You mock stockstradr’s post claiming: “What is really scary is if anyone believes that nonsense.”
Then you only go on to point out that the Soviets went into Afghanistan before Carter and the CIA started funding rebels. Personally, I took stockstradr’s post to imply that after the Soviets invaded, the CIA was able to pull the Soviets farther into a quagmire by funding the Afghan rebels, not that the CIA and Carter were the reason the Soviets went into Afghanistan in the first place.
But, my real question is, given that you have called stockstradr’s post nonsense, are you in dispute with his other points? Particularly:
The CIA war in Afghanistan was able to cause the Soviets significant Vietnam like problems. (Loss of lives, loss of prestige, wasted money, etc.)
The CIA was responsible for arming and training many Jihadist that later turned on the USA. (Including most notably Osama Bin-Laden)
That after the war against the Soviets, the USA did little if anything to help the Afghans rebuild their country?
And then finally, is stockstradr’s suggestion that the USA should have done more to help rebuild Afghanistan, part of the nonsense you are objecting to? (Particularly in light of what has happened in recent years with 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan by the USA)
If you are indeed calling stockstradr’s post nonsense, can you explain why you feel these points that he brought up are nonsense? I’m no expert on Afghanistan but I am under the impression that the above points are mostly on target.
Perhaps your objection is to Carter, since you seem kinda negative about him. (Which is okay by me) In that case, I doubly recommend reading Charlie Wilson’s War which overwhelmingly points out that the CIA’s involvement in Afghanistan had very little support from Carter, but was overwhelmingly driven by one congressman, Charlie Wilson.
And BTW, I’m can’t really speak for stockstradr, but I don’t think his point is that Carter and the CIA had a some master plan as you suggest. I think his point was that the USA and the CIA were a lot more involved in turning it into and then leaving Afghanistan in the mess that is today than most American understand. Not that the USA started this mess. And, so finally I ask the question which is do you dispute the USA’s role here? If so, can you explain?
