The Afghan people will win - part 15

Navigating from Frmrsldr's RAWA link led me to these International Council on Security and Development maps showing insurgent activity and control in Afghanistan. Tread carefully, Barack!

ICOS maps

Here is the latest - but there are lots more at the link:

And this shows the progress of the invaders and their puppets:

They're stringing us along with the 2011 timeframe. It'll be whenever Uncle Sam instructs our fearless followers in Ottawa's halls of powerlessness to withdraw from Afghanistan. 22% of the registered vote and backup from the Liberals is all they need. 

I read the article. It needs more information. A good scanario would be to compare it with Kunduz province where the Germans are located. Like the Dutch, the Germans were very wary about posting troops outside of NATO's normal area of operations. Germany chose the location very carefully: a peaceful area in the north, away from the Pashtuns and the insurgency and violence in the south.

Until recently, German troops could do foot patrols and move among the people in cities and towns without incident. That was until the U.S.A. decided on its 21,000 troop surge. Escalating the war in Helmand moved insurgents into other provinces and caused a change in strategy. Now some Afghan insurgent commanders see Germany as a 'weak link' and have stepped up attacks on German troops. German rules of engagement were that they could only fire in self defense after they were fired upon first and first gave ample warning in Pashto, Dari, German and English. Insurgent commanders hoped the Germans would either stick to their rules of engagement or engage in aggressive war through 'hot persuit' and search and destroy patrols. Either way, it was hoped that opposition to the war would rise in Germany and Germany would soon disengage from Afghanistan.

Another thing that has turned the German people against the war is the German General who called in the airstrike against the two stranded fuel tankers where 70 - 100+ civilians died. German troops now tend to travel and do patrols in armored vehicles for protection. Like Canada, the German government, military and mainstream media has lied to the public, describing the German effort as an humanitarian peacekeeping mission. The word "war" was never used.

The Germans have the third largest number of troops (app. 5,000). The Dutch have roughly half the number of troops as Canada. Most Afghans don't even know Canadian troops are in Afghanistan. Most think they are either American or don't care their nationality - just that they are hated and unwanted non Asian or non Arabic and non Muslim foreign invaders who are murdering and maiming their people and destroying their homes and country.

In Uruzgan, there are also Danish, Australian, New Zealand, British and American troops. I wonder how many of the Afghan common folk know that they are Dutch and not Americans or just feared and hated foreigners?

The more American escalation of war, the more violence will spread to more parts of Afghanistan and risk reversing whatever good the Dutch were able to accomplish. Here's another problem with the article, it gushes about and makes the assertion that the Dutch have accomplished good, without specifically proving what "good" they actually accomplished.

The article states that the governor doesn't want the Dutch to go. Because it also points out that the Dutch are likely to go, with Canada following shortly after that. It sounds like NATO propaganda to me. We can't have the Netherlands and Canada leaving because if that happens, then there will be a domino effect and NATO will collapse. We don't want that to happen because um, "well look at all the good the Dutch (a NATO member hint, hint) accomplished."

Concerning Richard Colvin: He talks about the British in the context of how many prisoners they took and how it was six times less than that taken by Canadian troops. The British had their own prison in Iraq. My guess is, they also keep their prisoners in Afghanistan. In Iraq, there were accounts of prisoner abuse at the hands of the British - wait for it concerning Afghanistan.

The British and Dutch were smarter than Canada. They had their civilian governments draft and conclude their treaties concerning what to do with Afghan PoWs. In Canada, we had former Gen. "The Taliban are detestable murderous scumbags" Rick Hillier draft and sign his own PoW treaty. Look at the (not surprising) results: That war criminal doesn't give a shit about Afghan lives. He claims that his mission in life was to restore the honor of the Canadian military. Everything he has done has had the opposite effect. He is either too much of a moron to realize this or has too much foolish pride to admit it.

Human Terrain Systems: Anthropologists and the War in Afghanistan:

A Better Way to Kill?

http://www.counterpunch.org/price12012009.html

"While political science was the academic discipline which the wars of the twentieth century drew upon, the asymmetrical wars of the twenty-first century now look toward anthropology.."

So basically the Taliban just have to wait keep a low profile for a short 18 months, then NATO/US will be gone and Karzai will be toppled and probably executed and things will be back to the way they were pre 9/11.

30,000 more troops ain't gonna do the job either. USSR had over 200,000 at their peak and we know how that ended.

The funny thing about his speech was the cadets in the audience sleeping and looking like they were falling asleep.

As well strange as this sounds the first part of his speech sounded like it could of been written by Bush.

American is great at portraying themselves as victims and expecting everyone to jump onside, and they were in this case but they 'forget' they have caused much greater tragedy's to many other countries and a great many people around the world. Including the first 9/11 in 1973 in Chile...

Really, they are American troops. They are under American command and control, rely on American air support, have American Special Forces embedded in their formations (and, no doubt, wearing Canadian uniforms). The generals are all American trained and sympathetic to American interests over Canadian. In short, our military has comfortably reverted back to its role as loyal colonial mercenaries.

That's what pisses me off about the "support our troops" crap. They ain't ours, they belong to Robert Gates.

Dangle a shiny Silver Star or Purple Heart in front of them, and they pee themselves with excitement like a poorly trained puppy.

Kabul's mayor still running the city after being sentenced to four years in prison for corruption

Thousands of Afghan Students Protest

http://rawa.org/temp/runews/2009/12/09/thousands-of-afghan-students-prot...

Kabul: "Thousands of University students protest. Hundreds of villagers on Tuesday brought the bodies to Mehtarlan and placed them in front of Government House."

[your tax dollars at work..]

I believe it!

As far as the smaller scale protests go I found there was a bad practice developing.
If villagers took to protest over say a civilian death their cries for justice here and there would turn into demands for compinsation and money. The deceased family members would demand money to make up for the lost income or livestock or equipment [which is fairly reasonable if you ask me] but also the individual's friends would want compensation. They would demand money and lovestock and farming equipment. Or a neighbour who was owed money by the deceased would demand NATO cough up cash and NATO does just that.

In my opinion this detracted from the message "NATO out of Afghanistan" and turned it into "Well what do I get? What can you give us". I'm not saying anyone was greedy [some are though] because the harsh realities of life in Afghanistan is a brutal one and people don't have much there to start with. I just feel that it breaks up the unified voice approach and lets NATO throw money at the problem which keeps it under control.

Kabul Taliban Commander Seif Allali Galali Speaks:

http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/212694

"Foreigners are not safe as long as they are in Afghanistan. They must leave otherwise they will be targeted...What we want is their unconditional departure.."

Ceasefire.ca is saying that on 12 December 1979 the Soviet Politburo took the decision to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan. 

Of course this is incorrect because there were at least 3 Soviet Infantry Battalions in Kabul prior to the summer of 1979, and there were hundreds of military advisors in Afghanistan years before that this order was signed.

However on this the date 30 years ago today, the war really started to heat up.

Fidel, there were Soviet Battalions in Kabul prior 1977. Soviets military advisors were teaching the current warlords as early as 1970s in Soviet sponsored military academies both in Afghanistan and in Russia.

I am not arguing the fact the Americans planned on destabilizing the Afghan Government however the Soviets were destabilizing the Afghan Government before the Americans event attempted to.

Fidel, lets try to concentrate on the facts. The Soviets had ground forces in Afghanistan prior to July 1979. It is highly likely they were conducting counter-insurgency operations, because since 1949 the Pashtun tribes had at least 12 jihads declared against Kabul.

If I remember correctly, at least 3 of these occurred after the monarchy was over thrown.

It is known that Afghans forces received large number of Soviet equipment and training to put down these rebellions.

Fidel are you saying there were not three Soviets Battalion of infantry in Kabul prior to July 1979?

Its a freaking fact my friend.  

In May 1978, an additional 400 Soviet military advisers were dispatched to Afghanistan in order to put down the fledging insurgency.

In July 1979, the USSR sent an airborne battalion in response to a request from the Afghan government for support.

In October 1978 insurgent activities flared in Nuristan in October

In March 1979additional insurgent activities occurred in Heart provinces.

In April and May of 1979, the rebellion spread to Baglan, Oruzgan, Farah, Badghis, Ghowr, Logar provinces.

On 13 October, an operational group was formed in the Ministry of Defense. It was headed by the first deputy to the chief of the General Staff, General of the Army S. F. Akhromeyev.24 Its function was to coordinate the activities of the representatives of all the Soviet departments, forces of the 40th Army, and Soviet apparatus should major forces be committed to Afghanistan. The operations group left immediately for Afghanistan.

In November 1977 anger over Daoud's excesses caused a temporary rupture between Daoud on one hand and his younger brother Naim and six cabinet ministers on the other. From late summer of 1977 to early spring of 1978, a series of prominent Afghans were murdered, including the chief pilot of Ariana Afghan Airlines (who was the leader of a recent strike) and the minister of planning. On April 17, 1978, Mir Akbar Khyber, a Parchami theorist, was murdered. His was the most important death for Afghan politics. The identities of the perpetrators were never fully ascertained, but at the time, many believed Daoud's police to be the executioners.

Fidel, the whole country was against the Soviets and thier ways. Look at the number of uprisings in the provinces in late 1978/79. The only people who welecomed the Soviets were Soviet lackies in Kabul.

 Fidel, your first article by Michael Parenti even outlines why the people were not happy with the Soviet back Afghan government:

a. Destruction of the poppy crops.

b. The emancipated women from their age-old tribal bondage

c. Major land reformation programs.

Now if roughly 95% of the population is rural and they believe in the old ways then point B is enough to piss them off. If the land is owned by the tribal leaders (the same people as the feudal landlords) which most of the rural people respect and follow (see the first sentence) then there is another reason to be pissed of with the communist government.

The last reason to be pissed off is because no one likes having their drugs fucked with.

However even Michael Parenti sums up the reason why there were rebellions in 1978/79:

But serious opposition arose from several quarters. The feudal landlords opposed the land reform program that infringed on their holdings. And tribesmen and fundamentalist mullahs vehemently opposed the government's dedication to gender equality and the education of women and children.

Fidel look who was supporting the revolution, it was well off citizens from Kabul, military officers and the educated, the top 1% of the nation.

The revolution was about the gaining power from the rural people. It was about consolidating power, wealth and land in order to better themselves.

Even the communist were fighting for power amongst themselves.

Then why did the US-backed mooj require not six months to overthrow the Afghan PDPA army as suggested by the NY Times and newz rags in Islamabad, but more than TWO YEARS to take Kabul if there was no support for the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan government? The Sovs were long gone by the time Gulbby and Arab-Afghan and Tadjiki and mooj warlords were celebrating the destruction of Kabul by raping and killing Afghan women at that point. Two years! Were the mooj and druglords and their CIA backers just dogging it for two years? In fact, the men and women volunteers of the PDPA army kicked their asses pretty good for them at Jalalabad and held them off for months at a time until the CIA and Pakistani army could send more rocket launchers and more bullets costing $5 dollar US apiece and more billions in funding to keep the mercenaries and warlords interested in the good fight for western world imperialist control of Afghanistan.

Some of the fearless Afghan women volunteers who battled and kicked mooj ass from 1989 to 1992. And they did it without any help from anyone, unlike the mooj with their multi-billion dollar outside supporters and bases in Pakistan.

Isn't this the same bullshit that the U.S., U.K., Canadian, etc. governments are telling their people to sell the war?

95% of the people? 95% of the war lords/drug lords, more like it.

What people want their families to starve because poppies are grown instead of food so that the drug lords can get rich? What people want to see their families addicted to opium due to its cheapness and availability?

When Britain left and Afghanistan became independent in 1919, the Soviet Union was the first country to recognize its independence. The Soviet Union invested in Afghanistan's economy and infrastructure ever since. The Soviet Union (now Russia) has done a lot more good and did it a lot longer than we have ever done for Afghanistan. That's for sure.

Fresh U.S. troops allow Canadian commander in Afghanistan to think 'big'

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gmloea49X8xveMTU-8bVB5Gt-hkQ

Taliban Bring Order Say Afghans

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/taliban-bring-order-say-afgha...

"The militants are being welcomed in the Afghan capital's poorer areas by people who are angry over corruption and give them food, cash and weapons.."

Again you do not address the facts presented to you.

The Nine Surges of Obama’s War: How to Escalate in Afghanistan

An interesting analysis by Tom Engelhart who argues that the "30,000" new troops announced by Obama is just the tip of the iceberg. He goes through the "nine surges" which include: 

• the troop surge with about 15,000 additional troops unaccounted for
• contractor surge
• militia surge
• civilian employee surge
• CIA and Special forces surge
• the base-building surge
• the training surge
• the cost surge
• the anti-withdrawal surge

Unionist, what can I do?  I feel so, oh, I don't know, lacking capacity to instruct counsel by virtue of my psychiatric status.

More human beings murdered in Afghanistan

Warfiteering and great game politics rage on merrily

Militants hack U.S. spy system with $26 software

Damn! Foiled by low tech again.

That's pretty funy about them capturing video feeds from the predators. If I was them I would try and get "caught on camera" then print my own picture up then photoshop it into a WANTED: REWARD poster.

Afghans Turn to Taleban Justice

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6970962.e...

"We are poor people. We know the Government doesn't help people like us..."

same here

8 Americans killed in suicide blast

Twice as many U.S. personnel were killed in Afghanistan this year than in Iraq.

The end is nearer than the invaders think.

ETA: CBC's the National just reported that all eight were CIA agents. Shame.

US accused of executing children

and no CBC coverage of the execution of children by US troops except a couple lines buried under CP links and referred to merely as  'claims'

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/100101/w010137A.html

CBC on the radio too focusses only on deaths to soldiers or those caused by insurgents, and promotes false glorification of the occupiers.

Pathetic.

It's so nice to have "balance" on babble. For every item reporting war crimes by the U.S., Canada, and other invaders, we now have a peanut gallery which will chime in about how bad the locals are too.

That comment by itself is fairly accurate though. Tariq Ali says that the government in Pakistan is totally and completely corrupt. When asked what their dreams are in the streets of Lahore and Karachi, Ali says ordinary Pakistanis would like two meals a day for their families and a chance for their children to get an education and not relying on the free religious-fundamentalist schools and colleges funded by Saudis and CIA with approval from Pakistani elites and army intelligence. Ali says there are two million newly displaced people in outlying regions of Pakistan as a result of the Talibanization and deliberate radicalization of his country since the 1980's.

Surge in casualties predicted in Afghanistan:

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/army_casualties_010410w/