The Casualties of the Drone War
Since the War on Terror began, the US military has used aerial bombing campaigns to avoid American combat losses. But they’ve led to a staggering number of civilian deaths.
Anand Gopal has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Middle East war zones for various publications and is author of the award-winning No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban and War Through Afghan Eyes
Since the War on Terror began, the US military has used aerial bombing campaigns to avoid American combat losses. But they’ve led to a staggering number of civilian deaths.
As the US military increasingly outsources the most important parts of war, American imperialism has evolved into something that can’t be measured merely by counting the number of boots on the ground. But it’s still highly profitable for corporate elites and spreads death and misery around the globe — and it still must be dismantled.
As inspiring as the Arab Spring uprisings of the early 2010s were, they failed to democratize the Middle East. The primary cause had little to do with the region’s cultural or religious characteristics and everything to do with the profound weakening of the Middle East’s working-class power under neoliberalism.
The publication of the “Afghanistan Papers” has underscored what a bloody disaster the US occupation has been. Whether it’s Trump or Obama or Bush, we must oppose US imperialism no matter who is in the White House.
Trump’s new strategy in Afghanistan is Obama’s plan, dressed up with a lot of bravado. There’s been zero change in policy.
The war in Afghanistan is already the longest in US history. And now Trump is considering sending more troops.