Arming the Taliban: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

(The Intelligence Daily) -- In case any one has any illusions about Afghanistan's government, the Taliban, women's oppression, spreading "democracy", or foreign occupation, here is the scoop from Malalai Joya; also see Aram Roston's Nov. 11th piece in The Nation on how we are (still) funding the Taliban.

Remember the film "Charlie Wilson's War"? How we all cheered when we saw Afghanis shooting down Soviet planes with our rocket launchers? Well, those launchers, or more likely newer ones, are in the hands of the Taliban. And even bigger surprises are in store as Washington reportedly considers an alliance with  "moderate" Taliban and war lords, under the mistaken assumption that the Taliban have no interest in anything, Al Qaeda included, but protecting their opium poppies and sheep.

 As the article in The Nation stated, our country and military are supporting, not defeating, the Taliban, not to mention the utterly corrupt Karzai government and the opium poppy trade. So let's ask ourselves this question: who is making policy? Our president? Congress? The Pentagon?

 The answer: none of these. Hamid Karzai is. The only solution is rapid and complete withdrawal of all military AND economic support. Every dollar sunk into weapons or social  or economic development will end up in the pockets of corrupt politicians or the Taliban or both.

This is a national disgrace for us. You would think someone in the White House or congress would be embarrassed. This venture has to be the low point of the Obama administration, though the health care debacle and its sell-out to anti-abortion activists and Catholic cardinals is a close second, and domestically even worse.

 It is hard to imagine at this point how Obama's "audacity of hope" can ever be redeemed, given how low he has sunk in his pandering to corporations, Wall St., the health care industry, the military, the insurance companies and the energy industry.

 At this point it is difficult to envision his re-election, not because the Republicans offer anything better but because Obama is rapidly alienating large parts of the constituency that elected him and which he will need next time too, not least the pro-choice, grassroots environmental and health care movements.  His margin of election was not huge - about 4 percentage points - and next time it will shrink no matter what he does.

In fact it seems as if he has no other big card to play to bring back enough of the voting populace to vote for him. And the Democrats in congress will feel the pain too, for selling out to Wall St. and the coal and oil companies.

Smarter people might have said to Obama: hang tough on universal health care and maybe people will overlook your sell-out to everyone else. But no, the Democrats in congress were hammered into compliance - as they always are - with a centrist-right wing agenda that has truly appalled even those of us who never saw him as even mildly left wing.

 There is nowhere for Obama to go but down, and the Democrats with him. They deserve to go down; it is tragic that they are dragging the whole country down with them. But now everyone can see them for what they really are: corporate capitalist flaks at the beck and call of big business and Wall St.

But then, where is the left? Busy screaming about American imperialism, even though it is capitalism (the left's former bugaboo, now forgotten in the left's leechlike adherence to radical Islam and anti-Israel rants) that is wrecking the world.

 We can curse Obama and congress on the internet until doomsday, but until there is some kind of meaningful and powerful unity of liberals and the left on health care, global warming and foreign policy/human rights, this administration will continue on its merry way.

 The zombie called the U.S. Green Party needs to be replaced by a third party or electoral movement that pulls together all these concerns in a coherent manner and brings them to bear at election time. Rather than wait for the next presidential election, we need to find congressional candidates who will hold firm on the major issues: abortion rights, gay rights, universal single payer health care, climate change, ending bailouts for Wall St. and the banks, withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, and a foreign policy formulated on a principled opposition to radical Islam in all its forms and protection of women's rights everywhere.

 Instead of cultivating genocidal regimes like that of Sudan, or sucking up to oil monarchs like Saudi Arabia, instead of tolerating the Islamist oppression of women and the erosion of secular democracy by radical Islam, we should be utilizing all ways, short of military invasion, to enforce basic principles of human rights and ecological sanity.

 The forces of international "free trade" and globalization are not inevitable. The pursuit of profit, we now see, enriches the few at the expense of the many. Obama's pro-Wall St.devotion implements the free trade doctrine dictated to him word for word by Wall St. This doctrine is not only creating poverty and unemployment but destroying the world in its quest for endless growth.  It needs a principled opposition that goes beyond internet rants and op ed pieces and holds all elected officials accountable.

As for central Asian policy, the dream of "bringing democracy" to a region ruled by theocrats, drug dealers and jihadist war lords has to be exposed as a flimsy excuse for wasting American lives and dollars. It is time to expose the fiction that a few more troops and an alliance with the murderous Taliban will do the trick. It is time to stop giving Karzai the blank signed checks.

 Nothing short of a complete occupation of Afghanistan and massacre of thousands of war lords and Taliban recruits (and innocent civilians into the bargain) - a take-over of its government, civil institutions, military, national infrastructure, economy, cities and distant villages that would cost trillions and last for decades - will suffice. And Americans will not allow this.

Visit Lorna Salzman's Website http://www.lornasalzman.com/