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For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the repeated appearance of a certain insurgent leader at one end of the table: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, one of the most senior commanders in the Taliban movement.
But now, it turns out, Mr. Mansour was apparently not Mr. Mansour at all. In an episode that could have been lifted from a spy novel, United States and Afghan officials now say the Afghan man was an impostor, and high-level discussions conducted with the assistance of NATO appear to have achieved little.
“It’s not him,” said a Western diplomat in Kabul intimately involved in the discussions. “And we gave him a lot of money.”
The intelligence budget of the United States is $80.1 billion annually. Just felt like interjecting that.
A man who had known Mr. Mansour years ago told Afghan officials that the man at the table did not resemble him. “He said he didn’t recognize him,” said an Afghan leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. … Last month, White House officials asked The New York Times to withhold Mr. Mansour’s name from an article about the peace talks, expressing concern that the talks would be jeopardized — and Mr. Mansour’s life put at risk — if his involvement were publicized.
Yeah, OK, this war is fucked.
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Julian Assange, eat your heart out.
OK. Story number 3.
The last time I heard about negotiations between the Taliban and Karzai, the US was saying it was actually propaganda to drive a wedge between members of the Taliban, and there was no real meetings.
He who did not exist, is now “not him.” Did someone steal some cash?
…and now comes the WaPo saying 40% of our “reconcilable Talibs” recruits were faking their connection. Of course, that all is murky, as they may well have been militants who have indeed decided to take the $ to hang it up, which is positive even if they were never Quetta-connected/etc.
How many planeloads of hundreds did he get away with? (Anyone else read Spook Country by W. Gibson and go “aaah”?)
Just to be conspiratorial, perhaps some of the privatized spies, are pulling a scam. Michael Furlong, with his great knowledge of the Afgahn people could have found himself a “Mansour”. Then they pulled a “Sting” on the taxpayers. Furlong and Mansour then split the loot. That is probably not what happened.
But what will happen, is that the full details will be concealed from the taxpayers because of National Security. Everything is concealed because of National Security. If we knew the full truth, it would undermine confidence in our incompetent and corrupt military and spy leaders. Undermining confidence in the War Machine is unpatriotic. “Leaders” is not the correct word, these delusional fools are incompetent and corrupt war profiteers. Except for the war criminals.
Among other things, this cock-up must be driving the price of cooperation by REAL Talibs higher. If we can find any. Real. Cooperating. Talibs.
Have you ever read Carl Zuckmayer’s Hauptmann von Köpenick? It’s all about the mean streets of old Berlin before the Great War and a guy (ISTR it’s suggested he’s a Yiddisher) who was short of cash and had no immigration papers, so he borrowed a suit of uniform, took command of a file of soldiers, and staged a little coup at the town hall of his ‘hood.
The real man went to see the play ten years later in Weimar times, Zuckmayer and him went out on the beer. I don’t know what became of him.
You’ll laugh your head off. In the light of this it’s that or crying.
Welcome aboard, Spencer, we saved you a seat!
I love the title of this post. I’ve been laughing about it everytme I see a story about Mansour :)