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Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
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 Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 5:25 am Post subject: Why should American taxpayers have to support the Taliban? |
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More and more Americans are losing homes, doing without health insurance, and living on food stamps. Meanwhile, American taxpayers are forced by the US government to fork over our hard-earned money to the very mujahideen groups we're supposedly trying to eradicate.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston/single
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| US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents. |
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| Hanna explained that the prices charged are different, depending on the route: "We're basically being extorted. Where you don't pay, you're going to get attacked. We just have our field guys go down there, and they pay off who they need to." Sometimes, he says, the extortion fee is high, and sometimes it is low. "Moving ten trucks, it is probably $800 per truck to move through an area. |
This "war" is a bunch of BS. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:38 am Post subject: Re: Why should American taxpayers have to support the Taliba |
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| Reggie wrote: |
More and more Americans are losing homes, doing without health insurance, and living on food stamps. Meanwhile, American taxpayers are forced by the US government to fork over our hard-earned money to the very mujahideen groups we're supposedly trying to eradicate.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston/single
| Quote: |
| US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents. |
| Quote: |
| Hanna explained that the prices charged are different, depending on the route: "We're basically being extorted. Where you don't pay, you're going to get attacked. We just have our field guys go down there, and they pay off who they need to." Sometimes, he says, the extortion fee is high, and sometimes it is low. "Moving ten trucks, it is probably $800 per truck to move through an area. |
This "war" is a bunch of BS. |
And we're "extending" it to Yemen. Yay. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:07 am Post subject: Re: Why should American taxpayers have to support the Taliba |
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| Reggie wrote: |
More and more Americans are losing homes, doing without health insurance, and living on food stamps. Meanwhile, American taxpayers are forced by the US government to fork over our hard-earned money to the very mujahideen groups we're supposedly trying to eradicate.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston/single
| Quote: |
| US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon's logistics contracts--hundreds of millions of dollars--consists of payments to insurgents. |
| Quote: |
| Hanna explained that the prices charged are different, depending on the route: "We're basically being extorted. Where you don't pay, you're going to get attacked. We just have our field guys go down there, and they pay off who they need to." Sometimes, he says, the extortion fee is high, and sometimes it is low. "Moving ten trucks, it is probably $800 per truck to move through an area. |
This "war" is a bunch of BS. |
Yes, it is a bunch of BS. That's very clear. But all Obama has to do is once a year think really hard about it and then give a Somber Speech about his reluctant surge (which is really a planned drawdown with a time line, don't you know) and thinking people will push their support until the next year, when Obama will have a big think and then deliver a somber speech. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 10:27 am Post subject: |
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Reggie, the US did the same in Iraq. It paid people who used to fight for Al Qaeda to turn against Al Qaeda. That has risks for NATO. One major reason it had to be done in Iraq was because Colin Powell and many generals asked for more troops, but Rumsfeld said no. The same has happened in Afghanistan. NATO is spread thin. The surge will take time as troops have to go through other countries to enter Afghanistan.
What's your solution? I know you say pull out, but as Colin Powell said, "You break it, you fix it". And some people say if you let the Taliban win, then they will bring the fight to you. I am not convinced the Taliban wants to do so, but Al Qaeda type elements are another story.
It's risky paying off insurgents without a doubt. They could possibly take the money and just fight. However, those who want paychecks to continue will fight against the Taliban. I know it sounds like a horrible thing, but NATO didn't leave itself much of a choice by not sending enough troops.
What's your solution to win the war with the amount of troops committed?
Frankly, I would re-activate the mujahideen, pay off insurgents to fight the Taliban if I don't have the manpower to do so. What other choice would I have?
By the way, it appears the guy who killed 8 CIA guys was a Jordanian who was a former Al Qaeda member that Jordanian intelligence believed changed his sides. Also, a member of the Jordanian royal family was killed in the explosion. Yes, there are serious risks to using people who once carried arms with the Taliban. There are risks for NATO troops. |
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Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:49 pm Post subject: |
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That the Taliban is accepting bribes to allow our supply trucks to pass through suggests they perceive such a move to be to their strategic advantage. One has to assume they're probably right, since they've shown a higher degree of competence than we have throughout the war.
Americans should put America first. I would like to hear the Department of Defense lay out a believable "You break it, you fix it" strategy that applies to the USA instead of hearing the talk about Iraq or Afghanistan. The US military has delivered a massive blow to the US economy and I don't think the guys in the Pentagon care about fixing it. All they're going to do is hold out their hands for more taxpayer money with complete disregard for how it erodes the value of our currency, puts the USA deeper into debt, and casts more and more Americans into tent cities. Maybe they can come up with a patriotic name for these tent cities in an attempt to justify them. Freedom Camps sounds really nice. Any self-respecting patriot should want to sacrifice his family's house on the altar of freedom and live in a Freedom Camp. |
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