In a truly bizarre interview on NPR, the Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ronald Neuman, made the claim today that deadly riots sparked by a U.S. military truck crash this week are not a sign of anti-Americanism in Afghanistan..
"I do not see any groundswell of anti-Americanism or of any desire that we leave". Neumann said.
A U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday that American soldiers used their guns in self-defense after rioting Afghans opened fire during a melee that broke out after the crash of a military convoy into parked cars in a market, but there are in fact long standing complaints about the attitude of American military in Afghanistan, and in particular about their aggressive driving and light trigger fingers. The military spokesman failed to deny or clarify claims that shots were fired into the crowd as well as over their heads after the crash. Having first made the claim that soldiers fired over the heads of crowds threatening them at the crash scene, the military now appears set to change their story.
And where have we heard this before? Neuman promises
".....should the investigation reveal some wrongdoing, I'm sure that the military would follow up on its own." Coupled with the Haditha cover-up and turnabout in Iraq, military obfuscation is beginning to have a monotonous tone to it: can we believe anything that these people say?
President Bush spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pledged a full investigation into this episode, which constitutes the worst unrest in Kabul since the Taliban's downfall. One presumes he also promised that if wrongdoing was done, the evildoers would be punished. Shades of Abu Ghraib!
President Hamid Karzai on Thursday condemned the use of gunfire by U.S. troops although he too parsed carefully, using phrases that left open whether the U.S. troops had fired into a crowd that had gathered at the scene of Monday's accident, or only over their heads- nonetheless he was strongly critical.
"The coalition opened fire, and we strongly condemn that," Karzai said in a national radio address. "I have to say, all the time we tell them to be careful because we have one joint aim, which is the struggle against terrorism."
Given this, and what is happening in the Afghan countryside, don't tell me that the American ambassador truly believes- ala the Cheney "flowers and candy" doctrine-that we are beloved all over Afghanistan. He has his spies in every market place telling him otherwise, as the resurgence of the Taliban testifies. Neither he, nor Bush, nor anyone of their unholy crew truly believe that- but we are supposed to . Like the Goebbels thesis, they believe that a lie, often repeated, will ultimately believed.
How are we to rid ourselves of this obscene crew of criminal liars?