Mental Note: Do Not Print Stuff From The Internet In Afghanistan

Why do people need to print, anyway? (after having printed over 100,000 pages myself for the past decade… no longer..)

We’re fighting for the security of an oil transportation path from Central Asia southwards through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean, so all the profits from massive as-yet-untapped oilfields go to the English-speaking empire. Otherwise those lovely, lovely petroleum products might go north through Russia where those awful Communists will profit, or east through China and they’re even more beastly. A brief study of a decent terrain map of Central Asia shows that there’s only three possible routes which can be…

Sorry, there’s a sudden pain in my ear. Where was I? Oh yes.

We’re fighting for peace and democracy.

Mark,
I was never against the overthrowing of the Taliban, but if we (ie: the full coalition) replaced it with a Government that is just as intolorent, then perhaps it was a failed and lost cause. This being case in point

To promote drug production. Since the American military forces are in Afghanistan, the drug production in Afghanistan increased dramatically. 98% of all Hashish in USA and in Europe are from Afghanistan. When the American troops were not in Afghanistan, the number was very low. But how else should the American soldiers in Afghanistan get a better pay? Do you really think earning US$ 1,000 per month for serving in Afghanistan is sufficient for them to risk their life and live like a pig? Do you really think it is more difficult for the American troops to destroy the fields where drugs are planted than to fight against terrorists? Wake up, buddy. Why is nobody asking US authorities to take more action against the import of drugs? USA only has two, just two neighboring countries…

Oil.

What’s sad is that this government is decidedly MORE tolerant than the Taliban.

Oh, and did anyone say oil and an excuse to steal money from the American people and launder it through pet government contractors?

I came to write what Stilgherrian did on Comment 3, but I guess he already Posted it.

I am from Pakistan, and they need the port of Gawadar in Pakistan Next to bring the pipleline down to the port.

It is a specially built port for this purpose, for those who think its a conspiracy theory, google on gwardar Pakistan

@Rehan: No need to invoke “conspiracy”, it’s just good old-fashioned long-term strategic planning. And as for the harsh religious government of Afghanistan, well, it doesn’t matter who the government is and what they do to their own people — as long as everything’s stable and predictable so the oil investors don’t get shaky feet and decide to move their money elsewhere.

Haqueem - your statistic about hashish is incorrect (and, I suspect, made up). While poppy production has rocketed in Afghanistan since the drug-hating Taliban were kicked out, most hashish and marijuana in Europe at least is either imported from Morocco or produced domestically.

That said, the streets of European and American cities have been awash with cheap heroin recently, which is possibly what you meant.

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/233748.asp

Here is an update - any journalists who SUPPORT thag student will also be arrested.

They are protesting even with the threat of arrests

Well, this is nothing. The other day I was watching a program on National Geographic channel. It was about a battle between a group of around 500 Taliban terrorists holed up in a fort in Afghanistan and the Northern Alliance forces backed by US. When the fighting went on for too long, the CIA operatives fighting within the ranks of the Northern Alliance called for an airstrike. Soon, a F-18 came and bombed the place with a number of JDAM(supposed to be very high-tech GPS guided missiles with deadly accuracy) weapons. But sadly, inspite of two nights of sustained bombing, these high-tech weapons could not destroy the a huge 3 storey block that was housing amost 500 terrorists.
Thats when I started wondering about the thousands of missiles that the US army, navy and airforce has fired in Afghanistan and Iraq. A lot of these missiles were targeted at buildings that were located in dense residential areas. Who knows how countless civilians may have been killed because of these malfunctioning weapons?

>> What exactly are Americans and coalition forces (including British and Australian troops) fighting for in Afghanistan again? Feel free to remind me in the comments.

‘We’ don’t know! Bcoz we are not told!
What is more truthful than the the truth? The stories.

Uhh Shiju .. this is about printers not F18s.

**Haqueem the increase in the production of Opium is based on supply and demand. The USA is a country full of addicts (demand) and now there are market opportunities opening up in Afghanistan to fill the supply side. This is no different when USA said that Bolivia had a cocaine problem. The fact is that the USA has the cocaine problem.

**The middle east is a lost cause. It’s scary that religion will drive the end of many lives. On the other hand most cultures in that region don’t know any different war has raged since the beginning of time. THATS WHERE THE USA HAS FAILED TO BRING PEACE!

**The middle east is seen as nothing more than a region to test out new products. These products are different then those new products in the USA. In the USA you may roll out a new software offering. In the middle east all the powerful USA based defense companies get to roll out there new products for the military (rockets/planes/guns……). AND if that wasn’t enough you have the smallest country in the region (Israel) backed by the USA and Uk with financial aid to keep the region in “check”.

**What would happen if a dirty bomb went off in Israel. Israel would retaliate with “extreme” force….remember Menachem Begin’s words “never again”.

**We should be great ful that India has a nuclear weapons otherwise Pakistan would probably point their nuclear ballistic missiles towards Israel and make the region even more volatile.

The only safe place to live now is South America and maybe Australia.

..OK, maybe not Australia

That’s easy… We’re doing it for George Bush’s “Legacy”.

And alas, he still has a year yet to do more damage.

Afghanistan is a backward conservative country and few thousand foreign troops not going to change it no matter how hard they try. Best you can do is to eliminate qaeda and taliban and build infrastructure and school. It might catch up with modern world in few decades.

Ok now drop the nuke and save some paper.

Dear lord. Or maybe not ‘dear lord’… Whatever.

Make sure you say “US Backed Government” a few more times. It really drives home the point that the US is evil, NATO and the UN had nothing to do with Afghanistan and the President, Legislature and Judiciary were all hand-selected by the “US” government for their modern western viewpoints - the people that elected them had nothing to say about that.

Also make sure that whenever you mention an Indian startup company, to link to the fascinating Wikipedia entry on Bride Burning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_burning) - also a result of the “US” invasion of India and installation of US moral values on the Indian population.

Would someone explain to me why I should give a flying fuck about this raggyass raghead getting the death sentence in Afshitistan? Does it make any difference to my life? No it does not. Fuck him. Hope he has a crappy death.

All this false anger and self righteousness about the oil and poppy fields gets on my tits too. Newsflash, NO-ONE CARES. Your own neighbours could be getting shot and raped by illegal immigrants and you wouldn’t care as much. Go whine about how much money the US government gives to Israel to commit slow genocide against the Palestinians or something. That’ll be just as much a waste of your time as bleating about this.

@18: your comment is a short description of the failing current US foreign policy towards Afghanistan.

“think before you print”
It’s not about just saving the environment anymore, it’s about your life.
cynical…

Wait, did you think a few thousand american troops will change the world view of millions in a couple years? Aint happening. Just look at the outrage of Muslims over the Muhamed caricatures a year ago, and this was from Muslims in Europe.
Its a process, and a long one. We pull them (Insano Muslims) closer to us, they pull us (Decadent westerners) a little towards them and we all meet together at that great Hummus place on Allenby street!!

Why are we there? 1. Oil, as has been adequately covered above, and 2. to protect the alcohol and tobacco industries (and their huge lobbying power) by suppressing production of all other mind-altering drugs, including the ones that are less harmful (both to the individual and society) than the above two. (Heroin is not one of those, admittedly, but neither do you become Amy Winehouse the moment you look at it.)

To which you might say “But IAN, because of all the instability the oil is going nowhere and with the removal of the Taliban heroin production has skyrocketed.” Of course. Our governments are *trying* to guarantee oil supplies and fight the War On Drugs That Aren’t Entrenched In Our Culture And Don’t Sponsor Sports Events And Invite Government Ministers To Champagne Parties In Corporate Boxes - as with virtually everything they try, they’re failing miserably. They’re government, what do you expect?

Some of you might appreciate Times columnist Anatole Kaletsky’s solution to the Afghanistan problem: the US/UK governments should buy their entire yearly poppy crop and use it to make diamorphine for hospitals. (My view is that this would get us nowhere as the opium would simply be stolen from the hospitals - as ketamine generally reaches the consumer via light-fingered stableboys and veterinary students - but it would at least be a more sensible solution than the status quo.)

oil…

@22: your opinion makes me sick. The US government installs a new government in Afghanistan claiming to ensure peace, freedom and democracy. And their own safety and economic interests for that matter.
You cannot invade another country for these reasons and still let barbaric things happen when claiming to be in controll.
The fact you don not care says it all. This is exactly the kind of ignorant arrogance the US is hated for by many.

It’s their religion and their country; let them do what they want. It’s not for us to judge. The US has a death penalty as well, so it’s not really something a US citizen can argue against easily I think. And the UK is not innocent either, I don’t believe it’s our fight, we shouldn’t be there. If the money spent on war was spent on education and healthcare, our nation would be in a much better position to use its forces wisely if it were to really need it.

28. Bawwwww. No-one cares. Not even you. You just pretend to care and get all huffy and self righteous about it. If you care so much you can let a few Afghan refugees live in your home and you can stand outside the US embassy every day to vent your spleen about it.

Or maybe you could just post shit about how terrible the US government is for letting the ragheads kill their own people on the internet instead of doing anything worthwhile like helping your elderly neighbours get their shopping or whatever.

PLEASE READ THIS

I know this is not the post to write about but I think it is urgent and I can’t contact Techcrunch directly (or at least I couldn’t find the link)….

[[[[[[[[[[ STATCOUNTER links are UNPROTECTED ]]]]]]]]]]]]

I was following some incoming links from visitors to my site,
and I followed one that bring me to statcounter.com, and I was INSIDE the account of somebody… I mean I could edit his profile… his billing address…

just be careful if you have an account at Statcounter…
I thought everybody should know it.

*Techcrunch, please delete this message from this post and put it wherever you consider (the trash is an option, since I don’t care too much

@10, Tom Clarke.
I have attended a training for police officers on drugs and organized crime in Istanbul (I was interpreting).
They have this huge map of drug movement around the world and on the map, synthetic drugs (extasy etc.) are mainly produced mainly in Europe (Holland) and are sold to East Europe countries, Arab Countries etc. But organic drugs like hashish, marijuana and pure cocaine are produced mainly in Afganistan, processed in Iran and Turkey (mainly Iran) and are sold to western Europe (France, England, Germany, etc)
And yes, after american invasion Production of organic drugs in Afganistan has increased almost 10 folds.

I blow off anyone that says we’re in there for “oil”. That’s just simple minded foolishness.

I do particularly like, however, the people that on the one hand didn’t want to lift a finger when Saddam was murdering people by the thousands, but completely freak about a “US backed government” when some idiot court does something stupid (and that will likely be overturned).

Seems to me that if the US wasn’t over there, these same people wouldn’t have said a thing. Why? Oh, because it’s for “oil”…..RIGHT…. morons.

OIL…OIL…OIL.

If I remember correctly, they were the guys that killed 3,000 Americans a few years back. That’s the reason we are there.

That country has been messed up for hundreds of years. It’s not going to get fixed in a overnight.

Web 2.0 Casualities in China and Afghsnistan, Thats why I run a Tech Blog in India Man.

http://tekno-world.blogspot.com

@ 30. Well let’s all shut up about the things we cannot change then.
I’m afraid though that getting shopping done doesn’t make the world any safer.

http://www.pa-chouvy.org/Chouv.....upply.html

“Morocco said to produce nearly half of the world’s hashish supply” - hardly surprising, really. It’s much easier to smuggle hash from Morocco to Spain than from Afghanistan to spain. Much of the EU (an area as large as the continental US and with a higher population now has completely open borders - hence the Morocco-Spain transit route).

Never thought I’d be discussing this on Techcrunch. Apologies for the off-topic discussion.

@ 15 (Alex)

Alex keep your mouth shut. I am a Pakistani, you don’t know anything about this country, so better keep your mouth shut.
Pakistani intelligence knew that India is making Nuclear Weapons, so we made Nuclear weapons too. After India tested their Nuclear weapon, they moved their army towards our border and were ready to attack Pakistan. The next day Pakistan tested their Nuclear weapon and Indians were stunned.

**In short Pakistan made Nuclear Weapons for self defense.

So don’t talk about stuffs which you do not know.

By the way Pakistani troops have targeted and killed many drug traffickers…but still it is difficult to stop these drug makers.

@33 “they were the guys that killed 3,000 Americans a few years back. That’s the reason we are there.”

I recommend you “the power of nightmares” an excelled documentary
http://video.google.com/videos.....s&so=0

after you watch (& digest) that, we can talk,

@33:

Come tell us how you slew those brave arabs two by two
Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows
How you bravely slew each one with your sixteen pounder gun
And you frightened them poor natives to their marrow

I wasn’t aware that political slurs were the foundation of TechCrunch?

Discussing the war may bring comments, but not the comments you want.

Leave this stuff out of TechCrunch.

@42

Never mind, but suppose you are to be hanged tomorrow and people in the world forgets about you and don’t comment about you situation in blogs and forums. How will you feel ?

Sometimes technology geeks need to talk about Politics too.

Stupid religions.

War isn’t supposed to solve problems. It’s supposed to get people rich. Get with the program.

Is Techcrunch turning into a political blog? If so I’m outta here. Stick to web 2.0 not that other garbage.

To all those who reflexively answer “OIL!” to the question “why are we in Afghanistan”, I ask you:

What percent of Afghanistan’s GDP is oil production or refinement? How many barrels per day does Afghanistan produce? How many barrels per day does Afghanistan export?

The answer to all three questions is ZERO.

Thanks for playing.

@45 exactly, you sell war to the sheeple with feel good rhetoric while holding up a bible and proclaiming in sideways comments that G-d wants this . Then they start sacrifice the poor and disenfranchised to secure resources, and re-pay political debts in backroom deals.. Thats just a historical fact. It goes back to the dawn of civilization.

We’re over there to secure our interests, such as a government that will do what we want it to. The minute they diverge from the marching orders from Washington, you can be sure there will be a nice quick regime change!

This thread of comments is truly impressive. I’ve repeatedly read what people feel is happening. Notice the word FEEL. We feel we have been properly informed. We feel we know the TRUTH.

Just from reading the differences here and how they are all off on different tangents this group really doesn’t seem to have much of a clue as to what’s going on. Maybe it’s time to stop telling people what we thing, making rash opinions on little information, and take the time to learn in detail what’s up and treat others with respect while we talk about it.

Just a thought….

37. How about you shut up whining about the shit that happens thousands of miles away that no-one cares about and start taking care of business around you, where you CAN make a difference.

All this BS about some raghead. He probably downloaded some fucking pedoporn and is getting what he deserves. Fuck him. And fuck all of you that want to impose your own BS values on his shitty country for killing one of their own.

What a bunch of fucking simpletons. I honestly fear for the future of my country if this thread is any indication of the collective intelligence of America.

How much oil is being exported from Afghanistan? Go ahead..Look that up. If the reason for the war was so simple as “OIL!” then it would stand to reason that evil global, multi-national corporations run by white dudes are now sucking oil out of that country at a staggering rate.

Oh wait….getting actual data is much harder than just being a fucking moron and saying “OIL!” like the bunch of fucking moronic sheep you all are.

@47

Afghanistan has nothing to do with oil, which is why we left and went to Iraq. Or, just maybe, having troops on both sides of Iran might have something to do with oil. The oil pipeline that goes through Afghanistan might have something to do with oil. A pipeline that made companies like Enron try to do business with the Taliban so oil could be moved through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and through Pakistan. And it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that the pipeline deal was done in December 2002. Just a year or so after our troops were on the ground.

So maybe Afghanistan has something to do with oil after all.

george had to do something …. afghanistan was the easiest

this post reveals how web censorship becomes ideology censorship

What amazes me is all the people that bitch about it being about oil, then turn around and complain about how much it cost to fill up their SUV and demand that they government do something about the high cost of fuel.

Amazing.

Equally amazing is the same people that will bitch endlessly about the US meddling in the affairs of other countries will always be the first to bitch about “HOW CAN WE LET THIS HAPPEN!!? ZOMG!!”

Yeah..irony for teh win.

@ 51: It’s not really me who started about imposing own values on others. And what’s this ‘fuck em all’ attitude? Not really a solid base for a foreign policy I would say.
Speaking about making a difference at home: the money spent on this useless ‘war agains terror’ could have made a difference in, let’s say New Orleans or health insurance matters.

Mental Note: Duncan isn’t American.

TechCrunch as a venue for this story seems like a pretty big stretch to me. The fact that a computer was involved in these events is entirely tangential. Maybe a personal blog would have been a better choice?

@52,
there is no OIL in Afghanistan, the country is important for its strategic position and US needs that for security of its energy projects in Middle Asia.
But for many these are complicated macroeconomic and geopolitic issues.
And for many its easier to call everyone a moron and pass over with ‘whatever’.

Lil George is fighing his daddy’s school yard fight over the whole Kuwait mess. Because of Lil George’s stupidity, we’re now stuck! Oh yeah, and oil. Almost forgot.

Couldn’t agree more with the ‘keep this stuff off TechCrunch’ comments. While it’s an important debate, the Afghanistani government does not qualify as either a new or existing internet company or product:

“a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies [... and ...] existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space.” [From the TechCrunch about page].

You guys are experts on web 2.0, but I’m not aware of your political credentials. When I want politics, there are already plenty of websites that I can read.

I’m loving the number of people on here who think that barrels of oil are magically flown from oilfields to refineries by little pixies using the power of dreams, and therefore Afghanistan was all about stopping the terrorists (who were mostly Saudi).

Look up the word ‘pipeline’ sometime. No, it’s got nothing to do with the MJ/K combo you took before delighting us with your political insight.

Well all I know is that I don’t come to TechCrunch for the political diatribes of one man, you clearly used the privilege you have to post on TechCrunch to post a political commentary. Sure it may not be overt, but this post isn’t about a young man printing something and then getting in trouble. Multiple times you say the US Backed Government, showing your true intent, to somehow blame the US, or put a black eye on that endeavor there. Please keep the politics off the TechCrunch, I’d hate for this great reserve of information denigrate into the likes of Digg.com’s homepage.

>> What exactly are Americans and coalition forces (including British and Australian troops) fighting for in Afghanistan again? Feel free to remind me in the comments

Ahem - Canada has a large contingent of troops in Afghanistan that make nearly daily sacrifices to clean up the mess the Americans left behind. If you’re going to wax political on a tech blog, at least remember your dear neighbours to the north.

There is now Facebook group in support of this man:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7560684603

I am amazed that the talk about making George W. Bush stand trial for his war crimes has completely died out.

If George W. was a balkan president the whole world would be screaming for his arrest for the death of 1.000s of people and the invasion of sovreign nations..

Count one vote for tossing in political or social commentary every once in a while on TechCrunch.

Even if it isn’t relevant to the site’s main subject area, it’s interesting to see how the site’s readers react to other issues. Doubt we’d see see this sample of people on a political blog.

That said, the thread would be more interesting without the ad hominem (ad humanitas?) attacks.

“What exactly are Americans and coalition forces (including British and Australian troops) fighting for in Afghanistan again? Feel free to remind me in the comments.”

We’re fighting for the security of the oil pipeline, duhh

In the next edition of Captain Obvious, we’ll discuss why America is in Iraq!

In this war of powers both already lost they north. To my to seem both are causing the death to innocent people and at the end of the way all the governors are eating of the same plate.

In this war of powers both already lost they north. To my to seem both are causing the death to innocent people and at the end of the way all the governors are eating of the same plate.

Duncan, seriously - the more you post the worse my opinion of you gets. I actually liked your content at the beginning but now it’s clear your are a pathetic moron. Is there any reason for you to frequently bring in insults and political rhetoric in to TECH news?

Bye techcrunch.

I am not going to answer why, but I’d like to recall here how things got started.

If I can recall correctly, when 9/11 happened, all fingers pointer to Osama Bin Laden.

NATO wanted to get the Talibaan out. Bin Laden’s hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan was the best excuse on the table and began an air-strike.
The Talibaan naturally retaliated, NATO changed targets overthrowing the regime and now we are in this mess !

Lets not forget that new recruits to Talibaan are constantly arriving from India and Pakistan. And with almost no support from a majority of EU members of NATO, there will be no end to this conflict.

I am wondering what this boy printed out and what was so insulting to this Government ?

Why the repeated emphasis on “US backed government”? Do you hate the United States or something? Its unimportant to the article on a tech blog. It just makes Tech Crunch look ugly.

…US backed Government…US backed Government…

In other news, the US sided with Stalin (Stalin!) in WWII.

Foreign policy isn’t a pretty business. Much of the time it’s about supporting the lesser of two evils while trying to move things in the right direction.

Hopefully the coalition can put some pressure on the Afghani government to intervene in this case.

I’m Taliban spy and I’m watchin you Duncan….one false move and you’re going down buddy (or mate or whatever you say in Australia)

‘US backed government’ means, ‘We expect the US to intervene to save this guy from the death sentence pronounced on him by his own people’.

If the US does intervene then the guy will need a new country to live in since he won’t be safe anywhere in Afghanistan. You want the guy living next to you? You got any idea exactly WHAT he downloaded and showed to everyone?

You know, there’s lots of people including bloggers and advocates of democracy getting murdered by the state in China. Don’t hear any of you making any fuss about that here. Maybe those magic words ‘US backed’ blinded you all to what goes on in the rest of the world?

Because when you spend $439 billion on something (US Defense Budget) you’re damn well going to get some use out of it!

Afghanistan has Internet access? Who knew…

we are fighting for freedom!! but you know what kind of freedom?

freedom of shopping and consuming the world resources.

well, we are the supreme and selected, right?

we deserve freedom!!

Duncan you are a fucking coward. Islam is the problem here, not the US. If you were half a man, you would call this for what it is, a bunch of filthy muslims practicing the tenets of their evil cult.

Why don’t you go print out some of those cartoons of the pedophile-prophet of islam and go to any mosque in London for a discussion. Then your widow can blog about the results.

It’s good to see, with the exception of a few biggots (e.g. comment # 80), I’m in very good company at techcrunch.com

I watched hundreds of American soldiers pass through Shannon Airport in Ireland on their way to and from Afghanistan. Some of them must know that they’re fighting for a lie. Many of them have been brutalized, and dehumanized, and in turn they behave like monsters.

#76 and #80 - bravo

@ #80 ajf: I am a Muslim and what you said was incredibly offending - just because some of the main terrorist groups claim themselfs Muslims (which they aren’t, in Quran it’s said that thou shalt attack innocent people) doesn’t mean you can call the whole religion “filthy”.

And if Cristians can ban cartoons like Pokemon and such because they are “demonic and against Cristianity” (olol) than it’s only natural that we don’t want our religion to get badmouthed.

81 -Eoin

Nice to see you are so quick to judge people based on anecdotal/superficial contact while demonstrating your own confirmation bias. Idiot.

Duncan-

The US backed government you emphasize.

Well, why didn’t we establish a Jeffersonian style democracy with Judeo/Christian values then? And completely disregard hundreds of years of Islamic based society? And just transport our laws over there?

Because that would be called COLONIALISM.

Dealing with barbarians is sticky business. We had to side with Stalin to put down Hitler.

Stick to tech stuff.

Ralrayak #83-

Yeah but you omit one thing- for many Muslims the one who ‘rejects Islam’ is no longer innocent and thereby worthy of death.

And Christians do not ‘ban Pokemon’. Get a freaking clue.

And Christians don’t want Jesus ‘badmouthed’ either BUT the difference is they respect freedom of speech unlike the millions of of savages who are so intellectually inferior and fearful they RIOT when somebody ‘offends’ them. Boo freaking hoo.

Well said Keef. A lesson on WW2 and the events leading up to it should be required prior to posts like Duncan’s.

Hurrah - this is fantastic! I needed an alternative to Digg for uninformed commentary and one-liners on extremely complex political events.

Please post more articles like this - perhaps ‘50 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR RON PAUL!!!!!’, and ‘OMG!!!!! Why the CIA covered up the assassination of JFK’.

What exactly are Americans and coalition forces (including British and Australian troops) fighting for in Afghanistan again?

C’mon! That’s exactly what they are fighting for. A gouvernment that’s loyal to the US. They care nothing about democracy and human rights.

And to those who are quick to blame Islam on this, you should get your facts straight. You can’t blame more than a million people for the acts of a few. That would be a hasty generalization.

What else are all wars and conflict about…. money of course.
In the case of Afghanistan, drugs and black gold.

The sheer volume of stupidity on this site does serve me a nice break from otherwise intelligent matters discussed elsewhere. Thank you Duncan Riley for reminding us of how utterly idiotic modern day “Liberals” have become, I’m sure the Pakistanis applauding your ignorance here agree with me in silence.

Afghanistan is a bruised and battered nation that found itself in unspeakable misery between the murderous Soviets and their stooges on the one had, and a subsequently radicalized group of orphans and refugees who became known as the Taliban on the other. While profiting from America’s agenda to help rid Afghanistan from Communism, Pakistan created the Taliban with the view to invading Afghanistan via proxy, while threatening India in Kashmir.

September 11 merely stimulated an American response seeking to shelter a bruised Afghanistan while she slowly recovers into a functioning Democracy. So far at least, the US has gained absolutely no monetary benefit out of this, so any allegations to the contrary is completely misleading. In fact the only major investment in the country and the biggest in Afghanistan’s history is currently being negotiated with a Chinese company for exploiting a copper mine in Ainak. The deal was won via tender against several multinationals, including at least one company from the USA.

That people are committed to building a Liberal Democracy in Afghanistan is absolute. However, none of us are foolish enough to expect our country to morph into our libertarian ideals over night. Afghanistan is a long project that will take many decades to manage. That there are reporters in the country, who write or download anti-religious material, is of itself a sign of great progress in the country. Though structures of governments can be imposed from within or without throughout history, we all know that Liberty is won on the street. The Afghan constitution in theory at least guarantees freedom of speech, hence tipping the scale in favor of the journalist against the Mullahs. It will take decades of courageous struggle to kick the Mullahs back into their caves.

Rather than fomenting doubt against the American intentions in Afghanistan, if you care, then try and support or help fund the strengthening of liberal institutions in the country. You can of course continue with your rants as you please, but at least now you’ve a genuinely Afghan take on all this for all it’s worth.

Peace,
Neon

The Americans are in Afghanistan to put pressure on China from all side…both East and West. So they are building their permanent base in Afghanistan to keep watch on China, whose 50% trade will be carried out through Pakistan by 2015.

You guys know nothing about your own Country…what a shame !

They’re fighting for oil pipeline routes.

Is there trouble within the Cleric Council?
If it was a secret trial, who let the cat out of the bag?
Is it Jafaar, the young minutes taker who was recently reprimanded for Snickers bar possession?
Or has Farid, the Head of IT at Council HQ, been to footloose & fancy-free with HQ’s Websense?
Or is there a coup in the works against Sayed, the eldest cleric, who wants to reduce Council opium production?

Maybe David Chase should fly on over. The ‘third world’ has got great fodor for a new HBO series. (”The Mid-Eastenders?”)

——- The Middle East… It’s not just for CNN Anymore. ——-

@39 “Ghaus” : India tested it’s first nuclear bomb in 1973. You call yourself a Pakistani and don’t even know simple facts like these? You should call yourself Idiotstani.

Uhhh, Duncan…maybe if you weren’t so pathetically stupid with the US Bsacked…ou would be able to get as REAL job rather than work for a crappy blog having to spam and beg for a living. Blogs are for “journalists” with no jounalism skills, professionalism or integriy. And you prove that.

Doesn’t matter why.

What are YOU going to do about it?

Man… I met the foreign minister of Afghanistan, Abdallah Abdallah, a few days ago. I didn’t really have anything to say at the time, but if I’d known of this story…. would have been an interesting conversation.

The toops are there so that Bush can make more money with his oil in Texas……. he did a great job in taking revenge for his father

“u can find saddam in a freaking hole in Iraq and u r telling me u can’t tell me shot tupac? he was shot in the STRIP.”

#22 - You’re an idiot. You should care. Just because these people don’t live inside your borders doesn’t mean they don’t matter or deserve your respect - we all share this planet.

This is another example of extremism in religion and the US government should be playing a part in this specific case - it’s a fine example of a medival government and the failure of US influence.

I find it ironic that this story was posted by CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) yet it seems that the Canadian troops that fight in Afganistan don’t deserve recognition to there “american, british and australian” counterparts. I’m pretty sure we have more troops over there then the australians too..

how slanted can you make a story?

Amusing how many people are saying “Afghanistan doesn’t export oil.” Well, der. The points are that (1) the oil is in Central Asia, (2) the oil fields are not yet developed, (3) the oil will go through Afghanistan, but that country will not be the “exporter” (in the same way that Iraqi oil piped through Syria doesn’t become “Syrian oil”, and (4) this is about planning ahead, not what might be happening in the next 10 minutes.

I’m reminded of the comment from Australian broadcaster John Safran: “The internet allows us to pool our ignorance.”

Starting off with the Pakie puke named “Ghaus”….bozo, national interests may be served through primary objectives and secondary objectives. Your rant on the other hand misses its mark on both levels. The containment of China is already in the making through US outreach and the strengthening of ties with Japan, India and South Korea. Together, these nations alone would pulverize any future Chinese aggression, hence the current charm counter-offensive from Beijing towards all the aforementioned countries, including places like Indonesia.

Furthermore, China has been Pakistan’s closest ally for more than three decades. The US presence in Afghanistan is of mutual interest to both of us, for besides taking on the slow and painful state building that’s required in Afghanistan, we both want to see your country marginalized down to size like a good little puppy…Iran’s the same here, albeit with varying complications. The onset of a Liberal Afghanistan serves as a major catalyst and psychological blow to the International Islamofascist movements. For over a century, Afghans dug graves for two non-Muslim empires that employed aggression against our country. One was Imperial Britain and the other was the Soviet Union. No wonder you people hate us so, for unlike Afghans who embraced poverty as the cost of liberty, you have to live with the shame and humiliation of a hundred year old servitude to the British….you did the same for the Arab and Mongol invaders, hence the shameless reason for your Islamic “faith”. Let’s face it, the Hindus in modern India can be proud of not having changed their faith in the face of aggression, as you people did elsewhere. Many people aren’t aware of this, but the Arab warriors who took over half of Christendom and laid siege to much of the known world, had suffered their severest blow in Zabulistan, the old name for the Kandahar region….ironic, isn’t it? Our people converted to Islam partly out of choice and partly out of murderous internal tribal rivalries. Yet even still….Muslims we Afghans may be, but we will soon show you where you can stick your “Islamic brotherhood”, “Jihad”, and your Khalifate, for Afghans are first and foremost a free people under god.

Neon

JD,

No offence intended here, but though Abdullah Abdullah may travel a fair bit, he hasn’t been the foreign Minister of Afghanistan for about a year….the current Afghan FM is Dr Rangeen Dadfar Spanta.

Stephan Harper,

If you did something good for the sake of it being the right thing to do, then shouldn’t that be enough? Or would you not feel satisfaction unless you get a pat on the head too? The Canadians are in the thick of it and hold themselves honourably…they know it, we know it, and that ought to suffice in my humble opinion.

Peace to you both,
Neon

If the US had the intent of catching or killing OBL, why did it wait until Dec 2001 before bombing Tora Bora - the most likely hiding place in Afghanistan? It’s not like they didn’t know about the place. They were in Afghanistan for a full 2 months before it was even considered.

Oh, and Neon seems to be watching a bit too much Fox News. “Islamofascist” gave it away.

Stilgherrian

Your ignorance is diabolical. For starters, the day which sees Central Asian oil and gas exports flowing through Afghanistan, would be the day Central Asians would truly enjoy liberation from Russian Imperialism, not to mention the benefits this would bring to poverty stricken Afghanistan. Be sure to note however that politics is counterintuitive, so while you’re all pissing against poor old George Bush’s leg for his alleged thieving of everyone’s riches, you remain ignorant of the fact that it’s the Russians and the Chinese who’ve been busy monopolizing Central Asian commodities for themselves via their proxy client dictators in the region. The Afghans have been trying to get central Asian pipelines to cross their country into Pakistan and India since day one, yet the very first group of Afghans who began the negotiations had their plane blown out of the sky over Pakistani air-space. The complex planning of the assassination could not have been orchestrated by the dopey Pakies, let me assure you.

For Central Asia to gain additional routes to Russia and China for exporting their goods would be a god-send. What makes your rant so idiotic is your implication that the US has any chance of monopolizing CA commodities for themselves, hence bypassing the current routes through China and Russia!….duuuh way to go sport…one would think you’d be smart enough to recognize that the more choices one has, the greater his bargaining power, ya think?……..as for “pooling your ignorance”, this site takes the cake for that pal…bwaaaa haaaa haaaa haaaaa….

Peace,

Neon.

Neon,

Dude.

I think you should be called Neo. You are ‘the one’.

You’ve got it going on my friend.

Cheers.

Bill Ding

You’re addressing a guy who lives and breathes Afghanistan, and yet THIS is the objection you come back to me with? Bwaaaaaa Haaaaaaaa Haaaaaaaa Haaaaaaa…..”Bin Landen”….”Tora Bora”………and yet you think I’m the one influenced by a single network? Bwaaaaa Haaaaaa Haaaaa……you idiots bag Bush for invading Iraq, with an underlying reason you’re incapable of comprehending. And yet you’d like the US to bomb sovereign, nuclear powered Pakistan? Be sure to note that this will happen with extreme prejudice, but not just yet….when Bush tells you the war is for the long haul, you’d better start paying attention. Most leaders – Republicans and Democrats alike – will follow the “Bush doctrine” in foreign policy, once in power….the future well-being of the United States depends on it…..you’ll see.

As for your linking Islamofascism to Fox News….oh boy….son, you’ve a lot to learn and I’m merely a drifter who’s temporarily paying this Blog a visit to quell my boredom. Either you try and learn from my two-bit’s worth, or you don’t. If you live in a Liberal Democracy as I suspect you do, then try and use the freedom you enjoy by verifying what I say…….there are countless sources at your disposal for research, so use them with reason.

Peace,

Neon

Is youtube now zensoring political videos too? This video summarizing lies of American authorities about Iraq and 9/11 is not getting it’s “viewed” number increased. It’s allways 1,752. No more comments, no more favs are stored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd_iqoStcYg

WTF? I thought this was a tech blog. Ive never heard so many 2 bit political opinions. Even Duncan Riley is suggesting to the that the Taliban were possibly not any worse than the current government because of this one incident. We have NO idea what the circumstances of this incident is. ARRRGGGHHH. Im turning green…

Yo keef,

Thanks for the kind words pal….I’ve came to learn long ago that the greatest friend one can have is he who seeks one’s freedom…every now and then I surf the net to let people know that little old Afghanistan may not be much for a trophy, her people may be illiterate and ignorant, some have decended into madness and lost their moral compass, but many in there are grateful and look to you for hope. The country has withstood many violent storms that came her way, but she finally got knocked down, over and over again, and now needs a little helping hand. When people mock the US government and her allies for doing just that, they in fact expose their complete lack of human compassion….so much for their tree-hugging concerns! We either help Afghanistan and support her long recovery, or we feed her to the same dogs who attacked the US….and that’s all there is to it…

Peace,
Neon

Gareth,

Duncan Riley is stupid, and evidently, so are you. Fancy you bozos lecturing me about the peace the Taliban afforded, compared to the current government. Be sure to note that today’s Afghan government may be chaotic, given that several warring factions had to be accomodated initially, not to mention the reurn of 5 Million refugees who otherwise stayed put during the Taliban’s glorious days. The so called security the Taliban afforded was the peace you’d find in the grave. Anything else you’d like to add?

Gareth,

Duncan Riley is stupid, and evidently, so are you. Fancy you bozos lecturing me about the peace the Taliban afforded, compared to the current government. Be sure to note that today’s Afghan government may be chaotic, given that several warring factions had to be accomodated initially, not to mention the reurn of 5 Million refugees who otherwise stayed put during the Taliban’s glorious days. The so called security the Taliban afforded was the peace you’d find in the grave. Anything else you’d like to add?

Here in Canada we have the equivalent of a ‘clerics council’ known as the CHRC / CHRT. They are in charge of supressing dissenting opinions found on the Intnernet that might offend the tenets of multiculturalism and equality. Large fines and life-time bans prohibiting expression of unaproved opinions are the result of their rulings. Failure to abide results in being sent to prison. Enthusiastic proponents of this system are jewish pressure groups and censors like Richard Warman and Warren Kinsella.

1. Why the “US-backed” label? Are you pretending that the UN, and most of its nations, don’t back the new government in Afghanistan? It’s as if you’re using “US-backed” as a negative connotation.

2. “What exactly are Americans and coalition forces (including British and Australian troops) fighting for in Afghanistan again? Feel free to remind me in the comments.”

Well if you’d had read the entire article at CBC, you’d have read this:

“The case now goes to the first of two appeal courts. Kambaksh, who has been jailed since October, will remain in custody during appeal.”

Ah, appeal courts. I wonder if the Taliban had those.

That’s fine though Riley. Maybe if the US pulls out of Afghanistan, you’ll suddenly realize why even Jan Egeland, the former United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, argued just today that the mission in Afghanistan MUST continue and the Taliban must be confronted resolutely.

Hey Duncan, stick to tech news, you’re making an ass out of yourself writing about things you have no farking clue about.

I realize this isn’t the sort of story usually covered by Techcrunch because it doesn’t involve a commentary about a company that has a 2% chance of existing in 12 months, but if you’re going to blog about the war in Afghanistan and mention the coalition you’d better not forget your neighbour to the north, Canada.

The story you linked to was from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. You aren’t likely to see that story on Fox News.

Leaf-roller,

This sounds like familiar leftist hypocrisy….”do as I say, not as I do”. A man knows he’s the king of his castle, when he finds himself fr