Nothing will really change the lives of these women at this point.
By Thomas Riggins
February, 6, 2012
The secret
NATO report, "State of the Taliban 2012," commissioned by the US and
NATO was never supposed to see the light of day. Unfortunately for the US war
party it was leaked to the press and the New York Times has published many of
its observations and conclusions ("Taliban Captives Dispute U.S. View on State of War"
2-2-2012).
The report was based on information
taken from 4000 prisoners, Taliban and others, who have fallen into the hands
of US forces. To the surprise of the US, the prisoners are rather upbeat about
the progress of the war and think they are actually winning it. The report says
that while the US thinks it is winning and is about to start winding down its
own participation, the interviews of the captives shows, according to the NYT,
"a Taliban insurgency that is far from vanquished or demoralized."
The same issue of the Times reported
the optimistic statement of Defense Secretary Panetta that the US would set
2013 not 2014 as the date for ending US combat in Afghanistan. This was later
corrected by the ground commanders in Afghanistan ~ 2014 is the date ~ and we
may still remain after that date for a long, long time. They wish.
The report says the prisoners state
that in those areas where the US forces withdraw and turn over control to the
Afghan Army, that army begins to cooperate with the Taliban ~ as do the local
Afghan government officials.
"Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban."
The report also says that while the
Afghan government says it will carry on the war after the US withdraws
"many of its personnel have secretly reached out to insurgents, seeking
long-term options in the event of a possible Taliban victory." Well of
course, all options should be kept on the table.
The report gives the impression that
the war is lost and the government can't deal with this reality.
Lt. Col. Jimmie E. Cummings a
US-NATO spokes person had this to say about the information gotten from the
prisoners.
"This document aggregates the comments of Taliban detainees in a captive environment without considering the validity of or motivation behind their reflections. Any conclusions drawn from this would be questionable at best."
Wait a minute. We captured these
people and interrogated them to get information about the enemy.
We don't like the information we get so then say due to a "captive environment" the conclusions are "questionable."
But all interrogations of prisoners
take place in a "captive environment" and are therefore
"questionable."
So why bother? It appears that if the government likes the information it gets its credible otherwise it’s "questionable."
This is completely intellectually
dishonest and we should not believe a word we are told by the military unless
we have independent third person verification.
What could be more comical than NATO
spokespersons attempting to refute their own report once it became public? The
State Department has also gotten into the act.
The report mentions the fact that
the Taliban has strained relations with their "Pakistani patrons."
But Pakistan is supposed to be a US
"ally." How foolish does the US look when the money it lavishes on
the Pakistanis is redirected to the Taliban and used to kill US troops?
How can you even dream of winning a
war when you are all tied up in these contradictory circumstances?
The State Department realizes how
bad this looks and also played down the significance of the NATO report, saying
it was "in no way designed to impact our ongoing efforts to be back on
track with Pakistan."
Were we ever "on track"
with Pakistan or just being used by the Pakistanis after they realized we
didn't know what we were doing in Afghanistan?
For example, the Pakistani
government, according to the report, "is thoroughly aware of Taliban
activities and the whereabouts of all senior Taliban personnel." And,
"There is a wide spread assumption that Pakistan will never allow the Taliban the chance to become independent of ISI [the CIA/FBI of Pakistan-the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate] control."
Yes, let’s get back on track ~ the
US is at "war" with the Taliban, the Taliban is controlled by
Pakistan therefore….. draw your own conclusions.
An important conclusion of the
report, that NATO and the US really don't want people to know about, is the
following:
"Taliban commanders, along with rank and file members, increasingly believe that their control of Afghanistan is inevitable. Though the Taliban suffered severely in 2011, its strength, motivation, funding and tactical proficiency remains intact."
Where does the funding come from?
It comes from us! Money from the US
to Pakistan goes to the Taliban. Trucks and weapons we give to the Afghan Army
are sold off at bargain basement rates, or "donated", to the Taliban
by corrupt elements in the Karzai government.
The Taliban's strength is intact ~
we are withdrawing.
Their motivation is intact ~ we just
want to get out as soon as possible (sooner).
Their tactical proficiency is
intact, we are turning operations over to the Afghan Army many of whose troops
would rather shoot us than the Taliban.
Is it really too hard to see how all
this is going to end?
Oh, I forgot to add that besides the
ISI, the report says the Afghan intelligence agency also supplies the Taliban
with information about where American troops are located so that they can be
attacked.
So there you have it.
We are spending 2 billion dollars a
week to support the war against the Taliban and both our "ally"
Pakistan and the Afghan governments we set up and are "defending" are
on the side of the Taliban.
General Petraeus retired just in
time. If he runs the CIA as well he did the war in Afghanistan the decline of
US imperialism will be well underway.
Thomas Riggins is the associate editor of Political Affairs and
also writes for the People's World.
after reading this - i gotta ask: does the dog chase his tail out of confusion (not knowing it belongs to him) or for reason of simple but strange form of entertainment?
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Riggins (sorry you are so confused or is it cheap entertainment you crave) don't worry about the 2 billions a week spent. The sheeples will pay that off while the 1% get that 1 trillion dollars (very likely much more) of "only just discovered" rare-minerals wealth and all that endless supply of opium in Afghanistan (let's see - parasites will need how many more years to steal all that - oh many, many more years -but let's call it "war" all the same).
And don't be confused (you really aren't are you) about all the incompetents in charge of the "war". It was planned that way. Reason is - USA, EU, "free world", not free world "leadership" can't properly manage their affairs on their own -even the real serious stuff like wealth pillaging - i mean war.
No. They need a "more capable, centralized" body of "leaders" to better steal mineral resources and push the poppy into world drug circles. So USA, EU, etc. will solve this problem by handing over control to NWO "leaders" ...
People are so confused (or entertained) - not.