The Real Reason Behind War

To mark the 11 year anniversary of the Afghanistan occupation, the death toll for the U.S. military reached two thousand [17].  The soldier who had the misfortune of both dying and becoming a stark symbol of America’s longest running war died under unusual circumstances.  Instead of being killed while on patrol, the unnamed soldier was the victim of an “apparent insider attack” that was conducted by American-backed Afghan forces.  This latest incident comes one week after an announcement [18] by NATO that it would scale back its operations with Afghan security forces after a spike in insider attacks.  At the time of the announcement, a total of fifty one NATO troops had been killed by soldiers wearing Afghan uniforms.

This upsurge in violence committed by supposed allies remains a challenge to the U.S. military which is attempting to arm and train a suitable domestic security force to leave behind as the troop drawdown deadline of late 2014 approaches.  As the Associated Press reports, the internal attacks are “undermining the mantra that both sides are fighting the Taliban “shoulder to shoulder.””

The AP comment is representative of the American public’s understanding of the so-called War on Terror.  Since the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2011, Americans, as well as most Westerners, are under the impression that the U.S. government and its allies are waging war with the Taliban and Al Qaeda.  These radical Islamic terrorist groups are said to threaten America’s way of life.  In the words [19] of former President George Bush on the evening of 9/11, “America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.

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