From CounterPunch
By Phil Gasper

With attention focused on the disastrous U.S. war in Iraq, there has been much less media coverage of the Bush administration’s other ongoing war, in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan is now entering its sixth year, but from the perspective of the U.S. ruling class, the situation is deteriorating rapidly.

The U.S. began bombing Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 in retaliation for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A ground invasion began shortly afterwards and U.S. troops in collaboration with a collection of Afghan warlords known as the Northern Alliance quickly overthrew the fundamentalist Taliban government led by Mullah Omar, accusing it of harboring those responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Just as in Iraq, Washington promised that the invasion would bring about liberation for the local population-particularly women, who had suffered severe oppression under the Taliban-democracy, respect for human rights, stability, and prosperity. Now, more than five years later, it is easy to see just how hollow those promises were. According to a report in the London Times, “the triumph and hope” that followed the Taliban’s ouster, “have given way to despair and disappointment.”

With the partial exception of the capital, Kabul, much of the country remains in chaos. Kandahar in the south, for instance, gets no more than six hours of electricity every two days. “Bad roads, open sewage systems, and a lack of fresh water are seen in the city as inconveniences very low down on the list of complaints,” the Times reported. “Kidnapping, banditry and police corruption rank much higher.” Thirty-nine percent of Afghans under the age of five are malnourished and 61 percent depend on untreated drinking water.

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