by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
This so-called election is becoming more and more a total travesty as President Hamid Karzai is the preferred leader and that seems to be it; preferred by the West, that is, and not necessarily by the Afghan people.
Now those elections are going to be more of a travesty even with the challenger to the throne, former Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah having declared that he is withdrawing from the run off.
He made his decision after Karzai turned down his demands for changes in the Independent Election Commission and other measures that he said would prevent massive fraud, which marred the first round balloting Aug. 20.
Those demands were made to ensure that the second round of this election would be somewhat fairer that the first but Karzai and his cronies refused to go along with this.
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, stated that it would make no difference to the validity of the election even if there be just one candidate, namely the current president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. How she works that one out beats me and I am sure any other political analyst as well.
Mrs. Clinton said that regardless of whether Dr. Abdullah withdrew or not the election and the result of it would be valid. How she can say that when there is going to be just the one candidate is rather incomprehensible bar for one reason and that is that it suits the USA to have Hamid Karzai in power, regardless of how corrupt a Pashtoon warlord he may be.
The troops of the Western Alliance, primarily American and British boys and girls, are dying in order to prop up a corrupt and hated regime but one that suits American foreign policy.
Why are we in Afghanistan?
That question is probably in many a mind for it is obvious that it has absolutely nothing to do with fighting Islamist world terrorism for the Taliban have no interest outside Afghanistan.
So why then? To stop the flow of opium and heroin to the West? Nope! That neither.
The reason is also not the copper that was recently found and here is no oil in Afghanistan.
The real reason is that Afghanistan is next to Iran and that by having Iraq and Afghanistan, plus bases in the -stans of the former USSR, the West has Iran between the anvil and a hard place, if need be.
It is about oil, to a degree, but not oil in Afghanistan; oil in Iran, on the other hand, yes.
The oil industry was once said to be in bed with government, especially in the USA but nowadays it is no longer the case; nowadays the oil industry is in government in the United States and this is why we went to war in the Gulf in the first place.
It has nothing to do with WMDs nor with the fight against terrorism but everything with oil and it is for oil that our boys and girls are giving their lives while our governments keep telling them and us that it is for freedom and democracy and in order that our streets at home are free of terrorism. Anyone believing that needs to wake up, and that rapido.
Oil is the most dangerous substance on our planet and people are killed daily for it.
© 2009
<>
