This article published in ProPublica, describes in detail the crimes of the feared Zero Units, squadrons of US-trained Afghan special forces soldiers who committed countless crimes with zero accountability. The article mentions that at least 452 civilians were killed in night raids conducted by the Zero Units over a four year period.
These Zero Units were funded, trained and armed by the CIA to go after targets believed to be a threat to the US. But these Afghan soldiers weren’t traveling alone on their murderous raids; US special operations forces soldiers working alongside the CIA often joined them. It was a “classified” war, with lines of accountability so obscured that no one had to answer publicly for operations that went wrong. And as the article illustrates, almost all of these operations went wrong.
It’s important to remember that the forever wars that the US was engaged in for the past 20 years didn’t just end. America’s war in Afghanistan is already being relegated to ancient history, pushed from the global consciousness by humanity’s latest round of inhumanity. But there are certainly lessons to be learned from the West’s failures in Afghanistan.
One US Army Ranger is quoted in the article summarizing the failures of these operations, saying, “You go on night raids, make more enemies, then you gotta go on more night raids for the more enemies you now have to kill.” A true cycle of unending violence and destruction.
Side Items
Black and Blue: Y’all remember that dress that went viral a few years back? The one that people argued over what color it was; black and blue or white and gold. People really leaned into that whole charade, kinda strange looking back. Anyway, the man who found fame as a result of the dress debate has appeared in court this week, charged with the attempted murder of his wife. Keir Johnston, 38, from the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland, is alleged to have conducted an almost 11-year campaign of serious domestic violence and coercive control which resulted in him attempting to kill his wife. A shocking twist to a story we all thought was over
Sriracha Inflation: The shortage of Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha, the delectable red hot sauce packaged in the iconic green-capped bottles, is nothing new. The company has blamed it on the scarcity of chile pepper supply for several years now. Huy Fong Sriracha, which used to sell for under $5 or $10 a bottle, is now selling for shocking amounts in some listings posted to third-party sites, including Amazon, eBay and Walmart. For those still in stock, prices range depending on where you look. This week, ads for a single 17-ounce bottle on eBay stretched from around $20 to a whopping $150, contrasting significantly with the price tags of other hot sauce brands. My advice, invest in Valentina’s