traditional paradigm of the american empire...

amateurs

The mainstream media are divided between two ways of interpreting the fall of Kabul. For some, the Democrats are cowards and the departure from Afghanistan discourages the allies. For others, they have played well and placed a thorn in the side of the Russians and the Chinese. These two views correspond to the traditional paradigm of the American Empire.

But for Thierry Meyssan, Washington is, since September 11, 2001, in the hands of the followers of the Rumsfeld/Cebrowski doctrine. The United States is now behaving like a racketeer. The chaos will continue in Afghanistan for a long time. Russian, Chinese and European companies who wish to do so will be able to mine in Afghanistan, but only if they entrust their security to the US forces. Those who refuse this protection will be eliminated.

Is the defeat in Afghanistan aimed at embarrassing Russia and China?

by Thierry Meyssan

The fall of Kabul is leading to terrible scenes of flight and despair. Let’s leave aside the fact that the fleeing people are mostly not peaceful translators from Western embassies, but collaborators in the US counter-insurgency with blood dripping from their hands. What we are seeing is a debacle that should make us lose faith in the power of ’America’.

51% of Americans disapprove of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy.
60% particularly disapprove of his policy towards Afghanistan
63% say the war was not worth fighting [1].
Almost all Americans who fought in Iraq are very shocked.

Yet, at worst, it is clear that Washington knew perfectly well that the Afghan army would not stand up to the Taliban, who were theoretically three times less numerous and much less well equipped. The West Point CTC published a study in January to predict this catastrophe [2]. The question was not whether the Taliban would win, but when President Biden would let them win.

The US-Taliban negotiations, which have dragged on for years and were suddenly concluded by President Biden, must be interpreted as a voluntary surrender of power to the Taliban. One wonders why it took hundreds of thousands of deaths, astronomical sums of money and the efforts of four successive presidents for Washington to drive the Taliban out of Kabul and then back in; and why President Biden decided to assume the role of the defeated.

The same misunderstanding arose when the Baker-Hamilton Commission led to the US withdrawal from Iraq and the then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, unhesitatingly assumed the role of the vanquished; a misunderstanding that still persisted three months ago when Rumsfeld died.

It is time to stop listening to the politicians and and to read the military. Politicians only tell us what we can accept to hear. We are always on the right side and we will only die for Democracy. The military, on the other hand, does not try to seduce us, but to understand what is expected of them. So they do not write to flatter our illusions, but expose the unvarnished truth.

As I have explained many times [3], in the days following the 9/11 attacks, the US Army published an article by Colonel Ralph Peters stating that the US no longer needed to win wars, but to organise instability in certain regions of the world, particularly in the ’broader Middle East’. He went on to say that states would have to be recomposed along ethnic lines, i.e. separating mixed peoples, and that this could only be done through ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity. He ended his presentation by assuring that the Pentagon could always delegate its powers to mercenaries to do the dirty work [4]. In the excitement of 9/11, no one picked up on this article openly claiming to be preparing for heinous crimes.

Five years later, Ralph Peters published the map that the Joint Chiefs of Staff were working on in 2001 [5]. A panic ensued among all the military leaderhip in the wider Middle East: no one was protected, not even the US allies. Various changes of alliance followed. But it was not until 2011 and the attack on Libya (then a US ally) that we saw what was happening.

Since then, we have seen that the war in Afghanistan, which was supposed to last until Osama bin Laden fled, has lasted for 20 years; that the war in Iraq, which was supposed to last until the fall of President Saddam Hussein, has lasted for 17 years; that the war in Libya, which was supposed to last until the fall of Muamar Gaddafi, has lasted for 10 years; that the war in Syria, which was supposed to last until the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, has lasted for 10 years. Moreover, we have seen Al Qaeda (historically a creation of the CIA) and Daesh (historically a creation of Ambassador John Negroponte) commit crimes against humanity all along the lines announced by Colonel Ralph Peters. And we know that these terrorist organisations are funded, armed and supervised by the British and the Americans.

Yes, the "endless war" declared by President George W. Bush is not about "fighting terrorism", but about using terrorism to "destabilise" an entire region. This was the title of Colonel Peters’ article in 2001: "Stability: America’s enemy".

This being the case, we must reinterpret the fall of Kabul in the light of this new strategy. For two years, in 2002-03, Admiral Arthur Cebrowski went to explain it in all the US military academies. He met all the current US general officers. This strategy was popularised for the general public by Cebrowski’s assistant, Thomas Barnett -although his book [6] has not been translated.

The fall of Kabul fulfils the central objective of this strategy on the condition that the Taliban do not succeed in establishing a stable regime -and without allies they will not be able to do so-. The escape of the US counterinsurgency collaborators, if they manage to pass themselves off as peaceful translators, will allow terrorism to spread in the countries that will receive them. This is already being denounced by President Vladimir Putin. The transfer of military equipment given to the Afghan army in the hands of the Taliban will allow them to attack their neighbours. Unlike Daesh, the Taliban already have a biometric file of almost their entire population and an air force with a fleet of over 200 fighter planes. The war in Central Asia will therefore be even more terrible than the war in the wider Middle East.

Last but not least. Some commentators believe that Washington has abandoned Afghanistan in order to create problems for Russia and China. This is not the Rumsfeld/Cebrowski strategy at all. According to the latter, we should not fight these great powers, but rather turn them into clients. They should be helped to exploit Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and many others, but only under the protection of the US army.

Understand, Washington no longer thinks like a rival of the Roman Empire, but like a racketeer. It does not build triumphal arches to its glory anywhere and even accepts that its president, Joe Biden, is defeated in Afghanistan. He seeks to dominate the world in the shadows and to make as much money as possible.

You think I’m imagining a doomsday scenario? Then tell me where the flaw is in my argument!

Thierry Meyssan

Translation
Roger Lagassé

free assange, president biden...

By Gus Leonisky at 26 Aug 2021 - 2:25pm
Gus Leonisky's blog
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fear is a good motivator...

Reps. Seth Moulton (R-MA) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) revealed earlier this week that they both made a secret trip to Kabul, Afghanistan, to allegedly conduct oversight of evacuation operations from Hamid Kazai International Airport. US President Joe Biden has said the US is on track to meet the August 31 deadline, despite GOP calls for an extension.

As the US commander-in-chief's foreign policy continues to be questioned, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reassured Capitol reporters on Wednesday that she trusts Biden's decision to not abandon the August 31 deadline for US troops to leave Afghanistan.

"The judgment about leaving is a judgment that the president has made, and he has to balance the equities of what is the threat to our military and the people at the airport versus the advantage of staying," the House Speaker said.

At the same time, many GOP lawmakers - and even some Democrats - "really want to encourage the president to stay longer, but he has to weigh the equities of the danger versus the advantage, and I trust his judgment," Pelosi added.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former US Army Ranger who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, argued that the US simply does not possess the capability to evacuate all forces by August 31.

Our troops are on the ground and putting everything on the line to serve those who served with us.

I'm forever and always #ArmyStrong #Airborne #RLTW https://t.co/e21i9hWDc7

— Rep. Jason Crow (@RepJasonCrow) August 24, 2021

Several GOP heavyweights, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have called on US President Joe Biden to abandon adherence to the August 31 withdrawal deadline for US forces. The Taliban* has expressed that the date is firm.

"Extend the deadline, get outside the perimeter, make sure that every single American who wants to leave is able to get out with our assistance and our Afghan allies," McConnell said during a Tuesday interview with Fox News. "The Taliban should not be allowed to tell us how long we are there to get our personnel out."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) renewed his calls for Biden's impeachment over the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

"I think Joe Biden deserves to be impeached because he’s abandoned thousands of Afghans who fought with us and he’s going to abandon some American citizens because he capitulated to the Taliban to a 31 August deadline," he said during a Tuesday Newsmax broadcast.

During her Wednesday address on Capitol Hill, the House Speaker pushed back against two GOP lawmakers who took their opposition to the pullout deadline to the next level and organized a secret trip to Kabul.

Pelosi on Reps. Seth Moulton and Peter Meijer going to Afghanistan: "This is deadly serious. We do not want members to go." pic.twitter.com/5khcfqMMv0

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 25, 2021Pelosi argued that she did not believe such a trip was such a wise decision amid the "deadly serious" situation in Afghanistan. Additionally, US lawmakers were previously advised against travel to Kabul.

Reps. Moulton and Meijer argued in a joint letter that they did not take their journey to "grandstand," and did not make a major disruption because they took crew seats, rather than those reserved for evacuees.

"As veterans, we care deeply about the situation on the ground at Hamid Karzai International Airport. America has a moral obligation to our citizens and loyal allies, and we must make sure that obligation is being kept," they told The Hill. "Like many veterans, we have spent the last few weeks working without sleep to try to get as many people as we could through the gates and to safety."

Today with @RepMeijer I visited Kabul airport to conduct oversight on the evacuation.

Witnessing our young Marines and soldiers at the gates, navigating a confluence of humanity as raw and visceral as the world has ever seen, was indescribable. pic.twitter.com/bWGQh1iw2c

— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) August 25, 2021

Per the US Department of State, over 82,000 individuals have been flown out of Kabul, Afghanistan, since August 14.

https://sputniknews.com/us/202108251083713809-i-trust-his-judgment-pelosi-defends-bidens-afghan-pullout-slams-gop-lawmakers-trip-to-kabul-/

free assange, president biden...

By Gus Leonisky at 26 Aug 2021 - 2:31pm
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biden should resign...

Everything about the Afghanistan withdrawal is tragic. But that tragedy is the result not of the withdrawal, but the occupation, and America’s profound misjudgment of its own power and limits.

[You can listen to this episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” on Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts.]

This is the foreign policy conversation much of Washington is trying desperately to avoid. The answer for the horrors of war is always more war. The bomb attack at the Kabul airport on Thursday reflects this dynamic perfectly: It’s being wielded as a cudgel by those who support a permanent American occupation of Afghanistan, guaranteeing more U.S., and Afghan, casualties in a bloody, open-ended struggle. We are ever alert to the costs of our inaction, or absence, but not to the harms of our presence or policies.

I DISAGREE. Although the tragedy of the US occupation of Afghanistan has to be studied and talked about, the withdrawal was BADLY ORGANISED BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. The Biden administration misjudged the necessity of urgency and of protection needed. Biden and Blinken should resign.

protection for a price...

Gus: I do not know if my little cartoon at top inspired Stand Grant... My "godfather" image with a US as the king pin of racketeering for a price is close to the bone...

---------------

From Stan Grant

"I believe in America."

That opening line of Francis Ford Coppola's epic film The Godfather captures the American dream. How immigrants could come to a new country and reinvent themselves. It is America, the land of the free — the land of hopes and dreams. Yet it comes with a cost.

The man who utters that immortal line, the undertaker Amerigo Bonasera, has been let down by America. His daughter has been beaten by her American boyfriend and Bonasera discovers that the law will do nothing to bring justice for an Italian immigrant.

So, the undertaker turns to the Godfather, Vito Corleone, who promises protection — but for a price.

Bonasera learns another lesson about America: Might makes right.

The Godfather is the story of the Corleone family's attempt to wash themselves clean. From mafia dons to respectable businessmen.

The Godfather trilogy is bigger than the gangster genre; it is an allegory of America.

The US is born of crime and violence: invasion and genocide of Native Americans, slavery and revolution. It has grown to become the richest and most powerful nation the world has ever seen. It has made the rules and broken the rules.

America claims to be the "exceptional nation". It has helmed a "new world order", intervening in foreign conflicts and putting troops on the ground across all seven continents.

The US is estimated to have hundreds of bases in more than 70 countries. Right now, it could have as many as 200,000 active service members deployed throughout the world. That's the cost of empire. And America — as much as some may dislike the term — is an empire.

America's slow unravelling

In his book, How to Hide an Empire, historian Daniel Immerwahr describes America as a "violently expansive empire of settlers, feeding on land and displacing everything in its path".

The US has been expanding, conquering and claiming foreign territory since the mid-19th century. It has waged brutal war, made deals with despots while also claiming to be a force of liberation.

The author, Mark Twain, wrote of his country: "There must be two Americas, one that sets a captive free, and one that takes a once-captive's new freedom away from him."

Twain's two Americas are on show right now. The world's most powerful military retreating from a country it promised to liberate. The Taliban has humbled the US in Afghanistan and questions are now being asked about the future of American power. Are we indeed in what journalist Fareed Zakaria once dubbed the "post-American world"?

America's has been a slow unravelling. From Korea to Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been fought to a standstill at best and defeated at worst.

At the same time, it has been battered at home: lurching from political scandal and corruption, economic collapse, terrorism, crippling inequality and growing anger. It is a country bitterly politically divided. Abroad it has squandered power and prestige.

It is easy to find examples of Twain's second America — those who would condemn the US as a usurper as exploiter. But there is also Twain's first America, a country that has shed its own blood.

It is criticised for abandoning Afghanistan, yet it is too easily forgotten that it has spent $2 trillion and lost more than 2,000 soldiers, nearly 4,000 US contractors.

It is still sacrificing its people. Thirteen dead in last week's suicide bombing at Kabul airport. And of course, the 20-year war in Afghanistan was triggered by Al Qaeda's 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US that killed three thousand people.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-31/us-exit-afghanistan-questions-swirl/100418698

Read from top.

One of the sad story is that the US sucks in countries like Australia in its wake... for better or for worse, we become part of the price... for protection.

assange assange

By Gus Leonisky at 1 Sep 2021 - 5:10am
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