Resolved: NATO presence improves the lives of Afghan citizens

The war in Afghanistan, the first step in America's war on Terror, is now the longest war in US history. Comparing our situation in Afghanistan with other historic American engagements is telling. In Vietnam, the last American troops had left the country and the military action was officially over at this point. In World War 2, the rebuilding of the entirety of western Europe was nearing its completion 9 years after the US entered the war. The sad fact is that the situation is not improving, and we have no real plan for winning this war. 9 years of war has ravaged the land and damaged a whole generation of Afghan citizens. This is why I must oppose the resolution that NATO presence improves the lives of Afghan citizens. The Con contends that: I) Situation is not improving a) Human rights violations inherent in protracted armed conflict 1) War harms children "Wars have always victimised children and other non-combatants, but modern wars are exploiting, maiming and killing children more callously and more systematically than ever… Children are being sucked into seemingly endless endemic struggles for power and resources (1)." 2) War harms women "One of the major points cited in favor of the ongoing war against Afghanistan is the "liberation" of women, but when the bravest woman in Afghanistan (and one of the country's few outspoken female activists) is denouncing the degradation of women's rights under foreign occupation, when statistics and U.N reports show that the situation of women continues to worsen, and when civilian casualties continue to rise, what is the liberation the occupying powers have in mind? A "liberation," surely, that has far more to do with securing the interests of the United States than with the realities, needs, and interests of Afghan women (2)." b) Human rights abuses committed by both NATO and Taliban 1) Lack of accountability in civilian casualties "The military logs bear out Amnesty International's longstanding concerns that there is no coherent or consistent system for accounting for civilian casualties. The leaked records support Amnesty's concerns about improper reporting of civilian casualties, a lack of investigations into casualties that are recorded, and poor coordination between different national forces about incidents and even over investigations that do take place (3)." 2) Lack of judicial process "Though the site is physically much improved from the old Bagram prison, this is still a long way from a just process. For the hearings to be minimally fair, the detainees should be able to contest the evidence against them and have access to a lawyer…But detainees have no lawyers… the culture of secrecy in Afghanistan borders on the absurd. As one U.S. official acknowledged to me, when the contents of a man's pockets can be classified secret, even from him, then something is wrong (4)." c) Security not improving "The United Nations' findings appeared at odds with Pentagon assertions this week claiming slow-but-steady progress in Afghanistan - an assessment challenged by U.S. lawmakers during hearings on Capitol Hill. The report, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submitted to the U.N. Security Council this week, said Afghanistan's overall security situation "has not improved" since his last report in March (5)." II) NATO Afghanistan has not been much better than Taliban a) Afghans say NATO as bad "Despite statistics suggesting insurgents are disproportionately responsible for civilian harm, our analysis found that Afghans blamed international forces as much, if not more, than insurgents. Few spoke warmly about the Taliban. But the vast majority described international forces as equally brutal toward civilians, and equally, if not more responsible for civilian casualties, detention abuses and other concerns (6)." b) NATO presence props up corrupt regime "The Karzai government in Afghanistan has also come under both domestic and international criticism due to rampant corruption and an inability to improve security and overall living conditions for its citizens (7)." c) Still not safe for refugees to return "The conditions for the persecuted Hazara minority in Afghanistan, in particular, are unsafe and not improving, according to Riz Wakil a Hazara community spokesperson…'For over 100 years under different Pashtun rulers and under the Taliban, Hazara have been persecuted and were forced to leave. It is the same under the Karzai government and the nose of the US-NATO forces', Riz Wakil, another Hazara community representative, commented (8)." The Con agrees with Ernest Hemmingway when he said ""Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." The war in Afghanistan has failed in 9 years to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict, has failed to bring stability and peace to the region or the world. We are not more secure, and Afghan citizens suffer terribly for our refusal to end this war. Napoleon Bonaparte once said ""Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run, the sword is always beaten by the spirit." Would that we could finally learn the lesson of the dictator, and cease to perpetuate the fraud of peace through war. Then, perhaps we could begin to work toward the real peace that looks not to our own needs first, but to the needs of the people we claim to be liberating. NATO's presence in Afghanistan is preventing real progress toward lasting peace. For this reason, I urge you to vote Con. (1) http://saiv.net... (2)http://womensrights.change.org... (3) http://www.amnesty.org.uk... (4) http://www.hrw.org... (5) http://www.military.com... (6) http://www.guardian.co.uk... (7) http://www.fas.org... (8) http://www.greenleft.org.au...