How Stupid …. Part ???

Like the “Rocky” franchise, this saga of US government insanity seems to have innumerable sequels. The term “stupid” is used intentionally and advisedly. Ignorance is the lack of information or understanding. Stupidity is choosing to remain ignorant or choosing to ignore basic common sense and understanding and electing the irrational option. So the following example falls in the category of stupidity on the part of the US government by acting with knowledge and information in a manner that is both illogical and against the interests of the citizens of the USA. The alternative characterization is almost too cynical to consider, as discussed below.

Witness the recently released report regarding Pakistan funding and support of the Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The report issued by the London School of Economics is based upon sources in Pakistan and present and former Taliban officials in Afghanistan. [See -http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e8f6f5c-76b4-11df-ba79-00144feabdc0.html] The report also confirms previous reports within the US military command that indicated belief of complicity by the Pakistan government with the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. Thus, it is fair to say that the US government had reason to believe Pakistani involvement and has further confirmation of that charge.

Her lies the stupidity. The US government spends billions of dollars in aid to prop up the Pakistani government. At least some of these funds are being used to supply intelligence, munitions and supplies to the Taliban to wage its insurgency in Afghanistan. At the same time, billions of dollars are being spent by the US government to wage a fight against Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. These funds and the soldiers they support are being “expended” in a deadly war to prevent Taliban insurgency from taking control of Afghanistan. In simple terms, the US is funding a government effort by Pakistan to undermine and defeat the US mission in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban – waging a war against itself. Consider the role of Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, in firing top security officials in his government because they were too aggressive in their pursuit of Taliban leadership. The only beneficiaries of this lethal game of duplicity are the government officials in Islamabad and Kabul who are building multi-million dollar palaces with US government funding siphoned off through corruption and venality.

Pakistan has nuclear capability and is banking [literally] on the US unwillingness to withdraw financial support due to fear that the country might switch alliances. In reality, this is an empty threat because the alternative alliances could not and would not fund the corruption that currently exists. Karzai is playing a duplicitous role by taking US funding to defeat the Taliban while handicapping his subordinates who truly attempt to eliminate the Taliban capacity to threaten the government. Karzai relies upon support in Taliban controlled areas to stay in office. The Taliban see a sweet irony in taking US funding to wage a campaign to defeat a US backed effort to oust them from control of areas in Afghanistan and from seeking to take control of the Afghan government.

My grandfather used to tell me about a saying on the “street” regarding treatment of foolish attempts to get involved in a game that one does not understand and is not savvy enough to play. “Catch a sucker, bump his head!” The meaning is fairly clear in this case. Any street hustler would spot the game immediately, and Obama’s experience in Chicago community organizing should make him wise enough to spot it as well. The government “leadership” of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Taliban in the supposed “conflict” are capitalizing on the ideological blindness and naivety of the US and bilking US taxpayers of hundreds of billions of dollars while also exploiting the people of Afghanistan who are caught in the middle of this military gamesmanship. The advantage that these hustlers have is that the game will never end as long as there is so-called “strategic” territory to fight over and people living in the area.

The Losers are the US taxpayers who are funding this scam with dollars that could be better spent alleviating the suffering caused by the Bush recession and reviving the struggling US economy. In addition, continued involvement in this game feeds Anti-US propaganda being used in the Islamic world to recruit extremists who in turn support non-religious criminal terrorism activities. There is virtually no way that continuation can be rationalized as in the long term interest of the US citizenry. The cynical view referenced above relates to the other potential beneficiary in this scam, weapons manufacturers. No matter what the political landscape may be, lobbyists for the military-industrial complex urge continuance because that means greater sales of more weapons to wage lethal conflict. Since the US government funding is actually supporting the purchase of weapons for the Taliban as well as the Afghan military, the weapons makers profit as long as the conflict continues. Isn’t that too cynical to be true?