Article

2003-01-31 Middle East

Even Pravda knows US troops are in Iraq already

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Posted by Steve White 2003-01-31 01:42 am|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 In one sense, they DO have a point: SOME of the Afghans we trained to fight the commie imperialists certainly used those same skills to try and fight us. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority, if not all, of our Afghan combat casualties were caused by people we trained. Going Off topic, but that's why Turkey is worried: We not only know how to fight, but we know how to train people to fight.

In that note, I have to register my cautious, my-eyes-wide-open agreement: We not only gotta train the Kurds to be meaner SOBs, but we gotta make sure they stay OUR meaner SOBs.

Posted by Ptah 2003-01-31 06:40:54|| 2003-01-31 06:40:54|| Front Page Top

#2 Invisible special operations and AWACS, the two keys to the ~~Spanish Inquisition~~ American military. Er, invisible special operations, ethnic soldiers and AWACS, the three keys to the ~~Spanish Inquisition~~ American military. Er, ...

Posted by Chuck 2003-01-31 07:39:28|| [blog.simmins.org] 2003-01-31 07:39:28|| Front Page Top

#3 Oy...when will this blowback theorizing end? Hey, Ptah...ever been to Pakistan? Afghanistan? Jeez...let me spell it out. Arabs, plus Pak ISI and assorted western crackpots=Al Qa'eda. Taliban=some former American trained/supported mujahideen, but vast majority 'students' We didn't train any Al Qa'eda...I know, I worked in the 80s for the US government with the mujahideen. And recently came back from Afghanistan again. Al Qa'eda were and are hated with a passion by the Afghans--they are troublesome interlopers and never accepted by the population...only by SOME Taliban. Al Qa'eda and Bin Laden never fought with the mujahideen til it was safe...i.e. the war with Soviets was over. Afghans thought them cowards for sitting out the war in villas and hotels in Peshawar; waiting for their main chance with the emerging Taliban. No blowback...except from our 'friends' the Pakistanis. Those we did support, like Hekmatyar, weren't welcome by the Taliban either...he went into exile in Iran. The vast majority--in fact, nearly all--of the mujahideen did not make common cause with even the Taliban. They continued to take the fight to the Taliban throughout a protracted civil war. The Taliban were not a factor in the Soviet war, fact is, they didn't exist til long after the war was over...they were children during that war, busily preparing in madrassas...funded by our other 'friends' the Saudis.

Posted by Anonymous 2003-01-31 09:17:07|| 2003-01-31 09:17:07|| Front Page Top

#4 OKAY, seems I got my comment about the Pravda article posted under the article about Turkey above. My screw up. It belongs down here. So if interested go read it up there. Sigh.

Posted by Rifle308 2003-01-31 10:12:10|| 2003-01-31 10:12:10|| Front Page Top

#5 Relax, guys, it's PRAVDA. Since the breakup of the Sovs, it's been pretty much the russian "National Enquirer". UFO stories a speciality.

Posted by mojo 2003-01-31 11:54:32|| 2003-01-31 11:54:32|| Front Page Top

#6 I especially like their Al Sharpton coverage.

Posted by tu3031 2003-01-31 13:03:48|| 2003-01-31 13:03:48|| Front Page Top

#7 Hey, Anonymous. I've been wondering to what degree the mujahideen aided by the US were Pashtun. Were there any? I gather that the (Afghan) Taliban were almost entirely Pashtun.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2003-01-31 13:59:06|| [darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2003-01-31 13:59:06|| Front Page Top

#8 Hek's mujaheddin were virtually all Pashtuns. The Pandjiris, under Massoud, were the ones who did most of the fighting, and virtually all the effective fighting. They were (are) an alliance of Tadjiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, what have you.

Hek spent a lot of time plotting against Massoud, and because he was tight with Qazi and the JI he got the lion's share of the money. Matters were complicated further by the presence of Sayyaf, who was the Soddies' ~~stooge~~ man on the scene, and whose alignment could shift from one day to the next. Ismail Khan had a separate organization from both the Pandjiris and Hek, which is why he's still maintaining his autonomy in Herat.

The Talibs were almost all Pashtuns, and quite a few of them were Paks (with "dual citizenship," of course). They got their start in the Pak madrassahs. Samiul Haq was their mentor, though Fazl and Qazi were also very, very close friends with them.

The U.S. "aided" the muj through ISI, and the amount of money that stuck to the fingers of the Peshawar-Quetta fundo axis is probably a significant factor in its present financial health. I believe that most of our guys on the ground were either in the Peshawar-Quetta area on the Pak side of the border, or with the Pandjiris, with whom we had much better relations than we had with Hek and Sayyaf.

Posted by Fred 2003-01-31 15:29:24|| 2003-01-31 15:29:24|| Front Page Top

#9 Thanks for the clarification, Anonymous and Fred.

Posted by Ptah 2003-01-31 20:51:00|| 2003-01-31 20:51:00|| Front Page Top

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