17 years into the US war in Afghanistan, various administrations have tried myriad different strategies to try to win the war, many of them involving recruiting local groups. While the Pentagon’s various allies have had well-documented problems, they’re nothing compared to the CIA.
Clandestine and playing fast and loose with the rules, the CIA’s own Afghan forces, various bands of local gunmen with some nominal training, have missions to do, and very little in the way of rules of engagement.
Being told to “search for militants” is all but blanket permission to raid and loot random homes. One survivor of such a raid describes the fighters taking him away for questioning. After they took him, they killed his two brothers and sister-in-law, then burned the house to the ground, killing his 3-year-old daughter.
Provincial officials were deeply critical of the “atrocity,” saying the raid targeted an innocent man. With the CIA’s seal of approval attached to it, however, there is very little that local or even Afghan government officials could do about it.
Investigations into war crimes in Afghanistan are rare, and when the CIA is attached to the matter, official demands for secrecy mean they rarely get off the ground. This has meant standard procedure for such raids is to attack, do what they’re going to do, and then set fire to everything to limit the amount of evidence that could be gathered.
Analysts and locals warn that the CIA-linked groups terrorize the public and are greatly undermining trust in US operations across Afghanistan. There is also little sign anything is going to change.
CIA-backed death squads and paramilitary run wild are normal in US wars. It isn’t a mistake, it is what they do every time.
Why hasn’t this ever been stopped? Well the School of the Americas was teaching this stuff. It was the plan. It is what they wanted.
Sickos. It couldn’t work, and it was sick to think it.
Nailed it!
Numerous additional examples come to mind but as you said, it is what they do under the guise of “american exceptionism, exporting democracy, american values” as interpreted by karl gershmann and his henchmen/henchwomen.
Maybe we will see it again in Donbas, as administered by ex-cia volker (former mccain lap dog).
Somehow, however, I do not think that putin will put up with much more of that, altho it has been going on on a smaller scale: rapes, kidnapping, assassinations, et, al.
Karl’s NED: “The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world” (“somewhat” nauseating)>
They had to change the name of the School of the Americas to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation due to it’s evil reputation for churning out sociopathic war lords and dictators.
Of course nothing but the name has changed.
It was reported that Blackwater mercenaries, knowing patrol schedules for US troops, would go to populated areas ahead of those patrols. They would incite the locals thru intimidation then leave, with the intention of manipulating the locals into attacking US forces. This is why Iraqis left Blackwater bodies hanging from a bridge in Fallujah. And, why the occupation of Iraq went so horribly wrong.
Dave Sullivan, I couldn’t agree more. Blackwater mercenaries, knowing patrol schedules for US troops, would, as you rightly said, would go to populated areas ahead of those troops. They’d incite locals through intimidation and then leave, with the intention of manipulating the locals into attacking US forces. You’re right .. this is why Iraqis left Blackwater bodies hanging from a bridge in Fallujah, and why the occupation of Iraq went so horribly wrong. I saw photos of those hanging bodies on the Internet and the locals swatting them with sticks.
F**king savages.
It prob goes a tad beyond cia death squads and includes nato killing machines:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/12/31/worse-than-obsolete-nato-creates-enemies/
If they’re going to be so brutal, it defies reasoning that they leave anyone alive. I can’t think of a more persuasive process to make the survivors into terrorists who will stop at nothing to free their country from foreign occupation. Doing “whatever it takes” tends to obscure and then undermine why we are there at all. We’re there to make us safe, but being there is making us less safe, so we get rougher to make us safer, etc.
I have this beautiful bridge for sale. Going cheap. Cash only.
“We’re there to make us safe,… ” Oh look there is another flock of pigs circling the Capitol.
US is there for one purpose only. To make the corporations richer and to safeguard the profits to be made from the countries.
All else is just nonsense.
US is not alone in this, it has been the purpose of all wars since UG’s village slaughtered ER’s village.
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“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”
― : D. Butler, War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America’s Most Decorated Soldier
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Wake up ‘sunshine’ your coffee (brought to you by Nestle at the expense of millions of peasants) is cold.
There’s certainly a strong element of truth to what you’re saying, beneath all the arguments and perceptions. Supposedly this is a Sufi proverb: “A fool tries to convince me with his arguments, a sage with my own.” The argument from officials and the uninformed public is that the purpose of military action is to make us safer. I try to listen and meet people where they are. But I do appreciate that acceptance of the premise at all may be frustrating for those who know better.