Bombing at CIA base exposes weakness of U.S. occupation

By John Catalinotto

Jan 7, 2010

A bomb explosion in a Central Intelligence Agency camp in Khost Province of Afghanistan on Dec. 30 resulted in the deaths of seven experienced operatives, including the base commander. The attack struck a heavy blow against the U.S.-led occupation. It has changed the ground rules for the U.S. spy organization and evoked threats from U.S. President Barack Obama and CIA head Leon Panetta.

Despite the CIA and military posturing and threats of revenge, the successful bomb strike at an important U.S. base underlines the basic weaknesses of U.S. imperialism in carrying out the latest war escalation and unpopular occupation of Afghanistan.

Afghans in Kabul protest U.S. military attacks.

On a tactical level, the CIA camp bombing meant the loss of operatives who had knowledge of local customs and languages and decades of experience in Afghanistan. Strategically, it means the U.S. and NATO occupation forces will more than ever treat every Afghan as an enemy. That will bury any possibility of the U.S. “winning hearts and minds” of one part of Afghan society in its attempt to divide and conquer Afghanistan.

“‘Those killed included experienced front-line officers, and their knowledge and expertise will be sorely missed,’ said Henry A. Crumpton, who led the CIA campaign in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002.” (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 2)

CIA won’t know ‘who to trust’

A Jan. 2 Reuters report described the other part of the loss, quoting a former CIA officer: “This is a huge blow to the agency. It’s a close-knit group. They’re not going to know who to trust now.”

U.S. officials and the corporate media often distort the truth, and more so in a war situation. Nevertheless, reports in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post — which involve interviews with current and former CIA officials — indicate that something like the following may have occurred:

The personnel at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province had been focusing on two main tasks: finding targets for the unpiloted “drones” to launch rockets against and investigating that part of the Afghan resistance known as the “Haqqani network,” so that U.S. Special Forces or mercenary “contractors” could hunt them down and kill their members and leaders. FOB Chapman used informants both in Afghanistan and in nearby Pakistan.

Like al-Qaida, the Haqqani network was a U.S. ally in the battle against the Soviet Union, when the Soviet Army was assisting the progressive Afghan government from 1979 to 1989. Now, however, the Haqqani network is a Taliban ally. Using information provided by FOB Chapman, both drones and ground forces killed some of the Haqqani leaders throughout 2009.

The Dec. 30 bombing attack was by someone the CIA operatives knew, someone who was considered an Afghan informant or potential informant. He was able to get through base security and enter a room where at least 13 CIA or “contractors,” that is, mercenaries, were present, having come to hear the informant’s report. When the bomb exploded, the Afghan died along with seven CIA operatives. Six others were wounded.

Resistance forces in Afghanistan and in Pakistan — which the corporate media describe as the Afghan and the Pakistan Taliban, respectively — have claimed credit for the attack. The Afghans see the bombing as a strong blow against U.S. forces. These resistance statements also identify the person who did the bombing as a “double agent.”

The CIA has not revealed the names of those who died. Leaks have provided information that they include, besides CIA officials, a former Navy Seal who was a “contractor” and a former Army reserve major.

Role of ‘contractors’

The CIA has not named the corporation providing the mercenaries. On Dec. 15, however, the Afghan resistance hit a USAID base in Gardez, the capital of Paktia Province in the southeast, killing security staff and a guard working for Development Alternatives Inc. DAI is the major supplier of mercenary forces to the occupation.

According to a report by North American lawyer and investigative writer Eva Golinger, now in Venezuela, DAI is active throughout Latin America. One of their employees is the captured U.S. agent in Cuba who was handing out illegal materials to anti-revolutionary groups. DAI has a $40 million contract to administer the “Cuba Democracy and Contingency Planning Program.”

DAI is running a similar program for USAID in Venezuela. USAID has also been expelled from two cities in Bolivia, accused of intervening. According to Golinger, “A high-level USAID official confirmed two weeks ago that the CIA uses USAID’s name to issue contracts and funding to third parties in order to provide cover for clandestine operations.” (chavezcode.com)

Washington’s dependence on mercenaries to fight its colonial wars is another sign of weakness. Not only the Pentagon — which has a problem recruiting a mass army needed for an occupation — but the CIA and USAID must also hire soldiers of fortune. Resistance fighters, on the other hand, are ready to blow themselves up in order to free their country from foreign occupation and domination.