By IRNA,
London : A distinguished peace activist has criticized British political parties for ignoring the issue of the war in Afghanistan in their election campaigns, saying it is a “complete betrayal of public opinion” which is against the war.
Lindsey German, convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, said on Wednesday that the war in Afghanistan has been having “damaging effects” on civil society in Britain.
“Not talking about this war in election campaigns by the parties is a complete betrayal of public opinion. This war has cost us billions of pounds and led to the growth of Islamophobia …so we have to withdraw our troops,” she told a debate on Afghanistan at the University of Westminster.
German added that the question of Afghanistan should be a major issue in British elections as it was in Germany last year.
She said the war in Afghanistan is “a war of aggression supposedly for the revenge of September 11 attacks”.
“Since 2006, the war in Afghanistan has worsened while the Taleban has become stronger. Now our operations in Afghanistan are cynical and far more Afghans continue to die than international troops,” she said, adding that the situation of women has deteriorated since the occupation of Afghanistan.
German further denied that the war in Afghanistan was making British streets safer, saying it was “ludicrous” to justify the occupation by making such remarks.
She was referring to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s justification of the continued occupation of Afghanistan. He has repeatedly said that the purpose of the Afghan war was “to prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.”
German said more than seven billion pounds have been spent during 2002 and 2009 on development in Afghanistan while “up to 20 times bigger than this money is spent by the United States on reinforcing military in Afghanistan.”
She added that the Middle East has been “destabilised as the result of the war in Afghanistan” in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks.
“None of the plans by foreign forces have worked in Afghanistan. They keep changing goals of the war aimlessly putting the region in more instability.”
The Stop the War Coalition convener said the Afghan war is a “disastrous strategy so we should pull the troops out immediately.”