Karzai's Brother Gets Clipped

[Dino Velvet]

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/12/official-afghan-presidents-brother-killed/

[hippifried]

It's just a thing. Doesn't bother me one way or the other. Everybody's sick of being ruled, & the more the dictatorships are groomed for evolution into monarchies, the more pissed off everybody gets. This is what the "Arab spring" has been all about. The clown in Tunesia got booted because he was grooming his son to take over. Mubarak got booted because he was grooming his son to take over. Assad & Gaddafi are in the process of being booted for the same reason. Monarchy is passe, even in the ME & central Asia. There's still an Iranian bounty on the Pahlavi family, who's in exile. We still recognize Reeza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran, & titular head of state. The Karzais saw an opportunity, & have been trying to set themselves up in a familial power structure, controlling all of Afghanistan, despite the king who's quietly been sitting on the throne there since the invasion in '01. Everybody's tired of being told that they're inferior & too stupid to make their own decisions, & need to be ruled (as opposed to governed). There's more Karzais in power positions. I won't be the least bit surprized if they keep getting picked off until they're all run off or dead.

[russtafa]

they are all so corrupt over there

[hippifried]

Over there? As opposed to where?

[russtafa]

Over there? As opposed to where?

not here.Our Labor government in Australia try hard to meet international standards but indians ,pakis are only good at driving taxis or working at supermarkets or cleaning shoes or cleaning toilets

[russtafa]

sorry had to many beers

[trish]

I believe you've got some top of the line Indian and Pakistani physicists, mathematicians and engineers too.

[russtafa]

are they any good at cleaning toilets?

[trish]

Every bit as good as you or anyone else.

[onmyknees]

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/12/official-afghan-presidents-brother-killed/


Fuck him and his brother and the camels they rode in on. Both of them have enriched themselves at the expense of the US taxpayer while american boys continue to leave thier legs and arms scattered on Afghan soil compliments of IED's. Time to cut the fucking cord and
let these fuckers fend for themselves. I'm tired of visiting friends at VA hospitals and seeing the sheets lay flat on mattress because they're minus both legs. 10 years after the last marine steps foot on the last plane outta this shithole, they'll still be blowin' each other up. My advice to them....want to save your country...?? better step up cause we're steppin' out, and not soon enough for me.

[russtafa]

why should we defend these rag heads cant they defend themselves .most of the useless wankers want to come here and sponge of the taxpayer and then demand that we give their useless religion more rights

[runningdownthatdream]

Fuck him and his brother and the camels they rode in on. Both of them have enriched themselves at the expense of the US taxpayer while american boys continue to leave thier legs and arms scattered on Afghan soil compliments of IED's. Time to cut the fucking cord and
let these fuckers fend for themselves. I'm tired of visiting friends at VA hospitals and seeing the sheets lay flat on mattress because they're minus both legs. 10 years after the last marine steps foot on the last plane outta this shithole, they'll still be blowin' each other up. My advice to them....want to save your country...?? better step up cause we're steppin' out, and not soon enough for me.

Your government is in Afghanistan solely for the benefit of American interests - do you really fucking believe the Afghans want or need your help!? Read some history and you'll find out they've been doing quite alright defending themselves for centuries. Only an idiot would believe American troops are in Afghanistan to defend Afghans.

[trish]

Only an idiot would believe American troops are in Afghanistan to defend Afghans. Well that says it all, doesn't it? W tells us we're liberating those people and his constituents eat it up without question. Now that Obama inherited the mess, they still believe we're there to liberate the Afghans, but that's no longer a good enough reason to sacrifice American lives. Idiots!!
Personally I was never for going into Afghanistan. let alone Iraq. It never was worth the sacrifice in American lives, or anyone else's life for that matter. Anyone could see it was going to be a Tar Baby...anyone but W, Cheney and Rummy.

[runningdownthatdream]

Well that says it all, doesn't it? W tells us we're liberating those people and his constituents eat it up without question. Now that Obama inherited the mess, they still believe we're there to liberate the Afghans, but that's no longer a good enough reason to sacrifice American lives. Idiots!!
Personally I was never for going into Afghanistan. let alone Iraq. It never was worth the sacrifice in American lives, or anyone else's life for that matter. Anyone could see it was going to be a Tar Baby...anyone but W, Cheney and Rummy.

It's no longer a good enough reason because it's Obama whose president now and not some John Wayne great white hope character.

Idiots indeed when masses of people believe their country is going to this war and that war to 'save' the inhabitants of the country. Where was America during the genocide in Rwanda, the genocide is Sudan, the horror of apartheid in S.A. and Mozambique and Rhodesia? In those places the people were left to fend for themselves so why not leave Afghanistan and Iraq?

It disgusts me when I see Americans proclaiming their moral superiority and ranting about 'saving' people or 'bringing democracy' to other countries because the real motivation is just so far from the truth.

[Stavros]

Idiots indeed when masses of people believe their country is going to this war and that war to 'save' the inhabitants of the country.

The original purpose in 2001 was to attack al-Qaeda, and make it clear to Afghanistan that by giving them safe haven, the Taliban govt also bore some responsibility for what happened. Having knocked out the Taliban and routed al-Qaeda (which split after 2001 anyway), the warlords (I almost said the timelords) of Afghanistan re-ignited their perpetual squabble for the spoils -unfortunately, when the NATO alliance got sucked back in, it was to serve the interests of the Afghan middle classes -the ones who speak English, wear suits and drink booze in private -the majority of Afghans live in villages and are as hostile to foreigners today as they were when the British rode in to impose their will upon them in 1839. Revolutions from above do not work, and you don't need to read Engels to get it. The staggering cost of this fatal exercise in hubris for the Americans alone is beyond calculation, given that in addition to the $7bn a month for the military exercise, there is the cost of dealing with the fallout from the heroin trade that feeds addicts in the USA and elswhere, the cost of attempting to rehabilitate wounded service personnel, the cost of dealing with the ones who return psychologically disturbed and whatever else they bring back.

For the Afghans in the loop, like their 'brothers' in Pakistan, war is good business, and they will do what they can to keep the $$$ flowing..Ahmed Wali Karzai used to run a restaurant called the Helmand, 3201 Halsted St, not just in Chicago, but just south of a district called Boystown, some things you cant make up however hard you try. So he was known as the King of Kandahar, but don't be fooled by the mustache, he might have been the Queen...Kandahar after all, is also known in those parts as Boystown*...this was never a joke, just a very very costly mistake.

*Google Kandahar + catamites and you'll understand...

[russtafa]

God knows why America or its allies want any thing to do with half these shit holes they send their troops into to die or get their legs or arms blown off

[trish]

No, He doesn't know.

[russtafa]

and i don't either it must be madness

[beandip]

It's a resource war. Heroin and Natural Gas. We're there protecting both.

Remember the Taliban? Remember they virtually STOPPED all poppy production? Now the spice is flowing once again. Poppy production is now at an all time high.

Karzai is "our guy", but he's playing both sides of the game. This was a little reminder for him. Don't forget we installed him and he's a board member of Unicol

[Stavros]

Afghanistan's principal mineral resources, gas and coal, are in the north of the country; Unocal has been just one of many corporations (including Exxon and Chevron) keen to add Afghanistan to portfolios in neighbouring Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The Taliban had options before 2001 to put economics before politics, but as happens when militants put 'politics in command', backwardness follows. Russian built gas pipelines were sabotaged, the Taliban failed to get rid of al-Qaeda, the Warlords all wanted their cut, and the physical infrastructure as well as security provisions are currently so poor no real development can take place. Yes, Afghanistan has the foundations of some national wealth, and there is no reason why heroin cannot be grown legally for medicinal purposes. There are solutions for all these issues, but politics in Afghanistan is poisonous, corrupt and unlikely to serve the interests of the mass of people in that country in the short term. An additional fear, if you want to see it in terms of the 'Great Game' is that if NATO withdraws unconditionally, the Russians and the Chinese will compete (co-operate?) to develop the resources, not the western firms; India is a possibility but India doesn't really have the depth of experience in gas that China now has.

[arnie666]

I don't believe either iraq or afghanistan was worth a single US or British soldiers life. I didn't believe it then and I still don't now. I have never liked Obama , to me I saw a Black tony Blair but I did have a bit of hope he might take the brave decision to pull the US troops out and by extension the Brits would leave as well.

I hoped I was wrong about him,but sadly I was not only right but he is worse than I ever expected. We don't know the ins and outs of what happened to Bin laden or what the situation on the ground was, only heresay,but to me if we gave nazi war criminals a trial before hanging them, he deserved one was well. Maybe not in the hague but some state in the US with the death penalty.

To me allegedly killing him and then chucking his body in the sea is the actions of gangsters,but then Obama and his administration have been likened to gangsters in their domestic politics so should we be surprised?

Not all conservatives were for those wars, certainly not the occupation and 'nation building' that went on. To me, after 9/11 the focus should have been on bringing those involved to justice and perhaps punishing any country given them sanctuary, to show others what would happen . But instead we got some rooting tooting neo conservative as president and some grinning I would say slightly insane british prime minister with evangelical ideas who enabled him.

Then afterwards the US gets some trickster preaching 'hope' and 'change' ,doing very public apology tours around the world but not being brave enough to be truly radical. Or perhaps it was all just one big con . And that is not even talking about him digging the hole Bush left even deeper economically. Us Brits get a floppy haired limp wristed neo liberal in conservative clothing who also seems more than happy to lick US arrse.

Pathetic, our leaders are pathetic.

[beandip]

US troops are also protecting a Chinese railroad line there too.

Resources.....all about resources and who cuts up the pie. Sold to brainless Americans as a War on Terror by mainstream media who are bought and paid for.

[Stavros]

Look, I think all of us want Afghanistan to be stable, to develop its natural resources, to provide a secure environment in which people can live, work, be educated and enjoy life free from fear.

Is it crucial for the US-France-Britain-Germany to be involved in the Afghan economy? No.
If western energy companies are not involved will this be a disaster for Europe and America? No.
Does it matter if China and Russia become the primary developers and markets for Afghan gas -No.
The largest onshore oilfield in the western hemisphere is in the USA; the largest offshore oil field in the western hemisphere is in the USA; the largest undeveloped gas resources in the western hemisphere are in the USA -yes, the USA needs to augment domestic supplies with imports from Canada, Trinidad, Venezuela and the Middle East, and yes, over the next 50 years the volume of oil and gas needed globally to meet existing demands will decline, but the USA is sitting on undeveloped resources; and Afghanistan is not the key to survival, even the highest estimate of its gas reserves would serve the UK for but 2 years.

The resource argument makes no sense; and what's worse, Afghan and Pakistani elites have got used to their $$$$ handouts, they can't live without it -and Americans, in my humble opinion, don't need to live with it. Pakistan and Afghanistan are dwarfed by Russia, China and India, they have to get used to the fact that they are small states, and Pakistan must decommission its nuclear weapons and hand them over to a UN body to be disposed of. Facts not welcome in Pakistan, but how else are we -or they- going to move forward?

[beandip]

So let the fukken "corporations" go in there and fund private armies...... like the original "Rollerball" movie in the 70's, ok?

Fuck luring disadvantaged young folks into the service on college grant hooks.... to risk life and limb for corporate gain.

At least this way i can support the war....or NOT by buying the product.