Peace is the wrong goal.

 

WorldBeyondWar.org is one of the largest so called ‘peace’ organizations in the US.

And regardless of the human costs WBW continues its focus on targeting the immediate elements of war instead of any serious effort to transform the profoundly flawed ‘international law’ system that sustains it. 

WBW’s current campaign is urging citizens to ‘sign’ a petition.  They believe (or want others to believe) that this is an ‘action’ capable of creating peace in Afghanistan.  This would be laughable if it were not so simple minded - and if successful - wouldn’t end in such horrific and inevitable consequences.

WBW implies that “demanding” that “all Governments with Troops Occupying Afghanistan” be withdrawn, will lead to an acceptable ‘peace’ there. 

No where in or around their petition is there a mention of the lethal consequences that will follow the inevitable collapse of the corrupt Afghan government.  The corrupt government that currently exists and barely undeserving of any support.  

WBW’s leadership only eyes a victory notch that will aid their seeking additional members and funding for their flawed peace approach.  Peace at any price should never be an option.

For decades WBW actions have ignored the fundamental principle that “peace is not a function of disarmament.  This typical liberal approach has been as foolish as the typical conservative belief of “peace through strength”.  It violates the fundamental principle that ‘peace is also not a function of armaments.’

Peace is a function of justice!  No exceptions…only additions. 

The first addition is grasping the fact that the two most valued universal human desires are freedom and security.  And sustainable justice is a function of ‘liberty and justice for all’ within a governing system engineered on the fundamental principle that protecting both human freedom and security is the highest priority.  And non-negotiable.  

Who believes the protection of inalienable human rights (see Universal Declaration of Human Rights and US Declaration of Independence) and humanities vital life support systems (nature) are NOT as important as the protection of national sovereignty, unregulated capitalism, or global corporations?  Who would claim that holding every individual accountable for any violation of these two fundamental elements of nature - is a bad thing?  These are the most basic elements that are almost always abused by the unrestricted power of nation states, capitalism, and/or corporations that are now prioritized in our global governance system.    

No change. No peace.   Peace should never be the highest priority.  Sustainably maximizing human freedom and security should be.

So what will be the costs of all foreign troops leaving Afghanistan.

#1. Say goodbye to Women’s rights there.

#2. Anticipate the detention, torture, and execution of any individuals (and maybe their families) of people in or attached to the exiting Kabul government.

#3. Expect Pakistan’s government (and likely other bordering nations), that have extensive self-interest in Afghanistan stability - and wealth of vital minerals, to act to protect those interests.  It is impossible to know what those consequences will be but they are unlikely to be peaceful.

#4. How long will it be, before Al Qaeda, ISIS, or the next mutation of these killer memes use Afghanistan’s ungovernable chaos to reorganize and develop plans to disrupt the West.  Or acquire biological weapons from other sources that are hateful due to the injustices of US military invasions/ occupations and their associated atrocities?  Only a fool would fail to grasp the enormous disruption capacity that even a weak biological attack could create.  Bioweapons relative ease of creation, access, distribution, and lack of attribution - increases every day.   IMPORTANT NOTE:  Both the US military and WBW fail to grasp that ‘Deterrence’ is no longer a reliable defense strategy.  And rapidly creating and fielding effective defenses against the rapidly evolving offensive weaponry is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to fund.  

Within this context it seems self-evident, that creating the conditions for a sustainable peace is far more important than demanding the removal of just one aspect of war, as important as that removal is eventually.

Advocating (at the very least) for a United Nations effort to protect the freedoms and security of all Afghans instead of abandoning them to the extremist whims of the Taliban or the other self-interested parties, bordering governments, or their military powers.

At most WBW should be advocating for the transformation of the increasingly obvious catastrophic failings of the current global governance systems.  Addressing the current pandemic, preventing others (including the inevitable use of biological weapons), and quickly addressing global warming and other existential environmental threats must become the highest priority of each progressive movement - and all organizations within each movement (Peace, Environment, Social/Economic Justice).

At the very least, a plan to sufficiently fund the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a comprehensive solution (which they are) as a movement unifying goal.