THE BLACK ALLIANCE FOR PEACE

Some have asserted the U.S. empire has reached its historic endpoint because of its defeat in Afghanistan. However, that call is as premature as political scientist Francis Fukuyama’s proclamation that history had "ended" in 1989 when Western liberalism won because the former Soviet Union was coming apart. 

Afghanistan might have been the so-called “graveyard of empires” and of

certain states at other points in history. But the U.S. defeat in Afghanistan

had occurred years earlier, a fact verified by revelations found in the

“Afghanistan Papers.” That defeat had no appreciative impact on the U.S.

foreign-policy makers, who continued their destructive path in places like

Yemen, Libya, and Syria. Only a handful of the U.S. population was still

interested in continuing war in Afghanistan up until the last week or so. But

the rulers did not inform the U.S. public, so the masses did not know the war

had been lost.

This point is important because one of the lessons that should be taken

from understanding that the United States had squandered $2 trillion, murdered

500,000 Afghans, sacrificed 2,300 U.S. service members from the U.S. working

class and wounded over 20,000 U.S. military personnel is the public finally

understands these wars only benefit the ruling class and have nothing to do

with the interests of the vast majority of the people.

Despite this new awareness, the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) warned in

its latest Afghanistan News Update:  

“While all eyes are on Afghanistan, the United States

continues its other wars of aggression across the world, claiming to “fight

terrorism”—the same excuse it used to invade Afghanistan 20 years ago. Biden

recently authorized airstrikes on Somalia, more U.S. Special Forces recently

have moved into the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the United States is

continuing its mission to further destabilize the Horn of Africa by pushing for

so-called "humanitarian intervention" in Ethiopia. That country has

been added to the nearly 40 that are under some form of deadly U.S. sanctions

that deprive countries of food, fuel, and medicine. Meanwhile, the United

States remains entrenched in Iraq, reportedly expanding its Ain al-Asad base

despite calls for its withdrawal. All this while it claims to be withdrawing

its combat forces from Iraq. Over in Syria, the United States continues the

destabilization effort, as well as stealing Syrian resources. Meanwhile, Haiti

struggles to effectively respond to yet another natural disaster because of the

more than a century’s worth of U.S./Western imperialist aggression.”

As indicated above, while the earthquake in Haiti occurred right in the

middle of the U.S.-made drama in Afghanistan, the disaster in Haiti is both a

natural disaster and a human-made disaster that requires special mention.

After the devastating 2010 earthquake, billions of dollars flowed into

Haiti to support reconstruction. Most of that money flowed right back out. More

money went to the Washington Beltway and to the salaries and infrastructure of

aid organizations than to reconstruction. Haitian organizations, and the

Haitian State was almost completely bypassed. In keeping with the nefarious

logic of disaster capitalism, the so-called “poorest country in the

hemisphere”—also known as “The Republic of NGOs”—made certain people rich. For

example, the small local oligarchy, with properties to lease and businesses to

serve foreigners, benefited. Meanwhile, the crisis in Haiti following the 2010

earthquake was used to cover imperialism’s expansion: The United States and the

“Core Group” of Germany, Canada, Spain, and a vassal state—Brazil—as well as the

Organization of American States (OAS) was able to consolidate their power

through the installation of neo-Duvalierist Michel Martelly and the Bald-Headed Party (PHTK).

Will history repeat itself in the wake of the latest earthquake?

Haiti, Afghanistan, Syria, mass incarceration in the United States, and illegal sanctions and corporate press agitation for more aggressive positions on China (simply because China is in the process of defeating Western capital at its own game) all demonstrate the repressive and lethal reality: The Pan-European colonial-capitalist white-supremacist patriarchy is not going to go away quietly. It must be decisively defeated if global humanity is to survive in a way that allows for the potential for real democracy and social justice. The work reflected in this news letter reflects BAP’s commitment to that historic task.