On August 15, [2021], in Afghanistan, before the astonished eyes of the world, the warped and hollow product of twenty years of military intervention, expenditure, and planning by U.S. imperialism and its allies went up in smoke. The entire 300,000-strong army, armed by NATO and the Pentagon, collapsed and surrendered without the slightest resistance to several tens of thousands of Taliban jihadists, allowing them to freely shackle women in the chains of slavery.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world witnessed images from Kabul airport that offered an uncensored, naked, unedited depiction view of the filth and catastrophe that the capitalist system has imposed throughout our world. After Afghanistan, the catastrophes of this system, led by the U.S. continued in Palestine, Syria, Iran, and elsewhere, yet the world saw all this devastation and darkness, without smashing its head against the wall in shame or vomiting from the nausea produced by the capitalist system!

Islamism, in its various forms—the Islamic Republic, the Taliban, Afghanistan's jihadi parties, ISIS, and others—did not emerge from the depths of history. It emerged in response to the destructive domination of imperialist powers as an outmoded political and social force confronting that domination. These Islamists were initially equipped with financial, military, and organizational support from the U.S. CIA, and they provided enormous assistance to U.S. imperialism in its war against the aggression of Russian imperialism in Afghanistan. But they subsequently became a threat to U.S. interests, and a conflict between U.S. imperialism and Islamic fundamentalists came to dominate the Middle East—a conflict that has been unbearable for the people of the region, filled with cruelty, brutality, and destruction, especially for women.

Both the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan five years ago, and its continuing aggression against Iran since last year were imposed by the necessities and priorities of U.S. imperialism. Our people, both in Afghanistan and in Iran, are victims of these interests and of the destructive relationship that U.S. imperialism has established with the oppressed countries. But at present, as a result of major changes in the world, even greater challenges have arisen before U.S. power, giving this perpetual destruction an intensity greater than ever before. 

The rise of a fascist force to power in the United States is a response to these enormous challenges, aimed at doing whatever is necessary to preserve the power of the American empire as master of the world—from changing the established norms and procedures of governing inside the United States, to trampling on all international laws and imposing domination over the world through raw bullying, including threats to use nuclear weapons.

Understanding this situation, and the dangers and potential contained within it, is of great importance for responding to Afghanistan's particular circumstances. This broader framework makes clear how futile it is to yearn for the lost "republic, civil society, and democracy,” or to entertain illusions about “security” under the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" and a “moderated Taliban.” It also shows in what direction the despair and disillusionment arising from forty years of cycles of defeat, war, and catastrophe or the anger and hatred toward a world so corrupt, ruthless, and deeply oppressive, must be transformed, so that, ultimately, a collective hope for creating an entirely different world can emerge from the heart of this very catastrophe.

To the people of Afghanistan who yearn for that lost democracy, and to those people in Iran who still dream of receiving it through U.S. "democracy-spreading" bombs: U.S. reforms in Afghanistan, their destructive and corrupting "projects," and all the money and funding they poured down the throats of their corrupt puppets and agents never extended more than a few kilometers beyond the major cities. 

Afghanistan's villages and districts were left without electricity, healthcare, welfare, or basic well-being. American drones and bombers destroyed wedding parties, hospitals, and villages. The economic and political functioning of imperialist capitalism led to the formation, growth, and strengthening of reactionary Islamist movements and currents throughout the region. The U.S. has repeatedly betrayed even their allies in Iraq, Kurdistan, and elsewhere. Do not tie your hopes to the wind.

To the people of Afghanistan who place their hopes in security under the Taliban, and to those people in Iran who have placed their faith in the Islamic Republic's "resistance": These are not anti-imperialist forces; on the contrary, they are dependent on imperialism. And they are certainly not forces for liberation. The foundations of Islam and Islamic Sharia law—whether Sunni or Shi'a—are exploitation of human beings by human beings, discrimination and social hierarchy, the enslavement of women, hatred of others, ignorance and superstition, and oppression.

Taliban leaders are a bunch of reactionary oppressors and exploiters who are inevitably dependent upon an exploitative and discriminatory class-based mode of production and social order. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, likewise, is founded upon the brutal exploitation of workers and peasants and the repression of women. No security can exist under such an order. They will inevitably have to tie the economy and social production to dependence on imperialist powers—whether American and European, or Chinese and Russian—through their crimes, they will ultimately contribute to strengthening the outmoded imperialist pole in the region and legitimizing it in the minds of sections of the population. Inevitably, they serve to strengthen imperialism. 

To those who have lost hope: Following the consolidation of the Taliban, a large section of the Afghan population, particularly intellectuals from the middle strata, experienced profound despair, defeat, and hopelessness. Forty years of repeated foreign occupation and civil war, misery and displacement, the ineffectiveness and discrimination of corrupt and oppressive governments, and finally the return of the Taliban regime left them disillusioned. They have every right to hate all the oppression and terror that occupying imperialists, their allies and agents, and reactionary Islamists have imposed upon their youth, their lives, and their aspirations—but never to lose hope! Illusions must be discarded, and hope must be founded on reality. 

Conditions in Afghanistan, Iran, and the world will become far worse than this if the prevailing socioeconomic and political system does not change, and if our efforts and struggles everywhere remain within the framework of this system. The rise of regimes such as the Islamic Republic and the Taliban, the rise of Islamic fundamentalist forces, and the coming to power of a fascist regime in the United States—just like devastating wars, even nuclear war, and the destruction of the environment—are products of the functioning of the global capitalist system. The people of Afghanistan, Iran, and the world have no choice but to struggle against the capitalist system and its institutions in every country, the most important of which are the regimes ruling over us, with means, objectives, and a worldview that go beyond the existing system. 

The hope of all humanity lies with a courageous section of the people of Afghanistan, especially women, who can, from within this darkness, consciously and courageously carve a path toward the light. OSYAN (Revolt collective), resolutely committed to this path, will stand with you.