Abdul Fatah Raufi

With NATO in Disarray, Use Hersh Revelations To Build Movement for Durable Peace

This is the edited transcript of the presentation by Abdul Fatah Raufi, a representative of the Afghan exile community, to the Schiller Institute Conference, “The Age of Reason or Annihilation of Humanity?” Panel 2, “The Name of Peace: A New Security and Economic Development Architecture” on Saturday, February 4, 2023. The videos of the full conference are available here.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: First of all, please let me express my gratitude and appreciation to you for giving me the opportunity to share with you the experiences of a nation which has been the victim of multiple invasions and wars, waged for very narrow geopolitical purposes.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: I belong to a nation which has been subjected multiple times, in the recent history, to invasions and wars waged not in the name of high and wide values of humanity but in the name of very narrow geopolitical interests. All invasions and wars to which, for whatever reason, the Afghan nation has been subjected, caused a catastrophe in the life of the Afghan nation as a whole, even in the lives of those Afghans who supported those invasions and wars. Those invasions victimized the Afghan nation by destroying its villages, cities, infrastructure for food production, schools, universities, factories, roads and bridges, which were built by a nation belonging to one of the poorest people on the earth. Those wars killed, permanently disabled or wounded millions of Afghans who were living at the wrong time, in a wrong place. Those wars forced millions of Afghans to leave their homes to find food and shelter somewhere else, outside their region or even outside their native country.

The last NATO invasion and war, waged by almost 50 countries of the “civilized” world against the poor Afghan nation also caused enormous losses, pain, sorrow and suffering to the Afghan nation. It is impossible to describe all those sufferings in words. After the departure of NATO forces from Afghanistan, they left a nation behind devastated by hunger, poverty, corruption, organized crime, diseases and addiction to the drugs. The Afghan nation is now struggling with huge problems; some of which are:

• Lack of sufficient food, because the food production facilities were deliberately destroyed.

• Lack of sufficient health care, because hospitals and clinics were destroyed; healthcare specialists or staff were killed or left the country.

• Lack of sufficient education, because schools and universities were deliberately targeted during the war; teachers and lecturers were killed or left the country.

• Joblessness, because sanctions by the “civilized world” devastated the economy of the country.

• Drug addiction, because of flourishing drug trafficking during the years of invasions.

• A refugee crisis, because there is no hope for economic recovery under the sanctions.

• Poverty, because this country has had no opportunities to rebuild its economy and eliminate poverty due to successive invasions.

From all of the above mentioned problems, looking at the drug addiction problem, then we are talking about four million addicted people. It is about 10% of the Afghan population—a huge number. Amongst the addicted people one can find many educated people, whose knowledge and expertise are now very much needed to rebuild the country.

Why did they become addicted? Because they lost their hopes for peace, security and future in their country. During the NATO invasion, all job opportunities were in the hands of highly corrupt people. For each open vacancy they required money from the applicant, thousands of dollars. But these people were not able to pay such an amount of money to be selected.

In this year’s harsh winter, they were definitely faced with death, as the temperature in some area of Afghanistan dropped to minus 33 degrees Celsius. In the recent days, the government found shelters for them. The government put all those four million addicted people under protection and healthcare. It is a huge operation with very poor financial means. Now this is not a problem of the “civilized” world, but a problem of a poor nation under the sanctions of the “civilized” world.

The other huge problem in Afghanistan is the poverty. The main reason for the poverty in Afghanistan is successive foreign invasions, and the devastating wars that were caused by the invasions. The country gets no opportunity to heal and recover from the invasions and wars, and start rebuilding its economy to eliminate poverty. Being condemned to poverty, the entire Afghan nation—the human rights of the whole nation—has been abused, and even the rights of those who had already left Afghanistan, as they think day and night about the future of their loved ones left behind.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen: No war is a good war. All wars cause huge suffering to mankind and damage its dignity. Therefore, all means should be used to prevent invasions and wars in general. Now is the time to find peaceful means to overcome differences. Invasions and wars should be replaced by mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, trade and sharing of cultural values. In my view, our planet has the potential to feed, house and give a happy life for the whole of mankind.

So, let us stop invasions and waging wars, but instead start to cooperate to feed, house and to give a happy life for the whole of mankind. Doing so, we will ensure the respect for human rights, valid for all mankind, without exceptions.

Finally, I am very obliged to you for giving me the opportunity to express the pain, sorrow and suffering of a nation, victimized by invasions and wars waged not in the name of shared values but in the name of very narrow geopolitical interests.

Thank you for your attention.

LEONORE AD