“Can I get my bribe now?”
This is one of those you can’t make this crap up stories unless you’re writing an over the top, satiric Hollywood movie script.
For months, reports have abounded here that the Afghan mercenaries who escort American and other NATO convoys through the badlands have been bribing Taliban insurgents to let them pass. Then came a series of events last month that suggested all-out collusion with the insurgents.
[…]
Although the investigation is not complete, the officials suspect that at least some of these security companies — many of which have ties to top Afghan officials — are using American money to bribe the Taliban. The officials suspect that the security companies may also engage in fake fighting to increase the sense of risk on the roads, and that they may sometimes stage attacks against competitors.The suspicions raise fundamental questions about the conduct of operations here, since the convoys, and the supplies they deliver, are the lifeblood of the war effort.
“We’re funding both sides of the war,” a NATO official in Kabul said. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was incomplete, said he believed millions of dollars were making their way to the Taliban.
[…]
The principal goal of the American-led campaign here is to prepare an Afghan state and army to fight the Taliban themselves. The possibility of collusion between the Taliban and Afghan officials suggests that, rather than fighting each another, the two Afghan sides may often cooperate under the noses of their wealthy benefactors.
There’s a 1984 undercurrent to this that’s finally reaching the surface. We’re paying both sides to stage a war so that the war keeps going. War without end, amen.
By the way, this war is now the longest war in our history.
We really are doing to ourselves aren’t we?
War: the last resort. total commitment. In-Out.
Not a way of life.
I feel like the USA is the bull in the ring being stuck and gored all for the final coup de grace==and just about as attractive/humane.
Isn’t it just about time the troops get pulled out of Afghanistan? Prepare the Mr Potato Head excuse machine.
Is there any intelligent person who thought a war Af would be much different than this?
Agreed that extricating ourselves from THIS war will take a much longer time because Bush decided to avenge Hussein calling his daddy a pussy.
As for bribing to protect the convoy, I can see how this is an option that needs to be put on the table. If the living room quarterbacks in here have a better idea to protect the convoy, I’m sure military strategists are all ears.
Here’s my solution: withdraw all troops from the middle east. Wait and see what happens. If the ME again forms a base of safe operations for terrorist attacks on the USA, then go in surgically with missle, drones, troops if needed, and decapitate the local government and everything else within a 10 mile radius.
Then wait and see what happens.
Much cheaper. Much less loss of life. Highly defined. If you don’t like it, suggest a better alternative.
Dallas: How about not having a convoy or a war?
Benefits:
1) Not making any more enemies of the U.S.
2) Using the money here instead of there.
3) Stopping the maiming & death of our service people.
‘1984’ and ‘Atlas Shrugged’ both gives the perfect outline and script for what is going on. I really wish that more people read books!
So a plea to the masses, and per his Steveness in recent published email exchange; Educate yourself!
#4 bobbo
Yep.
This will go down as a just one of many major screw ups by Obie I.
In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.-
Well, suprise, suprise!
That’s why you shouldn’t be using mercenaries in the first place. They more hurt than help, just ask the Brits.
This is the longest war in America’s history and yet it didn’t have to be. The Soviets were there and we helped the opposition. They drove the Soviets out which paved the way for the Taliban takeover and now we are there fighting. We should have stayed out of this from the start.
#12 Rex
This isn’t about terrorism, silly. It’s about keeping an occupying army in unfriendly nations over the world’s largest remaing reserve of crude oil. That’s why we went, that’s why were still there, that’s why we’ve been in the region mucking about since the 80’s, and before that even.
Five years ago, liberals were assuring us that they were true warriors who would take the fight to Afghanistan, and Dubya’s mistake was in diverting from this fight to go to Iraq. Now we are seeing that they never believed this, it was just a lie to get some votes.
The United States spends a trillion dollars a year on “defense”. This just proves how stupid and brain washed most of the populous is. As a first step lets limit the defense budget to just 5x the amount that our 5 biggest “enemies” are spending.
Graveyard of empires.
A brief remark about the metathread: maybe the President really wanted change, and finding the opposition rather obstructionist, decided to attempt to co-opt them by (re-) appointing some of the more meritorious among them. You can’t go forward if you’re forever squabbling. That policy has been a mixed success. A lot of the Same Old, a lot of squabbling, and they’re still obstructionist. In baseball lingo, that’s O for three. I wonder if he’s going to have a cabinet purge before the mid-term elections?
“A brief remark about the metathread: maybe the President really wanted change, and finding the opposition rather obstructionist,”
With super majorities in both chambers, this argument is quite nutty but, expected from O-bots. When Obie I embarked on this insane Af policy, he had filibuster proof majority in Senate. Try another excuse pls.
#5 Jeanne: yes, I like not having a war at all as well. However, that option left the train station when Cheney was president so not sure where you’re going with that.
If suggesting that Obama just pack up and leave then while I agree is doable, and there is point to made about throwing good money after bad, I’m of the belief it is not quite that easy.
I don’t profess to know all the ramifications and reasons that we need a gradual exit (which is an Obama policy different than that of ex-President Cheney’s). What I can say is that packing up and leaving in 24hrs is the last thing we need to do to preserve the progress in that shit hole part of the world and protect the strategic interests in the area and commitments we made to allies there.
So, what are your thoughts on weening ourselves off the oil tit? Again, an Obama policy change from the dig dig dig crowd?
Milo Minderbinder
#18 “packing up and leaving in 24hrs is the last thing we need to do to preserve the progress”
Progress? What the hell are you smoking? If you really think anyone is going to change any culture by invading their country, you are simply deluded.
In Afghanistan and Iraq, the so called insurgents are fighting to gain power after we leave. They know – and we know – and everyone who ever read a book knows we will leave. All invaders leave.
I hope the Chicago crowd doesn’t see this level of corruption as aspirational.
Why don’t we do something very nasty to these fellows… legalize drugs and take away the money that fosters corruption on this scale.
Tobacco sells for less than $2/lb at the farm and is harder to grow than poppies. Let’s de-fund the bad guys.
You dorks make me laugh.
So now so many of you think we should get the hell out there eh? I was saying that before we even went in. It’s funny how smart you guys are with hindsight, when in reality very few of us are truly smart and would have avoided the whole mess in the first place. I guess you get what you deserve.
#16, #17. Anon, you’re jumping to conclusions.
Welcome to The Third World.
We continue to spend billions to get our people killed in order to stop people who are our enemies from killing each other!
Is taking the bus really that bad?
DarkSideWater?
Afghanistan is a very poor country. It might be possible that the events described are real at least at some locations. On the broad front I’d say no but try and find out.
I’m not even sure the 100 years war fought by England and France was the longest war.
This is exactly like “Catch 22”. I thought Joseph Heller was joking.
My college professor said that there was a generational divide in appreciating Catch-22, the Best Book in the World: the kiddies in class thought it was humorous, all the older ex-military types thought it was a documentary.
It is a great book among a few others. I found Snowden’s Secret to be quite impactful. Most of the book is about power, but Snowden is about humanity.
#18 Dallas reliably said “which is an Obama policy different than that of ex-President Cheney’s”
You mean the policy called appeasement that he learned from Chamberlain?
The mess in Afghanistan might require two curtsies.
I think the phrase “this war is now the longest war in our history” sums it all up.