ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { width: 285px; } .style8 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } .style9 { font-size: small; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; } .style10 { text-align: left; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td height="2" class="style7"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Petraeus Blows More Afghanistan Smoke</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curt</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>is<a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright August 15, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style8">&nbsp;M</span>aking the rounds on Sunday talk shows, Centcom Commander Gen. David Petraeus told NBC s  Meet The Press that the American people needed to show patience in Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Nearly nine years since former President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom Oct. 7, 2001 to punish the Taliban for hiding Osama bin Laden, the U.S. finds itself in a bloody guerrilla war, losing 66 soldiers in July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus called the Afghan War an  up and down process, referring the efforts to purge Southern Afghanistan of the Taliban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Stating new U.S. goals, Petraeus insisted, like Bush and his former VP Dick Cheney, that the war s goal is to keep the Taliban or al-Qaeda from seizing power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus knows that Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders haven t been in Afghanistan since they fled Tora Bora over the Khyber Pass Dec. 12, 2001, one month after the fall of Kabul. </p> <p class="style10"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Selling the Afghan War faces stiff headwinds, considering that too much information contradicts the Pentagon s report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We re here so that Afghanistan does not once again become a sanctuary for transnational extremists the way it was when al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks in the Kandahar areas, Petraeus told  Meet The Press during an interview in Kabul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus won t acknowledge that U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai has close family ties to the Taliban, hailing from the Kandahar area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His survival over the past nine years underscores just how close those ties really are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before Operation Enduring Freedom, the CIA threw cash at Afghan opposition group called the United Front or Northern Alliance, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud. Massoud, who fought the Soviets side-by-side with Bin Laden, eventually succumbing to a Taliban suicide blast Oct. 9, 2001.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <![endif]>Karzai s longevity directly relates to his ongoing collusion with the Taliban, tipping off the renegade Islamic group with key intelligence about U.S. troop movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Karzai s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, has been on the CIA s payroll for years and controls a significant piece of the Afghan opium trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since taking office, Obama has added over 50,000 U.S. troops, putting the total at 100,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s followed through with his campaign promise to end the Iraq War, promising to complete of combat troops by summer 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush and Cheney repeatedly warned of an al-Qaeda takeover in Iraq if the U.S. threw in the towel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Now Petraeus makes the same claim in Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Few military or national security experts believe that al-Qaeda or Taliban leadership remain in Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Petraeus insists that the U.S. mission still includes capturing Bin Laden and Taliban s Mullah Mohammed Omar.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Saying the fight in Afghanistan would require  character and its size being scaled down for years, Petraeus insisted that a military loss would invite a bloody civil war, inviting extremists back in the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If the U.S. succeeds, Petraeus promised a  Silk Road to mine Afghanistan s trillion-dollar mineral wealth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>He knows that any strip mining would require major commitment by multinational corporations, not likely when the country faces an unending guerrilla war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With Taliban forces receding into the civilian population in Kandahar, it presents a difficult target for U.S. forces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus counterinsurgency strategy, like Iraq, involves buying off warlords and remnants of the radical Taliban regime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>He thinks the military can pay off key members of the Afghan Taliban that haven seen hide-nor-hair of its leader Mullah Mohammed Omar or Osama bin Laden<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>Petraeus indicates that he s following Taliban chatter among its remaining leadership in Afghanistan, questioning the whereabouts of Mullah Mohammed Omar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He suggests that remaining Taliban leadership is open to proposals from the U.S. military, much the same as insurgents in Iraq.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus thinks Afghan Taliban leaders feel abandoned, while Omar remains with Bin Laden in Pakistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus refuses to criticize Hamid Karzai, insisting that he meets or talks daily with the 52-year-old Afghan leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We have the kind of relationship, that I believe, we can each be forthright with the other and that means occasionally, again confronting issues that are difficult for either of us, said Petraeus, not admitting to Karzai s serious lapses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His close relationship with the Taliban should alert Petraeus to limit the kind of intel he shares with the Afghan president.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Petraeus faces an impossible task of preserving the illusion that there s measurable progress in Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> He currently serves as a face-saving buffer with Congressional skeptics on both sides of the aisle that believe Afghanistan is a lost cause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Unless Petraeus can get some inside track on the whereabouts of Bin Laden and Omar, the U.S. mission remains in doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Nearly nine years after the fall of the Taliban, the U.S. is no closer to getting Bin Laden or Omar, attesting to shifting landscape in the mountainous graveyard of conquerors since the days of the Greek warrior-king Alexander the Great [356 BC to 323 BC].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since former Afghan Commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal questioned White House strategy and was fired June 23, growing doubts have crept into Congress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Petraeus neither has the time nor credibility to follow the same old strategy.</p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <span class="style9">About the Author</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="style8">&nbsp; </span>&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td height="1" class="style7"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>