Afghanistan Is Our Vimy Ridge?

These casualties all occurred in the area of southern Afghanistan that was the target of Operation Medusa. Launched one month ago by NATO occupation forces under the leadership of the CAF’s 2,300-strong Afghan contingent, the operation was supposed to have driven the Taliban out of one their key strongholds in the south of the country. According to a report published in the September 23 issue of the Toronto-based Globe and Mail, of the hundreds of insurgents Canadian military spokesmen boast of having killed in the operation, not all were “Taliban fighters”, as Afghan victims of NATO operations are invariably labeled by the military and press. A good many were in fact poor villagers who had risen up against exactions committed by local police forces under the eye of NATO forces. These villagers reportedly turned to the Taliban in the hopes of freeing themselves from abuse at the hands of official Afghani government representatives. The Globe quotes Talatbek Masadykov, head of the United Nations mission in South Afghanistan, describing the popular rebellion against the Afghan local authorities. “Maybe half of these so-called anti-government elements acting here in this area of the south,” said Masadykov, “ had to join this Taliban movement because of the misbehavior of these bad guys.” Many complaints had been made by people living in the Panjwai area against thefts and beatings meted out by the Afghan police. Villagers said that the police, many of who came from rival tribes, took away their cash, cellular telephones and even watches. Motorbikes and cars were also seized by police patrols. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/oct2006/cana-o11.shtml

Note: http://www.wsws.org/art...