Stop Pretending it’s Not a War

What is happening in Afghanistan is called war yet people discuss it as if it is something else especially those defending the war. We invaded Afghanistan with our military and are now occupying some areas and we are killing Afghans which is a pretty good description of war. We aren’t protecting Afghans we are bombing them. Almost every day in the news you hear or read of Afghan deaths resulting from the U.S. and NATO bombs. It’s war so let’s stop pretending that it isn’t. This is where all the drivel about nation building, democracy, and humanitarian efforts stem from not a heartfelt desire to raise the brown heathens to lofty white western standards. And if it all sounds like a lot of self conflicting rubbish that’s because it is.

As near as I can tell in the history of the world no nation ever invaded another nation because the invader believed that the invadee needed help yet today America is different. We aren’t the same as those old style imperialists. We’re new and modern and well, we’re different, don’t you get it? What’s the matter with you? That body lying in the dust isn’t a body, its a bilateral collateral collusion of negative force feed data. See? Never, ever, call anything what it actually is as that would be crass. And thus the illusion of normalcy is maintained and spun at an even and uniform rate.


Yesterday the House overwhelmingly, as in overwhelming,voted to continue the Afghan War by voting down Dennis Kucinich’s resolution to end the Afghan War. People want bipartisanship to get things done? Well here you go. Our bipartisan warmongers have just delivered you more endless war, the fruit of bipartisanship. But then of course people like Kucinich and Ron Paul are just fringe lunatics. Anyone who questions the collective world view held by most politicians are ridiculed while main stream political hacks like Obama are glorified beyond anything reasonable and with little or no real justification other than his charisma and even that is half imagined.

If Dennis Kucinich could introduce and fight for a resolution to end the Afghan War why couldn’t Obama? Obama could but he didn’t and won’t because Obama believes in the imperial road. But look at how the House voted. The vote was 356 to 65 which is a resounding reaffirmation of congressional allegiance to war. A completely bipartisan effort. There simply is almost no opposition to the Afghan War in this House of Representatives. Not on the republican side and not on the democratic side. Meet the War Party as some like to call them. An appropriate name. And let’s stop pretending that it isn’t a war yet I doubt we can do even that.