Monday, April 23, 2012

Blood Money

The more I know the less I understand. It doesn't keep me from gettin mad though. Why are we going to pay Afghanistan (read Karzai) billions of dollars for a minimum of ten years after our withdrawal for the privilege of continuing to defend it?  Figure somewhere between four and six billion dollars per year. What am I missing here?

For one thing, it means more U.S. military casualties.  That's a given.  It means propping up a leader as corrupt as the day is long who we put in place not only once, but twice.  It means taking his abuse every time we look cross eyed and suffering his scoldings every time we sneeze. We're being made to look weak and subjective!

It means taking orders from him! It means continuing to train his security forces, the ones who with some regularity kill the very men training them.  Our men.  It means getting their permission for everything we do.  No more night raids.  No more launching drone attacks into Pakistan or any place else.

We're expected to support their economic development.  What?  Poppy production?  Education.  Women too? Not likely.  Health care and social initiatives?  What, pray tell!  Defend human rights and free speech?  Human rights?  This is Afghanistan we're talking about here.  The country the Taliban wants back.  Karzai is little more than the mayor of Kabul, by the grace of the Taliban at that.  The remainder of the country is still under the thumb of various war lords who side with us only if the money is right.

How this is supposed to insure stability in Central and South Asia is beyond me.  I'm not convinced any other country has an interest in that waste land other than us.  Our NATO allies are leaving.  We'll be there alone protecting the people against aggression from who?  They think it's us!

To make matters worse, it's being structured so the President doesn't even have to get Congressional approval.  Our only hope is they refuse funding.

I've long been weary of Mr. Karzai's abuse.  This is the last straw.  Bin Laden is dead.  He was the target from the get go and wasn't even there for the past six years or so.  Let's end it.   Really end it.  Karzai can tap the funds he has already embezzled to fund his protection.  It's not our responsibility to fund his retirement.

As I said, there is much I don't understand.  I do understand it's un-American for our military to have to pay lip service to a 'hostile' ally. Isn't it about time we put Mr. Karzai in his place?  We have a lot better use for four to six billion dollars a year in this country!  I can think of a lot better use for our young men and women's lives too!

4 comments:

Margie's Musings said...

The military continues to pressure the president to do that.

He finds himself between an rock and a hard place with them.

Anonymous said...

Good point, Margie. Looking at the dynamics of the present day events, one now gets a sense of what President Eisenhower warned about the military-industrial complex in a speech made just before leaving office.

Another thought-provoking gem, Mari! Have a great week!

Word Tosser said...

I have never understood why we give the government/country we leave behind.. money. We did it with Japan, I believe Germany the first time around.. Vietnam, and etc. Wasn't there a movie about it.. I think it was called The Mouse that Roared. It was about a tiny tiny country that declared war on us.. just to get the money after they got beaten, which they didn't even have a real army. I think it was in the late 70's or early 80's.
I just don't get it.

Margie's Musings said...

It's a form of bribery..that's all it is.