Diplomats in Afghanistan expelled 'at behest of US'

This article gives rare insight into what is going on behind the scenes in Afghanistan and who calls the shots to a considerable extent. Don't expect to see this as a CBC headline, even though I see that some in the blogosphere have inhaled so much nitrous oxide that they call it the Communist Broadcasting Corporation!
The article notes that there is a close connection between the CIA and the Afghan NDS (National Directorate of Security) and that it was the US that asked the Karzai govt. to expel the diplomats. With actions like this the US may very well be endangering continued support for their misadventures. Bomber McNeil of the US is still the NATO commander in Afghanistan. Does someone still think that we have an independent mission in Afghanistan? There will be no independent mission as long as Harper and MacKay are around. We might as well have David Dinkins as our spokesperson.

Diplomats expelled 'at behest of the US'
By Eleanor Mayne
Last Updated: 2:05am GMT 30/12/2007



Two European diplomats accused of holding secret talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan were thrown out of the country following a complaint by the US, intelligence officials in Kabul have told The Sunday Telegraph.

Mervyn Patterson, who is British, and Irish-born Michael Semple were flown out of Kabul on Thursday after the Afghan government accused them of "threatening national security".

The pair had been working for the United Nations and the European Union respectively.

But according to a senior Afghan intelligence source, American officials had been unhappy about meetings between the men and high-level Taliban commanders in the volatile Helmand province.

The source claimed that the US alerted Afghan authorities after learning that the diplomats were providing direct financial and other support - including mobile phone cards - to the Taliban commanders, in the hope of persuading them to swap sides.

"This warning came from the Americans," he said. "They were not happy with the support being provided to the Taliban. They gave the information to our intelligence services, who ordered the arrests."

A government source in Kabul said there were close links between Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the US Central Intelligence Agency, adding:

"The Afghan government would never have acted alone to expel officials of such a senior level. This was information that was given to the NDS by the Americans.

" These claims will reinforce perceptions of a rift between the US and its international partners in Afghanistan, including Britain.

Last year, US commanders expressed frustration with the British decision to withdraw from Musa Qala and allow tribal elders to strike a deal with the Taliban, who quickly reoccupied the town.

The American embassy has strongly denied any involvement in the incident involving the two diplomats, saying it had "no knowledge" of their activities.

Afghan officials, speaking anonymously, have accused the men of giving support to the Taliban in the form of money, food and phone cards for 10 months.