BREAKTHROUGH: Afghani Parliament may Revoke U.S ‘Invitation’ to Occupation
Most parliamentarians in the Afghani parliament voted to revise the country’s security agreement with the United States, including allowing permanent US military bases to remain on Afghan soil. This major development comes in light of Kabul, Beijing, Moscow, and the Taliban having attempting to organize a grand meeting to establish a solution to the US occupation in Afghanistan.
“The idea [of a revision] was put forward by some Parliamentarians in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday and was approved by the majority of the parliamentarians by means of a vote on Wednesday,” 1TV channel reported.
This agreement allowed US military forces and bases to remain in Afghanistan after the US combat mission ended in 2014, the report said. However, security conditions continue to worsen as the number of civilians and security forces killed by terrorist attacks increases.
The report indicates that the current Afghan government continues to support the US presence as necessary to strengthen the country’s security forces.
Despite US claims that they will remain in Afghanistan to improve the country, Kathy Kelly, co-ordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence,said that American permanence has to do with Washington’s intention try to send a message to other countries in the region.
The US-led coalition in Afghanistan completed a combat mission in December 2014, marking the formal end of the longest war in American history. Even so, US troops remain in the country to supervise, train Afghan soldiers and provide military assistance whenever requested.
But the people of Afghanistan are not the ones who are benefiting from the United States, who act as a world police force, Kelly said on Tuesday.
“The beneficiaries are the people who sell guns,” Kelly explained.
“It certainly did not create a safer place for people to live in Afghanistan,” he said.
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Since Friday, Taliban militants and Afghan security forces are being held in a deadly battle in Ghazni province. At least 90 soldiers and about 200 militants have been killed, according to the Afghan Defense Ministry. Offering operational support, the US carried out multiple air strikes and sent military advisers to help Afghan officials.
Citing Transparency International, Kelly said US-designed projects to help Afghan residents fleeing the Taliban-occupied areas are not really helping locals.
“It is a curious situation because four times a year a report is filed […] and they have listed through much documentation … corruption and mismanagement of the United States presence in Afghanistan … where the money was invested in projects that filled the pockets of contractors and did not even produce what they had planned,” she said.
Although the locals are also experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent years, Washington has concentrated its millions of dollars in funding for the presence of its 18,000 troops and air strikes.
“The United States is spending millions of dollars every day to keep its troops, its special operational forces and bombardments constant, while there are people who increasingly face the terror of death from hunger or thirst,” Kelly said.
According to Toby Lanzer, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, the war-torn country could “face a calamity” if international authorities did not intervene and offer aid against the drought, Al-Jazeera reported. The last major drought ended after the region was hit by large blizzards.
Kelly added that “the US desire to remain in the country has nothing to do with the humanitarian concern to protect the people of the Taliban.”
“It is a maintenance of a greedy and controlling system and a desire to send signals to other countries in the region that the United States will not leave,” he concluded.
Experts have analyzed the various reasons for the US occupation in Afghanistan, citing its vast natural and mineral resources including lithium, opium trade, as well as being part of ‘containing’ Iran.
https://www.fort-russ.com/2018/09/breakthrough-afghani-parliament-may-revoke-u-s-invitation-to-occupation/