US destroying Afghanistan for imperial interests: Pundit

A file picture taken on June 13, 2010 shows a US drone armed with a missile on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport in Afghanistan. (© AFP)

Press TV has interviewed Richard Becker, with the ANSWER Coalition from San Francisco, and Bob Ayers, former US intelligence officer from Somerset, to discuss the Taliban militancy in Afghanistan and the US role in the violence.

Becker thinks the US should be held responsible for the instability and violence that have been plaguing Afghanistan over the past decades.

The political expert says American administrations have been pursuing their own goals in Afghanistan under the pretext of protecting the violence-stricken nation’s interests.

The US military intervention in Afghanistan actually began before the Soviet invasion of the country in 1979, says Becker, adding that the White House tried to drag the Soviet Union into the conflict in Afghanistan and create a quagmire for Russians.

He argues that the US role during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in 1980s caused a real catastrophe to the nation. The Americans sought to indirectly challenge the Russians through supporting the militants fighting against Soviet forces at the time, he adds.

The money that the US spends and the CIA’s engagement in Afghanistan are not meant to serve the interests of the Asian country, Becker argues, noting that Washington wants to further its own “imperial interests around the world.”

He concludes that the US governments have tried to turn Afghanistan into a base for Washington in a key strategic region of the world.

For his part, Ayers believes that the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 degraded the influence of the Taliban militant group and paved the way for the reinstatement of the government.


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