"In the last few days, we've got allegations of murder against two men who worked in counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, Whiskey Pete Hegseth and Rahmanullah Lakanwal. We don't get know why Lakanwal drove from Bellingham, WA, across the country, to allegedly ambush two members of the West Virginia National Guard, Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe. Spencer Ackerman noted that if Lakanwal came to the US committed to terrorism, he learned that commitment - and a great deal of military skills - from Americans."
"[T]he most sobering fact about Wednesday's slayings is that the alleged killer, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was all too compatible with Western Civilization. CIA Director John Ratcliffe issued an extraordinary statement revealing that the 29-year-old Lakanwal was a "member of a partner force in Kandahar." While a knowledgeable source with deep experience in Afghanistan cautions that the US sponsored a variety of proxy forces in southern Afghanistan, much additional reporting has identified Lakanwal as a member of the Zero Units, death squads used by the CIA."
"In other words, contrary to Miller and Trump, Lakanwal's shooting spree is not the result of importing Afghan culture to America. While much will surely be revealed in Lakanwal's upcoming trial, it looks more like the result of importing American culture to Afghanistan. The realities of blowback - the violence America experiences as the unintended consequences of the violence of US foreign policy - are what the US needs to examine in the wake of this horrifying murder."
Two men who worked in Afghan counterinsurgency face murder allegations. Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly drove from Bellingham, Washington, across the country to ambush two West Virginia National Guard members, Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe. If Lakanwal came to the United States committed to terrorism, he likely learned that commitment and significant military skills from Americans. CIA Director John Ratcliffe stated Lakanwal was "a member of a partner force in Kandahar," and reporting has identified him with the Zero Units, death squads used by the CIA. The case illustrates blowback from U.S. proxy warfare and suggests the United States must examine unintended consequences of its foreign policy to prevent future violence.
Read at emptywheel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]