> What could Americans have done to show concern for the lives of
> Afghan civilians in the period 1979-1989? Since US activists, by and
> large, could support neither the Soviets and Afghan socialists nor
> CIA-backed mujahideen, was there anything they could and did do? Any
> organized social force independent of both the Soviets and the
> CIA/mujahideen that you could and did practically support back then?
> --
> Yoshie
Nice dodge, but the point remains: When the Soviets were wiping out entire Afghan villages and killed up to a million people (Jesus, can you imagine the reaction on this list if the US did this?) Parenti was in full, vocal support. Kill 'em all, let Allah sort them out. Now, he, like many (cough, cough) on this list, cry about US "atrocities" and if pushed might support a "police" effort to take apart al-Qaeda (though how this could be done without some force is never really explained). That the US intervention staved off a famine last winter and saved millions of lives is downplayed or dismissed as a by-product, if it's mentioned at all. Bomb a wedding, however, and it's full-throated roaring about imperialism.
In other words, the lives of Afghans mean nothing to these people, save as props in their ideological display case.
DP