Last August a Presidential election was held in Afghanistan in less than 24 hours Harmid Karzai was declared the winner by a landslide within days of this declaration evidence began surfacing that suggested the out of the "election" had been fixed through among other things ballot box stuffing and the old vote early vote often method for winning elections you are about to lose. Peter Galbraith the U.S representative for the UN blew the whistle and was fired. Karzai's government is corrupt, powerless and completely incompetent and is seen as illegitimate my the Afghan people. President Karzai's brother is suspected of being a major player in poppy production in that country.
Vietnam's government: That being the South Vietnam was just as corrupt and incompetent and was given just as much support even though they were following the same path as that being taken in Afghanistan. Payoff's, bribery, nepotism and election fraud are just some of the obvious comparisons.
Americas reason or purpose for its actions in Afghanistan is its War on Terror. Which is meant to root out terrorist organizations which pose a threat to America. Here's a question how does one fight against an idea or beliefs which are set in religious extremism and fed by hate of another set of ideas as represented by America and its allies.
Vietnam and Americas war there was the result of another set of ideas or in this case a theory. The Domino Theory set out the principles by which Western Dominatrices especially the United States which become involved in wars or conflicts that it was believed could lead to the Soviet domination of a region or the world.
Even though America isn't "officially" conducting operations in Pakistan one can draw a line between what is happening there and Nixon's Secret War in Cambodia which was exposed with the publication of the Pentagon Papers by the New York Times which revealed that American forces had made incursions into Cambodia and Laos even though neither country was involved in the conflict along with the revelation that the U.S. Air Force had been secretly bombing North Vietnam.
Jeremy Scahill of the Nation recently published an article which shows those secret wars haven't gone out of fashion. In the article Scahill provides information showing Blackwater (Xe services) continued presence in helping America fight its War on Terror.
At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.
The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater's involvement. He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. The source said that the program is so "compartmentalized" that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.
Vietnam can be and should be used as a means or base for discussion concerning Americas actions and presence in Afghanistan as there are many obvious parallels. But, there are no obvious answers as to how to resolve the current situation when the only policy seems to be the military one.
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