Killing people in Afghanistan for profit? — 2019 was an especially good year

© 2020 Peter Free

 

30 January 2020

 

 

Today, I am especially sour

 

The Afghanistan War's 18+ year duration eliminates American strategic stupidity as excuse for its longevity.

 

We are down to avaricious viciousness as the sole explanation for US policy.

 

 

Consider this

 

The US Air Force reported that it dropped more munitions on Afghanistan last year, than in any one of the previous years — reportedly going back to 2009.

 

For those numbers, see:

 

 

Jared Keller, The US dropped more munitions on Afghanistan last year than any other time in the last decade, Task & Purpose (27 January 2020)

 

 

You can visit  U.S. Central Command's own accounting, here.

 

 

While we're happily exploding things — in this de facto military training program

 

The United States is simultaneously killing appreciable numbers of indisputably innocent Afghanis.

 

You may recall the New York Times article entitled, "U.S. and Afghan Forces Killed More Civilians Than Taliban Did, Report Finds" from 24 April 2019.

 

Death-and-maim numbers, though approximate, are easily available, if one cares enough to look.

 

 

It has been 18 years of winless futility — why does nothing change?

 

Let's examine the question.

 

First, there are container-shiploads of money to be made in keeping the Air Force resupplied with the munitions it uses in (randomly enough) extinguishing lives and structures.

 

Intelligent geopolitical purpose is, History well demonstrates, not a relevant consideration in the American War Business.

 

Second, the US military itself profits in:

 

 

having job security

 

and

 

ridiculously over-the-top prestige (given its wall-to-wall war-losing record)

 

as well as being provided with

 

an unending series of "brown-people" locales in which to train with the "real stuff".

 

 

In keeping this enthusiastically fueled carnage going, we are led to believe that military leaders are nobly defending us against (imaginary and propaganda-spawned) enemies.

 

Our public is brainwashed to think that Terrorists are perpetually on the cusp of commandeering sophisticated flying objects to crash into American buildings 7,000 (or so) miles away.

 

If we are not diligent, the United States will cease to exist, having been gobbled by baby-eating folk, riding fleet and heavily-muscled desert goats.

 

And — if that unlikely-to-happen reasoning does not convince — Government and Media eagerly invent other civilization-dooming nefariousness to attribute to Islamists.

 

And to whomever else who pisses us off — like:

 

Russia

China

North Korea

Syria

Libya

Yemen —

 

and more generally

 

Palestinians

Africans

Latin Americans

and so on —

forever and ever . . .

 

 

A huge portion of the American military industrial economy depends upon keeping the US public cowardly and scared all the time.

 

Third — from a callous (but culturally representative) perspective — what's a few innocent dark-complexioned people regularly killed, when Everybody knows that God is on our freedom-preserving side?

 

If people are pierced or fragmented up by US munitions, they must have been terrorists. That's by trustworthy definition.

 

Why would the United States' serial Commanders in Chief (and their star-wearing subordinates) lie about that?

 

 

The moral? — The United States is (we must infer) God's right hand

 

Smiting and all that.

 

It is a Holy and conveniently capitalistic business.