Afghanistan - the war without end (within a war without end) . . .

Well before my pastor at the Community of St Martin became pastor there he had written a book in 1989 ‐ War Against the Poor:  Low-Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith ‐ which, again, was well before the 1991 - 1992 “One World Superpower” formulations of The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) members - Dick Cheney (then U. S. Secretary of War [euphemistically, Defense throughout), Paul Wolfowitz (then Principal Deputy Under Secretary of War for Policy), and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (then Principal Deputy Under Secretary of War for Strategy and Resources) - in the War Department's War Planning Guidance (leaked to the New York Times in March, 1992 [see this link as well as the PNAC link above for further background]).

This history is insightful in relation to these two outtakes from the 2009 film “The International” (ostensibly about the International Bank of Credit and Commerce [IBCC]):

Off the record interview with Umberto Calvini, head of Calvini Defense Systems ‐ just before his assassination . . .

Eleanor Whitman (New York District Attorneys Office):  Mr. Calvini, we'd like to know why the IBCC, a bank, would be purchasing millions of dollars worth of missile guidance and control systems from your company

Calvini:  The IBCC has purchased billions of dollars worth of Silkworm missiles from the People's Republic of China which they have pre‐sold to clients in the Middle East contingent upon the missiles being equipped with VOLCON guidance systems.  My company's one of only two in the world which produce the VOLCON . . . .

Whitman:  But why is the bank committing so much capital and resources to the sale of these missiles?

Calvini:  It's a test.  Small arms are the only weapons used in 99 percent of the world's conflicts and no one has the capacity to manufacture them faster and cheaper than China.  What Skarssen [head of IBCC] is attempting to do is to make the IBCC the exclusive broker of Chinese small arms to the Third World.  And the missile deal is the gateway transaction.

Louis Salinger (Interpol agent):  Yeah, but billions of dollars invested simply to be a broker?  There can't be much profit for them.

Calvini:  No.  This is not about making profit from weapons sales.  It's about control.

Whitman:  Control the flow of weapons, control the conflict.

Calvini:  No.  No, no.  The IBCC is a bank.  Their objective isn't to control the conflict.  It's to control the debt that the conflict produces.  You see, the real value of a conflict . . . the true value . . . is in the debt that it creates.  You control the debt.  You control everything.  You find this upsetting, yes?  But this is the very essence of the banking industry . . . to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals . . . slaves to debt.

Interpol agent Louis Salinger's interview (Eleanor Whitman secretly listening in) with Wilhelm Wexler (IBCC Security Chief [and former Russian Stasi Colonel and Communist hardliner]):

Louis Salinger:  Skarssen [head of IBCC] and that bank [IBCC] need to answer for what they've done.  They have to be brought to justice.  You can help me do that.

Colonel Wexler:  Justice . . . is not possible.

Salinger:  Why not?

Wexler:  Because, Agent Salinger . . . your idea of justice is an illusion.  Understand the very system that you serve and protect . . . will never allow anything to happen to Skarssen or the bank.  On the contrary.  The system guarantees the IBCC's safety . . . because everyone is involved.

Salinger:  What do you mean, “everyone”?

Wexler:  Hezbollah.  CIA.  The Columbian drug cartels.  Russian organized crime.  Governments of Iran, Germany, China, your government.  Every multinational corporation, every one.  They all need banks like the IBCC . . . so that they can operate within the black and gray latitudes.  And this is why your investigative efforts . . . have either been ignored or undermined . . . and why you and I will be quietly disposed of . . . before any case against the bank ever reaches a court of law.

United States participation in the war in Afghanistan began at 9:00 PM (local time) on Sunday, October 7, 2001 (for a timeline of the "modern" wars in Afghanistan see this link [scrollable]).

I would also suggest that you read this insightful article from a little over a dozen years ago - “Afghanistan:  The War Without End” (within a war without end).

As always, ENJOY!