Elite U.S. Force Expanding Hunt in Afghanistan – New York Times

In today’s New York Times we find out, once again, that we are successfully killing people by the truckloads in Afghanistan.  But are they people who are a threat to the United States in a real way?  I am not convinced that "the Taliban" and the people who attacked us on 9-11 are the same group at all.  I don’t understand the connection between OBL and these people we are killing.  I just don’t get it.

That story, Elite U.S. Force Expanding Hunt in Afghanistan shows us how eager we are to kill people over that horrible attack on our soil.  But are they the right people to kill?  Or are we causing trouble for ourselves in the future?  Al Qaeda is now mostly in Yemen and North Africa.  We know that.  So why are we killing "the Taliban" whatever that may mean in this case who are in Afghanistan and Pakistan? What is the connection?  I know that we believe Al Qaeda trained in Afghanistan.  But it trained and continues to train in many places.  We know that now.  So why the Afghanistan focus?

Certain Taliban groups on the Afghan-Pakistan border gave OBL refuge after 9-11.   However, it has never been proven that OBL had a connection to 9-11.  He denied that he did.  Our big problem with OBL is that he was a sort of ‘godfather’ for Al Qaeda and served as their emir.  That much I get.

But why kill Taliban in Afghanistan?  There are Taliban all over several "*stans" in that area.  Why do I always get the feeling that we are simply not being told the whole story by our own government?

This thing leaves me feeling dirty and used.  I hate being played for a fool.

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)