us army paratrooper afghanistan konar province photo spc lorenzo ware/us army source wikicommons miles elliott 21st century wirethe war afghanistan long war us history 16th year third us president one might expect war wind however resurgent taliban isis allegedly present country well president trump recently delegate authority prosecution war pentagon additional us nato troop deploy afghanistan secretary defense jam mattis together national security advisor hr mcmaster develop new aggressive strategy war short end sight.although war claim title past afghanistan refer many forget war even though responsible deaths thousands us troop many people afghanistan sit nowhere near forefront public consciousness vague blob public peripheral vision nine years ago july 2008 pbs air video report correspondent embed us troop afghanistan even time george bush vacate oval office title video afghanistan forget war eight years late height 2016 presidential race la time publish editorial call afghanistan campaign forget war author point neither hillary clinton donald trump even bother mention afghanistan convention speeches.trump critical us military interventionism campaign however even bid presidency begin habit take twitter lambast obama administration perpetuate war afghanistan.let get afghanistan troop kill afghanis train waste billions nonsense rebuild usa donald j. trump realdonaldtrump january 11 2013but stop obama promise end war 2014 leave white house january 2017 8,400 us troop still station afghanistan also stop trump reverse course preside next escalation us involvement country.with taliban control territory since us first go afghanistan 2001 suppose appearance isis country one wonder last 16 years really about.surge 4.0for past weeks american mainstream press report pentagon plan send additional troop afghanistan although number 4,000 widely circulate official announcements regard number strategy yet make new strategy set publicly announce mid-july look though us troop send afghanistan add 8,500 american troop already country similarly fifteen twenty-nine nato member nations far also agree send troop afghanistan add current nato presence 5,000 troop note currently us nato combat mission afghanistan instead foreign troop mission train afghan force serious doubt among inform observers whether additional thousand troop make difference number 4,000 suggest general jack keane former vice chief-of-staff us army suggest 10,000 20,000 additional troop need make difference similarly past days former cia director defense secretary leon panetta also weigh echo keane opinion 4,000 troop would change momentum.as danny sjursen author article point upcoming surge troop level would fourth move make us follow three similar increase bush obama years 2008-2010. begin look like escalate case bush start war afghanistan something rite passage new presidents three commanders-in-chief preside war do within first year first term question us government actually try achieve win even possible remember mainstream media treat surge orchestrate general david petraeus iraq 2007. idea surge receive fawn adoration throughout media even president bush play part help advertise hype strategy afterwards petraeus problem take credit success .except success goals end sectarian violence reconcile sunnis shiites kurds noble achieve meaningful stay power destabilization originally introduce us intervention ultimately prevail isis result point iraq surge triumph market rebrand new sexy cover grisly reality accord boston globe americans myth victorious surge seductive perpetuate illusion control frame iraq war something geostrategic blunder remember effort something stalemate reinforce notion possible influence events around world military force deploy properly myth make victory current iraq mission appear achievable replace word iraq afghanistan .one sad daunt possibility afghanistan become sort operations incubator use west one purpose serve perpetual us nato presence provide real-life train experience troop test weapons equipment time significant number foreign troop cycle various countries countries benefit able test new weapons bomb combat methods train operational procedures tactics prospect even mention danny sjursen article one high-ranking afghan official recently lament think undoubtedly first use land large non-nuclear bomb planet plan use country test grind bomb even partly case west require theater war contain long infinitely extendable conflict order fulfil requirements wide military-industrial complex afghanistan exactly have.a flaw strategyin recent article independent journalist gareth porter point us strategy afghanistan fatal flaw go long way toward explain war real reason fundamental weakness us-nato war fact unite state empower rogues gallery afghan warlords whose militias impose regime chaos violence oppression afghan population steal kill rap utter impunity porter view american objectives methods oust taliban may short-sighted taliban come power partly response sexual violence predatory behaviour afghan warlords organization taliban appear 1994 response desperate pleas population south especially kandahar province divide four warlords stop wholesale abduction rape women pre-teen boys well uncontrolled extortion toll warlord troop taliban portray stand order elementary justice chaos sexual violence immediately broad popular support drive warlords power across south finally take kabul without fight ever since invasion 2001 us play favorites warlords pit various leaders one another help select ones become powerful allow become regional governors put others cia payroll eventually turn private militias national police years several different us commanders take rein war afghanistan strategy use warlord militias persist since adequate source manpower provide security general population afghanistan also us-nato coalition troop themselves.the occurrence green-on-blue attack afghan police military us/coalition force one last month kill three american soldier may largely attributable strategy use warlord militias worth mention taliban also actively infiltrate afghan national army afghan national police moreover helmand kandahar provinces particular profit drug trade provide temptation every element society one article state two provinces burden bulk green-on-blue attack helmand kandahar coincidence areas taliban strong country high level opium poppy cultivation help fund insurgency although frequency green-on-blue attack decline correspond reduce us presence afghanistan number different group interest represent grind make exceedingly complex web relationships always easy see attack coming.coupled flaw fail us strategy alliances unwillingness admit defeat amongst civilian military managers afghan war combination two factor could significant contribute factor conflict show sign end interview gareth porter radio host antiwar activist scott horton make point way case every one guy war cabinet heavily invest sort spin win kind positive light end tunnel every one wrap secretary defense mattis original war head centcom time charge war national security advisor mcmaster charge counter-corruption petraeus-obama surge 2009-2012. secretary homeland security apparently quite bite sway kelly whose son die helmand province petraeus surge go want admit sink cost lose understandable reason dunford chairman joint chiefs staff well charge afghan war men everything lose admit lose porter agree contribute factor war seemingly unending unwinnable career us officer serve bureaucratic stake joint special operations command cia huge program facilities country political cost admit futile effort start plus pentagon cia determine hold afghan airstrips use carry drone war pakistan long possible word frequently get use regard afghan conflict stalemate nearly 16 years taliban exercise control 40 territory afghanistan ally haqqani network resupplying border pakistan consider something safe terrorists despite us ally danny sjursen write go well exactly surefire thing likely best surge 4.0 produce long painful tie criticisms may sound harsh hop come surge make difference problems question regard america involvement afghanistan far deep broad present above.fraud waste abuseon financial level corruption waste rule day afghan american side us involvement astound amount money stake overall war cost us taxpayers around trillion dollars far fund appropriate reconstruction stand 117 billion usual look like money form government contract may reason little urgency end war ryan crocker former us ambassador afghanistan say ultimate failure efforts insurgency weight endemic corruption john sopko special inspector general afghanistan reconstruction sigar make quarterly report congress oversight spend reconstruction afghanistan sigar find years breathtaking take example sigar find may 200,000 ghost soldier afghan soldier whose salaries us-taxpayer fund seem even exist except paper gas station cost absurd 43 million build nobody use pentagon knowledge 28 million needlessly spend uniform afghan army forest camouflage even though woodland cover 2.1 afghan territory.as two years ago 35 billion reconstruction fund spend could account many project fail meet requirements specifications would seem contractors win bid rebuild afghanistan rather well underwrite us taxpayer appear end amount money trough sopko tell whowhatwhy spend afghanistan entire marshall plan rebuild postwar europe american taxpayer foot 114 billion bill deserve know cost also get bear mind sigar cover reconstruction cost appropriations bomb arm plan military equipment vehicles weaponry us marine patrol poppy field helmand province afghanistan photo cpl john m. mccall usmc source wikicommons opium questionsince us military first invade afghanistan 2001 production opium country increase dramatically although impossible measure exactly much opium produce un produce yearly report estimate production level well much land area allocate purpose grow opium poppies late un figure year 2015-2016 show significant increase area use opium cultivation 183,00 201,000 hectares 10 increase well potential production opium 3,300 tons 4,800 tons 43 increase .in addition despite 8.5 billion spend eradication area destroy eradication efforts decrease 91 2015 2016 3,760 hectares eradicate 355 hectares eradicate yield increase 30 18.3 kg opium produce per hectare 23.8 kg place 2016 top three years opium cultivation since un office drug crime begin monitor opium afghanistan 1994.afghanistan world large opium producer wide margin widely cite statistic opium afghanistan 90 heroin produce worldwide opium poppy cultivation afghanistan 2016 image unodc source afghanistan opium survey 2016 war drug america war drug rife contradictions fact us troop dea agents station country responsible 90 world heroin market 16 years production increase eradication decline shall say counter-intuitive especially one consider home media outlets across country report daily america heroin opioid epidemic .according cdc deaths due opioid overdose unite state increase 16 2014 2015 2002 2013 deaths due heroin overdose nearly quadruple opioids class drug include opiates natural opium-derived drug like morphine well synthetic versions like oxycodone fentanyl lethal rapidly-growing problems unite state course say nothing legions people languish us prisons nonviolent crime drug possession.to assume connection country help supply 90 world heroin one hand explosion america heroin-related addiction death foolhardy say least.it also noteworthy july 2000 cooperation un taliban outlaw grow opium production drop sharply year 2001. summarize 2004 academic paper international journal drug policy afghanistan main source world illicit heroin supply 1990s late 2000 year follow taliban enforce ban poppy farm via threats force eradication public punishment transgressors result 99 reduction area opium poppy farm taliban-controlled areas conclude reduction afghan poppy cultivation due enforcement action taliban globally net result intervention produce estimate 35 reduction poppy cultivation 65 reduction potential illicit heroin supply harvest 2001. though afghan poppy grow return previous level fall taliban government may effective drug control action modern time one ever observe us involvement afghanistan might begin look though perhaps unite state actually wag war drug us troop poppy field production rise live fox news usmc lieutenant colonel clearly tell geraldo rivera provide poppy farmers security provide resources however afghanistan instance us government protect drug traffickers abby martin explain 2012 mexican government official juarez tell al jazeera cia international security force fight drug traffickers instead agency try manage drug trade back fifties cia turn blind eye drug traffic golden triangle train taiwanese troop communist china william blum report rogue state cia fly drug southeast asia sit opium process heroin trans-shipment point route western customers far isolate incidents eighties cia financially logistically back anti-communist contras nicaragua also happen international drug traffickers former representative ron paul elaborate cia notorious corruption speak group students iran-contra drug traffic gold mine people want raise money underground government order finance project get legitimately clear cia much involve drug deal saw iran-contra television haul weapons drug back certainly question us government answer relationship drug business another aspect afghan opium production deserve investigation extent chinese involvement modern opium trade come afghanistan report afghan poppy farmers begin grow call chinese seed genetically-modified poppy seed allow farmers grow poppies year-round harvest crop every two months march year cnbc report chinese seed fact grow legally china pharmaceutical purpose somehow cross border afghanistan.last month 21wire feature documentary afghan overdose afghan opium trade sunday screen series.afghanistan empireto understand globalist empire-builders view afghanistan however might direct readers attention superb video jam corbett global research grtv video corbett explain concise fashion great historical geopolitical context current conflict afghanistan arise .. video provide evidence 9/11 could real reason us invasion afghanistan make country extremely important asset geopolitical geostrategic term afghanistan position world preeminent producer opium alone would make country significant world stage accord un figure 2010 market opiates worldwide worth 65 billion although actual figure today could considerably high another important factor make afghanistan attractive economic prize lie grind country addition significant amount oil gas afghanistan also home vast wealth minerals iron copper cobalt gold lithium estimate trillion value let also forget appeal potential location energy pipelines.as corbett explain however real value afghanistan strategic location draw geostrategic treatises halford mackinder zbigniew brzezinski corbett place afghanistan center new great game battle east west crucial region central asia ultimately globe.should really surprise although hollywood/mainstream media/pop-culture view america democratic freedom-loving law-abiding member international community regular readers 21wire already aware image largely myth recent article american conservative deconstruct myth rules-based international order boston university historian andrew bacevich point among items fail qualify mention liberal internationalist rules-based version past u.s. policy follow meddle foreign elections coups assassination plot iran guatemala congo cuba south vietnam chile nicaragua elsewhere indiscriminate aerial bomb campaign north korea throughout southeast asia nuclear arm race bring world brink armageddon support corrupt authoritarian regimes iran turkey greece south korea south vietnam philippines brazil egypt nicaragua el salvador elsewhere many abandon deem inconvenient shield illegal activities use security council veto unlawful war launch false pretenses extraordinary rendition torture indefinite imprisonment persons without semblance due process unite state live media tell us time war afghanistan exception.more story tomdispatch us special operations task force bagram air field afghanistan photo tech sgt michael a. connor/usaf source wikicommons danny sjursen tomdispatchwe walk single file tactically sound least accord standard infantry doctrine patrol southern afghanistan column formation limit maneuverability make difficult mass fire expose us enfilade machine-gun burst still 2011 pashmul district kandahar province single file best bet.the reason simple enough improvise bomb along roads seemingly everywhere hundreds maybe thousands know right local taliban term nebulous basically lose mean manage drastically alter u.s. army tactics crude homemade explosives store plastic jug believe huge problem cheap ubiquitous easy bury anti-personnel improvise explosive devices ieds soon litter roads footpaths farmland surround isolate outpost great extent number commanders willingly admit enemy manage nullify many technological advantage pennies dollar maybe since talk pentagon pennies millions dollars .truth tell never really high-tech gear instead american units come rely superior train discipline well initiative maneuverability best opponents yet deadly ieds often seem even score difficult detect brutally effective many bloody lessons meander along carnival-like pied piper-style columns bomb-sniffing dog often lead way follow couple soldier carry mine detectors follow explosives experts come first foot soldier rifle ready anything else suicide least grotesquely ill-advised.continue read story tomdispatchread afghanistan news 21st century wire afghanistan filessupport 21wire work subscribe become member 21wire.tv afghanistan forget go