Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Afghanistan’ Category

Europe must open its doors – Irish Times Editorial, February 28 2023

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The Irish Times, one of Ireland’s main daily newspapers, highlights hypocritical European Union migration policy, and effectively calls for an end to the racist “Fortress Europe” Régime

Yet an emphasis on measures directed exclusively at strangling the smuggling networks ignores the context of mass migration and will do little to turn back a tide of human desperation rooted in a flight from wars and oppression. It is an attempt to evade treaty and moral obligations to provide succour and protection for those in peril.

Irish Times Editorial, February 28 2023

Europe needs to offer safe pathways to migrants coming to its shores – the current focus on enforcement and barriers to migrants is misplaced.

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Ukraine: To undermine NATO retrenchment, the left must fight to win the peace – Ali Khan writes from Berlin

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Ali Khan offers a provocation for supporting Ukraine’s military effort

Sources : https://www.theleftberlin.com/provocation-reflections-on-ukraine-and-nato/. and http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article63745

Today’s radical left has long recognised only one foe, that which Ayatollah Khomeini aptly titled “The Great Satan” – namely the USA. Little attention was paid lately to about “The Lesser Satan” – or Russia. For over 30 years after the fall of the USSR, we only imagined a single imperialist actor on the world stage. But 179 days ago we were reminded of the presence of another imperialist contender with full force. For too many, memories of the World War I collaboration of Social Democratic parties and the labour movement linger. The depressing jingoism of Western Europe and the USA prevents us from assessing a moral and rational response to the situation. As useful as historical parallels are, when we face a situation with almost no convenient parallel, at least none that are readily accessible and understandable to a population at large, we face a most difficult intellectual challenge. Let us not be fazed.

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“The Blitzkrieg Failed – What Next?” – Boris Kagarlitsky

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Challenge yourself in these dark days. Vladimir Putin, a far-right ethnic cleanser who who has his hands on a nuclear button, is threatening Armageddon against Ukraine and his own people – he is not bothered about NATO encirclement of Russia. Putin is NATO’s number one recruiting sergeant. Russian left winger Boris Kagarlitsky explains.

Boris Kagarlitsky PhD is a historian and sociologist who lives in Moscow. He is a prolific author of books on the history and current politics of the Soviet Union and Russia and of books on the rise of globalized capitalism. Fourteen of his books have been translated into English. The most recent book in English is ‘From Empires to Imperialism: The State and the Rise of Bourgeois Civilisation’ (Routledge, 2014). Kagarlitsky is chief editor of the Russian-language online journal Rabkor.ru (The Worker). He is the director of the Institute for Globalization and Social Movements, located in Moscow. Source : https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/04/15/the-blitzkrieg-failed-whats-next/?fbclid=IwAR1cUcoJQiRxcmQX1XexskAs7bnDKsU2p5xji5CpwFEifComiG3y1D71stA

The special operation in Ukraine was conceived by Putin and his entourage as a way to turn the political situation around. The Kremlin strategists weren’t the least bit interested in the fate of the people in Lugansk and Donetsk, or even in the future of Ukraine. At a historical impasse, with no way to revive the economy, cope with the burden of growing problems, or raise the approval ratings now rolling into the abyss, they found no better way to solve all their issues at once but with the help of a small victorious war — a classic mistake that governments make when they are not ready to embark on urgent and inevitable reforms.

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Afghanistan, the End of the Occupation and the LeftOnline event by ISO and the marx21 network (Germany) with Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale (UK)Wednesday 6 October, 6pm Ireland and Britain 7pm CET

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Afghanistan, the End of the Occupation and the Left
Online event by ISO and the marx21 network (Germany) with Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale (UK)
Wednesday 6 October, 6pm Ireland and Britain 7pm CET


Join Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81981905958, Meeting ID: 819 8190 5958 With translations ‒ Dari, German and English


The Taliban have defeated the United States of America imperialism and its allies in Afghanistan. The eyes of the world witnessed an event which is part of a shift and reordering of international power structures.


Anthropologist Nancy Lindisfarne and activist-author Jonathan Neale published a detailed article on the return of the Taliban a few days after the “fall of Kabul” on 15 August. It has received much attention, some of it controversial. We invited the two experts and comrades, who have known Afghanistan well for more than 40 years, to the debate.
What does the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan mean? Why was Kabul conquered so quickly? What is happening to Afghan women now and why do so many Afghans support the Taliban? How should the left itself in view of this?


The Taliban have defeated the United States of America imperialism and its allies in Afghanistan. The eyes of the world witnessed an event which is part of a shift and reordering of international power structures.


Article “Return of the Taliban: The end of the occupation” in German:
https://www.marx21.de/rueckkehr-taliban-ende-besatzung-afghanistan/ https://intersoz.org/nach-der-afghanistan-besatzung-deshalb-sind-die-taliban-wieder-da/
Article in original: https://annebonnypirate.org/2021/08/17/afghanistan-the-end-of-the-occupation/ Website of Nancy and Jonathan: https://annebonnypirate.org/. Theses from the essay:

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