International Studies Group
Subject: Afghanistan/Pakistan/Peace/Taliban
Since Gen. Pratreus has taken over the command of troops in Afghanistan there has been a wealth of speculation that he will go about the war the way he did in Iraq….that is to bring some of the warring factions over to the ‘good guys’ side and that will hasten the end of the conflict…..I am amused! And underwhelmed by such extreme lack of knowledge on the part of the media…..yes…we all want this horrendous wart to end and our guys and gals return to their loved ones……the success of the so-called “surge” was not so much what the US did but rather what the AQ guys were doing to the tribes in western Iraq….the Sheiks got pissed and decided to throw in with the US and its allies….for the time being…..
The strategy of the surge is a noble one but I think a little too optimistic for Afghanistan….
Karzai has admitted that he is in talks with the Taleban….but what does that really mean?
According to the Daily Times, the meeting, held in Kabul two weeks ago to contain the network, was attended by Maulvi Abdul Kabir, a wanted former Taliban governor, his deputy Sedre Azam and Anwarul Haq Mujahed, an imprisoned terrorist, who were flown to the Afghan capital from Peshawar.
Kabir was the governor of Nangarhar province during the Taliban rule and the current head of the Taliban’s Peshawar council, while Mujahed is a terrorist leader credited with helping Osama Bin Laden escape the US assault on Tora Bora in 2001.Washington and Kabul are reportedly seeking to capitalize on Kabir’s position in Afghanistan’s powerful and dominant Zadran tribe.
An Afghan official said that the US and Afghanistan governments want to try and sap some of Haqqani’s tribal-based strength by bringing Kabir on board and dividing tribal loyalties.
Of course, denials began to fly out of Washington and that the US would not jeopardize the troops with such an unthoughtful occurrence…..me thinks that they protests too much…..and that leads me to think that there is something to these reports….but more…it is a dash, a mad dash to make Patreus look like the miracle worker that he was portrayed in Iraq and to give some padding to the Obama strategy…..
Sad to say, most people (and most definitely most zealots) are NOT tolerant, do NOT give a sh*t about anyone or anything except their own rhetoric and power and will say anything they think will get them what they want.
There is solely ONE thing assholes understand and accept – an even BIGGER asshole!! End of! 👿
Yes so true and so sad……and as I always say…..we have satellites that can count the nose hair on a donkey but we cannot find a tall Arab dude in the bleak mountains of AfPak….
Exactly (though I have my doubts as to whether the satellites are quite as good as they’d have you believe – outside of American movies that is).
They are not that good…that is why they have to paint stuff with a laser….but it makes for good copy…..