On the 7th October 2001 the US military operation “Operation Enduring Freedom” was launched together with the UK in response to the September 11th attack on the USA. This started the so-called “war on terror” which is still in progress.

The declared aim was to capture Bin-laden and remove the Taliban regime, the latter being realised in 5 weeks with the help of Afghan forces of the Northern Alliance.

All of this happened without any UN resolution in place to give any form of legality to the operation; all those imprisoned during the operation have been defined as “terrorists” as opposed to “soldiers” thereby denying them the rights and protection of the Geneva Conventions and due process of law.

Today, more than 7 years have passed and foreign forces are still there, hundreds of prisoners are still held without trial in Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba.

In front of this situation the Humanist International notes the following:

1. This war was started illegally; all countries participating in the war by the contribution of troops, military support or even airspace were aggressors  in breach of international law.  Only after the UN resolved to set up ISAF  did any legitimacy come to the operation and this only after statements from George W. Bush such as “you’re either with us or against us” , a clearly threatening statement hardly to be expected in the sphere of diplomacy.

2. The war is immoral. All war is of course immoral, but in this case the repeated use of depleted uranium in Afghanistan, unbelievably including the largest urban areas, including Kabul, with a population of over 3 million people will ensure that mortality through cancer will reach unimaginable levels over the coming years.

3. Civilian deaths can already be counted in the tens of thousands.

4. Religious fundamentalism of all kinds is anti-humanist. When religious doctrine is used, by religious or political leaders, to justify the use of war or violence as a tool to bring about social change or to maintain a social system, they are in total contradiction with the basic principle of their religion: the golden rule – “Treat others the way you would like to be treated”.

Our position

It is important to note that Humanists did not create this situation and it is not up to Humanists to resolve it single-handedly nor do we wish to get into an argument with those who have vested economic interests in this geo-political area.

This situation surely has its roots in British colonisation followed by the invasion by the USSR and the war with the US-funded Mujaheddin and the subsequent refusal by the US administration of Ronald Reagan to provide any development assistance to the country after the USSR withdrew.

We see no easy way to immediately stop the killing. However our approach would be as follows:

1. Immediately start the process of withdrawing US and ISAF occupying forces from Afghanistan delegating their mission to the Afghan National Army.  Foreign governments attempting to increase their troops are fooling themselves if they think this action will help the situation, on the contrary the more they stay the more they create hatred and contribute to the reformation of the Taliban forces.

2. Bring all sides of the Afghan conflict to the negotiation table together with other countries with interests in the region such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, together with negotiators of the United Nations. This situation will ultimately have to be resolved by Afghans, from all ethnic sectors, sitting around a table to find a strategy to disarm the population which is heavily armed on all sides. If so agreed, a UN Peace Keeping mission, with the heavy involvement of countries of the region that are acceptable to all sides, should be put together. History shows that only through dialogue can conflicts be resolved.  “The evidence since 1968 indicates that terrorist groups rarely cease to exist as a result of winning or losing a military campaign. Rather, most groups end because of operations carried out by local police or intelligence agencies or because they join the political process.”

3. The money spent on military operations in Afghanistan would be better spent on the economic development of the country and on the successful return of millions of Afghan refugees from abroad.  Afghanistan needs an economy that is strong enough to provide jobs, healthcare and education to the entire population without discrimination, in a way that is not dictated by the IMF and World Bank, with their vested interests in implementing a failed economic model in another country.

4. Find a way to bring Bush and Blair to justice for the crimes committed in Afghanistan as a result of all the civilian deaths and the use of Depleted Uranium and cluster bombs in the country.

5. Immediately invest extra money in medical services to deal with the cancer cases, the environmental clean up that is necessary to reduce as much as possible the effects of the Uranium dust in the country.

6. Immediate investment in nonviolent education systems and conflict resolution in order to give people the tools to change society without having to resort to violence.

This is not all that is necessary. A joint international solution in the context of UN assembly is needed in order to bring an end to the violence in Afghanistan; a solution that starts from the basis of nonviolence as the methodology of action.

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I) The UN general assembly has a resolution defining what is aggression: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/GAres3314.html
II) ISAF was authorised by Security Council resolution 1386 in December 2001 and the latest resolution to extend the mandate is 1806 which runs until the 23rd March 2009
III) http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/11/06/gen.attack.on.terror/
IV) http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9351/index1.html

Sudhir Gandotra - Asian Spokesperson for New Humanism
Ivan Andrade - African Spokesperson for New Humanism
Tomas Hirsch - Latinoamerican Spokesperson for New Humanism
Giorgio Schultze - European Spokesperson for New Humanism
Chris Wells - North American Spokesperson for New Humanism