The Afghan people will win - NATO pulling out all advisors - part 26

<a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175509/tomgram%3A_engelhardt_and_turse%2C_the_end_in_afghanistan/">Tom Engelhardt and Nick Turse</a> wrote:

Sometimes, in a moment, the fog lifts, the clouds shift, and you can finally see the landscape ahead with startling clarity.  In Afghanistan, Washington may be reaching that moment in a state of panic, horror, and confusion.  Even as an anxious U.S. commander withdrew American and NATO advisors from Afghan ministries around Kabul last weekend -- approximately 300, military spokesman James Williams tells TomDispatch -- the ability of American soldiers to remain on giant fortified bases eating pizza and fried chicken into the distant future is not in doubt. 

No set of Taliban guerrillas, suicide bombers, or armed Afghan “allies” turning their guns on their American “brothers” can alter that -- not as long as Washington is ready to bring the necessary supplies into semi-blockaded Afghanistan at staggering cost.  But sometimes that’s the least of the matter, not the essence of it.  So if you’re in a mood to mark your calendars, late February 2012 may be the moment when the end game for America’s second Afghan War, launched in October 2001, was initially glimpsed. 

Amid the reportage about the recent explosion of Afghan anger over the torching of Korans in a burn pit at Bagram Air Base, there was a tiny news item that caught the spirit of the moment.  As anti-American protests (and the deaths of protestors) mounted across Afghanistan, the German military made a sudden decision to immediately abandon a 50-man outpost in the north of the country.

True, they had planned to leave it a few weeks later, but consider the move a tiny sign of the increasing itchiness of Washington’s NATO allies.  The French have shown a similar inclination to leave town since, earlier this year, four of their troops were blown away (and 16 wounded) by an Afghan army soldier, as three others had been shot down several weeks before by another Afghan in uniform.  Both the French and the Germans have also withdrawn their civilian advisors from Afghan government institutions in the wake of the latest unrest.

Now, it's clear enough: the Europeans are ready to go.  And that shouldn’t be surprising.  After all, we’re talking about NATO -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- whose soldiers found themselves in distant Afghanistan in the first place only because, since World War II, with the singular exception of French President Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s, European leaders have had a terrible time saying “no” to Washington.  They still can’t quite do so, but in these last months it’s clear which way their feet are pointed.

Will Canada cut and run, too? Or will Harper wait until the Afghans we are "training" to be cops and soldiers finally decide to turn their weapons on their teachers?

NDPP wrote:

When this is over the lesson will be not only that a people can liberate themselves from an imperial occupation, but also unfortunately that they must do this without any appreciable help from the citizenry of the aggressor nations. Why was there no significant anti-war efforts here?

I seem to remember my mom yelling at me to go to protests in Victoria that were going on all the time at the beginning of the MESS (middle east shit show) and I went to a couple but earning a living as a single mom came first for me. 'They' were going to do what they wanted no matter what the world said.  That was obvious.

What should we have been doing? Just so we know what we should being feeling heavy with guilt over not doing.

I thought it a pretty general guilt trip and wanted to indicate  the guilt trip was not really working for me.  And why.

Misplaced?

Box C or D would be more likely than the A or B choices you gave.

Qur'an Burning Heightens Risk For Canadian Troops in Afghanistan

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/02/27/quran-burning-heightens-risk-for-can...

"The Canadian military is taking extra precautions in Afghanistan following terror attacks and riots in response to the mistaken burning of a Qur'an last week at an air base under US command. 'The Canadian mentors have been taken out of the ministries that they were involved in until circumstances are resolved there to the satisfaction of (the International Security Assistance Force)and Canada', Lt. Gen Peter Devlin, the commander of Canada's land forces told QMI Agency.

Devlin said 'there's a lot of emphasis' on cultural awareness for Canadian soldiers training Afghan forces..."

eg. you can burn Afghans, but not their Qur'ans...

The Call of the Taliban

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-call-of-the-taliban-746...

"Afghans who severed their ties with the insurgency in return for promises of money and jobs are being tempted to drift back, disillusioned by poverty and fear..

'When we were living in the mountains, other fighters helped us,' says Hamida. 'They brought us food and provided us with shelter. Now that we have been accepted back by the government, we don't have anything...If the government helps us, we will keep with the peace process and never go back. But if in two to three months, we don't get any government help, we will have to go back.."

NATO Army Base To Appear in Vladmir Lenin's Birthplace

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/13-03-2012/120758-nato_russia_u...

"Russia's Foreign Ministry prepares suggestions to elaborate the normative base for the transit of NATO cargoes from Afghanistan via the airport in the city of Ulyanovsk. The idea of NATO's presence in Ulyanovsk is popular among local officials, particularly the governor, 'We have been working on this project for a long time already,' regional governor Sergei Morozov said. 'Cooperation with NATO is a wonderful opportunity to develop our airport. It would confirm the international status of the airport, the governor said.

Is Mr Morozov concerned about the increase of traffic of Afghan heroine in not-to-be-inspected cargoes? 'This is out of the question. The Americans watch drug channels closely,' the official stated..."

The official, trauma-victim-single-shooter story looks, well... like a story.

My guess is his lawyer figures the prosecution/state will strike a sweet deal if there is a threat of evidence being presented that will spill the beans.

Quote:

US Blocking Investigation of Afghan Massacre, Bales’s Lawyer Says
The inconsistency of the official story and the Pentagon's apparent attempt to hide evidence smacks of a government cover-up
by John Glaser, March 30, 2012
....
“We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client,” said John Henry Browne, who is defending the accused Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales has been charged with murdering eight adults and nine children in cold blood. But the official story – that he left his base to kill only once and that he acted alone – has been challenged by eyewitnesses and other Afghan villagers.
....

http://news.yahoo.com/lawyer-says-u-blocks-investigation-afghan-massacre...

SBS Dateline Examines US Kandahar Massacre: Grieving Survivors Describe Mass Murder And Coverup (and vid)

http://alhittin.com/2012/03/31/video-kandahar-massacre-grieving-survivor...

SBS Dateline traveled to Kandahar to interview surviving victims

glad you liked it Bec.

Pakistani Protesters Condemn Islamabad-Washington Alliance (and vid)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/234162.html

"Tribal people in their thousands staged a demonstration in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal agency bordering Afghanistan to protest a possible reopening of the supply routes for US-led forces in Afghanistan. The protesters also called for an immediate end to the US assassination drone strikes in the country's tribal belt that has killed many Pakistanis. They demanded the government quit the US-led coalition and adopt an independent foreign policy.."

and there should be demos for the same thing here...

Afghans Give Lantern to Us as Gift/Protest Lack of Electricity

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/235930.html

"The US has failed to keep its promises. Over ten years on, we strill don't have electricity. By presenting this lantern as a gift to Obama, we want to raise our voice,' Hosaini Madani, a civil activist told Press TV. They also condemned the indifference of the government and of the international community to the plight of the people.."

The people of Afghanistan want peace. There can be no civil society let alone a democracy without peace.  After 30 years of foreign interference they deserve a respite.  Democracy might come later. 

Our parliament however seems to want to destroy other nations peace and order.  Afghanistan, Libya and Syria have all been attacked with the approval of our and other NATO countries democratically elected parliamentarians. You can say that over the last three decades Western democracy has brought millions of people death and destruction not freedom. 

Ask the millions of people displaced from Iraq how they feel about being liberated.  Of course we don't dare ask what the outcome in Libya is after our RCAF bravely bombed them into freedom. Maybe the Ottawa parliamentarians can to a nice fact finding junket to find out how well our "liberation" has helped the people. You would think that since the parliament is going down the same road in Syria maybe one or two of them might look into the legacy they are leaving.

The US,[Canada] and the Afghan Train Wreck - by Conn Hallinan

http://dispatchesfromtheedgeblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/the-u-s-the-af...

"...In short, after a decade of war and the expenditure of over $450 Billion, Afghanistan is a less secure place than it was after the 2001 invasion.

It may be too late, and in the end, NATO may tuck its tail between its legs and slink out of Afghanistan. But the deep divisions the war has created will continue, and civil war is a real possibility.

The goal should be to prevent that, not to pursue an illusory dream of controlling the crossroads to Asia, a chimera that has drawn would be conquerors to that poor, ravaged land for a millenium."

Malalai Joya: ‘My country needs you to get the troops out'

Quote:

But [Malalai] Joya praised the bravery of the women and men who are resisting, pointing to numerous examples of people taking to the streets with banners demanding the occupation troops leave. A recent example Joya gave was when thousands of people took to the streets after occupation forces in Helmand province killed civilians after US forces had burned the Koran.

She said: "Brave people risk their lives by demonstrating. There are protests all over Afghanistan every day by democratic groups including the six-party alliance of the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan and the Social Association of Afghan Justice Seekers.

Brave and wonderful people all across Afghanistan!

30+ years later western taxpayers are still propping-up vicious Afghan warlords and even the Taliban. The hot war on democracy in Central Asia continues...

presstv wrote:

"History won't forgive supporters of this imperialistic pact. They will be condemned by Afghanistan's present and future generations," said a statement from the group.

As if imperialists care what Afghans think.

Quote:

"I think we both say that what we found is the Taliban is stronger," Feinstein said.

Exactly. We are led to believe that 130,000 troops from 50 foreign countries are losing "the war" against 20k-40,000 Taliban. It's a lie.

They are propping-up the Taliban the same as they propped-up the Khmer Rouge to takeover Cambodia in the 1970s and 80s.

It's about democracy prevention and maintaining military outposts over the long term. At some point their old and bosom friends, the right wing extremist Taliban, will be signing rubberstamps of approval for U.S. bases in Pipelinistan and with regular elections marred by ultra violence as per the plan in the stan. Mark my words.

<a href="http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/50661">Malalai Joya, a full-time Afghan</a> wrote:

"...warlords, the Taliban and al-Qaeda - "all products of the White House's Cold War".

The thread title, although optimistic, continues to be a bald-faced lie and betrayal of the truth. The situation in Afghanistan is appalling with basic human rights violations a permanent way of life for millions.

Afghans have not won anything for the past three decades and counting. Afghans as a whole will continue not winning against imperialist colder war meddling in their country. An incredible decades-long streak for Afghans losing out on life and democracy is now inter-generational for tens of millions living in despair with grinding poverty and violence permanent features of the landscape in Afghanistan since U.S. meddling began.

Afghans need a real anti-war movement in North America to help them win way over there on the other side of the world.

Pentagon Condemns "War on Islam' US Training Class

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18032968

"America's top military officer has condemned a course taught at a US military college that advocated a 'total war' against Muslims..."

isn't that what we've been fighting since 9/11 ?

'US Soldiers Taught to Dehumanize Massacre': Edward Corrigan (and vid)

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/06/307508/us-has-covered-up-hundre...

"Press TV has conducted an interview with Edward Corrigan, human rights lawyer, Ontario..."In this case there was 16 innocent Afghans killed, many more injured, six counts of attempted murder and several other assaults and, you know it's unlikely that one person could have done all this by himself.

And as you say this was not an act of madness, this was an act of revenge or an act of aggression on a population that the soldiers have been taught to dehumanize, to hate..."