[haw-info] HAW Notes

[Jim O'Brien]

Hi!  Here are a few notes regarding Historians Against the War activities:

1.  Carolyn "Rusti" Eisenberg and Margaret Power have put together a list of
forty people who have agreed to speak at teach-ins or other educational
events this fall at no cost beyond travel and housing.  The list, with
descriptions and contact information, is at
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/teachin/speakers.htm.

2.  The flagship event of HAW's effort to encourage war-related educational
events during this election season is an all-day teach-in at the University
of California at Berkeley on Friday, September 19, co-sponsored by HAW, War
Times, and several UC Berkeley groups.  Information is at
http://www.historiansagainstwar.org/teachin/ucb.html.

3.  The HAW Steering Committee is still welcoming input on a possible
statement on the US/NATO military presence in Afghanistan.  About a dozen
comments have been received so far in response to the tentative discussion
points sent out last week (and reprinted below).  All points of view from
HAW members are welcome.  Comments should be sent to
afghanistan at historiansagainstwar.org.

Thanks,
Jim O'Brien for the Steering Committee


Discussion Points

1.  Whatever views we hold on the initial US military intervention in
Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US, it is now
clear that the US/NATO presence in this country has become an occupation,
increasingly resented and opposed by large sections of the population.

2.  Despite the relief that met removal of the totalitarian Taliban
government by US and NATO forces, the new government, chosen under the
direction of the Bush administration, has distanced itself from the people,
is rent with corruption, and barely governs anything. Outside of Kabul,
warlords and criminal elements operate with impunity, the opium trade grows,
violence -- including violence by the occupation forces -- proliferates, and
the Taliban is resurgent.

3.  The purpose of US policy in Afghanistan is not to support the
self-determination of the Afghan people, but to extend the bankrupt global
war against terror deeper into Central Asia, and to strengthen US
geopolitical power in this region.

4.  The US/NATO war on Afghanistan is not a "good war" in contrast to the
"bad war" on Iraq, and the current consensus in higher political circles,
including both major party candidates for president, that the war in
Afghanistan must be escalated, is wrong and will only deepen the regional
crisis and suffering of the Afghan people.

5.  The US and NATO must immediately withdraw their military and political
assets from Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can have room to decide
their own future.  Continued US/NATO action in the country is a large part
of the problem and cannot be the solution.  [There has been subsequent
discussion of what "immediately" might mean in practical terms:  for
example, beginning immediately and completed between, say, six months, or a
year.]
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