American Soldier with Local Afghans

A recent edition of United for Peace and Justice’s  “Afghanistan War Weekly” notes that President Obama has “reaffirmed his commitment to ‘win’ the war.”  The report also points out that much of President Obama’s recent speech, as well as the Executive Summary of the administration’s annual report, discusses Pakistan’s critical role in the war.  The Weekly indicates that President Obama did not comment on the “war’s many and obvious  failures.”  The full text of this edition of the Weekly can be found here.

This edition is one of a series of reports that can provide helpful information and analysis regarding the War in Afghanistan. Links to archived editions of the Afghanistan War Weekly can be found here.

Each edition of the Afghanistan War Weekly also provides links to a number of interesting, related articles.  The edition of the Weekly cited above includes a link to The Nation magazine’s recent interview with Matthew Hoh, the U.S. State Department official who resigned in protest of the Afghanistan War.

In the interview, Hoh states, “The administration wanted to stay for political reasons, to win what they call ‘the right war’ and do it closer to the 2012 elections.”  Hoh also noted, “America has a strong militaristic streak, which is why Obama and McCain campaigned on winning in Afghanistan.”

Regarding aid to Afghanistan, Hoh stated, “Afghanistan is swimming in money, which not only hasn’t ended the war, but prolongs it, because everyone’s chasing it. If you’re on the outside and not profiting, you fight to get it. If you’re getting rich and buying mansions in Dubai, why reform the government, have a negotiated settlement or peace? I argue we should stop the flow until we get political stability.”  The full text of Matthew Hoh’s interview can be found here.

The Administration’s official “Overview of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Annual Review,” by the way, indicates, “The core goal of the U.S. strategy in the Afghanistan and Pakistan theater remains to disrupt, dismantle, and eventually defeat al-Qa’ida in the region and to prevent its return to either country.”  The full text of the Overview can be found here.

For further information about United for Peace and Justice or The Nation magazine, along with links to their websites and to other resources they provide, please see their respective entries in the Peace and Justice Online Directory of Resources.