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Afghanistan, 2001 - ?
Bush's "War on Terrorism" began with U.S. warplanes bombing Afghanistan,
the unfortunate country where bin Laden chose to locate his
headquarters. At that time, Afghanistan was ruled by fundamentalist
Muslim clerics of the Taliban movement, whom both bin Laden and the CIA
had supported during the anti-Soviet war. Now, Washington decided to
destroy its former allies.
The people of Afghanistan suffered the consequences.
U.S. bombs killed hundreds -- and perhaps thousands -- of civilians and
the war cut off relief supplies to millions already facing starvation.
The total number of deaths will never be known, but it's certain that
many more civilians died in the U.S. assault on Afghanistan that in the
attack on the World Trade Center. [79]
Relatives prepare four children for burial after a U.S. air strike in
Kabul, October 2001.
The U.S. made common cause with a new set of Afghan allies -- brutal
regional warlords. Under U.S. auspices, Islamic fundamentalism has been
replaced by brazen corruption as warlords fight for power and prey on
the people under their jurisdiction. The opium trade, which the zealous
Taliban clerics had briefly suppressed, once again flourishes under the
warlords [80]
And Afghanistan regained its place as the world's top opium producer.
Iraq, 2003 - ?
From the day they took office, Bush and
his key lieutenants set their sights on Iraq. After 9-11, they packaged
an invasion as part of the "War on Terrorism." To win U.N. backing, they
claimed Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear, chemical, and biological
weapons. The threat was so imminent, they said, that an immediate
invasion was imperative.
"We can't wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come
in the form of a mushroom cloud." -- George W. Bush, October 2002 [81]
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