Afghanistan provides US imperialism with a strategic foothold in Central and South Asia, placing its military forces on the borders of Iran and China, and in close proximity to the vast energy reserves of the Caspian Basin.
Within the region, this motivation is widely recognized. Iran, Russia, China and Pakistan all oppose a continued US military presence, seeing it as both a guarantee of continued warfare in Afghanistan itself and a direct threat to their own interests.
Karzai's public exposure of Washington's bases proposal was seen by Afghan analysts as a sort of trial balloon, testing both the reaction within the country as well as that of neighboring countries. Iran, for example, has a 600-mile-long border with Afghanistan and has provided the Karzai regime with aid while maintaining extensive influence in Afghanistan, particularly in its north and west.
The New York Times quoted unnamed US officials as indicating that Washington is prepared to meet Karzai's demands in exchange for a bases deal. "Officials said that aid would continue, although amounts given were likely to be reduced over time," the newspaper reported. "And the Afghan government would have to live up to its commitments to battle corruption and run a more open government for the aid to keep flowing."
The pretense that Washington is holding Karzai's feet to the fire over corruption is ludicrous, given recent reports that the Central Intelligence Agency regularly delivers shopping bags, backpacks and suitcases stuffed with cash to the presidential palace.
This CIA money, used to pay off warlords and fill up the foreign bank accounts of the president and his supporters, is only the tip of the iceberg of the massive corrupt enterprise fostered by more than a decade of US occupation. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been poured into this war of aggression, while Afghanistan has remained one of the poorest countries on the planet.
The Obama administration's attempts to hide this dirty secret from the American people were underscored in a speech delivered Wednesday by the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, John Sopko, who was appointed last summer.
"Over the last 10 months, I have been criticized by some bureaucrats for not pre-clearing my press releases with them, for not letting them edit the titles of my audits, for talking too much to Congress, for talking too much to the press...and, basically, for not being a 'team player' and undermining 'our country's mission in Afghanistan,'" Sopko said.
Sopko cited pressure from unnamed "senior officials" who he said believed that his "reports should be slipped in a sealed envelope in the dead of night under the door -- never to see the light of day -- because those reports could embarrass the administration, embarrass President Karzai, embarrass Afghanistan."
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