Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

The US media has finally confirmed the killing of 2 U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan, which occurred last Wednesday. They were killed by an Afghan soldier who was supposedly on our side. 

 If the U.S.Military doesn't get it yet that they can't trust any Afghan government soldiers then they are brain-dead. The Taliban is flipping Afghan government personnel, including military and police, at the rate of about a thousand a month. And at that rate, it's fair to say that the Afghan government is collapsing. 

And the ones who  aren't being flipped are being killed at an alarming rate.  

The situation has become hopeless for us, and our desperation is showing. I found out that part of the carrot that we're waving at the Taliban is that once they sign a peace deal with us, we are forking over $25 million to them. And that's only the beginning. We are committing to rebuilding the country. 

But, how are the family and loved ones of these dead Americans supposed to feel, knowing that after 18 years of war, EIGHTEEN  YEARS, practically a generation, that it is going to go back to what it was before we started, which is the Taliban ruling the country. 
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And don't tell me the Taliban has changed. They haven't. They are agreeing not to let terrorist groups operate within the country? Are you kidding me? They conduct attacks with suicide bombers almost daily. They refer to them as martyrs. They don't target civilians, and they condemn the targeting of civilians, but, if somebody works for the Afghan government and gets killed that way,  or by an IED, how much difference are we talking about? 

And how can they promise anything? As Trump said to Tucker Carlson: "it's a mountainous country with lot of places to hide." So, how can they monitor and control everything that is going on in Afghanistan? How can they possibly know everything that people in that country are talking about and planning to do? Did our officials know that some lunatics were going to start killing people at the Gilroy Garlic Festival?   We can't control terrorism in this country, so how are they supposed to control it over there? 

I am absolutely sure the Taliban has no interest in plotting attacks against  the U.S. or any other country. Their interest is Afghanistan. Period. But, do you really think it was any different in 2001? Based on what? Because they let Osama bin laden live there? But, Osama bin laden had fought with them against the Soviets. He was a Mujahid, a holy warrior.  They didn't invite him  there to plan attacks on the U.S. And he had nothing to do with 9/11. The only evidence we ever put forward, and it was after we attacked Afghanistan not before, is Fatty bin laden on the far right. 

 And there is a "Mick West" whose excuse for Fatty bin laden is: aspect ratio. Holy Virgin Mother of Almighty God. First, you can't play the aspect ratio card any time you want just because it's convenient. And second, it's not just breadth that we're talking about, which is all aspect ratio can change: height and breadth. Aspect ratio can't change age, and Fatty bin Laden is obviously younger. And it can't change health, and he's obviously healthier. In 2001, the dying OBL, whose kidneys were failing, looked very pale and sickly. To reduce differences between them to nothing but aspect ration is really stupid. 

But, I digress. What I am really trying to tell you is that after 18 years of war, we are trying desperately to put the Taliban back in power, and it is nothing but complete capitulation. But, if we forestall leaving for the sake of setting up a face-saving facade, and another American dies there, it will be an outrage.  The Taliban says it is going to be an Islamic government run by Sharia law. So, whatever we try to get them to do for the sake of appearances won't matter because it's all going back to Islamic fundamentalism as the government of Afghanistan, which is to say that it's all going back to what it was in 2001, with nothing but very superficial differences, if any. Sharia law is going to be the law of the land. 

So, what was the 18 years of war for? Are we supposed to believe that the fact that they are giving us assurances that they won't allow terrorists to operate from Afghanistan, even though they have no way of making such assurances, that that makes all the fighting and dying of 18 years worthwhile? Is that it? Think about the families of all the Americans who died in Afghanistan. When they see the Taliban restored to power, how are they going to feel about the sacrifice of their loved one? What did their loved one give his or her life for? 

What is going to be the talking point for this? That the Taliban promises not to let terrorists operate from Afghanistan?  They would have promised that in 2001. So, what was the war for? 

And what's going to come after that? The Afghan War Memorial? Speeches and tributes about how they died for freedom? How about a wall with all the names on it? Will that make the families feel better? The Taliban is coming back to power, and they are going to rule that country every bit as much as the Viet Cong rules Vietnam. What was the Vietnam War for? What was the Afghanistan War for? HOW COME THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES  ON THE PEOPLE WHO DO THESE THINGS? How come George W. Bush walks a free man? And how after those failed wars can there be people high in our government who are today, blustering, chomping at the bit, for yet another war, this time with Iran? I curse them. I loathe them. I revile them. I curse them a thousand times.