Community | November 12, 2009 | 25 comments

How the US Funds the Taliban

source: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston

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Vierotchka
Excerpt:

"Welcome to the wartime contracting bazaar in Afghanistan. It is a virtual carnival of improbable characters and shady connections, with former CIA officials and ex-military officers joining hands with former Taliban and mujahedeen to collect US government funds in the name of the war effort."
  1. groups:
    Community,   Current Tonight,   Afghanistan News
  2. tags:
    News and Politics,  War,  Afghanistan,  Corruption,  3 more
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25 comments // How the US Funds the Taliban

  • Roseann_Schutz
    • 0
      Roseann_Schutz  

    • We need to bring our troops home! We have more to fear from a "privatized military" than giving up our ideas of nation building in Afghanistan! End the funding for private contractors. If we don't have enough volunteers to fight for oil than it's time to green our economy for the sake of national security! We need a green public works program, not war!

    • 2 years ago
  • ras_menelik
  • ras_menelik
  • samthesixth
  • JonRaymond
  • Vierotchka
  • samthesixth
  • royulery
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  
    • royulery:

      That's an absurd and loaded question because there's no way that is possible. If you though phoning your Congressman every day and demanded that he or she stop the war, would you do it? That would be a much more viable option.

      Afghanistan does not provide the U.S. with critical oil supply. It's not like if we don't own Afghanistan that we will lose our cars or our gas supply. The day things get that bad is the day they'll make electric cars. Oh gee, Guess what? They make electric cars.

      If you thought switching to an electric car would save American lives, would you?

    • 2 years ago
  • JonRaymond
  • cynker
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  

    • U.S. Funds Terrorism in Mob Ruled Afghanistan
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paL4dzxyUrM...
      Filmmaker Robert Greenwald explains and confirms a news report from The Nation that found Afghanistan is run by the Taliban mob and not it's government. This brings into question the legitimacy and morality of sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops to put their lives on the line for a government so corrupt that we have to pay the enemy off. We actually fund the Taliban.

      Meanwhile the U.S. is not welcome in Afghanistan. As Greenwald puts it, imagine how you'd feel if you were occupied by a foreign force that came around breaking down your doors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paL4dzxyUrM&feature=player_embedded

      The Nation's Anran Roston reports (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston):

      Understanding how this situation came to pass requires untangling two threads. The first is the insider dealing that determines who wins and who loses in Afghan business, and the second is the troubling mechanism by which "private security" ensures that the US supply convoys traveling these ancient trade routes aren't ambushed by insurgents.

      NCL Holdings is a licensed security company in Afghanistan with its chief principal, Hamed Wardak the young American son of Afghanistan's current defense minister, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, who was a leader of the Mujahedeen against the Soviets. They have a $2.2 billion contract (10% of Afghanistan;s GDP) for the U.S. military's six trucking contracts that supply EVERYTHING to our troops.

      Roston reports:

      The real secret to trucking in Afghanistan is ensuring security on the perilous roads, controlled by warlords, tribal militias, insurgents and Taliban commanders. The American executive I talked to was fairly specific about it: "The Army is basically paying the Taliban not to shoot at them. It is Department of Defense money." That is something everyone seems to agree on.

      Trucking manager Mike Hanna explains, "You are paying the people in the local areas--some are warlords, some are politicians in the police force--to move your trucks through."

      "We're basically being extorted. Where you don't pay, you're going to get attacked. We just have our field guys go down there, and they pay off who they need to." Sometimes, he says, the extortion fee is high, and sometimes it is low. "Moving ten trucks, it is probably $800 per truck to move through an area. It's based on the number of trucks and what you're carrying. If you have fuel trucks, they are going to charge you more. If you have dry trucks, they're not going to charge you as much. If you are carrying MRAPs or Humvees, they are going to charge you more."

      The truckers are banned from carrying any heavy artillery to guard against killing innocent civilians (a big liability there for the U.S.), which means they are subject to hits by the Taliban. What this means is that the insurgents (the Taliban) are being paid off by the U.S. government to not attack the trucks.

      Hanna says it is just a necessary evil. "If you tell me not to pay these insurgents in this area, the chances of my trucks getting attacked increase exponentially."

      This is Afghanistan's version of Blackwater. One of the six U.S. trucking companies, Four Horsemen International, has opted to fight their way through instead of paying off the Taliban and they have "paid the price in lives, with horrendous casualties....," attacked on virtually every mission.
      _________________________________________________________________
      The Daily News reports:

      The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, a former military commander there, has expressed deep concern to Washington about sending more U.S. troops, the Washington Post and The New York Times reported on Thursday.

      Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/11/12/2009-11-12_reports_us_envoy_to_....

      On Greenwald's ReThink Afghanistan website (http://rethinkafghanistan.com/) a video of U.S. combat veterans asking Obama not to send any more troops

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • galwayman
    • 0
      galwayman  

    • Interesting and I thought americans use of its poppy crop was the only way the taliban was supported by the us! we need to get out of afganistan now just pull out and go home.this whole country is as crooked as a 3 dollar bill and its leader and his family are bandits anyway! we did create the taliban,we supported them during their war with the russians,armed and trained them,and now we are paying the price! am hoping that Obama,by rejecting all four tactical options presented by the military,am hoping he will announce a complete withdrawl.the only way to resolve our economy is to put all that war money into creating jobs,housing,and educational oppotunities here at home! TO HELL WITH THEM LET EM KILL EACH OTHER!

    • 2 years ago
  • LadybugLady
    • 0
      LadybugLady [removed]  
    • galwayman:

      we should let them fend for themselves but then how can America have control of the goverment of Afganistan. We picked that tyrent If we just leave them alone the US will have no say to the pipline we need. See it's all about power and OIL. our men and women are dying because of this sick needs for power and oil. The goverment doesn't give a rats ass about who dies over there. They don't give a Fuck.

    • 2 years ago
  • FishaHouse777
  • JohnA
  • Saladin
    • 0
      Saladin  
    • FishaHouse777:

      No we didn't, the U.S. spawned the Mujahideen. The Taliban were a response to their civil war and barbarism, we had nothing to do with them.

      The AK's they use were all weapons the Mujahideen used against the Russians.

      That's strictly historical.

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  

    • Every time you buy somthing from pakastan you are supporting the bad guys. Every time we put gas in our cars we are supporting the tallyban and yes this is still a war about oil rights and a big ass pipeline to move it. Just what are we going to do about it?? I did what I could do when I Voted for Mr. Obama.

    • 2 years ago
  • cynker
    • 0
      cynker  
    • bailey78:

      obama is no better than bush - he is a fake. have you seen his handling of the g20 pittsburgh protests? there is no such thing as bad guys for fucks sake! that image of good vs evil is bombarded into your brain by film, news, and tv. if anything the west are the bad guys!

    • 2 years ago
  • bailey78
  • vladbox
    • 0
      vladbox  

    • Viero you dont understand: Its all for Freedom, Democracy and the spread of prosperity and good old Christian values.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • JonRaymond
  • LadybugLady
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