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Title: Afghanistan Has Become Trump’s ‘Failed Narco State’
Source: AntiWar
URL Source: https://original.antiwar.com/Reese_ ... ome-trumps-failed-narco-state/
Published: Aug 16, 2018
Author: Reese Erlich
Post Date: 2018-08-17 13:39:40 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1833
Comments: 18

August 15, 2018

Soldiers assigned to Task Force Southwest at Camp Sharob in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, March 22, 2018. (Photo: Department of Defense/Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro)

President Donald Trump is back on the stump, trumpeting his alleged triumphs since the 2016 election. Somehow, he never mentions Afghanistan.

For years, Trump has denounced endless foreign wars, including Afghanistan. For example, he tweeted in 2012 that Afghanistan is “a complete waste. Time to come home!”

Once in power, however, Trump filled top adviser and cabinet positions with generals and neocons who advocate permanent occupation of Afghanistan. He suddenly became interested in the country’s estimated $1 trillion in rare earth minerals, which are vital to manufacturing such high-tech products as cell phones.

Then, one year ago, Trump announced plans to send 4,000 more troops to Afghanistan. At the time, I and many other commentators said a few thousand more troops couldn’t possibly shift the tide of war when 100,000 failed under Obama.

And, sure enough, the military situation has gotten worse for the United States and its corrupt allies in Kabul. When the U.S. military intensified its air war, the Taliban retaliated with devastating attacks on Kabul and other major cities. In the latest example, on August 10, the Taliban attacked and held the key city of Ghazni for several days.

To date, the war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of more than 2,300 US soldiers; another 20,000 have been wounded. An estimated 110,000 Afghans have died in the conflict. US taxpayers have spent more than a trillion dollars on the war so far, not counting the billions in future veteran’s benefits.

Kathy Kelly – co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non Violence, which supports humanitarian work in Afghanistan – told me her group has long advocated that all US and allied troops pull out, and the United States pay reparations for the damage it’s done.

“This is a failed war, as are all wars,” she said.

During my first reporting trips to Afghanistan in the aughts, I stayed in inexpensive guest houses, walked to interviews when practical, and visited sources in their homes. Those days are long gone.

Dr. Hakim Young, a medical doctor originally from Singapore, has seen dramatic changes during his fourteen years of humanitarian work in Afghanistan. Today any government building could be attacked by insurgents, even the military and intelligence headquarters in Kabul.

“We avoid government, political, and religious buildings,” he told me from Kabul. “We vary daily movements and schedules.”

Even talking or walking with a Westerner can put local Afghans in danger because of popular anger at foreign occupation. So Westerners try avoid notice by dressing in local clothes.

Hakim, meanwhile, says “it helps that I look like an Afghan, and speak their language.”

Among Afghans in general, he said, “the mood is one of stress, trauma, uncertainty, insecurity, frustration, anger, distrust and hopelessness. This mood is reflected in the continual outflow of Afghans seeking asylum elsewhere.”

Most Afghans don’t support the Taliban or the Islamic State, the two main insurgent groups. But it’s not as though the United States, having allied itself with brutal drug-dealing warlords, has provided a viable alternative.

Take Afghan General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a warlord with a long history of human rights abuses who as been accused of beating and ordering the rape of a rival politician. Oh, did I mention, he’s also Afghanistan’s first vice president?

Last year, he fled to Turkey in the middle of the night. Dostum’s supporters among the Uzbek ethnic minority have recently engaged in violent demonstrations against the government. In a surprise move, Dostum returned to Kabul in July and met with major government leaders including President Ashraf Ghani. It seems unlikely that Dostum will face trial for the rape, let alone for decades of human rights abuses.

“There are multiple warlords in Afghanistan and the Taliban is just one of them,” Kelly said. “There is no functioning government right now. It’s a failed narco state.”

It’s little wonder the people of Afghanistan want the United States and its corrupt government partners to leave.

The Helmand Peace Convoy, now called the People’s Peace Movement, presents a few rays of hope. In March, unknown bombers killed seventeen civilians and wounded fifty in the southern province of Helmand. So a group of elders, relatives of injured civilians, and civil society activists set up a peace tent in protest.

They called for a ceasefire and peace talks between warring factions and withdrawal of foreign forces. Encouraged by the positive response from the public, they marched 400 miles to the capital of Kabul.

According to Hakim, people are generally supportive of the protesters.“The Movement has shifted the mood a little,” he said, adding, “We need to remain optimistic in taking tiny positive actions. The alternative would allow the exploitative, violent actors to worsen the multiple crises gripping Afghanistan.”

When the marchers reached Kabul, among other actions, they held a sit-in at the U.S. embassy.

“If the US can topple a regime in fifteen days,” the Movement wrote in a statement, “then why has it not been able to bring peace in the past seventeen years?”

Reese Erlich’s syndicated column, Foreign Correspondent, appears every two weeks. He is author of Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect. Follow him on Twitter, @ReeseErlich; friend him on Facebook; and visit his webpage. Reprinted from The Progressive with the author’s permission.


Poster Comment:

For years, Trump has denounced endless foreign wars, including Afghanistan. For example, he tweeted in 2012 that Afghanistan is “a complete waste. Time to come home!”

Once in power, however, Trump filled top adviser and cabinet positions with generals and neocons who advocate permanent occupation of Afghanistan. He suddenly became interested in the country’s estimated $1 trillion in rare earth minerals, which are vital to manufacturing such high-tech products as cell phones. (1 image)

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#1. To: All (#0)

We have wasted an enormous amount of blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Their government has zero appreciation. Let's get out!

Trump was an isolationist, until he wasn’t.

We can file this in the "broken promises" file along with "LOCK HER UP", "Build The Wall" and "Drain The Swamp",

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much

Deckard  posted on  2018-08-17   13:46:08 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Deckard (#0)

“This is a failed war, as are all wars,” she said.

World War II worked out pretty well.

Vicomte13  posted on  2018-08-17   13:55:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Deckard (#0)

"Trump Calls On Justice Department to Sue Opioid Companies Trump asks Attorney General Jeff Sessions to bring federal lawsuit, separate from state and local litigation against drugmakers"

Just remember you guys wanted Jeff Sessions and now that you got him he is the biggest thorn in your back side.

Trump is only one man. He can not fix everything in the first year(He has been in office 19 months). It will take at least 4 years! LOL

Justified  posted on  2018-08-17   14:57:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Deckard (#0)

Once in power, however, Trump filled top adviser and cabinet positions with generals and neocons who advocate permanent occupation of Afghanistan. He suddenly became interested in the country’s estimated $1 trillion in rare earth minerals, which are vital to manufacturing such high-tech products as cell phones.

It is the key to dragging the country kicking and screaming into the 21st century, but you have to take back Helmand Province before it can happen.

China already has mining contracts there so if you give up now it will have been all for nothing and China will reap the rewards, losing a few people for a couple trillion dollars is totally acceptable to them.

Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!

CZ82  posted on  2018-08-18   8:07:13 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Deckard (#0)

You can't blame Trump for the failure he inherited in Afghanistan. You have to blame the incompetent military and its succession of failed plans. They fail to learn the lesson of history. Afghanistan swallows invaders. Those wild tribesmen have no interest in cell phones or digging holes in the ground. They are interested in religious purity

paraclete  posted on  2018-08-18   8:49:35 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#6. To: paraclete (#5)

You can't blame Trump for the failure he inherited in Afghanistan. You have to blame the incompetent military and its succession of failed plans.

Thank you for your honest observation and truth of the matter.

Agenda-driven posters don't care much about reality. Just advancement of perception, aka propaganda.

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-18   11:32:56 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#7. To: CZ82 (#4) (Edited)

If you give up now it will have been all for nothing and China will reap the rewards, losing a few people for a couple trillion dollars is totally acceptable to them.

"Couple trillion" buck is what this is about? That may be the case, but...

How can we justify the deaths of American life who signed up to "defend America" in this ill-advised "Mission" in A-Stan? It appears the American military has apparently been used to secure commercial product (minerals) AND opium product.

Gotta be another way. With mercs or elsewhere. Don't have much of a problem "borrowing" air-power

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-18   11:39:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#8. To: Vicomte13 (#2) (Edited)

Kathy Kelly – co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non Violence...

“This is a failed war, as are all wars,” she said.

Right, that's an idiotic statement. And an outright lie.

That said, we've discussed this matter to a degree.

I keep on noting what's happening and saying it: WOMEN in high positions of power and influence are indeed undermining and FUBARing American and Western culture and civilization.

WHY?

BECAUSE they lack the natural maternal instinct of traditional and conservative women. AND...are likely ATHEIST.

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-18   11:45:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#9. To: Liberator (#7)

My point is you've already lost 2300 do you want their sacrifice to mean nothing be for nothing? (And the Chinese reap the rewards)?

If you pull out now the Afghan people still be under control of the Taliban and the Afghan resources used for purposes that may harm our country and not benefit the Afghan people. The only thing keeping them afloat is the drug trade selling and trading for normal everyday stuff like food, weapons and clothing. You get them to use their resources for good to help them then you may end up putting a big dent in the drug trade. The Leftard voter base will scream bloody murder cause their heroin prices skyrocket, but other then them who really gives a schitt how much those dummies have to shell out to get stoned??

Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!

CZ82  posted on  2018-08-18   13:02:08 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#10. To: Liberator (#7)

https://spectator.org/the-lessons-of-ghazni/

Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!

CZ82  posted on  2018-08-21   7:37:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#11. To: CZ82 (#9) (Edited)

My point is you've already lost 2300 do you want their sacrifice to mean nothing be for nothing? (And the Chinese reap the rewards)?

Afghanistan is Devil's Country. THEY made their own bed.

The logistic problem: We have no way of know whether US cost number doubles or triples. Same with the number of deaths.

Problem #2: I fundamentally distrust the Gummint's methods, reasons and purpose. They lack cred, so why take them at their word?

Problem #3: Actually is more of another personal assertion or question -- Would you want your son engaged in the Afghan "Mission"?

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-21   11:25:12 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#12. To: CZ82 (#10)

Read the link.

Still have zero inclination or motivation to be involved.

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-21   11:26:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#13. To: Liberator (#11)

Problem #3: Actually is more of another personal assertion or question -- Would you want your son engaged in the Afghan "Mission"?

If I had a son in the military it would mean he had signed on the dotted line and volunteered to become a military member. It also means he is willing to do what they want him to do without question, that's the life of a military member for better or worse. I was a volunteer too so I know what that entails and also means I would respect his decision, it's his life he has to live it the way he see's fit (my parents accepted my decision to join).

Now I would wish that he not be sent there but there are worse places and situations than that. You just have to wish him luck if he goes, give him some fatherly advice and pray nothing happens to him. If something happens it happens, there is nothing you can do about it except to accept it and pray it doesn't happen to someone else's son.

The biggest problem with being in the military is not being in the military, it's the civilian assholes that get us into schitt we shouldn't get into and to not let us finish what we started.

Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!

CZ82  posted on  2018-08-21   18:27:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#14. To: CZ82 (#13) (Edited)

If I had a son in the military it would mean he had signed on the dotted line and volunteered to become a military member. It also means he is willing to do what they want him to do without question, that's the life of a military member for better or worse. I was a volunteer too so I know what that entails and also means I would respect his decision, it's his life he has to live it the way he see's fit (my parents accepted my decision to join).

I hear ya, Unc. You sign on the dotted line.

BUT...Things ain't what they used to be (and we wonder to what extent they ever were.) Q: What if your mission is unethical or evil? Does that mean the gummint is in breach of contract?

What's expressed *used to be* that you'd be "defending the freedom of America and out sovereignty." Is that any longer the case?

Moreover, is it any longer the case that "America is Good"? Another thought: To whom are American commanders beholden to? In other words, do who all who serve "serve" US interests"?? Or some behind the scene Profiteering Globalist?

Just sayin'.

I would wish that he not be sent there but there are worse places and situations than that. You just have to wish him luck if he goes, give him some fatherly advice and pray nothing happens to him. If something happens it happens, there is nothing you can do about it except to accept it and pray it doesn't happen to someone else's son.

Yup. You're always going to do a lotta praying. But again -- the "mission" may have ZERO to do with US interests, security, sovereignty or liberty. I personally find the contractual holes and possible immoral/unethical demands with no say-so unacceptable. (This WAS after a 0bama-Clinton-Brennan run military.)

The biggest problem with being in the military is not being in the military, it's the civilian assholes that get us into schitt we shouldn't get into and to not let us finish what we started.

Yes...that's almost always been the case. Yet...might some missions be...fully immoral? How does one justify the possible betrayal of one's own soul in the case of following orders one knows are evil, ordered by a CiC who is evil?

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-21   18:45:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#15. To: Liberator (#14)

The biggest problem with being in the military is not being in the military, it's the civilian assholes

Moreover, is it any longer the case that "America is Good"? Another thought: To whom are American commanders beholden to? In other words, do who all who serve "serve" US interests"?? Or some behind the scene Profiteering Globalist?

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/197-military-officers-purged-by- obama/

Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!

CZ82  posted on  2018-08-22   6:46:55 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#16. To: CZ82 (#15)

PAGE NOT FOUND

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-22   13:10:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#17. To: Liberator (#16)

PAGE NOT FOUND

Obama's Military Coup Purges 197 Officers In Five Years

10/29/2013

Defense: What the president calls "my military" is being cleansed of any officer suspected of disloyalty to or disagreement with the administration on matters of policy or force structure, leaving the compliant and fearful.

We recognize President Obama is the commander-in-chief and that throughout history presidents from Lincoln to Truman have seen fit to remove military commanders they view as inadequate or insubordinate. Turnover in the military ranks is normal, and in these times of sequestration and budget cuts the numbers are expected to tick up as force levels shrink and missions change.

Yet what has happened to our officer corps since President Obama took office is viewed in many quarters as unprecedented, baffling and even harmful to our national security posture. We have commented on some of the higher profile cases, such as Gen. Carter Ham. He was relieved as head of U.S. Africa Command after only a year and a half because he disagreed with orders not to mount a rescue mission in response to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi.

Rear Adm. Chuck Gaouette, commander of the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, was relieved in October 2012 for disobeying orders when he sent his group on Sept. 11 to "assist and provide intelligence for" military forces ordered into action by Gen. Ham.

Other removals include the sacking of two nuclear commanders in a single week — Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, head of the 20th Air Force, responsible for the three wings that maintain control of the 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and Vice Adm. Tim Giardina, the No. 2 officer at U.S. Strategic Command.

From Breitbart.com's Facebook page comes a list of at least 197 officers that have been relieved of duty by President Obama for a laundry list of reasons and sometimes with no reason given. Stated grounds range from "leaving blast doors on nukes open" to "loss of confidence in command ability" to "mishandling of funds" to "inappropriate relationships" to "gambling with counterfeit chips" to "inappropriate behavior" to "low morale in troops commanded."

Nine senior commanding generals have been fired by the Obama administration this year, leading to speculation by active and retired members of the military that a purge of its commanders is under way.

Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, an outspoken critic of the Obama administration, notes how the White House fails to take action or investigate its own officials but finds it easy to fire military commanders "who have given their lives for their country." Vallely thinks he knows why this purge is happening.

"Obama will not purge a civilian or political appointee because they have bought into Obama's ideology," Vallely said. "The White House protects their own. That's why they stalled on the investigation into Fast and Furious, Benghazi and ObamaCare. He's intentionally weakening and gutting our military, Pentagon and reducing us as a superpower, and anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being purged."

Another senior retired general told TheBlaze on the condition of anonymity, because he still provide services to the government and fears possible retribution, that "they're using the opportunity of the shrinkage of the military to get rid of people that don't agree with them or do not toe the party line. Remember, as (former White House chief of staff) Rahm Emanuel said, never waste a crisis."

For President Obama, the military of a once-feared superpower is an anachronistic vestige of an America whose exceptionalism and world leadership require repeated apologies. It must be gutted and fundamentally transformed into a force wearing gender-neutral headgear only useful for holding the presidential umbrella when it rains. It is to be "his" military and used only for "his" purposes.

Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!

CZ82  posted on  2018-08-23   19:08:30 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#18. To: CZ82 (#17) (Edited)

Another senior retired general told TheBlaze on the condition of anonymity, because he still provide services to the government and fears possible retribution, that "they're using the opportunity of the shrinkage of the military to get rid of people that don't agree with them or do not toe the party line.

Good article. Just as we expected from 0bammy: His goal was to undermine the US and our military from within while crushing morale. Because he believes in Leftist Dictatorships of course he *would* think of it as "his" military.

"Fears of possible retribution". The PTB in DC are STILL depending on that principle (which is apparently still effective because The Swamp is no more ethical or moral than Gestapo, the KGB, or the Mexican Cartels.)

Though yeah, Unc -- it was encouraging that so many key commanders and officers refused to obey immoral, unethical order from the Kenyan in Chief, there WERE others who would merely take their place. And THAT my friend is the problem. Actually only one of many problems.

0bama and his minions were obviously undermining the US and our military WHILE aiding and abetting Muzzie terrorists and terrorist nation. Those serving were obeying commands, doing their "duty". (But to WHOM??) And still and all, no officers en masse organized and took it to Congress, to the MSM, to anyone. (I realize its easy for me to say).

It was all well and good refusing to set the Reichstag Fire, or not taking a match to Trump's presidency, the Constitution and the USA that's already on fire but...the damage is still underway. Eventually patriots have to save their country.

Liberator  posted on  2018-08-24   15:15:58 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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