Major discovery: a purpose of the war in Afghanistan

[G_j]

http://www.alternet.org/rss/breaking_news/667146/major_discovery%3A__a_purpose_of_the_war_in_afghanistan/


Major discovery: a purpose of the war in Afghanistan
The U.S. is determined to stay until there are no Afghans left who wants it gone. Then it can leave.

Salon / By Glenn Greenwald



The Washington Post today describes the failure of regimented programs in Afghanistan to reintegrate Taliban teenagers ("Taliban" (alt.: "Terrorist") means "any Afghan who fights against the presence of foreign military forces in their country" and "reintegrate" means "persuading or compelling them to passively acquiesce to those forces"):


The teenage insurgents spend their days learning to make shoes and bookshelves, listening to religious leaders denounce the radical interpretation of Islam they learned as children.

But when they return to their cells at Kabul's juvenile rehabilitation center, the boys with wispy beards and cracking voices talk only of the holy war from which they were plucked and their plans to resume fighting for the Taliban.

As the Taliban presses its efforts to recruit teenage fighters, Afghan officials and their international backers have crafted a program to reintegrate the country's youngest insurgents into mainstream society. But that ambition is coming up against the intransigence of the teens, who say they would rather be on the battlefield.

..more..

[msongs]

1. we are there so corporations can crank out the war profits using our soliders to generate $$ nt

[Broderick]

9. And the laughable drawdown of troops is just an exchange

for profit driven global corporations to increase their numbers as we pay them with tax dollars. It's a sham and a farce. We are outsourcing our military to the lowest bidder, errrr, let me correct that. The biggest donors.

[gratuitous]

2. Call it the "Butch Cassidy" doctrine

Anyone who recalls the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" will remember that whenever someone got fed up with the outlaws' presence and wanted them to leave, Robert Redford (who played Butch or Sundance, I don't remember which) would advise them to "Ask us to stay." After a little back and forth, in which the person would protest, "But I don't want you to stay," Redford would repeat the advice, "Ask us to stay." Finally, the person would say, "Hey fellers, can you stay a while?" At which point, Paul Newman would get up from whatever he was doing and say, "Oh, we have to be going." And off they'd go.

Our military mission in Afghanistan has reached the same absurd point. Only when the Afghans want us to stay could we possibly see our way clear to leaving. The folks who live there, unlike us, have a pretty good memory. They and their ancestors have seen occupying armies roll across the land only to leave quite meekly after spending themselves in their inhospitable landscape. The U.S. has been there nearly 10 years, which is about as long as anyone has lasted there. We've wasted our troops, spent our resources, and are no closer to "winning" (whatever that might be) than we were the first day the tanks rolled into the country.

But the U.S. is exceptional! So look for us to keep flailing away for another five years at least, because we in thrall, heeding the dubious wisdom of the stupidest people our society can push forward to advocate for the short-sighted profits of the greediest bastards this planet has ever produced.

[G_j]

3. well said

:applause:

[Arctic Dave]

5. The only flaw is that if asked to saty, they will and never leave. nt

[blindpig]

4. k&r

Looks like the war-mongers are out in force

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Which amounts to another failed effort to save face in a lost war. K&R

[sad sally]

7. Here's another reason the US will stay,

from TomDispatch, a story that is unsettling to say the least. Cheney's dreams fulfilled - black sites in Afghanistan used for interrogating high-value targets (torture?).

A Secret War in 120 Countries
The Pentagon’s New Power Elite
By Nick Turse

Somewhere on this planet an American commando is carrying out a mission. Now, say that 70 times and you’re done... for the day. Without the knowledge of the American public, a secret force within the U.S. military is undertaking operations in a majority of the world’s countries. This new Pentagon power elite is waging a global war whose size and scope has never been revealed, until now.

---

In addition, the command operates a network of secret prisons, perhaps as many as 20 black sites in Afghanistan alone, used for interrogating high-value targets.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175426/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_uncovering_the_military%27s_secret_military/?du

[G_j]

8. ironic isn't it? what the hell is Cheney complaining about?

quite an act, considering most of the policies are still in place..

[EmeraldCityGrl]

10. There are trillions of dollars in minerals

under the surface of Afghanistan. JP Morgan and the Pentagon are working together to mine it.



http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/11/jp-morgan-hunt-afghan-gold/?section=magazines_fortune

[KoKo]

11. K&R