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This is the weirdest and most disturbing flex by the USG in a long time. For reference on where some of this money ended up: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23

by numair 7y ago

This is the weirdest and most disturbing flex by the USG in a long time. For reference on where some of this money ended up: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/world/asia/afghanistan-military-abuse.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/world/asia/afghanistan-mi... (Yes, I know this report is from a period long after 9/11, but it's not like these "cultural norms" and "accommodations" are unique to the 2010 era.) I guess we're not even trying to act as though we're ashamed anymore.

thefounder 7y ago
That's really disturbing. That says something about the Afghan culture as well.
briandear 7y ago
Ashamed of what? The Taliban was pure evil. If the photo was of American operatives in 1942 headed to occupied France to bring money to the French resistance, would this be any different?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- droithomme 7y ago
  Afghanistan was run by corrupt evil warlords who oversaw massive opium production empires. The Taliban eliminated the warlords and got rid of opium production, improving the country. The US plan to overthrow the Taliban and restore opium production predated 9/11. That's why it was ready to go after 9/11. First thing we did was restore the warload power, calling them now the legitimate government and paying them off, and making sure opium production resumed, under US protection. If 9/11 never happened the US would still have gone into Afghanistan on schedule. 9/11 had nothing to do with Afghanistan.
  - thefounder 7y ago
    >> The Taliban eliminated the warlords and got rid of opium production Yeah to become themselves the new warlords and reinstate sharia law. Not sure which one is worse but I can tell you the Taliban are not good guys either.
  - jki275 7y ago
    You mean other than Bin Laden being there, of course. The Taliban provided shelter to a guy who committed a terrorist attack on the US, and refused to give him up. We would never have gone in otherwise. No one in the US government wanted opium production in Afghanistan, we spent a great deal of time eradicating it when we were there.
    - peisistratos 7y ago
      > You mean other than Bin Laden being there, of course. The Taliban provided shelter to a guy who committed a terrorist attack on the US, and refused to give him up. We would never have gone in otherwise. The US was involved in large scale operations in the 1970s and 1980s to destabilize the secular Afghan government. The US bankrolled and armed bin Laden, and much of what would become the Taliban, in their jihad against Afghanistan's then secular government.
      - vastoi 7y ago
        Where can I find more information about the history of the region? I know so little.
        jki275 7y ago
        See the link I posted above. Lots of history there. Charlie Wilson's war also has a lot about the US influence operations against the Soviet Union.
      - jki275 7y ago
        No. The US was involved in operations to destabilize the USSR government that invaded and took over Afghanistan, that the USSR was using to destabilize the entire region in the effort to spread communism across the globe. And no, the US did not bankroll and arm Bin Laden, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, or the Taliban. The Taliban has essentially nothing to do with the Mujahideen that we worked with against the USSR, popular reporting over the last few years notwithstanding. The Mujahideen were almost exclusively Afghan tribes, the Taliban were interlopers who took over from Pakistan in the years after the USSR was driven out. In fact, the Mujahideen continued to fight the Taliban until the US invaded in October 2001 and reestablished connections with the Northern Alliance in the initial effort to drive the Taliban out. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/who-is-responsible-for-the-taliban https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/who...
  - LifeLiverTransp 7y ago
    Lets be honest, the opium supply afghanistan created, went as heroin mostly to russia and elsewhere.. a proxy war of sorts. Thats what all this was about, the taliban or al quaida - where icing on the cake, nothing more.

by numair 7y ago

thefounder 7y ago

That's really disturbing. That says something about the Afghan culture as well.

briandear 7y ago

Ashamed of what? The Taliban was pure evil. If the photo was of American operatives in 1942 headed to occupied France to bring money to the French resistance, would this be any different?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
droithomme 7y ago
Afghanistan was run by corrupt evil warlords who oversaw massive opium production empires. The Taliban eliminated the warlords and got rid of opium production, improving the country. The US plan to overthrow the Taliban and restore opium production predated 9/11. That's why it was ready to go after 9/11. First thing we did was restore the warload power, calling them now the legitimate government and paying them off, and making sure opium production resumed, under US protection. If 9/11 never happened the US would still have gone into Afghanistan on schedule. 9/11 had nothing to do with Afghanistan.
- thefounder 7y ago
  >> The Taliban eliminated the warlords and got rid of opium production Yeah to become themselves the new warlords and reinstate sharia law. Not sure which one is worse but I can tell you the Taliban are not good guys either.
- jki275 7y ago
  You mean other than Bin Laden being there, of course. The Taliban provided shelter to a guy who committed a terrorist attack on the US, and refused to give him up. We would never have gone in otherwise. No one in the US government wanted opium production in Afghanistan, we spent a great deal of time eradicating it when we were there.
  - peisistratos 7y ago
    > You mean other than Bin Laden being there, of course. The Taliban provided shelter to a guy who committed a terrorist attack on the US, and refused to give him up. We would never have gone in otherwise. The US was involved in large scale operations in the 1970s and 1980s to destabilize the secular Afghan government. The US bankrolled and armed bin Laden, and much of what would become the Taliban, in their jihad against Afghanistan's then secular government.
    - vastoi 7y ago
      Where can I find more information about the history of the region? I know so little.
      - jki275 7y ago
        See the link I posted above. Lots of history there. Charlie Wilson's war also has a lot about the US influence operations against the Soviet Union.
    - jki275 7y ago
      No. The US was involved in operations to destabilize the USSR government that invaded and took over Afghanistan, that the USSR was using to destabilize the entire region in the effort to spread communism across the globe. And no, the US did not bankroll and arm Bin Laden, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, or the Taliban. The Taliban has essentially nothing to do with the Mujahideen that we worked with against the USSR, popular reporting over the last few years notwithstanding. The Mujahideen were almost exclusively Afghan tribes, the Taliban were interlopers who took over from Pakistan in the years after the USSR was driven out. In fact, the Mujahideen continued to fight the Taliban until the US invaded in October 2001 and reestablished connections with the Northern Alliance in the initial effort to drive the Taliban out. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/who-is-responsible-for-the-taliban https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/who...
- LifeLiverTransp 7y ago
  Lets be honest, the opium supply afghanistan created, went as heroin mostly to russia and elsewhere.. a proxy war of sorts. Thats what all this was about, the taliban or al quaida - where icing on the cake, nothing more.