Before it became popular to attach the disparaging moniker “The Soviet Union’s Vietnam” to Afghanistan, in order to denigrate Soviet support for its socialist ally, the term was originally employed approvingly by Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, to justify his Cold War strategy of arming the ragtag mujahideen in its guerrilla struggle against Afghanistan’s secular government that was engaged in progressive initiatives like land reform and improving the status of women.
His intent was to induce the USSR to intervene and draw them into an Afghan quagmire, which, in a cruel ironic twist, later become ours as well. Jimmy Carter sanctioned this shameless strategy by signing a directive for secret aid to bolster the mujahideen on July 3, 1979.
Regrettably, the Soviets took the bait and sent troops over the border on Dec. 24, 1979. Brzezinski claims in a Jan. 15, 1998, interview with Le Nouvel Observateur that he informed Carter immediately afterward that “We now have the opportunity of giving the USSR its Vietnam War.” And, indeed, Afghanistan soon became a theater of proxy conflagrations during the last decade of the Cold War. When asked in the same interview if he regretted having supported Islamic fundamentalism and future terrorists, he arrogantly replied, “What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?
Keep in mind, this flippant reply came at a time when Afghanistan had endured an additional decade of internecine conflict among our several warlord allies thast was only curtailed when “The Students” (Taliban) invaded from the madrasas of Pakistan. That they were embraced as a stabilizing force giving relief to a war-weary population underscores the magnitude of the holocaust that we had inflicted on the defenseless Afghan people.
To put all this in perspective, a more four years after having left Southeast Asia in charred ruins, Brzezinski and Carter thought it morally defensible to inflict the same horrific devastation on Afghanistan in the myopic pursuit of geopolitical domination. To add insult to injury, Carter then brazenly proceeded to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics to punish the USSR for responding in the very manner that he had contrived.
It’s impossible to deny that America’s fingerprints are all over Afghanistan’s descent into an impoverished hellhole of violence, repression, and staggering carnage thats the Afghan people have been forced to endure for over four decades. This is probably the most appallingly sordid story of wanton devastation in the service of American imperialism, yet, shamefully, nobody seems to remember it.
ROBERT McALLISTER, Lantana, Fla.
Why is it that so extremely few folks in this corporate expire that we call the USA seem to understand what motivates this empire. Surely Mr. Jeffrey Hobbs, in his letter, “Addicted to War” [9/15/21 TPP] gets it. It’s certainly not the desire for an egalitarian society. It’s not about making the world a better place for humanity to exist. It’s not about saving the ecosystem or the human race or for altruism of any kind.
Why is it that we, as a nation, can’t seem to understand what is taking this country down the road to democratic catastrophe. If one considers that the USA’s primary mission is its world-wide war mongering, which I contend exists for one reason — money — then, yes, the answer seems quite simple. It’s called GREED! Corporate greed, augmented by “Citizens United,” politician green, augmented by the corporations, and of course individual greed augmented by our own self interests.
I suggest that we shouldn’t be looking so hard for the reason that this country is destined for total failure. It seems quite obvious that GREED is the problem. It is most certainly what motivates the political right in the USA.
WILLIAM WEGENER, Carnegie, Pa.
Donald Trump’s Supreme Court has given three uncharitable rulings in quick succession: 1) approved/accepted Arizona’s restrictive voting laws that penalize minorities. The understanding is that more such measures would be welcome if they foster more Republican victories! 2) Reinstating the “Remain in Mexico Policy” for immigrants that are experiencing hazards; 3) obliging landlords seeking mass evictions.
Waiting in the wings is Roe v. Wade! Are you ready, folks?
WILLIAM MONTGOMERY, Cincinnati, Ohio
I’d like to remind progressives who already are griping that Joe Biden isn’t progressive enough that we have a right-wing bloc of six Republicans on the Supreme Court ready to give the heave-ho to Roe v. Wade. In a recent preview they allowed Texas to sic bounty hunters on people who support abortions. The Trump Court also is blessing Republican schemes to let states fix elections to keep GOP legislators in gerrymandered majorities.
Rather than having six liberal justices blocking these right wing excesses, the court is stacked with Republican hacks because 80,000 progressive voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. That let Trump steal the election in the Electoral College, despite losing the popular vote by 2.8 million votes. Then Trump, taking names from the right-wing Federalist Society, filled three openings on the Supreme Court, as well as 54 judges on appeals courts and 174 district judges to knock down liberal appeals to the federal courts. Turns out there was a big difference between Hillary and Trump.
Don’t let Chuck Schumer’s inability to keep Joe Manchin in line in a 50-50 Senate convince you to write off Dems in next year’s mid-term elections, and certainly don’t give up on Joe Biden in 2024.
YVETTE DOMINO, Houston, Texas
Re: “Deconstructing Industrial Ag,” by Alan Guebert [9/1/21 TPP] nnThe story of Buddha tells us that before he became enlightened, he was a pampered prince whose father shielded him from witnessing the three most dreaded truths faced by mankind: Old age, sickness, and death.
In a similar way, the meat industry shields our eyes from the horrors of the slaughterhouse — and clogs our ears from the wailing of the billions of its victims. Nor do we ever see the terrible crowded conditions where the animals spend their short lives before they are exterminated.
All we see are the neatly packaged steaks, sausages, and bacon that are displayed on our grocers’ shelves. Then we cook those viands and enjoy their taste, without giving a thought to the suffering of those creatures whom St. Francis called “brothers and sisters.”
Yes, we’re all like Buddha before he saw old age, illness and death.
So, as long as the meat and poultry corporations have their way, we’ll never see the unimaginable evil of CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations).
DAVID QUINTERO, Monrovia, Calif.
The rich, glorious and lethal history of corporate criminality and wholesale disregard for human life can never ever be overstated. Consider the tobacco industry who for decades bombarded the United States population with smoking – is – healthy – and – good for you pseudo – science while killing 600,000-plus Americans annually. And let’s tip our hats to Exxon Mobil who in the mid 1970s confirmed the damning and inevitable realities of climate catastrophe and buried their research to insure their on-going profits. Exxon’s strategic thinking may well make the epic slaughter choreographed by the tobacco industry look like a school yard prank given the rapidly approaching reality of global climate destruction.
However, the predatory profit driven horrors of big tobacco and Exxon are dwarfed by the recent contract awarded Northrup Grumman by the United States Air Force. In September, Northrup Grumman was awarded a $13.3 billion contract to engineer and manufacture 600 intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBM’s. And this $13.3 billion is just a fraction of the staggering costs inherent with our commitment to “nuclear modernization.” Just one of these missiles – the length of a bowling lane will be able to travel some 6,000 miles carrying a warhead 20 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Just one of these weapons could kill hundreds of thousands of people.
We as a people, as a nation, need to come to terms with this apocalyptic horror. How can a nation that embraces and advocates democracy simultaneously award a multi-billion-dollars first-strike nuclear weapon contract to a private corporation intent on maximizing profit? We are paying a corporation staggering sums to build nuclear weapons of such lethality that if ever used would end human civilization and life on Earth as we know it. And the horror of nuclear modernization has received at best scant media attention. The space cowboy antics of an Amazon billionaire CEO donning a cowboy hat and taking an hour jaunt in a space suit received a 100X more media attention then the reality of the Air Force paying a private company unimaginable sums to build a series of weapons which will put humanity on hair trigger alert for decades to come.
Perhaps the observation from former Marine Gen. James Mattis, who went on to become the 26th US Secretary of Defense in 2017, is as important and as newsworthy as our billionaire’s space jaunt. Mattis advised us that getting rid of land-based missiles “would reduce the false alarm danger” inherent with these weapons. The reality is this – “nuclear modernization,” if left unchecked and allowed to proceed as planned, will make the epic criminality and slaughter orchestrated by big tobacco/big oil seem like a school yard prank in contrast/comparison. We the people need to meet this reality head on if we’re to survive.
JIM SAWYER, Edmonds, Wash.
I wonder how those who are against vaccines and masks would react, if drivers, claiming their freedom, ran through every red traffic light?
GILBERT A. RUBIO, San Diego, Calif.
When 700,000 deaf, dumb, inconsiderate, self-centered, baby-brained bikers show up in South Dakota, it may be the start of Season One’s “The Riding Dead.” They bring their own choppers and will handle bars, restaurants and porto-lets with little respect for the faring of the merchants who are cast as victims.
This bark isn’t worse than the bike.
FLORA ORMSBY SMITH, Marblehead, Mass.
From The Progressive Populist, October 1, 2021
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