Dear John,
Over the past week, more Americans have discussed Afghanistan than during the preceding decade. Yet, for all the discussions about U.S. foreign policy, the war, the withdrawal, and the aftermath, few voices have noted some of the most crucial factors driving recent events.
I had the chance to join Briahna Joy Gray this week alongside journalist Graeme Smith and Stephen Semler, co-founder of Security Policy Reform Institute, to explore and explain some of the issues that other discussions have overlooked.
Do you want a voice in Congress who understands global events, and has worked for years to inform the public discussion? Why defer to the generation of policymakers who continues stumbling through recurring patterns of imperial hubris?
Most discussions about Afghanistan in U.S. news media have focused on the U.S. withdrawal, and concerns about human rights at risk during the transition to rule by the Taliban. These concerns about human rights, however, appear opportunistic when compared with the broader history of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.
The same voices expressing concern for human rights in Afghanistan today were not often critical of the U.S. human rights violations that preceded the withdrawal, from torture at Bagram Air Force Base to massive civilian casualties from decades of effectively random & arbitrary drone strikes.
Washington’s stances on human rights—claiming to defend them, while abusing them in practice, and looking the other way rather than holding U.S. officials accountable—reflect hypocrisy. That hypocrisy, in turn, helped undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan state.
Can you join us today to help defend human rights from our country’s military-industrial complex? I’ve written articles, organized direct action, mounted policy advocacy campaigns, shared performance art, and recruited other artists to occupy public space for decades to raise these issues. I’m eager to escalate that struggle in Congress.
Human rights weren’t the only area where Washington’s hypocrisy drove an unfortunate outcome on the ground. Our nation’s stances on trade have reflected the same tension between rhetoric and reality.
For instance, we talk about the value of “free trade,” while applying tariffs to foreign goods across a range of industries, including textiles, which happen to be among Afghanistan’s principle exports. The denial of economic opportunity primes the pump for extremist recruitment.
Even worse is the impact of the black market in opium, which expanded dramatically after the U.S. invasion. While it was not the only source of financing for violent extremists, the poppy trade played a key role. Crucially, it offered that opportunity only because legitimate channels for legal trade subject to taxation were not available.
Are you tired of watching Washington step into preventable pitfalls? Many of us got it right when the generation of corporate politicians got it wrong. New voices offer a chance to enable better choices, but we need your help. Can you join us today?
My earliest political acts addressed U.S. foreign policy. I grew concerned about corporate globalization in the 90s, and began organizing direct action in 2002 in an effort to stop the invasion of Iraq before it started. In the decades since then, I’ve continually escalated and expanded my work across the country.
Today, more and more Americans are waking up to the reality of longstanding U.S. foreign policy failure. With your support, I’m looking forward to helping fix it.
Thanks for standing with me—and human rights!
Have a grateful weekend,
Shahid
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