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Alan Grayson: Afghan War 'Futile'
Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson said Tuesday that the war in Afghanistan is "futile" and vowed to vote against the Pentagon's appropriations bill to protest President Barack Obama's decision to send more U.S. troops there.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) says he'll vote against Pentagon appropriations bill to protest President Barack Obama's troop surge. (Photo: John Shinkle) "This is an 18th century strategy being employed against a 14th century enemy," Grayson said. " Other countries, one after the other, have given up on this strategy over the years. This war is costing us much too much in both lives and money. There's too much blood being shed in Afghanistan. There's too much blood being shed in Iraq. And there are simply better ways to accomplish the same goals."
Grayson answered with a definitive "yes" when asked if he intends to vote against the pending Department of Defense appropriations bill.
How many other anti-war Democrats will do the same isn't clear, and Grayson said he hasn't yet tried to garner support among those opposed to the troop escalation.
"Each one of us has to decide that for himself or herself, I guess. I don't know if you'll see a lot of that or not. But I do know that we're finding the futility of being the world's policeman is becoming more and more obvious," Grayson said.
Grayson is one of a dozen co-sponsors of a privileged resolution demanding an end to the war in Afghanistan. The leader of that effort, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), complained on the House floor Tuesday about efforts to attach an extension of unemployment benefits to the Pentagon appropriations bill.
"Unfortunately, we are now telling the American people that the only way they will get unemployment compensation is to support another $130 billion to keep wars going," Kucinich said. "What a cruel choice Congress is forcing on people out of work. Put your sons and daughters on the firing line, and we will pay you for being in the unemployment line."
Although Kucinich has not explicitly said he will vote against the legislation, a spokesperson for the Congressman noted he has yet to vote in favor of a war appropriations bill.
- Posted in
44 Comments so far
Show All"the world's policeman"
that's a good one.
I nearly wet myself!
snydly
like the world's firemen in Farenheit 451...
Mr. Grayson, may I respectfully suggest that you leave the Democratic party. You're not just wasting your time staying in that brothel, you're killing your soul.
Good video here about Obama's old ties to the CIA and more.
http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2009/09/
business-international-corporation.html
This is an excellent video. It puts everything in perspective, even if you suspected all of these things a while ago. Thank you.
Grayson for President! And let's hope the Republicans die quickly (along with the Blue Dog Dems).
Congress and the media allow a few statements from a few representatives of peace and sanity, but it never goes any further.
Kudos to Grayson and Kucinich et al. It must take a lot of stubborn fortitude to keep trying year after year to get us back from 1984, Behind the Looking Glass, Wonderland, Animal Farm, or wherever we have strayed to.
Obviously, universal medical services is a human right, and in the US could be paid for, relatively easily, through a single payer system with just a portion of our current 'defense' expenditures. The whole domestic economy could be turned around by 'going green' and manufacturing our own stuff again. It's not rocket science.
There's some reason why none of this has happened, and we all know what that reason is. I'm afraid it will take some almost cataclysmic event to change the current situation and give Grayson, Kucinich, et al a real voice.
"wherever we have strayed to."
the dark side.
Yep.
The problem is the greedy pig worldview.
Rep. Waters declared "We can no longer afford for our public policy to be defined by the worldview of Wall Street."
Grayson rocks! I only wish he were my congressperson! But I live in Arizona, where I can happily share my thoughts and opinions with Jon Kyl and John McCain.
Grayson Grayson he's our man
Stop the war cry where he can
Afghanistan or Iraq or in Palestine
Damn my congressman, make Grayson mine
HOWARD DEAN ---- CORPORATE RICH PAID ACTOR?
First, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) just said
this about the progressive Senators,
"They are not happy," he acknowledged. "I'm not happy.
I don't like the way this has progressed."
Second, since January Dean like a puppet on a string has repeated almost word-for-word the Obama position, “Single Payer is off the table...” and with this final draft, “A robust Public Option is not essential...”
Third, now that the bill is almost set in concrete Dean like a drowning rat tries to jump ship.
Dean has never been more than an opportunist.
That was made painfully obvious before BushCo's invasion-and-massacre in Iraq. Dean was bobbing and weaving trying to find a position that would advance his campaign for president. And of course he, being wealthy and having a right-wing track record in Vermont, was anointed the 'anti-war candidate' and given all the attention that Kucinich in fact deserved. The whole game was sickeningly obvious to anyone who looked.
Go get 'em Alan, Dennis, Peter, et al
The aggressive and suppressive actions in the Middle East and Central-South Asia have little or nothing to do with Al Qaeda--they're playing with our heads. It's about OOIL< GAAS and PIPELINES, CONTRACTS and the Grand Delusion of an American Empire (the New American Century). The NAC is about environmental devastation, economic deterioration, financial collapse as a few greedy, psychologically ill S.O.B.'s suck away at the trough, getting every fatter and sicker...
-Boy, the Americans have such a great philosophic and operational framework for an empire--greed, ignorance, and arrogant actions based on policies rooted in violence--it's the American Way! It will break down sooner than most people think. Better to make the common sense measures such as getting our unwanted troops out of both countries as soon as possible. The exit strategy should be based on a timetable, with suitable informing of Afghan groups inc. the 'government', warlords, religious authorities, etc. and be done via two modes--boat and plane. Do it now or regret it later. The bloodbath they intone is going on right now and has occurred apace ever since the g.d. Americans stuck their rotten pricks into the foreign pool.
NOT simply protest; STOP Bunker Obomb's wars. Cut him off at the BILL$!
Alan and Dennis are a minority and are treated as such. I voted for Dennis in the primaries and was infuriated when they refused to let him debate and when he was allowed he was asked ridiculous questions by the stupid anchor persons. It was a disgusting sham. I would vote for him again and I would vote for Alan. They are the tiny little light in this mad house we call our Congress. But, I am from Michigan where our senators and representives just ride the waves.
snydly
It's the corporate business form, folks.
If all war industries were revenue-neutral and executives limited to the salary of the president for the duration of hostilities, wars would be short and few.
CORP IS BORG.
Fortunately, Nature is about to bring the tent down on this circus of death for profit.
Love Grayson and Kucinich.
HURRA A LOS DOS
Although they will not be successful, it is important that Grayson, Kucinich and a few others vote against the military appropriations to make it clear to the president that his decision to escalate is very, very risky. Obama may just manage, with the help of crafty diplomacy, to extract the US from this war within the next two to three years, but there is also a strong chance that his esclation will create chaos in Pakistan. I can only hope that Obama does not plan to give the fanatic McChrystal a free hand to attack across the border becasue that is likely to cause the Pakistani army to fracture. If the Pakistani army remains united, the country's nuclear arms will be secure. If the Pak army blows apart, India will inevitably invade and try to annex Pakistan to assure its own security.
To a large, Pakistan since 1947 is its army. There is no common history, ethnic identity or language.
Grayson and Kucinich along with several others in that dysfunctional MadHouse on the Hill need to detach themselves from the Dumbocratic Party and offer their formidable and needed services to forming a viable third party, one that can really challenge the status quo idiocracy that's busy every day digging a collective grave for us all. If it's to be the Greens, fine; if some other, more coherent organization, better still.
Nothing Grayson or Kucinich want to see happen in this world is going to come about through the self-defeating machinations of the useless worthless Democrats. I know it, they know it, anyone with a functioning synapse knows it.
"Grayson is one of a dozen co-sponsors of a privileged resolution demanding an end to the war in Afghanistan. The leader of that effort, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), complained on the House floor Tuesday about efforts to attach an extension of unemployment benefits to the Pentagon appropriations bill."
And that's how they did the last time with the war funding, they attached the hate crimes bill to it. And when I commented on this on another forum I was told that I needed to learn a few things, that this is the way bills are passed -- as if I didn't know that already. Just because that's the way it's done doesn't make it right. It's downright sleazy, and in both cases seriously playing with lives -- the lives of the people who need these benefits and the lives of those who will die in these unnecessary and futile wars.
Perhaps Single Payer Healthcare might be attached...
I do think these few sincere people need to start working on a People's Party, get it ready for 2012. Really. There must be enough people around by now who see and hate what's happening- corporate rule denying us universal healthcare, corporate military making more and bigger wars we all hate- we really have a majority now. we need to use it, take the country back. But we do need to start now. After this war and unemployment bill passes, the progressive caucus needs to march- out of the party.
"This is an 18th century strategy being employed against a 14th century enemy," Grayson said. " Other countries, one after the other, have given up on this strategy over the years. This war is costing us much too much in both lives and money. There's too much blood being shed in Afghanistan. There's too much blood being shed in Iraq. And there are simply better ways to accomplish the same goals."
This is something to cheer about? What same goals, defeat the "evil" in the world currently possesing the bodies of memebers of "Al Qaida"; getting a pipeline built? Unless he refutes the use of dehumanizing enemy imagery ( done so well by Mr. Obama when picking up his "Peace Prize" one has to wonder if Barack is a NeoCon) and presents an unambiguous statement on the US goals, then statements like that of Grayson are at best fund raising chatter to excite donars outside his district...and a perpetuation of the onward march of the inhuman war machine.
"THE WORLD'S POLICEMAN"....
those are the critical definitions of the USA.
begging the question:
WHO , IN FACT, ASKED THE UNITED STATES to ASSIGN ITSELF the role of "world's policeman?"
unless of course the answer is the ONLY TRUTH that dares not speak its name:
the USA assigns itself the "world's policeman" role because it THINKS the WORLD BELONGS to the USA to POLICE.
Before you get all hot over Grayson, remember, he voted for a resolution to condemn the Goldstone report. I guess he's against some occupations and not others?
I am personally very disappointed in the entire Congress of the USA.
having said that : because of the reality that the USA has 2 wings of the same war party ....if even a small chance that a particular politician can be encouraged to evolve and MAINTAIN a path that in any way veers from the CURRENT ONES...such as the reality of being in a war in afghanistan...that politician, within the context of what IS ...that he is ONE of those that might push positions that can challenge the norm...should, imo, be encouraged.
the imperfections ...: he voted against the Goldstone report, are what they are. whether or not he can reconcile these with the better positions...what else is there to say but that we can only hope?.
the depth of the USA's culture of Imperial dominance is so great that the choices are so limited ...between that of a cliff and an abyss. but even the smallest chance out of that -- people shouldn't just give up.
i am taking that view because of an example from my own home country : the philippines.
there was a dictatorship by marcos for 25 years..where he literally not only ruled with a kind of iron fist ...although daily life was quite "normal" ...but more importantly, used that position to ram through things that eventually destroyed the economy , and away from what had once been a rather progressive and tolerably prosperous country among asian countries...and did that not without some "assistance" from the so-called Neo liberal US inspired system for which his Martial law was imposed to SERVE that purpose.
were the replacements, like Aquino, the widow of marcos' archrival, who inspired the country to peacefully revolt, including the army , against marcos and the USA's puppet, or those after him that MUCH better?, especially for the economy?
not necessarily. there is still corruption..the economy is still in shambles as a result of the neo-liberal "prescriptions" that ravaged Asia 2 decades ago...again, that Washington "consensus" at work.
BUT what ELSE could people do? life has to go on. they make the best they can under the circumstances..and it is within that the struggle for betterment goes on....whether it meets with utter failure or success.
it can't stop.
He may be as close to Don Quixote as we are going to get right now.
I don't agree with his Goldstone vote.
Lets see what he does for the the time being.
Otherwise, I'm thinking anarchy or seppuku.
Grayson is starting to look more interesting day after day. If he keeps this up, I might just be interested in a Kucinich/Grayson ticket for president either via primarying out Obama/Biden or running as strong progressive independents for what it is worth.
" There is too much blood being shed in Afghanistan. There is too much blood being shed in Iraq". Yeah, but we all live in the heart of the beast called Dracula and it cannot survive without blood!
Right on. Someone in Washington still has a conscience and knows how to use it.
yes, i don't know why grayson wouldn't see the same oppression in the territories occupied by israel, or why he wouldn't point out that israel has more nuclear warheads per citizen than any other country in the world. 7 million israelis with 700 nuclear weapons; the us would have to have 30,000 nuclear weapons in its arsenal to possess proportionately equivalent numbers. amazing how little coverage that part of the goldstone report received that verified the israelis were using chemical weapons against the natives; this time it was white phosphorous. targeting farm lands and crop production is just genocidal, and the goldstone report contains irrefutable proof that the israelis were guilty of both these things. finally, grayson, i believe, is jewish, and he represents many other jewish folks in florida who would not take kindly to any criticism of israel. i also doubt that grayson will be calling for the jailing of anti-castro terrorists who are at large in south florida. but, give the boy credit for what he can comfortably do; he is an articulate, engaging, and determined spokesman for the left on afghanistan, iraq, and health care. i'd vote for him over obama in a minute!
MEANWHILE HERE IS THE RESULT OF THE USA INVASION -- WHERE IT CONCERNS THE ORIGINAL "PLAN" FOR US OIL CORPORATIONS TO CONTROL IRAQ'S OIL.........
====================
Dec 16, 2009
THE ROVING EYE
Iraq's oil auction hits the jackpot
By Pepe Escobar
BEIJING - Former United States vice president Dick Cheney, ex-defense minister Donald Rumsfeld and assorted US neo-cons will have plenty of time to nurse their apoplexy. One of their key reasons to unleash the war on Iraq in 2003 was to seize control of its precious oilfields and thus shape a great deal of the new great game in Eurasia - the energy front - by restricting the access of Europe and Asia to Iraq's staggering 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
After at least US$2 trillion spent by Washington and arguably more than a million dead Iraqis, it has come to this: a pipe dream definitely buried this past weekend in Baghdad with round two of bids to exploit a number of vast and immensely profitable oil fields.
The bids, supervised by the Oil Ministry, were presented on a live
TV game show. Instead of American Idol, Iraqis got "Oil Idol". In a raucous carpet bazaar atmosphere, the ministry played "my way or the highway" and forced 44 foreign Big Oil corporations to cut to the max the fee they collect on every barrel extracted in Iraq and submit to 20-year contracts. These multinationals were not given a share in Iraqi oil production; they will be paid a $2 fee per barrel for raising output above a mutually agreed level.
Still, for Big Oil, the possibility of having a crack at all those mega-giant fields in Shi'ite-controlled southeast Iraq - the largest concentration of its kind in the world - led all players to yell , "It's raining oil!" Once you've paid the ticket, you're inside the theater. And what a theatre ... The Iraqi government may end up paying foreign Big Oil as much as $50 billion for its know-how. All these "service" deals will dodge Iraq's parliament - which might throw a wrench in the works. And Big Oil will still get $2 for each barrel of extra crude above a minimum production target.
In June, Iraq held its first oil auction, offering foreign companies the chance to increase production at already-pumping fields. The latest auction was the first time foreign firms could bid on untapped fields. Of the 10 groups of fields available, seven were awarded.
ARTICLE CONTINUED
===============
Win-win for Russia and China
Cheney's and Rumsfeld's script was never supposed to develop like this. Instead of US Big Oil getting the lion's share, strategic competitors Russia and China turned out to be big winners. Dick Cheney's "consolation prize" was an Exxon-Mobil-Shell alliance getting the phase 1 of West Qurna in early November. Exxon-Mobil had been the favorite to also win Rumaila (17.8 billion barrels of reserves). But a BP-CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) alliance got it in the end because unlike Exxon-Mobil they agreed to cut their fee per barrel down to the Oil Ministry-enforced $2.
CNPC (50%), along with partners Total from France (25%) and Petronas from Malaysia (25%), was also a big winner for Halfaya (4.1 billion barrels of reserves, projected output of 535,000 barrels per day (bpd)), southeast of Amara.
Petronas again (with 60%), and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (Japex), with 40%, will invest a cool $7 billion to develop Gharaf (reserves of around 860 million barrels, projected output of 230,000 bpd). Bidding was fierce. Losers were a joint Turkish-Indian bid, a Kazakh/South Korean/Italian consortium, and Pertamina from Indonesia.
A Petronas-Shell alliance got the highly coveted Majnoon (reserves of more than 12 billion barrels, projected output of 1.8 million bpd), near the Iranian border. Russia's Lukoil (85%), with junior partner Statoil (15%), got phase 2 of the immense West Qurna (located 65 kilometers northwest of Basra; about 12 billion barrels of reserves; projected production of 1.8 million bpd) - which in theory it had already bagged under Saddam Hussein. When Lukoil was stripped of its contract by Saddam, it blamed US-instigated United Nations sanctions, while Saddam blamed Lukoil itself.
West Qurna's phase 1 (8.7 billion barrels of reserves, with a projection to increase output from 300,000 bpd to 2.3 million bpd before 2016) was won in November by the aforementioned Exxon Mobil-Shell alliance. Losers were Total from France, a consortium of Petronas, Pertamina and Petrovietnam, and a BP-CNPC alliance.
Gazprom (40%), with junior partners TPAO, Kogas and Petronas, got Badra (projected production of 170,000 bpd). Unlike the mad scramble for the southern fields, no one even bid for the East Baghdad field, for obvious reasons: it's located in a virtual war zone. [1]
The Shi'ites are coming!
Iraq nationalized its oil industry in 1972. Now Big Oil is back with a vengeance. Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani made no bones about Iraq's ambitions, saying, "Our principal objective is to increase our oil production from 2.4 million barrels per day to more than four million in the next five years." Iraq is at present exporting less oil than under Saddam, but it aims to export seven million barrels a day by 2016. Shahristani also insists "our country will have total control over production".
That is enormously debatable.
For the moment, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government in Baghdad is obviously a winner. Iraq currently gets only $60 billion a year in oil revenues. It's not enough to rebuild a country destroyed by the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, UN sanctions and the American occupation. Arguably, Iraq's oil industry would not have sufficient funds, equipment and technical people to get back on its feet alone.
Whether with more oil revenues Baghdad will be able to impose law and order - starting with the capital - and fully equip its 275,000 military plus police forces, that's an open question. No one knows for sure who will be in control of Iraq in the near future, with parliamentary elections due early next year. A new government may be tempted to renegotiate these contracts, or even invalidate them.
In the next few years, with Iraq being able to reach the target of producing at least four million barrels a day, it's fair to argue this won't substantially influence the price of oil; but it will prevent it from shooting up out of proportion. China is now importing over four million bpd - and this will continue to rise. China by itself will be gobbling up any output increase in the global oil market.
What the early 2010s will definitely see is the rise of a relatively wealthy, Shi'ite-controlled Iraq friendly with Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. Essentially, Shi'ite Islam on the rise. The US-friendly autocracies and dictatorships in the Gulf will cry again, "It's the return of the Shi'ite crescent!" United States think-tanks may be tempted to define Maliki as the new Saddam. The only difference is that by then, Cheney and company will be safely ensconced in the dustbin of history.
Note
1. To see which companies got what in detail, go here
Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007) and Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge. His new book, just out, is Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).
He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
THIS is of course Excluding the fact that recently :
when iraq also opened up for international business with a Fair --- to award contracts to all kinds of businesses --
out of 100 plus awards to foreign businesses ...only TWO were awarded to two MINOR american companies. ...reportedly because Iraqis seeking business contracts were leery of americans for reportedly:
"over-pricing...and shoddy work...and the invasion and occupation".
that's the PRIZE the United States gets for invading a country thinking it was good enough to control that country...the USA thought that be RAPING IRAQ -- IRAQ was going to LOVE being raped . "they're going to welcome us with flowers".....
how stupid that concept is.
One of the main reasons for the US invasion in '03 was that Saddam's Iraq began selling oil in Euros rather than in Dollars.
It is fascinating to see that even the US installed "puppet" government is growing increasingly disenchanted with its puppet master. Truly we are witnessing the beginning of the end of American imperialism.
THE USA uses the Taliban's supposed "DRUG BUSINESS" as part of the reasons to "defeat the taliban" which is of course really a red-herring from the real intent of simply controlling afghanistan for the Pipelinistan and washington's "full spectrum dominance" project.
HOWEVER - it appears that the taliban themselves are the beneficiaries of drug business - FAR LESS than appearances and claims BY the USA shows:
the much greater PROFITS from the drug business , according to this report, goes to US CLIENTS....
======================
Dec 16, 2009
Trail of Afghanistan's drug money exposed
By Julien Mercille
As United States President Barack Obama and his advisors debated future troop levels for Afghanistan - which resulted in the decision to send an additional 30,000 troops - a new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) muddied the water on one of the most important issues in the debate - the effects of Afghanistan's drug production.
The report, entitled "Addiction, Crime, and Insurgency: The Transnational Threat of Afghan Opium," gives the false impression that the Taliban are the main culprits behind Afghanistan's skyrocketing drug production. It also implies that drugs are the main reason why the Taliban are gaining in strength, absolving the
United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of their own responsibility in fomenting the insurgency.
In fact, the United States and its Afghan allies bear a large share of responsibility for the drug industry's dramatic expansion since the invasion. Buried deep in the report, its authors admit that reduced levels of drug production would have little effect on the insurgency's vigor.
The following annotation rebuffs some of the report's main assertions, puts in perspective the Taliban's role in the opium economy and highlights US/NATO responsibility for its expansion and potential reduction.
Taliban insurgents draw some US$125 million annually from drugs, which is more money than 10 years ago, [and as a result] the perfect storm of drugs and terrorism, that has struck the Afghan/Pakistani border for years, may be heading towards Central Asia. A big part of the region could be engulfed in large-scale terrorism, endangering its massive energy resources.
ARTICLE CONTINUED
=================
These claims are supposed to make us shudder in the face of an impending narco-terrorist seizure of a large chunk of the world's energy resources. UNODC states that a decade ago the Taliban earned $85 million per year from drugs, but that since 2005 this figure has jumped to $125 million. Although this is pitched as a significant increase, the Taliban play a more minor role in the opium economy than UNODC would have us believe and drug money is probably a secondary source of funding for them. Indeed, the report estimates that only 10-15% of Taliban funding is drawn from drugs and 85% comes from "non-opium sources".
The total revenue generated by opiates within Afghanistan is about $3.4 billion per year. Of this figure, according to UNODC, the Taliban get only 4% of the sum. Farmers, meanwhile, get 21%.
And the remaining 75%? Al-Qaeda? No: The report specifies that it "does not appear to have a direct role in the Afghan opiates trade," although it may participate in "low-level drugs and/or arms smuggling" along the Pakistani border.
Instead, the remaining 75% is captured by government officials, the police, local and regional power brokers and traffickers - in short, many of the groups now supported (or tolerated) by the United States and NATO are important actors in the drug trade.
The New York Times recently revealed that Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzai's brother, has long been on the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) payroll, in addition to his probable shady dealings in drugs. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as US and NATO forces have long supported warlords, commanders and illegal militias with a record of human-rights abuses and involvement in narcotics. A former CIA officer said, "Virtually every significant Afghan figure has had brushes with the drug trade." According to a New York University report, General Nazri Mahmad, a warlord who "control[s] a significant portion of the province's lucrative opium industry," has the contract to provide security for the German Provincial Reconstruction Team.
UNODC insists on making the Taliban-drugs connection front-page news while not chasing with the same intensity those supported by Washington. The agency seems to be acting as an enabler of US/NATO policies in Afghanistan.
When I asked the UNODC official who supervised the report what percentage of total drug income in Afghanistan was captured by government officials, the reply was quick: "We don't do that, I don't know."
Instead of pointing a finger directly at the US/NATO-backed government, the report gives the impression that the problem lies mostly with rotten apples who threaten an otherwise well-intentioned government.
But the roots of Afghanistan's upsurge in drug production since 2001 are directly related to US policies and the government that was installed in the wake of the invasion. The United States attacked Afghanistan in 2001, in alliance with anti-Taliban warlords and drug lords, showering them with millions of dollars and other forms of support. The empowerment and enrichment of the warlords with whom the US allied itself enabled them to tax and protect opium traffickers, leading to the quick resumption of opium production after the hiatus of the 2000 Taliban ban.
To blame "corruption" and "criminals" for the state of affairs is to ignore the direct and predictable effects of US policies, which have simply followed a historical pattern of toleration and empowerment of local drug lords in the pursuit of broader foreign policy objectives, as Alfred McCoy and others have documented in detail.
Impunity for drug lords and warlords continues: a US Senate report noted in August that no major traffickers have been arrested in Afghanistan since 2006, and that successful prosecutions of significant traffickers are often overturned by a simple bribe or protection from above, revealing counter-narcotics efforts to be deficient at best.
)
ARTICLE CONTINUED
=========================
Identifying drugs as the main cause behind Taliban advances absolves the US/NATO of their own responsibility in fomenting the insurgency: their very presence in the country, as well as their destructive attacks on civilians account for a good deal of the recent increase in popular support for the Taliban.
In fact, buried deep in the report, its authors admit that reducing drug production would have only "minimal impact on the insurgency's strategic threat". The Taliban receive "significant funding from private donors all over the world", a contribution which "dwarfs" drug money. Although the report will be publicized by many as a vindication of calls to target the opium economy in order to weaken the Taliban, the authors themselves are not convinced of the validity of this argument.
Of the $65 billion turnover of the global market for opiates, only 5-10% ($3-5 billion) is estimated to be laundered by informal banking systems. The rest is laundered through legal trade activities and the banking system.
This is an important claim that points to the enormous amounts of drug money swallowed by the world financial system, including Western banks.
The report says that over the last seven years (2002-2008), the transnational trade in Afghan opiates resulted in worldwide sales of $400-$500 billion (retail value). Only 5-10% of this is estimated to be laundered by informal banking systems (such as hawala). The remainder is laundered through the legal economy, and importantly, through Western banks.
In fact, Antonio Maria Costa was quoted as saying that drug money may have recently rescued some failing banks: "Interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities", and there were "signs that some banks were rescued in that way". "At a time of major bank failures, money doesn't smell, bankers seem to believe," he wrote in UNODC's 2009 World Drug Report (emphasis in original).
Afghanistan has the world monopoly of opium cultivation (92%), the raw material for the world's deadliest drug - heroin, [which is] causing up to 100,000 deaths per year.
Tobacco is the world's deadliest drug, not heroin, and kills about five million people every year. According to the World Health Organization, if present tobacco consumption patterns continue, the number of deaths will increase to 10 million by the year 2020. Some 70% of these will be in developing countries, which are the main target of the tobacco industry's marketing ploys. So why does the Taliban get more flak than tobacco companies?
The report estimates there are 16 million opiate users across the world, with the main consumer market being Europe, valued at $20 billion. Europeans are thus the main source of funding for the Afghan drug industry and their governments share a significant part of responsibility for failing to decrease demand and provide more treatment services within their own borders. Lowering drug use in Europe would contribute significantly to reducing the scale of the problem in Afghanistan.
Moreover, the report notes that NATO member Turkey is a "central hub" through which Afghan opiates reach Europe. Perhaps NATO should direct its efforts towards its own members before targeting the Taliban.
Some Taliban networks may be involved at the level of precursor procurement. These recent findings support the assertion that the Taliban network is more involved in drug trafficking than previously thought.
Yes, the Taliban surely take a cut out of the precursor trade (the chemicals needed to refine opium into products like heroin and morphine).
However, Western countries and some of their allies are also involved: The report identified "Europe, China and the Russian Federation" as "major acetic anhydride sources for Afghanistan". For instance, 220 liters of acetic anhydride were intercepted this year at Kabul airport, apparently originating from France. In recent years, chemicals have also been shipped from or via the Republic of Korea and UNODC's 2008 Afghan Opium Survey pointed to Germany as a source of precursors.
It is unclear what the total value of the Afghan trade in chemical precursors is, but from the report's data it can be inferred that the retail value of just one precursor, acetic anhydride, was about $450 million this year. Part of that money goes back to Western chemical corporations in the form of profits. Tighter safeguards should be in place on these products.
Areas of opium poppy cultivation and insecurity correlate geographically. In 2008, 98% of opium poppy cultivation took place in southern and western Afghanistan, the least secure regions.
UNODC associates drugs with the Taliban by pointing to the fact that most poppy cultivation takes places in regions where the Taliban are concentrated. Maps show "poppy-free" provinces in the north and a concentration of cultivation in the southern provinces, linking the Taliban with drugs.
It is true that cultivation is concentrated in the south, but such maps obscure the fact that there is plenty of drug money in the north, a region over which the Afghan government has more control. For instance, Balkh province may be poppy-free, but its center, Mazar-i Sharif, is awash in drug money. Nangarhar was also poppy-free in 2008, although it still remains a province where a large amount of opiates is trafficked.
Some Western officials are now implying that political elites in northern Afghanistan are engaging in successful counter-narcotics while the southern drug economy expands. But the fact is that although the commanders who control northern Afghanistan today may have eliminated cultivation, none have moved against trafficking. Most of them continue to profit from it, and some are believed to have become millionaires.
(Posted with permission from Foreign Policy in Focus
Out of 300 Democrats or so in congress, this individual seems to be one of the 8 or 9 who make sense, even if only remotely. He would never tell the entire truth, that the "war on terror" is a lie and the US is illegally invading 2 or 3 countries right now for pure corporate profit which feeds its relentless, genocidal quest for world hegemony.
Grayson would never expose Israel for similar crimes either.
Still, he's not like the rest. The overwhelming majority of Democrats (98%) is utter scum, just like their clones, the Republicans.
"Unfortunately, we are now telling the American people that the only way they will get unemployment compensation is to support another $130 billion to keep wars going," Kucinich said. "What a cruel choice Congress is forcing on people out of work. Put your sons and daughters on the firing line, and we will pay you for being in the unemployment line."
Dennis Kucinich
This information rarely gets out to the public unless truth-tellers like Dennis give us the details.
Dennis Kucinich can always be relied on to communicate the whole truth to the people.
Bernie Sanders is an independent and still has to follow the rules of the Congress and influence their fellow members. A third party does not give you magical powers.
People who say Dennis should change parties are not thinking it through.
He is a strong voice for the people and well-respected for his integrity and tenacity as a public servant.
It's not futile for Boeing et al.
According to CostofWar and ICasualties the difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is staggering -
Cost of War in Iraq $709,317,012,557
US Soldiers killed 4689
Cost of War in Afghanistan $234,062,438,297
US Soldiers killed 1542
So there's lots of room to play in for Obama. Trillions of dollars to waste and thousands of casualties still to go!
The "surge" is certain to help increase those figures.
It's creating a lot of new jobs as well like Mortician and Trauma Nurse, not to mention all the assembly lines putting the guns and ammunition together.
Once we get Afghanistan to rival Iraq as far as casualties and wasted money, we can then elect Palin to start the war with Iran. Good times ahead huh?
All wars are futile but let's not tell that to the MIC.