Posted on 11/25/2010 9:56:33 PM PST by Cardhu
US officials have blamed Britain for an embarrassing fiasco in which an impostor met Afghan and Nato officials before it was discovered he was not the Taliban leader they thought he was, according to sources familiar with the incident.
It was revealed this week that the man – understood to be a shopkeeper from the Pakistani city of Quetta – was masquerading as Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the second highest-ranking official in the Taliban. He attended three meetings in Kabul.
The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd reported today that people familiar with the con – as she described it – said "the British spent a year developing the fake Taliban leader as a source".
She added that General David Petraeus, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, reportedly was "buying into it".
Officials who insisted on remaining anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter confirmed that Britain was being held responsible for the episode. There was said to be "some truth" in the US reports.
The impostor is understood to have been paid a large sum in the hope that he would remain in the talks.
Curiously, since Mansour was a high-profile Taliban leader, foreign and Afghan officials only came to suspect anything when an Afghan negotiator who had met Mansour said he did not recognise the man at the talks.
Separately, General Sir David Richards, the head of Britain's armed forces, has said in an article that former warlords and their private militias have a "positive role" to play in Afghanistan's future.
"Many Afghan warlords have transformed themselves into businessmen, and many of them are well connected in the political world," he said.
"Curbing the excesses of these powerbrokers is essential..."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Why is America “blaming” any other country? First, we should have done our own due diligence. Second, what possible good can it do for our relationships with our allies to be passing the buck to them?
But this administration thinks it’s more important to NOT get blamed for stupidity, than to nurture our relationships.
This administration never admits to any mistake. It is a pack of community organizers - everything bad is someone else’s fault.
These guys are plain and simple capitalists. No wonder the Afghans and Pakistanis despised the Soviets.
Capitalists? (snort)
Only in the sense that Vito Corleone and Tony Soprano were capitalists.
Taliban, they all look the same....
[Only in the sense that Vito Corleone and Tony Soprano were capitalists.]
Afghanistan isn’t Brooklyn or Newark.
It kinda reminds me of Detroit...
How many countries are pointing their fingers at our counterfeit POTUS?
(crickets chirping)
I do have to give Britain some respect as yes they are challenging the authenticity of Obama.
Typical Obama. He won’t be responsible for anything that happens that is bad for his agenda - even then it’s bush’s fault.
Guardian quoting Dowd as the source? Give me DEBKA anytime.
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