The subcontractors responsible for moving NATO supplies from Karachi to the forces in Afghanistan have reportedly paid millions of dollars in protection money, called the “Taliban Tax” by the Times, to keep militants from attacking them.
One company reported spending 25% of its security money to the Taliban, while another company is reportedly on such good terms with the militants that they send fighters to escort their convoys.
It provides an interesting alternative explanation for the recent attacks on NATO vehicles around Peshawar, perhaps the depots fell behind on their protection fees.
This looks like an opportunity for the US to save a lot of money – a few million in bribes per month compared to what – 12 billion per month? Tell me what pizza joint in Queens wants to go to war with the Mafia?
It does not please the vanity of those of our fearless leaders who want to be the ape with the biggest, reddest behind. Nor does it appear to speed of the Rapture for that 25-30% of Americans who take that seriously.
Lester Ness
Kunming
China
To continue with this metaphor; suppose the owner of the pizza joint in Queens objects so strongly to having to buy his olive oil and mozz from some guy named Carmine rather than getting it at a discount from Costco, that the owner is willing to risk his kneecaps to take a stand. If he gets real lucky and gets rid of Carmine, what’s to say that he won’t soon get a visit from some other guy named Vito?
PS. This is apropos to nothing but I’ve just got to say this – straight all my life, but now I have a man crush like you wouldn’t believe for some Iraqi journalist.
Pass the Turkey Pray for War
The business of war is booming
brave buttered futures are looming
The market’s self corrective hand
knows war’s bread is spread hand to hand
to the greed is God and God is good gangsters who own the land
the plutocrat pushers our mushroom masters of small change
as might gangs up on right
and negative equity rains down on the needy
while the gobble up creed and the gusher of plunder
collapses the umbrella of red ink
a subsidiary of nuclear Inc.
who play Christmas Carols
for pre-emptive peace and good will and joy to the world
So say grace and pass the turkey…
The business of war is booming
brave buttered futures are looming
for….
greed is good… fraud is better… and war is best
to grease our master’s hands
those of the meltdown plutocrats and their puppets
like goofy cartoon dogs and demoted planets
but mostly…. demented dogma
like market rule
while the hand dives into the public purse
for a billion grand
hush… that’s the market corrective hand!
Did we say grace?
Pass the turkey and pray for war.
The war in Afghanistan is lost. The only thing to do now is negotiate some way out.
Hah! Freedom is on the march indeed, as Bushie says.
but Bob, the “Surge is Working!”
; )
the people at the top of the tree need to keep things stirred up in afghanistan and pakistan… the last thing they want is peace, law and order, because the afghan drug money and laundering operations are a mainstay the global finance lashup.
there’s some other issues having to do with control of energy and pakistan’s nukes… but the eventual neocon goal is to dismantle pakistan while keeping the drug business going.
too bad it looks like the neocons bit off more than they can chew… especially in view of their requirement to grab those big gas fields in southeastern turkmenistan… it will take some horrific pretext, bigger than 9/11, to mobilize america to support all these neocon wars.
here’s a map, derived from ralph peters’ map first published in army times…
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9930/operationenduringturmoitc2.jpg
and here’s peters’ map: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=peters%20map%20middle%20east&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
PNAC AIPAC Congress CIA and Pentagon are all hooked up with all sorts of business including drugs.
Afghanistan meets all kind of business if secured by the gullible nato allies.
When you see congress approving the invasion of both Iraq and Afghanistan to an ousider it seemed so immoral but to the Americans it makes sense because congress approved it.
Iran in the other hand is so unfortunate because it is sandwitched between both invaded nations that’s where the nuclear card is a must adding to that Israel made itself a target wether Iran likes it or not.
Syria is also as unfortunate as Iran because it is between Iraq Israel Lebanon and the Palestinians.
Syria & Iran have to pay the price for being able to see everything that can go in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
They can make life harder for the invaders.
PNAC AIPAC Congress CIA and Pentagon are making profit from their business ventures, US healthcare, infrastructure and other business not related to war profit suffered hugely as a results of neglect by the government.
if a trillion spent on war went to internal US businesses, infrastructure and institutions, USA primarily and the world would experience the present economic problems.
US soldiers are the one who are supporting the constitutionalised mafia that looks after their interest only and not US public interest.
You reap what you sew.
wasnt “army times” above… it was armed forces journal.
sorry.
What is this? A collection of idiots buying into the bullshiit being fed by them by an idoit?
Saudis are 100% behind the Taliban with unlimited financing. In fact the Saudis, with their 3rd century mentality and general backwardness, are the most responsible for killing the Americans, and have been for many years.
Saudi Arabia is also the least free country in the world (see Freedom House for its ranking), something that never seemed to trouble the Bushling and his so-called “freedom” agenda.
The apparent roadmap for Afghanistan is the NJ Soprano State model. Someone see if Paulie and Uncle Junior are available to enlist:
http://www.thesopranostate.com/book.htm
From about 1935 until the stationing of American troops in suadia Arabia,the Suadies were the biggest supporters of the US among Arab countries.Thousands of Americans worked and made big money ,American cars were the ones that the Suadies imported ,and American companies were the dominate ones.When many Suadies protested and voiced their objection to having American troops on their soil,they were arrested and put in prison in order to silence them when the US government demanded.The US wanted to have its troops stay for ever in Suadia Arabia after the Gulf war 1.The rest is history.
Some people should look in the mirror ,before start pointing fingers at others.It might take them a very long time to cleans their hands of the blood of so many people.
US policy in Afghanistan is analogous to Curly fixing the leaky pipe in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77tktvV577w
The three stooges Plumbing fits brilliantly with Bushiiiiit agenda for the whole planet
I recommend it to the audience of these pages.
Yep, when in doubt, add another pipe section. Thats Shrub (Bush) for ya.
sean says, “…the Saudis, with their 3rd century mentality and general backwardness, are the most responsible for killing the Americans…”
…and saudis have come right out and said they intend to establish “benevolent global hegemony”, and have demonstrated that benevolence by, so far, causing the deaths of maybe a million people.
oops! sorry… that was the israeli americans…
…and their Project for the New American Century has only begun… what do you spose the total death toll will be once they’ve finally achieved their global benevolence?
easy – 1 billion :-)
or maybe…. 3 or 5 ?
NATO: 4 Civilians Killed in Afghanistan
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5454447
6 Afghan police, civilian killed in mistaken U.S. strike
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081210.wafghandead1210/BNStory/Afghanistan/home
Some of the “anti-war” sentiments here are focused on the ineffectiveness of American/NATO military tactics, but they do not question the criminal nature of their “good war.”
Just like the American aggression against Iraq, the USA/NATO invasion of Afghanistan is also based upon lies and deception, which are actually greater than “Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
This fundamental American lie is called the War on Terrorism–which is not about fighting terrorism. The true agenda is about advancing global American dominance in general and control of Central Asian/Caspian energy resources and transit corridors in particular.
Getting former CIA asset Usama Bin Laden and “Al-Queda” was just the USA’s pretext, its casus belli for launching this global war without end.
Perhaps, that’s one reason why the supposed mastermind of 9-11 has never been killed or captured. He is much more useful to the USA as a kind of external hate figure in US domestic policy and as a geopolitical stalking horse in US foreign policy.
replacement link for dead map link, above
The same thing happens in all hopeless guerrilla wars. People take the easy money and offer penance to avoid being killed for collaborating. The puppet police in Iraq have been giving the guerrillas money and weapons since the beginning.
Ironically, this means that the guerrillas will always have an infinite supply of weapons as long as the Americans keep trying to make the quislings fight the guerrillas.