The Karzai government is not an ally of the United States. It is not only foolish to pretend otherwise; it costs American lives and billions of dollars that could have been better spent. Yet no one in Washington is ever held accountable for this fantasy-based policymaking, no matter how disastrous the results. Instead, the same “experts” who are responsible for it keep getting promoted, and keep causing new catastrophes in new situations.
“U.S. complains that Afghanistan releasing dangerous prisoners,” by Shashank Bengali and Hashmat Baktash for the Los Angeles Times, February 11 (thanks to Kenneth):
KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S. military on Tuesday slammed Afghanistan for continuing to order the release of prisoners who the United States believes are dangerous, but who Afghan officials say cannot be prosecuted because authorities lack evidence.
The dispute over the prisoners at the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan, north of Kabul, is the latest spat between the United States and Afghanistan as the U.S.-led military coalition tries to wind down its presence here by the end of the year.
The United States has contended that of 650 prisoners still in custody at Parwan, 88 are a threat to security and should not be released. From that group, Afghanistan has decided to release 65 despite “extensive information and evidence” against them, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
“The release of these detainees is a major step backward for the rule of law in Afghanistan,” the U.S. military said in a statement. “Some previously released individuals have already returned to the fight, and this subsequent release will allow dangerous insurgents back into Afghan cities and villages.”
Afghan officials issued a sharp rebuttal, saying the attorney general’s office and the National Directorate of Security – Afghanistan’s CIA – had reviewed the U.S. information and found insufficient evidence to continue to hold the prisoners.
“According to Afghan laws there is no information gathered about these detainees to prove them guilty, so they were ordered released,” Abdul Shakoor Dadras, head of the Afghan government committee responsible for the prisoner issue, said in an interview Tuesday night.
The dispute comes as Afghan President Hamid Karzai continues to delay signing a security agreement that could provide for several thousand U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to conduct counter-terrorism and training operations. Karzai helped negotiate the terms of the deal, which were endorsed by an assembly of elders he also handpicked, but the Afghan leader has shown signs that he will not formally approve the agreement before the April 5 election to choose his successor.
The U.S. director of national intelligence, James Clapper, told a Senate panel Tuesday that he doesn’t think Karzai will sign the deal, the first such statement from a senior Obama administration official. The administration has not set a deadline for Karzai but has warned that all U.S. troops would depart Afghanistan if a deal isn’t signed quickly.
Good. Then we can hope that he doesn’t sign it.
The prisoner dispute has escalated over the last year since the U.S. military handed control over the detention center at Parwan to Afghan authorities.
Last month, the United States protested Afghanistan’s decision to release some of the 88 detainees, citing evidence that 30% of them had wounded or killed 60 international soldiers and that more had been responsible for Afghan civilian casualties.
The U.S. accused Dadras and his Afghan Review Board of “releasing back to society dangerous insurgents who have Afghan blood on their hands.”
Dadras rejected the claims, saying the United States “must trust and respect the Afghan legal system.”…
Why? On what grounds?

Bill C. says
You reap what you sow.
eib says
What Bill C. said.
Amen indeed.
Salah says
“U.S. complains that Afghanistan releasing dangerous prisoners,”
In Egypt, during the 2011 uprising that toppled the Mubarak regime, the Muslim Brotherhood militias freed thousands of dangerous prisoners and helped them escape. Why didn’t the U.S. complain? because they were Muslim Brotherhood members!!!
Obama is in bed with this Islamic terrorist group. Period.
JessieJames says
First President to repeat the Holy Qur’an tells us the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
“What I was suggesting — you’re absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith…” –in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who jumped in to correct Obama by saying “your Christian faith,” which Obama quickly clarified
mortimer says
While the law can often look strange, this looks bizarre…not right. Afghans are among the most deluded of Muslims with close to 99% favoring strict Sharia…unlike other Muslim countries with much lower percentages favoring Sharia. Obama’s friends are putting many Americans at risk. There’s a lot of taqiyya going on and Obama seems to be tolerating it. ‘Why’ is the question.
The West has to start its own deprogramming of Muslims. The exposing of Islam’s conspiratorial and fabricated roots needs to be undertaken in earnest before jihads destroy the earth.
Bonnie Loranger says
Why Mortimer? Salah gave you the answer. Obama is in bed with the Muslim brotherhood. He is one of them. The Egyptians know that and proclaimed it for the whole world to see. Obama is a communist Muslim and a traitor to this country. In Egypt he would be in jail and not because he is an American but because he is a member of the brotherhood and therefore a terrorist.
eib says
One does not tolerate taqiyyah unless one actually believes it.
duh_swami says
There is only one group of truly stupid people in Afghanistan.
And it’s not the Mahoundians. No one thought it was possible to out stupid Afghan Mahoundians, but Rasool Obama and his henchmen have managed to do it.
Bill Young says
A great deal of the problem is due to the fact that U.S. military officials (and rightly so) will not release information that led to the capture of insurgents due to the fact that our “ally” is so riddled with informants and double-dealing Afghan security and judicial officials. I was working out of Afghanistan recently and have first hand knowledge about this issue as I interfaced with the ANSF and judicial members. Another aspect which is not helpful is the fact that Afghan courts will seldom accept the testimony of Americans or other coalition partners because of course they are “infidels.” This means that unless you get an Afghan to roll over on another Afghan you will have a hard time making a charge stick. How many of you would testify against someone in these circumstances?
In many cases insurgents have been put in detention facilities with the hopes that the back-log of cases would keep them in custody as long as possible. It is a complicated problem as there are genuinely good Afghans who want to fight the insurgents and those who are corrupt. Unfortunately it seems that the corrupt outnumber the good but who knows. It is easy to criticize our government’s efforts and a great deal of criticism is deserved but it is a complicated situation. What we are doing is trying to go against thousands of years of acculturation and have been so arrogant as to believe we can change thought processes in 12 years. That’s not going to happen.
Infi says
Trust the Fake Christian Blunder Miss Chief Hussein Bardak Ossama to complain while he is openly recruiting Jihaddists to the Useless Military and the Whitwash House Stuff Up
poetcomic1 says
Breaks my heart how many brave Americans have died and been mangled for life just to keep in power this vile Karzai drug dealing two faced rat from hell.
gravenimage says
U.S. complains that Afghanistan releasing dangerous prisoners
………………………………
Why should this surprise us? Under Islamic law these dangerous prisoners—Jihadists—have committed no crime. They are, in fact, respected.
More:
“The release of these detainees is a major step backward for the rule of law in Afghanistan,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
………………………………
It’s only a step backward for the rule of *civilized* law. It’s right in line with the rule of Shari’ah law.
More:
Dadras rejected the claims, saying the United States “must trust and respect the Afghan legal system.”…
Why? On what grounds?
………………………………
What grounds indeed? There’s nothing there for civilized people to respect. One of the US’s biggest mistakes was in not recognizing what that line in the Afghan constitution about Islam trumping all other considerations really meant.
That’s leading not only to travesties like this, but the recent law there enabling men to lawfully physically abuse their wives, children, and sisters, and to moves to reinstate the stoning of women.
What did we waste all that blood and treasure for again?