Afghanistan: One Big Jail
Originally published in Get on the Bus, January 2006
Afghanistan: One Big Jail
In early 2002, shortly after the Bush regime launched its global tirade known as the War on Terror, Canadian troops were deployed to Afghanistan with the aims of assisting their American allies carry out Operation Enduring Freedom. And Canada has played a major role in the continuing occupation of Afghanistan, with 2600 troops currently on the ground and another 1000 scheduled to arrive in February of 2006.
In early 2002, shortly after the Bush regime launched its global tirade known as the War on Terror, Canadian troops were deployed to Afghanistan with the aims of assisting their American allies in carrying out Operation Enduring Freedom. And Canada has played a major role in the continuing occupation of Afghanistan, with 2600 troops currently on the ground and another 1000 scheduled to arrive in February of 2006.
But the actual objectives of Operation Enduring Freedom have little to do with freedom for the people of Afghanistan. Rather the campaign is meant to prop up and protect a political system in Afghanistan that serves the needs of the US, Canada, and other western imperialist nations. And it is doing this at the expense of the Afghani people whose needs are being ignored or denied, and who are put down with force when they rise up against the oppressive conditions imposed on them. The initial attack forced food aid agencies to flee Afghanistan, putting millions at risk of starvation, and the ongoing occupation has continued to disrupt food aid in that country.
Why is Canada in Afghanistan?
The campaign in Afghanistan is strategically important to the world’s wealthiest nations, Canada included. Firstly, control of Afghanistan offers a foothold in an oil-rich corner of the world. A puppet regime installed by the US would prove to be a useful tool in controlling the flow of oil in that region. Secondly, an Afghanistan controlled by the US could act as a base from which to launch similar strikes on other uncooperative states in the region (such as Iraq). Thirdly, Afghanistan stands as a warning, like a head on a pike, to other states not to think that they can simply do as they please. Finally, Afghanistan is an enticing site on which to build military run prisons to hold the thousands of prisoners the US led coalition is scooping up.
Canadian Forces’ presence on the ground has helped with every aspect of the US’ list of objectives, and at the same time kept Canadian objectives in perspective. Oil is just as important to Canada as it is to the US, and so a regime friendly to western nations is equally desirable. Canadian firms also stand to profit from the American war machine by providing supplies to them, such as helicopters, combat simulation technology, and weapons components. The Canadian government also invests money into foreign weapons manufacturers to the tune of billions of dollars. Thus, a Canada that is supportive of the US War on Terror is good for \business.
The Terrifying Reality of the Occupation
Since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, American troops have been building up a massive prison system meant to detain and interrogate “unlawful combatants” in a manner not unlike that which is happening currently in American run prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Canada’s presence on the ground on the ground in Afghanistan has freed up US soldiers to provide the man-power to build and run these prisons
According to Nader Nadery of the Human Rights Commission, “Afghanistan is being transformed into an enormous US jail. What we have here is a military strategy that has spawned serious human rights abuses, a system of which Afghanistan is but on part.” American officials are not willing to speak about hat goes on inside these prisons and there have been widespread allegations of human rights abuses and torture reminiscent of the atrocities of Abu Ghraib.
Dr. Rafiullah Bidar, regional director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission: “All I do nowadays is chart complaints against the US military…People who have been arrested say they’ve been brutalized – the tactics used are beyond belief.”
Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark of the British Guardian filed a story of their investigation of the prisons in Afghanistan in March of this year. In their report they say: “We have obtained prisoner letters, declassified FBI files, legal depositions, witness statements and testimony from US and UK officials, which document the alleged methods deployed in Afghanistan – shackles, hoods, electrocution, whips, mock executions, sexual humiliation and starvation – and suggest they are practiced across the network. Sir Nigel Rodley, a former UN special rapporteur on torture, said, ‘The more hidden detention practices there are, the more likely that all legal and moral constraints on official behaviour will be removed.’”
There have also been numerous reports of prisoners gone missing in Afghanistan, their whereabouts unknown to their family. Allegations are these prisoners are often taken to other countries to be tortured. According to Robert Baer, a CIA case officer in the Middle East until 1997, this is not an uncommon practice. “We pick up a suspect or we arrange for one of our partner countries to do it,” he explains. “Then the suspect is placed on civilian transport to a third country where, let’s make no bones about it, they use torture. If you want a good interrogation, you send someone to Jordan. If you want them to be killed, you send them to Egypt or Syria. Either way, the US cannot be blamed as it is not doing the heavy work.”
In light of this testimony, one shudders to think of the fate that awaited Maher Arar, a Syrian-Canadian who was arrested and sent to a Syrian prison where he was tortured for 10 months. It also exposes the role that Canada is playing in their participation in the War on terror and in the occupation of Afghanistan.
And while Canada willingly subjects its own civilians and Afghan prisoners (many of hom are detained only to name names) to torture in these prisons, they at the same time willingly subject Afghan civilians to a repressive Islamic government.
In October, 2005, it was reported that the editor of a women’s magazine in Afghanistan was sentenced to two years in prison for writing articles denouncing a law that allows one to be stoned to death for leaving the religioin of Islam, challenging the practice of 100 lashes as punishment for adultery, and arguing for equal rights for women.
“We work together…[we provide] whatever they need. Whatever they as for…We’re here at the behest of the government to provide them with assistance,” said NATO spokesperson, Major Karen Tissot Van Patot (a Canadian) on NATO forces in Afghanistan’s relationship with the Afghani government.
This is what Canada has brought to the people of Afghanistan: an oppressive theocracy, starvation, systemic attacks on women’s fundamental freedoms, abductions, and torture chambers. Canada is a partner in crime, and doesn’t care what kinds of atrocities are committed in its name. Canada’s only concern is that they are a beneficiary of the system that is being set up in Afghanistan, no matter who gets raped and murdered. Rick Hillier, Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, summed thins up perfectly: “We’re not the public service of Canada, we’re not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people.”
Afghanistan: One Big Jail
In early 2002, shortly after the Bush regime launched its global tirade known as the War on Terror, Canadian troops were deployed to Afghanistan with the aims of assisting their American allies carry out Operation Enduring Freedom. And Canada has played a major role in the continuing occupation of Afghanistan, with 2600 troops currently on the ground and another 1000 scheduled to arrive in February of 2006.
In early 2002, shortly after the Bush regime launched its global tirade known as the War on Terror, Canadian troops were deployed to Afghanistan with the aims of assisting their American allies in carrying out Operation Enduring Freedom. And Canada has played a major role in the continuing occupation of Afghanistan, with 2600 troops currently on the ground and another 1000 scheduled to arrive in February of 2006.
But the actual objectives of Operation Enduring Freedom have little to do with freedom for the people of Afghanistan. Rather the campaign is meant to prop up and protect a political system in Afghanistan that serves the needs of the US, Canada, and other western imperialist nations. And it is doing this at the expense of the Afghani people whose needs are being ignored or denied, and who are put down with force when they rise up against the oppressive conditions imposed on them. The initial attack forced food aid agencies to flee Afghanistan, putting millions at risk of starvation, and the ongoing occupation has continued to disrupt food aid in that country.
Why is Canada in Afghanistan?
The campaign in Afghanistan is strategically important to the world’s wealthiest nations, Canada included. Firstly, control of Afghanistan offers a foothold in an oil-rich corner of the world. A puppet regime installed by the US would prove to be a useful tool in controlling the flow of oil in that region. Secondly, an Afghanistan controlled by the US could act as a base from which to launch similar strikes on other uncooperative states in the region (such as Iraq). Thirdly, Afghanistan stands as a warning, like a head on a pike, to other states not to think that they can simply do as they please. Finally, Afghanistan is an enticing site on which to build military run prisons to hold the thousands of prisoners the US led coalition is scooping up.
Canadian Forces’ presence on the ground has helped with every aspect of the US’ list of objectives, and at the same time kept Canadian objectives in perspective. Oil is just as important to Canada as it is to the US, and so a regime friendly to western nations is equally desirable. Canadian firms also stand to profit from the American war machine by providing supplies to them, such as helicopters, combat simulation technology, and weapons components. The Canadian government also invests money into foreign weapons manufacturers to the tune of billions of dollars. Thus, a Canada that is supportive of the US War on Terror is good for \business.
The Terrifying Reality of the Occupation
Since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, American troops have been building up a massive prison system meant to detain and interrogate “unlawful combatants” in a manner not unlike that which is happening currently in American run prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Canada’s presence on the ground on the ground in Afghanistan has freed up US soldiers to provide the man-power to build and run these prisons
According to Nader Nadery of the Human Rights Commission, “Afghanistan is being transformed into an enormous US jail. What we have here is a military strategy that has spawned serious human rights abuses, a system of which Afghanistan is but on part.” American officials are not willing to speak about hat goes on inside these prisons and there have been widespread allegations of human rights abuses and torture reminiscent of the atrocities of Abu Ghraib.
Dr. Rafiullah Bidar, regional director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission: “All I do nowadays is chart complaints against the US military…People who have been arrested say they’ve been brutalized – the tactics used are beyond belief.”
Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark of the British Guardian filed a story of their investigation of the prisons in Afghanistan in March of this year. In their report they say: “We have obtained prisoner letters, declassified FBI files, legal depositions, witness statements and testimony from US and UK officials, which document the alleged methods deployed in Afghanistan – shackles, hoods, electrocution, whips, mock executions, sexual humiliation and starvation – and suggest they are practiced across the network. Sir Nigel Rodley, a former UN special rapporteur on torture, said, ‘The more hidden detention practices there are, the more likely that all legal and moral constraints on official behaviour will be removed.’”
There have also been numerous reports of prisoners gone missing in Afghanistan, their whereabouts unknown to their family. Allegations are these prisoners are often taken to other countries to be tortured. According to Robert Baer, a CIA case officer in the Middle East until 1997, this is not an uncommon practice. “We pick up a suspect or we arrange for one of our partner countries to do it,” he explains. “Then the suspect is placed on civilian transport to a third country where, let’s make no bones about it, they use torture. If you want a good interrogation, you send someone to Jordan. If you want them to be killed, you send them to Egypt or Syria. Either way, the US cannot be blamed as it is not doing the heavy work.”
In light of this testimony, one shudders to think of the fate that awaited Maher Arar, a Syrian-Canadian who was arrested and sent to a Syrian prison where he was tortured for 10 months. It also exposes the role that Canada is playing in their participation in the War on terror and in the occupation of Afghanistan.
And while Canada willingly subjects its own civilians and Afghan prisoners (many of hom are detained only to name names) to torture in these prisons, they at the same time willingly subject Afghan civilians to a repressive Islamic government.
In October, 2005, it was reported that the editor of a women’s magazine in Afghanistan was sentenced to two years in prison for writing articles denouncing a law that allows one to be stoned to death for leaving the religioin of Islam, challenging the practice of 100 lashes as punishment for adultery, and arguing for equal rights for women.
“We work together…[we provide] whatever they need. Whatever they as for…We’re here at the behest of the government to provide them with assistance,” said NATO spokesperson, Major Karen Tissot Van Patot (a Canadian) on NATO forces in Afghanistan’s relationship with the Afghani government.
This is what Canada has brought to the people of Afghanistan: an oppressive theocracy, starvation, systemic attacks on women’s fundamental freedoms, abductions, and torture chambers. Canada is a partner in crime, and doesn’t care what kinds of atrocities are committed in its name. Canada’s only concern is that they are a beneficiary of the system that is being set up in Afghanistan, no matter who gets raped and murdered. Rick Hillier, Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, summed thins up perfectly: “We’re not the public service of Canada, we’re not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people.”
posted by WPRMwinnipeg at 1:43 PM
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