[ We need a reinvigorated anti-war movement. It is time to end all
U.S. wars, shut down all U.S. military bases, and put an end to U.S.
militarization and sanctions impacting countless people in the Global
South.] [[link removed]]

AFGHANISTAN AND BEYOND: END U.S. WAR-MAKING EVERYWHERE  
[[link removed]]


 

Azadeh Shahshahani
September 21, 2021
In These Times
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_ We need a reinvigorated anti-war movement. It is time to end all
U.S. wars, shut down all U.S. military bases, and put an end to U.S.
militarization and sanctions impacting countless people in the Global
South. _

Afghan American protesters holding flags and signs march towards the
U.S. Capitol in Washington DC., Probal Rashid/LightRocket // In These
Times

 

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, after 20 years of brutal
occupation, should just be the beginning. The United States must also
end the disastrous ​“War on Terror,” including the bombing
campaigns targeting Somalia and Yemen. And it must also put a stop to
the brutal sanctions against Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and other countries
in the Global South. 

But it’s not enough to merely stop the harm: The United States must
also make amends. This means paying reparations to the people of Iraq,
Afghanistan and other countries it has invaded and exploited, and
providing refuge to any citizens of those countries who are fleeing
because of the destruction and destabilization wrought by the
United States. 

The stakes could not be higher. The full cost of U.S. war-making
during the past 20 years is tremendous. The Costs of
War_,_ a Brown University Watson Institute of International and
Public Affairs project, recently estimated
[[link removed]] that
post‑9/​11 U.S. wars have killed
between 897,000 and 929,000 people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq,
Syria, Yemen and other countries since 2001. The true number may be
even higher: One study
[[link removed]] conducted
by Opinion Research Group estimates that more than 1 million Iraqis
have died as a result of the Iraq War since the U.S.-led invasion
in 2003. 

BOMBINGS

In 2007, former President George W. Bush started the airstrike
campaign in Somalia, and since then at least 254 declared U.S.
actions have taken place in the country. Airwars, which took over the
work of recording airstrikes from the Bureau of Investigative
Journalism in 2019, estimates
[[link removed]] that anywhere
between 70 to 143 civilian deaths in Somalia are the result
of 31 U.S. separate actions
between 2007 and 2021, 18 to 21 of those children. U.S. Forces
only concede to five of those civilian casualties, the rest of which
are either unacknowledged or claimed to be ​“unsubstantiated
[[link removed]].”

The current administration has continued this lethal campaign. On
July 20, the U.S. military carried out its first airstrike in
Somalia under Biden
[[link removed]],
followed by another airstrike
[[link removed]] only
three days later, a sign that the undeclared war will continue to
take lives.

U.S. ​“counterterrorism” operations officially began in Yemen
in 2009 (although there were other bombings before that), with both
the U.S. military and CIA launching airstrikes on the country. Since
then [[link removed]], the country
has seen possibly over 100 civilian deaths from U.S. airstrikes
alone. U.S. forces only concede to 13 civilian deaths, according
to Airwars. 

However, most civilian casualties in Yemen are the result of
Saudi-coalition bombings, which began in 2015 and are backed and
supported by U.S. intelligence, as well as weaponry sales.
After 23,470 coalition air raids, which consist of multiple
individual air strikes, nearly 10,000 people were injured and
nearly 9,000 dead as a direct result of the Saudi-led campaign. 

In February 2021, Biden announced
[[link removed]] that
the United States would end offensive support in Yemen while also
helping Saudi Arabia ​“defend its sovereignty”
against ​“threats from Iranian-supplied forces.” However,
the announcement did not come with solid plans
[[link removed]] shared
with Congress, and the Biden administration has failed to share
details or plans to distinguish between offensive and defensive aid.

The bombings in Somalia and Yemen are just the tip of the iceberg.
Based on official U.S. military data, Airwars
[[link removed]] concluded
that the United States has carried out at least 91,340 airstrikes
since 9⁄11 in the global ​“War on Terror.” The total number
of civilian deaths directly attributed to U.S. airstrikes is estimated
to be at least 22,679 but could be as high as 48,308. The data is
collected from U.S. operations in Afghanistan since 2006, Iraq
from 2003 to 2013, Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2021, Libya
since 2012, and a once-secret drone campaign in Pakistan, Somalia
and Yemen. Overall civilian harm is likely higher because of the
collateral consequences of U.S. bombings and other military actions in
these regions. 

BLOATED BUDGET

Despite withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. war budget
continues to expand. The watchdog group Public Citizen notes
[[link removed]] that
the Biden administration actually requested a 1.7% increase in
overall military spending — for a whopping $753 billion, an
increase that is roughly on par with inflation. While some members of
Congress resist high levels of military spending, 14 House Democrats
recently sided with Republicans to increase the request by
almost $25 billion
[[link removed]].
The primary justification for more spending is the increasingly
confrontational stance toward China
[[link removed]].

Sara Kate Baudhuin of Public Citizen recognized that the requested
budget for the Department of Defense would be larger than the budget
for the Departments of State, Justice, Health and Human Services,
Education, Transportation, and the Environmental Protection
Agency _combined_. On the topic of defense funding, Brown
University’s Costs of War project reported the Pentagon has spent
$14 trillion dollars
[[link removed]] of
public funds from 2001to 2021. One-third to one-half of this total
went to five weapons companies: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General
Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrup Grumman. Investments in defense
stocks
[[link removed]] are now
worth almost 10 times
[[link removed]] what
they were when the war in Afghanistan first started. Public Citizen
called this out for what it is, saying
[[link removed]] that ​“The
only ​“winner” of the Afghanistan war was the
military industrial-complex.” 

Biden’s proposed budget allocated $15.2 million for
a ​“Sea-Launched Cruise Missile,” a nuclear weapon Biden
himself called a ​“bad idea” during his campaign. The plans are
a remnant of the Trump administration and, while Biden could have
cancelled it, his administration has chosen to maintain the project
and add to what Kingston Reif, the director for disarmament and threat
reduction policy at the Arms Control Association, describes as the
U.S. military’s ​“already extensive and growing nuclear arsenal
[[link removed]].”
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation calls the project
[[link removed]]​“a
costly solution to a nonexistent problem.” It was eliminated
[[link removed]] by
the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. 

The bloated budget is a continuation of total military spending on
the ​“War on Terror.” The Institute of Policy Studies
[[link removed]] reviewed
publicly-available Office of Management and Budget data, reporting
that the United States has spent $21 trillion on foreign and domestic
militarization, surveillance, and repression between the federal years
of 2002 to 2021.

GLOBAL EMPIRE

All the while, the United States maintains military bases around
the world. 

Maps of U.S. military presence are not readily available and many
bases are intentionally kept secret. There are also many military
affiliated spaces that hold U.S. weaponry, but are not deemed
official ​“U.S. bases.” David Vine
[[link removed]],
an anthropologist at American University, said
[[link removed]] the
United States might have ​“800 military bases in more
than 70 countries and territories abroad.” 

In 2007, the United States established U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
Since then, U.S. military presence on the continent increased
[[link removed]] from 2,600 personnel
to 7,000 by 2019. Military presence through official and unofficial
bases spans the continent from coast to coast.
The _Intercept_, citing
[[link removed]] official
Pentagon records, revealed that, as of 2019, there
were 29 verifiable bases across 15 different countries or
territories within the AFRICOM ​“area of responsibility,” which
covers all countries across the continent besides Egypt.

In 2017, it was revealed that U.S. commandos were actively engaged in
military action, despite AFRICOM’s claims that they were only
providing ​“advice and assistance.” 

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), which has an ​“area of
responsibility” spanning most of East Asia and the Pacific Island
nations, asked Congress for $27 billion
[[link removed]] in
additional funds between 2022 and 2027. The funds are meant
to ​“boost deterrence against China,” as _Defense News_ put
it
[[link removed]],
with new missiles, air defenses, radars, supply depots, testing
ranges, and more. Communities in the Pacific Ocean are still
suffering
[[link removed].] from
the remnants of U.S. military nuclear testing, while the United States
is continuing its escalation against China. 

The network of overseas bases not only creates a harmful presence,
but also actively makes conflict and war more likely. Scholar David
Vine, in his book _The United States of War_, explains that after
World War II, the United States has had ​“unparalleled military
power and an unparalleled global military presence.” Troops are
permanently deployed worldwide in strategic locations, ready to
further U.S. economic, political and military interests under the
threat of violence. 

SANCTIONS

Meanwhile, the United States is continuing to engage in other forms of
warfare such as sanctions targeting Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and other
countries in the Global South. 

U.S. sanctions against Cuba began in the 1960s. In 1992, with
the Torricelli Act
[[link removed]], U.S.
presidents gained the ability to sanction countries that aided Cuba
and prohibit foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies from trading with
Cuba. In June 2021, a total of 184 countries voted in favor
[[link removed]] of a resolution to
demand the end of the U.S. economic blockade on Cuba — only the
United States and Israel voted against. Food and medicine shortages
are widespread; this has contributed to the unrest erupting
[[link removed]] across the
country. The island has faced its worst food shortages
[[link removed]] in 25 years.
Cuba’s national food import company, which is vital since it
imports 70% to 80% of its food, reported
[[link removed]] that it
lost $45 million because it could not engage in direct transactions
with U.S. banks. Even though the United States technically allows the
sale of food to Cuba, the tightening of economic sanctions hinders
[[link removed]] Cuba’s
ability to afford adequate food supplies. 

U.S. officials often say that humanitarian aid is exempt from the
sanctions. However, humanitarian exemptions are not very effective in
practice. Even though medicine and medical supplies can technically be
licensed for export to Cuba, many restrictions and barriers have
resulted in a ​“de facto ban on critical medical and other
assistance,” a reality taht the American Association for World
Health pointed out
[[link removed]] in 1997 that
persists to this day. The conditions governing the licensing process,
meanwhile, make export extremely difficult
[[link removed]].

As for Venezuela, the oil embargo imposed under Trump
[[link removed]] and
maintained under Biden
[[link removed]],
has been very harmful
[[link removed]],
since the country receives 90% of its revenue from the oil industry.
Like Cuba, Venezuela imports
[[link removed]] a majority
of its food, and the fall in oil production has caused currency
devaluation and a contraction of food imports. The reduction in food
imports due to sanctions has resulted in the steady worsening of
malnourishment over the past six years, with 2.5 million Venezuelans
severely food insecure
[[link removed]].

The United States has also been imposing economic sanctions on Iran,
in varying degrees of extremity, since 1979. In 2018, the Trump
administration pulled the United States unilaterally out of the Iran
nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA), and re-imposed what it termed ​“maximum pressure”
sanctions [[link removed]] on
Iran. The administration tacitly admitted
[[link removed]] that the
sanctions were meant to make people suffer to induce protests. Many
Trump-era sanctions remain in place. 

While U.S. sanctions technically exempt medicine and medical
equipment, the fear of secondary sanctions have left many countries
that produce Iran’s necessary medicines unable to find banks that
are willing to authorize transactions for supplies going to Iran. The
most stringent sanctions on Iran’s financial sector have made
it nearly impossible to transact in these goods
[[link removed]].
Even though Iran manufactures 97% of its medicine needs, the 3% that
it has traditionally imported include essential treatments for serious
diseases like cancer. Covid-19 has also absolutely ravaged the
country, with more than 115,000 deaths from
[[link removed]] February 2020 to
mid-September 2021, and Iranian doctors have warned that the
sanctions have made the outcomes far worse.

Natasha Hakimi Zapata, writing
[[link removed]] for _In
These Times_, criticizes the United States for imposing sanctions on
two-dozen countries ​“from the Balkans to Zimbabwe” as
of 2021. Sanctions are a bipartisan project of U.S. imperialism. The
Biden administration has maintained the harsh sanctions on Nicaragua,
Venezuela, Sudan, and Ukraine from the Trump era, additional sanctions
on Cuba, Iran, China, Syria and Russia, and brand-new sanctions on the
Balkans, Belarus and Burma. 

While the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is the first
necessary step in ending the U.S. legacy of violence, much is yet to
be uncovered about the true toll of the U.S. invasion
and 20-year-occupation. 

Malalai Joya, a women’s rights and human rights activist and former
Afghan Parliamentarian, told _Democracy Now!_
[[link removed]] in
July, ​“For years I have called for the withdrawal of the
foreign occupation from our country… Now it has been proved for our
people, as well, that U.S. and NATO were not honest for them… The
blood of Afghan people has no value for them.”

In addition to pursuing refuge for those fleeing for their lives and
reparations for the people of Afghanistan as well as Iraq, it is time
to end all U.S. wars, shut down all U.S. military bases, and put an
end to U.S. militarization and sanctions impacting countless people in
the Global South. We need a reinvigorated anti-war movement led by
and taking direction from people of color and those who are directly
harmed by U.S. wars and militarization. The people of the Global South
cannot afford any more U.S. militarization and violence. It is on us
to put a stop to it. 

_[AZADEH SHAHSHAHANI
[[link removed]] is legal and
advocacy director at Project South and past president of the National
Lawyers Guild. She tweets @ashahshahani [[link removed]]]_

_The author would like to thank law students Erum Kidwai and Divya
Babbula for their research support for this article._

_Thanks to the author for sending this to xxxxxx._

_Reprinted with permission from In These Times
[[link removed]].
All rights reserved. _

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