madam president the united states and nato-led war in afghanistan is an unmitigated disaster for the afghan people an estimated thirty zero of whom were killed last year alone
it is also a disaster for the young men and women forced to join and fight there in the armies of nato and the united states of whom perhaps five hundred have already been killed this year
as the arlacchi report makes very clear after nine years the economic and social situation in afghanistan is extremely dire
the number of people living in poverty has increased dramatically
what a scandal this is considering that usd three hundred billion have been obscenely wasted on weapons of mass destruction and war and lost in corruption over that time
the us invasion of afghanistan was undertaken not to advance the interests of the afghan people but the geostrategic interests of the united states in central asia which of course is rich in energy oil and gas
foreign armies must be withdrawn and such wealth as exists in afghanistan should be taken from the hands of the karzai government corrupt landlords and warlords and put democratically in the hands of organisations of peasants workers and the poor to really utilise those resources and develop them for the benefit of the people
