Inspiring tale of triumph over Taliban not all it seems

[CHIMO]

Inspiring tale of triumph over Taliban not all it seems

The official story of Operation Medusa has been repeated many times in recent days, after NATO declared success with its biggest offensive to date in Afghanistan.

In speeches from Kabul to Washington, military commanders described the two-week campaign as a simple, clear-cut triumph: The Taliban entrenched themselves in a swath of terrain, terrorizing local villagers; Canadian soldiers led a massive assault, killing more than 1,000 Taliban and routing others; and now villagers are welcoming the return of government rule. Military officials say the operation may have destroyed up to one third of the insurgency's hardcore ranks.

It's an inspiring tale, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization calls on members for more troops and struggles to gain support for the war.

But interviews with tribal elders, farmers and senior officials in the city of Kandahar suggest a version of events that is more complicated, and less reassuring.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060922.wmedusa0923/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

[daleo]

1. This article is required reading

It floored me to see it in today's Globe. The whole thing was a worse sham than I thought in my most cynical imagination. Canadian boys (and girls) are dying for one side of a rather shabby little civil war. There is no great principal at stake here, not even a little principal.

I don't know how the piece got by the censors.

[Spazito]

2. I am not surprised, it seemed clear NATO was embellishing, to say the

least, about their success. Both Iraq and Afghanistan are quagmires but we are not to be told the truth, sadly, we must only grieve the dead.

[MrPrax]

3. One...Two...Three...

what are we fighting for...don't give a damn...next stop Afghanistan...

Karzai's Brother Under Drug Suspicion

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai is facing hard times. As his brother fights accusations that he's involved in the country's rampant drug trade, an increasing number of Afghans are disappointed by their government. Many are starting to think about potential presidential successors.

Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is facing increasing criticism in Kabul. Indeed, the talk these days is not of an additional term for the 48-year-old president, but rather who will succeed him. His time in office has been a sobering one: Afghans are deeply disappointed by the slow pace of reconstruction, an abysmal security situation, rampant corruption and a flourishing drug trade.

Many chastise Karzai for being too docile in his dealings with corrupt governors and police chiefs and for maintaining ties for the country's former warlords. But Karzai's latest troubles are closer to home in nature: They center around allegations that one of his brothers is involved in drug trafficking. His younger brother Ahmed Wali Karzai is influential among the Popalzai, a Pashtun clan, in Karzai's home province of Kandahar and is the chairman of the provincial council. It is believed the Ahmed Wali is also the head of a group involved in opium and heroin trafficking that smuggles drugs to the West through Iran and Turkey. Sources in security circles claim that he provides protection for drug transports in southern Afghanistan.

Speigel

side note:

"...Nelofer Pazira, the Toronto-based, Afghan-born journalist who starred in the film Kandahar, wrote in an article carried by several British newspapers last week from Kandahar that the Taliban and warlords involved in the heroine trade are making gains, saying the poppy farmers have welcomed the Taliban..."

(but at the end)

Duceppe noted that the Paris-based weekly Nouvel Observateur in its Aug. 14 edition quotes an unnamed diplomat who alleges that ''(Afghan President Hamid) Karzai's brother controls 70 per cent of world heroin production.''

''That is worrying if it is true,'' Duceppe said.
Canada.com

Sure is worrying Gilles, but shut up about it, coz fav CBC resident Afghani Womens'Expert© Nelofer Pazira thinks it's the Taliban behind it all!

...and Ms. Pazira is favorite of the left warmongers, who was featured and interviewed to provide background prior to Karzai's visit.

Bad times follow Taliban back to town
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1156630230888&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724">TorStar -- this is one of the crazy propaganda pieces she wrote in one of her 'letters from Afghanistan'.

Note that her anecdotal snippets of conversations she has with some guy named Hikmat! follow the usual western 'narrative' of what we 'think' we know about the Taliban and the fact she seems to think it's the SAME taliban from 10 years ago and Hikmat! doesn't like them and has moved to a city just recently bombed by Pakistan...loved the line:

"People shrink from me when I ask for an interview; they run away when they see a camera." LOL

Yeah right...everyone except an owner of a construction company who is pissed off the reconstruction cash to build 5 star hotels and golf courses is being wound down.

For contrast...another journalist who happens to be a woman and from Afghanistan

Afghanistan Inc.
Corpwatch

LINK to many of her reports : Corpwatch's Afghanistan via site search

Off topic, but a question for the warmongers still not convinced:

Ask yourselves: "How well are we doing on the Womens' Rights schtick in Haiti? We should be doing pretty well considering we actually speak the language of Haiti, no?

Torture, Murder and Complicity: Canada in Haiti

Does the Canadian-promoted "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine include murder rape, and threats of violence?

That's the question we should be asking Canadian officials after a study in the prestigious Lancet medical journal released at the end of August revealed there were 8,000 murders, 35,000 rapes and thousands of incidents of armed threats in the 22 months after the overthrow of the elected government in Haiti.

...more at Counterpunch

White folks will use any excuse to kill people, even if the 'rape' camps or torture chambers aren't run by guys named Milo or Uday

...our side NEVER has a morality problem...we are superior in judgement, integrity and knowledge of the future in this Crusade...just like God. :eyes:


'American Dream' leaflets Dropped over Afghanistan

(edit - to add flyer from Huffington Post)