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Afghanistan

Afghan ally is now a foe

2008-10-16

Charlie Wilson's friend turns into elusive enemy against U.S.
We're talking about Pashtuns in Afghanistan. Next year we could be friends again, but unless we were close relatives I wouldn't let him hold my wallet.
When Jalaluddin Haqqani fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the U.S. showered him with praise, guns and money. The congressman celebrated in "Charlie Wilson's War," the movie and book about that conflict, called him "goodness personified."
I can't recall anybody ever referring to him that way within my hearing. He wasn't as greasy as Hekmatyar, but he was no Masood, either.
Now the U.S. is trying to kill Mr. Haqqani, who commands a Taliban guerrilla force fighting Americans in five Afghan provinces from his base in western Pakistan.

Posted by:john frum

#8 This area is a cess pool and, per Michael Yon, is at least 100 years behind to civilized world. I am less and less inclined to spend blood and treasure to try and bring them into the fold. Because really, what good do they do? What needed resource do they provide? What cultural wonder do they bring to the world? I read zipp on all fronts.

If our leaving temporarily empowers the bad guys, so what? I would prefer that we leave, but with the very clear warning that should an attack on our assets emenate from that part of the world (Afghanistan, the tribal belt, Pakistan) that there will be an overwhelming and sustained response from the air. We will essentially bomb them back into the stone age (or at least farther than they are now). I think our efforts to stabilize this region is a fool's errand and one we cannot afford at this time.

Posted by: remoteman 2008-10-16 14:24

#7 Afghan ally is now a foe

Send him his old friend Mr. Wilson's compliments on the usual missile. I'm sure the memory of that long-ago friendship will warm his heart in his last moments.

Posted by: trailing wife 2008-10-16 11:11

#6 If there's no "Pakistan", there won't be a hostile intelligence service posing as a friend to protect this POS. The solution to ending the war in Afghanistan is simple - eliminate Pakistan. That will also calm things down in India, Bangladesh, and even Britain. I know it's a drastic move, but sometimes you've got to take drastic action to succeed. It's time Pakistan ceased to be.

Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-10-16 10:54

#5 he was the ISI's pet asshole to play off against actual ass-kickers like Dostum and Massoud.

That was Hykmatiar. He was/is bought and paid by the Pakis and his mean repeatedly attacked Massod's men both during and after the war against teh Soviets.

Massood, who despite being a Tajik advocated for the return of the NWFP to Afghanistan once the Durand treaty expired , despite that thiswould have reduced Tajik's influence) while the "Pashtoons" Hykmatiar and, after him, Mullah Omar were happy with the Pakistani occupation of Afghan lands.

Posted by: JFM 2008-10-16 09:18

#4 Haqqani was one of those assholes who fought the war mostly from the Pakistani side of the border, IIRC. Massoud was with the guys who stuck to the Reds like burrs and took the majority of the grief and losses.

Haqqani's an asshole, he always has been. IIRC, he was the asshole who leveled large parts of Kabul during the post-Soviet civil war, and back in the day, he was the ISI's pet asshole to play off against actual ass-kickers like Dostum and Massoud.

Posted by: Mitch H. 2008-10-16 07:57

#3 No more money would do wonders for that part of the world. We should have cut the Paks off years ago, and Afghanistan is turning out to be a real pill.

Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-10-16 07:19

#2 I have seen the movie in the original version with subtitles and and I dodn't remember Haquani being mentionned. The only Afghan mentionned was Ahmad Shah Massood.

Posted by: JFM 2008-10-16 05:07

#1 Check must have bounced.

Posted by: OldSpook 2008-10-16 00:52

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