One could nearly get a fright. Finally some kind of movement on the Afghan election results. But it’s movement towards maybe more chaos and certainly more doubts. Confusion reigns. There were crucial presidential polls in August but no results yet. Don’t grab a calendar. August was indeed a distant past.
And now the UN-backed election commission has thrown the results from 210 polling stations in the trash bin. “Clear and convincing evidence of fraud” it announced. Estimations and indications had put sitting president Karzai solidly ahead and above the 50% mark. The UN bombshell has now thrown everything in disarray and it is expected that a run-off, second voting round between Karzai and his rival Abdullah Abdullah will now be on the cards. And Karzai really doesn’t like this. He is apparently furious like hell. Red hot anger. He had dreams of another term in the palace, but the avalanche of fraud has derailed those dreams. At least for now. But Karzai’s image, standing and representative power has clearly got a serious dent. And the US and Europe are pretty nervous about it all. Their ‘democracy export’ model has been heavily damaged.
This is the country the West has sent international troops and ‘development agents’ to in an attempt to build a free and democratic society modelled on the rule of law and strong institutions. It’s nearly farcical. If this represents the building of a modern state, then let’s tear it down and start from scratch. And let’s hurry up because otherwise the rot will set in deeper and deeper. Sometimes admitting a degree of failure is better than just to drag on and on and on and hope for the better. But admitting things have gone seriously wrong requires boldness by leadership. And too many politicians across the globe are under pressure from latest opinion polls, upcoming elections, opposition parties’ attacks, TV news bulletins’ 30 second one-line analysis, opportunists within their own political parties, lobbies, military stars and stripes, alliances, and their own array of advisors and so called experts,... that boldness melts too often down to indecisiveness. And this drastic change of course is too often put aside unfortunately. And as we all know, humans also never ever learn from history.
The Western alliance is facing a double edged sword now. Instability within Afghanistan is growing. Political and people pressure on both sides of the Atlantic to have a clear exit plan is growing. If Karzai wins the 2nd round of voting how strong a leader will he able to be? What will be his legitimacy? After the mountain of complaints and election fraud charges, how strong can Karzai be? How really representative of his people? And how will the defeated candidates react? It’s a nation with a warlord history and mentality, so sliding back to internal struggle and strife is a realistic possibility in Afghanistan. If Adbullah Abdullah wins an expected 2nd voting round, then all bets are off.
And then of course there are the bearded cavemen of the Taliban. Awaiting for the mountain winds to blow away the election fever. And probably also they will let the harsh Afghan winter pass by to regroup, rethink, re-arm, enlist, and attack with a vengeance by spring time next year. You’ll have a weakened central government, a doubtful international community and the Taliban back in full force. It’s gonna be a rocky spring in Afghanistan. Watch this space.
Are the ghosts of Vietnam roaming Afghanistan? On paper a much inferior opponent. But difficult terrain, growing pressure at home to bring the troops back. Little social development. The heroin poppy fields were a key income for many farmers. Obviously the West wanted to destroy those fields as the heroin ends up on European and US streets anyway, but taking that away from the local farmers is pushing them into poverty. And thus for some in the arms of resistance.
And then you bring elections but it’s a pile of fraud across the nation, and thus what’s the point of the (enforced) exercise? What’s the legitimacy of it all? Remember Vietnam where the regime was very much a US puppet. The proud civilians didn’t like that at all, communist attacks from the North or not. Might be the same ballgame in Afghanistan. The people there are very proud. They resisted many invaders throughout history and not too long ago kicked out the almighty Soviet forces.
From the ghosts of Vietnam to a more recent one.
Apparently British TV channel Sky One has made a deal with a so called ghost talker. One of those people that claim they can talk to dead people. Communication with the beyond. The deal is that this guy would attempt to talk to...... Michael Jackson during two live shows. And then apparently he would try for fans to talk to dead Wacko during the show. It’s just ridiculous. Can the world not just let go. Even in death Wacko is being chased for entertainment value. Why not focusing on his medical assistants, nurses and doctors that clearly saw the signs of his breakdown but just kept pumping him fuller and fuller with whatever chemicals? That’s the real story. Let Michael just rest in peace and bring the killers to justice.
Human behaviour is criminal.
Criminal and deadly. The Iraqi government has for the first time compiled a report; and released it; about the death toll amongst Iraqis of the ongoing war. The report compiles official death certificates for the 2004-2008 period.
Result? 85694 Dead Iraqis. And 147195 wounded. That’s a lot of dead people. Lots of roaming ghosts. Some of them likely cruel bastards. Most of them likely just innocent civilians trying to survive day to day. And then blown to pieces. Either by so called insurgents. Either by US and allied forces. That’s also some kind of friendly fire I guess. Sorry if you get wacked as we are here apparently to help. The killing saviours.
And apparently some 15000 bodies are still unidentified and have not been claimed by anybody. They have been buried in special cemeteries. The resting place for the unknown. Unknown souls that died in a war based on lies and fabricated presentations at the UN Security Council. May bible-loving George Bush Jr recite some prayers for all these dead Iraqis. Meanwhile Dick Cheney is still calculating the profit he made through his companies that were involved in the US invasion and occupation. Millions of profit as thousands of Iraqis died for nothing. Profit and lies, as unknown Iraqis are buried and forgotten forever. It remains a sad story.
Human behaviour with its ugly face. Money making amongst the killing fields.
From all that to domestic killings. Blood links.
But journalistic question marks over it. The worldwide, 24h news channel from the BBC – simply called BBC World – reported that a woman had killed her own 2 kids in Los Angeles. Just like that. Nothing more. The woman wasn’t a politician or a sports hero or a Hollywood star. Same day a female cop killed her 2 young children in South Africa. That didn’t make the BBC news. Why? What’s the difference between a woman killing her own kids in LA and the one doing the same in South Africa?
No comments.
Throw out. Discovered Ohio punkrockers The Sidekicks. It’s straight forward, no-frills punkrock with some gruffness here and there. Was listening to their 2007 album “So long, soggy dog”. Some kind of cocktail tunes of Gaslight Anthem, Banner Pilot and Lawrence Arms blended together. Not bad, not blowing me of my socks either. Worth a listen.
C- Ya
collateral – as October 2009 moves swiftly on
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