We enter another year of conflict in Afghanistan…..so let’s look at what is happening in the beginning of 2020….
First let’s look at what has happened in Afghanistan….
The Back Story to the ‘Afghanistan Papers’
Nextt there has been the inklings of a possible ceasefire in Afghanistan……the media hyped it….but is it?
The Taliban has denied press reports indicating the group was on the cusp of declaring a ceasefire in Afghanistan, saying this is “false and baseless.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued an official statement (reproduced in full, below) denying the reports, which claimed that the group’s ruling council has approved a ceasefire, thereby opening the door for possible intra-Afghan negotiations. However, it was unclear if the reported ceasefire would include Taliban attacks against the Afghan government and security forces.
The reported ceasefire agreement was sourced to “Taliban officials familiar with the negotiations” who “spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media,” the Associated Press reported on Dec. 29.
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/12/taliban-says-it-has-no-intention-of-declaring-a-ceasefire.php
The first report of the year and it is crappy news.
Since the Taleban is no longer the government of Afghanistan ever wonder where they get their money…I mean besides from the opium industry…..
Look NO further than American defense contractors…..
A lawsuit filed Friday claims that US and international contractors paid the Taliban protection money to complete projects in Afghanistan—and says that money was used to kill Americans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plaintiffs are family members of 143 US service members and contractors who were wounded or killed there between 2009 and 2017. The accusation itself is nothing new—congressional probes have documented the funneling of such protection money to insurgents—but the lawsuit aims for a direct impact. “This will change the way business is done in war zones,” says August Cabrera, whose husband, Lt .Col. David Cabrera, died in a 2011 suicide car bomb in Afghanistan. “I believe that this can bring justice to those of us who have lost somebody.”
The suit says 20% to 40% of funds for big construction projects went to warlords and insurgent groups, when more than 100,000 US troops were serving in Afghanistan. The plaintiffs name specific projects, like the Kajaki Dam and part of Afghanistan’s Ring Road, as well as US-based companies including Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Centerra Group, and Janus Global Operations. Most of them aren’t talking, but a Black & Veatch rep says the company “followed directives of the US government” and is “proud of our record in successfully completing projects in Afghanistan,” per CNN. The money’s original source? Over a 10-year period, the US Agency for International Development in Afghanistan reportedly gave more than $1 billion to top contractors there.
Good to know that corporate profit is more important than American lives….
I am sure that there will be more shitty news from Afghanistan.
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