In Afghan war, official corruption is a bigger threat than the Taliban

[unhappycamper]

In Afghan war, official corruption is a bigger threat than the Taliban
By Julius Cavendish | Christian Science Monitor
Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Over the past month in Kandahar City, Taliban death squads have killed dozens of people in drive-by shootings. Yet many people in this southern Afghan city say the insurgents are the least of their worries.

Far more pernicious, they say, is the murky nexus of warlords and corrupt government officials whose rule some compare to that of mob bosses.

Kandahar City and the surrounding province of the same name are the targets of the next big U.S. and allied offensive against the Taliban and their allies. The area is home to an estimated 800,000 city residents and several hundred thousand more in the surrounding area, and an influential hub of southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the insurgency is concentrated.

The city is "the cultural, spiritual, historical, political, religious center of gravity in the Pashtun belt," said Army Brig. Gen. Ben Hodges, referring to the south and east of the country where the Pashtun ethnic group mostly resides.

The fear and corruption the corrupt officials and warlords perpetuate, however, undermines the U.S.-led efforts to build a stable government and helps the Taliban win support, said Afghan and NATO officials, private citizens, analysts and local journalists. The trend echoes a pattern from the 1990s, when violence among competing warlords gave rise to the Taliban and their brutal ways of imposing law and order.


Rest of article at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/12/92007/in-afghan-war-official-corruption.html

[whyverne]

1. In America, official corruption is a bigger threat than the Taliban!

But according to the other side, it's un-American to say so.

[polichick]

2. +1

[ixion]

3. War, Inc. If you haven't seen it, watch it

[NJmaverick]

4. I have seen this article posted twice and neither posting

bothered to bold this part

Over the past month in Kandahar City, Taliban death squads have killed dozens of people in drive-by shootings.

These are the people that will take over if we leave

[unhappycamper]

5. As far as death in Afghanistan goes, Afghans have two choices:

1. Get killed by Taliban fighters.
2. Get killed by foreign forces.

[NJmaverick]

6. There is a huge difference

only one of those groups is deliberately targeting civilians. Which might explain why the Taliban is responsible for over 3/4 of the civilian deaths.

[unhappycamper]

7. Hmmmm.

Lookit. Afghans dying because Afghans and Pakistanis are killing them. As well as foreigners. And in this case, we are the foreigners.

Question: Have you spent any time in a war zone getting shot at?

[frylock]

8. *crickets*

i have that poster on ignore, but can venture a guess as to who it is based on your responses:

[unhappycamper]

18. Calling NJmaverick

Please answer the question. Thanks.

[bigtree]

12. cooperating with the foreign forces

. . . is getting Afghans killed by the Taliban.

[walldude]

13. Yeah and you neglected to bold this part:

Yet many people in this southern Afghan city say the insurgents are the least of their worries.

But I'm sure you know what's better for them then they do.

[Dank Nugs]

17. Fine.

Why should the US taxpayers pay for the policing of another nation? The military is to be used only to defend OUR borders. Not theirs. If they want US protection, they can apply for statehood or pay the bill. The last I checked, Afghanistan was not part of the United States and as such, does not fall under its jurisdiction. That is the province of the UN. Contrary to popular belief, we do not have the right to infringe upon the sovereignty of another nation. If their government cannot adequately control its borders, that's their problem and it's up to the UN. Not the United States. Any State that needs assistance should go to the UN. If they want US to police them, they can apply for statehood. Otherwise, don't ask.

We have enough problems here at home that need to be addressed.

[frylock]

9. knr

[bigtree]

10. tribal society

. . . not going to be easily replaced by a scattershot of influences from the U.S.-enabled Afghan central government. Probably never will be . . .

[Echo In Light]

11. k/r ... given reality, the defenders & trivializers sure have their work cut out

[robdogbucky]

14. Among several other things

"...Though we don’t expect anything different from the most corrupt and dirty puppet regime of the world, the pain of Afghan women turns chronic when the world believes that the US and NATO has donated liberation, democracy and human and women rights for Afghanistan; whereas, after eight years of the US and allies’ aggression under the banner of “war on terror”, they empowered the most brutal terrorists of the Northern Alliance and the former Russian puppets – the Khalqis and Parchamis – and by relying on them, the US imposed a puppet government on Afghan people. And instead of uprooting its Taliban and Al-Qaeda creations, the US and NATO continues to kill our innocent and poor civilians, mostly women and children, in their vicious air raids..."

From Statement of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) on the International Women’s Day, March 8, 2010
http://www.rawa.org/index.php


"...Instead of uprooting its Taliban and Al-Qaeda creations, the US and NATO continues to kill our innocent and poor civilians, mostly women and children..."


I prefer to believe the Afghan women's point of view than to read Foggy Bottom's current propaganda for their latest campaign of terror and lies.




Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[amborin]

15. K&R

[jeanpalmer]

16. Invading a city of a million people

what a crazy idea. They found out in Marja that it's almost impossible to distinguish the Taliban from the people. "...Marja, where the Taliban seem to know everything — and most of the time it is impossible to even tell who they are." And where "the Taliban have 'reseized control and the momentum in a lot of ways.'" Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson: “Most people here identify themselves as Taliban.” Kandahar = that problem x10. No one will ever drive the Taliban out of Kandahar. It's a fool's errand.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/world/asia/04marja.html?hp