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Subscribe to RSSKABUL, Afghanistan -- A number of Afghan national army soldiers have been arrested inside the country’s defense ministry over a foiled suicide bomb plot, officials told NBC News.
The soldiers were held on Monday afternoon along with 11 suicide bomb vests in a guard box in the building in the capital, Kabul, army officials said on Tuesday.
Afghan news web site Khaama also reported the arrests, saying the incident raises fresh concerns over infiltration of militants among the country’s Afghan security forces.
There were no further details immediately available.
Tim Marshall, foreign editor of UK channel Sky News, said that the incident was serious, and showed that the Taliban are determined to chase NATO out of the country.
"The fact that these arrests took place within the walls of the defense ministry illustrates the level of insurgent penetration within the Afghanistan establishment and just tells you -- gives a signal of -- what is likely to happen when NATO leaves," he said.
Afghan massacre suspect's wife: 'He did not do this'
The arrests came on the same day that at least three NATO service members were shot dead by Afghan security forces in two separate attacks.
March 12: The killing of 16 civilians by an American soldier has further enflamed tensions in Afghanistan. ITN’s Martin Geissler reports from Afghanistan.
A gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform killed two NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, while another was shot in eastern Afghanistan by an alleged member of the Afghan Local Police.
The attacks brought to 16 the number of NATO-led forces killed so far this year in what appeared to be attacks by members of Afghan forces.
Meanwhile, support for the war in Afghanistan has dropped sharply among both Republicans and Democrats, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published Tuesday.
The survey found that more than two-thirds of those polled — 69 percent — thought that the United States should not be at war in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported.
PhotoBlog: 12 die in Quran-burning protests in Afghanistan
Just four months ago, 53 percent said that Americans should no longer be fighting in the conflict, it said.
It added that the increased disillusionment was even more pronounced when respondents were asked their impressions of how the war was going. The poll found that 68 percent thought the fighting was going “somewhat badly” or “very badly,” compared with 42 percent who had those impressions in November.
The poll was conducted by telephone from March 21 to 25 with 986 adults nationwide.
Akbar Shinwari, NBC News in Kabul, and msnbc.com staff also contributed to this report.
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
More devolving apes and their dark age religious nonsense. Sounds like the right wing abortion bombers here in the United States.
out we go NOW
You guys got it wright.
These people change sides faster and more often than I change my socks. They feel it is honorable and correct to change sides when ever they feel like it. Makes no sense to me. Bottom line is get out now and let them have at !!!!
bob
Hello folks, the Taliban forces are trying to chase the United States and their “allies” out of Afghanistan because we took over their very lucrative opium business. The soldiers are now dying for the drug trade. Since the British East India Trading Company in the 1600's the India Afghanistan area has always been the largest suppliers of Opium which has carried on today and is a multi-billion dollar business. In 2000 the Taliban had taken over and created a law that stopped the growing of poppies all the while storing vast quantities of Opium in warehouses to increase the price. Well that didn't sit well with the powers who previously controlled the opium trade. In 2001 we went to war with Afghanistan and we will be hard pressed to give back these enormous profits back to the control of the Taliban. If America was anti-drug we would have destroyed the poppy fields, we haven't!
Here is a short snippet of an article on the war on drugs:
The “War On Drugs” Is A $2.5 Trillion Racket: How Big Banks, Private Military Companies And The Prison Industry Cash In
News // Jul 11 2011
By David DeGraw – AmpedStatus Report
For a further understanding of how the War on Drugs is deeply intertwined with the War on Terror, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has led to an explosive increase in drug trade profits:
Afghanistan as a Drug War
“From a modest 185 tons at the start of American intervention in 2001, Afghanistan now produced 8,200 tons of opium, a remarkable 53 percent of the country’s GDP and 93 percent of global heroin supply.
In this way, Afghanistan became the world’s first true ‘narco-state.’ If a cocaine traffic that provided just 3 percent of Colombia’s GDP could bring in its wake endless violence and powerful cartels capable of corrupting that country’s government, then we can only imagine the consequences of Afghanistan’s dependence on opium for more than 50 percent of its entire economy.
At a drug conference in Kabul this month, the head of Russia’s Federal Narcotics Service estimated the value of Afghanistan’s current opium crop at $65 billion. Only $500 million of that vast sum goes to Afghanistan’s farmers, $300 million to the Taliban guerrillas, and the $64 billion balance ‘to the drug mafia,’ leaving ample funds to corrupt the Karzai government in a nation whose total GDP is only $10 billion.”
USS F a l s e f l a g on the horizon?
Trust
Based on what you have posted. Perhaps we should spray some agent orange around the place before we leave. You know to kill off unwanted weeds etc. Just as a friendly gesture you understand. Leave the fields weed free for the poor farmer.
bob
Trust,
Surprise for you, Taliban is against opium poppy growing.
Right wing suicide bombers??? Really? Your ignorance and true colors are exposed! LOL!
The Taliban is against drug money like Exxon is against gouging consumers.
You and Trust Verify nailed it. So as long as they keep the Afghan society and the rest of the world plastered out of their minds, they consider their pact with Allah kept. It's elementary, really.
Damn are you joking. 11 VESTS. We cannot and should not trust these trainees what so ever.
They went crazier with the burning of the Koran than kiling 16 civilians 9 of those being children.
Or the intolerant homos who won't rest until their sodomy is embraced as choice by every school child
all u posters screaming to get out are lazy protesters...
we had 2 take it to the streets all the way 2 1600 penn to get us out of nam...
get along little doggies...
HOTTTICKET
Afghan's don't use drugs. It is death for a muslim to get caught using drugs. The hypocrites have no problem however with producing it & selling it to the rest of the world.
Touche, Glenn. Thanks!
The longer the US stays involved in this convoluted mess the higher the risks to our personnel. There's nothing to win here. Time to leave- just leave.
Pull the troops back to secure bases, and use drones to kill the bad guys.
Tell the Afghans to fight their own war on the ground.
Get our soldiers out of this **** **** now. Let these people police them selves. When they kill each other, until the Afgan people no longer exist, the world will be a better place.
I say march the plotters out to a field, make them sit on the vests, and set them off.
They should just strap the vests to those that were going to use them, rewire them to wireless units, and send them into a field.....
Glen Peach, You really could not be more wrong. Anyone watching any of the news shows on TV has seen numerous Muslims using heroin. Iran is a wash with illegal drugs and illegal alcohol. Much of it being smuggled in from Afghanistan.
In Iran:
That line above defines the article as nothing more than a propaganda piece and loses all credibility at that point.
Our soldiers need to get out. This last bit of nonsense should prove our soldiers are coming back with Severe PTSD, injuries, worried about multiple deployments away from families..... it's a losing game. Burn the poppy fields and come home.
Hello Bob and Been There, I agree, burn the poppy fields down before we exit. Unfortunately we have too many powerful U.S. parties that are interested in maintaining the opium trade. It's all about the money. Oil and Opium have caused a lot of destruction and death in our world and those who sacrifice our loved ones for it should be thrown in prison.
The real "inside skinny" is that the vests were to be used only in case of an emergency if the doors were locked....to blow yourself a way out.
Why do we always think the worst??
You're kidding , right ?
Why not use bombs to blow away the door instead of a vest to blow yourself up?
my little friend...will take care of the door...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVQ8byG2mY8
Don't let good suicide vest go to waste. Take the soldiers who were going to wear them and tie them to a post in a field with the vest on and detonate it.
Hello folks, the Taliban forces are trying to chase the United States and their “allies” out of Afghanistan because we took over their very lucrative opium business. The soldiers are now dying for the drug trade. Since the British East India Trading Company in the 1600's the India Afghanistan area has always been the largest suppliers of Opium which has carried on today and is a multi-billion dollar business. In 2000 the Taliban had taken over and created a law that stopped the growing of poppies all the while storing vast quantities of Opium in warehouses to increase the price. Well that didn't sit well with the powers who previously controlled the opium trade. In 2001 we went to war with Afghanistan and we will be hard pressed to give back these enormous profits back to the control of the Taliban. If America was anti-drug we would have destroyed the poppy fields, we haven't!
Here is a short snippet of an article on the war on drugs:
The “War On Drugs” Is A $2.5 Trillion Racket: How Big Banks, Private Military Companies And The Prison Industry Cash In
News // Jul 11 2011
By David DeGraw – AmpedStatus Report
For a further understanding of how the War on Drugs is deeply intertwined with the War on Terror, the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has led to an explosive increase in drug trade profits:
Afghanistan as a Drug War
“From a modest 185 tons at the start of American intervention in 2001, Afghanistan now produced 8,200 tons of opium, a remarkable 53 percent of the country’s GDP and 93 percent of global heroin supply.
In this way, Afghanistan became the world’s first true ‘narco-state.’ If a cocaine traffic that provided just 3 percent of Colombia’s GDP could bring in its wake endless violence and powerful cartels capable of corrupting that country’s government, then we can only imagine the consequences of Afghanistan’s dependence on opium for more than 50 percent of its entire economy.
At a drug conference in Kabul this month, the head of Russia’s Federal Narcotics Service estimated the value of Afghanistan’s current opium crop at $65 billion. Only $500 million of that vast sum goes to Afghanistan’s farmers, $300 million to the Taliban guerrillas, and the $64 billion balance ‘to the drug mafia,’ leaving ample funds to corrupt the Karzai government in a nation whose total GDP is only $10 billion.”
I agree the drug war is institutionalized by banks, military (private and otherwise) and the prison system (again private and otherwise). However, you are wrong about the Taliban being upset about us taking their drug business away from them. They will tolerate it while they are officially out of power, as long as they get a cut of the sales to fund their holy war. But when they were in power, they were very active in exterminating the poppy/opium culture.
And it is not really so easy to just burn all the crops. The fields are both well-hidden and defended, and often times managed by people that are key allies in the field. Good way to alienate an entire population is to invade a country and try to change their culture and eliminate their main source of currency all at once. The Taliban, being home-grown, did not have the extra baggage of being invaders.
Hello Brisaber, I respectfully disagree with you. The Taliban and the Opium trade go hand in hand. Enclosed is one of many articles that outline the Taliban's dependence and desire to control and grow this very valuable resource and business.
It's to late when it comes to us alienating the Afghans as well as most ME countries, that ship has sailed long ago. Heroin is poison and like all poisons I'm for disposing poison and keeping it out of the reach of humanity.
The Taliban Opium Connection
Posted on February 13, 2010 by Matt Holzmann
From the upper valleys of Helmand down to the outskirts of Lakshar Gah the opium poppy is the crop of choice. The poppy is easily grown and offers the highest return to the farmer, even under the crushing debt imposed by the feudal sharecropping system imposed by the warlords.
Marjah is just one town. Opium is a way of life there now. Even in 2002, the exposure to the poppy was limited in the area. Then came the Taliban and the warlords. For you see it is intertwined. The grease of the opium trade corrupts everyone involved. The provincial governor is involved. The local khans are involved. And the Taliban have acted as the nexus of the trade. The Taliban exerts a tax on the growers, another tax on the refiners, and then another tax on the traffickers. They then provide security for shipments into Pakistan and Iran at a price as well. it is their most important source of funds. Opium and heroin permeate the southern Afghan economy from the highlands of Helmand to the Baluchi badlands.
While Osama bin Laden was reliant upon his own wealth and donations from the Oil States, the Taliban, including Mullah Omar, Gulbuddin Hekmatyr, and the Haqqani network are in it up to their eyeballs. It is said Mullah Omar has a private stash of more than 4,000 kilos of heroin intermediate. This is what funds the Taliban. Local commanders use opium money to buy the ammonium nitrate that kills British and American soldiers in the form of IED’s and the services of jihadis. Jihad pays well in Afghanistan for a very specific reason.
And until we understand this fundamental truth and act accordingly, we will continue to take excessive casualties. The farmers must make a reasonable living, but they must have alternatives. Until we figure this out we will not win hearts and minds. At the same time we must starve the Taliban economically. It is amazing how this can constrict operations.
We are in an asymmetric battle in Afghanistan. The old rules do not apply. While General McChrystal applies a hearts and minds campaign, we must at the same time offer profitable and legal means of income to those who desperately need it while choking off the funding for the enemies of conciliation and stability.
If Americans would quit trying to legislate morals, we could easily grow our own drugs and shut out the criminal element. Prohibition outlawed all manner of ways to get high and criminals got so wealthy, we lost control of our country. We might be able to get it back, if we weren't such hypocrites.
And as far as the war goes, their culture is so different than ours, all we have done is bring our brand of corruption. And we have killed thousands of innocent people, for which we will never be forgiven.
TV . . . are you saying that we finally found a form of "Nation Building" that we can do?? Your first post (#2.5) reads like a U.S. success story.
out of this cesspool now....karzai's lambskin headwear in danger of major soiling .. fek him
Hope the people look beyond just Afghanistan.
Was not additional 2003 Iraqi war a blunder? Was there any reason for this additional war?
Hope the poll mentioned included interventions in Iran and Syria!
On one side, many want withdrawal from Afghanistan. The same joke was going on Iraq in later years.
Still, closing the eyes and minds on what went in last two decades, many want wars in Iran and Syria.
The inmates are running the asylum.
10 years and this is the progress made. AMAZING ISN'T IT?
Truly a lost decade.
Add lost two decades, which brought only wars and huge losses from all sides!
Did 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars brought stability in Iraq? At least oil prices, which were $30 before Iraqi wars zoomed to $145.
Now many are gung ho about bringing progress in Syria and Iran!
Leave today. Shake their dirt off our feet. The Afghanis have proven that they are nothing but murderers--over and over and over. (See article--suicide vests in their DEFENSE ministry!) They do not want to come into the modern world where people are free; can think for themselves; and have peaceful relations as the main goal. They want to stay in the dark ages, kill themselves, each other, and anyone else they want to. I say, leave and let them. They are not worth one more moment of our time.
fek 'em
Hear ! Hear ! It's high time we stopped being the worlds policeman , all we ever get for it is resistance and resentment .
That's right..PHUK'EM!
These guys weren't Taliban infiltrators. Simply d-bags. How it works is we pay the ordinary soldier $300 per month, the Taliban pays them $100 to do a job and they jump on it. Afghans have no pride, no patriotism, no honor. Whoever is paying the most, that's whose side I am on. And if I can cash in on both, even better!
My son's third tour was in Afghanistan.
In Iraq the illusion was that we were bringing civilization back to Iraq after 30 years of a corrupt dictatorship. Instead what we did was destroy the infrastructure that could have provided the basis for Iraq becoming prosperous again. It was incredibly stupid. Even in Nazi German and post-Hiroshima Japan we still had the infrastructure rebuild their economies. Instead we destroyed their infrastructure and it is going to take 20 years before their economy returns to pre-Saddam wealth.
Afghanistan, however, has never been civilized. Its remoteness and geography encourages tribalism. Its culture doesn't need literacy since it is based upon rudimentary farming of crops such as opium. There is no concept of cooperation or sharing to the point that Afghan children openly steal from other Afghan children.
My son's observation was that Afghan culture would provide a good justification for genocide.
And that is the "solution."
Our "civilized" culture no longer has the resources or discipline to do to Afghanistan what we did to "Native Americans" when we took over the North American continent.
The ONLY country in the world that has the resources, finances, cultural attitude, and technical skills to disarm the Afghan population, secure the borders, destroy the opium/heroin crop, and turn the rare-earth minerals of NE Afghanistan into the economic replacement for the heroin of SE Afghanistan is Afghanistan's next door neighbor China. We need to get our troops out of Afghanistan now and turn the country over to China. We outsource almost everything else to China. It's time that we outsourced this war to them as well.
Besides China won the war in Vietnam. It's time they won a war for us.
(It would also keep China's military so busy that they wouldn't have time or the resources to threaten us.)
zapper-45701
You've got that right. What is it that the politicians behind NATO do not understand about folding a losing hand - right bloody NOW? The Afghans don't want us there. Of course, there will be human rights abuses the moment we leave. Of course, women will be treated worse than ewes and nanny goats. We cannot help them until they want to help themselves and so long as fundamentalist Islam governs their hearts and minds THAT will be never.
Jym Allyn: We have been doing the dirty work for Saudi Arabia, oil companies and their lobbyists with Iraqi wars. Even leaving Iraq was under the cover of huge forces.
More than what you mentioned even the economy is shattered due to high oil prices.
China and Russia are smarter than what you imagine. They will look to their interests and not do dirty work for Saudi Arabia or someone else.
Saudi Arabia, oil companies and right-wing Jewish lobbys are busy again on Syria and Iran.
We are not done with Aghanistan, but still many are screaming on all evils in Syria and Iran just like pre-Iraq wars.
Don't some learn from at least recent histories?
Isn't it amazing. We have one man who simply broke down and went on a spree and killed others before being detained and now charged. Then we pay over $50K for each Afghan killed. They PLAN to kill others with stocked suicide outfits and praise their God and dance in the streets and the victims get nothing! Something is drastically wrong with this picture.
The only thing wrong with this picture is the fact that we are there.
This war is futile, it no longer serves a purpose or accomplishes a mission of any sort. We need to phase out all troops and resources immediately and end this senseless bloodshed. We are always going to be the infidels to them and there is no changing that now or in the future.
And let's hear how this situation is NOT like Vietnam.
Anyone? Anyone?
Some day this country will realize that the liberal kumbaya BS of not killing the guys trying to kill us just doesn't work. Get in , wipe them out, and get out.
Hindering the mission , like libs do , just gets more of our and their people killed in the long run.
And we should also realize that even if we do leave, they are still going to be coming after us. That is their mission in life (and death).
Obama told us that "Islam is not the enemy of America", which is true.
What is also true is that America is the enemy of Islam, and that is something entirely different .
So our failure in Afghanistan is the Liberals fault Rotdog? Wow... You are so deluded it's not even funny. I often find humor in you conservative whackjobs' comments, but yours elicited no such response from me. While your last points about Islam not being our enemy and America not being an enemy to Islam, for you to say that it is the liberals' fault that we're still there is ridiculous. It was your conservative overlords that started this mess, and actually for a better reason than the Iraq war was started. Should we still be there? No absolutely not. But to bring in the stupid libs vs conservs debate is even more ridiculous. Stop feeding the flames of American instability because that is all you're doing with that kind of rhetoric.
You watch, when we pull out, Karzai will be hiding in the back of one of our trucks!
Karzai will be the one responsible for the next terrorist attacks.
We got Bin Laden, there is no possible "win" scenario, war cost is helping to bankrupt us.. Out, now.
Its also helping the Afghan economy which will supply the next set of terrorists, lets leave the F out and leave them to their own undoing.
nuke the middle east!!!!!!!!! when it all over split it three ways 60% usa ,20% russia ,20% china. end all the bull s---t
Ever heard of fallout? That could take 100 years to clear out. If you are willing to go that far, why not nuke China and Russia and split it one way USA USA!!!
Ever heard of guaranteed mutual destruction?
Mutually Assured Destruction: MAD
Its only a matter of time before the "Afghan Army" turns on the IMPERIALISTS en-mass and fights them at close quarters. No bombers, no helicopters, no missiles, or armoured vehicles, etc.. to help them. THAT will be a SIGHT FOR SORE EYES, fighting man to man. They might not even have the chance of fleeing from the ROOFTOPS like in Vietnam.
They'd get their butts kicked , sucka !
Besides , we'd just pull out our troops , then bomb them back to the Stone age ... oh , wait they're already there .
As soon as we get out of country the Taliban will take over. Iraq and Afnistan were futile efforts and America's second Vietnam. We told you so.That it couln't be done.
Why hasn't O'Barrma pulled out. He's afraid of a rebublican backlash. Faux news and it's over the hill generals,and politcians like McCain,Romney,Ryan,and Mc Conell.
awabnavi , you mean they'll finally grow some balls and actually fight without using chicken @!$%# tactics and hiding behind women and children ?
SUCKERS{:_
This conflict is the most pathetic the US has ever been involved in. Our forces went in for one reason - to get bin-Laden as the master mind of 9/11. He was killed by our forces in May 2011. By June 2011 Obama should have announced that troop withdrawals would be completed in sixty days. Instead he is sticking to 2014 and for what - until Afghanistan can protect itself from itself? Tell you what, mount the troops up, get them in transports and then spray the poppy fields with a load of plant killer like we did with Agent Orange and put the country in our rear view mirrors. Let Obama figure out another location from which to bomb Iran at the behest of Israel.
We could just build a fort embassy there and call it a day.
I was right with you until the last sentence. Please quit blaming others for Afghanistan. Afghanistan is it's own quagmire, and it will continue to be a bog and cesspool for the rest of the world. Out today. We don't need a base close to any other country to make war on a country. Our B-2s have already proved that.
Bob,
I agree with one small question: would you agree that we probably shouldn't have invaded Afghanistan in the first place?
It seems to me that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda have been operating out of Pakistan for more than half the war, possibly longer. The compound in Abbotobad was commissioned before 2005 and I would be willing to guess the organization was having regular pow wows before that inside Pakistan, yet Pakistan was our "Ally" in operations inside Afghanistan...what's wrong with this picture?
That's what's great about Israel... They bomb and kill their own enemies. They don't ask us to do it. We'll give them the guns and bombs they need to do it but they do their own dirty work. Gotta respect that about them.
We are stupid for still being there. Get out now!
When the person shaking your hand slips a knife in your back over & over again, odds are good you can stop referring to them as allies. It's past time to go home & fix our own mess.
They NEVER called you ALLIES and they don't need you as allies. You virtually FORCED an ALLIANCE on them.
they are some real fine and smart folks...they got suicide vest... that ought to tell you how much they value life...LOL...
Damn right they don't need us,they can kill each other pretty good all on their own.
"and then spray the poppy fields with a load of plant killer" --- Now that would be a real stupid thing to do. The opium is required by the US pharmaceutical companies. What will they do without OPIUM? At present the US is FERTILIZING the poppy fields. The Taliban had virtually eliminated poppy cultivation. THAT was one of the reasons the US was dissatisfied with them.
The heroin in Afghanistan is NOT being produced for the US pharmaceutical companies but by the Russian mob since heroin addiction is now a greater problem in Russian than alcoholism.
We are keeping the Russian mob in business.
awabnavi let's look at synthetic pain killers who needs the poppy. I agree with the above let's defoliate the poppy fields and leave NOW!!!! As for forcing an ALLIANCE that may be but the GREAT thing about an alliance is that it can be stopped. And with it should be the money funding their infrastructure, dirty politicians pockets. So to those who say NUKE'EM, no let's not due to the fallout issues. You can not bomb them back to the stone age they would not know the difference from before. We went to afghanistan, according to the politians, for the War on Terror. They saw it as a WAR ON ISLAM. The mind set is two different realities.
When one side only sees everything through the eyes of the IMAMs and their bent leanings there will be no peace when jihad is one of the five pillars they subscribe too.
It is truly simple. Stop sending funding to the backwards countries. Allow the Saudi Kingdom to support their less forturnate muslim brothers and start the troop withdrawal today not in 2 months, not in 2 years, TODAY people. The afghan and iraqi people are not worth the loss of one more NATO or American life. May all of our HONORED dead find peace.
We will see what will happen you will just get everyone back where they started. Imams running Afghanistan another dictator in Iraq and Pakistan will still be wondering who they are shooting at. The only difference will be where they get their money from. NO MORE FOREIGN AID keep the money here and rebuild our society. If these ignorant people HATE us so much then let them stay in their country. Do not give them a VISA and low interest loans to start their own businesses here in the United States.
Sounds like the Karzai Drug Cartel is about to come under seige again. Time for another surge ?
MYself and my Son were there and i still see no change in that hole. those towelheads do not give a dam about anything just drugs and money
As a former combat vet I used to care that we would leave there and have accomplished something. Now I just don't care anymore. These people have always been savages and want to continue living their barbaric 6th century lifestyle. That sh*thole of a place isn't worth the sweat on one American soldier's brow.
Want a sure way to win the election Barack? Announce an accelerated time-table to exit that sh*thole.
Let's get out.....protect our U.S. borders, and protect our country and citizens. Screw these countries that hate us anyway.
Perpetual war keeps us from being able to heal the gaping wounds left by the attacks on 9/11. Just like Pearl Harbor, we'll never forget what took place and we should never forget the lives lost that horrific day, nor how badly wounded we were and still are but we must move on. We were righteous when we invaded Afghanistan to destroy the Al-Quaida training facility and hunt Bin Laden but then the mission was expanded to oust the Taliban and then our fearless leader(s) decided that Iraq, which had been under sanction for a decade and which had been bombed halfway back to the stone-age posed a threat so we decided to invade them. What a boondoggle! What a massive profit for those who fund the munitions our troops use. How many trillion have we spent? Who got that money? It isn't just gone you know. It's spread around the world in the pockets of executives and workers in huge corporations in many different countries. We/our/ and our allies middle class's young men and women have been reduced to cannon fodder for the sake of those who profit from these never ending conflicts.
An economy based on war is what we are living with. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, nothing but one skirmish or outright war after another, in the name of freedom which we don't even enjoy here to same degree we did in the year 2000, anymore.
All volunteer military, our leaders seem proud when they tout it. Do they understand the "volunteers" are only there because there are no more jobs for young adults who academically weren't able to get into college, or whose financial situation wasn't able to support the high cost, or whose family situation was so desperate that they needed to work instead of going to college, or who reasoned (not without merit BTW) that a college degree provided no guarantee of a good job or any job at all.
The horror we experienced on 9/11 has been revisited on the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq a 1,000 times over during the last decade. More than 100,000 perhaps as many as a half million people have been killed, and millions upon millions, wounded, maimed, or displaced. Every loss, every wound, every displacement brings hurt that is never forgotten and hardens the hearts of those directly affected as well as their friends and families. The collective hatred is building a never ending foundation of support for these conflicts.
Understanding what drives the war machine is essential to slowing it down and stopping it. Communication, education, understanding, negotiation, diplomacy, tolerance, intellect, all are far more effective tools in any effort toward peace than the alternative and ineffective brute force.
When was the last time we won a war? Was it Iraq? It that what victory should look like? Really?
NO MORE WAR!
Sighbor,
I can't argue specifically with many of the points you've made. I have been to Iraq twice, deployed 3 times.
However, if we had been smart about this, which Bush was not, we would have handled this like Obama allowed the Navy to in 2011. We collect the intel on these groups, find the holes they are hiding in, regardless of the borders they cross, and take them out. Pakistan was the real enemy from the start, in regard to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda is present in nearly half of Asia and the Phillipeans. All of the countries they are present in are living in fear of the chaos they bring. It's like having a Mafioso living next door, you pay him whatever he wants and keep your head down in case he gets involved in a firefight on your front steps.
In a perfect world there would be "NO MORE WAR", but this is NOT a perfect world. If you are not willing to hit back and hit back harder than your enemy, you become a target. We learned that particular lesson in the 90s when the Trade Center was hit the first time. We should have gone after Bin Laden then and made an example of him. Over 3000 of our brothers, sisters and children paid the price for that mistake.
By the same token, we should never have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, since protracted war depleats our resources. Now that we have a very real threat in the Iranian government (more so than Iraq), we are dealing with a failed economy resulting from 6 years of George W Bush and his cowtowing to Halliburton and the wars they started.
Military Man,
I cannot argue with any of your post, thanks for your service and for generously providing insight from the perspective of someone who has been there.
I appreciate all you've done for us and know that my call for NO MORE WAR" is simply not possible but I will still shout it, hoping beyond hope we can find a more constructive way...
Ron Paul-2012
You want out, vote US out.
Sorry Will, Dead horse and all that...
I wish Ron Paul could have got more support. We wouldn't have our troops in a no win situation now.
From the time of the crusaders to present Pakistan and Afghanistan has fought the west time and time again trying to send the message that they do not want western government or religion . And yet time and again some stupid morons insist on trying again, 9/11 was plotted and secretly financed by religious radicals in Saudi Arabia yet because we suck oil from their kings cock we will never challenge the true exporters of terrorism
America is run by pussy's who pick the easy targets and doesn't have the guts to challenge the true evil because of fat cat special interests that could care less about our troops that die protecting their feeding at the table of greed
SO,
Speak about your own pussy. Bush isn't president any longer...Bin Laden is dead (in Pakistan).
Obama assisted with Libya and I would say Iran may be in someone's cross hairs at the moment...both are oil rich. Don't get me wrong, I am not an Obama fan, but he is head and shoulders better than Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condi and Rove. Since all of the mentioned were still activily working for and furthering the interests of Halliburton.
I do agree with you, there needs to be some accountability from the Saudis, most of the training camps and schools teaching radical Sharia are located there. Bush was in the Saudi's hip pocket, there was no way, no matter how much evidence to contrary, he was going to blame the Saudis for anything. The only apparent allies we have in Saudi Arabia is the royal family, and they are despised by a vast number of Arabs because they "turned their backs on Islam and sold out to the west".
I am not joining the late band wagon. I have said for years we should be out of there. At one point, for both wars, we were spending 12 billion dollars a MONTH to be there. (Iraq included). Such a waste of money. The bad guy was in Pakistan. But as I write my senators and congressman, they all support the war, and want us to stay there. They are fools. Unless of course there is some "secret" reason for being there they won't tell us.
What $ecret could that be??
Opium in the US water supply? There has to be some reason for the "ignorance" that I read in the comment fields online every day.
Wow DBAM,
Don't hold back...LOL
Because of the primitive (illiterate) nature and corruption of Afghan culture there is no way that a rational society can bring 21st century values to that culture without radical action and Afghan cultural destruction. It is a task that is impossible for the 21st Century US to accomplish. It requires sealing the Afghan borders from weapons and drugs, disarming the population, and providing secure means of teaching literacy and global culture. Heroin profits not only promote Afghan corruption but heroin addiction is now a worse problem in Russia than alcoholism thanks to the Russian mob.
The only country that has the military force, finances, cultural expertise, and technical expertise to turn the rare earth mining in NE Afghanistan become the replacement for the heroin production in SE Afghanistan is China. We need a UN sanctioned 350,000 Peace Keeping force from China to seal the Afghan borders, burn the heroin crops, disarm and educate the Afghan population, and turn the mining in NE Afghanistan into the revenue to replace the heroin production.
I sooo totally agree with you. But, would it be worth it? Would be nice if China would agree. 2-3 hundred walmarts popping up all over the place in just 3 years. .
Ironic that you would have the west ask for China's help to stop the opium. We turned a deaf ear to them when they needed help.
China won't even stop the bootlegging and piracy in their country. What makes you think they'll even lift a finger to help the US resolve a war?
How many people here acually believe the Communists in China believe they can control over 1.5 Billion people without drugs?
I think China is more of a controlled Chaos than a true govenrnment. They are more of a capitalist society than we are. If it wasn't for the theft of western ideas and technology they would still be living in a modified fuedal system. The Prolitariat would have had to commission Warlords to control the vast populations, and would have had to extend access to anything that would keep their attention diverted.
I would be safe to say that China is more of a contributor to most of the problems in the region, than anyone we could rely on to fix them.
No doubt there is a hidden agenda as to why we are there. Because, nothing else makes any sense. Best way to get out is get kicked out. All we hafta do is start torching the poppy fields and dropping napalm on them. The Karzai Drug Cartel will demand our exit yesterday.
"Don't wait to be told... you need Napalmolive Gold." -- National Lampoon, c. 1960s.