NYT Editorial on Afghanistan Misses the Key Point

by Stephen Lendman

Perhaps US aggression in Afghanistan, along with destroying the cradle of civilization in Iraq, most stand as modern examples of the nation's depravity.

Destroying Iraq began with the Carter administration instigating the 1980s Iran/Iraq War, followed by the 1991 Gulf War, years of genocidal sanctions, then Bush/Cheney's war - continued by Obama and Trump.

Begun in October 2001, planned months in advance, Afghanistan is America's longest war, lost long ago, ongoing endlessly with no possibility of resolving it militarily.

Yet hawkish generals running US warmaking intend sending thousands more US combat troops into its cauldron - a way to escalate conflict more than already.

Highlighting the ongoing war, Times editors said it's now Trump's - without explaining launching and continuing it reflect naked US aggression against a nation threatening no one, not America or any other country.

Criticizing Trump as America's "delegator in chief" misses the broader issue - the key one in all US wars.

They're all lawless against nonbelligerent nations - waged without Security Council authorization, flagrantly violating international, constitutional and US statute laws relating to warmaking.

Not a word from Times editors explaining what's most important - the broadsheet supportive of all US imperial wars, instead of responsibly denouncing them.

America's military presence is lawless and unacceptable, assuring endless conflict, perhaps for another 16 years or longer in Afghanistan.

The same goes for all other US war theaters - forever ones, feeding the nation's military/industrial complex, spending countless trillions of dollars for mass slaughter and destruction, world peace considered anathema.

Times editors: Sending more US forces to Afghanistan "would…reverse the drawdown…Obama put in place and set a new policy of expanding (US) involvement in (the) war."

In December 2009, Obama announced a surge of 30,000 additional US forces to Afghanistan - after pledging as a candidate to end the war entirely "and get our troops home."

Repeatedly promising to end US military involvement in the country and Iraq were Big Lies - including his pledge to close Guantanamo within a year after taking office.

He later bragged about being at war throughout his entire tenure. GW Bush bragged, saying "I'm a wartime president."

Trump promised one of the "greatest military buildups in American history."

Times editors criticized him for the wrong reasons. Instead of demanding US imperial wars end, they questioned his policy on Afghanistan.

They support endless conflicts in all US war theaters. Asking "what to do about America's longest war" ignores why it's being waged in the first place - along with all other US wars of aggression.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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