Bombing Afghanistan is not the answer

[A statement of the National Executive Committee of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. Oct. 15, 2001]

It is just one month since the terror attacks on September 11.

The thousands who died there were the innocent victims of attacks directed against the peace and security of all nations -- a crime against humanity. These acts call for a searching debate about how to defeat terrorism and to mount an effective international response to apprehend the criminals and bring them to justice.

Yet, with practically no examination of the consequences or the alternatives, the bombing of Afghanistan has begun. The US military is raining an unimaginable tonnage of deep penetration and cluster bombs on one of the poorest countries in the world.

In our view, this policy is morally unjustifiable and counterproductive. It is watering the soil from which terrorism springs. And it is foreclosing the building of an effective international coalition in defense of peace and security, acting with strengthened and impartial legal authority, which is necessary for the world community to answer this grave threat.

What has this assault wrought?

* It has killed hundreds of civilians, including four UN mine-clearing workers. It has destroyed nonmilitary property despite claims of pinpoint targeting. Eyewitnesses have reported the deaths of dozens of women and children. But combatants who may once have occupied the training camps are certainly long gone.

* It has provoked the enmity of millions in the Islamic world and has turned millions from mourning and sympathy for the loss of life on September 11 to rage against the US.

* It has created a staggering humanitarian crisis, with over 7 million hungry and homeless refugees engulfed in disastrous circumstances. The dropping of 37,000 ration packets in the face of this massive crisis is little more than a cynical attempt to make the bombing palatable and to promote the contention that "we are not at war with the Afghan people" while their impoverished, backward land is being bombed to oblivion.

* It has elevated, not diminished, the status of Osama bin Laden among many in South Asia and the Middle East.

* It has done nothing to bring the perpetrators of the crimes of September 11 to justice. It has not allowed for a thorough, internationally coordinated investigation of who planned the attacks. Nor has it dismantled Al Qaeda, which reportedly maintains cells in dozens of countries and whose communication and financial networks apparently extend from Pakistan, not from Afghanistan.

* It has raised the specter of a destabilized Pakistan, a nuclear state.

* It has set the stage for the present deployment of US military forces in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, as well as special forces operating inside Afghanistan. This upends the precarious status quo among regional nuclear powers China, Russia, India, and Pakistan and threatens to inflame the half-century of tension between India and Pakistan. It also fuels the well-grounded suspicion that Washington is seeking to use military force to consolidate its already substantial hold on the oil of the Caspian Sea and the Gulf region. And now, the Bush Administration is threatening an imminent ground war in Afghanistan.

* It has intensified the drive to shred civil liberties and revive a repressive national security state at home. It has fed the bigotry and violence against Arab Americans, Muslims, and immigrants in this country.

* It has undermined the possibility of creating a politically, geographically and ethnically inclusive coalition to fight terrorism.

Many in our country who are understandably fearful of terrorism and enraged at the September 11 atrocity have gone along with the bombing of Afghanistan because they have not perceived an alternative which can effectively curb a scourge that is nihilistic and reactionary at its core. Others are wary of reliance upon international juridical agencies which have traditionally acceded to US demands and have often rejected or ignored the interests of people in the Global South.

There is an alternative.

* Genuine international cooperation, based upon equal participation of all nations regardless of ideology, social systems and level of development, can assure the most comprehensive pooling of intelligence, the most effective security, the highest degree of teamwork by law enforcement agencies, the best means to dry up the flow of money to terrorists, and the most constructive and peaceful resolution of the present crisis through the delivery of the perpetrators to justice.

* In order to work, that collaboration would require an end to Washington's imperial unilateralism; it would oblige the US to endorse the international criminal court and the UN antiterrorism treaty, thus developing the strength and impartiality of relevant agencies in the process of bringing the terrorists to justice.

* Effective action against terrorism which is spawned in the despairing swamp of poverty and oppression must involve genuine, massive humanitarian aid to the victims of bombing and displacement. It must involve measured, committed efforts to redress the global gap between rich and poor. It must seize the present opportunity to end the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and bring the Palestinian right of self- determination to realization. It must end bombing and sanctions against Iraq and end all acts of state-sponsored terror throughout the world.

A new and determined peace movement quickly came to life as the Bush administration began what it calls a "new war." Our call to stop the bombing and other military action is complemented by a call to end the racial bigotry and violence that has escalated throughout the country since Sept. 11, and to defend civil liberties.

Building a mighty majority to stop the killing and put humanity on the path to peace will not be an easy task, but it is one we must take up. With clarity and principle we have to address the hard questions people are asking: what can be done to stop terrorism? why do so many people around the world hate the United States? how can peace be secured?

The urgency of the situation demands our immediate action. The complexity of the moment requires that we create new ways of talking with people, new forms of organizing and new structures to ensure a broad and inclusive movement. It will not be easy, but we can stop this war and we can build a lasting, global peace based on economic and social justice.