The lightening-fast Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has left billions of dollars of US weapons scattered around the country for the taking. And this doesn’t just mean rifles or handguns. After 20 years of fighting them, the US has turned into the Taliban’s biggest weapons supplier. But the US arms merchants got paid…
Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity.
No surprise here. The American General J.E.B. Stuart said the US Army was the best quartermaster he’d seen when it came to equipping his Confederate cavalry.
Anyone who is actually informed knows it’s the MIC and Pentagon!
https://www.transcend.org/tms/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Eisenhower-usa-military.jpg
But coups are ok. F*ck Ike.
I would edit and include D.C. and everyone in government!
Yep. Iran. Syria is a work in progress.
Let us also not forget that Ike was MacArthur’s aide when the Bonus Marchers were routed. Patton commanded the tank battalion that was there too.
Heroes?
SURPRISED ???????
No surprise here. Soldiers for the central government knew that this occupation cannot last forever, and that centralizing governance in a country that is highly decentralized, would not work. They themselves participated in earning money by selling whatever they can get away with. As if somebody actually kept correct records.
The first president US installed, Karzai, managed to convene an all-Afghan gathering of clans and regional leaders. It was a way for getting the country’s real leaders united, and the rag-tag Taliban, the Students, we dispatched from Pakistan to oust pro-Soviet government in Kabul — has disappeared.
But Karzai has learned that US had other plans. Drunk from the idea of global domination, our elites have decided that in order to make Afghanistan the springboard for power projection into Central Asia, against Russia and China, they needed a pliant government in Kabul. The idea of sending Islamist cults, armed with weapons and crazed fanatics, to be feared by the rulers and people alike was the main idea. The idea did not die until the last nail on the coffin of ISIS. We still use brand name, but without Saudis paying for it, or providing fiery preachers, the project is dead. Unless we want to pay for it ourselves.
This is what our “Students” did when they first marched into Afghanistan. Horror of executing people, abusing women in the street, closing schools — all was in the day’s work of the Frankenstein we created.
Karzai warned against attempts to centralize, as most of the commerce, social services, infrastructure work was carried out by the regions and their rulers. The centralized government traditionally only managed foreign policy and any projects that were beyond individual regions to carry out by themselves.
Karzai compared himself to a condom — one time use. After his term expired, the actual winner of elections was Abdullah Abdullah. But US declared it was Ghani, and Abdullah was given a ceremonial post with no power. Ghani was a pragmatist. He was not going to even attempt to educate the hegemon. Just had the power of money, and pretended that all was well, soldiers recruited, training accomplished, weapons purchased, and loyal yes-men paid their share of the loot.
Ghani knew exactly what was happening and I would not be shocked that he reached the deal with Taliban — that soldiers and bureaucracy be spared. And when US was out of every base, and the only location available was Embassy and the airport, it was time to bolt.
Anybody shocked that Karzai and Abdullah are involved in trying to piece the country back together again?
The main reason US left is — diminishing prospects to have any impact on Central Asia, or have a meaningful inroads into China-Russia SCO territory. The world has changed. Pakistan is not Pakistan of yesterday. Neither is Saudi Arabia or Egypt — both as of July new members of SCO. Two days after Kabul fall, SCO promoted Iran to permanent membership.
I suspect that when dust has settled that US will start the blame game. I see the target being Pakistan. Pakistan will be accused of assisting Taliban. The real goal is to stir things up in Pakistan, start something in Balochistan, and stir up something with India. That would be win-win. As US is deeply unhappy with Modi, and his India-first approach. Basically, not eager to tackle China. So, one can expect Modi’s opponents, such as a sad Ghandi relative, to step up, take advantage of COVID and get vilely Modi left footed. As for Pakistan, it will have to pay price. Bring it back into fold, to become again the recruitment ground of poor children for careers in extreme Islam, and expertise in explosives. But Pakistan politician of all stripes know now that their future is in China financed CPEC, the economic corridor of infrastructure and facilities for trade and manufacturing, between China and Pakistan’s port of Gwadar.
But I suspect, that region is by now fully aware and prepared for such backlash. It will be too much for the policy elites in Washington to actually think carefully about what has transpired, and alter foreign policy direction.