“Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”
– George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
…Unless you’re George Witless Bush that is.
Swopa’s recent post on how things are starting to ‘turn around’ (in favor of the Taliban) in Afghanistan jibes closely with my thinking of late.
Fubar of Clowntech loaned me an interesting book the other day, The Hidden War by Artyom Borovik. The book is that journalist’s account of the (failed) Soviet war in Afghanistan written in two sections – the first part covers the early part of the war, and the second, the Soviet army’s humiliating withdrawal from the country.
What caught my attention in recent A’stan news was the mention of rebel leader and warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. What makes this guy so interesting is a) he’s a powerful warlord, and b) he’s a serial turncoat. He makes a few cameos in Borovik’s book.
He started out as a communist, but was kicked out of the Kabul Military Academy. At some point the CIA discovered and backed him, and he became a key part of Ronnie “Alzheimer” Reagan’s covert war against the Soviet Union – but he may in fact have stayed on the payroll of the KGB!!!!
Then, as now, he was periodically forced over the border into Pakistan, where he found succor among his fellow Pashtuns and a strong base from which to operate. And operate he did, not only fighting Soviet and Afghani ‘puppet government’ forces, but wiping out large numbers of Mujahideen as well. In addition, of course, to running a hugely-profitable heroin-smuggling operation. After the defeat of the Soviet-installed government, Hekmatyar briefly became Prime Minister, but it wasn’t long before he had a ‘falling out’ with the other leaders and went back to doing what he does best – fighting the government (he’s the guy who had Kabul shelled into the ground).
Although a self-proclaimed ‘Pure Islamist,’ the Taliban wanted little to do with such a treacherous snake, and drove him out in 1996. But Baby Bush ‘rediscovered’ his Pappy’s favorite war-toy, and employed Hekmatyar again as a key part of the Northern Alliance. As anybody other than a total dolt (like Dubya) could foresee, it wasn’t long before Hekmatyar was back to his old tricks, making war on American-installed President Hamid Karzai. Now he’s back in Pakistan, having apparently ‘patched things up’ with the Taliban leaders, and is destabilizing the North-Eastern region of Afghanistan through guerrilla raids and propaganda.
Stumble it!
Tags: afghanistan, Artyom Borovik, George Bush, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, heroin, Kabul, Mujahadeen, opium, Pakistan, Pashtun, Ronald Reagan, Soviet Union, Taliban