For war to have any meaning at a nationwide level, the parity must be logical. Therefore, a war between, say, England and France would be logical. World Wars I and II were fought between many nations and, though they didn’t fight in every region of the globe, they most definitely affected every region of the globe. Throughout history, wars have been waged by almost every nation that’s ever existed.
But that’s just it. Wars were always between nations. Even in modern times, the usage of terms such as skirmish and conflict are used to describe bellicose events of a lesser nature. Therefore, the illegal attack of Israel, a nation, on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, two regions abandoned by Egypt and Jordan respectively, is called the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. There are plenty of border skirmishes around the world, most notably in the Congo, Ethiopia, and the Kashmir region of India. But none of these hostilities are ever mentioned in the context of a full-fledged war.
But to say that the Iraq War never existed would be a complete lie. Likewise, to say that the Afghan War never existed would be a complete lie, even though there was no formal recognition of the de facto government of the country, the Taliban. These two wars definitely existed. But that’s just it. They existed in the past. They no longer continue. According to Wikipedia the war in Afghanistan ended on the afternoon of November 25, 2001.
Air Force combat controllers send coordinates for air strike
“The fall of Kabul marked the beginning of a collapse of Taliban positions across the map. Within 24 hours, all of the Afghan provinces along the Iranian border, including the key city of Herat, had fallen. Local Pashtun commanders and warlords had taken over throughout northeastern Afghanistan, including the key city of Jalalabad. Taliban holdouts in the north, comprised of mainly Pakistani volunteers, fell back to the northern city of Konduz to make a stand. By November 16, the Taliban's last stronghold in northern Afghanistan was besieged by the Northern Alliance. Nearly 10,000 Taliban fighters, led by foreign fighters, refused to surrender and continued to put up stubborn resistance. By then, the Taliban had been forced back to their heartland in southeastern Afghanistan around Kandahar.
“By November 13, al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, with the possible inclusion of Osama bin Laden, had regrouped and were concentrating their forces in the Tora Bora cave complex, on the Pakistan border 30 miles southwest of Jalalabad, to prepare for a stand against the Northern Alliance and US/NATO forces. Nearly 2,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters fortified themselves in positions within bunkers and caves, and by November 16, U.S. bombers began bombing the mountain fortress. Around the same time, CIA and Special Forces operatives were already at work in the area, enlisting and paying local warlords to join the fight and planning an attack on the Tora Bora complex.
Just as the bombardment at Tora Bora was stepped up, the siege of Kunduz that began on November 16 was continuing. Finally, after nine days of heavy fighting and American aerial bombardment, Taliban fighters surrendered to Northern Alliance forces on November 25-November 26.
But wait, there’s more.
Then, Wikipedia makes this startling disclosure: “Shortly before the surrender, Pakistani aircraft arrived to evacuate a few hundred intelligence and military personnel who had been in Afghanistan previous to the U.S. invasion for the purpose of aiding the Taliban's ongoing fight against the Northern Alliance. It is believed that up to five thousand people in total were evacuated from the region, including Taliban and al-Qaeda troops allied to the Pakistanis in Afghanistan.”
Could it be that Osama was one of those five thousand? Only a few people know for sure.
Nevertheless, the U.S. – Afghan War of 2001 was officially over on November 26, 2001. What has been going on ever since is called, “Occupation.” The so-called war that is raging in Afghanistan is nothing of the sort. There are no two nations battling it out for control of the country. Hamid Karzai was appointed as president of the new Afghanistan soon thereafter, and peace and prosperity was to ensure. The only problem with the utopian scenario is that it hasn’t.
Let’s look at the facts. Fact number one, opium production pre-Taliban was around 3,000 tons per year. Even during the first years that the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, production of opium remained relatively constant. But a funny thing happened in 2001. The Taliban suddenly restricted its production. In 2001 production of opium fell to a record low of 185 tons. In other words, it dropped from 3,000 tons of production per year, to 185 tons. But then came 9/11 and a complete change in Afghan’s direction on the world stage. What startling coincidence that the attack on September 11, 2001, would coincide with the lowest level of production of opium in Afghanistan in the past fifty years.
Things that make you go hmmmmmmm…
According to ABC in March of 2006, the headline read, “Opium Production Booming in Free Afghanistan.” And this is the country that produces 90% of the opium consumed around the world. In other words, since the US and coalition forces liberated Afghanistan, their opium production has risen from 185 metric tons per year to over 4,000 metric tons per year. I’m sure that there are a lot of heroin addicts on Fifth Avenue in New York City who are quite happy that the Bush admin adopted the policy of “Don’t look Don’t tell” with regard to opium production in Afghanistan.
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