19.09.2007
Leave it to the Taliban
Phil Kent reports on the day school on Afghanistan, organised by the Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition day school on Afghanistan succeeded only in filling at most a third of room 101 at the University of London Union on September 15. The main forces behind the STWC - namely the Socialist Workers Party and Communist Party of Britain - were unable to mobilise their own comrades, let alone many independents, indicating that their strategy of never-ending rallies and protest marches is running into the sand.
Not even all the advertised speakers turned up and the usual crowded top table did not feature on this occasion. As a result more than the usual number of speakers from the floor were able to make contributions - demonstrating the wisdom they had gained from attending all such previous 'conferences', 'day schools', rallies and marches over the past six years. Conspiracy theories blaming all acts of terrorism on the Americans were popular. Hold your head and cry.
Jane Shallis opened the school by arguing that the American strategy in Afghanistan simply was not working. Virtually no reconstruction work is happening because of the dire security situation and the US is making more enemies by the day with its crude military tactics, based primarily on air power and bombing, which is killing large numbers of non-combatants. Its civilian allies were, and still are, corrupt local warlords with parochial aims and rivalries. The gas pipeline (touted by the SWP as the cause of the invasion) is a joke - the security situation in Pakistan, never mind Afghanistan, means it cannot even be contemplated, let alone constructed.
I heard nothing about the US being a declining economic superpower desperate to maintain its world hegemony. It is able still to unleash overwhelming military destruction, but appears unable even to rebuild New Orleans. American propaganda that its imperialist aggression is resulting in economic reconstruction is absurd, an obscene fantasy. The US has neither the capacity nor the will to succeed in this area. All it can do is take out 'rogue states', on the one hand, and, on the other, attempt to control the working class through the fear and actuality of terrorism.
The next speaker was Elaheh Rostami Povey of the SWP, who was addressing the question of women in Afghanistan. Commenting on the strains developing in Afghan society over their position, she said that many men are jealous of women being educated and unemployed men are resentful of women with jobs. In Povey's view women's rights are not universal, but just an aspect of our arrogant and patronising western culture. The Taliban's values are genuinely Afghan and therefore culturally more valid in Afghanistan. The message? Let Afghan men decide what Afghan women's rights should be.
Povey argued explicitly that women were right to wear the burqa in Afghanistan, because it enabled them to go out into society, so for them it is a little personal space where they can be free. A bit like an asbo tag in this country perhaps. Lindsey German, speaking from the floor, helpfully explained that muslim dress codes could reflect cultural as well as religious attitudes.
Two other female speakers from the floor suggested that we should "get behind the brothers" who are fighting imperialism in Afghanistan. "The brothers", by the way, are the Taliban. Any suggestion coming out of Afghanistan that not all Afghans support the Taliban should carry a "health warning" due to its pro-imperialist content. We, on the other hand, are the anti-imperialists.
All the complex divisions and strains within Afghan society are reduced to this simple equation. Because the Taliban is fighting America they are the heroes of the hour - the only force capable of unifying Afghanistan and driving out imperialism. Once imperialism has been expelled we can go back to describing them as irrational, medieval, politico-religious thugs who rule only through terror. Bad news for Afghans, but no problem for 'anti-imperialists'.