Below is a transcript of Maryam Shansab’s speech during the May 1st afternoon conference.

Because I’m Afghan-American I had the opportunity to live in both a developing country and a developed country.  So, I had the experience to be in both sides of war, on the side where the bombs were dropped and on the side where my tax dollars pay for bombs to be dropped.  And these experiences let me to conclude that there is a tendency for the developed countries to act as enforcers of “democracy” and “security” in the world simply because they think that they are either better equipped or have better knowledge of how people should live or what is best for people.  And many people in West, especially the so called “intellectuals”,  think that the US presence in Afghanistan is essential for keeping Afghans safe from themselves and to “democratize” the country.  But what needs to be understood is that the Afghan people are very capable of establishing a democratic government but unfortunately, there is interference from the US and its allies which is preventing Afghanistan from developing.

So, Afghanistan has become another victim of American and Western imposed “democracy”.   And not that democracy is a something bad, but rather that a lot of atrocities are justified in the name of “democracy building” or “humanitarian intervention” which are just code words for imposing western interests on third world countries.  And while it is true that after the US military involvement in Afghanistan, there were elections and Afghans voted for a president, but what is important to realize is that US controlled elections do not necessarily equal national sovereignty and right for self determination or democracy and we can look at the US backed election in El Salvador and Guatemala in the 1980s for evidence of this.  So, having to choose between foreign approved leaders, while intimidating all progressive candidates, is not exactly what democracy should be like.  And yet, this is the reality in Afghanistan.

Also, the war in Afghanistan is not about liberating Afghan women, or fighting terrorism.  In fact, it is well accepted in the intelligence circles that the US is creating more terrorists with its military occupations in the Middle East.  For example, the night raids, bombings, killings of civilians, and the torture chambers in Bagram prison are increasing anti-US sentiment.  Also, NATO presence in Asia is creating tension with Russia, China, and Iran.  And, actually, China has increased its military spending and Iran has ambitions to build a nuclear weapon as a deterrent to potential US invasion.

So, if we want peace in Afghanistan and security in central Asia, the US and NATO forces must withdraw from Afghanistan and let Afghans decide what kind of government they would like.  Troop withdrawal, however, it not enough.  The US should also stop financing brutal warlords and corrupt Afghan officials.  And what’s more important is that the US must transfer power to the Afghan people and not the Afghan National Army.  If power is transferred to the Afghan National Army, the Afghan people will still suffer under the brutal Afghan military force.  Furthermore, this policy will lead to an increase in opium production to finance the Afghan army because Afghanistan is too poor to sustain such a huge army.

But unfortunately, the US is doing exactly the opposite to what is good for average Afghans and there are simple reasons for this.  There are economic interests that dictate world affairs.  These are not the interests of people concerned in building a safe and sustainable world, but rather the interests of multinational corporations and their government minions to increase profits, increase market shares, stabilize the investment climate, lower labor costs, etc.  And, Afghanistan is in a very strategic geo-political spot in Asia and setting up military bases there would allow the US to not only control the central Asian natural resources but also prevent other countries that may have ambitions of their own from profiting from the same natural resources.  Of course, nobody asks the local people who live in these areas about what they want to do with their resources.

But no one ever considers what the average citizen wants or needs.  Even in the US, while the US military budged is expanding to bomb the civilians in at least two countries, millions of Americans are out of jobs, losing their homes, and have no health care.  Education costs are increasing and our environment continues to be devastated.

We are experiencing both domestic and international problems.  But, we cannot and should not treat our foreign and domestic policy problems in isolation.  The domestic forces that undermine labor laws and environmental protection are the same forces that push for the invasions and occupations of other countries.  And, as long as US based capital and multinational corporations are pulling the strings of our government, we will continue to have wars, we will continue to have an increase in nuclear and non-nuclear weapons, and will have an increase in environmental degradation.

Unfortunately, there is no simple formula or fast-track solution for our economic and political problems.  But, we should go to the core of the problems and challenge oppressive institutions and shift power to the people. That means our job is to educate each other, start caring and standing for each other, and putting people not profits first.

Collectively, people should decide how their tax dollars are spent, what goods to produce, and how to produce it in a manner that benefits human needs and does not harm the environment.  Of course, this will be difficult because we have to go against powerful interests, but I think it is time for us to start thinking of what kind of world is possible rather than what kind of world is acceptable to corporations and financial institutions.