The pretext for the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, now the longest war in US history, was the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But the vast majority of Afghans being carpet bombed, eviscerated by Predator drones and shot dead in night raids don’t even know what the 9/11 attacks were.
A public opinion poll in Kandahar and Helmand provinces — the focus of the troop surge and the scene of the great majority of bloodshed in the country — found that only 8% of young men know about the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Most of those polled believe the US is in Afghanistan simply for “violence and destruction”.
The poll revealed the “most important reason young men are joining the Taliban”. About 45% join because of the brutal foreign occupation imposed on them. Another 33% join because there are no jobs. “Ideology” or “religion” were not factors in any response.
The poll also revealed that 81% of the Afghan police and 69% of the Afghan army are either already working with the Taliban, or will end up joining the Taliban.
[Abridged from www.answercoalition.org .]