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Afghanistan’s gunpoint election
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By any measure, today’s presidential election in Afghanistan is a travesty. The poll takes place under conditions of a continuing foreign military occupation to prop up a puppet government that is notorious for its human rights abuses, corruption and failure to provide for the basic needs of the vast majority of the population.
The incumbent president and leading contender, Hamid Karzai, who was installed in office in 2002 by the US, is widely despised by the Afghan people. Excluded from the field of major candidates is anyone who opposes the US-NATO occupation, despite the fact that it is opposed by a large majority of the population, particularly in the southern Pashtun region, where Taliban influence is strong. Karzai’s leading rival and former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, was previously a spokesman for the Northern Alliance militias that helped the US topple the Taliban.
Despite the boosting of US and NATO troop numbers, the Taliban and its allies hold sway over large areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan and are calling for an election boycott. In at least 60 percent of the country, polling stations are at risk of attack. Some 440 out of 7,000 stations will not be opened at all as they cannot be protected. Around 100,000 foreign troops and 180,000 Afghan government army and police personnel are being deployed to secure the vote.
The Taliban and other insurgent groups, such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami movement, are intensifying their efforts to drive US and NATO troops from the country and overthrow the pro-US government. All of the leading presidential candidates are promising peace talks and even power-sharing with the insurgents, but, with their support growing, the Taliban and Hekmatyar have stated that they will not enter into talks under conditions of foreign occupation.
To prove their reach, the insurgents have carried out high-profile attacks over the past week against the nerve centres of the occupation. The NATO headquarters and the nearby US embassy in Kabul were targeted by a massive vehicle bomb on August 15. On Tuesday, Taliban fighters managed to position mortars within range and fire shells into the grounds of the heavily guarded presidential palace in the heart of the capital.
Numerous other attacks on US and foreign troops, Afghan security forces, election candidates and government officials have taken place this month, including in the northern provinces of the country where the Taliban insurgency was once believed to have no presence. The US/NATO death toll for August has already reached 50, following on from the war-high of 75 fatalities in July. Each month, at least 150 government troops and police are also being killed, though official figures are rarely released.
The vote is expected to be very low in the south and east. An Afghan judge in Uruzgan province told McClatchy News: “Only 10 to 20 percent of the people will be able to vote. When 80 percent of the people can’t vote, how can this be a transparent election?”
While the US will undoubtedly blame Taliban violence, eight years of indiscriminate air attacks, ground assaults and thousands of arbitrary detentions have generated deep-seated hostility to the occupation and its Afghan collaborators.
The US invasion has essentially placed back in power the Northern Alliance—the grouping of ethnic-based warlords who were overthrown by the Taliban in 1996. The only new faces are a collection of grasping émigré businessmen who have returned from the US and Europe to profiteer from multibillion-dollar “reconstruction” and “aid” projects.
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Even the Obama administration has had to admit that the result will be tarnished by wholesale ballot-rigging, primarily by electoral officials appointed by Karzai. It is believed that there at least 3 million duplicate or fraudulent voter registration cards in circulation, out of a total of 17 million. The BBC revealed this week that its undercover journalists had no difficulty arranging to buy 1,000 cards—for $10 each—on the streets of Kabul.
If Karzai does not win outright, he will be forced into a run-off with the second highest vote-getter. The most recent opinion poll conducted by the US International Republican Institute gave Karzai 44 percent against 26 percent for his closest rival, Abdullah Abdullah. Two other prominent candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Ramazan Bashardost, each polled less than 10 percent.
The fraudulent character of the poll is underscored by the Obama administration’s overt meddling. Despite having loyally served the US-led occupation, Karzai has faced increasing criticism in the US over his administration’s corruption and lack of public support. Karzai’s own limited criticisms of air strikes have rankled the US military. Despite Washington’s claim to neutrality, US ambassador Karl Eikenberry appeared publicly earlier this year alongside two of Karzai’s leading rivals.
The White House also signaled its displeasure towards Karzai by publicly condemning the return to Afghanistan last Saturday of ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum—one of the brutal warlords in the pre-Taliban period and a key US ally during the 2001 invasion. Last year, Dostum was pressured to go into voluntary exile in Turkey after he murdered a political opponent. Having returned at Karzai’s invitation, Dostum immediately called for a vote for the incumbent president.
The US embassy issued a hypocritical statement declaring that Dostum faced “questions of his culpability for massive human rights violations.” The charge referred not to his war crimes in the 1990s, but to the mass killing of Taliban prisoners captured by his Northern Alliance fighters in Kunduz in 2001. No mention was made of the involvement of CIA operatives and US Special Forces in a similar massacre at Mazar-i-Sharif. (See: “A cover-up of US massacre at Mazar-i-Sharif”)
The US and its allies appear to be aiming at preventing Karzai from winning outright in the first round. The British ambassador in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwell, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday night that a second round of voting would help “convince people the process was real.”
Even if Karzai does win the poll, his position is hardly secure. David Kilcullen, a leading advisor to US military commanders, described Karzai in the harshest language earlier this month and ominously compared him with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, whom the Kennedy administration had assassinated in 1963.
Washington is quietly pushing a plan to strip the president of many of his powers by installing an unelected “chief executive officer” to take over the day-to-day operations of the Afghan government. Among the possible candidates is Ashraf Ghani, who has worked for the foreign policy wing of the Brookings Institute, the World Bank and the United Nations.
Once the election is out of the way, the Obama administration and the Pentagon will push ahead with plans for a major escalation of the war. Tens of thousands of additional US troops have been put in place, and US commanders are preparing to call for many more to be sent to kill and be killed in this brutal neo-colonial war.
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August 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
support the troops, buy Chinese.
Kayhla Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Bring them home. They should be fighting for our freedom, not Afghanistan’s enslavement.
god@god.god Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Thats one of the big reasons they are over there!
FreedomOfSpeech Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I wish THIS guy was running for Office… Even MORE in-yo-face than RON PAUL!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4.....otostream/
2012?? Lets hope!
Um Reply:
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:43 pm
fuck off
roaddog6 Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
kayhla—-The fucked up thing is, if they brought them home, they might be fighting us. maybe not today but tomorrow.
Kayhla Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I say we bring them home and sick them on Washington, D.C. By fighting for our freedom, I mean fighting against those who would enslave us… namely, the Federal Government.
roaddog6 Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
there ya go.
Censored31 Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
3 possibilities:
A) Vietnamistan
B) Pipelineistan
C) Globalistan
awake&ready Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 8:41 am
THE HELL WITH AFGAHNISTAN WE THE POEPLE SAY SCREW AFGAHNISTAN WE COULDNT CARE ANY F-CKING LESS ABOUT THE CHUNCK OF BLOOD STAIND ..F..N.. COUTRY REALY ……….HEY UNCLE SAM YOU TRAITOR GET OR FORCES OUT! THE HELL WITH THEM AFGANIES WHAT ABOUT OUR PROBLEMS?…AMERICA WANTS TO PUT AFGAN FIGHTERS IN MICHIGAN…BULLSH-T..SHOOT EM WERE THEY STAND DONT BRING EM HERE..I …WE CONTROL THE GOVERMENT…I..WE WILL NOT BE WALKED ON I …WE CAN STOP THIS NOW…O YEA STOP GIVING MY TAX DOLLARS AWAY,,,CASH FOR JUNK…WARS…BANK BAIL OUTS …STIMULIS….CAR CO. BAIL OUTS…FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS INSENTIVES..MORE GOVERMENT JOBS…HEALTH CARE BULL SH-T TRILION DOLLARS PLUS FOR THAT…………………………OUR GOVERMENT IS SO F-CKED UP THEY WONT EVEN BUY YOUR BASICS FOR SCHOOL WHAT THE HELL IS THAT …BUT WE CAN AFORD AUTO-MATIC WEPONS FOR POLICE..HELO////IS ANYONE THERE …HELLO PARTY IS F-CKING OVER…TIME TO FIGHT BACK HELLO…UNCLE SAM………YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Underminded&abused Reply:
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Awake & READY THIS STATEMENT IS terrible. Imagine living in a country that gets bombed numerous times in a day, where little kids stand up for their beliefs at an early age. Evil is truely in your heart. If it was russia trying to take over the us, Wouldnt you defend your home land. If I could see into the future, and could feel what they feel on a daily basis YOU would Be a little more respectful. Remember lebanon, The airstrikes that killed thousands, all because these SO CALLED TACUSNAKOLF ROCKETS BEING FIRED Into isreal BY JEW HIRED TERRORISTS. How many died from these so called rockets, 14 people. Now how hard is it to hit a target, with a fairly accurate rocket. They needed a reason to force arabs back into the desert. You have it so easy in america no drones flying overhead, No fear like some live in day to day. NO TANKS ROLLING BY YOUR HOUSE WITH CRAZY TEENS THAT ARE SCARED OUT OF THERE MINDS, TRIGGER HAPPY AND BRAINWASHED. No matter if its republician or liberal this country will always ANSWER TO THE NWO. You cant comprehend in the least bit what its like to lose you child or wife in an airstrike initiated by lies and deciet. What would you do in there shoes. Bow to an infidel, tRAITOR, AND TYRANT……..
August 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
awesome.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
The US shouldn’t be there of course. Wake up, wake up WAKE UP.
A secular parable for our times.
The boy is standing on a high place, watching the storm clouds gather across the sea to the south. His vantage point, this mountain top, perched like the eyrie of some arcane bird of prayer.
Those in the valley, the people of his village, unsighted by the mountainside, eyes down as they tend to their duties, good and bad they none of them can see the impending turmoil.
He shouts , he shouts again and again, he shouts until he is hoarse.
They do not hear.
Blinded by their rote, deafened by the cacophony of life , intent on their daily struggle for survival, numbed by the inanity of gossip, focused on the minutiae of soil and weed and labour.
They intend not to hear. They despair of acknowledging the approach of hardship. Do not they have enough of that already?
Frightened to look, frightened to listen, frightened to understand they prefer to imagine that someone else will bear the brunt of the tempest, that they will be safe , that death and sorrow and discomfort will be someone else’s lot, not theirs.
They believe despite the facts that misery will somehow pass them by.
They would rather cling to this lie than face the danger eye to eye, summon the necessary courage to stand straight and challenge their nemesis.
They move towards the centre of their tribe , seeking comfort from others, renewing the acknowledgement of those they believe will protect them, surrounding themselves with those they hope will die in their stead, speaking out against the messenger of truth, saying that he lies, gaining comfort thereby.
They mutter a silent prayer of the religion they have learnt. Prayers never answered because they pray to a lie, a figment, a bastion of forlorn hope, a last chance recourse for the pitiable, a chimera of belief and faith born of nothing but that which it is, the lies of men.
Still they pray.
He races helter-skelter down the mountainside, leaping the crevasses, bounding the rocks, bloodied he pushes through the bracken, heeding not the stings and thorns, bringing the news, every sinew and nerve devoted to his desire to warn them, to save them, to bring them to safety.
In vain, in vain.
They shun him. Point to the rents in his clothes and the blood weeping from his wounds. Mock him for his excitability. They can see no storm. They can hear no wind.
They do not want to know.
Bad things happen to other people. People far away. They have learnt not to care about such things. They have learnt to live in isolation within the mass. Not to speak out. Not to rock the boat. Not to be excited nor excitable. They have learnt not to love , for the grief that will always follow.. They fear hurt more than any thing.
They sacrifice their dignity, their courage, their decency, their emotion at this altar of self preservation.
They are safe in the herd.
Until it’s their turn.
Then none will heed their bleating. None will turn to save them.
Because bad things happen to other people.
When the storm arrives, they turn on the boy and beat him as they are washed away into eternity by the tempest, cursing him for bringing this hell upon them, railing at him for attracting this wrath.
“If only I’d shouted louder”, he thought. “If only I’d run quicker. If only my eyes had been as sharp as an eagle’s.
If only I’d shouted louder”.
http://olivefarmercrete.blogspot.com
John Reply:
August 24th, 2009 at 4:38 am
Thanks. Be well. Best to you all.
John
August 20th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
We occupy countrys. Figure out who we want in charge. Then that is their choices in the election. Then we call it FREEDOM,DEMOCRACY,BLAH,BLAH,BLAH. I don’t like to use the word WE.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
This is the NWO’s move.. truth is out, masses are waking up and time is short. They are going to use H1N1 as their cover for military take over of the united states. The big health care issue is just a distraction to keep us busy fighting the wrong thing. Think about it.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
america is dead we need the soliders to wake up and pull them selves out to see the big picture and the free awakened people need to endorse it
August 20th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
The Pentagon has NEVER served the will of the American people. I know of NO Americans who wish for our troops to be in Afghanistan. The Pentagon is owned and operated by the NWO folk (international banksters/illuminati) not the American people. I would like to see an audit of Karzai to see where his funds are coming from. The CIA, of which is run by the banksters run the show and finance the corrupt leaders as they ‘ensure’ their people stay in power at the expense of the people of Afghanistan and the American and allied troops.
The American people need to take back the Pentagon (of which the people have NEVER controlled) and stop allowing the banksters to allow themselves to hand pick who controls the Pentagon. Audit and prosecute these war criminals and get them OUT of our govt. one way…..or another.
roaddog6 Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I was looking for the quote by kissinger when he said that the troops are nothing but stupid animals to be sacrificed. Couldn’t find it. We are not “people”. We are the herd. The herd needs to stampede d.c.
jeremiahIII Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 9:10 am
Google “kissinger said the troops were stupid”. I found thousands of links that referred to it.
http://independentsunbound.blo.....imals.html
roaddog6 Reply:
August 21st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
thanx
Patriot Reply:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 am
So I’m stupid for leading troops into battle against those who would like nothing more than to kill you? Go over there and try to talk to the talibs. You wont be missed.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
In Aristotle’s Politics, the type of government should be determined by the people that live in that country/region. This is in direct contradiction to the philosophical basis by whcih the West nations now operate. The NWO operates on that Platonic and Machiavellian scheme, as opposed to the more individualistic perspective, which is freedom. If any of these events prove one thing, it’s that you have to fight for the things that you believe in.
Geoph Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Well said Lady, Plato was a moron.
Unfortunately that is the system we have been stuck with for over 2000 years.
Time for the awakening.
ME.
Patriot Reply:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:01 am
I I I I I I I Me Me Me Me Me. Cut the bullshit. Is that all you people think about?!
August 20th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
They are basically forcing things on Afghanistan as they are on Iraq, they brag so much about freedom, when they are placing all their power into Order.
Most soldiers over their practically think these countries belong to us, that its their country and whatever they are told to do and represent is law. No freedom for those countries, it’s all controlled and everything is preset for them.
August 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
The news is trying an old trick of trying to convince the Americans that their elections concern us.
Any attempt to justify soldiers on a foreign soldier.
When they admitted their was no problem the previous election, but all of a sudden with troops on the streets, there are problems.
Only thing that changed was the troops.
I will be honest. I don’t give a crap about their elections.
I just want our troops home so we can get back to work and rebuild our economy.
The Bank cartel and the Industrial Military Complex are not the jobs we want!!!
They try to convince us they are keeping the economy afloat.
Nice convenience for them.
But still our economy is in worse conditions than before they took over.
August 20th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
http://www.theflucase.com – The new Jane Burgermeister site
August 20th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I don’t think the soldier gun on the cover photo has enough gadgets on it. It looks like something from Battlestar Galactica.
nader paul kucinich gravel Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Occupation & “free” elections ~
August 20th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
AWESOME! Free military manuals! http://www.stevespages.com/page7c.htm
August 21st, 2009 at 9:34 am
DEAR PESIDENT WALL ST. TAKE YOU AND YOUR BRIBED GOVERMENT ELECTED PATSIES AND GET THE HELL AWAY FROM OUR RIGHTS……..WE WILL WIN…
August 21st, 2009 at 4:29 pm
my cousin just DIED yesterday during the elections out there from an IED, if they jsut pull the troops out now, he would have died for NOTHING.
August 21st, 2009 at 10:05 pm
The Devil in the details from the CFR
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
This is the beginning of the end for NATO the alliance and the U.S. from a military political and economic standpoint globally. Folks we are going the way of the USSR. They are running out of puppets rather quickly in Afghanistan and Mr. Dostum, they should have known not to trust Mr. Dostum since it was this same Mr. Dostum during the Soviet Afghan War that was working with the Soviet KGB and then @ the end stabbed the KGB in the back. What the U.S. CIA is upset with Mr. Dostum because now he is stabbing them in the back? LOL Paybacks a bitch. You really reap what you sow people! It was an 10 year spiral for the Soviets from 1979 till withdrawal in 1989 same will hold for us. We started this war in 2001 and it looks by 2011 we will be finished in Central Asia. It is scary how this is eerily similar to what happened to the Soviets. Plus the wierder part is the escalation of both wars the Soviets and ours, they escalated in 1986 which put them 7 years into it. We are escalating now in 2009 which puts us 8 years into it. Very earily similar indeed.
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
it all boils down 2 iran. bombing our way through the middle east. claearing the way for the oil brigade and if i were iran i wouldnt surrender to the west or give them my nukes when they have nukes pointed at me.
August 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Awww yeah bay-buh-bay-bay VOTE OR DIE n7gga juzz like my man Puff say…puppett gubmints r dope foo my man snoop dawg wuz on da Muppetts dat sh7t iz tight ya herd me, Mizz Piggy shuld b da furst shawty n Kermit be da Prez in Cheef 2 mayke it offishall, but den if dat ho git outta line, muh n7gga Kurrmitt shuld git all Chris Brown on dat ho, ain’t no b7tch goin trew muh celly trying 2 find dem hos I bin hittin up on da side, Imma str8 buss dat azz up knaw’meen?! Can I git a what what?!
August 24th, 2009 at 4:36 am
Long Live the Mayor of Kabul!
August 24th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
welcome to the great american vote show , results will probably vary … but are guaranteed … via a predetermined outcome
August 24th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
its there freekin country and we ought to get the hell out of there
August 26th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
I thought Obama was the anti-war president. Where are the bleedin’ heart liberals?
August 28th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.,
How long will you allow government corruption and complete disregard for our beloved U.S. Constitution to go on? Do your Job!
“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” –George Washington
Remember Integrity, Honesty and Truthfulness! Why have our standards been lowered so far down to current embarrassing levels? “We the People” know this big push on the Health Care issue is only about more government Power and Control!
“We the People” control our government!
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” –Thomas Jefferson
We need to clean our great U.S.A. of ALL Cowards and TRAITORS to our beloved Constitution. Nobody is above the Law! All law starts with the U.S. Constitution! Any government employee that works for “We the People” and tramples over our great Constitution is guilty of Treason against all the People of the United States of America!
Remember the oath of office you and all our government employees took:
To protect the Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies Foreign and Domestic!
This is the same oath of office all our military personal have taken:
To protect the Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies Foreign and Domestic!
Our Country’s biggest enemy attacks from within!
“We The People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” –Abraham Lincoln
We need laws stating that any Representative, Senator or President that has the audacity to sign any bill without reading it and fully understanding it should go immediately to jail without any bond? We must raise the bar of Integrity and Honor for our employees! Elected or appointed “public servants” need to achieve a much higher standard. How did it get so low? If they are found guilty, a 30 year minimum sentences would not be out of line! This complete lack of responsibility is a very serious issue! It’s totally scandalous, outrages and just plain wrong! It’s Criminal!
If any Law enforcement agency or Federal Prosecutor does not do their job and start investigating (easy job), filing indictments and prosecuting, than they are guilty of Treason too!
The only real financial crisis of the U.S.A. is hiding in the audit of “The Fed Scam”!
We want to know the rest of the truth now! Who helped Ben Bernanke embezzle our money? Who is Involved and how many? How long has this been going on for? Where is our money? How do we get it back? The Nations four largest banks Citibank, J P Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are owned by the same thieves that own The Fed Scam!
America is Awake! We know we are being sacked and looted! Why is our government secretly moving OUR money to the IMF? Remember our National Sovereignty!
The Rockefeller / JP Morgan gang and others declared WAR on the United States of America many years ago! This Criminal Banking Cartel gang are riding around in OUR Limousines and flying in OUR Gulf Streams and living in Our Mansions! Everything this gang has, they stole from We the People! Not only that, but they want to “Lord it over U.S.” They want to control U.S.! They spend OUR MONEY! We want it all BACK NOW! With Interest!
http://www.tomdavidd.com/blog/
“We can all commiserate forever about how bad things have been, are, and will continue to be. But I don’t think that we can afford to wait for elections in order to have our say about putting a stop to this madness. Enough, already! Let’s start talking treason, prison, and death penalties for all malefactors in government who subvert, ignore, skirt and otherwise trash the Constitution of these United States of America. Those who have sworn to uphold the Constitution and have then ignored their oaths of office are guilty of perjury and malfeasance in office.” –Stephen A. Langford (personal communication to this author)
August 29th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Long Live the Mayor of Kabul!
August 30th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
British Public (well, over 500 of them at least) are ‘Having their say’. The ratio of antiwar to pro war comments is at least 50 anti to each pro. Pity we don’t have a proper democracy or ‘we’ the people could end this crap.
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/no.....;edition=2
AT LEAST 50 anti-war comments to every pro war comment…
August 31st, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Pretty good post.