Cherif Bassiouni: No Military Solution for Afghanistan

[EFerrari]

Former UN Human Rights Investigator Cherif Bassiouni: Despite Obama Claims, No Military Solution for Afghanistan


Guest:

Cherif Bassiouni, professor of law at DePaul University and president emeritus of the International Human Rights Law Institute. He is the former United Nations human rights investigator in Afghanistan. In 2005 he was forced out of the United Nations under pressure from the US just days after he released a report criticizing the US for committing human rights abuses.

At his first news conference, President Obama emphasized the importance of removing “safe havens” for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and said he had no timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. We speak to Cherif Bassiouni, a former UN human rights investigator in Afghanistan. He was fired in 2005 after releasing a report criticizing the US for committing human rights abuses in Afghanistan.

AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Afghanistan, a country that the Obama administration has made clear will remain at the center of its priorities. The United States has over 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, and that number is expected to double. At his press conference last night, President Obama emphasized the importance of removing “safe havens” for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and said he had no timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

snip

"I am convinced that there is no military solution in Afghanistan. There is an economic development solution, but I don’t see that as coming."

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/10/former_un_human_rights_rapporteur_cherif

Audio, video at link.