Farid Bakht's speech to STW Afghan war demo 24/10/2009

Farid Bakht's speech to STW Afghan war demo 24/10/2009


Hello everyone!


Twenty years ago, the last Russian soldier left in defeat.


They lasted ten years.


The Americans and NATO want to stay longer than the Russians.


They are talking about being there for forty years.


I don't believe it.


The US dollar will not last as the world's reserve currency that long.


The Chinese and Japanese are not going to keep funding the US government for ever so that it can go to war where it pleases, when it pleases.








Our movement is being realistic when we say the war must end.


The generals and gung-ho politicians are dreaming.








Like it spread from Vietnam into Cambodia.....


The war has spread from Afghanistan into Pakistan.


They are both in civil war.


When this is all over, Pakistan and Afghanistan will not survive as nations.


We are creating Somalias ten times over.


The difference is that Pakistan has nuclear weapons.








It's the war that is making the whole area unstable.








This all feels a bit like the Balkans before World War 1.


And we know where that went.








This war isn't just unjust.


It is unnecessary.


It also does not make any sense.








If we are trying to stop terror, why don't we look at Saudi Arabia?


They finance the Taliban.


So why do we sell weapons to the Saudi kings?


Why do we protect that regime?


The Pakistani military trains the Taliban.


So why are we funding the Pakistani military?








We are propping up regimes that then go and support our enemies, who kill our soldiers.


If Iraq was about oil, Afghanistan is about Gas.








This is a war for Resources.


This is a war for Profit.








The plan is to pump out gas from the vast gas reserves of Central Asia.


Are the soldiers fighting and dying so that the gas goes south to India and not east to China?














The war is also about the control of Asia.








The US and NATO want to turn Afghanistan into one giant airbase.


Deep in the heart of Asia.








To control Russia.


To control China.


And to pressure Iran.








An Iran that is threatened with sanctions and war to stop its nuclear programme.


I also want to see a nuclear-free Middle East.


But how can that be, if no one mentions Israel and its nuclear weapons?








President Obama says this is a “war of necessity”.


No, this is a “war of choice”.








We don't have to be there. We shouldn't be there.


If it means fighting their wars, I don't want a special relationship with the United States.


I want a special relationship with the United Nations.








We demand a peace agreement, involving the UN.


The neighbouring countries must be allowed to lead this.


This is not our backyard. It's theirs.








It's time our leaders realised, this is the 21st century.


It's time to stop this war.








Thank you for listening