Preparing For The Coming Afghan Surrender

[bitterlyclingin]

("The FBI removes Mullah Omar from its most wanted list" as the Obama Administration readies itself to follow the time honored Democratic Party tradition of declaring victory then bugging out.)

"(Express Tribune) — The Unites States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has removed the name of Afghan Taliban supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar from its list of “most wanted terrorists”.

Earlier, reports about the US establishing contacts with Omar had surfaced. The reports said that the US wanted to bring the Taliban to negotiation table in order to end the conflict in Afghanistan.

So far, several claims have been made by the US about negotiations with the Taliban, but Islamabad and Kabul have never been taken into confidence over the much speculated-about talks.

According to reports, the US had offered Taliban control over the south of Afghanistan, while leaving the north for the other political forces under American influence. However, this was rejected by the Taliban.

After 10 months of secret dialogue with Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents, senior US officials said the talks have reached a “critical juncture” and they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible, leading to peace talks whose ultimate goal is to end the Afghan war.

US also considered the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

In the past, US officials have held about half a dozen meetings with their insurgent contacts, mostly in Germany and Doha with representatives of Omar."


Weasel Zippers » Blog Archive » Report: FBI Quietly Removes Mullah Omar From List of Most Wanted Terrorists…

 

[waltky]

Looks like we surrendered Afghan gas & oil to China by default...

China wins $700 million Afghan oil and gas deal. Why didn't the US bid?
December 28, 2011 - China’s National Petroleum Corporation became the first foreign company today to tap into Afghanistan’s oil and gas reserves. Officials estimate that the deal could be worth more than $700 million.

In a deal finalized on Wednesday, China’s National Petroleum Corporation became the first foreign company to tap into Afghanistan’s oil and gas reserves. Chinese officials have estimated that the deal could be worth at least $700 million, but some say China could earn up to 10 times that. China has not participated in the war effort, but it has managed to gain the biggest stake in Afghan minerals. In 2007, China inked a $3 billion deal securing access to copper mines in Mes Aynak, south of Kabul. The latest Sino-Afghan agreement strengthens the Asian nation’s foothold here and could benefit the economic development of Afghanistan. With few viable industries in Afghanistan, Western forces here looking for a way to restore economic independence and stability have long touted the country’s mineral resources. The United States and other Western nations that have borne the brunt of the cost of the Afghan war have been conspicuously absent from the bidding process on Afghanistan’s mineral deposits, leaving it to mostly to regional powers. India is the only other nation to make a significant agreement to access Afghan minerals. In November, it won a bid granting Indian firms access to 1.8 billion metric tons of iron-ore, one of the largest untapped deposits in Asia.

US benefits?

While the US may not seek financial gains from Afghan minerals, it’s likely to reap political benefits from the creation of a more stable, less aid-dependent economy that could reduce the burden of America’s long-term commitments in Afghanistan. It also sidesteps many Afghans’ suspicion that the US is here to steal the country’s resources. “Americans know that if we can create an environment for Afghanistan’s neighboring countries to have their economic benefits tied with the Afghans’ benefits, it will create a situation that stops the negative intervention of these neighbors and puts them in a better position to help create peace and stability in Afghanistan,” says Hamid Faroqi, a professor of economics at Kabul University. “The US and other Western countries also don’t want to get involved with this because they don’t want to get accused of being here just to take advantage of Afghanistan’s natural resources.” In the summer of 2010, US and Afghan officials trumpeted survey findings that they claimed showed the nation was sitting on $1 trillion of untapped copper, iron, and lithium deposits. A number of mineral experts subsequently charged that the estimate was grossly inflated as the cost of extraction could in some cases exceed the value of the minerals.

Afghanistan's survival

Still, in a nation where 97 percent of the nation’s GDP, excluding opium production, is dependent on foreign aid, many see the development of the mineral industry, whatever it may be worth, as vital to the nation’s survival. “For Afghanistan, it is very important to have our mines excavated. Surviving on only international assistance Afghanistan cannot develop. It must have its own mines and resources tapped,” says Mangal Sherzad, a law and political science professor at Nangarhar University in Jalalabad. To access these deposits, Afghans are heavily dependent on foreign countries. Soviet geologists surveyed many of the country’s mineral resources back in the 1960s, but more than three decades of war and instability have hindered the development of an Afghan mining industry. Speaking about Wednesday’s deal with China to extract oil from the northeastern provinces of Sari Pul and Faryab, Abdul Rahim Hashami, CEO of the New Afghan Petroleum Company says, “I don’t think any Afghan companies have the business background or experience related to this.... The only thing that I can hope, is that Afghans are in some way a part of it, as partners or used in one way or another so Afghans can be a part of the project.”

Source

 

[occupied]

Did anyone ever think we could win in such a shithole? what is winning supposed to look like in an occupation anyway? Afghanistan has nothing we need, their oil reserves are paltry at best. If they insist on living in the 10th century then have at it, we have better things to worry about. We got Bin Laden, time to get the hell out before we end up fighting Pakistan also.

 

[bitterlyclingin]

(It took Andrew Sullivan and the boys at powerlineblog a while to see it, and as they put it so aptly, America will not have to deal with the consequences of this act of capitulation until long after Obama is possibly re elected. Welcome to September in Munich, 1938, all over again. Now who was arguing that history doesn't repeat itself? Is Obama actually the Hidden Immam, the Mahdi that Mahmoud has been rebuilding the Mosque for?)

"After thousands of young Americans have laid down their lives to protect the United States from jihadist terror, President Obama apparently seeks to end the war by asking Qaradawi, a jihad-stoking enemy of the United States, to help him strike a deal that will install our Taliban enemies as part of the sharia state we have been building in Afghanistan. If the Hindu report is accurate, the price tag will include the release of Taliban prisoners from Gitmo — an element of the deal Reuters has also reported. The administration will also agree to the lifting of U.N. sanctions against the Taliban, and recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political party (yes, just like the Muslim Brotherhood!). In return, the Taliban will pretend to forswear violence, to sever ties with al-Qaeda, and to cooperate with the rival Karzai regime.

It would mark one of the most shameful chapters in American history.

UPDATE: This AP news story of just a few hours ago appears relevant:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday welcomed remarks from the Obama administration saying that Taliban insurgents were not America’s enemies.

Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Islamist militants did not represent a threat to U.S. interests unless they continued to shelter al-Qaida.

Biden’s comments came amid reports that the Obama administration and other governments are trying to establish a peace process with the Taliban to help end the 10-year war.

“I am very happy that the American government has announced that the Taliban are not their enemies,” Karzai said in a speech to the Afghan Academy of Sciences. “We hope that this message will help the Afghans reach peace and stability.”

A senior U.S. official has told The Associated Press that Washington plans to continue a series of secret meetings with Taliban representatives in Europe and the Persian Gulf region next year.

The U.S. outreach this year had progressed to the point that there was active discussion of two steps the Taliban seeks as precursors to negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Trust-building measures under discussion involve setting up a Taliban headquarters office and the release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of about five Afghan prisoners believed affiliated with the Taliban."

Is Obama Preparing to Surrender Afghanistan? | Power Line

 

[occupied]

To surrender Afghanistan implies that we at some point controlled the place. The sad truth is that we lost the second we turned aside and invaded Iraq while still trying to nation build that shithole.

 

[kyzr]

Did anyone ever think we could win in such a shithole? what is winning supposed to look like in an occupation anyway? Afghanistan has nothing we need, their oil reserves are paltry at best. If they insist on living in the 10th century then have at it, we have better things to worry about. We got Bin Laden, time to get the hell out before we end up fighting Pakistan also.

AFG has zillions of tons of minerals/metals.
Vast $Trillion Mineral Deposits Discovered in Afghanistan - Mineral Maps - Taliban Maps - Videos | You report. We verify.

Probably not worth the trouble to get. We can get them on the open market if needed.

 

[bitterlyclingin]

We didn't lose Vietnam on the battlefield. We lost it at home because of people like Walter Cronkite and Communist fellow travelors like William Chester Goodfellow. We lost both Iraq and Afghanistan likewise, when we lost the will to fight here at home. The irony of Dakota Meyers MOH presentation was that it was set up by Mr Obama's rules of engagement, then either the NYT or the WaPo tried to disembowel the Marine Corps because of technicalities in the documentation for the award.

The legend of the Mahdi is roughly as follows: The Mahdi is supposed to make his appearance when the West and Christianity has Islam on the ropes. The surge was successful in Iraq, a western style army and police force were being trained and a fledgling Democracy was underway. Libya had surrendered its nuclear weapons programs and was largely quiescent. Egypt had a Western friendly government in place as well as a working peace agreement with Israel. A western style Democracy was being developed in Afghanistan and the surge was showing progress. The Mahdi, after his appearance is supposed to resuscitate Islam and be instrumental in Islams overwhelming defeat of Western Civilization and Christianity. Obama is elected, Obama is instrumental in the fall of the Libyan and Egyptian governments. He executes a hasty, abrupt withdrawal of American forces from Iraq while ensuring no provisions are in place to keep Iraq friendly to the West. Obama, apparently is also on the verge of surrendering Afghanistan back to the Taliban for worthless promises. If Obama be not the Mahdi but a friend of America, with friends like him, who needs enemies?

 

[Sallow]

Did anyone ever think we could win in such a shithole? what is winning supposed to look like in an occupation anyway? Afghanistan has nothing we need, their oil reserves are paltry at best. If they insist on living in the 10th century then have at it, we have better things to worry about. We got Bin Laden, time to get the hell out before we end up fighting Pakistan also.

Afghanistan was over in 2 months. Bush lost the "war" when he let Osama Bin Laden out of Tora Bora. Everything after that was a clusterfuck.

 

[Sallow]

("The FBI removes Mullah Omar from its most wanted list" as the Obama Administration readies itself to follow the time honored Democratic Party tradition of declaring victory then bugging out.)

"(Express Tribune) — The Unites States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has removed the name of Afghan Taliban supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar from its list of “most wanted terrorists”.

Earlier, reports about the US establishing contacts with Omar had surfaced. The reports said that the US wanted to bring the Taliban to negotiation table in order to end the conflict in Afghanistan.

So far, several claims have been made by the US about negotiations with the Taliban, but Islamabad and Kabul have never been taken into confidence over the much speculated-about talks.

According to reports, the US had offered Taliban control over the south of Afghanistan, while leaving the north for the other political forces under American influence. However, this was rejected by the Taliban.

After 10 months of secret dialogue with Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents, senior US officials said the talks have reached a “critical juncture” and they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible, leading to peace talks whose ultimate goal is to end the Afghan war.

US also considered the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

In the past, US officials have held about half a dozen meetings with their insurgent contacts, mostly in Germany and Doha with representatives of Omar."


Weasel Zippers » Blog Archive » Report: FBI Quietly Removes Mullah Omar From List of Most Wanted Terrorists…

Mullah Omar was a rube and a stooge.

Fucking mold is smarter then that guy.

 

[occupied]

We didn't lose Vietnam on the battlefield. We lost it at home because of people like Walter Cronkite and Communist fellow travelors like William Chester Goodfellow. We lost both Iraq and Afghanistan likewise, when we lost the will to fight here at home. The irony of Dakota Meyers MOH presentation was that it was set up by Mr Obama's rules of engagement, then either the NYT or the WaPo tried to disembowel the Marine Corps because of technicalities in the documentation for the award.

The legend of the Mahdi is roughly as follows: The Mahdi is supposed to make his appearance when the West and Christianity has Islam on the ropes. The surge was successful in Iraq, a western style army and police force were being trained and a fledgling Democracy was underway. Libya had surrendered its nuclear weapons programs and was largely quiescent. Egypt had a Western friendly government in place as well as a working peace agreement with Israel. A western style Democracy was being developed in Afghanistan and the surge was showing progress. The Mahdi, after his appearance is supposed to resuscitate Islam and be instrumental in Islams overwhelming defeat of Western Civilization and Christianity. Obama is elected, Obama is instrumental in the fall of the Libyan and Egyptian governments. He executes a hasty, abrupt withdrawal of American forces from Iraq while ensuring no provisions are in place to keep Iraq friendly to the West. Obama, apparently is also on the verge of surrendering Afghanistan back to the Taliban for worthless promises. If Obama be not the Mahdi but a friend of America, with friends like him, who needs enemies?

That's as bad as some of the Christian right claiming he is the Antichrist.

 

[bitterlyclingin]

Then there is the way Obama adroitly sidestepped confronting Mahmoud during the post election riots and the ensuing civilian slaughter in Iran as well as Assad's slaughter of the civilians in Syria. In Libya and Egypt, Obama chose to zealously jump in instead. Why the disparity? A thousand dead in Libya and Egypt are reason to call for the overthrow of those governments and the engagement the military in Libya, but 40,000 dead in Syria and who knows how many in Iran, are not? Something's not right.

 

[Sallow]

Then there is the way Obama adroitly sidestepped confronting Mahmoud during the post election riots and the ensuing civilian slaughter in Iran as well as Assad's slaughter of the civilians in Syria. In Libya and Egypt, Obama chose to zealously jump in instead. Why the disparity? A thousand dead in Libya and Egypt are reason to call for the overthrow of those governments and the engagement the military in Libya, but 40,000 dead in Syria and who knows how many in Iran, are not? Something's not right.

Egypt was "doable" because we fund the military and Libya was "doable" because most of the Arab nations wanted Gaddafi out. Additionally, Gaddafi actually authored Lockerbie.

Syria and Iran..simply weren't..for reasons that shouldn't need to be explained to people that are paying attention.

 

[saveliberty]

Best thing we can do is leave all the military hardware behind. Afghanis are excellent at killing other Afghanis.

 

[Sallow]

Best thing we can do is leave all the military hardware behind. Afghanis are excellent at killing other Afghanis.

Well there is that..

It's a very tribal society. And all the tribes bitterly hate one another.

 

[saveliberty]

Best thing we can do is leave all the military hardware behind. Afghanis are excellent at killing other Afghanis.

Well there is that..

It's a very tribal society. And all the tribes bitterly hate one another.

Sort of a twist on the Libya strategy. Which needs to be studied in depth as a model for future US conflicts.