Democratic Palestine : 35 (ص 33)
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- Democratic Palestine : 35 (ص 33)
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Afghanistan — Stop the Aggression!
On August 19th, the Afghani people celebrated the 70th anniversary
of their independence from British colonialism. On April 27th, they
had celebrated the 11th anniversary of the establishment of a pro-
gressive government led by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Still, today, they have yet to enjoy the fruits of independence and
progress fully, due to the continuation of the counterrevolutionary
war engineered and sustained by US imperialism and the Pakistani
military.
In the wake of the April 1988 Geneva
accords for ending the conflict in
Afghanistan, the western media was
filled with predictions that Najiballah’s
government would not survive after the
Soviet troop withdrawal. Even pro-
gressive forces expressed doubts about
the future in Afghanistan. Yet today,
well over half a year after the last
Soviet soldier departed, the PDP
government has proved its viability.
This fact has caused some reshuffling in
the ranks of Afghanistan’s enemies.
The US administration set its hopes
on the so-called transitional govern-
ment formed in February by the
Pakistan-based, fundamentalist
Afghani opposition, despite the fact
that these tribalists could scarcely unite
among themselves. New shipments of
US arms and Saudi funding, channeled
by the CIA via the Pakistani military,
aimed to encourage a counterrevolu-
tionary offensive; Jalalabad, in eastern
Afghanistan, was the _ centerpiece.
However, despite months of trying, the
rebel bands just couldn’t take Jalalabad
or any other Afghani town of note. In-
stead, their own weakness and
dependence on external aid was further
exposed. Government counteroffen-
sives have inflicted substantial
casualties in the contras’ ranks, and
their dead have included Pakistani
soldiers and mercenaries from various
Middle East countries, primarily Saudi
Arabia. The counterrevolutionaries
only military «successes» have been
recurring rocket attacks on Kabul and
other population centers, inflicting
heavy civilian casualties, and other acts
of sabotage.
Setbacks in the battlefield fanned the
historical rivalry among the component
groups of the rebel alliance. Their in-
ternal clashes reached new proportions
Democratic Palestine, October 1989
in August, when at least 300 were killed
in a showdown between the two largest
groups of the «transitional govern-
ment» which the Bush Administration
wants to promote as the «democratic
alternative» to the legitimate Afghani
government.
Faced with the debacle of the plan to
overthrow Najiballah, the US has so far
resorted only to _ technical read-
justments in its hostile policy. By early
June, the counterrevolutionaries’
failure to take Jalalabad had become
obvious. Pakistani President Benazir
Bhutto fired Hamid Gul, head of
military intelligence, who had advised
the rebels in the ill-fated Jalalabad
campaign. According to some reports,
the sacking was at the CIA’s behest, in
order to find a scapegoat. This occur-
red just prior to Bhutto’s visit to
Washington D.C., where she and Presi-
dent Bush confirmed support to the
«transitional government.» Bhutto was
elected on a platform of democratic
promises, including a pledge to end
Pakistan’s interference in Afghanistan.
However, any real change in Pakistan’s
role vis-a-vis Afghanistan, since she
assumed office, is imperceptible. In
fact, the only country of importance in
relation to Afghanistan, to have
changed its position since the Geneva
accords, is India which has supported
the Afghani government in the face of
Pakistan’s intervention.
Although US policy vis-a-vis
Afghanistan has not changed, the
counterrevolutionaries’ failures have
had repercussions. In June, US
Senators demanded a policy review. In
early August, there were heated discus-
sions between congressmen and CIA
Director William Webster on why the
rebels failed despite massive US arms
shipments to their headquarters in
Pakistan. The upshot was scapegoating
and dismissing the head of the CIA
Afghan task force. It is now reported
that the US will attempt to deliver arms
directly to the local rebel commanders
in Afghanistan, rather than to the
shaky coalition in exile.
Such a change in supply routing has
in fact been reported before, and it is at
this point that the ultimate futility of
the US policy becomes most apparent.
It is among the rebel commanders in the
field that the Afghani government’s
national reconciliation policy has made
some inroads. Furthering the recon-
ciliation policy he began soon after
coming tc power in 1986, President
Najiballah in March called on field
commanders to stop the war and work
to prevent Pakistan’s violation of
Afghanistan’s sovereignty. In return,
they could retain their arms, elect local
councils and receive aid from the cen-
tral government. A number of field
commanders have taken up this offer.
US policy will fail as long as it tries to
circumvent the legitimacy of the
government in Kabul. The problem is
not how to channel supplies to the con-
tras, but the fact that these forces are
neither a political or military alter-
native to the PDP government. The
only result of the US, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia and others continuing their in-
terference is more human and material
losses to the Afghani people. The cur-
rent situation highlights the parallel to
Nicaragua where the US-fueled contra
war has not been able to break the
Sandinista government, but has simply
inflicted enormous destruction and
suffering on the people.
The Najiballah government has
maintained its realistic offer for ending
the war via a cease-fire, talks and for-
mation of a _ broad-based coalition
government representing all Afghani
parties. It is the counterrevolutionary
alliance that has refused this option,
and it has only been able to sustain its
opposition because of continuing sup-
port from the US and Pakistan. It is the
duty of the international community
and the UN, which sponsored the
Geneva accords, to take steps to end
such foreign interference so the
Afghani people can devote their efforts
to social progress rather than war.
e
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