We are witnessing a natural progression of the policies improvised
under Ronald Reagan by Caspar Weinberger and subsequently by the Bush I
administration.
During the Clinton presidency, the pseudo-conservative windbag Rush
Limbaugh used to play various parodies. One parody, which ridiculed
Vice President Al Gore's environmental positions, had a refrain about
"living in Al Gore's paradise."
If Limbaugh were at all objective, today he would be playing a parody
about "living in Caspar Weinberger's paradise." The failure to support
Gorbachev's proposed withdrawal from Afghanistan is only one of the
many tragic follies pursued by the militarist Weinberger. Weinberger
was the biggest, most wasteful spender in U.S. history, and we continue
to pay a very high price for his disastrous policies.
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From: ()
Subject: The march of folly: Afghanistan
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
Date: 2001-11-14 19:06:45 PST
On Sat. 10 Nov. 2001, CNN rebroadcast the episode, from the 1998 "Cold
War" series, dealing with Afghanistan. Caspar Weinberger's remarks are
truly pathetic, and his follies continue to exact a staggering toll.
The following is a summary.
Domenico Rosa
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1973--king Zahir Shah was ousted in a coup organized by his cousin.
1978--another coup installed Taraki as president, and various land and
economic reforms were initiated.
The harsh policies of prime minister Amin created an opposition
movement led by moslem clerics.
July 1979--first U.S. aid to the mujahedin.
Soviet advisers and their families were murdered in the city of Herat.
Amin launched a campaign of terror.
Taraki was summoned to Moscow to organize the removal of Amin.
Amin learned about this plan and had Taraki murdered when he returned
to Afghanistan. Subsequently, Amin tried to establish closer relations
with the U.S.
Dec. 1979--Soviet troops invade Afghanistan. Amin was shot in his
palace, and Babrak Karmal replaced him.
Zia ul Huq, the military ruler of Pakistan, assumed a leading role in
channeling U.S. aid to the mujahedin.
1983-1985--under Frank Anderson, CIA director of the Afghan Task Force,
the Reagan administration increased U.S. aid to the mujahedin from $100
million to $1 billion per year.
1983--Yuri Andropov wanted to accept a U.N. peace plan. The U.S. and
Pakistan did not support the U.N. peace plan.
1985--Mikhail S. Gorbachev tried to find a "process" for withdrawal of
Soviet troops under a U.N. agreement. Najibullah was installed and
urged to form a coalition government with the mujahedin.
CASPAR WEINBERGER: "He [Gorbachev] was KGB, and he was old school, and
he had some very dubious associations, and all the rest."
NARRATOR: "But American hard liners wanted revenge for Vietnam" and
urged the mujahedin to go for victory and reject the U.N. agreement.
WEINBERGER: "Our basic feeling was that what the Russians were talking
about was a way to get the resistance and the opposition of the West
off their backs, ... and they then would be free to pursue other
methods of dominating Afghanistan."
VASILY SAFRONCHUCK, of the Soviet Foreign Ministry: "The Americans ...
wanted to install an anti-Soviet puppet regime they could control. The
bleeders, or the hawks, finally won."
1988--U.N. agreement is signed and Soviet troops withdraw, however U.S.
and Soviet Union continue to arm both sides.
KARENT BRUTENTS, apparatchik: "The Afghan people have become the main
victims. ... It's because of a legacy that began in the 1970s that they
are now fighting each other with American and Soviet weapons."
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