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Secret intel report leaked: US in Afghan dead end
Published: 13 January, 2012, 15:39
Edited: 13 January, 2012, 21:16
Pakistani Taliban fighters hold weapons as they receive training in Ladda, South Waziristan tribal region, in this still image taken from a video, shot between December 9 to December 14, 2011 (Reuters / Reuters TV)
TAGS: Arms, Military, NATO, Afghanistan, Corruption, USA, War
The latest US intelligence report concludes the war against the Taliban has reached an impasse, with the Taliban remaining committed to taking back Afghanistan by force as soon as NATO troops leave the country.
Two current and one former US official speaking on condition of anonymity told AP the intelligence community’s take on the war is that the Taliban may only be paying lip service to peace talks with NATO and Afghan government.
The classified Afghan National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) declares the war at a stalemate, with NATO security gains far outweighed by corruption at all levels of Afghan government.
The report also finds special operations raids and programs to bolster local Afghan security are somewhat effective in degrading the Taliban, but it returns as soon as NATO forces withdraw from an area. The assessment also questions the overall success of the longest war in US history.
The document analyzes possible future scenarios for Afghanistan, “especially with respect to the motivations of the Taliban," an official told Reuters. The estimate states that the weak government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai will not be able to survive when US will pull its forces out of the country and reduces its assistance to military and civilians.
The military and Pentagon officials called report’s findings incorrect, flawed and overly pessimistic. Top commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, John Allen, argued that the US is not planning to withdraw the troops before they are certain Afghan troops can handle the job.
"If you [have] been waiting for us to go, we're not leaving," he said, as cited by USA Today.
At the moment the US has some 90,000 troops in Afghanistan and more than 30,000 NATO allies’ troops are present in the embattled country. By summer of 2012 US plan to reduce the number of their soldiers by 22,000.
The NIE findings are unlikely to jeopardize the US course in Afghanistan as the Obama administration plans to withdraw the majority of troops and 2015 deadline has been set for putting Afghan forces in charge of security.
The United States is expected to keep some troops in Afghanistan after the end of 2014 to focus on counter-terrorism and watch out for US interests in a volatile region, as well to train and assist the Afghans.
And while Washington hopes to secure a deal with the Taliban prior to the withdrawal of US forces, Zaid Hamid, a Defence Analyst at the independent think thank BrassTacks, told RT the soon to be resumed peace talks are virtually doomed to fail.
“There is no possibility that those [peace] talks will be successful, they are just a farce that is going on. In reality, on the ground the Taliban are trying to take up the initiative, [to take advantage] of US weaknesses. But the terms that the Taliban have given – the withdrawal of the extra-regional forces, the collapse of the Kabul regime – the conditions that have been given by the Taliban are such that they can never be accepted by the Americans or the Kabul regime. The peace talks mean nothing.”
13.01, 15:28
75 comments
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13.01, 16:36
7 comments
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Did it ever occur to anybody that having the US military scattered all over the world fighting brush fires leaves the USA in a very vulnerable position?
Why are the countries opposing the USA going up against troops that are trained and equipped to defeat them ON THEIR OWN SOIL???
US Organizations such as the DEA, FBI, Border Patrol, TSA, FEMA, Homeland Security, etc., and all municipal police forces are powerless against a determined, well trained, and well equipped REAL military force with modern weapons whose sole purpose is to kill and destroy things. US alphabet agencies can hardly handle an angry redneck granny with a shotgun. Why wouldn't countries being attacked on their own soil try to take the fight to the enemy in the same way they have been attacked, only in a more focused and intelligent manner???
The bottom line is this: anybody fighting a war in a totally stupid manner deserves defeat. The supposed righteousness of your cause means nothing when you fight like an idiot and remove all doubt that you should be treated worse than a redheaded stepchild. Instead of false flag events like 911, a really smart and determined enemy could have caused far more and far worse events all across America. With total nitwits like the TSA and Homeland Security looking out for the security of the USA, that would only make your job all the more easier.
Just what are you waiting for??? There are many thousands ripe for recruitment, just as the CIA has recruited those among your own countrymen for actions against you. Can you not see a similar opportunity?
The US government is presently downgrading the benefits of its veterans and active military members. There are going to be many who will be unhappy with their lot in life. It looks to me that disgruntled veterans could be a rich source of recruitment, and one soldier on the soil of the USA is worth ten on foreign soil who can only kill a puppet soldier at best. On the soil of America, you can aim to cut off the head of the dragon. Are you too dense to see the possibilities?
Yes, you probably are. Military generals and political leaders are among the most dense and incompetent people on the face of the earth, according to thousands of years of human history. You will probably continue to get the "vital bodily fluids" and associated waste products beat out of you until you wake up and fight like somebody who isn't punch drunk.
@ j&b fog, exactly. We are there for a reason which has nothing to do with so-called terrorism. After all, one of the nicknames for Afghanistan is "Pipeline-istan". Cheers.