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AFGHANISTAN: U.S., NATO Forces Rely on Warlords for Security
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by snuffysmith | October 29, 2009 at 03:02 pm
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The revelation by the New York Times Wednesday that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has long been on the payroll of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by U.S. and NATO counterinsurgency forces on Afghan warlords for security, according to a recently published report and investigations by Australian and Canadian journalists.
U.S. and other NATO military contingents operating in the provinces of Afghanistan's predominantly Pashtun south and east have been hiring private militias controlled by Afghan warlords, according to these sources, to provide security for their forward operating bases and other bases and to guard convoys.
In September, the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, citing contracts with major warlords, their relatives or allies, reported that U.S. and NATO contingents have frequently hired security providers that are covertly owned by warlords who have "ready-made" private militias which compete with state institutions for power. The Center further noted that U.S. and NATO contingents are spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on contracts with Afghan security providers, most of which are local power brokers guilty of human rights abuses.
This is otherwise what is known as "counterinsurgency."
"Counterinsurgency" has become the new American way of war.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (3)
at 18:35 on October 29th, 2009
Thank you for your comments. I supplemented the story.
at 18:45 on October 29th, 2009
Amed Wali Karzai was interviewed by phone today by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He denies as ever having been paid by the CIA or any other agencies. He would not answer what source of income he had.
If the allegations are true, regarding contracts, it would be good to get to the bottom of it to find out what these contracts consist of.
at 08:05 on October 30th, 2009
The more things change..........
Warlords are the way of life where the central government isn't strong enough to provide security for it's people. Been that way for thousands of years.
It is becoming more clear that the "nation building" exercise in Afghanistan has failed so far. Give it a go with a new man in charge, or get out.