■Britain's "Taliban-Contra Scandal" in Afghanistan; Spies Expelled
Increase DecreaseDecember 27, 2007 (LPAC)--The expulsion of two senior British United Nations and European Union officials from Afghanistan, and the revelation by the Daily Telegraph yesterday, that British intelligence MI6 agents have been negotiating with the Taliban for months, will be a major hit against British Prime Minister Gordon Brown especially in the aftermath of the assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto today. Taliban-linked fundamentalists in Pakistan are behind the dozens of bloody terrorist attacks there.
In mid-December, Brown had pledged to the House of Commons that there would be "no negotiations with terrorists." But in reality, as The Independent reports in its lead headline today, "Diplomats to leave Afghanistan as new 'Great Game' played with tribal leaders.... For spies, diplomats and soldiers in Afghanistan are playing the Great Game today as much as their forefathers ever did." The 'great game' refers to the prolonged 19th century covert warfare between Great Britain and Russia for domination of the Indian Subcontinent, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia, in which intelligence officers, often disguised as "explorers," played the leading role.
On Dec. 12, Brown announced a policy of "tribal engagement," in a desperate effort to indicate that "progress" is being made in Afghanistan, where the U.K. and NATO have the majority of troops deployed. This was what the two expelled diplomats were up to before being expelled from Afghanistan on Dec. 26.
Such "engagement" has been the policy of Britain's ambassador Sir Sherard Cowper Coles, and the announced policy of Brigadier Andrew Mackay, commander of British forces in Helmand province, according to classified documents quoted in the London Independent. "Great Britain's long association with Afghanistan has shown that we got ourselves into this country by forming tribal alliances. Equally we will get ourselves out, over time, by forming tribal alliances that support the government of Afghanistan," Brigadier Mackay wrote in a classified briefing document issued to top officers across Helmand on Oct. 30, the Independent reported. "Everything we do will have as its singular focus our ability to influence the population of Helmand in order that we can retain, gain and win their consent."