-Caveat Lector- this really doesn't make all that much sense , does it?
the mujahedeen were virulent anti-Communists. we are now allies with the Russians. too much in this article doesn't quite jibe -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- - -- -- - - - ----- -- --- -- - - - ---- - -- - - - -- ---- -- - -- - We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. Edward R. Murrow NEURONAUTIC INSTITUTE on-line: http://home.earthlink.net/~thew > From: Euphorian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: Conspiracy Theory Research List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 15:24:34 -0600 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [CTRL] Pilgrims' Progress > > -Caveat Lector- > > From > http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1209-02.htm > > }}}>Begin > Share This Article With Your Friends > > > Published on Sunday, December 9, 2001 in the Toronto Sun > America's New War: A Progress Report > by Eric Margolis > > What has the U.S. achieved after waging war for the past two months > in Afghanistan? > > * Afghanistan's de facto government, the Taliban, an Islamic > religious movement with about 30,000 armed supporters, has been > overthrown and scattered. After holding out for five weeks under > massive U.S. bombardments, its leader, Mullah Omar, ordered his men > to retreat to the mountains. Omar, who may be shortly captured or > killed, claimed he ordered the retreat to spare civilians in Taliban- > ruled areas from U.S. bombing. > > To date, the U.S. has dropped 10,000 bombs on Afghanistan, killing sizable > numbers of civilians - in the range of 1,500-2,000, according to Afghan > sources. U.S. bombing of cities, towns and villages has driven over 160,00 > 0 people into refugee camps. > > * On Dec. 3, 2000 - one year ago - this column said that overthrowing the > Taliban would "pave the way for a second Russian occupation of Afghanistan." > This has now happened. The Northern Alliance, armed and funded by Russ > ia, directed by the Afghan Communist party and under the overall command of > the chief of the Russian general staff, Marshall Viktor Kvashnin, deputy KGB > director Viktor Komogorov, and a cadre of Russian advisers, seized K > abul and all of northern Afghanistan. U.S. President George Bush committed a > colossal, inexcusable blunder. If this column could foresee Russian > intervention, why didn't the White House? > > * Last week's much-ballyhooed Afghan "unity" conference in Germany produced > precisely what this column predicted: a sham "coalition" government run by the > Northern Alliance. One of the CIA's Pashtun "assets," Hamid Karzai > , who represents no one but himself, was named prime minister. There was no > other real Pashtun representation, though they comprise half the population. > > Of 30 cabinet seats, two-thirds went to Northern Alliance Tajiks, notably the > power ministries of defence, the interior and foreign affairs. Two women were > added for window dressing to please the West. The 87-year old dep > osed Afghan king, Zahir Shah, widely blamed for allowing the communists to > infiltrate Afghanistan in the 1970s, was invited back as a figurehead monarch. > In short, a communist-dominated regime, ruled by a king, whose stri > ngs are pulled by Moscow. Quite a bizarre creation. > > FEUDING STARTS > > The very next day, feuding broke out among Alliance members. Old communist > stalwart Rashid Dostam, who had just finished massacring hundreds of Taliban > prisoners with American and British help, threatened war if his Uzbek > s did not get more spoils. My old friend, the Alliance's figurehead president, > Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, a respected Islamic scholar, was shoved aside by > young communists. > > * The Bush administration was apparently too preoccupied chasing Osama bin > Laden to notice its new best friend, Russia, had broken its agreement to wait > for formation of a pro- U.S., pro-Pakistani regime, and seized half > of Afghanistan. Marshall Kvashnin rushed his men into Kabul, just as he > outfoxed the Americans in 1999 in a similar coup de main in Kosovo. > > * The hunt for bin Laden and his Al-Qaida continues. A few senior figures have > been killed, likely including Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of Egypt's Islamic > Jihad. The net is closing around bin Laden's possible hiding pl > aces. Unless he has escaped Afghanistan, his capture or death appear imminent. > This will be welcome news for the Bush administration. If bin Laden somehow > escapes, or his body is never found, Bush will be accused of blowi > ng apart Afghanistan, killing large numbers of civilians, and allowing the > Russians to grab back the country, all for nothing. > > * The late Pashtun leader Abdul Haq, whom I knew from my Peshawar days, warned > the U.S. before his death that bombing Afghanistan was unnecessary and a grave > mistake. Taliban control could be broken, where needed, by fina > ncing tribal uprisings - the standard form of Afghan warfare - without foreign > intervention. Otherwise, he warned, the Northern Alliance would take over and > bring in the Russians. He pleaded with Washington for restraint, > but to no avail. Haq was captured by the Taliban during a bungled CIA > operation and hanged. > > But Haq was right. U.S. forces could have hunted bin Laden in southern > Afghanistan with relative impunity, as they are now doing, without having to > launch a total war against the Taliban. U.S. air power totally dominates > barren Afghanistan. Taliban forces could not move or communicate. There were > only a small number of Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan where bin > Laden was hiding. > > Bombing Afghan civilian centres was absolutely unnecessary. The only real > military targets offered by the Taliban were its entrenched troops facing the > Alliance. It was remarkable the Taliban managed to withstand five wee > ks of carpet bombing by U.S. B-52s - particularly, as one Pakistani writer > wryly noted, after his nation gave in to the U.S. after only a threatening > phone call from Washington. > > The U.S. could have hunted bin Laden without allowing the Russians to > recapture half of Afghanistan, a severe geopolitical defeat for American > ambitions to use that nation as a gateway to Central Asian oil and gas. And wi > thout blasting to rubble what little remained of demolished Afghanistan, and > without driving 160,000 civilians into terrified flight. > > So, after eight weeks of war, the Taliban is out, the communists are in power > in Kabul and the south is in chaos. The war has cost Washington US$60 billion > to date. Afghanistan is a bloody mess. And Vladimir Putin is smil > ing. > > Copyright � 2001, Canoe Limited Partnership > > ### > Share This Article With Your Friends > > > > FAIR USE NOTICE > > > > This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been > specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material > available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, > political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice > issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted > material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. I > n accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is > distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in > receiving the included information for research and educational purpos > es. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/ > uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site > for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission > from t > he copyright owner. > > > > > > Common Dreams NewsCenter > A non-profit news service providing breaking news & views for the > progressive community. > Home | Newswire | About Us | Donate | Sign-Up > > � Copyrighted 1997-2001 www.commondreams.org A 'Cookie-Free' Website > End<{{{ > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material > is distributed without charge or profit to those who have > expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information > for non-profit research and educational purposes only. > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking > new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. 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Do > not > believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. > Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it > agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. > Then accept it and live up to it." > The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled > one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, > German Writer (1759-1805) > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that > prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart > information and ideas through any media and regardless > of frontiers." > Universal Declaration of Human Rights > + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + > "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. 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