rejected or ignored the interests of
people in the Global South.

There is an alternative.

* Genuine international cooperation, based upon equal
 participation of all nations regardless of ideology, social
 systems and level of development, can assure the most
 comprehensive pooling of intelligence, the most effective
 security, the highest degree of teamwork by law enforcement
 agencies, the best means to dry up the flow of money to
 terrorists, and the most constructive and peaceful
 resolution of the present crisis through the delivery of
 the perpetrators to justice.

* In order to work, that collaboration would require an end
 to Washington's imperial unilateralism; it would oblige the
 US to endorse the international criminal court and the UN
 antiterrorism treaty, thus developing the strength and
 impartiality of relevant agencies in the process of
 bringing the terrorists to justice.

* Effective action against terrorism which is spawned in the
 despairing swamp of poverty and oppression must involve
 genuine, massive humanitarian aid to the victims of bombing
 and displacement. It must involve measured, committed
 efforts to redress the global gap between rich and poor. It
 must seize the present opportunity to end the illegal
 Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and bring the
 Palestinian right of self- determination to realization. It
 must end bombing and sanctions against Iraq and end all
 acts of state-sponsored terror throughout the world.

A new and determined peace movement quickly came to life as
the Bush administration began what it calls a "new war." Our
call to stop the bombing and other military action is
complemented by a call to end the racial bigotry and
violence that has escalated throughout the country since
Sept. 11, and to defend civil liberties.

Building a mighty majority to stop the killing and put
humanity on the path to peace will not be an easy task, but
it is one we must take up. With clarity and principle we
have to address the hard questions people are asking: what
can be done to stop terrorism? why do so many people around
the world hate the United States? how can peace be secured?

The urgency of the situation demands our immediate
action. The complexity of the moment requires that we create
new ways of talking with people, new forms of organizing and
new structures to ensure a broad and inclusive movement. It
will not be easy, but we can stop this war and we can build
a lasting, global peace based on economic and social
justice.