The neoconservative apparatus that got us into Iraq for reasons we still haven’t decided on threatens to keep us in Afghanistan indefinitely for reasons yet to be determined. Everything we’re doing in Central and Southwest Asia supposedly has something to do with eradicating al-Qaeda, yet there is
no sign of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The argument for persisting in Afghanistan says that we have to make sure al-Qaeda doesn’t go back there, yet as former CIA officer Philip Giraldi recently noted, credible assessments suggest that "Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda has likely been reduced to a core group of eight to ten terrorists who are on the run more often than not." .
(al-Qaeda as an "organization" with a coherent structure and a clear doctrine does not exist in the Vietcong sense, ANC sense, or Hezbollah sense, never did, but is an elaborate hologram to justify American military operations in certain countries.
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12,000 mostly Arabs were trained by the Americans/Israelis/ Pakistanis during the 1980's and into the 1990's, initially fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan in a "Jehad". Of these approximately 7,000 went back to their own countries settling down into civilian life, getting married etc....doing the 9---5....or causing problems for those Muslim countries.....Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia,Yemen, Indonesia......and so on.
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Of the remaining 5,000 in Afghanistan, these courtesy of Iran/America were covertly shipped to the Balkans to fight "infidels" in Bosnia and Kosovo, and act as the Taliban's shock troops to consolidate the country in the 1990's.
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It is these 5,000 men who were labelled as "al-Qaeda" from 2000/2001, but nearly all of them fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, and then in Bosnia, Kosovo NOT as al-Qaeda, and NOT linked to Osama Bin Laden directly under a clear command structure, taking orders from him.......and NOT involved in any terrorist ops targeting Western assets or civilians. These men if they have been guided by anyone it is the ISI/Pakistan military, which operates under the direction of American/Israeli intelligence/military.
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Thus it is more exact and correct to say that "al-Qaeda" is a Western/Israeli intelligence hologram front, assisted critically by the ISI. Of these 5,000, many are now dead, a few captured and the rest either in Iran, Pakistan or have returned to their countries of origin.
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So in summary .......
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1. The 5,000 who served in "al-Qaeda" could be termed Islamic fundamentalist like Osama, with similar ideological backgrounds........fighting infidels and saving Muslim lands.
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2. However they are not "al-Qaeda" because there is no evidence that such an organization with a clear command structure ever existed, beyond Osama's immediate fellow travelers of a dozen. There is no clear evidence that the 5,000 accepted Osama as their leader, or took any orders from him.
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3. The terrorist ops in NE America 2001 9/11, Madrid 2004, and London 7/7 2005 and the attack on the USS Cole 2000 seem to be the work of Israel, usually assisted by friendly local security people allied to Israel........MI-5 etc..... to create a certain narrative which supports ISRAEL'S overall geo-strategic plans ("A Clean Break" 1996,"PNAC" 2000) "Israel's enemies are the West's enemies,so we are in this fight together" basic paraphrased response to a Israeli agent captured in the vicinity of the Twin Towers in 9/11, 2001..........There is no clear indication that the 5,000 of "al-Qaeda" were ever interested in terrorist ops which targeted civilians, especially Western civilians, but rather they were more concerned with fighting irregular warfare against armed opposition groups in the conventional battle field, in Muslim countries.
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4. The 5,000 membership of "al-Qaeda" were trained/armed/supplied by America/Israel and Pakistan ............................and seemed to have been guided from the beginning to the end as useful appendages to the "Clash of Civilization" meme, and consequently as the justification for invading Afghanistan, and to an extent indirectly Iraq...........Somalia........threaten Pakistan....and so forth.
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9/11 2001 was a joint Israel/Israeli-American agents operation to justify the current open ended wars, and blamed on "al-Qaeda". The FBI do not think Osama was responsible for 9/11.......and Osama in his last real interview to a Pakistani paper in October 2001 stated that he did not carry out 9/11.
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SO, Osama was never the leader of these 5,000 men....used extensively by the USA in various theaters, and trained by America/Israel/Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden never sat down with all of them in Afghanistan, and said "lets attack America, so that the American's can occupy several Muslim countries for Israel".......Osama until he died in December 2001 in Pakistan was an American agent, performing their guided theater, surrounded as always by a dozen followers and no more)
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THUS.......
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Osama Bin Laden, code named "Tim Osman" by his Western intelligence handlers was a Western trained security operative, a go-between/coordinator for Western intelligence with the numerous "jehadi" operatives. The man sought publicity, Western and domestic, wearing his exotic clothes and even more exotic speeches.....giving interviews to newspapers, magazines,television channels and so on...thats how you build a terrorist hologram for your Western Intelligence handlers.
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These direct media interviews and footage of his movement with his rent a followers suddenly stopped in late 2001............thus the widely held belief that he actually died in December 2001. Since late 2003 all we have had is fake video presentations by him in a studio, and taped speeches.
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So deductive summary....
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Osama Bin Laden/Tim Osman, the Western intelligence operative died in December 2001, or killed in that year so that he would not give too many further live interviews stating that he did not carry out 9/11......why would a diehard Jehadi lie about such a deed anyway? If he really did it, he would obviously take credit, surely?
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The video, and tape recordings of Osama since late 2003 are fake. So somebody is going to great lengths to present fake information, and subsequently verifying them as authentic. If this is indeed the case it is not a great stretch to imagine that "al-Qaeda" was never a real global terrorist organization, and that "al-Qaeda" did not carry out 9/11 . Osama denied he carried out 9/11 in October 2001 to a Pakistani newspaper; Benazir Bhutto in her November 2nd 2007 interview with David Frost states Omer Shaikh,the British intelligence operative killed Osama in late 2001.....and finally the FBI do not think he carried out or ordered 9/11.
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The American government since 2001 has never produced substantial proof that "al-Qaeda"carried out 9/11.
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If Osama did not carry out 9/11, and "al-Qaeda" did not carry out 9/11, then who did? All the information leads towards hardline Likudnik Israelis in the state security structure of Israel working in tandem with like minded people in the USA........and to understand who.... All you have to do is read the "Clean Break" document 1996, and "Project For A New American Century" 2000....to get a finger at the REAL perpetrators.
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For the sake of keeping fewer than a dozen evildoers out of Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his legion of supporters in the Pentagon, Congress, and the media insist we need to bring increase U.S. troop levels to over 100,000, and the overall coalition force level to a half-million, the number of troops we had on the ground at one point in Vietnam. .
(unless we are looking at a buildup invasion force against Pakistan in the future........and more war.
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Whilst the occupation forces aren't clearly fighting"al-Qaeda" they are fighting the Taliban.........that part Jeff is not a myth.
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So lets look at the Taliban.
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The Taliban is the love child of the USA, whilst Pakistan is the midwife and mentor which gave it birth in 1994, and the Gulf states as always the funders of this latest piece of American/Israeli mischief, allegedly, laughably in hindsight to bring peace and stability to war torn Afghanistan .
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Numbering about 10,000 drawn exclusively from the ranks of the ethnic Pashtuns, lightly armed with AK-47 and not much else: poor military training; poor logistics; poor C&C; no heavy equipment; poor leadership; no real overall general strategy; no aircover.............and inevitably consequently to date losing every engagement against the Coalition forces, so a turkey shoot.
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But touted as a real threat to the puppet Kabul government, and to the American homeland by implication...."we are fighting them over there so that we don't have to fight them over here in our country".......The Taliban sticks to fighting in Afghanistan, and the Pashtun parts of Pakistan........10,000 verses 500,000 soon to be Afghan and coalition security forces, AND 1,100,000 Pakistani security forces,controlled by the USA
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Under International law if any of the 192 GA countries are occupied by foreign armed forces, then the people under foreign occupation have the right to seek "self-determination", and can organize themselves as a resistance movement against the foreign occupation force........the law is clear in this area. So for example if America is occupied by a foreign military power, Americans can organize themselves into a resistance movement, AND seek material assistence from Canada or Mexico......under international law Mexico and Canada would be duty bound to provide food, shelter and arms with training for the "American Liberation Movement".
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This law evolved over a period of 60 years, after world war II, when many people around the world, under colonial rule were struggling for "self-determination"........and the international community, including First World countries, with Socialist bloc countries came to accept the fundamental principle of "self-determination".........People had the right to govern themselves, and not be occupied and exploited by foreign alien entities. For the rule of "self-determination" to apply to any nation, only a significant portion of the population must be united in the resistance movement, presumably over 50%............does the Taliban have the support of over 50% of the Afghan population? or a significant portion, because if they do then it is a legitimate resistance movement seeking "self determination" for the Afghan people.
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Then in such a scenario, under clear international law accepted by rich and poor countries alike over 60 years, the Taliban have the right to seek shelter, logistics and arms from the governments of Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and China..........these governments and nations which are neighbors of Afghanistan have a duty under international law to provide all manner of support to the Taliban.
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However there are problems with this .........and the question of the Taliban.
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Problem number 1 was/is the Americans and especially Bush II regime which emphasized American exceptionalism.............America by implication is above the law; as the sole hyper power it does not have to follow international rules.......second by implication again, because of the crimes committed by "al-Qaeda" allegedly was so great in 9/11 (remember the FBI do not think Osama Bin Laden committed 9/11, and the USA government have not offered detailed evidence linking "al-Qaeda" to 9/11)......America in revenge can do as it pleases, including absolving it of any international obligations.........under this new Bush doctrine America can threaten Afghan neighbors who support legitimate Afghan resistance movements.
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The second problem is with the Taliban itself. It is a hardline Sunni Islamic fundamentalist group which even the mullahs of Iran labeled "fossilized dinosaurs"......there are 192 nations on earth, and it is quite right that morally, socially, culturally, economically every nation on earth should attempt to modernize themselves, and look forward in history....which means striving for democratic governments that are transparent and accountable to the people, elected legislatures, the rule of law which is not arbitrary, a vibrant civil society, an incorruptible neutral judiciary, economic elevation for all.........all the good wholesome things which every people of all shades agree on should be available to ALL, enshrined in the UDHR, and ICCPR and ICSECR........BUT somehow I don't think the Taliban would sign on to such universal notions and attempt to deliver on such things....in fact quite the reverse.
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Another problem is with the Taliban again..........Is the Taliban created by the USA, through the Pakistan military a true home grown resistance movement that seeks in the jargon of international law, "self-determination" for the majority of its people? For example like the ANC, based in Mozambique initially, or the Vietcong based in North Vietnam....................OR as hinted is it more likely that it is yet another "Controlled opposition" group used as the fifth column by America to justify American occupation of Afghanistan?.....My personal opinion is that the Taliban are not a true resistance movement that has the best interests of the majority of Afghans, fighting for "self-determination"....though obviously the rank and file of the Taliban may feel that they are fighting for their country.
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The final problem with the Taliban is that it has powerful enemies around Afghanistan, which will make it near impossible for them to regain power..........if and when the Americans finally have satisfied their lust for narco-profits, and leave Afghanistan. Shia Iran does not like Sunni hard line Taliban, and came to near blows with them in 1998 when Iran massed 250,000 troops on the Afghan border, after some Iranian diplomats were butchered in Mazar-i-sharif. Iran backs the Northern Alliance against the Taliban; has fully cooperated with the USA since Afghanistan was invaded in 2001 and is investing heavy into various projects to bolster the current puppet government in Kabul; Ditto Russia for historical reasons.....sees the Taliban as the extension of the mujaheddin which fought against their soldiers and killed/MIA 20,000 of them, and wounded 50,000...resulting in a humiliating retreat for the superpower; ditto India who does not wish to see Pakistan achieve "strategic depth" viz India in Afghanistan, which makes the Pakistanis confident into renewing attacks against India, especially in Kashmir.
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India views the Taliban as the proxy of the Pakistan military which is absolutely correct, but is also a half analysis. To be more precise a better perspective from which to make ALL intelligence assessments of Pakistan,over a longer time span would be to view the Pakistani military as an annex of British intelligence, and the American military, especially since 1954 when the $1 billion Security Pact was signed with the USA by Mohammed Ali Bogra/General Ayub Khan with the Eisenhower administration. Since then the Pakistani military have been acting as the regional proxy of the USA in security ops against Iran, Afghanistan, China, INDIA and against the Pakistani people themselves. Senior military officers are sent to the USA for training. At present the Pakistan military run Pakistan from the back seat deciding on ALL security issues, and a substantial portion of foreign policy.....whilst Zardari, the American installed puppet busy's himself with looting the state coffers, and gives the veneer of democratic legitimacy to the Pakistani state.
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Thus the number one enemy of the Pakistani people, and for South Asian stability, harmony and development is the Chamar Chamacha Chauds in the Pakistan military (aka: Raj Pooooonjab Police Force). It must be dismantled and destroyed....and a new military instituted in its place that reflects the true beliefs, values and interests of the Pakistani people.
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My personal view is that the Americans should leave Afghanistan asap, BUT the Taliban should NOT take power after they leave.......sufficient support must be given to alternative groups in Afghanistan..........but such good will intentions and outcome will not come from the Americans, busy with their narco enterprise.............and certain sado-machoistic penchant for attacking Afghan wedding parties and celebrations....Afghanistan has banned gay marriages)
The half-million figure comes from the counterinsurgency field manual (FM 3-24, Counterinsurgency [.pdf]), which calls for 20 to 25 counterinsurgent forces per every 1,000 locals, and Afghanistan contain a tad over 28 million locals. Your cat can do the math from there. What your cat can’t tell you is the thought process behind the conclusion that it makes sense to pit a half-million persons under arms against a force of eight or ten persons who aren’t in the vicinity of where you plan to place your half-million armed people. .
(If you love war and think YOU are the center of the world, attacking wedding parties, attacking civilians, strutting around in uniform, feeling self important, giving media presentations to the world, heroin, opium........bloated Pentagon security budgets which are untraceable in the trillions........then of course any obvious cock and bull will be offered)