US Ambassador To Afghanistan Against Escalation

Karl W. Eikenberry, he say No!

General Eikenberry crossed paths with General McChrystal during his second tour in Afghanistan, when General McChrystal led the military’s Joint Special Operations Command, which conducted clandestine operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their relationship, a senior military official said last year, was occasionally tense as General McChrystal pushed for approval for commando missions, and General Eikenberry was resistant because of concerns that the missions were too risky and could lead to civilian casualties.

It was unclear whether General Eikenberry, who participated in the Afghanistan policy meeting on Wednesday by video link from Kabul, the Afghan capital, had been asked by the White House to put his views in writing. It was also unclear how persuasive they will be with Mr. Obama.

It’s almost as if this quagmire is in trouble… Malalai Joya makes it clear, there is not an ideal solution that is without bloodshed, but the occupation is not a solution it is part of the problem-

“Eight years ago, the U.S. and NATO—under the banner of women’s rights, human rights, and democracy—occupied my country and pushed us from the frying pan into the fire,” Joya said by phone from San Francisco. “Eight years is enough to know better about the corrupt, mafia system of [President] Hamid Karzai.”

Pressed on what she thinks would happen if NATO did withdraw its troops tomorrow, Joya argued that even if the country plunged into deeper violence, the Afghan people would be rid of at least one adversary.

“My people are crushed between two powerful enemies,” she said. “From the sky, occupation forces bomb and kill civilians…and on the ground, the Taliban and warlords continue their crimes.”

Joya noted that even with tens of thousands of troops stationed in Afghanistan, NATO has not been able to bring security to the country. Meanwhile, she said, President Barack Obama has continued the policies of George W. Bush’s administration that prop up warlords as well as Islamic fundamentalists such as Abdul Rab al-Rasul Sayyaf, an Afghan MP that the 9/11 Commission Report tied to the attacks on the U.S.

“It is better that they leave my country; my people are that fed up,” Joya said. “Occupation will never bring liberation, and it is impossible to bring democracy by war.”

Joya expressed appreciation for the support she receives around the world and said that Afghanistan remains in need of international aid. But, she cautioned, there is much that western powers must do before they regain the trust of the Afghan people.

Especially as even supposedly informed people refuse to see one of the factors involved in the war, as well as revenge and wars own mushrooming macho logic (once you are there, you have to achieve victory) the Trans Afghan Pipeline is part of the poisonous mix.

Quilliam Foundation, No Accounting For Taste

After Craig Murray posted that the Quilliam Foundation had not filed any accounts, the Foundation claimed it had and has sent a lawyer’s letter to Murray threatening libel action. Murray is willing to amend his post if they provide proof of their claim, surely that is the mature free speech way forward rather than legal letters, but the Quilliam Foundation have shown they are less than open-

Craig Murray:- Yesterday afternoon I received an unusual phone call. A man telephoned me and said that he had been following my blog for some time and was most impressed by it, and would like to know how to make a donation. I replied truly that I was extremely grateful, but the website really was just me, and therefore I did not request donations, unless for some specific expense like an election campaign.

You may be surprised to hear that people do not generally phone me up out of the blue and offer cash, so I was a bit suspicious. I did go on and suggest that if he wanted to be helpful he could buy my books, but he lost interest in the conversation very quickly in a manner that just seemed wrong compared to his initial eagerness.

So when I got a letter today from lawyers threatening libel action, I wondered if this was an attempt to get financial information on what funds they might target. So today I phoned him back. He gave his name as Ed, so I asked directly if he was Ed Husain or Ed Jagger of the Quilliam Foundation. At first he replied “I am not Ed Husain”. I had to ask again before he admitted he was indeed Ed Jagger of the Quilliam Foundation.

I put it to him that he had lied when he phoned and said he wanted to make a donation. He said that he just wanted to establish my contact details for the lawyer. I said that if he had asked me openly and honestly, I would have told him. He concluded by saying that any further communication should be through our lawyers (which will be tricky as I can’t afford one: Unlike Jagger I am not funded by taxpayers’ money.)

This is perhaps a symptom of their spooky position, government funding and a role in thought police spying on Muslims war-on-terror™ cash-in bonanza Prevent. It is also an authoritarian and extremist way to operate in the open forum of the blogosphere, which makes a mockery of their professed belief in liberal democracies. If you check them at Companies House you now find that the accounts are showing as filed, or at least the online record says so, given intelligence services reach who knows. It appears what happened was Murray caught them out, they then hurriedly sorted it in some way (without any hint of prosecutions for their lack of records) and now seek to snuff out this piece of history with legal threats.