Afghanistan descends into CHAOS, Bush admin. worships guns, wars, torture, and death squads...
(Needless to say, Democrats are clueless and speechless re the ratcheting violence and failures in Afghanistan.)
One of the very first things Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld did after the craven Supreme Court STOPPED THE VOTE-COUNTING in Florida, was to DISBAND the Pentagon's office of PEACEKEEPING.
This was merely another huge, yet largely unnoticed, example of the ARROGANCE and HUBRIS that is the very heart and genetic makeup of Mr. Bush's admin.
For, it turns out, that "warfighting" is actually easier than "Peacekeeping," at least when you command the largest, richest, most firepower-devastating military in human history.
"PEACEKEEPING," on the other hand, DEMANDS that you recognize ALL PARTIES to a conflict, work to ensure that each and every one of those parties is fully represented in a coalition government; parties and government formed (hopefully) of democratic voting from within that race or nationality; and above all, that all terms, treaties, and cease-fires are observed by all parties. As the lessons of BOSNIA and KOSOVO imparted (to all who bothered to note them), ALL IT TAKES TO VIOLATE A TREATY is for one or two individuals from any side to sneak out at night and plant a landmine. Boom! One explosion later, and the cease-fire, and all peace efforts leading up to it, are broken, and it is back to square one for all the parties and Peacekeeprs. (This, of course, is a simplified but common example of how easy it is to break ceasefires and Peacekeeping efforts.)
Sure enough, over in Iraq, landmines and "command explosions," called "IED's" in the current military-speak (for 'improvised explosive device'), are the most deadly and fearful element the US military faces in Iraq.
And the reason that the US military is now bogged down and bleading in Iraq is because of the HUBRIS, ARROGANCE, and INCOMPETENCE of the Bush administration in general, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in particular. They went into Iraq with_the_intention_of_looting Iraq's oil and resources, openly contemptous of Iraqi society and the fragile coalition, or "cease-fire", that the Saddam regime had imposed on Iraq. Not only did Secretary Rumsfeld encourage the US military to be contemptuous of Iraqis (witness the Abu Ghraib photographs), but he even allowed the situation where US troops DID NOTHING to prevent the LOOTING of entire bunker complexes of ammunition and explosives from Iraq's weapons arsenals! (google "Al Qaaqa bunker complex".)
This same pattern of NEGLECT, IGNORANCE, INCOMPETENCE, ARROGANCE, HUBRIS, and a preference for WAR over PEACEKEEPING - death squads over democracy - is now yielding its murderous fruit in Afghanistan, once again.
As anyone with AN OUNCE of military "intelligence" knows, Afghanistan did not earn its sobriquet "THE GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES" cheaply. And most historically minded military commanders have also heard the saying "engage in Asian land wars at your own peril."
Unfortunately, as brave, determined, and dedicated as US combat troops and uniformed servicemen/women may be, their efforts can not make up for such a huge black-hole at the top in terms of leadership, strategy, and tactics at the macro-level.
Indeed, to understand what is happening in Afghanistan today, one need only rent an easily available video "The Beast", about a Russian tank crew in Afghanistan during the brutal Russian occupation there.
The ONE saving grace of the US efforts in Afghanistan is that the US has not been as remotely ruthless or murderous as the Russian military was. But that is some small consolation if YOUR town or village is pulverized by an American bombing attack; or if your family's (clan's) members are carted off by a US patrol.
"The Beast" portrays Russian tank attacks on remote Afghan villages, and the surviving local's efforts to trap the tank and kill its crew.
With the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld destruction of the US military office of Peacekeeping and subsequent arrogance and incompetence in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is an open question, "Is the US in Afghanistan more interested in Peace, or playing 'the Beast'?"
Afghanistan gripped by worst fighting since 2001
By Noor Khan in Kandahar
Published: 21 May 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article549507.ece
Two French special forces troops and a US soldier were among 34 combatants killed in Afghanistan in a fresh upsurge of the deadliest fighting since the removal of the Taliban in 2001. In the worst clash, militants hiding in a vineyard ambushed an Afghan army convoy, shooting dead four soldiers but losing 15 of their own.
Fears of a resurgence of the Taliban have been fuelled by a sharp rise in violence during recent weeks, much of it in Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops are deploying. Some 120 people died in 24 hours last week before a brief respite, but attacks resumed on Friday, claiming another 34 lives by Saturday afternoon.
The two French died yesterday while fighting the Taliban in Kandahar province, the French Defence Ministry said. It gave no further details. France has had 200 special forces officers in south-eastern Afghanistan since 2003 as part of the US-led coalition.
The American soldier was killed and six others wounded on Friday in Uruzgan province, also in the south, when a joint patrol with Afghan forces encountered enemy fighters. Uruzgan had seen some of the heaviest fighting within the past year, but militants suffered high losses in battles with coalition forces.
Helmand, the main opium poppy-growing region, where drug profits are believed to fund the insurgency, has become the main focus of violence, but the past week has also seen attacks in Zabul province and the western city of Herat.
One of the very first things Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld did after the craven Supreme Court STOPPED THE VOTE-COUNTING in Florida, was to DISBAND the Pentagon's office of PEACEKEEPING.
This was merely another huge, yet largely unnoticed, example of the ARROGANCE and HUBRIS that is the very heart and genetic makeup of Mr. Bush's admin.
For, it turns out, that "warfighting" is actually easier than "Peacekeeping," at least when you command the largest, richest, most firepower-devastating military in human history.
"PEACEKEEPING," on the other hand, DEMANDS that you recognize ALL PARTIES to a conflict, work to ensure that each and every one of those parties is fully represented in a coalition government; parties and government formed (hopefully) of democratic voting from within that race or nationality; and above all, that all terms, treaties, and cease-fires are observed by all parties. As the lessons of BOSNIA and KOSOVO imparted (to all who bothered to note them), ALL IT TAKES TO VIOLATE A TREATY is for one or two individuals from any side to sneak out at night and plant a landmine. Boom! One explosion later, and the cease-fire, and all peace efforts leading up to it, are broken, and it is back to square one for all the parties and Peacekeeprs. (This, of course, is a simplified but common example of how easy it is to break ceasefires and Peacekeeping efforts.)
Sure enough, over in Iraq, landmines and "command explosions," called "IED's" in the current military-speak (for 'improvised explosive device'), are the most deadly and fearful element the US military faces in Iraq.
And the reason that the US military is now bogged down and bleading in Iraq is because of the HUBRIS, ARROGANCE, and INCOMPETENCE of the Bush administration in general, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in particular. They went into Iraq with_the_intention_of_looting Iraq's oil and resources, openly contemptous of Iraqi society and the fragile coalition, or "cease-fire", that the Saddam regime had imposed on Iraq. Not only did Secretary Rumsfeld encourage the US military to be contemptuous of Iraqis (witness the Abu Ghraib photographs), but he even allowed the situation where US troops DID NOTHING to prevent the LOOTING of entire bunker complexes of ammunition and explosives from Iraq's weapons arsenals! (google "Al Qaaqa bunker complex".)
This same pattern of NEGLECT, IGNORANCE, INCOMPETENCE, ARROGANCE, HUBRIS, and a preference for WAR over PEACEKEEPING - death squads over democracy - is now yielding its murderous fruit in Afghanistan, once again.
As anyone with AN OUNCE of military "intelligence" knows, Afghanistan did not earn its sobriquet "THE GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES" cheaply. And most historically minded military commanders have also heard the saying "engage in Asian land wars at your own peril."
Unfortunately, as brave, determined, and dedicated as US combat troops and uniformed servicemen/women may be, their efforts can not make up for such a huge black-hole at the top in terms of leadership, strategy, and tactics at the macro-level.
Indeed, to understand what is happening in Afghanistan today, one need only rent an easily available video "The Beast", about a Russian tank crew in Afghanistan during the brutal Russian occupation there.
The ONE saving grace of the US efforts in Afghanistan is that the US has not been as remotely ruthless or murderous as the Russian military was. But that is some small consolation if YOUR town or village is pulverized by an American bombing attack; or if your family's (clan's) members are carted off by a US patrol.
"The Beast" portrays Russian tank attacks on remote Afghan villages, and the surviving local's efforts to trap the tank and kill its crew.
With the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld destruction of the US military office of Peacekeeping and subsequent arrogance and incompetence in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is an open question, "Is the US in Afghanistan more interested in Peace, or playing 'the Beast'?"
Afghanistan gripped by worst fighting since 2001
By Noor Khan in Kandahar
Published: 21 May 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article549507.ece
Two French special forces troops and a US soldier were among 34 combatants killed in Afghanistan in a fresh upsurge of the deadliest fighting since the removal of the Taliban in 2001. In the worst clash, militants hiding in a vineyard ambushed an Afghan army convoy, shooting dead four soldiers but losing 15 of their own.
Fears of a resurgence of the Taliban have been fuelled by a sharp rise in violence during recent weeks, much of it in Helmand province, where 3,300 British troops are deploying. Some 120 people died in 24 hours last week before a brief respite, but attacks resumed on Friday, claiming another 34 lives by Saturday afternoon.
The two French died yesterday while fighting the Taliban in Kandahar province, the French Defence Ministry said. It gave no further details. France has had 200 special forces officers in south-eastern Afghanistan since 2003 as part of the US-led coalition.
The American soldier was killed and six others wounded on Friday in Uruzgan province, also in the south, when a joint patrol with Afghan forces encountered enemy fighters. Uruzgan had seen some of the heaviest fighting within the past year, but militants suffered high losses in battles with coalition forces.
Helmand, the main opium poppy-growing region, where drug profits are believed to fund the insurgency, has become the main focus of violence, but the past week has also seen attacks in Zabul province and the western city of Herat.
posted by verifi at 6:06 AM
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