Italian Leftists Appeal - Withdraw Italian troops from Afghanistan!

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Monday July 10, 2006 23:29 by John Meehan

Support needed from international Left

Italian Leftists Appeal
Withdraw Italian troops from Afghanistan!

Support needed from international Left
Sinistra Critica (Critical Left)

The new centre-left italian government of Romano Prodi is going to ask parliament to vote for continuing the Italian military presence in Afghanistan. This is a clear break with the anti-war feelings of the Italian left that were expressed in the enomous anti-war mobilizations which took place under the reactionary Berlusconi government.

The new "centre left" government of Italy headed by Romano Prodi proposes to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan.

This has prompted Tariq Ali to write an open letter (see text below) to the best known member of "Rifondazione Communista" [Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC)], Fausto Bertinotti.

If readers wish, they can e-mail anti-war messages to supporters in italy - see details below.

AN OPEN LETTER TO FAUSTO BERTINOTTI ON AFGHANISTAN:

Dear Fausto:
I was surprised to hear that Rifondazione was preparing to vote in
favour of keeping Italian troops in Afghanistan, for ‘humanitarian
reasons’. I want to try and convince you that this would be a serious
error, just as I argued in the last century with those on the left, who
supported the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.
Big powers or surrogate states acting on their behalf have no right to
occupy countries. The two big projects of the global neo-liberal order
have been (1) to insist that the new capitalism is the ‘sole’ way of
organising humankinf from now till the planet implodes and (2) to
disregard national sovereignty as a key to international relations in
the name of ‘human rights’.
A few weeks after 9/11, I debated a leading Bush ideologue, Charles
Krauthammer for one hour on Canadian television. He admitted that the
war in Afghanistan was as I had put it ‘a crude war of revenge.’ Three
days ago the CIA disbanded its special unit created to track and
exterminate Osama Bin Laden, a tacit acknowledgement that the situation
had changed drastically since 9/11. So what is the function of NATO
armies in Afghanistan. ‘Human Rights’? Even conservative journalists in
Britain (whose soldiers are being killed regularly) would laugh at any
such assumption. One of them, Simon Jenkins, recently returned from a
trip to Kabul and wrote a public warning to Blair:

“The debacle of Britain-in-Afghanistan cannot be ignored, because
British troops are at risk. They were never meant to be at risk and
their presence in that country has nothing to do with British security.
They are sweltering and dying in Helmand not to prop up an embattled
regime in Kabul, for which they are hopelessly undermanned, but to keep
NATO alive in Europe, an unworthy mission… How did the Americans induce
Nato in 2004 to become Hamid Karzai's mercenary army? What intelligence
did the cabinet receive from Washington, where officials openly spoke of
dumping Afghanistan on uppity NATO to teach it a lesson after the Balkan
shambles? …Every assessment I have heard suggests that the sort of
campaign envisaged by the government in southern Afghanistan would
require not 3,000 or even 10,000 troops, but over 100,000. Even the
latter total has failed in Iraq, and Iraqis cannot hold a candle to
Afghans for insurgent fanaticism.” (The Guardian, 5 July, 2006)

There is simply no excuse for the NATO presence in Afghanistan except
that of pleasing Washington. In recent weeks the killing of Afghan
civilians has increased tenfold. Headlines which speak of ‘500 Taliban
killed’ are deliberate disinformation. As was predicted by some of us at
the time, the Afghans do not like being occupied and would begin to
resist sooner or later. Fausto, ask yourself why there should be any
foreign troops there at all.

That the centre-left supports NATO and backs most US wars is well-known.
Let them do it with the support of Fini, Bossi and Berlusconi (they are,
after all, of the same opinion). Why should the occupation of a foreign
country be treated as a vote of confidence? And if it is the honest
answer has to be: we do not have any confidence in the NATO presence in
Afghanistan. For Rifondazione to vote in favour would be a tragedy for
the European Left and I fear can only lead to disasters both in
Afghanistan and in terms of creating an alternative in Italy. If you get
into arguments such as the character of the regime that might follow a
Western withdrawal you will be swimming in a dangerous sea. Don’t forget
the pathetic imperial past of your own state. The invasions of Albania
and Abbyssinia by Mussolini were explained by the same logic: we are
taking European civilization to these backward feudal monarchic states.
Regime change was not acceptable them and it should not be now.

I write as an old friend of Rifondazione. I hope I can remain one after
the vote next Tuesday.

Yours fraternally,

Tariq Ali

===============

You can add to the growing protest list, as follows :

Italian Leftists Appeal
Withdraw Italian troops from Afghanistan!

Support needed from international Left
Sinistra Critica (Critical Left)

The new centre-left italian government of Romano Prodi is going to ask parliament to vote for continuing the Italian military presence in Afghanistan. This is a clear break with the anti-war feelings of the Italian left that were expressed in the enomous anti-war mobilizations which took place under the reactionary Berlusconi government.

Left senators and members of parliament are under pressure from the goverment to vote against their own convictions. For the moment, eight senators have stated that they will refuse to vote for the Prodi government on this question. As the centre left only has a two vote majority in the Senate their decision could force Prodi to withdraw the Italian armed forces or to count on the support of the right wing to approve his decision.

To help the left representatives to resist, sign this appeal.

To sign it send a mail to: noafghanistan@libero.it

You can also sign it through the website: www.sinistracritica.org, where you will find the Italian text and you can sign by sending your full name and e-mail address.
Don’t vote for this mission!

In Afghanistan there is a war in which Italy is participating fully through the UN mission. The Prodi government, following the line of the previous government has decided to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan, without chaning its military presence in any way. For years we have demonstrated against all wars, including the one in Afghanistan, with no ifs nor buts. Italy cannot and must not participate in this mission and the pacifist left, first of which is the Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC), must not approve it. We call on the parliamentary representatives to vote in coherence with their own convictions and on the Unione for it to note this clear position by changing direction and going towards an “exit strategy” in Afghanistan and respect of Article 11 of the Constitution included in the governmental programme.

- Sinistra Critica (Critical Left) is a current in Rifondazione, which includes the comrades of Bandiera Rossa, Italian section of the Fourth International.