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Afghanistan
Taliban demand Congressional fact-finding commission
2010-11-07
The Taliban called on Congress to bring a "fact-finding mission" to Afghanistan to investigate what they called falsehoods spread by American military chiefs to continue the war.

The statement was addressed to "Messers American Congressmen," and signed by Qari Mohammad Yousuf Ahmadi, "spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".

It advised the team to explore Afghanistan throughly to make known "ground realities" being concealed by American officials anxious to look like they are winning.

"Can a few militants stand up to armed forces of 40 countries including the strongest countries of the world," Sunday's statement said.

"In fact the current armed jihad is a country-wide resistance against you. Men and women, old and young from every tribe, ethnicity, caste and area have arisen to oppose you. Thus by your intending to wipe out the resistance, you have chosen the way of committing genocide of the whole nation," it said.

The statement went on, ". . . how about another experiment? Send a team to Afghanistan on a fact-finding mission The team should have freedom of movement and should be allowed to remain far from the clutches of your intelligence agencies," suggesting that American leaders wouldn't be likely to allow the mission to do so.

The communiqué accused Robert Gates, David Petraeus, and other "military brass" of inflating victories in battle for financial gain among other reasons.

For nine years "Afghans have been festering in the vortex of an imposed war... The apparition of mass murder, imprisonment, night house raids and plundering which has become the order of the day constantly haunts them," said the announcement in English and Pashto.

Taliban inflicted casualties have "sparked off hot discussions" among common Americans "and now it has become one of the most critical issues pending before you".

"In the last two years, your military high-ups implemented different strategies including troop surge, construction of new military bases, forming militias. All these steps have been taken without considering the ground realities. It is why they all failed. Moreover the fear that Afghanistan may turn out to be a threat to world peace must be put out of your minds as it is a mere baseless propaganda." it said.
Posted by:ryuge

#8  I hope we don't give in to Islam, we'll be hearing it until Judgement Day.
Posted by: Uleger Barnsmell4617   2010-11-07 19:04  

#7  It now looks like the Afghan portion of the 9/11 war will end in a shameful and extremely dangerous defeat for the US and NATO.

Afghanistan has been treated like a reprise of the Vietnam war by the left and the right, an opportunity to 'get it right' this time, or to repeat the past.

Vietnam was a limited war, part of a global cold war. Afghanistan is the reaction to a mass fatality attack on the American heartland, an attack which was an act of total war and a war crime.

If Afghanistan ends in defeat, if the Taliban survive, then every potential adversary will know that America's reaction to an attack on the scale of 9/11 will consist of threatening rhetoric, appeasement, and restrained and incoherent military action that is ultimately futile.

If a future President were to designate Iran as a default target for nuclear retaliation in response to WMD terrorism (in a parallel to Kennedy during the Cuba crisis) why should rational Iranians take this threat seriously when Bush's threat against the Taliban after 9/11 proves to be no more consequential than Comical Ali's ramblings?
Posted by: Omaing White7048   2010-11-07 13:47  

#6  I don't care what the Talibs say. This war is a complete waste of blood and treasure. We can no longer afford to continue this idiocy. The smartest thing the Republicans could say would be to get our troops out now, continue the drawdown in Iraq and reduce defense spending. That would give them the opening needed to reduce Soc Sec and Medicare. Our debt is our greatest threat, not some turbans in some cesspool on the other side of the planet.
Posted by: remoteman   2010-11-07 12:54  

#5  Steve White: Since they're no longer needed to vote in congress, I think it's a smashingly good idea that they get to know the Afghan people first hand. In fact, it would be worth it for the US to set up an American colony there, just for disaffected liberals.

And let the liberals enslave any Afghan they can catch. They would go for that part.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2010-11-07 11:19  

#4  Frank. you got me reminiscing, thinking about the bad old days. Let's see, I've identified Bambi as an LBJ wimpout for months.

Now it's clear Howard Dean will play the self-righteous, holier-than-thou campus rabble-rouser role of Clean Gene, allowing Sheriff Joe to reprise the Hubert Horatio Hornblower Humphrey role. Patraitor Leahy has a lock on the Frank Church role. Too bad Specter and Crist are gone. They'd make great George Aiken and Wayne Morse's. And the group should be led by Ramsey Clark fill-in Erich Holder.

But who to play the Jane Fonda part? The lefty babes aren't what they used to be.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2010-11-07 10:33  

#3  Frank, Hinchley, Pelosi, Hoyer, Jackson Jr., Gutierrez, Waters, should all be on the fact-finding commission. They should all go to Kandahar, Peshawar and Quetta. And stay there.
Posted by: Steve White   2010-11-07 10:09  

#2  disagree. They're looking for victory on other-than-the-battlefield. They can't defeat us, we can only defeat ourselves by giving up. See: Viet Nam
Posted by: Frank G   2010-11-07 09:56  

#1  They are quite certain they're winning.
Posted by: lotp   2010-11-07 09:51  

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