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Just watched an hour long forum discussion on France24 with the actual news as it happens in Doha, Qatar and Kabul, Afghanistan. Appears to be great underreporting of the military penetration of the Taliban throughout the country. Read this article, it presents facts on the ground and the political turmoil reminiscent of the last years 1974-75 in Saigon, South Vietnam. The role of North Vietnam is now played out by ISI and Pakistan. In addition, Kyrgystan has determined the large US Air Base must close by July 2014. Of all presumed US allies in the region, only India and Russia are left. The US still has a logistical problem to move all their military out of Afghanistan. A headache only someone of Eisenhower’s stature could solve.
Riding the ‘talking to the Taliban’ train, with the brakes jammed
(France24) – Shortly after the talks-suspension announcement, we were subjected to a media-friendly fuss over flags and names and other minutiae. Karzai, quite understandably, objected to the Taliban office in Doha being called the “Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” and the hoisting of the old Taliban flag on the faux Gulf palace structure.
The offending flags and plaques have since been brought down because the US is good at arm-twisting design concessions from offending parties. The crux of the problem however remains and so, in the next few days and weeks, expect more “scrambling to save the talks” headlines followed by on-again off-again updates.
USA, Qatar, Pakistan play ball on the ‘playground of empires’
But if there’s one historic grouse we should heed, it’s the longstanding Afghan complaint that their country is not so much a “graveyard” as a “playground” of empires.
That’s the real reason for Karzai’s ire, as Afghan officials clearly stated Wednesday: the US – aided by the Qataris and in cooperation with the Pakistanis – is driving the agenda to determine the future of Afghanistan.
The US has a history of “bringing enemies to the table” before it turns tail and flees disastrous military interventions of course.
More than 40 years ago, Henry Kissinger brought North and South Vietnamese officials to the table to try to hammer out “a deal” that would enable US troops to get the hell out of Vietnam. Two years after the 1973 Paris Peace Accords were signed, North Vietnamese forces drove into Saigon, captured the city, and the world watched that iconic footage of US Embassy staffers scrambling onto a helicopter on the US embassy building in Saigon.
In the Af-Pak region, Washington has a rich history of making deals with right-wing religious/Islamist nut-jobs. In the old Cold War days, it meant shoveling billions of dollars (and Stinger missiles) – via Pakistan and Saudi Arabia – to the likes of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani. These two mujahid granddaddies are still apparently part of the Taliban – depending on who you ask – and no one ever seems to know if they’re in – or not – with this latest Doha bling thing.
Back in 1979, we did not know that we were spawning monsters that would come back to bite us. We were busy turning Afghanistan into the graveyard of the Soviet empire and the god-loving jihadists were the best bet against the god-hating communists.
But the Cold War is over. So why are we dealing with – and funding – these Islamist hardliners when the Arab World, as we speak, is in the throes of a hotly-contested debate between political Islam and secularism?
The answer is a long, complex one, but I’m going to try to simplify it right here, right now, in one word: shortsightedness.
Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir – Last Stand after fall of Kabul in 1997 – assassinated by Al Qaeda on Sept. 9, 2001
