Robert Bridge, it is most unfortunate that you could not resist to bring up the tragic situation of “US Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim serving in the US Army as a psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow troops at Fort Hood Army base in Texas, killing 13 and wounding dozens”. Thousands of American soldiers-who are not Arabs and or Muslims- have came back from the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan- some have continue with their murderous rage by turning on their families and communities- try to do little search on the rate of sharp increase of spousal murders and suicide among American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. invoking Muslims as "silent bombs" will not change the fact the United States has been killing and maiming Afghanis since it invaded that country in 2001 and the Afghanis will not stop until the Americans are driven out of their country. I am not surprised that despite your seemingly objections to the U.S media stereotypical representations of Russia, when it comes to representing Muslims inside and outside the United States, you are willing to invoke most crude and stereotypical tropes of U.S media fear of Muslims. Just in case you have not noticed the Taliban are Afghanis and they did not attack the United States; the United States attacked their country and they will continue to fight until they drive the imperialists out of their country. As for trust: there can be on trust between the colonised and colonisers.

It seems our leaders in the United States and Britain have not read the writings of Rudyard Kipling done about 100 years ago; one book especially named Gunga Din. A culture more than 1000 years old is difficult to change! For as we are told Afghanistan, and other countries will be democracized no matter what it costs. It seems in the United States everything is very close and a person does not need one thousand of years of culture. In our news media it is reported each day of the number of drug dealers on many corners of streets with their prostitutes, and the Sexually Transmitted Diseases growing at a stagering rate! Alas Afghanistan we bring you gifts!

CIA created these SOB's with the help of British backed former ppm Benazir Buto, first they killed their mother Mrs. Buto and now some of their fathers. You see, how violent the Talibans are? Killing their own parents. I wonder if they will go after their nannies (Saudis).

It is time for the United States government to stop trying to be "POLITICALLY CORRECT" and for CONGRESS to declare war. This is not a football game.Too mant young Americans are being killed in this long undeclared war. America has the capability to end this war, in short order, if congress can muster up enough POLITICAL WILL and POLITICAL COURAGE to declare war. If congress chooses to fight this war, then every weapon in the American arsenal must be used swiftly to totally devastate all traces of the ENEMIES.

How can we speak of trust, wen everybody knows the real purposes of the US-NATO consorcium, for being in that erea. All the natural ressources still in the ground of most countries located South of Russia and later those of that same Russia, must become . For that shame to succeed, they need friendly territories to set pipe-lines, railroads and freeways, plus one or several arbors free of troubles like the pakistanis ports. One of them (Jiwani) is located near Iran; Consequently, it is also required to control that country, which, with Irak, also hold the World largest oil and gas'reserve. The whole puzzle is easer to understand and the reciprocal trust with the local population has nothing to do with it. America and its croonies have used the same process for the past 60 years with success. Why should they do differently ! I am surprised that russian decisions'makers do not seem to have understood that strategy (unless they dream to participe in it). Sorry Future Generations ! HAPPY NEW YEAR ! Best Regards...Jean-Claude Meslin

Meslin You are correct. However, this project might not work because imperialists are almost always cruel, greedy and militaristic; but also they are impotent, incompetent and also racists: all these things work against colonialists throughout history. Thus, today, it has been reported that a judge in the United States throw out a well documented criminal case against four American mercenaries from Blackwater who killed 17 Iraqis. And we know also the American decision to eradicate the city of Fallujaha started with the local militia group’s killing of four American mercenaries. When a nation blurs the line between corporate mercenarism and legitimate engagement with other nations and societies , then, it is hard for the local people to know which Americans are spies, mercenaries or both and which once are legitimate. In cases like that depicting other groups, in this case Muslims and Afghanis as “silent bombs” masks the impotence, incompetence and illegitimacy of the colonising group- which in this is the American corporate imperialists and their coalition of partners.

Dear Sarah, thank you for commenting on my article; you have forwarded some genuinely interesting ideas. However, I would like to clarify my position on the subject of Muslims in the US military, which you seem to have misunderstood. You wrote "it is most unfortunate that you could not resist to bring up the tragic case of US Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim serving in the US Army as a psychiatrist, opened fire on fellow troops at Fort Hood Army base in Texas, killing 13 and wounding dozens”. By drawing attention to this particular incident, I was attempting to demonstrate the difficulties the US forces are experiencing in waging a war against the enemy - in this case, the radical Sunni fundamentalists known as the Taliban - with the assistance of Afghans, the great majority of which are Muslim. Of course, these individuals' affiliation with Islam does not predetermine that they will automatically turn on their American allies in the fight against the Taliban. Indeed, most Afghans seem genuinely committed to eliminating the Taliban from their. But with that said, it is important to note that there is a number of individuals fighting alongside the Coalition whose loyalty is questionable at best. This has been proven three times already to disastrous effect. Does this mean I am trying to "invoke most crude and stereotypical tropes" against the Muslim people? Nothing could be further from the truth. The great majority of Muslims (just like the British, Danes and Italians, for example, or Southern Vietnamese from a much different war) are fully committed to the Coalition cause. This article merely attempted to show that there is a tiny element in the Coalition's forces who have infiltrated for the sole purpose to commit Chaos, as was clearly the case against the CIA this week. Every war has its number of infiltrators and saboteurs - regardless of race, religion or creed. Thank You, Robert Bridge

Echo: "It is time for the United States government to stop trying to be "POLITICALLY CORRECT" and for CONGRESS to declare war." Against whom? The dirt poor people of Afghanistan? Echo: "If congress chooses to fight this war, then every weapon in the American arsenal must be used swiftly to totally devastate all traces of the ENEMIES." Who is the "enemy" of America in Afghanistan? Is it anyone who dares to resist American occupation? If that is the case, then all the Afghan peoples are the enemies of America. Are you suggesting that you glorious Americans "totally devastate all traces" of the Afghan peoples? If you do, then you are 65 years to late with your mentality. The Taliban were never the enemy of America. America helped in the creation of the Taliban and armed them to fight Russia. The Taliban was a FRIEND of America until America invaded Afghanistan. Obama's generals and CIA will try to terrorize the Afghan people into submission in order to legitimatize a war crime.

Robert Bridge, Why has America declared the Taliban it's enemy?

Robert Bridge I would also like to thank you for your response to my comment on your article. Unfortunately space will not allow me to address the points of the central premises of your thesis. I will address only three in quick summary way. Firs, you had no analytic or evidential reason to bring the unfortunate incidence of Nidal Malik Hasan and when you did, you said nothing about the mass murder of Muslims and Arabs the United States troops have committed since the tragic event of 9/11. You said nothing the 2003 U.S invasion of Iraq, Abu Graib, eradication of Falluhaja and how these horrific event could sent any human being, let as a Muslim and Arab, over the edge. The second point: in 2001, when the United States invaded Afghanistan, the rationale was to “hunt” and “capture, dead of alive”, Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaida members. There was no mention of bringing democracy-which the United States has never given to Latin America, Africa and the Palestinians or killing Taliban-whether they be Radical Sunni Muslims [ in case you do not know 95% of all Muslims are Sunni] and once ones who contest American mercenary corporate imperialism are radicals but others- U.S friendly ones, no matter how ruthless these regimes are to these own people- are not labeled as radicals! And finally: the U.S is in Afghanistan for imperialistic, racist reasons; it is in that country in order to achieve, if possible, Brzezik’ Full Spectrum Dominance. If the Pentagon wants to rid the world fanatics and fundamentalists, let them begin with the Christian fundamentalists in the United States who are spreading hate and militarism in the name of Christian Crude against Muslims.

Dear Kihnu, the ostensible reason for the United States attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan was that the Bush administration blamed them for harboring terrorists, specifically al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, who many believe (although some would disagree) was responsible for orchestrating the attacks of 9/11. For a much more detailed answer to your question, I would recommend you watch Noam Chomsky speak about the lengthy history of the confrontation, accessible on Youtube at "US Terror - Afghanistan, the Taliban & War". The video runs for just over 6 minutes, but is very enlightening. Thank You, Robert

Let me reiterate my previous points so prevent any must understand. I do not support Taliban or any other groups with radical views., However, there is no shred of evidence that Afghanis and the Talibans have played any part in the attack the 9/11 against the U.SA. Yet, despite 18 out of the 19 named men who attacked the United States in 9/11 were Arabs from U.S friendly regime of Saudi Arabia, in 2001, the U.S attacked Afghanistan with the rationale to kill, or capture Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaida members. That mandate has now been updated as a open ended American colonial occupation of Afghanistan: this unholy enterprise brought neither peace not democracy to the Afghan people but endless terror, killing and maiming. Today, U.S. A corporate militarism in Afghanistan as in Iraq and elsewhere depends as much on mercenaries and drons as spies, local collaborates and unformed U.S soldiers. The United States is using Afghanistan to spread chaos into Pakistan and soon to Iran- and without a doubt- to the Caucasus. It is in that context that this article reads more PR press release by the Pentagon than a critical intervention in the conflict in Afghanistan. It is naïve and misguided for Americans to expect that people they came to conquer, occupy and dominate will trust them. Why should the Afghanis trust the Americans who occupying their country? But this naïve believe that people they conquer, kill and menace will come to love them is very central to the history of American imperialism [i.e. Graham Greene novel, The Quiet American]

The troops (soldiers) of all of our Countries try to do a good job for their people. In the United States it would be good to see our troops, who have many times, the most difficult of situations to prevail under, making the same amount of compensation as the CIA people. It seems the CIA is now a private army doing as they wish, no matter what administration is in office. I would like to say more but it would get into a matter of National Security Secrets, etc. Vladimir Putin has said democracy will be the future of Russia! I look at our Country and can only ask of the future of the United States? When I was younger, a person could literally go anywhere any time of the day and night without fear of crime. Now it seems, and it just may be me, each day instances appear of which a person can be the victim of crime, be it blue collar crime or white collar crime. It would be good to see the New Year bring positive changes.