Who’s Afraid Of The Taliban Wolf?
By Trevor Selvam
10 December, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Let’s cut to the chase right away. The real reason for Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan has nothing to do with the increased Taliban visibility in Afghanistan or the fear of the Al-Qaeda organizing attacks on the United States. The word "Taliban" is a diddly-arse, lazy and yet deceptive generic name given to all forces fighting foreign presence on Afghan soil. From Stone Age jihadists to secular Afghan patriots, (who have for centuries fought foreign invaders from the Turks and Persians to Greeks, Brits and Soviets) have assembled there to fight the Americans and their allies. And the whole world knows that the Afghans have won each time! Petraeus knows that and McChrystal, the new darling of the putschist right, knows that. But, by dangling the image of the murderous Taliban, it also swiftly kick starts the orientalist-alarmist-islamophobic mindset of a substantial section of Americans, if not the majority. And Obama knows that, as well, despite his stated objectives to be transparent and above board. This state of mind works in the DC beltway, it works in the 'burbs, it works from Texas to Alaska via California amongst academics and think-tankers and it works on the telemedia; so all average Americans can swallow it hook, line and sinker. It worked, as well, some thirty-five years ago when in the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong were designated as North Vietnamese Communists dressed up as South Vietnamese! And Americans believed it, for the most part, until some brave American journalists started cutting through the BS and started calling a spade, a spade and not a donkey.
Suddenly, the Taliban are all over!
The National Security Advisor to Obama ,only three week ago, said that there are about 100 Al-Qaeda operatives left in Afghanistan. The Pentagon now calls everyone who wears a turban and loose pajamas, wears a beard and has grim non-smiling looks as a Taliban! Everyone in Afghanistan is becoming a Taliban! Strangely enough, a survey done by some pollsters in Afghanistan stated that only 10% of Afghan people really supported the Taliban. It was circulated for a while by a section of the media, who were looking at it from another perspective. That is, the Taliban have no support. That they are undemocratic medievalists. Suddenly that poll has dropped out of sight and Taliban might is on the rise. What are we ordinary folks to do? As they say in India, do we eat mooli (turnip) and live in a state of levitating vacuity? Because both the press and the telemedia in India also seem to have bought into this general line of thinking. Do the media think that the Indian people have stopped thinking?
So what is the real condition of this supposed danger to America's security? Suddenly, does the sending of 30,000 troops, plus hordes of undocumented, subcontracted criminal mercenaries and the promise of another 7-8,000 new NATO troops satisfy the war-mania of the McChrystals and the Petraeus' s? Obama's balls are in a knot. While sounding extraordinarily statesmanlike, inspiring and concerned, Obama is essentially a figure head in the hands of the often competing lobbies of the Pentagon-military-industrial complex, the large oil and gas corporations and the Wall Street financial mafia. He cannot outdo them, just as he could not trash the pharma-lobby on Health Care. In fact, he is now living out a soft coup d’état engineered by Petraeus and McChrystal.
The United States has built 9 large air bases in Afghanistan. One may want to ask why? If drones are so effective, why the large bases? Well! Drones are not good enough for full spectrum dominance of the whole region, silly! They are good for chasing and murdering scurrying civilian into caves and graves. In comparison, Pakistan has ten major Air Force Bases that are active. There are several other satellite bases as well. Please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_
Pakistan_Air_Force_bases . But Pakistan has several hundred squadrons of modern aircraft. As of September 2009, the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANA Air Corps) had 32 rotary-wing and 8 fixed-wing aircraft in serviceable condition. The rest were all old Czech trainers and old Soviet helicopters. It is said that The US is re-equipping the Afghans with newer helicopters. There is something afoot as far as these new airbases go and it does not seem to have much to with the fiery Taliban. To fight guerillas in the mountains and suicide bombers in the cities, you cannot have much use for modern air bases with long runways.
What is the War really for?
There is a glaring lack of transparency both on the part of Obama and of course on the part of the Pentagon warlords. They do not want to tell the 30, 000 men and women what they are going to war for and die for?
The Pentagon wants a presence in Central Asia. On the western flank it launched the "Orange Revolution in Ukraine", then it got Sakashvilli to do a disastrous hoop-dance in Georgia, then it tried to stack the missile bases in Poland and Czech Republic. Against Iran? Please give us half intelligent people a slight break!
Let’s get the picture straight. It's all about breaking the possibility of an alliance between Russia, China and the old breakaway republics of the Soviet Union. The Shanghai enclave. And to complete that wonderful circle, the US also needs the alliance with India. India is the best bet for the US. Not Pakistan. A military alliance, make no mistake! The US has tilted for India completely. An unprecedented counter-insurgency joint operation happened just a few weeks ago, a few anti-tank missile distances away from New Delhi, involving hundreds of US troops, in Iraq-returned Stryker tanks, Cavalry, Marines, paratroopers in joint military exercises. Not a toot in the Indian press and amongst the raving red, left-wing parliamentarians about such a major development on Indian soil. In 2005, the Indian and U.S. navies carried out major war games on the Arabian Sea, with the 6,000 troop aircraft carrier USS-Nimitz in command. It was the first time the US had participated in such a large military exercise outside of NATO. I think VK Krishna Menon would have been puking in his funeral pyre out of sheer nausea!
The United States may not get a base in India, but it will allow India to install it's most advanced missile systems for intercontinental strikes, very soon. Patriots are already on the way. And these missiles will not be pointed at Pakistan. They will be pointed at a slightly North Easterly direction! Remember Rumsfeld signed a deal with India for military cooperation, a few years ago. There is continuity to US geo-political designs that Obama cannot dodge.
The United States wants to continue to have a long term military base in Asia. They have them in Europe. They need them in Asia. And India is the best bet. From the Arabian Sea and the Indian land mass to Diego Garcia, there is a nice littoral necklace building up. And that is why the Chinese are also so edgy and not happy and are often making not-so-friendly statements at times.
Now, Pakistan has traditionally been China's special friend. Pakistan is economically dependent on the US, but historically Pakistan cannot any longer be the Ayub Khan-SEATO-era local enforcer and local sentinel of cold war shit-disturbing tactics. Besides Pakistan's tendencies to implode are so serious, that the US has virtually given up on trying to make a permanent presence there. If it was the old days of Ayub Khan or if Cheney and Musharraf could get together again, the US would have made their own air bases in every major town of Pakistan. Remember where U2 Gary Powers flew off from, when the Soviets shot him down? But with the current set-up in Pakistan, it is impossible
So, in the final analysis, the USA is there for long term geo-political presence. Not because it needs peace to perpetuate a failed concept called Globalization! Not because of the scruffy incorrigible Taliban, not to bring democracy and not to save Afghan women! The US wants to prevent any emergence of any challenge to the global economic domination of the US. And only the Russia-China alliance can stop this.
Medvedev will hug Hillary Clinton and she will sing praises of him, Manmohan Singh will shake kinds with Wen Jiabao, till his delicate economist hands start to ache, the Russians will give a warm welcome to Ahmedinejad and the Chinese will give Obama a rousing reception in Beijing. (The Chinese are very adept at photo opportunities). The Indians will hug the Iranians (what a shame-two nations and cultures that have always been close to each other) and then the Indians will stab them at the IAEA. Is anything in the world genuine?
All the nations say one thing, shake hands with each other, pledge support and visit each other and buss and hug the hell out of each other, and even have joint military exercises sometimes, but everyone has their knives ready. The true alliances in the meantime are building up slowly. India needs the US more than India needs Russia. The U.S. needs India more than it needs Pakistan. And nobody needs Afghanistan. Except if you can’t have Pakistan, you must settle for its nearest geographical neighbor, which is Afghanistan.
