Karzai wants control of U.S. forces

[tristano's ghost]

That wanker... guess he's mad about that taxi driver we strung up 'n killed 'n stuff:

Karzai Wants More Control of U.S. Forces By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer
Sat May 21,12:09 PM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai called on Saturday for control of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and demanded the United States take strong action against soldiers who abuse prisoners, following a report of alleged maltreatment of detainees at the main U.S. base here.

Karzai said he was "shocked" by allegations of abuse by poorly trained U.S. soldiers made by the New York Times in its Friday edition. The report cited a 2,000-page confidential file on the Army's criminal investigation into the deaths of two Afghans at the Bagram base in December 2002.

Karzai said he will bring up the issue when he meets American leaders during a four-day visit to the United States starting Saturday.

"We want the U.S. government to take very, very strong action to take away people like that are working with their forces in Afghanistan," Karzai told reporters before leaving Kabul. "Definitely ... I will see about that when I am in the United States."

He also demanded greater control over U.S. military operations here, including a stop to raids by American troops on Afghans' homes without the knowledge of his administration.

"No operations inside Afghanistan should take place without the consultation of the Afghan government," the president said.

But he added that the actions of those responsible for the abuse should not be seen as reflective of all Americans.

"The people of the United States are very kind people," he said. "It is only one or two individuals who are bad and such individuals are found in any military in any society everywhere, including Afghanistan."

The U.S. military, responding to the allegations, defended its treatment of detainees, saying it would not tolerate maltreatment.

The military's spokesman in Kabul, Col. James Yonts, said, "Military and civilian members are expected to abide by the highest standards and when their actions contradict these standards appropriate action will be taken. The command has made it very clear that any incidents of abuse will not be tolerated."

In Washington, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said President Bush was "alarmed by the reports of prisoner abuse," and wants them thoroughly investigated. He said seven people are being investigated about abuse at Bagram Air Base.

"What the military and what the president supported is investigations, holding people to account," Duffy said. "We've taken steps, we've taken new policies to ensure that this doesn't happen again, and we're holding people to account."

The Times reported that the file of the criminal investigation "depicts poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse," which in some instances "was directed or carried out by interrogators to extract information."

It reported that one of the two Afghans, a 22-year old taxi driver called Dilawar, had been pummeled by guards for several days and chained with his arms to the ceiling. Most of the interrogators believed he was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the base at the wrong time, the newspaper said.

The Army has publicly acknowledged the two deaths and announced in October that up to 28 U.S. soldiers face possible charges in connection with what were ruled homicides.

In December, Pentagon officials confirmed that eight deaths of detainees in Afghanistan have been investigated since mid-2002. Hundreds of people were detained during and after the campaign by U.S.-led forces to oust the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.

Following the outcry over abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the military also initiated a review of its detention facilities in Afghanistan and later said it had modified some of its procedures, although the review's findings have yet to be made public.

[Gary Sisco]

That's some of the funniest shit so far.

Karzai wants control of his controllers.

Wake up, Mr Karzai. You're not in Kansas anymore. You're not even president. Get a grip. Presidents have to be able to rule at least the ground they stand on at any moment, minimally.

[Gary Sisco]

Funnier still is to remember that Karzai was one of the first backers and bankrollers of the Taliban, including very much arming them to the teeth.

I know, I know. Americans aren't supposed to remember back that far, or even have paid enough attention to who was who at the time in order to remember to begin with.

So sue me.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by Gary Sisco

Funnier still is to remember that Karzai was one of the first backers and bankrollers of the Taliban, including very much arming them to the teeth.

I know, I know. Americans aren't supposed to remember back that far, or even have paid enough attention to who was who at the time in order to remember to begin with.

So sue me.

Well, I remember back that far, but I'm not an American.
Karzai is no different than virtually all politicians. Politicians go with the power and when the dust settles, THEY want to be THE MAN.

[Gary Sisco]

Well, not everyone in their right mind would have bankrolled Taliban, much less armed them to the teeth, including airpower. It's not like they made any secret out of their agenda, to anyone. They were completely open from the start.

Thing that Americans refuse to understand about the Afghanis is that, to them, tribe comes (way) before nationality, to the extent that nationality can even be said to exist in Afghanistan. The Taliban were a (near totally) Pashtun militia, who were not only determined (and successfully so) to suppress the disorder created by the civil war between the muj warlords, but, very importantly, to Karzai and other Pashtuns, to do so in such a way as to ensure Pashtun dominance afterward -- mainly by promising, no matter what, to kill every other brand of leadership, and then following through. Karzai was a very minor player in the muj (his father was a more serious player) and not of the combat variety. He did bankroll the shit out of Taliban, however, as his family is very wealthy indeed by Afghan standards, and also procured for them the keys and access to enormous stores of arms and munitions, including heavy arms, leftover from the Russian stooge state's armories -- enough to fight the civil war several times over.

It's hilarious, however, that he apparently thinks his "government" -- which can't even be said to exist outside his imagination -- is somehow a thing over which he has *any* control, never mind asking for more from the US. He is, after all, perhaps the first presidential candidate in history to have made one and only one attempt at a campaign stop, only to have the chopper driven off by hostile fire before it had even had a chance to land. End of campaign appearances! :-0

Not to state the obvious, but it's not your government if you have to ask a superpower for more control of it -- or anything. Duh. He is precisely the definition of a stooge and his "government" of a stooge state, every bit as much as the Russian stooge state was. Moreso, in some ways.

The whole thing is for domestic American tv consumption. It has no political reality that matters to anyone in Afghanistan.

The whole thing would be funny as all hell, if it were not so stupid and bloody.