TALIBAN KILLS AFGHAN OFFICIAL (Remember them?)

Some of you with longer attention spans may recall that before 911 was never linked to Iraq, it was tenuously linked to Afghanistan. The truth was that Al Qaeda was hiding there with the collusion of the Afghan government before and just after 911. Even though the Taliban were something different from Al Qaeda, rather than concentrating on the group that is said to have actually committed the acts of 911, Bush 43 orders Afghanistan invaded. The Taliban was a dangerous regime that needs to be removed from power because they refused to give up Osama. At least, that's the official story.

So, the USMil attacks and takes out the Taliban. A terrible regime has been removed and the world is a safer place...

Right?

Wrong.

Don't listen to the Bush 43 Admin when they tell you the Taliban has been "vanquished" because they haven't been. All the USMil succeeded in doing was shattering the roughly unified country into smaller chunks that are, to this day, not terribly unified. Each chunk is run by a different warlord and Afghan president, and former Unocal spokesperson, Hamid Karzai has about as much control over his country as Lyad Allawi, Iraq's new puppet--I mean, Prime Minister, has over "his" country. Evidence of this shows up in a Reuters article excerpted here:

A local Afghan official and one of his guards were killed Saturday when suspected Taliban gunmen opened fire in the southern province of Helmand, the provincial governor said.

Two other guards were wounded in an attack by around 10 suspected militants in the remote district of Khanneshin, which lies 70 miles north of the Pakistani border, said Helmand governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada.

In short, before the Taliban was even truly out of commission, Bush 43 sends the USMil into Iraq.

Now, ask yourself, what's the real connection between Iraq, Afghanistan and 911?

Zip.

The invasion of Iraq has only helped Al Qaeda recruit more people to it's cause. The invasion of Afghanistan did not net us Osama, nor did it fully rid the Afghan people of the Taliban. In fact, the rationalization for invading Afghanistan is almost as tenuous as the one to attack Iraq. The USMil's invasion of Afghanistan is like arresting the mother of a guy who just robbed a bank. Shouldn't we go after the guy who actually committed the crime instead of killing the person who was nice to him?

Shouldn't Osama be the first guy that Bush 43 should want to take down?

Instead, Iraq is a mess, Afghanistan is a mess and Al Qaeda is still, apparently, a major threat to America.

When's all this killing going to start paying off?

When is Bush 43 going to start paying off as president?

Oh yeah, that reminds me, when's that payoff--I mean, tax cut for us Middle-Classers in exchange for not revolting? That is what we got the last time... $300, right?

Read more about the Afghan official who was killed by a "vanquished" Taliban.



From Reuters.Com:

Two Afghan Officials Killed, Taliban Blamed

Sat Jul 31, 2004 11:07 AM ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A local Afghan official and one of his guards were killed Saturday when suspected Taliban gunmen opened fire in the southern province of Helmand, the provincial governor said.

Two other guards were wounded in an attack by around 10 suspected militants in the remote district of Khanneshin, which lies 70 miles north of the Pakistani border, said Helmand governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada.

It was the latest in a series of attacks in Helmand by suspected remnants of the ousted Taliban, who have vowed to disrupt preparations for elections in October and April and to fight against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.

The gunmen got away in two vehicles after killing district official Taous Khan and one of his guards just before noon (3:30 a.m. EDT).

More than 900 people have been killed in violence in the past year, and the majority of attacks have been linked to the ousted Islamic Taliban militia and militant allies including al Qaeda.

The United States waged war on the ruling Taliban late in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The militia refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was suspected of coordinating the atrocities.

© Reuters 2004