Opposition to the 2001 Afghanistan War
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Opposition to the 2001 Afghanistan War consisted of Afghani women and tens to a hundred thousand protestors in the United States and the United Kingdom. Opposition was organised locally by Afghan women<ref name="rawa_usattack">Taliban should be overthrown by the uprising of Afghan nation. Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (October 11, 2001). Retrieved on 2006-11-11.</ref> and internationally in the form of protests by various anti-war organisations who would go on to organise much larger protests against the 2003 Iraq War.<ref name="guardian_stopafghanwar">Vidal, John. "Another coalition stands up to be counted", The Guardian, November 19, 2001. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.</ref><ref name="bbc_stopafghanwar">"Protesters demand end to bombing", BBC, 10 November 2001. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.</ref>
The invasion of Afghanistan was undertaken in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and generally drew substantial worldwide support given the undenied connection between Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban.
While not tacitly supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda, opponents of the war however claimed that the attack on Afghanistan was illegal under international law, constituted unjustified aggression and would lead to the deaths of many civilians through the bombing campaign and by preventing humanitarian aid workers from bringing food into the country. The number of Afghan casualties reportedly exceeded 5,000 people by 2002 according to an article on BBC. In 2006 the conflict was still ongoing, and some reports are of a worsening security situation.
More broadly, the invasion of Afghanistan appeared to opponents to be a political stepping stone to the 2003 Iraq War, increasing the geo-political reach of the United States.
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[edit] Afghan civilians' opposition to the invasion
One of the best-known organisations of Afghan women opposed to the Taliban government of Afghanistan, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), opposed the attack on Afghanistan, stating that "America, by forming an international coalition against Osama and his Taliban-collaborators and in retaliation for the 11th September terrorist attacks, has launched a vast aggression on our country", accusing the "US and its allies" of not "paying the least attention to the fate of democracy in Afghanistan", of "supporting the policy of Jehadis-fostering, Osama-fostering and Taliban-fostering," and of "sharpening the dagger of the Northern Alliance". The women of RAWA described the invasion of Afghanistan as having 'plunged our people into a horrific concern and anxiety in fear of re-experiencing the dreadful happenings of the years of the Jehadis' "emirate".'<ref name="rawa_usattack" />
[edit] Protests
In 2001, a number of small protests against the invasion of Afghanistan occurred in various cities and college campuses across the United States and other countries in the first days after the start of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.[1]<ref name="guardian_stopafghanwar" /><ref name="bbc_stopafghanwar" />
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- World opinion opposes the attack on Afghanistan, David Miller, 21 November 2001
[edit] References
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