by Oui
Sat Jul 17th, 2021 at 06:59:13 PM EST
You Lied Going Into Iraq ... You Lied Exiting Afghanistan Twice! In March 2003 and Summer 2021 ...
NATO: 'We are not abandoning Afghanistan' | DW News |
NATO's deputy secretary general said the military alliance is not "running away" from Afghanistan, as international troops leave the country after nearly 20 years.
Speaking to DW's Conflict Zone host Tim Sebastian, Mircea Geoana stressed that NATO wants to continue to help Afghanistan, especially as the alliance is "fully aware" that there are security and political challenges ahead.
"We know that putting an end to our mission is also entailing risks, we are lucid about these things," said Geoana, a Romanian national who has been NATO's deputy secretary general since October 2019.
B-52s Are Dropping Hundreds of Dumb Bombs in Afghanistan to Literally Shape the Terrain | The War Zone - Nov. 2017 |
Abusive Night Raids by CIA-Backed Afghan Strike Forces | HRW - Oct. 2019 |
Through much of 2019, the United States government and Taliban insurgents were engaged in negotiations toward an agreement that could lead to the eventual withdrawal of US forces in Afghanistan. Those negotiations officially halted, at least temporarily, on September 7, 2019. In the absence of a larger political settlement, any agreement between the US and Taliban would not end the armed conflict between the Afghan government and the Taliban, nor resolve a range of conflicts that have fueled fighting among various Afghan factions for over four decades. If there is a political settlement, the kind of Afghan government that emerges, the structure of the country's defense forces, and the extent to which existing militia and insurgent forces demobilize and disarm will all be critically important.
One glaring omission in the negotiations so far has been discussion of the future of clandestine Afghan forces operating as part of the covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan, with ground support from US special forces seconded to the CIA and air support from the US military, including intelligence and surveillance in the identification of targets. A number of US military officials have sought to retain these Afghan paramilitary forces in Afghanistan as a bulwark against Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). These troops include Afghan strike forces who have been responsible for extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, indiscriminate airstrikes, attacks on medical facilities, and other violations of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war.
See also my recent diary - US Ends 20 Year Afghan Military Campaign.
Taliban conquering all major border crossings as it advances towards district capitals
Kandahar: Responding to SOS, Afghan commandos caught in fierce Taliban attack | Reuters - July 13, 2021 |
From battles 20 years ago - Spin Boldak crossing
Only mention @EuroTrib in 2007 ...
Afghan Taliban say rearmed, ready for war
Rearmed with new guns the Taliban on Friday vowed this would be the deadliest year for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan since the Islamists were toppled in 2001.
"This year will prove to be the bloodiest for the foreign troops. It is not just a threat, we will prove it," senior commander Mullah Dadullah told Reuters by satellite phone.
"The Taliban's war preparations are going on in caves and in mountains. Our 6,000 fighters are ready for attacks on foreign troops after the change in weather and as it becomes warmer."
Bomb Attack in Kandahar - 100+ Killed | @BooMan - Feb. 2008 |
Afghan forces fighting to retake Pakistan border crossing | France24 - July 16, 2021 |
Biden asked Erdogan peace and stability operations at the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul
Turkey-US contact on Kabul airport security will continue: Akar
A decision is yet to be reached on the Turkish mission to operate and secure Afghanistan's Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday, adding that contact between Turkey and the United States on the issue will continue.
Turkey, whose forces in Afghanistan have always comprised of noncombatant troops, has offered to guard and run Hamid Karzai airport after NATO's withdrawal. It has been holding talks with the U.S. on logistic and financial support for the mission, as questions remain on how security will be assured along major transport routes and at the airport, which is the main gateway to the capital, Kabul.
A delegation of U.S. State Department and Pentagon officials arrived in Ankara last week to discuss progress on efforts to keep Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul operational after the U.S. troop pullout, set to conclude by Sept. 11.
Analysis - Turkey's possible Afghanistan mission: Opportunities and challenges
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Call with Ibrahim Kalin, Spokesperson and Chief Advisor to the President of Turkey
Humanitarian gesture by the U.S. ...
US to start evacuating some under-threat Afghan visa applicants | Reuters |
Same old: Taliban, ISI, AfPak - Waziristan District
Recent terror wave linked with Afghan situation, says DG ISPR | Dawn News Pakistan |
In the meantime in the world of wealth, spy masters and spin doctors ...
