2/16/2018 By John F. O’Donnell
Believe it or not, the TALIBAN is now calling upon the American people to urge our government to engage in peace talks in Afghanistan. Holy shit. When our country is so warlike that the notoriously repressive and militant Taliban is asking the people of America to talk sense into our government, we really have to reconsider our neocon foreign policy insanity. A few weeks ago, President Trump rejected moving forward with peace talks with the Taliban even though military and diplomatic US officials say that a military victory over the Taliban cannot be achieved. This fruitless and destructive war has been raging for 17 years now – and Trump apparently thinks everything should remain the same.
The Taliban’s letter reads, in part:
“…the reality is that tens of thousands of helpless Afghans including women and children were martyred by your forces, hundreds of thousands were injured and thousands more were incarcerated in Guantanamo, Bagram, and various other secret jails and treated in such a humiliating way that has not only brought shame upon humanity but is also a violation of all claims of American culture and civilization.”
Wow. If you’re part of the anti-war movement in any capacity, it’s really hard to disagree with the above passage, which SUCKS because it’s coming from the freakin’ Taliban! The truth is, though, the hellfire the US has rained down on Afghanistan has been tragic. So many innocent people have paid with their lives. It MUST be time to really try and make a diplomatic solution a priority. Sadly, things are going in the opposite direction.
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The letter also talks about 2017 United Nations statistics that found an 87% increase in drug production in Afghanistan. This, of course, is referring to the harvesting of poppies, many of which end up being used for highly addictive opioids that are relentlessly pushed upon Americans by the pharmaceutical industry.
There is now an epidemic of opioid addiction in the US that kills nearly 100 people a day from overdoses (and other sources say 115 per day). Nobody is winning from the tragedy of the US war with Afghanistan except for the war-profiteers and the drug companies. 
In addition to the tens of thousands of Afghans who have perished, the US and coalition forces have lost 3,546 souls, and it has cost our country trillions of dollars. The Trump administration should be pursuing international diplomacy at all costs. Instead, the president is thrilled to have dropped the Mother of All Bombs in Afghanistan, which has forever altered the landscape of that country. The corporate Democrats, the corporate media, and the GOP all joined together in celebrating Trump’s belligerence. In fact, many claimed dropping bombs was what FINALLY made Trump “presidential.”
Hey, President Trump, you should write a letter back to the Taliban, also calling for peace. You can even write in block letters, if cursive is too difficult for you.
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More and more we’re seeing people in the US come out against our government’s relentless war economy, and the devastation it wreaks both abroad and with frightening regularity here at home.