It’s the opium, stupid: ‘Afghan surge guarantees CIA black-ops budget boost’
RT.com
23 Aug, 2017
The CIA is also overjoyed because its black-ops budget – which is tied to the exponential growth of opium production in Afghanistan – is now secured possibly for another 20-50 years, claims Mike Raddie, co-editor of online site BSNews.
The announcement on US strategy in Afghanistan comes as Donald Trump shakes up his inner circle: chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has become the latest to head for the exit.
The US military said that in a matter of days additional US troops could be deployed to Afghanistan, following President Trump’s speech on a new strategy for the region.
The first new deployments of American military personnel will happen “pretty quickly,” Gen. Joseph Votel told reporters on Tuesday, as quoted by AP.
RT discussed Donald Trump’s decision to intensify US involvement in Afghanistan.
RT: What do you make of Trump expanding military intervention in Afghanistan and not providing any time frame for ending the war? Do you think Trump’s new strategy will work?
Mike Raddie: Obviously, there is no end, and that suits the neocon generals perfectly well. His policy flip-flop maybe, this is in the tradition of all US presidents going back to Jimmy Carter in 1979. They have all intervened and interfered with the running of Afghanistan, whether it be overtly or covertly, whether it is a full-fledged intervention, military attack or arming jihadist groups like the mujaheddin. So, it is not a surprise to me. The neocons and the military industrial establishment are overjoyed about this because it means that their baby – the war in Afghanistan, that unwinnable 16-year war in Afghanistan – will continue and it may continue for decades.
The CIA is also overjoyed because its black-ops budget – which is tied obviously to the exponential growth of opium production in Afghanistan, which is fueling the heroin epidemic across the West – that is now secured for another possibly 20-50 years. He has jumped straight back into the swamp. Far from clearing it, he has jumped into this swamp, and people now can see his true colors. If they couldn’t already after the indiscriminate bombing of Syria recently.
This is not surprising to me. It is not going to win; it is not going to succeed at all. If there is an insurgency in Afghanistan at the moment, it is because of the military occupation. We should remember that NATO forces never left there – whether it be President Bush or President Obama – this is a continuation of long-held policy.
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