The firing of the top US and NATO forces’ commander in Afghanistan is the latest confirmation that the Afghan Curse will make Americans settle for “a Vietnam Syndrome”; now that the war in Afghanistan has officially surpassed Vietnam as the longest imperial war by America, the “Afghan Curse” will consume David Petraeus, much like it consumed McChrystal, and before him, and David McKiernan, the first general to be relieved from duty since Truman fired General McArthur.

It seems that the prediction of the retired general and former Canadian chief of defense staff Rick Hillier, in October 2009, that “Afghanistan has revealed that NATO has reached the stage where it is a corpse, decomposing” could not be more accurate.With NATO’s rising casualties, as of 22 June 2010 the bloodiest ever in the 9 years war, the Russian generals, who have yet to forget their wounds from their Afghan Curse, are having the last laugh against their western counterparts who failed to learn the Russians’, and the British of the 19th century, lessons.

Notable, though, was the reaction of the “Good” Afghan, Mr. Karzai who lamented his friend’s firing; After all, the good old McChrystal had promised him peace and security, with its opium dividend, at the expense of Muslim populace’s bloodshed and sufferings.

The resistance by Taliban against the coalition of 42 nations, including “Muslim” Jordan and Turkey, and the 140000 strong international army, and the growing admission by the NATO’s top brass of the impossibility of victory in Afghanistan goes a long way to prove that when the Muslim Ummah respond to the Quranic injunctions: “And fight the polytheist collectively as they fight you collectively”, is indeed capable of uprooting the American imperial occupation both in Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the Israeli yoke from Palestine.

In the coming international conference that we will hold in Beirut we will show the Ummah the practical methodology how to achieve this goal with Allah’s (swt) guidance.

Osman Bakhach

Director Central Media Office

Hizb-ut-Tahrir