A Nato conference has agreed to set aside $500 million to bribe Taliban members to swap sides in Afghanistan.The increase of financial “aid” will be accompanied by troop surges and interference in every level of Afghan government.
The Afghan government directs only 20 percent of development funds in the country. The rest is decided by the US-led occupation.
The occupiers have been torn between two strategies—to buy off their armed opponents or to step up the war. They have decided to do both.
The concessions to the Taliban, or “disenchanted brothers” is a sign that occupation forces are becoming ever more desperate as the mission crumbles.
The Afghan Taliban refutes rumours that they have met with the UN, and has voted to sustain its war “against the invaders”.
The buy-off project has been granted $140 million for the first year.
Bloodiest
Last month 44 US and coalition troops were killed in Afghanistan—the bloodiest month of fighting recorded in the country’s winter season since the 2001 invasion.
Corruption is rife at every level of government. Elections have been put back from May to September for fear they will increase violence—and President Karzai’s allies will lose.
The election commission claims it is due to lack of funds.
The US has a stranglehold over the country.
It treats Karzai like a naughty child, who must prove himself before receiving any award.
But this is not just a political tug-of-war. US imperialism is in crisis because of the mess in Afghanistan.
So far 253 British soldiers have been killed in the conflict—just two shy of the number killed in the Falklands war.
And while the political elite in Britain and the US line their pockets, it is the Afghan people who continue to suffer.
