US - Taliban Partnership: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them?

[maritzafrizell]

thanks for sharing….

[anglekan]

u.s got its ass whooped. stupd americans

[grizzzlyjoe]

What a sad commentary. After thousands of our soldiers have died, tens of thousands have been maimed for life and over a Trillion dollars squandered on these foolish Wars, the U.S. is talking about a working relationship with the Taliban... THE TALIBAN... they were the ones that gave safe haven to the Al-Queda terrorists that attacked on 9/11. The WHOLE reason we're there is the Taliban. If the U.S. Government wanted to "work" with them, why didn't they just say that up front in October 2001?

[Vorlos]

@grizzzlyjoe

The WHOLE reason why the Taliban and Al Quaida are there is short sighted CIA-actions during the Cold war.

Look up the "Mujahideen"

[Troy62486]

@Vorlos, lol yea people should go watch Rambo 3

[Rickdeckard2020]

No alternatives?? youre half-way around the earth and you need to grab on to afghanistan like a parasite junky, what for? Opium? Gas? Showing China whose boss? No ones buying the propaganda, the US is an Empire with bases around the world, the alternative is to close shop and get back to the US, forget about putting in place a colonial puppet guy up every countrys a. Cut the opium and derivatives crap, audit the fed, Rebuild US infrastructure, manufacturing and drop medicine instead of bombs.

[blackiron60]

So, the U.S. intends to set up more proxies. Exactly what got them (and Afghanistan) into this mess in the first place.

[Cabronosidad]

Then-US Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ann Jacobsen noted that: "We are seriously looking at the project, and it is quite possible that American companies will join it."[5] Due to increasing instability, the project has essentially stalled; construction of the Turkmen part was supposed to start in 2006, but the overall feasibility is questionable since the southern part of the Afghan section runs through territory which continues to be under de facto Taliban control.[5] (Wiki)

[Re5Publica]

@Cabronosidad Unocal no longer exists...

I don't see anything wrong with central asian companies exporting their gas without having to pay Russia a stipend, (and political favours) for access to the western market.

Western markets are the largest markets, it would bring prosperity to export nations (think for example the UAE).

The fact remains this was not the reason of the invasion, and it has nothing to do with a purely selfish, exploitative motive.

[TheTruth006]

ForaTV. The world is not thinking. Very well. Sorry.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

This is one sick idea to play with.

[Cabronosidad]

Oil & gas reserves in the Caspian Basin are valued at £13 trillion. US companies secured drilling rights In the 1990's, (Karzai was then a Unocal consultant). The problem was they needed a pipeline through Afghanistan to get the oil & gas out, so talks with the Taliban began. Some came to Texas where they were given the stretch limo & lap-dancing treatment. But talks broke down & 9/11 gave the Cheney government the excuse for an invasion. US bases are there to protect the oil pipeline route.

[Re5Publica]

@Cabronosidad The pipeline project was abandoned and never revisited, like other drilling projects elsewhere, it happens. Michael Moore brought it up, for no relevent reason in his documentary. 9\11 was reason enough to invade Afghanistan, anyone who thinks drilling for oil, and not the murder of 3000 americans in New York is the reason for invading Afghanistan will be the subject of jokes in the decades to come.

[Cabronosidad]

‘Since the US-led offensive that ousted the Taliban from power,’ reported Forbes in 2005, "the project has been revived and drawn strong US support" as it would allow the Central Asian republics to export energy to Western markets "without relying on Russian routes". (Wiki)

[Mrmoc7]

Karzai is a bandit...

[DaithiDublin]

@JCLeSinge The problem is that the US has relied on it's deep pockets to get it out of trouble in the past but now the pockets may not be deep enough. That and the fact that they are contemplating buying out an enemy with a Dark Age mentality who are not only happy with austerity but who would happily bring the whole world back a thousand years.

[DackIsBack]

LOL, Here's me thinking the CIA and Terrorists where tight knit already...

Pfft...

[djsnakeyes]

in GOD we trust..Gold Oil & Drugs.

[screwopenborders]

@djsnakeyes don't forget minerals lol they wanna mine now as an excuse to say.

[funkalunatic]

This has to be some kind of absurdist tongue-in-cheek joke. I mean, The Onion could take what this guy said word for word on put it on their mock political talk show.

[screwopenborders]

@funkalunatic probably not, we helped defeat the soviets with bin laden during the 80s so anything is possible.

[funkalunatic]

@screwopenborders But who are we defeating in Afghanistan if not the Taliban? Al Qaeda isn't even in Afghanistan anymore.

[screwopenborders]

@funkalunatic We are there to grow drugs, they stated this in the mainstream media. Who knows where they are going, drugs are a way of destablalizing other countries. Maybe that opium is getting shipped to Iran or China, maybe Russia? There was even talk of wanting the mining resources as an excuse to stay there.

[Re5Publica]

@screwopenborders We defeated the nazis with the soviets.

[screwopenborders]

@Re5Publica yeah ww2 hello whats your point?

[Re5Publica]

@screwopenborders I was following your thought. There's a long tradition in international politics of making and breaking alliances. American colonials fought French soldiers 20 years before they fought together against the British.

But, I should've corrected you, Bin Laden was never in contact with the CIA or any U.S. official while he was a member of the mujahideen (which was basically any Muslim in Afghanistan who fought the soviets. Many mujahideen later fought Taliban and al-Qaeda.)

[JCLeSinge]

Sweet Stalin's Ghost... the lies continue even when someone tries to tell the truth...

"You can't prevail unless you have a strong local partner..." what he means is that there's no way to defeat a guerrilla force that has the support of the people. We're the infidel and "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", so we're left bribing one bunch of fundamentalists against the other; it's either the Mujaheddin or the Taliban; who's cheaper? Lets bribe them for control over the drugs and oil...

[Re5Publica]

@JCLeSinge I wish we actually did have control of the drugs and oil, only because it would make all the propaganda the left regurgitates constantly more bearable since it'd actually be true, and not cynical and prejudiced make-believe from ignorant wannabe che guevaras.

We're certainly not seeing this abundance of resources you claim is rolling in due to our "imperial" entreprises in the Mid-East, in fact, there's a huge gushing wound in the U.S. treasury. For oil and poppies? MY ASS!

[JCLeSinge]

@Re5Publica: You might not be *seeing* those resources, but they sure are rolling in; no petrol shortage in the West, and no shortage of drugs either.

Personally, it'd be nice if we really were spreading "peace and democracy" to demented terrorist nations who want to kill us all; at least then, the paranoid warmongering propaganda of the Right would in some sense be true, and we could bomb foreign kids with a clear conscience.

[Re5Publica]

@JCLeSinge Let's stick with what we CAN see then: a tyrant and war criminal brought to justice, 2 successful elections in Iraq, the handing over of military authority to the Iraqi government, al-Qaeda in Iraq pummeled into near oblivion, open and transparent auctions for oil field contracts on Iraqi state television. Of course anyone who wants to delegitimize these things will debase them as "bombing foreign kids". What else can you do when it can be so clearly observed that you're mistaken?

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@Re5Publica Absolutely 100% correct. Glad to see some informed statements here.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@JCLeSinge So we invade Iraq and Afghanistan for resource exploitation?

Where is it? I don't see where all the money we stole from them is...

I guess Satan W. Bush put it all into his account in the Caymans. Seriously, there's an ounce of truth to what you say, but you need to learn a LOT more and see a larger picture.

So let's stop calling Republicans Hitler and Democrats Stalin. Respectable government has been trying to be as centrist as possible for us fickle citizens.