Below is a transcript of Maryam Shansab’s speech delivered at the rally on May 2, 2010.

The war in Afghanistan has not brought democracy for the Afghan people or liberated Afghan women nor is the war making Americans safer.

The US has set up a puppet regime in Afghanistan that is so brutal and corrupt that the Afghan people would rather prefer the rule of the Taliban.  Actually the situation of Afghan women is a lot worse now then it was under the Taliban.

So the question becomes, why is the US government perusing these policies?  Well, the answer is simple. Wars are waged by powerful countries to control resources and guarantee obedience.  In fact, if you read the business news, the gas supplies around Afghanistan are estimated to be worth trillions of dollars and described as very good investment opportunities for multi-national corporations.  The same is true for Pakistan, the areas that we are bombing with drones, are also described as areas that are rich in untapped natural resources.  And interestingly, the local population there is described as poor but proud nationalist people, composed of many young, unemployed people who could serve as a cheap labor force.  So, you should ask yourself, if the Taliban pose such a security threat in the world, why are the corporations not worried about them?  Why is there talk about negotiating with the Taliban?  Why do the Taliban get million dollar contracts from the US government for logistics to transport supplies for the US army?

Of course, information about the cheap labor force and untapped natural recourses will not be discussed on the regular news channels because fighting wars that benefit corporations will be very unpopular among the American people.  And while they are spending billions on these wars, they are cutting domestic spending,  industrial production is continuing to decrease and people are still unemployed, while banks and oil companies post record profits.

They tell you to support the troops with stickers and ribbons but you never hear that veterans benefits are cut, or that the unemployment rate for veterans is two times higher than average, or that more veterans died due to lack of health care than in combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq combined, or that 30% of the homeless population in the US are veterans.

The country is in a very irrational state of affairs right now. People are justly frustrated and angry but they vent their anger in the wrong direction. Immigrants are blamed for the lack of jobs in the US, but again, they never tell you that Free trade agreements result in increased immigration because developing countries cannot compete with the highly subsidized US corporations so native farmers get bankrupt. In fact, the same year NAFTA was signed, the US initiated plans to build a wall between Mexico and the US.  So, the consequence of these treaties is well known and predictable.

We have to start connecting domestic issues with international issues. Domestic power structure determines international and domestic policy.  As long as corporations are in charge of the government (and in fact it just got easier for them to buy elections), we will have more wars, lower wages, and no job security.  Unless, people start taking control of their communities, their schools, and their workplace, corporate interests will continue to dominate our lives.