Speech of our representative in the conference of The Left Party in Germany
- Category: Party Documents
- Written by SPA
- Published: Sunday, 03 July 2011
Note: A representative of the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan attended the Afghanistan conference organized by The Left Party of Germany on Jan.28-29, 2011 in Berlin. Below we publish the English translation of his speech.
Dear friends of the German Left Party,
First of all I would like to express the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan’s gratitude for inviting a representative of a real democratic, anti-fundamentalist party to all the conferences held in Afghanistan up to now, where the attendance of anti-democracy fundamentalists has always been a constant. This could be the only conference in Afghanistan in which no Afghan criminals have been invited to participate, and for this reason you have earned the applause and commendation of the Afghan people.
Since most of our friends here have spoken and will continue to speak about the catastrophic situation in Afghanistan and the unequalled calamities that have befallen our devastated land, I would prefer to dwell less on the current situation and concrete examples of the rampant crimes, plunder, treacheries, corruption and the “mafiasation” of our society in its entirety, and speak more about the need of a democratic movement and the betrayal of Afghan freedom-seekers at the hands of Western powers during the past three decades.
It is now evident worldwide that, in the name of the “war on terrorism”, Afghanistan has become the nexus of conflicts and warmongering for bully countries, thus inevitably witnessing an uncontrolled aggravation of its situation, which is now far more calamitous than it was in 2001.
After the Soviet military violation of Afghanistan, the US and the Western allies began pouring a deluge of aid into our country. That was the time when, in accordance with the thesis advanced by Brzezinski, the US National Security Advisor, the United States saw Islamic fundamentalism as “the greatest bulwark against communism”, thus starting to support and arm fundamentalist groups with the Pakistani government and intelligence apparatus acting as a funnel. Golbodin’s Hezb-i-Islami [Islamic Party], Rabbani’s Jamiat-i-Islami [Islamic Society], and Sayyaf’s Ettehad-i-Islami [Islamic Union] were the primary groupings to receive the lion’s share of the CIA largesse which eventually turned them into ferocious criminals. It was during this period that the CIA marshalled Al-Qaeda and the Taliban as their reserve forces in the region. At the same time, Iran, too, began supporting Afghan fundamentalist parties of the Vilayat-e-Faqih [Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists] brand and consequently, within a few years, Afghanistan became the breeding ground for Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. According to their inception, these sinister and criminal forces equated democracy with ‘infidelity’ and unleashed the war against democratic and freedom-seeking forces and against women. During this war, US and the West have always significantly supported these groups.
During the anti-Soviet war of resistance, Afghan freedom-seekers –who at that time were much stronger and much more organized than the fundamentalists on the Afghan political arena– were forced to fight against two enemies on two fronts: the Russians and their puppet regime which incessantly decimated freedom-seekers in their prisons, and the fundamentalists who wasted no opportunity to assassinate and physically annihilate them. With the blessings of the Pakistani ISI, Golbodin’s party ran several horrendous prisons in Pakistan in which they incarcerated and executed intellectuals, dissidents and anti-fundamentalist elements. The world stood quietly by as these Afghan personalities were being slaughtered. Cheryl Benard, Jewish American-Swiss senior analyst with the RAND Corporation and spouse of Afghan-born Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. king-maker in Iraq and Afghanistan under George Bush and US ambassador to the United Nations, stated, “At first everyone thought, there’s no way to beat the Soviets. So what we have to do is throw the worst crazies at them that we can find, and there was a lot of collateral damage. We knew exactly who these people were, and what their organizations were like, and we didn’t care. Then, we allowed them to get rid of, just kill all the moderate leaders. The reason we don’t have moderate leaders in Afghanistan today is because we let the nuts kill them all. They killed the leftists, the moderates, the middle-of-the-roaders. They were just eliminated, during the 1980s and afterward.” (Robert Dreyfuss, Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam, American Empire Project, 2005, pp. 291; our italics).
When, in 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan, it announced that it had learnt the lesson from the past and therefore it would no longer support fundamentalists. But this was a blatant lie, as we are all witnessing that since the very first day of its invasion, the US has invested in the Northern Alliance bands and supported Sayyaf, Rabbani, Qanuni, Abdullah, Ismail Khan, Khalili, Mohaqiq, Fahim and other blood-drenched fundamentalists by welcoming them into its installed puppet government. This was the second time the West betrayed our people. Through the might of its modern weapons, the West placed the destiny of the Afghans into the hands of murderers, criminals and obscurantists. The West realised that only the fundamentalists were ready, like banded slaves, to enter the servitude of the West in return for money and power, and sacrifice the national interests of Afghanistan merely for the interests of their lords and masters.
The present war waged by the US and the West against the Taliban is, in our opinion, a war of the master against his erstwhile lackeys. Just as the Taliban had been brought onto the stage, financed and equipped by the West in the past, so shall they sooner or later accede to the tinpot government in Kabul – trying to bring them into the fold is a ceaseless effort. The Taliban are a pernicious and venal entity that can never represent our people. A mediaeval entity like the Taliban never had any attraction or held out any hope for the people of Afghanistan; the crimes committed by the United States and the corruption and impotence of the tinpot Karzai government gave them a shot in the arm. If it is true that today the Taliban are fighting against the US and NATO, then on the other hand it is also true that they are in cahoots with them and in practice a part of US and Western assistance finds its way into their coffers, while the aid rendered to them by the bloodthirsty Iranian regime and Pakistani government is being conveniently ignored. Those western political parties and organisations which consider the Taliban “a resistance force” or “an anti-imperialist force”, are only worthy of ridicule, since they simply do not understand that a fascistic entity, reactionary to the core, can never be a “resistance” or an “anti-imperialist” force.
While the West, led by the US, continues to commit crimes and treachery in Afghanistan, during the past ten years it has spared no effort to forestall a democratic and anti-fundamentalist force from rearing its head in the country; and while fundamentalist parties and individuals have pocketed billions of Western aid money, there has not been the slightest meaningful support for pro-democracy organisations and individuals. On the contrary, an atmosphere of intimidation, bullying and terrorising of such elements has been allowed to prevail in the country. This Western policy has been pursued and implemented not only in Afghanistan but in Iraq also. They try to smash and wipe out progressive and freedom-seeking minds in these countries in order to insure the full control of these headache-free countries by the West, through the agency of a bunch of indigenous mercenaries and spies.
Afghan freedom-seekers and progressive elements have sacrified the most throughout the past thirty years and uncounted numbers of the best and most genuine patriots have been annihilated. But history bears witness that in no country have aggressors been able to keep a nation enthralled for ever through resorting to traitors and obscurantists. Today our country is still confronted with enemies –indigenous criminal fundamentalist forces (the Taliban and the Northern Alliance) and foreign occupiers– and in tandem with the West, the criminal hands of regional countries, Iran and Pakistan in particular, are hard at work against Afghanistan. Only an anti-fundamentalist liberation movement can bring independence, freedom and democracy to our people. The ground for popular work among the masses by organisations aspiring to such a movement is now more fertile than ever. In view of the deep hatred the Afghan people bear towards fundamentalists and occupiers, these pernicious forces have no popular base to rely on, and it is only through the might of arms, money and backing by the US and the West that they are able to govern.
It is in response to this social need that the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan has come into being. Despite not having received any help or assistance from any country or institution whatsoever, despite the myriad difficulties and constraints it is faced with, and despite threats, blows and intimidations directed against it by its enemies, its message of democracy and independence has been welcomed by the people of Afghanistan and our work experience of the past few years has been very heart-warming. If, on the one hand, we are beaten down by the Karzai government mafiosi, the warlords, the Taliban and their handlers, on the other hand we enjoy the invigorating welcome of our people in whose might we have unwavering faith.
Our party accuses the US and the West of committing crimes against our people and betraying them. Due to their economic, political, strategic and military interests, the US and the West, who attach no value to the well-being of our people, have allied themselves with their most sordid enemies. The withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan has become a demand of the millions. With their withdrawal, their Afghan wards will become orphaned and will lose the support that buttresses them, and the people of Afghanistan will no longer be confronted with the might of the US and its NATO allies armed with the most sophisticated arsenal in the world, hence, they will have to deal only with a bunch of Afghan criminals and traitors. This will render our struggle for freedom much easier.
We believe that in order to deceive public opinion in their own countries, the US and the West promise to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan by 2014, but the real aim of the US is maintaining Afghanistan as a major base through which it can sustain its global position, exercise its might and keep its Asian rivals (Russia, China, India, Iran) in check. The US will not relinquish Afghanistan easily, unless it is thrown out by our people.
The Solidarity Party of Afghanistan is working towards mobilising a great movement for democracy and against fundamentalism. This great movement is gaining a wide acceptance among the Afghan populace in pace with the treacherous “great games” being played by Western powers and the crimes committed by their lackeys in our country. During the past years our people have never ceased to stage indignant demonstrations against the savage massacres of Afghan civilians by US and NATO forces. As a progressive political force, we believe to be our duty to give direction to this popular resentment and indignation and promote it to an all-Afghanistan anti-fundamentalist and anti-occupation movement. This is the only solution to the current situation of our country. No nation in history has been able to attain liberation and emancipation without struggle and insurrection.
Our party assigns great value to the global solidarity of democratic and progressive forces. We request the anti-war forces in Germany, those who defend justice and freedom, not to forget their comrades in Afghanistan. Our call to you is this: If your governments render assistance to the most sanguinary enemies of freedom and democracy, it is you we address to for practical support to the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan and other popular forces, it is you we expect to play your active role in our people’s struggle for emancipation from the clutches of tyranny and ignorance.
