What US Imperialism Gained by Dropping a Bomb?
The U.S. military announced
on Apr 13, 2017 that it dropped a
21,600-pound GPS-guided non-
nuclear bomb in Afghanistan.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance
Air Blast (MOAB), nicknamed the
“Mother Of All Bombs,” was
dropped at 7:32 pm local time. It is
reported that a MOAB could
destroy everything like a nuclear
bomb without radiation and with
less extent of two kilometer
radius.Yet the US claimed that the
bomb has killed 38 IS – backed
terrorists in an area with a
population of about 95,000.When
the reports that many civilians too
have died were brought to the
notice,White
House
press
secretary Sean Spicer said that the
U.S. “took all precautions
necessary to prevent civilian
casualties.” An empty rhetoric to
cover up the facts of destruction
wrought by it. Once again the US
imperialism flexed its muscles to
warn the world people.
US could not present any
strong and consistent reasoning
for this act. It claimed as a part of
the campaign against the IS
backed terrorists. There is a 9000
strong US armed force together
with a big US backed Afghan
National Army in Afghanistan. Then,
why the US needed to drop a bomb
from thousands of kilometers
distance?
Before the dust of US bomb
has settled down, on April 22, 2017,
a US army base in North
Afghanistan near Mazar- e-Sharif
was raided by Talibans. 140 US
army men are said to have died as
a consequence. The Afghan govt.
found itself in an awkward state. A
member of Balka Provincial Commi-
ttee where the attack occurred
complained about the “shortage of
coffins”. Not only this. The Afghan
May- 2017
Defence Minister and Afghan Army
Chief of Staff have resigned on the
issue of Taliban attack. The Govt.
has replaced commanders of 4
Army Corps. 8 Army personnel were
arrested on the suspicion of helping
the Talibans.
Interestingly, the US top
Officials like the Vice President,
Defence Secretary and the Secre-
tary of State chose to undertake
the tour of Afghanistan, Pakistan,
South Korea, Japan and India
following the dropping of MOAB on
Afghanistan. Perhaps, they hoped
that this will create a favourable
atmosphere for their mission. Alas,
a most distasteful gift was waiting
for them in Afghanistan in the form
of Taliban raid on the US army base
there. They found their Afghan
lackeys in serious crisis and
internal strife.
There is one more story here.
Hamid Karzai, the former
Afghan President, a darling of US
at one time, has come out with a
serious criticism on US. In an
interview to The Hindu, he said:
“……..the Americans waited two
and a half to three years for Daesh
(the Islamic State) to entrench itself
in Nangarhar province’s Shinwar
district, and use those caves, and
to abuse our people, to evacuate
the villages of their inhabitants, and
basically allowed Daesh to do all
this without stopping them………
And then when the local people
rose against Daesh, instead of
helping local people there, the US
Air Force planes targeted their
village Defence lines against
Daesh”. In reply to another
question, Karzai has said: “Then
the US comes and hits Afghanistan
in the name of Daesh, and that too
with the deadliest bomb they have
short of a nuclear weapon. This is
not hurting Daesh. The motive for
the US is clearly to test its bomb in
Afghanistan, and to send tough
signals to its rivals at the same
time”. (The Hindu, May 3, 2017)
The US imperialists are the
main force behind many terrorist
organizations in the world. The IS
(Islamic State) itself is an off shoot
of their politics of domination. The
creation of terrorist organization
and the so called war against
terrorism by the US imperialists are
guided by one and the same
consideration whether it serves the
purpose of protecting and
expanding the areas of their loot,
influence and domination in the
world. So no one should be under
the illusion that the imperialists are
opposed to terrorism and their
support can be taken or they can
be allied with in the struggle
against terrorism. Believing the US
in this respect will be deceiving
oneself and the world people as
well. Same is the experience of
Afghan people. The US imperialists
can use the phenomenon of IS
terrorists in Afghanistan and the so
called fight against it to add new
troubles for the Afghan people and
their struggle.
On April 17, 2017, the US Vice
President Mike Pence said in South
Korea that the US strikes in Syria
and Afghanistan showed that the
President Donald Trump’s, resolve
should not be tested. If the new US
leadership wants to send a
message to the world by this act
that Donald Trump can be no less
ruthless than his predecessors in
US in pursuing an aggressive
policy, it will be committing not only
the same old blunders but also
inviting uncontrollable wrath of
world people and more disastrous
consequences for the US imperia-
lists in future.
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