One of the 'rationales" and "justifications" floated for the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan back in 2002 was the claim that it would lead to "nation-building," which would help drag Afghanistan out of the ambit of "radical" Islam.
(Another one, of course, was Afghanistan's vast, untapped wealth of minerals and elements needed for the perpetuation and expansion of the "surveillance state," but we don't talk about such matters in public...)
"Nation-Building" is a particularly obnoxious and odious fraud because the term and the practices associated with it do nothing so much as camouflage neo-colonial imperialism for the purpose of, securing new markets for imperial products, and "assistance." It's no coincidence that nation building seems always require military intervention to "succeed," you may be assured: it's a staple in the cupboards of empire.
It's real, practical "virtues" are several: It
1) fattens the investor class,
2) keeps the military occupied and 3) its suppliers profitable,
4) exploits others' resources,
5) warns our adversaries,
6) confuses our allies and
7) satisfies the domestic warmongers' and militarists' demand for heroes who demonstrate our/"their" exceptionalism.
George W. (the Chimperor) Boosh is the worst war criminal of the Century, so far. But I'd indict and convict all the "conquering" wannabees of the Right who indulged the whims of the ravers of PNAC and succumbed to precisely the conflict into which the Islamists wanted to induce.
The Afghanistan Adventure went no more sour than the imperial impulses that directed it...
No comments:
Post a Comment