[The Nation, Pakistan]

 

 

Cuarto Poder, Spain

WikiLeaks Makes Clear Obama's Bush-Era Scorched Earth Policy

 

"Barak Obama's war in Afghanistan is as dirty as that of his predecessor George W. Bush. Mercenary groups, mass killings of innocent civilians, human rights violations every day, every hour and in every location … It's as if the Geneva Convention didn't exist for the armies of the most civilized countries on earth."

 

EDITORIAL

 

Translated By Florizul Acosta-Perez

 

July 28, 2010

 

Spain - Cuarto Poder - Original Article (Spanish)

Photo from Ahmed Rashid's Taliban

Jalaluddin Haqqani, some time in the 1990s: A Pastun and a fierce leader of the resistance to Soviet occupation, he now leads a pro-Taliban group of fighters that Pakistan would rather talk to than fight.

 

BBC NEWS VIDEO: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik explains that miltants being caught in Pakistan have been crossing the Afghan border, July 12, 00:00:40RealVideo

Spain's troops in Afghanistan kill fewer bearded and turbaned civilians than our U.S. allies, but on occasion, when they see two civilian-friends on a motorcycle waiting for a NATO convoy to pass, even Spain's troops fire first because experience indicates that the two could be mujahedeen preparing to drop a bomb under the last vehicle - and it's better to be safe than sorry. It later turns out they were peaceful farmers, so the detachment's head of civilian relations manages to get in touch with the families and hands them a fistful of dollars ($12.000 per head) to prevent them from kicking up a fuss. 

 

The commands of the Spanish mission in Afghanistan - from the colonel of the legion, Martin Bernardi, up to his successor in Kala-i-Naw, Luis Martinez Trascasa of the Paratrooper Brigade - have the financial resources and administrative autonomy to resolve the errors of soldiers without public disclosure. But they know that the goal of gaining civilian trust is undermined by the fears and errors of themselves and others, as is any cooperation or construction of schools, hospitals and infrastructure like the Lithium route, a road that links Qala i Naw and Bala Murghab and is essential for commerce in Badghis Province.

 

The 91,000 pages of classified U.S. military material on what's happening in Afghanistan, posted by Wikileaks, emphasize that Barak Obama's war in Afghanistan is as dirty as that of his predecessor George W. Bush. Mercenary groups, mass killings of innocent civilians, human rights violations every day, every hour and in every location … It's as if the Geneva Convention didn't exist for the armies of the most civilized countries on earth. And that impacts, discredits and adds risk to the Spanish soldiers who try to be irreproachable but don't always succeed.

 

The prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has yet to fulfill the commitment he made last February with [opposition leader] Mariano Rajoy to appear before the full Congress [the Cortes Generales] to explain the new policy of “Afghanization” advocated by Obama. He was the first to support and respond positively to General McCrystal's request for a troop surge in the fall of 2009. Following McCrystal's criticism of Obama in June, the general was replaced by David Petraues.

 

In January, to justify the doubling of Spain's contingent (from 800 to 1,600 troops) it was said that for the past eight years, Western governments had been “eating soup with a fork,” and that the Bush strategy had been a disaster, “wasted time,” according to Defense Minister Carmen Chacon. History was recalled: the military operation to oust the Taliban from power, eliminate the bases of al-Qaeda, capture Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar and build a modern state through a covenant among tribal chiefs became a war riddled by cruelty: “Guantanamos,” secret prisons inside and outside the country, bombings and civilian deaths. 

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

One need only read the documents posted by Wikileaks to understand that the scorched earth strategy promoted by Bush has continued under Obama. And what's worse: after the chase, the Taliban guerrillas have gathered strength in Pakistan and with the support of other insurgent leaders like the Pashtun, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and members of the Shura in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan Province.  

 

The excesses of occupation troops, the ineptness of incompetent militaries, the incapacity to understand the mosaic of Afghanistan and the brotherhood among Taliban, Pashtun and other tribes, as well as the expansionist double game of Pakistan, have highlighted the failure of Western leaders to resolve the conflict. The documents released by Wikileaks also reveal that the policy of carrot and stick, to which Spain has contributed $10 million to reintegrate Taliban, is bearing no fruit. Furthermore, the training of the troops and police of Hamid Karzai as an essential part of what's been called the “Afghanization” of Afghanistan has proven counterproductive without a firm commitment to Pakistan and the Taliban mujahedeen on the withdrawal of NATO.

 

[The Nation, Pakistan]

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

Estadao, Brazil: Obama 'War of Necessity' Seems Worse than Bush 'War of Choice'

Outlook Afghanistan: WikiLeaks Memos Say Ex-ISI Chief Plotted Karzai Murder
The Nation, Pakistan: WikiLeaks: U.S. Scapegoats ISI to 'Hide its Own Shame'

The Frontier Post, Pakistan: Facing Defeat in Afghanistan, U.S. 'Lies' About ISI

The Nation, Pakistan: Indo-U.S. Alliance Behind Entry of Militants Into Pakistan
Frankfurter Rundschau, Germany: WikiLeaks' Enlightened Betrayal

Der Speigel, Germany: Explosive Leaks Provide Image of War from Those Fighting It
Der Speigel, Germany: Task Force 373: The Secret Hunters
Guardian Video, U.K.: WikiLeaks Founder Tells Why Public Must See Documents

Guardian, U.K.: Complete Investigation of the Secret Afghanistan War Logs
Guardian, U.K.: U.S. Commanders Point the Finger at Pakistan

Times of India: WikiLeaks Release Shows Undeclared War by Pakistan on India

Hindustan Times, India: ‘Pakistan Intelligence Paid Taliban to Kill Indians in Kabul’

 

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And that is Karzai's intention: He has already begun negotiating with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Taliban mujahedeen of Hezb-e-Islami, one of the most important groups of anti-Soviet fighters in the eighties, which the United States put on its terrorist watch list along with al-Qaeda in 2003. But we still need to know if Obama supports a negotiation that includes a timetable for withdrawal, which would diminish his popularity, or if he prefers to continue a bloody low-intensity conflict that, with the exploitation of Afghanistan's mineral reserves, could be financially profitable.  

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

While awaiting Zapatero's explanation of Spain's position, we can only know that our troops, who were sent to Afghanistan by Aznar with the support of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party to fulfill a mission of peace and cooperation, have paid a terrible price: 89 military deaths in accidents and attacks at a cost of over 1.5 billion euros. But their presence has benefited the poor people of Badghis Province and the region of Herat.

 

That is the only defense put forth by those who supported the occupation and the only relief to those, like the United Left-Initiative for Catalonia Greens and the Galician Nationalist Block, which have opposed the mission from the start and have demanded a timetable for withdrawal, believing as they do that war solves nothing.

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US July 31, 4:49pm]

 







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