Thanks to WikiLeaker, Afghan War Will End Soon

[unhappycamper]

Thanks to WikiLeaker, Afghan War Will End Soon
by Ted Rall
Published on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by CommonDreams.org

MUMBAI--"An appalling irresponsible act." That's how General James Nattis, fresh at the helm of U.S. Central Command, characterizes the release of more than 76,000 classified Pentagon reports released by the website WikiLeaks.

You may recall that the Pentagon, headquarters of the Department of Defense, is the same outfit that loaded $24 billion in $100 bills onto shrinkwrapped pallets and loaded the cash onto C-130 transport planes bound for Iraq--guarded by enlisted men who earn $20,000 a year. Not one of those Benjamins has ever heard from since. Which, given that the money was supposed to be paid to corrupt tribal sheikhs, is just as well. Don't be surprised if you see contractors installing one of those great a new Gunnite pool at the house belonging to your recently discharged veteran neighbor.

So anyway, when a Pentagon biggie calls someone irresponsible, take them seriously. These guys know from irresponsibility.

Speaking of behavior that falls short of the highest ethical standards (and is highly amusing), the involuntarily declassified material contains some real gems. My current fave--there will, no doubt, be others, for I am fickle and the material is vast--comes from an August 2007 report that explains some of the ways Pakistan uses the billions in U.S. taxdollars Bush and Obama send it.

Based in Waziristan in Pakistan's western Tribal Areas, the Haqqani network is a neo-Taliban-affiliated Islamist organization led by Sirajuddin Haqqani and his father Jalaluddin Haqqani. Officially, the Haqqanis are American targets because they harbor members of Al Qaeda and are involved in weapons smuggling across the Afghan border. Unofficially--on the ground, as they say--things are different.

[DesertDiamond]

1. Thanks for this post! I pray you are right.

[EFerrari]

2. I haven't had time to read any of that material.

Hopefully, this weekend. Amy has had Julian on a lot, though. :hi:

[KharmaTrain]

3. And What Did These Documents Really Reveal?

Honestly...these were some of the worst hidden secrets of our time. Reports had been slipping out of that region for years about ISI involvement with the Taliban and the byzantine games played between this country, Karzai, the Pakistanis and the Taliban. While damning, this doesn't reveal things that those who've kept their eyes on this war already knew...and why there's been several policy and military revisions in the region since President Obama took office.

Instead of ending the war, I see some using excerpts of this report as justification for an even bigger involvement. It's madness. There have been reports for several months of back-channel talks between the State Department and Taliban about some type of truce, and one hopes there's some progress here that will provide the diplomatic and military cover to start the deployment of our forces. It's the only real exit strategy.

[no limit]

4. Google news search for "pakistan helping taliban" Aug 1, 2006–Jun 3, 2010 - nothing

so who exactly knew this?

[no limit]

5. Actually looks like google news search by date is broken. Here is a story:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/ISI-certainly-has-links-with-Taliban-but-nature-not-clear-yet-Petraeus/articleshow/6109580.cms

Seems that David Petraeus might not have been honest while under oath when he said he didn't know the nature of ISI links to the taliban. That's not newsworthy?

[KharmaTrain]

10. Then He Was One Of The Few...

And note how he parsed it...that was the official party line, yet there's a lot of documentation of ISI and Taliban contacts going back to the Raygun years. It's sadly getting SOS that politicians and others lie to Congress as they know there's little consequence. I can't remember the last time someone was cited for contempt yet fined or sent to jail. And the corporate media snoozes all the while.

[no limit]

11. Right...the top general on the ground either didn't know or lied and you are pretending...

that there is nothing new to see here. Give me a break.

There might have been a report here and there but the government would deny such reports or totally ignore them. They can't ignore or deny this any longer.

[NJmaverick]

6. Thanks to WikiLeaker innocent Afghans have died

[unhappycamper]

7. Thanks to the United States, many Afghans have died. n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. +1

:thumbsup:

[G_j]

9. GOP Congressman Mike Rogers Suggests Death Penalty For Wikileaks Whistleblower

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/03/mike-rogers-republican-co_n_668968.html


GOP Congressman Mike Rogers Suggests Death Penalty For Wikileaks Whistleblower


U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) says that execution would be an appropriate punishment for Private Bradley Manning in the wake of charges that he helped leak classified military documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Michigan-based radio station WHMI reports on what Rogers had to say on the matter in an interview he conducted with the outlet on Monday:

The Brighton Republican sits on the House Intelligence Committee and told WHMI that Private Bradley Manning appears to be guilty of treason in time of war, which is a capital crime. He also criticized what he called a "culture of disclosure" for encouraging someone like Manning into thinking that the release of such sensitive information was a good thing.

"I argue the death penalty clearly should be considered here," explained Rogers. "He clearly aided the enemy to what may result in the death of U.S. soldiers or those cooperating. If that is not a capital offense, I don't know what is."

..more..

[Forkboy]

12. LOL....right on script.

[seattleblue]

13. What is your definition of "end soon"?

There is no evidence at all U.S. policy will change because of the leaks.