Iran Wise to Worry about Relocation of Daesh to Afghanistan: Ex-US Adviser

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A former US government adviser said “it is wise for Iran to be concerned” about Washington’s moves to relocate the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group to war-torn Afghanistan.

Paul Larudee

“Given the history of the Western use of terrorists against nations like Iran that refuse to be puppets of the imperialist powers, it is wise for Iran to be concerned about this possibility,” Paul Larudee from San Francisco said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency.

“It is not the first time that Afghanistan has been used to store the terrorist groups so as to later be able to take them off the shelf for terrorist campaigns in Africa, the Middle East and other locations,” he added.

Larudee is an Iranian-born American political activist and human rights volunteer, who works with the International Solidarity Movement. He is a former contracted US government adviser to Saudi Arabia and a founder of the Free Gaza and Free Palestine Movements.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: Recent evidence shows that Daesh presence is on the rise in war-torn Afghanistan with the support of the US government. According to Tasnim dispatches, a large number of prisoners, all of whom senior members of Daesh, recently broke out of a Taliban prison in northwest Afghanistan after US troops helped them escape through a covert operation. Given that Daesh’s so-called caliphate has collapsed in Syria and Iraq, what goal is Washington pursuing by transferring the terrorists to Afghanistan and strengthening them?

Larudee: Daesh and other terrorist groups are the tools of the US, the Zionists and the other Western imperialist countries.  They are useful as both enemies and allies. As enemies, they can be used as pretexts for invasion and intervention, under the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, an act of the US Congress passed only three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center. It was a gift to the US President, allowing him to make war anywhere in the world, without consulting anyone. The US has to attack its enemies everywhere, violating the sovereignty of nations, which is against the UN charter, which the US signed. As allies, terrorists can be provided with weapons, money and other kinds of logistical and strategic support in order to use these mercenaries against nations that the US wants to destroy, such as Iraq, Libya and Syria. The American people are much more willing to see the terrorists and their victims die than to see American soldiers killed. There is a reason that the only places still ruled by terrorists in Syria are the ones controlled by the US and its allies. In the areas controlled by the Syrian army and its allies, they have been completely eliminated. Is this a coincidence?

Tasnim: As you know, some regional countries, including Iran, have been sensitive about the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan due to their national security concerns. How justifiable do you see their concerns?

Larudee: Given the history of the Western use of terrorists against nations like Iran that refuse to be puppets of the imperialist powers, it is wise for Iran to be concerned about this possibility. It is not the first time that Afghanistan has been used to store the terrorist groups so as to later be able to take them off the shelf for terrorist campaigns in Africa, the Middle East and other locations. The groups themselves are easily defeated when they have to depend upon their own fundraising. But when they receive the backing of heavily armed nations, they can become a very destructive fighting force that Iran does well to view with caution.

Tasnim: Do you think that Daesh would be able to establish a foothold in Afghanistan with the military and financial support it may receive from the US and the West, given the fact that the Taliban is already active there and can encounter it?

Larudee: Let's remember that the Syrians were also strongly opposed to Daesh and similar groups. But it is usually possible to find corrupt local allies willing to cooperate for the sake of money and power. The same is happening in Venezuela today. These allies would be powerless without the vast money and arms of the imperialist powers, but the US and its allies hold a great deal of power. Iran is in a good position to understand, given the history of the overthrow of the popular Mossadegh government in 1953 and its replacement with a hated and repressive autocracy. Few nations are immune from such possibilities, but Afghanistan has been called the graveyard of invaders, while Syria has proven to be able to defend itself, with the help of its Russian, Iranian and Hezbollah allies. It is not for us to presume that any situation is hopeless.