obd
01-26-2004, 11:34 PM
Just read a series of interviews of Green Beret A-team from the Alabama 20th group ODA 2025 which recently returned from seven months on ops in eastern A-stan where thier primary mission was against Taliban-run opium/heroin trade. According to senior weapon Sgt. "Jason" and several other members on the team, it is a poorly hidden secret that Pakistan is giving support to the Taliban in the form of safe havens, weapons, money, and fresh recruits. According to these men, the situation has deteriorated greatly and things are far different, and far worse, then they were during the days of Tora Bora, Mazar, etc..
According to them, Pakistan has taken the que from the Bush Admins obsession with Iraq to increase thier support for Taliban and Queda groups operating against US forces and interests in the region. Surprisingly, this is being done by the ISI and other groups even in the face of multiple assasination attempts by suspected Kashmiri groups and other fundamentalist groups linked to Al Queda on President Mushareffs life in the past several weeks. According to the Green Berets, the combination of bribes from drug profits and the safe haven provided by Pakistan for Talibs is making it impossible to stem the tide of criminal and terrorist activity and the region is becoming increasingly dangerous. Attacks and injuries have increased in recent months. They say becasue no SF operators have died in the region the American public and to a lesser degree the government are not concerned with the warning signs of the Talibs return but they say its only a matter of time before it gets a whole lot worse. They point out that it has become increasingly more difficult to move anywhere in the area without being attacked by at least snipers and they say the reason for this is that locals are beginning to turn to the Taliban to protect what they see as thier only cash crop: Heroin.
The Talibs are taking advantage of this and using networks to spy on SF movements. They say the only reasonable way to move in East A-stan is by Toyota truck and that by following the roads they could go almost nowhere for any length of time undetected. While they say that this is normal in this type of circumstance, what is making it impossible to counter is the fact that Pakistan is covertly and very actively supporting these Taliban groups against American troops. This is known by many but the Bush admin. doesnt want anymore problems so is taking a "see no evil" approach and is failing to pressure the Paks enough to get them to stop. This is not surprising as the Taliban are not a homegrown movement in A-stan. They are actually a product of several factors such as the breakdown of nearly all order post Soviet Afghan war, the years of war lordism and most importantly massive support by Pakistan. In fact, hundreds of new recruits for the Taliban are captured every month by US SF who have nothing to do with them but arrest them and release them because they are mostly boys with little more than a blood lust desire to kill Americans but no real skills. These boys, they say, are all coming from Pakistan madrasas which openly supporting the Taliban and Queda with new recuits right under the very aware eyes of the Pakistani government.
The SF say that until the Pakistani's crack down on these religious zealots it will be a never ending flow of new recruits they cannot stop. One SF operative said that within 6 months the situation had changed from the Taliban being fractured, then to regouping, then to enlarging, and now to counter offensive. He implied that only one variable changed the equation and that was Pakistans ever growing support for the Taliban. Also, according to leaked documents, which may or may not be true, inter-service operations with the FBI/CIA/CAG.DEVGRU and other US units/agencies inside Pakistani territory against these Talib holdouts has been dramatically reduced in recent months aftermuch Paksitani comlaints. It all points to one thing. Mushareff, faced with growing resentment of his support for America, faced with the virtual annihilation of the Taliban which Paksitna spent much effort creating and building in the 1980's, and faced with little US concession with regard to Pakistans attacks in Kashmir and India has decided he has no choice but to stop presuring other elements of the govnt, such as the ISI, to lower support for the Taliban. This is creating, in the words of some US senators who have been keeping close eye on the situation, a "vietnam/cambodia type situation".
This is also beginning to look alot like the Soviet Afghan war. In addition, the SF operators who worked exclusively outside the capital of Kandahar claim that the "real afghanistan" is still just as extremist as ever. One, and this is a direct quote, said "I would rather be a dog in American than a women in A-stan". The team felt discouraged that they were fighting for freedom in a place that has never really shown any inclination towards democracy and still treats women "worse than America treated its slaves in the 1800's". In fact, one recently returned SF called the situation a "lost cause" and said from his experiences with Afghans that they "are a people who only ever really unite when they have a greater enemy to fight and have no real sense of nationalism and have only tribal loyalty and dont even understand the concept of democracy at all,much less support womens freedom". Half jokingly, the SF operator said it would be more cost effective than spending billions of dollars in impossible "nationbuilding" to just come back every ten years and wage a quick war as before and just wipe them clean again. While of course joking around, it did illustrate the frustrations of fighitng an enemy with, at least in E. A-stan, local support and a ready safe haven to rest, re-equip, and return to fight another day.
According to them, Pakistan has taken the que from the Bush Admins obsession with Iraq to increase thier support for Taliban and Queda groups operating against US forces and interests in the region. Surprisingly, this is being done by the ISI and other groups even in the face of multiple assasination attempts by suspected Kashmiri groups and other fundamentalist groups linked to Al Queda on President Mushareffs life in the past several weeks. According to the Green Berets, the combination of bribes from drug profits and the safe haven provided by Pakistan for Talibs is making it impossible to stem the tide of criminal and terrorist activity and the region is becoming increasingly dangerous. Attacks and injuries have increased in recent months. They say becasue no SF operators have died in the region the American public and to a lesser degree the government are not concerned with the warning signs of the Talibs return but they say its only a matter of time before it gets a whole lot worse. They point out that it has become increasingly more difficult to move anywhere in the area without being attacked by at least snipers and they say the reason for this is that locals are beginning to turn to the Taliban to protect what they see as thier only cash crop: Heroin.
The Talibs are taking advantage of this and using networks to spy on SF movements. They say the only reasonable way to move in East A-stan is by Toyota truck and that by following the roads they could go almost nowhere for any length of time undetected. While they say that this is normal in this type of circumstance, what is making it impossible to counter is the fact that Pakistan is covertly and very actively supporting these Taliban groups against American troops. This is known by many but the Bush admin. doesnt want anymore problems so is taking a "see no evil" approach and is failing to pressure the Paks enough to get them to stop. This is not surprising as the Taliban are not a homegrown movement in A-stan. They are actually a product of several factors such as the breakdown of nearly all order post Soviet Afghan war, the years of war lordism and most importantly massive support by Pakistan. In fact, hundreds of new recruits for the Taliban are captured every month by US SF who have nothing to do with them but arrest them and release them because they are mostly boys with little more than a blood lust desire to kill Americans but no real skills. These boys, they say, are all coming from Pakistan madrasas which openly supporting the Taliban and Queda with new recuits right under the very aware eyes of the Pakistani government.
The SF say that until the Pakistani's crack down on these religious zealots it will be a never ending flow of new recruits they cannot stop. One SF operative said that within 6 months the situation had changed from the Taliban being fractured, then to regouping, then to enlarging, and now to counter offensive. He implied that only one variable changed the equation and that was Pakistans ever growing support for the Taliban. Also, according to leaked documents, which may or may not be true, inter-service operations with the FBI/CIA/CAG.DEVGRU and other US units/agencies inside Pakistani territory against these Talib holdouts has been dramatically reduced in recent months aftermuch Paksitani comlaints. It all points to one thing. Mushareff, faced with growing resentment of his support for America, faced with the virtual annihilation of the Taliban which Paksitna spent much effort creating and building in the 1980's, and faced with little US concession with regard to Pakistans attacks in Kashmir and India has decided he has no choice but to stop presuring other elements of the govnt, such as the ISI, to lower support for the Taliban. This is creating, in the words of some US senators who have been keeping close eye on the situation, a "vietnam/cambodia type situation".
This is also beginning to look alot like the Soviet Afghan war. In addition, the SF operators who worked exclusively outside the capital of Kandahar claim that the "real afghanistan" is still just as extremist as ever. One, and this is a direct quote, said "I would rather be a dog in American than a women in A-stan". The team felt discouraged that they were fighting for freedom in a place that has never really shown any inclination towards democracy and still treats women "worse than America treated its slaves in the 1800's". In fact, one recently returned SF called the situation a "lost cause" and said from his experiences with Afghans that they "are a people who only ever really unite when they have a greater enemy to fight and have no real sense of nationalism and have only tribal loyalty and dont even understand the concept of democracy at all,much less support womens freedom". Half jokingly, the SF operator said it would be more cost effective than spending billions of dollars in impossible "nationbuilding" to just come back every ten years and wage a quick war as before and just wipe them clean again. While of course joking around, it did illustrate the frustrations of fighitng an enemy with, at least in E. A-stan, local support and a ready safe haven to rest, re-equip, and return to fight another day.