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Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan Intelligence Chief


Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan chief of Intelligence
By Arif Salimi

Yesterday we heard the news that the Afghan Chief of Intelligence has been forced to resign by Hamid Karzai. The reason is because he exposed a $500 million drugs deal that Karzai's brother Ahmed Wali Karzai carried out of Bagram airbase, with the approval and involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America.

The rumour is that not only did Karzai want Amrullah Salah gone, but the US government also wanted him to go. And because he has been very effective in combating Al Qaeda and those elements of the Pashtun Taleban that support Al Qaeda, the Pakistani intelligence services, the Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), who use these extremist groups to extend their influence in Afghanistan, also want him gone.

The ISI tried to kill Karzai. When Salah found out that the ISI was behind the 4 assassination attempts on Hamid Karzai, the Pakistani government has denied it. Nevertheless, Salah had evidence and proof of ISI involvement. Ostensibly, Karzai is getting rid of Saleh is because of his failure to prevent the assassination attempts.

Amrullah Saleh is clearly an Afghan Nationalist who has put his life on the line. In interviews with A Jazeera and 60 Minutes he says:

' I have killed many of them with pride. I am a legitimate target for Al Qaeda and the Pakistani ISI.'

Clearly the first and most essential thing an independent coutry need to survive and prosper is an effective Chief of Iintelligence. Without Saleh, the bombs will start to go off in Kabul again. Yesterday may have been the first attack of many more to come. 4 people were killed. More will perish.
The move to remove Saleh is a catastrophic mistake. He is not a de facto anti-American, he is simply a nationalist. He appreciates the help the US has given however, when sections of the US establishment got involved in $500 million drug deals, Saleh drew the line and said No.

He was right to do this. The fact that the US government has managed to get rid of him tells us about the true face of US involvement in Afghanistan.
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