The 18 year old lie
17/12/19 13:54![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mahnmut posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsYou've got a point, whoever you are that is saying the news cycle is obsessed with ratings and doesn't give two fucks about actual important news on events with a great impact on a large number of people.
Take the huge scandal that's rocking the US these days, or at least those circles that actually care about anything beyond Kim Kardashian's fat smelly ass. You see, for about 18 years several US administrations have lied to the public about Afghanistan. 2000 pages of classified documents and 400 interviews with former military personnel have surfaced on WaPo, and the shit has started splashing around the fan pretty bad now.
Let's not fool ourselves.This leak is a serious blow on the very foundations of democracy, because the lies were being done by no less than three consecutive presidential administrations: GWB, Obama, and now Trump.
https://nypost.com/2019/12/14/lying-by-bush-and-obama-over-afghanistan-is-this-eras-pentagon-papers/
No surprise there, I'm sure you'd say. It's also no surprise that earlier this year both the Dems and Reps in the Senate supported the extension of the US military presence in Afghanistan, opposing Trump's attempts to get the hell out of there. What remarkable bipartisanship, right? Mind you, Trump's push for withdrawal from Afghanistan is not dictated by some sort of benevolence or pacifism; no, he'd rather redirect those troops and resources to Iran now, and start a new military adventure. Because he happens to fancy Iran more. Or God knows why, really. Maybe he's more susceptible to the demands of his Saudi sponsors than his predecessors (who all didn't miss an opportunity to bow to the Prince and kiss the ring, btw).
Funnily, many of the interviewees seem to have given the intel under the impression that their testimony wouldn't be seeing the broad light - which is silly. Of course it would. That's what it's supposed to do. The testimony shows that for 18 years the authorities had lied to the people. The news about human and material losses were either neglected or concealed. Every tiny victory was being blown out to huge proportions in the media. All in all, we're talking a massive disinformation effort here.
On top of all that, the US command had no idea how to win this thing, or how to get out of that quagmire without causing an even greater mess than the one that existed prior to their entry. They didn't even know for sure whom they were supposed to be fighting: the Taliban, Al Qaeda, or some other Jihadist and terorrist organization? Let alone how to establish a sustainable democratic regime in Afghanistan.
The testimony attests to some outright absurdities, like the practice of marking suicide terror attacks as actual US victories in the military reports, due to the collateral loss of life and equipment sustained by the enemy during the attack. You know, when a terrorist blows themselves in the middle of a marketplace, you score one bad guy down, don't you? It stands to reason!
The US Department of Defense officially denies they had purposefully lied and misled the public and Congress about the war in Afghanistan, and of course we're not surprised even one bit. Yet, this doesn't stop the Afghan adventure from being America's longest lasting conflict in history - and it doesn't look more likely to end well than it did when it started. Which was back in 2001 in response to the Taliban's hosting of Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden, the 9-11 mastermind. Then in 2002 the Taliban were deposed (another Mission Accomplished!), and in 2011 Bin Laden himself was killed in a spec op in Pakistan. That was a heroic deed, which we all remember so vividly. Obama's Situation Room at the White House is still before my eyes to this day. Oh the suspense! What a great action movie that was! And yet, the war goes on to this day. What gives!?
1,892 US troops have died so far, 20,589 have been wounded. The human loss for Afghanistan amounts to 147,000 dead, out of them at least 38,000 civilians. The injured are countless. Not to mention the displaced. The financial cost has amounted to about 2 trillion dollars so far. That's a two with twelve zeros.
The testimony shows that much of this money has been wasted practically with zero control, Congress was always easily persuaded to vote for pouring more and more funds into this black hole, assuming the US troops in Afghanistan were keeping America safe from more terrorist attacks like 9-11 by simply being present on the place and of course being Badass Amurkins.
The interviewees, including troops, diplomats and command officers, admit their missions were being drowned in cash, more cash than they needed or could possibly spend. For instance, nearly 1 billion dollars were spent on helicopters and planes that the Afghan military didn't even know how to fly. Millions were spent on facilities and infrastructure that wasn't then used for months, and much of it was left to crumble without ever being used. 34 million dollars were spent on growing soybeans in Afghanistan, although that crop can't possibly grow over there, and there's virtually no market for it in that country. 28 million were spent on special outfits and forest-colored camouflage for the local troops, although a mere 2.1% of Afghanistan is covered in forest (and no one lives there). The list goes on and on.
Ultimately, the scandal is putting even more pressure on Congress and Trump's administration to reach an agreement with the Taliban and finally withdraw the US troops from Afghanistan, despite the opposition of all the business lobbies producing and selling military equipment worth those trillions of dollars. The US military budget, voted and approved last year, has reached a staggering 738 billion dollars. This of course includes billions upon billions that are meant to prolong America's adventure in places like Syria and Afghanistan, which are evidently both doomed to fail eventually.
Now is the time to see if US politics is really about democracy, and if America's interests, the interest of the people is what matters most - or the powers that be are actually sitting elsewhere and not in the seats of the elected representatives where they're supposed to be, and those so called representatives are but mere puppets in the pocket of big business. Dare to make a bet here?
Take the huge scandal that's rocking the US these days, or at least those circles that actually care about anything beyond Kim Kardashian's fat smelly ass. You see, for about 18 years several US administrations have lied to the public about Afghanistan. 2000 pages of classified documents and 400 interviews with former military personnel have surfaced on WaPo, and the shit has started splashing around the fan pretty bad now.
Let's not fool ourselves.This leak is a serious blow on the very foundations of democracy, because the lies were being done by no less than three consecutive presidential administrations: GWB, Obama, and now Trump.
https://nypost.com/2019/12/14/lying-by-bush-and-obama-over-afghanistan-is-this-eras-pentagon-papers/
No surprise there, I'm sure you'd say. It's also no surprise that earlier this year both the Dems and Reps in the Senate supported the extension of the US military presence in Afghanistan, opposing Trump's attempts to get the hell out of there. What remarkable bipartisanship, right? Mind you, Trump's push for withdrawal from Afghanistan is not dictated by some sort of benevolence or pacifism; no, he'd rather redirect those troops and resources to Iran now, and start a new military adventure. Because he happens to fancy Iran more. Or God knows why, really. Maybe he's more susceptible to the demands of his Saudi sponsors than his predecessors (who all didn't miss an opportunity to bow to the Prince and kiss the ring, btw).
Funnily, many of the interviewees seem to have given the intel under the impression that their testimony wouldn't be seeing the broad light - which is silly. Of course it would. That's what it's supposed to do. The testimony shows that for 18 years the authorities had lied to the people. The news about human and material losses were either neglected or concealed. Every tiny victory was being blown out to huge proportions in the media. All in all, we're talking a massive disinformation effort here.
On top of all that, the US command had no idea how to win this thing, or how to get out of that quagmire without causing an even greater mess than the one that existed prior to their entry. They didn't even know for sure whom they were supposed to be fighting: the Taliban, Al Qaeda, or some other Jihadist and terorrist organization? Let alone how to establish a sustainable democratic regime in Afghanistan.
The testimony attests to some outright absurdities, like the practice of marking suicide terror attacks as actual US victories in the military reports, due to the collateral loss of life and equipment sustained by the enemy during the attack. You know, when a terrorist blows themselves in the middle of a marketplace, you score one bad guy down, don't you? It stands to reason!
The US Department of Defense officially denies they had purposefully lied and misled the public and Congress about the war in Afghanistan, and of course we're not surprised even one bit. Yet, this doesn't stop the Afghan adventure from being America's longest lasting conflict in history - and it doesn't look more likely to end well than it did when it started. Which was back in 2001 in response to the Taliban's hosting of Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden, the 9-11 mastermind. Then in 2002 the Taliban were deposed (another Mission Accomplished!), and in 2011 Bin Laden himself was killed in a spec op in Pakistan. That was a heroic deed, which we all remember so vividly. Obama's Situation Room at the White House is still before my eyes to this day. Oh the suspense! What a great action movie that was! And yet, the war goes on to this day. What gives!?
1,892 US troops have died so far, 20,589 have been wounded. The human loss for Afghanistan amounts to 147,000 dead, out of them at least 38,000 civilians. The injured are countless. Not to mention the displaced. The financial cost has amounted to about 2 trillion dollars so far. That's a two with twelve zeros.
The testimony shows that much of this money has been wasted practically with zero control, Congress was always easily persuaded to vote for pouring more and more funds into this black hole, assuming the US troops in Afghanistan were keeping America safe from more terrorist attacks like 9-11 by simply being present on the place and of course being Badass Amurkins.
The interviewees, including troops, diplomats and command officers, admit their missions were being drowned in cash, more cash than they needed or could possibly spend. For instance, nearly 1 billion dollars were spent on helicopters and planes that the Afghan military didn't even know how to fly. Millions were spent on facilities and infrastructure that wasn't then used for months, and much of it was left to crumble without ever being used. 34 million dollars were spent on growing soybeans in Afghanistan, although that crop can't possibly grow over there, and there's virtually no market for it in that country. 28 million were spent on special outfits and forest-colored camouflage for the local troops, although a mere 2.1% of Afghanistan is covered in forest (and no one lives there). The list goes on and on.
Ultimately, the scandal is putting even more pressure on Congress and Trump's administration to reach an agreement with the Taliban and finally withdraw the US troops from Afghanistan, despite the opposition of all the business lobbies producing and selling military equipment worth those trillions of dollars. The US military budget, voted and approved last year, has reached a staggering 738 billion dollars. This of course includes billions upon billions that are meant to prolong America's adventure in places like Syria and Afghanistan, which are evidently both doomed to fail eventually.
Now is the time to see if US politics is really about democracy, and if America's interests, the interest of the people is what matters most - or the powers that be are actually sitting elsewhere and not in the seats of the elected representatives where they're supposed to be, and those so called representatives are but mere puppets in the pocket of big business. Dare to make a bet here?
