This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Russia's Mid-East Takeover Continues As Afghanistan Requests Military Assistance From Moscow

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Earlier this month, in what amounted to a dramatic shift in strategy, the Obama administration announced that the US would not be pulling all of its troops out of Afghanistan after all. Under Obama’s previous plan, Washington would withdraw most of the 9,800 troops operating in the country by the end of next year, leaving a force of just 1,000. Now, all 9,800 troops will remain for “most” of next year and 5,500 troops will remain in 2017.

The apparent change of heart comes as some “experts” remain concerned about the security situation amid recent territorial gains by the Taliban. According to the United Nations, insurgents now control more territory than at any other time since 2001 (so... “mission accomplished”?).

(Taliban presence in Afghanistan via NY Times)


Ultimately, the move is symptomatic of what tends to happen when world powers get the bright idea to intervene in Mid-East affairs. It almost always goes awry in one way or another and by the time everyone comes to their senses a decade has gone by and no one can remember what the “plan” was in the first place. The White House contends that this same dynamic will eventually plague Russia’s involvement in Syria and while that’s certainly possible, it’s worth noting that using Hezbollah and Shiite militias to fight the ground war decreases the odds of Moscow getting mired in asymmetric warfare with an enemy they don’t fully understand. 

As we said when Obama announced that nearly 10,000 US troops would not in fact be coming home from Afghanistan, the timing of the strategy shift seems terribly convenient. That is, one certainly wonders if the move to keep a US troop presence in the Mid-East has something to do with Russia and Iran’s stepped up role in Syria. Furthermore, it seems entirely possible that Washington is anticipating a Russian push into Iraq and so the Pentagon wants to ensure that at the very least, there are American troops in close proximity. 

To be sure, this entire story is riddled with irony and all sides have exhibited a penchant for Einsteinian insantiy.

Recall that the Russians also got bogged down in Afghanistan in the Soviet-Afghan war during which Washington backed the fighters who would eventually become al-Qaeda. Now, Washington’s regional allies are providing support to al-Qaeda in Syria (via al-Nusra), and the Sunni extremists fighting for control of the country have declared a jihad against Moscow. So essentially, this is just a rerun of what happened in the 80s, only this time it’s going on in Syria.

Meanwhile, the US is still hanging around in the very same Afghanistan where the Russians fought in the 80s and the whole reason Washington is there in the first place is because the very same al-Qaeda who America supported in the Soviet-Afghan war ended up flying 747s into American buildings a decade later. And because the US never, ever learns anything when it comes to foreign policy, the Pentagon and CIA are now indirectly supporting al-Qaeda in Syria. 

For better or worse, The Kremlin has apparently decided to try its hand at cleaning this mess up once and for all, and as we noted in “Russia Takes Over The Mid-East: Moscow Gets Green Light For Strikes In Iraq, Sets Up Alliance With Jordan,” Moscow looks set to effectively underwrite the expansion of Iranian regional influence on the way to establishing a presence in Syria, Iraq, and even Sunni Jordan.

That marks a disastrous turn of events for Washington who’s now been effectively kicked out of the playground that the US has sought to control for decades. 

Now, in what might fairly be described as the final insult in a list that recently includes Iraq greenlighting Russian airstrikes just days after PM Haider al-Abadi promised Gen. Joseph Dunford that Baghdad wouldn't request direct military intervention from Moscow, Afghanistan has asked for assistance from The Kremlin. Here’s WSJ with more:

Afghanistan, battered by worsening security, is reaching out to an old ally and patron—Russia—just as the Kremlin is seeking to reassert its position as a heavyweight on the world stage.

 

President Ashraf Ghani has asked Moscow for artillery, small arms and Mi-35 helicopter gunships for his country’s struggling military, Afghan and Russian officials say, after the U.S. and its allies pulled most of their troops from Afghanistan and reduced financial aid.

 

The outreach has created another opening for the Kremlin, stepping up the potential for confrontation with Washington. East-West relations are already strained over such issues as Ukraine and Middle Eastern policy.

“Russia is seizing the opportunity,” a U.S. official said.

 

The Kremlin’s muscular new foreign policy has raised hopes among Afghan politicians that Russia will come back to their country as a friendlier ally in the wake of the Western drawdown, which has seen the U.S. troop level drop to about 10,000 this year, from a peak of about 100,000 in 2010-11.

 

The last Red Army troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. That war was a national trauma on both sides, ending in defeat for Moscow and the eventual collapse of Afghanistan’s communist government.

 

Because of that history, direct intervention in Afghanistan would be a very hard sell for the Russian public.

 

Alexander Mantytskiy, Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, said his government is considering the Afghan requests for military assistance, which he said have increased this year following the withdrawal of most U.S. and allied North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces.

 

“We will provide some assistance, but it doesn’t mean that any soldier from the Russian Federation will be here on Afghan soil,” he said. “Why should we carry the burden of a problem that was not solved by the Americans and NATO countries?”

Well, that's a good question, but one could also ask it vis-a-vis Syria, and the answer (for Putin anyway), seems to be this: "because by acting decisively to accomplish what the US and NATO apparently cannot, Russia gets to project its military prowess to the rest of the world and The Kremlin gets to supplant The White House as Mid-East superpower puppet master at a time when relations between Moscow and the West are the worst since the Cold War." Back to WSJ:

Abdul Rashid Dostum, Afghanistan’s first vice president, has been at the forefront of efforts to reach out to Russia directly.

 

An ethnic Uzbek who rose to prominence as a military commander in Afghanistan’s pro-Soviet government, Mr. Dostum met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other defense officials in Moscow this month to discuss possible assistance.

 

“Gen. Dostum wanted Russia to pay attention to the situation in Afghanistan,” said his spokesman, Sultan Faizy, who described Russia’s response to the request as positive. 

So here again we see that US influence is waning in the face of what it is either an abject strategic failure or else a lackluster effort on the part of the Pentagon when it comes to battling extremism (of course dropping bombs on hospitals doesn't do much to help relations either).

Countries in the region are now taking a hard look at what's taking place in Syria and asking whether it might not be better to just have the Russians step in rather than spend another ten years wondering what exactly the US is doing and whether ulterior motives are leading the Pentagon to adopt strategies that aren't necessarily in the best interests of the host country. 

The obvious question now, is whether Russia will be content to supply the Afghan government with weapons or whether the next step after Iraq is a move to eradicate insurgents in Afghanistan. Don't forget, Iran despises the Taliban and not only did Soleimaini help the US locate insurgent targets in Afghanistan after 9/11, the General actually spent years fighting the group personally in the 90s. 

Needless to say, if the Russians and Iranians end up in Afghanistan, the stakes will be even higher than they are in Syria because unlike Syria, there's a sizeable contingent of US ground troops operating at Kandahar and elsewhere. 

We'll close with the following rather ominous quote from Ramzan Kadyrov, the pro-Kremlin leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic:

"Kabul needs the support of Russia, just like Syria."

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:48 | 6712115 XAU XAG
XAU XAG's picture

Ah Oh

 

Kabul = KABOOM

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:56 | 6712170 TahoeBilly2012
TahoeBilly2012's picture

Putin annihilates ISIS in a few weeks but US can't handle Taliban in 15 years....okay

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:06 | 6712215 OrangeJews
OrangeJews's picture

But... but... NBC or whatever is doing a show on the U.S. bombing ISIS!  Look!  With your special eyes!  It has to be true... It just has to!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:09 | 6712231 Took Red Pill
Took Red Pill's picture

This is a good article on NEO about what’s really going in the Middle East and why.

 

“Recent discovery of huge volumes of oil in the Golan Heights by an oil company whose board includes Dick Cheney, ex-CIA head James Woolsey, Jacob Lord Rothschild, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, business partner of one of Vladimir Putin’s most bitter critics, bring the stakes of the Russian intervention in Syria against ISIS, to a new geopolitical dimension. The US coup in Ukraine and its financing and training of ISIS all have one prime target–Russia.”

 

http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/26/genies-and-genocide-syria-israel-russia-and-much-oil-2/

 

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:23 | 6712302 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

The above mentioned dirty fucks are the latest in a long line of rapacious capitalists who are trying to dismember and destroy Russia for profit and world control.   

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:32 | 6712337 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture
Afghanistan Requests Military Assistance From Moscow

You have now entered the Twilight Zone

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:39 | 6712377 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

Washington must be refusing to bomb any more hospitals.  At least until the heat is off.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:45 | 6712401 Pure Evil
Pure Evil's picture

But, just think of the profit to be made.

The Russians now supply our former allies in Afghanistan and we now supply the Taliban to fight our new enemies the new allies of the Russians.

Our enemy is Al K-duh but our friend in Syria.

Look at it this way.

Whomever needs weapons no matter the affiliation we'll do our best to fulfill their needs.

Man, we can keep this War on Terror going for a 100 years.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:01 | 6712496 JohninMK
JohninMK's picture

Talking about profits, don't forget the rare earth minerals, lithium etc, that are supposed to be there in huge quantities, let alone the heroin crop that someone is making loads from. Or the potential north/south pipeline route that many US bases seem to be aligned on.

Also, Russia has a finite capacity for making military gear, much of which is fully loaded for the next couple of years. So not much money to be made for a while unless they sub-contract to Iran that seems to have such an embryo industry.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 18:28 | 6714077 Majestic12
Majestic12's picture

Afghanistan = Opium Wars 2.0

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:44 | 6712407 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

rapacious capitalists

 

Capitalism has nothing to do with exploiting government for financial gain which is Cheney's prefered method of accruing wealth. He and his cohorts would be better described as fascists rather than capitalists.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:02 | 6712497 balanced
balanced's picture

If you actually believe that Capitalism and Fascism can be separated in the real world then you simply aren't paying attention. To those who will inevitably down vote me, I challenge you to name A SINGLE country in the entire world in which Capitalism flourishes without Fascism (or full-on Communism).

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:03 | 6712737 Dicey
Dicey's picture

Iceland

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:30 | 6713530 Macon Richardson
Macon Richardson's picture

The inherent instability of capitalism (boom and bust) inevitably leads to fascism (dictatorship from above) or to communism (dictatorship from below). Basic Karl Polanyi stuff! Thank you Balanced for noting that.

I grow weary reading ZH commentor who view capitalism as a magical formula for success. It is not that! Capitalism is a philosophy of 'ME FIRST!", hardly a philosophy to build a civilization on. But to misquote Winston Churchill, "Capitalism is the best of a bunch of really bad economic/cultural options."

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 21:36 | 6714921 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

I challenge you to name A SINGLE country in the entire world in which Capitalism flourishes without Fascism (or full-on Communism).

What does that even mean? There is theft in every country by criminals high and low. That doesn't change the fact that the rest of us have to earn a living. It's not as if the theft of my money makes my desire to feed my family a bad thing.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 21:43 | 6714943 bunnyswanson
bunnyswanson's picture

Canada

"Canada is now the first country in the world to require that for every new regulation introduced one of equivalent burden must be removed"

By on April 23, 2015

http://www.againstcronycapitalism.org/2015/04/canada-is-now-the-first-co...

Cronyism is destroying what capitalism is meant to be - A chance for everyone to capitalize on their skills in a free and open market.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:58 | 6712481 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

I think you need to look up the definition of capitalists because you are using it incorrectly.  Capitalists practice capitalism.  Capitalism doesn't in any way resemble the system these thugs are running.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:13 | 6712548 emersonreturn
emersonreturn's picture

great link, redpill, thank you.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:29 | 6712865 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

Awesome link.  Sharing with friends.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:06 | 6712219 Flagit
Flagit's picture

 

If you have a problem... if no one else can help... and if you can find them... maybe you can hire... The V-Team.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:41 | 6712392 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Putin annihilates ISIS in a few weeks but US can't handle Taliban in 15 year

 

ISIS is composed of foreign fighters sent to Syria by "the West, the Gulf States and Turkey," whereas "Taliban" is often used as a name for any of the Pashtun who are a large native tribal group in Afghanistan.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:25 | 6712594 johnnymustardseed
johnnymustardseed's picture

Russia spent ten years fighting in Afghanistan and left because Ronald "Raygun" sent stinger missles to the Mujahadeen to shoot down thier planes an helicopters. Another foreign policy blunder 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:20 | 6712574 emersonreturn
emersonreturn's picture

russia needn't go in, it can supply arms while iran's qud does the rest.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:45 | 6712117 SuperRay
SuperRay's picture

"This will not stand!" Proclaims Raytheon CEO!!!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 18:13 | 6713985 conscious being
conscious being's picture

This is bull shite - "al-Qaeda ... ended up flying 747s into American buildings a decade later."

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 18:08 | 6718639 Nassim
Nassim's picture

757's and 767's are not the same thing as 747's

In any case, we all should know by now that it was a false-flag event. Any role that al-Qaeda may have had in it (totally unproven) was minimal. The Israelis were behind it:

9-11/Israel did it

https://wikispooks.com/wiki/9-11/Israel_did_it

BTW, an Israeli general has been captured at an ISIS HQ in Syria - another fake operation.

Israeli General Captured in Iraq Confesses to Israel-Isis Coalition

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/10/21/breaking-story-israeli-general-c...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:48 | 6712127 Quinvarius
Quinvarius's picture

I didn't think the transistion away from Obama and his mishandling of US foreign policy would be like a thunderclap.  I doubt Russia goes into Afghanistan beyond selling arms though.  It is better to watch Obama flail or flee there.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:49 | 6712140 BandGap
BandGap's picture

And there are lingering scars in Mother Russia from the war the was the "Soviet's Viet Nam".

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:44 | 6712662 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

Far from vietnam scenario. I guess many westerners only know US msm version of that war.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:49 | 6712144 813kml
813kml's picture

It was nice of them to ask, but Russia won't make the same mistake twice.  Afghanistan is on their own.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:59 | 6712183 Quinvarius
Quinvarius's picture

I can definately imagine Obama suddeny handing out weapons to the enemies of the Afghan state, that he was supporting up to now, just to spite the Russians.  Being Obama's ally is the second worse thing to being Russia's enemy.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:03 | 6712202 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

Kabulistanis are in it for the money. They winessed how $5 billion of the $7 billion given to the Paki military "went missing" so they figure, "Why not me too?!"

 

BTW, I hear quite a few of those Paki military are now living in Canada, the second biggest money laundering country in the world.

 

BTW, where is Bremmer?

The Missing Billions: Ex-Iraq Occupation Chief Paul Bremer

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2007/2/8/the_missing_billions_ex_iraq_occupa...

 

It must be a sweet gig if you can get in on it.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:09 | 6712235 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

You cannot club 3 countries (UK, US, Switzerland) as No 1 and then name Canada as No 2 in money laundering....

That's not fair! :) ;)

By the way, India can also teach the world how to do money laundering....http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/21/bank-of-baroda-investigated-for-near-1-bi...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:32 | 6712336 BarkingCat
BarkingCat's picture

Imagine him trying to pull this crap just a few hundred years ago??
The king of the emperor would have him drawn and quartered.

I feel nostalgic all of a sudden. Can't we bring some of the old ways back?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:48 | 6712429 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

The king of the emperor would have him drawn and quartered.

 

That's nothing compared to what this guy might do:

 

The Man Who Would be King of the Popes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xWQr4VaUA

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:03 | 6712194 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

no, Moscow - or any other imperial seat of power, to be fair - never makes the same mistake twice. then twice is not enough

two small items of evidence: FIVE major Russo-Persian_Wars; TWELVE major Russo-Turkish wars

of course those can't even be counted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Crimean_Wars , and are difficult to categorize

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:50 | 6712682 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

Guess what they defeated their enemies. They even saved your butts from Germany. You owe them.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:46 | 6712416 smacker
smacker's picture

Russia may agree to provide the heavy metal weaponry whilst Iran provides the boots to mop up the Taliban.

That may work (until it doesn't) because Iran hasn't been defeated there yet.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:13 | 6712546 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

Afghanistan started out as a back door to the Soviet Union in the 20's.  Next it was a back door to Iran after '79.  Then it was the back door to keep those pesky Pakistan's nukes out of our living room. 

 

So if you know what's good for you 813, you'll keep an eye on your back door or else a lot of people will be knocking to get in.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:12 | 6713406 813kml
813kml's picture

I live in an igloo, there is no back door.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 21:42 | 6714939 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

How ya gonna get out if yer house catches on fire?  Oh, wait... :>D

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 23:52 | 6719680 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

Hey, that was my line.

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 23:51 | 6719677 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:39 | 6712647 Blankone
Blankone's picture

How do we know this was really asked by the Afghan's to Russia?

It is not yet time to stop being cynical.  The west wants their citizens to believe Russia is taking over the ME, and that this is a threat to their lifestyle.  Just the other day ZH published a story that Iraq was requesting Russia to bomb in Iraq.  But there is no confirmation from elsewhere.

Not long ago there were ZH articles that China was entering the fray and had sailed warships to Syria.  Using DEBKA as a source and nothing else.  Known now to be false.

Now, do we automatically trust the WSJ (or ZH) just because we like the story line? 

Maybe it is true, but be skeptical until you see real confirmation.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:59 | 6713010 slammin_dude
slammin_dude's picture

No shit eh?

The same dumbshit author constantly calls it the "Assad Regime", as opposed to the Syrian Govt....when we going to start called the USSA the "Obama Regime"? I mean he had less popular support than Assad by a long shot...

Also, Alqueda flew jets into the towers? Still selling the bullshit that was obviously an internal operation from day one?

Whatever, i love the planted bullshit stories....sprinkle in a little bit of truth and 95% propaganda and viola...."news"

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 23:56 | 6719689 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

It's okay.  Obama gets a regular shot of penicillin.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:48 | 6712131 Sturm und Drang
Sturm und Drang's picture

It's a trap.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:49 | 6712142 Kaiser Sousa
Kaiser Sousa's picture

"“Why should we carry the burden of a problem that was not solved by the Americans and NATO countries?”

exactly...Hey Vlad dont fall for the "bananna in the tailpipe routine..."

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:49 | 6712143 Mark Mywords
Mark Mywords's picture

Neoliberals will say it's not their fault - it's the fault of actual liberals and the media (one-and-the-same to them) for not falling in line and providing the money and support needed to "win" in Afghanistan.

So, no reason to get all worked up. "The policy was sound - those who opposed it are to blame."

Neoliberals: The buck stops elsewhere.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:03 | 6712207 chunga
chunga's picture

You're making the argument for providing continuous "money and support" to keep the dreaded "vacuum" at bay?

There isn't any "winning" over there and imho everybody would be better off without USSA's Biff Tannen foreign policy meddling.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:44 | 6712405 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

I agree with you Chunga but I also agree that the neo liberals are completely insane.  They will tell you that removing Saddam was the worse thing the US could have ever done and then tell you that removing bin Laden, Guddafi, Assad, and other leaders is the solution to the world's problems.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:28 | 6712610 chunga
chunga's picture

The politicos, after the fact, agree that deposing the last guy was a bad idea but the ones still in the yet to be deposed dept. are good ideas...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:28 | 6712145 Buford T Injustice
Buford T Injustice's picture

Footage of above mentioned mid east takeover -

 

1:17 of first clip, cool flashy thing coming from the wing of the  plane?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23FklwPEk6A

9:40 second clip, watch through till end, WHAT IS THAT FLASHY MUSHROOM CLOUD THING THAT KEEPS ROARING FOR MINUTES?????????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdXMS3Sxlvg

Glad we are out of there.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:50 | 6712150 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

I imagine McShitstain's eyeballs are popping out of his head this morning.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:01 | 6712197 Raymond_K._Hessel
Raymond_K._Hessel's picture

Has no enterprising lad or lass fragged that fossil yet?

 

He is simply determined to get more Americans killed for his masters.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:20 | 6712286 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Does this mean all the heroin/opium fields will be shut down?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:51 | 6712152 spanish inquisition
spanish inquisition's picture

Countries are looking to free themselves in what I will call "ME war to end American Exceptionalism"

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:51 | 6712153 AmericanFUPAcabra
AmericanFUPAcabra's picture

" the same people that would later fly 747s into wtc". What a steamy pile of refuse

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:13 | 6712254 BadDog
BadDog's picture

I know.  This lie simply refuses to die even while people that know better, keep repeating it.  9/11 was and is the biggest psyops ever pulled off in the history of modern day man.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:57 | 6712987 r0mulus
r0mulus's picture

It's sarcasm- the authors are taking potshots at the official government narrative throughout this piece.

Of course it wasn't "just" al-qaida responsible for 9/11- "the network" has been working hand in hand with the CIA and the "five-eyes" (six, counting israel) douche-crew since well before Ronald Reagan was President.

If the sheeple can't recognize the lies of the government narrative, then "truthers" remain the "enemy of the state" instead of the state being recognized as the "enemy of the people". Thus, the authors seek to introduce cognitive dissonance into the heads of any sheeple coming across this article in an effort to free their minds from the NWO-Matrix. If they successfully resolve said cognitive dissonance, they recognize the truth and are freed into a new and probably scary, uncertain world. If not, they shake their heads and say "what a bunch of crazy doom-preppers ZH is!", and go back to saying the pledge of allegiance at their corporate-sponsored sporting events.

Therefore, it'd be good of you to read between the lines, recognize this, and not encourage any sheeples from turning away from the cognitive dissonance prematurely.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 18:18 | 6714023 conscious being
conscious being's picture

You are reaching. ZH doesn't need to propigate the false meme.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 15:34 | 6713127 taoJones
taoJones's picture

the "funny", er, sad thing AF is the US is snookered no matter what prevailing 9/11 narrative is used:

1) entirely Al Qaeda - US looks bad

2) Saudi backed - US looks worse

3) Total ZATO inside job / false flag - US looks despicable

So pick your petard US, and be prepared to be hoisted on it...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:54 | 6712154 Raymond_K._Hessel
Raymond_K._Hessel's picture

The Kagan Institute for the Promotion of War, eh?

This is framed as a defeat only in the eyes of the hyperinterventionists.  We have foolishly accepted their view as normative when it is not.  The view of both neocons and neoliberal chickenhawks is not only un-American, it is myopic, idiotic, and cynical.

What's so funny about non-interventionism, minding our own business, and getting our shit together at home for a while?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:06 | 6712214 Quinvarius
Quinvarius's picture

Have you ever dealt with cultural sterotypes that will demand respect they didn't earn, and do anything at all for respect they don't deserve?  Now look at Obama.  What do you think motivates a compete faiure like that to keep on doubling down?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:53 | 6712156 Smegley Wanxalot
Smegley Wanxalot's picture

Mishin uh-calmplisht.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:52 | 6712158 TAALR Swift
TAALR Swift's picture

Einstein never made that definition of insanity.

FYI, here are the "9 Albert Einstein Quotes That Are Totally Fake"**

** http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/9-albert-einstein-quotes-that-are-totally...

To quote A Pope: "A little learning is a dangerous thing..." (Pope, 'An Essay on Criticism', part 2)

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:59 | 6712190 Raymond_K._Hessel
Raymond_K._Hessel's picture

'Rights aren’t rights if someone can take them away. They’re privileges. That’s all we’ve ever had in this country, is a bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news even badly, you know that every year the list gets shorter and shorter. You see all, sooner or later. Sooner or later, the people in this country are gonna realize the government does not give a fuck about them! The government doesn’t care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare or your safety. It simply does not give a fuck about you! It’s interested in its own power. That’s the only thing. Keeping it and expanding it wherever possible.'  - Curious George Carlin

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:54 | 6712165 Crtrvlt
Crtrvlt's picture

no one can control this area 

this won't end well for Russia (again) either 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:56 | 6712168 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

The Afghan government asking Moscow to come and help? Oh, my... again?

Let me guess: Washington to contact a Saudi gentleman to coordinate and arm the insurgents? What was this guy's name again? Oh, yes: Bin Ladin

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:58 | 6712179 Vilaniousone
Vilaniousone's picture

This is a risky move that Russia is going to use, Military support is somewhat acceptable but only if the airstrikes are as precise as in Syria.

Rebuiiling relations i can vouche for that. however :   

They put boots on the Ground in Afghanistan it is game over for Russia's Foreign policy. Don't repeat the same mistakes  

I can't remember the Quote to word but "Afghanistan is a land that cannot be conquered"

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:17 | 6712267 bonin006
bonin006's picture

Afghanistan is where empires go to die.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:50 | 6712444 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

Only because a true "scorched earth" policy is considered to be morally reprehensible.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:52 | 6712455 dearth vader
dearth vader's picture

It needs not be. Just start droning those poppy fields, systematically and for a number of years, and look who will raise their voice in protest. HSBC? US Congress men?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:27 | 6712600 datura
datura's picture

Russia is not even putting boots on the ground in Syria, why should they do that in Afghanistan? However, they can still supply them with weapons and perhaps also some military training etc. There are always ways to help. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:00 | 6712195 FreeShitter
FreeShitter's picture

Who wants the poppy fields more...........going to be interesting.

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 09:41 | 6713007 Flagit
Flagit's picture

 

I remember reading an article about how Russia was voicing it's displeasure with the US presence in Afghanistan, causing a resurgence in heroin production and much of that product was flowing into Russia.

How is that place suitable for growing anything to begin with?

http://articles.philly.com/1997-01-19/news/25561414_1_poppy-crop-afghan-poppy-opium-poppies

* American engineers and water experts first came to the Helmand River Valley some 50 years ago, hoping to turn it into an Asian Tennessee Valley. The project was the cornerstone of American aid to Afghanistan, then a nonaligned, strategically located country.

It took a vast effort - hundreds of American contractors and advisers, millions of dollars and the best American heavy equipment - to irrigate the valley. Today, in a sprawling supply depot filled with massive Ingersoll cranes, Thompson drilling machines, dozens of earthmovers, and an entire machine-tool shop to fix it all, the remains of that effort form a surreal junkyard several miles outside the American-built city of Lashkar Gah.

Rusted, cannibalized for parts, sometimes almost skeletal, most of the hundreds of pieces of equipment have gone unused for nearly 20 years. A ragtag group of Taliban soldiers - some mere teenagers but all carrying Kalashnikovs - guards the depot's entrance.

The soldiers know that the United States supplied the equipment, and they say they hope the Americans will come back to fix it all. (Taliban leaders are especially eager for the United States to repair the big Westinghouse generators at the Kajaki dam so that it can once again supply power to Kandahar.)

 

 

The silk route of the Afghan poppy

If you compare it with what it was a decade ago, then it looks much worse, and for Russia, more tragic. Since Fall 2001, when the Operation Enduring Freedom began and an international contingent of security forces went into Afghanistan under the UN flag, the production of narcotics there, mainly of the opiate group, has multiplied by a factor of 40.

 

 

The Afghan plague The rising tide of heroin feeds social ills and undermines the state

The Taliban had clamped down on poppy growing with an iron fist, and banned it completely in 2000. Production collapsed from its peak of over 4,500 tonnes in 1999 to 185 tonnes in 2001. However, the ban did not cover trade, and opiates kept on flowing into Central Asia. After the demise of the Taliban, poppies reappeared with a vengeance, in spite of a fresh ban issued by Hamid Karzai's government. According to UN estimates, production increased to 3,400 tonnes in 2002. Afghanistan once again dominates world production of opium, with almost three-quarters of the total.

 

 

Afghanistan and Opium: Russia’s Growing Problem

Who is Most Affected by The Afghan Opium Trade?

Russia is one country that is notoriously affected by the opium trade of Afghanistan. There are over 30,000 youth deaths in Russia every year from opium use.[vii] It leads the world in heroin use and their user’s amount to 2.5 million for a population of 140 million people, which contrasts with China who has the same number of users but with a population level of 1.34 billion people.[viii]  This is an obvious threat to national security as well as a contributing factor in Russia’s ongoing demographic crisis.[ix]

 

 

Kremlin 'Unhappy' With Antidrug Efforts In Afghanistan
Ivanov said the blame for the continued production of opium in Afghanistan and the export of the heroin made from Afghan opium rests on "those who took responsibility for ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan."

 

'Never Again'

Ivanov said Russia has been aiding international efforts to bring stability to Afghanistan. But Ivanov said there is a limit to how much help the international community can expect from Russia,

"We are already helping a lot in ISAF operations in Afghanistan, providing logistic support, transport support, intelligence support -- whatever," he said. "Except one thing: Never again a Russian soldier would enter Afghanistan."

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:02 | 6712204 nowhereman
nowhereman's picture

What gives stories like this away is stuff like this'

"Afghanistan, battered by worsening security, is reaching out to an old ally and patron—Russia—just as the Kremlin is seeking to reassert its position as a heavyweight on the world stage."   

The proposition that the Kremlin is seeking to assert itself is "NATO speak".  Russia has more skin in the game than all  the NATO  allies combined.  These conflicts are at Russia's door step.  

This type of newspeak is quite unnerving when it appears here on ZH.  I know that this is the reporting of information from other sources, but it can get confusing. 

It is important to pay attention.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:03 | 6712206 fowlerja
fowlerja's picture

Putin's message to the Middle East and Afghanistan.. "From Russia with love"...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:07 | 6712222 dumbStruck
dumbStruck's picture

So Dostum who was part of the Soviet puppet goverment in the 80's is at the forefront to get the Russians back into Afghanistan again. What a strange coincidence. It makes one wonder who's idea it might be for Russia to be invited back. That it would be a hard sell to ordinary Russians to return to Afghanistan ... no shit ! Not that ordinary Russians anymore than ordinary Americans would ever be asked by their respective goverments.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:09 | 6712232 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Careful, having a 3-front war (Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan) could become fatal to Russia.

This smells like the updated version of Star Wars, where the true intent was to bleed Russia of its money and morale, by getting bogged down incrementally in Foreign Complications and rising internal debt levels (ever more guns and more butter).

Notice that all these conflicts are being taken TO Russia's borders or direct interests, and that Russia is not returning that favor.

Rx: The real and hired terrorists need to be driven to the frontier or homeland of their sponsors. In the meantime, if they refuse to "Be part of the solution", they and their supply routes must be droned 24/7/365 w/o cessation, exception or mercy. Keep forging coalitions, where the host sovereigns fight on the ground, and you provide air cover (to limit cost and body-bag exposure).

And if things get bad, then simply go to the Gold Standard. Do this with or w/o China and their co-opted Oligarchs, who are busy back-stabbing you and buying US real estate in cash (West Coast, Florida...).

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:40 | 6712386 Buford T Injustice
Buford T Injustice's picture

This middle east whack-a-mole stuff is out of control, dangerous and never ever gets resolved, Obama probably has this one called correctly, get the hell out of there, let Russia get drained.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:44 | 6712406 Dickweed Wang
Dickweed Wang's picture

Rx: The real and hired terrorists need to be driven to the frontier or homeland of their sponsors.

 

Aye, Captain!!!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:59 | 6712487 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

You're missing a big one - Azerbaijan.

And Russia is effectively returning the favor- Putin simply moves around some troops and equipment already stationed on the western border (so basically at no cost), and eastern young European governments start shitting their pants like white boys lost in the hood.  On the one hand- expensive NATO hand holding missions and material pre-positioning might appear to aggravate the Russians, but they also aggravate and stretch the overextended USSA military which has a couple hundred other countries, and several active interventions that compete for attention and resources, and as well as that other SCO member who is building little islands in the South China Sea.  

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:23 | 6712300 Jethro
Jethro's picture

I can't help but think that this bodes well for confidence in our(US)currency.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:26 | 6712311 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

My favorite story for Monday

"There is an area where no one has 'officially' bombed, not the Americans, not the Russians or the Syrians either but an area that had been bombed, just the same, not once but dozens, perhaps hundreds of times, abandoned villages bombed over and over according to the Russian commander, 'as though someone had nothing else to do'," the US Marine combat veteran underscored.

"You know, many had wondered how, after 6,000 American 'sorties' flown against ISIS, so little damage was done? Were they all flown against 'nowhere' because 'someone had nothing else to do?'" Duff asked.

So, what is really going on in the region? Who is fighting whom?

 

The US is selling wing launched missiles to the Coalition and then telling everyone the Coalition is flying a bazillion sorties. 

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151025/1029090443/us-coalition-syria-ineffective-fishy.html#ixzz3pgvz8U35

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:33 | 6712345 dogismycopilot
dogismycopilot's picture

The Russians need not answer the phone on this.. They would do well to remember the 200 Russian Advisors and their families who were hacked to death in 1979 in Herat by guys shouting "Allah Akbar"

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:56 | 6712462 Raymond_K._Hessel
Raymond_K._Hessel's picture

The Russians were there to help prop up a widely unpopular commie puppet government

Sometimes, folks like that get hacked to death.  That the Afghans shouted an Islamic phrase shouldn't lead you to believe they weren't killing Russians primarily 'as' Afghans. Generations of British cannon fodder shouting 'for the king' presumably didn't really give much of a fuck about the health and welfare of Longshanks. 

 

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:48 | 6712632 Volkodav
Volkodav's picture

that Wiki is terrible BS...fact is before so called Soviet invasion, the moderate leader was murdered by

outside supported takeover, that then placed the exact murderous coup supported leader as the"President" the Wiki article presents.....

Soviet intervention was reaction only to stabilze country to resist radicals enabled from outside.

if you exposed to MSM, etc, you already handicapped for any truth  

this is decent account:

Afgantsy  -Rodric Braithwaite-

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:53 | 6712696 dogismycopilot
dogismycopilot's picture

Here are some photos of Afghanistan from those "bad old Commie" days. Wake up man, you're in OJ land.

The best thing that happened to Afghanistan was the Russians. If the Afghanis had been smart, they would have been Mongolia on steroids circa 2011 with 17% GDP. Now, the Afghanis just know how to kill people and run car parks in Dubai.

 

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2013/01/28/podlich-afghanistan-1960...

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/astonishing-photos-of-prewar-afghanistan-...

 

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:34 | 6712348 Dickweed Wang
Dickweed Wang's picture

According to the United Nations, insurgents now control more territory than at any other time since 2001 . . . 

 

So maybe they'll put an end to the heroin trade like the Taliban did prior to the US invasion in 2001.  The USA brings troops into the country in force in 2002 and within 3 years they are having record poppy harvests . . . go figure.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:35 | 6712363 Herdee
Herdee's picture

China will end up drawing in Iraq,Afghanistan,Syria,Pakistan,even Lebanon into its regional trade deals.The U.S. policy of MiddleEast control by bombing is a Wolfowitz Doctrine that is self defeating.It's only based on a short term attitude of helping to keep jobs in defence industry sectors,that's it.That's the extent of the logic which is also based on an outdated hate for the Russians which extends back to the Soviet era.That cold war is long gone decades ago and is a primitive mindset from the past.The NeoCons basically did an excellent job throughout the region of creating more enemies for the U.S. Government.You have to understand that China looks at things differently over very long time spans.It is an ancient culture.Washington has an immediate agenda with consequences that are not thought out from a permanent economic trading perspective.China and Russia will move in after bankrupt America has wasted all its taxpayers money on bombing people.What's left in America -well Detroit is a perfect example of what's wrong with the Washington military mindset.The Washington politicians don't reinvest in their own country.Even to Corporations,the Washington Government and its politicians are perceived as an enemy from a tax perspective.Most ordinary working folks view Wall Street,Bankers,The Fed and The Federal Government as criminals.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:36 | 6712364 Mr. Cynic
Mr. Cynic's picture

Gosh!  If Russian gets involved, we may have to switch sides and begin supporting the Taliban. /s

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:51 | 6712976 libertysghost
libertysghost's picture

But then you won't have the heroin market cornered...what the US DOD to do?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:39 | 6712378 Dickweed Wang
Dickweed Wang's picture

 . . . the whole reason Washington is there in the first place is because the very same al-Qaeda who America supported in the Soviet-Afghan war ended up flying 747s into American buildings a decade later . . .

 

Yeah, right . . . this one sentence calls the credibility of the entire article into question.  Whoever wrote this article can't be that stupid, can they??

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:23 | 6712586 rejected
rejected's picture

" Whoever wrote this article can't be that stupid, can they??"

No,,, it's just keep pushing the meme propaganda. They suck you in on a few tidbits of truth then whack you with their BS hoping you will not really consciously remember what you read even though it is sub-consciously placed.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:39 | 6712379 Son of Captain Nemo
Son of Captain Nemo's picture

Honest and truly. What words to describe...

The U.S. military and CIA is a hermaphrodite that is only suitable for one purpose and one purpose only...

Fucking itself in it's own ass!!!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:46 | 6712415 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

this would be a huge blunder for russia. just let the afghanistans sort out their own country on their own terms, with absolutely no assistance [financial, weaponry, or advisors] in a country that no empire could tame. period!

indeed the heroin trade into iran and russia is horrible with the crippling devestation it brings about [just think of the east-india company and british raj] regarding, then... chinas' qing dynasty during the 19th century with the former and latter gunboat diplomacy stuffing the shit down their throats.

kinda makes one wonder today about americas heroin problems and payback?

again, i would not only say it would be a blunder, but, there are other avenues less intrusive to quell the border with iran and afghanistan.

note: uzbekistan, turkmenistan, tajikistan and kyrgyzstan, and kazakstan all have current dual military roles with the ussa's covert & ct/ci for the last decade+/+ 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:50 | 6712683 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Seriously - who are the good guys and bad guys in Afghanistan?  Are the opium/heroin growers the good guys?  it just seems like Afghanistan is always one tribe not liking another.

Why have people always had such a thing about armies in this place?  Why did the British care about it?  I know they were big in the opium trade in China.

Now it is probably:

1. Heroin

2. Rare Earth minerals

3. A pipeline

4. Is there any oil or nat gas there?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:37 | 6712912 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

In recent decades, Afghanistan has become a pipeline target:

The US wants them to run North-South.

China and Iran wants them to run East-West.

For now the US is 'winning', insofar that the Taliban refused the US wishes, and the DOD is stopping the Iran-China pipeline from being built.

The opium is just an added bonus for the US-bribed politicians and local war lords, not to mention the CIA Pension Fund (the "Other 401k").

Smedley Butler had it right ("War is a racket").

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:46 | 6712418 geno-econ
geno-econ's picture

If you cannot sell oil and gas, sell military equipmennt.  It's an economic model US has been following for decades.  Difference is do you want to send troops and the answer is obviously nyet, but air support is okay.  Middle East is becoming a threat to EU welfare state due to mass migration  from  Syrian civil war.    Russia is in this sense helping Europe stabilize Syria after US bungling in attempt to change regimes everywhere in Middle East after Bush and Neocon stupidity causing kickback from Islamist state.  Russia does not want more Islam problems on it;s border and is forced to take action. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 12:50 | 6712447 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

The area adjoining Turkmenistan is the most crucial.

Turkmenistan is NATO's next target for destabilization.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:06 | 6712752 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

Nope it is Krgyzstan. Azerbaijan was leaning towards west but they are now back in track after witnessing what happened in Ukraine.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:11 | 6712535 farflungstar
farflungstar's picture

The US needs to go the fuck home. The way it has acted in the last 14 years in Afghanistan and the M.E. it's no wonder countries are looking for more responsible backers...fucking Yankee assholes are just milking the murder over there to prop up it's bullshit at home, the spying, the Patriot Act, the profits of war. 

How would we like a scumbag who started war in our countries and their only care was prolonging it? No matter how many suffered, how many dies, even if everything was destroyed?

The US should be ASHAMED.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:50 | 6712549 Volkodav
Volkodav's picture

True Afghan, of Soviet education.. tells of two sides:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc2KeSkl5H0

very few know any truth about Afghanistan

if you ever watch MSM, is handicap from start

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:13 | 6712789 Free_Spirit
Free_Spirit's picture

This is very true,  I knew some original Afghans from the 1970's a lovely family, were high government officials in the pre soviet and soviet times, fled to the UK when the Russians left ,  lovely people some real class, distinguished manners and etiquette, spoke beautiful gentle english , very lovely looking daughters too, really made an impression. 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:20 | 6713463 Volkodav
Volkodav's picture

yes  good post

Soviet education was best of world.

Kabul was normal city. Civilized.

 

 

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:56 | 6713002 dogismycopilot
dogismycopilot's picture

Powerful.
Good translation too.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:19 | 6712566 rejected
rejected's picture

The Taliban kicking butt again.... I guess after 50 years of losing the Army will have to return home and kick around some local patriots to notch up their ego a bit.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:18 | 6712568 kaboomnomic
kaboomnomic's picture

Bwahahahahahahahaha... that's why you don't takes news out of context (to fits your agenda).

Bwahahahahahahahaha...
OK...

Now, dude. I have read this A COUPLE YEARS AGO!!
I tought when i read that first? This must be a mistake!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/russian-helicopters-us-1-billio...

Who use BILLION DOLLAR OF US TAX MONEY, to purchased RUSSIAN HARDWARES, for Afghan's military??

- - -

Now, that above ZH news? Is a continuation of the above act.
http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/russia-to-sell-modern-attack-helicopters-...

- - -

Also, Pakistan? Usually buys US military hardwares (they recwived "anti terrorism budget act" about 5-7 B$/year from US. Thank you U-@SS.)

But now?
http://thediplomat.com/2015/08/confirmed-pakistan-is-buying-new-attack-h...

- - -

Watching Syria?? Many countries now know, who built the better military hardwares.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha... Ohhhh... soooo.. funny!!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:48 | 6712624 Aleedsfella
Aleedsfella's picture

It is going to happen. I wish we could stop it!

Wilfred Owen's Anthem for Doomed Youth 1918

 

https://youtu.be/ZlDoon91vZk

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 13:58 | 6712719 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

I'm Lovin' It!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:03 | 6712741 the grateful un...
the grateful unemployed's picture

theres a very delicate situation here, the taliban in afghanistan is supporting the islamic extremists in pakistan, a nation with nuclear weapons. the entire basis of the cheney clinton obama policy in this area is focused on getting that stuff back. an islamic takeover of pakistan is out of the question.  bhuta was setup by the CIA to complete the mission (she had been against the afghan campaign in the tribal areas) and i am pretty sure she was going to hand them over, but she died before the election. there are contingency plans to liberate those weapons, should the Russians get a hand in here and they can obtain them so much the better, we can simply buy the material from them as we did during clintons term. the us aims and the russian aims in all this are more similar than dissimilar. you can almost quantify putin as a proxy of us policy, although in syria that policy is muddled, if putin does prop of assad its not going to be the same strongman regime that it once was, and russians are even more feckless on matters of foreign policy, if the us won the war in iraq and lost the peace, how do you think it will work out for them?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:14 | 6712796 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

re Afghanistan Requests Moscow Military Help

I guess US patriots will just have to wait their turn in line....

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:28 | 6712852 Pullmyfinger
Pullmyfinger's picture

You are #6.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:37 | 6712916 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

 I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! ;)

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:26 | 6712842 harrybrown
harrybrown's picture

the whole reason Washington is there in the first place is because the very same al-Qaeda who America supported in the Soviet-Afghan war ended up flying 747s into American buildings a decade later

 

Stopped reading at this point.... zionist press doesnt was with me... c'mon ZH sort it out 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:26 | 6712843 Pullmyfinger
Pullmyfinger's picture

... "because the very same al-Qaeda who America supported in the Soviet-Afghan war ended up flying 747s into American buildings a decade later."

Wow! Is this guy for real? : ) I wonder if he also pictures Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld with turbans and a pair of AK-47's?

I know I sure do.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:28 | 6712855 AlaricGaudiTheSecond
AlaricGaudiTheSecond's picture

Am taking rooskie lessons already guyz!

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:39 | 6712880 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

According to the United Nations, insurgents now control more territory than at any other time since 2001

Pardon my language. But I want to know when the fucking American people will begin to ask some fucking hard questions of Government and the Pentagon. Do you know how much we spend on military forces? For over a decade the US Military has worked to build the largest most highly trained group of special forces professionals in the history of warfare. All across America and on overseas bases, thousands of young Americans are trained to standards that surpass anything we ever dreamed of 30 years ago. The graduates of all the various special forces training schemes are simply, and even Russian sources admit, some of the best soldiers ever seen.

We spent 1 trillion dollars to occupy Afghanistan and to bribe locals to cooperate. For over 10 years our total Air Power and Special Forces units fought Taliban. We used regular Army and Marines to occupy strong points and cities, while aircraft and special forces hunted down Taliban like dogs! 10+ years!

Have any of us asked this "So what the fuck happened" "Taliban hold MORE of the country than since 2001"?

What has our military been doing? What has Government done? Was Afghanistan war just another corporate rip off. We lost, we simply lost! But profits for corporations involved are off the charts!

I would think that given what we were told, how much we spent, and how massively we support the military with money, arms and moral support. Americans love their troops. The only troop I know personally, on a one to one level, who fought in Iraq for 14 months, he is totally jaded, fed up, doesn't think they accomplished a thing in Iraq. And he would never sign on for another American war over in the Middle East. I don't know at all if other Vets sahre his views. I'de love to hear from some Vets who were in these wars. What did you think and what do you think about our wars? Why are we now seeing Islamic nut jobs taking half the Middle East, after we spilt blood and treasure all over the entire region for over a decade.

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:02 | 6713344 Pullmyfinger
Pullmyfinger's picture

Are you actually confused, or is this a devil's advocate talking??

You did not know that the US was never supposed to win another war after WWII? -- and yet you also presumabley know that the monetary system is itself just a shell game (otherwise, why are you a reader of zerohedge?) And yet you never stopped to consider that the two spheres of power --finance and the military, while both cater simultaneously to the corporate world)--would, necessarily, be inextricably combined as merely two faces on the same skull?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:17 | 6713442 alphahammer
alphahammer's picture

 

1) Who is this "we" you talk about? I'm an American and you aren't.

2) Umm... tactically speaking, we pulled out and they rolled in. Your argument in terms of time and money didn't hold water whilst we were still there.

3) Putin should head back in. It would be good for his career...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:34 | 6712895 scatha
scatha's picture

The Russian military equipment is simply better than US for the purpose, in the country without infrastructure and triple cheaper and financed by Russians (dedollarization). What not to like.

But Russia will not come back to Afghanistan except for training for the equipment purchased. Taliban is not IS and Russians will not fight them. Taliban are Pashtuns living in their country. Russia and China may even tactically align with them against IS already in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is no Syria, situation calls for different solutions.

Daily Syrian war updates can be found here:

https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/syrian-war-update/

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 14:47 | 6712963 Bingo Hammer
Bingo Hammer's picture

This is a very slippery article full of half truths and subtle distortions of the real geoploitical moves and motivation.

In effect he's saying Putin and Russia are just "opportunists" (very Robert Gates) who haven't thought this whole scenario through - right, good luck believing that bullshit US because that is exactly the kinda dumbass "exceptional" analysis that's gonna get you totally FUBAR.

 

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:46 | 6713590 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

 

True dat, Bingo.

Putin been thinking this scenario through since Booger Bush quit the ABM Treaty in 2002.

The NYT,  WaPo, WSJ etc just thought it was the cutest thing since ribbed condoms.  

FUBAR doesn't even come close.

(if you noticed I didn't even mention chess playing once.  Oh wait.)

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:11 | 6713402 alphahammer
alphahammer's picture

Afghanistan, battered by worsening security, is reaching out to an old ally and patron—Russia—

 

BBBBBBWWWAAAAAHHHHAAAA!!!!!!!

Yea I can REALLY see the people of Moscow going for the plan to help "an old ally and patron" AKA AFGHANISTAN...

You can't make this shit up...

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 16:42 | 6713610 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

wait

You can't make this shit up...

You do a pretty good job, Alfie.


remember this?

"What's it all about, Alfie"

Alfie never figured it out, did he?

Mon, 10/26/2015 - 19:33 | 6714406 honestann
honestann's picture

Russia is probably smart enough to only provide "aid" (equipment and supplies).  They need to keep focus "closer to home" and not overextend.  They know this.

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 00:29 | 6715415 onmail1
onmail1's picture

CIA is hooked on to Heroin from Afghanistan & uses Taliban , Paki Army & ISI in making profits. 

Why they cant eliminate poppy , opium & heroin which is even visible from space , I dont understand.

Its all money game , human life has no value.

At the same time making noises about war helps them get funding from US congress

America thrives on evil

------

So now the world has no hope left , except in Russia

(China is also waking up)

So similar to British in colonialism era , the Sun is now setting for America too

NO ONE TRUSTS SATAN AMERICA

-------

http://americanfreepress.net/is-cia-fueling-new-u-s-drug-epidemic-using-...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-spoils-of-war-afghanistan-s-multibillio...

http://mediaroots.org/opium-what-afghanistan-is-really-about/

http://www.mintpressnews.com/rumors-persist-that-the-cia-helps-export-op...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_CIA_drug_trafficking

 

Wed, 10/28/2015 - 00:09 | 6719714 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

Please don't be disrespectful our involvement in Afghanistan.

It's America's longest quagmire and will soon be in the Guinness Book of Records 

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!