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

It is very clear that the Taliban does not admit to having attacked the United States or any other country. They said it over and over, and they said it again last tonight.

"We have not attacked America or Europe, but it is west that has invaded our country and set it on fire."

So, when the  U.S. demands that the Taliban give assurances they will not let Afghanistan be used as a staging ground by terror groups to attack the West, the implication is that they used to do that. 

So, the idea is that they used to do it,  but now they are not going to do it, and therefore 18 years of war were justified. It is such bull shit.  

The Taliban denies that it ever did it. And if Americans would just think about the real history of Afghanistan, they would realize that the Taliban is telling the truth. 

Osama bin laden went to Afghanistan in the early 1980s to join the fight against the Soviet Union. He brought men, equipment, and money, and he fought. And when the Soviets were driven out in 1989, he was there and considered a hero, and I mean by everybody, including us.. And so the Taliban let him stay there, but it was because of what he had contributed to the victory in their fight.  It had nothing whatsoever to do with attacking the United States or Europe. That wasn't even on the radar. 

Now, you know very well that I don't think Osama bin laden had anything to do with 9/11. He had no more to do with it than Jack Ruby had to do with killing Oswald, which is to say he had nothing to do with it. But, even if you believe that Osama bin laden planned 9/11, you can't assume that it had anything to do with the Taliban.  You can't assume that he informed them that that's his new mission in life, to kill innocents in the United States. Even if you are foolish enough to think that he thunk up 9/11, it wouldn't mean that the Taliban was "harboring" him. And again, considering all the homegrown terror attacks that happen in this country, including the ones very recently, are you going to accuse the U.S. government of harboring terrorists since they were unable to anticipate such heinous acts and prevent them? 

So, there was never a rational basis to accuse the Taliban of harboring Osama bin laden so that he could plan the 9/11 attacks, even thought it is a cock and bull story that he was responsible.  

Osama bin laden was treated like a guest in Afghanistan because of his contributions to defeating the Soviets, and that's it. There is no basis to assume anything else about it.

Now, there have been 9 rounds of negotiations with the Taliban. And after each round, the government and media said the exact same thing, that the U.S. agrees, in principle, to get out of Afghanistan if the Taliban will give assurances that they won't let Afghanistan be used as a staging ground by terrorists. And again, I point out that even if Taliban were capable of controlling and inspecting every square foot of Afghanistan and every gathering of two or more people, which obviously they can't do, it would only mean that terrorists would go somewhere else to plan their attacks. So, the very idea that that great safety will be afforded to the United States and all Americans if only we can be sure that every square foot of Afghanistan is terrorist-free-- it is just another idiotic spewing by spewing idiots. 

And, speaking of spewing idiots, the Idiot in Chief , just today at G7 conference, assured reporters that the U.S. is not going to withdraw completely from Afghanistan, and that there is "no timetable." That is in quotes because I am quoting the Idiot. So, we aren't making a commitment to leave? Then what the hell are we offering the Taliban besides money? And I'm sure we are offering them a ton of that, just as we offered and gave a ton of money to the Viet Cong in Paris in 1973. But, the Taliban is not going to settle for anything less than a firm timetable for complete withdrawal of all foreign forces from their country.   

And just for good measure, Trump repeated his boast that he could win the war easily if he was willing to kill 10 million Afghans. After all that damage control his people had to do after he said it the first time, he apparently didn't learn a thing. 

And then, his special envoy Khallilzad was asked to respond to a Taliban claim that the U.S. is going to get the hell out, and then they will have free reign to fight the Afghan government which will no longer have any U.S. support. Khalllzad's response was: don't believe the propaganda. The U.S. will never stop supporting (militarily, financially, and otherwise) the Afghan government. 

My prediction is that there will be no agreement reached. We are going to offer all kinds of money to them if they will only work with the current government, but the Taliban will not do it.  And, among other reasons, it's because they know very well that their mujahideen fighters won't like it. They are not going to risk a rebellion in their own rank and file.

And what happens afterwards? When the whole thing collapses, Trump may get mad. He may decide: no more Mr. Nice Guy. He may reverse everything and decide that good old American escalation is the way to go. Time for another surge.

I hope I'm wrong. I really do.  But, I predict that the signed deal that is supposed to be just days away does not happen.