As blame for the embarrassing revelation that NATO and the Afghan government not only negotiated with, but handed over large sums of money, to a “Taliban commander” who turned out to be a scam artist continues to get shuffled around, it has now found its way to ousted US General Stanley McChrystal.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s office was quick to point the finger at the British government, saying they were the ones who introduced the fake Mullah Mansour to the talks. But now the reports are that MI6 developed the ties, against their better judgement, because of pressure from Prime Minister David Cameron.
Naturally the shifting of blame didn’t stop there, because Prime Minister Cameron was under pressure from Gen. McChrystal to find negotiating partners for the Karzai government’s peace talks.
Shifting the blame to McChrystal is certainly convenient, as he was ousted by President Obama months ago. However his successor, Gen. David Petraeus, was the one publicly bragging about NATO’s role in what turned out to be sham peace talks, and the talks were being lauded long after McChrystal’s removal. Thus even if he did set the wheels in motion, the fiasco can hardly be placed exclusively on him.