Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’
November 27, 2009
Solomon Hughes
The wheels are coming off the war on terror. Nobody expects the Chilcot Commission to pass judgement, but every day it sits, new details about the lies and incompetence behind the Iraq war dribble out.
Revelations about British involvement in torture in the “rendition” programme are also building. And dismal tales about British troops abusing and killing Iraqis are being told.
Continues >>
Tags:abuse of Iraqis by British troops, Afghanistan, Chilcot inquiry, Iraq, Iraq war, Obama and more troops, people killed, war in Afghanistan
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, crime, Iraq, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war, warmongers | Leave a Comment »
November 27, 2009
The war in Afghanistan may now be beyond the point where any military-centred United States strategy can work.
Barack Obama is after a lengthy period of consultation moving towards the announcement of a revised strategy towards the war in Afghanistan, now scheduled to take place in a live broadcast from the West Point military academy on 1 December 2009. It is highly likely that the United States president will order a substantially increased deployment of troop numbers to Afghanistan, probably over 30,000 if not as high as the upwards of 40,000 requested by the senior US general in the country, Stanley A McChrystal (see “Obama May Add 30,000 Troops in Afghanistan”, New York Times, 24 November 2009).
Continues >>
Tags:Afghanistan, military escalation, military-construction programmes, more troops, Obama administration, Pakistan, Paul Rogers, United States, war in Afghanistan
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, Pakistan, President Barack Obama, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war, warmongers | Leave a Comment »
November 27, 2009
By Gareth Porter, Asia Times, Nov 26, 2009
WASHINGTON – One in every four combat soldiers quit the Afghan National Army (ANA) during the year ending in September, published data by the US Defense Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan reveals.
That high rate of turnover in the ANA, driven by extremely high rates of desertion, spells trouble for the strategy that US President Barack Obama has reportedly decided on, which is said to include the dispatch of thousands of additional US military trainers to rapidly increase the size of the ANA.
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Tags:Afghan National Army desertions, Afghanistan, United States
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war | Leave a Comment »
November 25, 2009
by Stephen Fleischman |The Smirking Chimp, November 23, 2009
We know why there are wars, and we’ve known it for a long time. Good wars, that is, necessary wars, not wars by powerful foreign invaders, wars that might threaten our country.
Everybody knows we’re in the process of old-hat empire building, the kind designed by the British in the salad days of colonialism and for which they eventually took hits around the world by the likes of George Washington and Mahatma Gandhi.
No lessons learned there. President Obama is about to make a momentous decision on Afghanistan. He has been mulling over, for the last few weeks, how many more troops he will be sending to McChrystal, to further his counter-insurgency in that country. Ten thousand? Eighty thousand? Whichever, it’s a process of foregone futility. And everybody knows it. But the mainstream media, heavy with punditry, spends endless hours hashing over every detail. And you don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. The propaganda circle from government handout to media coverage is complete.
Continues >>
Tags:Afghanistan, Ariel Sharon, George W. Bush, Iraq, private contractors, Stephen Fleischman, U.S. aid to Israel, war profits, wars, Zbigniew Brzezinski
Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, President Barack Obama, Uncategorized, USA, war | Leave a Comment »
November 25, 2009
By Robert Naiman, ZNet, Nov 25, 2009
Source: t r u t h o u t
Robert Naiman’s ZSpace Page
Is it just me, or is the pontification of Western leaders about corruption in Afghanistan growing rather tiresome?
There is something very Captain Renault about it. We’re shocked, shocked that the Afghans have sullied our morally immaculate occupation of their country with their dirty corruption. How ungrateful can they be?
But perhaps we should consider the possibility that our occupation of the country is not so morally immaculate – indeed, that the most corrupt racket going in Afghanistan today is the American occupation.
Continues >>
Tags:Afghanistan, American occupation of Afghanistan, corruption, international aid to Afghanistan, Taliban
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, Uncategorized, US policy, USA | 1 Comment »
November 24, 2009
US troops occupy an Afghan village as local children look on
NATO has called on allied nations to send more troops to Afghanistan in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s decision on whether to boost the US occupying forces.
NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen is in the midst of intense talks on getting more troops, equipment and funding for the newly established NATO training mission, spokesman James Appathurai said.
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Tags:Afghanistan, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, more troops to Afghanistan, NATO
Posted in Afghanistan, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war | Leave a Comment »
November 22, 2009
Paddy McGuffin
The US military has allowed journalists into its newly expanded secret detention centre at Bagram air base in Afghanistan this week.
The base has been described by campaigners as Guantanamo Bay’s “more evil twin” and the allegations of torture and murder within its secretive walls continue to this day.
The US claims this is proof of its determination to provide greater transparency and openness in its policy of extraordinary rendition and detention without trial.
The claim was somewhat undermined by the fact that the touring journalists had no access to the hundreds of inmates held at the facility.
Continues >>
Tags:Afghanistan, allegations of torture and murder, Bagram air base, extension of prison, Omar Deghayes, policy of Obama administration, secret detention centre, United States
Posted in Afghanistan, Human rights, torture, Uncategorized, US policy, USA | Leave a Comment »
November 20, 2009
Anatomy of an Afghan Culture of Corruption
By Pratap Chatterjee, ZNet, Nov 20, 2009
Source: TomDispatch
Kabul, Afghanistan — Every morning, dozens of trucks laden with diesel from Turkmenistan lumber out of the northern Afghan border town of Hairaton on a two-day trek across the Hindu Kush down to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Among the dozens of businesses dispatching these trucks are two extremely well connected companies — Ghazanfar and Zahid Walid — that helped to swell the election coffers of President warlord Mohammed Qasim Fahim as well as the family business of his running mate, the country’s new vice president, warlord Mohammed Qasim Fahim.
Continues >>
Tags:Abdul Hasin, Afghanistan, Bob Woodward's book, CIA and Northern Alliance, corruption, Pratap Chatterjee, warlord Mohammed Qasim Fahim
Posted in Afghanistan, Uncategorized, USA | Leave a Comment »
November 19, 2009
By Ajay Prakash, WSWS.org, Nov. 19, 2009
The top US military commander in Afghanistan has warned that India’s growing influence in the country could “exacerbate regional tensions” and encourage “countermeasures” by Pakistan, India’s historic rival in south Asia.
In a confidential report submitted to US President Barack Obama on August 30, General Stanley McChrystal wrote, “Indian political and economic influence is increasing in Afghanistan, including significant development efforts and financial investment. In addition, the current Afghan government is perceived by Islamabad to be pro-Indian. While Indian activities largely benefit the Afghan people, increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani countermeasures in Afghanistan or India.”
Continues >>
Tags:Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal's arning, India and Pakistan accusing each other, Indian influence in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the kashmir problem, United States
Posted in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Uncategorized, USA | Leave a Comment »
November 18, 2009
By Adrian Croft, Reuters, Nov 17, 2009
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday he was confident the alliance would agree to increase substantially the number of troops battling Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
President Barack Obama is weighing several options for boosting U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan as a debate rages in his administration over whether to persist with a counter-insurgency strategy or to narrow it to a counter-terrorism drive against al Qaeda.
“In a few weeks, I expect we will decide, in NATO, on the approach, and troop levels needed, to take our mission forward,” Rasmussen told a meeting in Edinburgh of the NATO parliamentary assembly, which includes lawmakers from around the world.
“I’m confident it will be a counter-insurgency approach, with substantially more forces…,” he said, promising there would soon be a “new momentum” behind the NATO mission.
Continues >>
Tags:Afghanistan, more U.S. troops to Afghnistan, NATO Secretary-General, NATO troops
Posted in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war | Leave a Comment »
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Peace and Justice Post 
Profiteering from the spoils of war
November 27, 2009The wheels are coming off the war on terror. Nobody expects the Chilcot Commission to pass judgement, but every day it sits, new details about the lies and incompetence behind the Iraq war dribble out.
Revelations about British involvement in torture in the “rendition” programme are also building. And dismal tales about British troops abusing and killing Iraqis are being told.
Continues >>
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Tags:abuse of Iraqis by British troops, Afghanistan, Chilcot inquiry, Iraq, Iraq war, Obama and more troops, people killed, war in Afghanistan
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, crime, Iraq, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war, warmongers | Leave a Comment »