A number of self proclaimed 'progressive' 'left-wing' Pro War bloggers like Terry Glavin , The Amazing Wonderdog and Jim Monk have asserted that the Taliban Did It, in knee jerk response to the attack in Kandahar on journalist, social activist and Canadian Army Captain Trevor Greene.
Of course as a journalist Glavin should know better than make an unfounded assertion without the facts to back it up. Especially when he is repeating spurious accusations released by the Military.
Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, head of the Canadian contingent of 2,200 troops in Afghanistan, said in no uncertain terms Sunday that the attacker was an operative of the Taliban.
But being pro-war the facts don't matter its good sensationalist reporting to prove a badly made point that’s important.
And no the Taliban did not do it. A simple reading of even the article I posted here the other day proves that;
Afghan villagers won't say who axe-wielding attacker of Canadian was
The villager, in his 20s, held the axe high over Greene's head and yelled "Allah Akbar" - God is Great - the signature call of an Islamist suicide attacker.
A villager, not a Taliban fighter. Oh yes dead give away that Allah Akbar. Sheesh this is Afghanistan everyone says that. Didn't anyone ever see Gunga Din?
Even a right wing Pro War blogger like Candace doesn’t stoop to making false claims that the Taliban did it. She quotes the CTV report which was based on an eyewitness account by a Canadian soldier;
"He was surrounded by many local tribesmen as well as Canadian soldiers," Chao told CTV Newsnet. "However as the meeting began, we understand, a man with an axe came out and attacked him. Immediately following there was chaos, Canadian soldiers opened fire, we understand, after some grenades were lobbed by some other attackers.
Ok a man with an axe now but still no Taliban identified in this story either. Nor any screaming of Allah Ahkbar.
The truth on the other hand is muddier and grey. And reinforces what I have said, our troops are replacing retreating US forces and being attacked for it.
Villager: Axe attacker was not Taliban
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - An Afghan elder is disputing the Canadian military's claim that a man with an axe who seriously wounded a Canadian soldier was a Taliban operative, but Haji Mohammed Eisah's assertion only underlines the murky world of political affiliations in southern Afghanistan. Eisah says the axe-wielding attacker was Abdul Karim, a 16-year-old boy who was upset by the U.S.-led coalition's heavy-handed tactics and insensitivity to tribal traditions. Eisah said the boy had no Taliban connections. Eisah said Karim was the son of a poor shoe repairman in Kondalan Schinkai. Senior military sources confirmed the identity of the attacker on Monday, but said Karim's exact age is impossible to establish. Eisah says the boy was one of many local people who are angry at coalition and Afghan army tactics, such as operations where they search and occupy the homes of villagers. "They come to our village and search our homes and our women," Eisah in an interview by satellite telephone. "This guy was very angry about these kinds of operations." Eisah was part of a delegation of conservative rural tribal elders from the heart of Taliban country who travelled to Kandahar city a couple weeks ago to complain about house-to-house searches. The elders said coalition troops break down doors and search randomly after attacks, sending women out of the house and outraging community members. Afghan troops often follow up by occupying houses and stealing their meat, the elders complained. "Coalition forces come and search the homes, Afghan forces stay the night and we have to take our women to another home," Eisah said.
What Glavin wants to assert is that there is popular support for foreign forces in Afghanistan because some polls say so. But the people, the masses, the folks in Kandahar failed to read those polls I guess.
Our troops are not being attacked for being friendly Canadian Peace Keepers building schools, and hospitals, and sweeping for land mines, but for being mistaken for American troops who with their Afghan army cohorts raided villages in the war zone.
And while Glavin and Monk and others promote the Taliban Did It thesis, to prove their point that this is a remake of the Spanish Civil War and our Troops are akin to the International Brigades the truth is this is NOT the same.
Glavin wants there to be one fascist enemy the Taliban. But in reality there are no clear cut lines like in the Spanish Civil War. Instead even the current regime being defended is full of fascists and misogynist Warlords as bad as the Taliban.
This is a plague on both your houses situation. The Warlords are gathered in the North and rule with an iron fist. In the south autonomous tribal areas are being raided by NATO troops and the Pakistani army. Its a no win situation.Pakistani troops, pro-Taliban forces clash
The fact is that the only time Afghanistan was stable, women were free, hospitals and schools were built and modicum of civilization was in place was under Soviet rule. Something none of the Pro War types wishes to admit. Cause that of course would force them to remove their anti-Soviet blinders and admit that from the very beginning this Mujahedin war supported by the CIA was a social failure.
The Wall Street Journal and The Workers Vanguard Agree: Both Capitalists and Communists Conclude Afghanistan Better Off Under Soviets Than Northern Alliance
