Posts in "Afghanistan War"

By Zach Foster at 10:17AM

Jan 30, 2012

What It Means to Be Pro-Life (Part 1)

Many Americans with some political consciousness tend to group themselves in one or two political categories: the left and the right, the former are usually associated with the Democrat Party and the latter with the Republican Party. Whenever people assign themselves to one of these two positions, they usually subscribe to the majority of that position’s pre-set policies and beliefs.

Both the left and the right have their own views on the sanctity of life, yet their contradictory views -- the left being against war and the death penalty but all for the choice of abortion and the right being against abortion but for the death penalty and war -- become a paradox. Wherever they stand on the issue of life, both the left and the right are in full favor of death to some extent, and any stance they take on preserving life -- whether in the fetal stage or in the electric chair -- is based on fallacious logic and dishonest euphemisms. Both sides are willing to kill in order to bring about their ideal conditions in society.

Part I: How the Left Justifies Killing

Leftists love to attack war but most of them are hypocrites for doing so, since they also often favor war but simply for different reasons than the right. Socialists favor labor violence and outright civil wars which they refer to as “wars of liberation.” If they subscribe to Lenin’s teachings, violence and outright terror in the name of proletarian revolution are justified (see The Black Book of Communism, Chapter 4: The Red Terror). More moderate leftists, from Woodrow Wilson to Barack Obama, campaign on peace but instead lead the country into wars for various political and economic purposes. With Wilson it was the First World War and with Obama it was continuation of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as intervention in the Libyan Civil War as well as those in Somalia, South Sudan, and Central Africa. Both social democrats enjoyed wide support from their allegedly pacific Democrat Party.

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By Jayel Aheram at 9:35AM

Oct 24, 2011

Americans Force Innocent Civilians into a Gruesome Death March

NPR is reporting that U.S. and Afghan soldiers have allegedly forced innocent villagers into a gruesome Death March:

Villagers from a violent part of southern Afghanistan say that Afghan troops, along with several American mentors, forced civilians to march ahead of soldiers on roads where the Taliban were believed to have planted bombs and landmines.

John Glaser from Antiwar.com has more:

Last month, scores of villagers came to the district meeting hall along with their village elders, and all told the local authorities similar story. They said American and Afghan soldiers pulled them out of their homes one evening in early September.
According to Faizal Mahmud, the deputy head of Panjwai’s council of elders, the villagers claimed the soldiers arbitrarily detained them, lined them up, and forced them to walk in front of the soldiers for over a mile, through roads believed to be packed with explosives by the Taliban.

Glaser added that if the allegations were true, it would be “a serious violation of domestic and international law. “

The last time American soldiers were involved in a Death March, they were the ones marching. The Bataan Death March was rightfully condemned as a war crime and the people responsible were prosecuted for it, so must this be if it turns out these stories are true. However, if Dick Cheney’s gleeful boast of torture or President Barack Obama’s wanton killing of Americans are of any indication, there will be no justice meted.

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By Brian Beyer at 9:38AM

Aug 11, 2011

Al-Qaeda and Affiliates Remain Determined to Bleed America Dry

One of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda’s stated goals was to destroy America economically by waging a “War of a thousand cuts.”

The goal was to cause as much economic pain as was possible. No attack better exemplified this than the 9/11 attacks, which struck right at the heart of New York City, the financial capital of the world. Not only was the attack symbolic, but the markets tanked, exacerbating the recession that plagued America. Additionally, the US began to engage in a global effort to fight terrorism, much like a bull in a China shop.

The War in Afghanistan, initially fought to find those responsible for the 9/11 attacks, slowly morphed into a nation building effort in a fruitless attempt to make the country hostile to al-Qaeda and a beacon of democracy. Iraq was invaded because terrorists, along with former US ally Saddam Hussein, were said to be the proud owners of Weapons of Mass Destruction that posed an existential threat to the American way of life (of course, the WMDs were never actually located). Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia also quickly became theaters in America’s unending war on terrorism.

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By Gerald Clift at 11:37AM

Jul 15, 2011

Afghanistan War now more dangerous for civilians than ever

How would we feel if our country was occupied by another nation for over a decade in war and then that war became more deadly for our family, friends, and neighbors than ever?

That's exactly what is happening in Afghanistan right now. "The first half of this year was the deadliest six months for civilians in Afghanistan since the decade-old war began."

This can largely be attributed to the fact that when Obama took office, there were 38,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but now there are about 100,000 -- which is why it should be no surprise to us that support for the United States under President Obama is actually lower in many Middle Eastern countries than it was under Bush.

Meanwhile we continue to support the Libyan rebels who have been reported to have links to Al Qaeda and to "have damaged property, burned some homes, looted from hospitals, homes, and shops, and beaten some individuals alleged to have supported government forces."

It would be hard to argue that our interventionist foreign policy is doing more good than harm for either the U.S. image abroad or the safety of the civilians in the countries we occupy.

If it wasn't time to come home before, it is time now.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 5:40PM

Nov 4, 2010

Worst. Contest. Ever: GOP and Dems vie for "Most Hawkish" title just two days after the election.

Flush with optimism after major victories in yesterday’s Congressional elections, House Republicans have promised one of their first orders of business is to attack President Obama’s July 2011 drawdown date in Afghanistan, despite the comparative handicap that the president already disavowed that date months ago.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Upon taking office in 2009, President Obama quickly established Afghanistan as his war, dramatically and repeatedly escalating the US presence despite ever worsening conditions. It seems now that he will face challenges from Republicans looking to make it their war instead, and the race may be on to out-hawk one another on the war, despite poll data showing the war is increasingly unpopular among voters.

I just -- I just don't understand.

I mean, I expected that, once it got some power back, the GOP would quickly make itself as odious as it has been...well, pretty much all the other times it's been in power. Just like the Democratic Party does when it's in control.

But really? Really?! Really?!?

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By Sam Swedberg at 10:11AM

Oct 11, 2010

It's Been Nine Years...

This past Thursday, October 7th, YAL @ St. Cloud State University held a petition rally to bring awareness on campus about the nine year anniversary of the "war" in Afghanistan. After it was all said and done we collected 450 petition signatures (makes for a great email list).

As you'll notice in the photos, we were able to get a film student (a friend who happens to be sympathetic to YAL) to rent out a camera and take some footage of the event. The video should be edited within the week or two. In the video we ask a few students who signed our petitions how they think America should go about ending the war. It was interesting: Often students wouldn't really take a side either way, often saying something like, "Yeah, I think we should end the war, but I don't think we can just get up and leave yet."

I think this is a sad yet perfect commentary on today's college students and their view on our perpetual wars. There's no draft, so unless they have a close family or friends in the military they aren't personally affected by the war at all. They take the easy route and come down on both sides of the issue. It's this mentality that it makes it so vital to get students engaged and thinking about this issue. Maybe by the next time you talk to them they'll have an opinion of their own.

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