Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. in sham negotiations | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (4.00 / 2)

European Tribune - Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. in sham negotiations

The man, posing as Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, held secret talks with U.S., NATO, and Afghan officials, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and then after three meetings disappeared.

Uh, so the locals were fooled, too?

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 10:59:09 AM EST

Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (4.00 / 2)

To what extent is Karzai a local?

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:21:09 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

Okay, you have a point. But then under what definition is he an asset?

How about the other unnamed "Afghan officials"?

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:35:59 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

Who knows? Hell, the whole thing could be an operation to move cash from CIA to friends of Karzai.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:37:39 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

Or to friends of the CIA.

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:39:17 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

Who wants to work on the screenplay?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:47:18 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

Ah but who would you get to make it, Im sure The CIA has plenty of connections in the ~~propaganda~~ Film industry, and aren't going to like being made to look stupid.

Perhaps the Chinese film industry. :)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:55:13 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

There's been a couple of Turkish films painting a less than perfectly flattering picture of the American military intelligence.

You'd have to relocate it to Iraq, but that shouldn't substantially change the story...

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:59:57 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 1)

ceebs:

Im sure The CIA has plenty of connections in the propaganda Film industry, and aren't going to like being made to look stupid.

You forget the Coen brothers' Burn after Reading.

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 12:22:19 PM EST
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Let's make the plot simpler than Syriana (none / 0)

I found it too confusing.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue
- Queen Elizabeth II}

by eurogreen on Wed Nov 24th, 2010 at 04:53:39 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (4.00 / 6)

Karzai has been a player in Afghan and Pashtun politics for a very, very, long time. Hereditary member of the local Kandahar area elites who was deeply involved in anti-Soviet mujaheddin movement, then was very close to the Taliban in their intitial rise to power, and then broke with them to start playing footsie with the Northern Alliance, and got to power by being the least unacceptable of possible choices to all the various factions. The guy is a corrupt, slippery SOB, but unless you're going to argue that no member of the traditional Afghan elites is a local, he's as much of an insider as it gets.

by MarekNYC on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 11:59:08 AM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (4.00 / 4)

The talks were with Afghan officials, that was the whole point.

This whole story was a topic of much (relatively astonished) discussion in my office today... people weren't sure whether it was more hilarious, or more disturbing.

by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 02:28:29 PM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 0)

I go with disturbing.

Of all the ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today — Mervyn King, 25 October 2010

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 02:39:04 PM EST
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Re: Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. (none / 1)

I'm going with hilarious. It probably does less damage than whatever else the Americans were going to do with the money.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 at 03:02:29 PM EST
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Conman posing as Taliban scams U.S. in sham negotiations | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)