Below we post a selection of recent letters on the massacre of Taliban prisoners of war near Mazar-i-Sharif.
It is quite sickening to read from your web site the accounts of the American terrorist organization the CIA against the POWs in Afghanistan. Philip Agee in his book Inside the Company, who went through hell and high water to have the book published, describes the atrocities the CIA are and were responsible for. This includes the arming and financing of the death squads in South America and propping up right-wing dictators and running drugs to finance their criminal activities. These terrorists have and will never change their modus operandi.
It appears America is exempt from crimes against humanity, while they preach against other countries and accuse them of doing exactly what they are all about—totalitarianism. I am very pleased to be able to read the other side of the debate, in regard to the one-sided propaganda shoved down our throats by the capitalist media. Thank you again for keeping me informed of the facts surrounding the aims of America to control the world’s oil supplies and the inhumane way they go about achieving that aim. As you have rightly said, what happened to the Geneva Convention, and why are these criminals exempt from prosecution?
RJC
29 November 2001
Re: the Geneva Convention, the American, English and Israeli government should be put on trial for murder. We the people cannot support such nasty doings and we are also very tired of not being told the truth.
GW
30 November 2001
Jerry White and your web site must not be aware that we are in a war. In war, people are killed and buildings are destroyed. That is the purpose of war. I’ve never heard of a war where no lives were lost. Granted, 800 Talibans were killed, but last I heard they are the “bad guys” who wanted to destroy the United States. They are the ones who supported bin Laden who ordered the destruction of the WTC where over 3,000 of our own Americans died. 800 vs. 3,000? I’d say we have 2,200 more to go.
MR
30 November 2001
It is with a great sensation of powerlessness and frustration that I hear about the atrocities committed against the Taliban POWs who have fallen victim to the same predator which has ransacked and victimized countries throughout the world, driven by its unquenchable thirst for power and domination.
The lies utilized to cover up the actions by the Bush administration cannot diminish the fact that these were war crimes committed by the US war machine and its Alliance forces. The World Socialist Web Site has an enormous and invaluable job to expose this. Thank you for your objective, rational and reality-based comments. You deserve my respect.
Fraternally,
JB
Perth, Australia
1 December 2001
Sir, I discovered the WSWS by accident and I am glad that I did so. I would just like to thank you and your team for reporting facts, with clear objectivity, and exposing the US-led war in Afghanistan, which has brought nothing but destruction and suffering to the people. It takes passion for justice and courage to report the truth in the face of so much deceit, lies and constant propaganda by the richest countries of the world. I just wish that the mainstream media could follow in your footsteps and do their job with honesty and tell the ordinary people the truth about the murderous aims and objectives of the USA and its rich allies. Please keep up the good work, as I am sure you are a source of factual information for many, many people.
Thank you once again.
ZB
29 November 2001
War is horrible, isn’t it? Americans have always tried to be humane in their warring, like take prisoners. Well, massacre leads to massacre. Now it is kill or be killed. What else do you expect? We’ve seen our men dragged through the streets of other countries, dead and naked. What the hell, that’s collateral damage isn’t it? Take your angst out on Congress, they caused this conflagration.
PB
Oregon
30 November 2001
The Taliban soldiers who US war machines kill daily are no doubt largely ignorant of the details of the September 11 bombings, and have absolutely nothing to do with those events. The same is true of Afghan civilians, foreign mercenaries of the Taliban, and others who are present simply because they have nowhere else to go, or because they feel they are defending their country or region of the world from a strong-armed, dictatorial, murdering aggressor, who has no business whatsoever being there to start with. To my knowledge, the citizenry of the world have never voted the United States into the position of World Judge, Jury and Executioner, nor would it do so if it were given a chance to cast such a vote.
The very presence of the US in Afghanistan is therefore unjustified, let alone its heinous actions. The US has become the No. 1 world bully. It seeks to intimidate everyone else on the planet to step in line with its economic agendas and foreign policies, with the arrogant attitude that the nations of the globe are merely its tools to be used and thrown away at a whim. The Taliban were once such a tool of the CIA, and now they have become inconvenient. The Northern Alliance is also such a tool at present, but soon they will be swept away to be replaced with some puppet dictator who is on the CIA payroll, like so many others around the world.
The Northern Alliance is being pumped up by US funds, arms and advisors simply because they are a convenient pawn for achieving the capture of Afghanistan, and its proximity to huge petroleum reserves. The human atrocities and Geneva Convention-breaking crimes being committed there, can all be, (supposedly) swept under the Northern Alliance carpet, and now the American press can simply say “they did it.” Well, they are often the ones to “pull the trigger” all right, (though their murders pale in comparison to those made by US war planes and special forces) but we are the ones who made it possible for them to murder and keep on murdering.
The Taliban requested a surrender days ago in many, if not all, of the regions of Afghanistan. This request was arrogantly dismissed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Let us remember also that the Taliban made more than one attempt to turn over bin Laden to a neutral third party for trial, but George “thirsty for war” Bush denied them this opportunity, making statements to the effect of, “We will accept no negotiations.” If Bush really wanted bin Laden, would he have made such a decision? No. Neither Bush nor his corporate backers care about obtaining bin Laden, nor can they afford an open trial of his supposed guilt, for fear of extremely embarrassing revelations with regard to Bush involvement in the oil-laden, bin Laden family and, probably, the September 11 events as well. Besides this, why in the world would a man who has 100+ million dollars in his international bank accounts still be hiding in a dusty cave in some Afghanistan hillside? The very premise of “capturing” him there is ludicrous. Bin Laden will likely never be captured, because he serves the useful function of US “boogeyman.” He is the perfect tool to focus the naïve “patriotism” of the general American public, as a “justification” of ongoing wars for profit, and world domination. The same is true of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Just as in Iraq and countless other countries of the world, the United States will continue to bomb Afghanistan even while it has run out of targets to explode, just to prove to the world that it is the biggest bully on the playground. Our “free trade” agendas are therefore like a gun held to the temple of anyone who dares cross swords with the “Land of the Free.”
MW
29 November 2001
Given that war itself is an atrocity the scene you described in your article still makes a citizen sick with shame and indignation. We are told whatever makes the horror palatable. The pattern seems to be provocation and then justified retribution. The theme of this military action is to eliminate and then terrify whoever remains. The work of the media is to make sure no stain lands on the white robes of the crusaders. The disdain that the government and its media shows toward brown people is apparent. The lives of Afghan people shattered—the families destroyed—the civilian death toll—not all that noteworthy according to the channels of information. I read last night on The Frontier web site—a Pakistan paper—that 16 US Marines were killed in an immediate encounter with the Kandahar Taliban. There was no report of it on any US news. Is it that once the cost begins to be extracted the taste for war may subside?
American lives matter—brown, poor lives don’t. They can be used for camera fodder—show their slaughtered bodies—does it look like success? Will it put the fear of the Christian God in the hearts of other Pakistan and Arab fighters who might think about joining the fight? Perhaps. But they are very clear as to when the cameras are allowed. While it was happening—no cameras. The body count? Report it. Let them know. We mean business. Yes, they are all business. They are getting down to business. Yes, the entire objective is to protect American lives—the most valuable reality on planet earth. A consuming, patriotic Christian American life. It’s time for the second coming. Born again George and Christ loving Ashcroft—devout Rumsfeld—all oblivious to the message of Christ—Live by the sword you die by the sword. Love your enemy. This is real—this, in the tradition of Gandhi, is all that matters. But we won’t hear that from the pope or Billy Graham’s son. No, stem cell and cloning, those are the big issues. Let’s respect the dignity of human life, they cry. Maybe they should stand in the middle of Mazar-i-Sharif and try to sell that as a guiding principle.
BCD
29 November 2001
My Friends,
Once again your in-depth reporting of events concerning the actions of the current fascist regime operating under the guise of presidential administration in the United States is the clearest, most concise coverage I have seen yet! So much so that for the first time since these military operations took place, my blood is boiling! The people of the United States obviously are hell-bent on goose-stepping to every lie and fabrication that both the printed media and broadcast media feed them! Anyone who studied history in high school and paid attention can clearly see that the events leading up to the Second World War are repeating themselves almost as if we are seeing a carbon copy going on display!
Were the Poles, gypsies, Jews (before the crematoriums) not lined up and systematically shot by the Nazis during the invasion of Poland in 1939? For all the evil that the Taliban are, the fate that met these soldiers who were bound and unable to defend themselves is at the very least atrocious! To say that the United States with all its high-strung arrogance and brute strength has to abide by the Geneva Convention’s rules of warfare is akin to preaching against adultery, then holding a sex orgy in a church! Just who is going to force the US to abide by the rules? Just who is going to bring those in the Republican Fascist Party ordering the systematic killing of POWs to justice in a military tribunal (speaking of military tribunals, I would be willing to wager that Slobodan Milosevic is found guilty and executed, just so the fascists can make an example out of someone, and thusly prove that they mean business)? Just who is going to hold them accountable for destroying the most basic freedoms held so dear by so many for so long in the United States? Just who is going to hold them accountable for stealing an election won by their opponent to the tune of almost 537,000 votes?
The very Congress that sought to impeach America’s last elected president now sits idly by and allows murder and mayhem in a foreign country to run rampant, using American firepower and putting American lives in danger! All of this in the name of a “war on terrorism”! I become almost physically ill every time I hear the phrase “Everything has changed”! This is true, but it did not happen on September 11 ... it happened on December 12, 2000 in the hallowed halls of the US Supreme Court! The phrase “We are at war” is another one that baffles me. I thought war was to be declared by Congress, not the president or one of his cronies. Who exactly is the enemy? How will we know when he’s been beaten or has surrendered? Why are Democratic members of Congress the only one’s receiving lethal doses of anthrax? Where is “Vice President” Cheney? There are so many questions, and I fear ... even less time to answer them!
We have been led to believe that such “evildoers” as Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Goering, Mussolini and the rest were dead! I believe that reincarnation may, in fact, be reality!
RGL
29 November 2001