Posts Tagged ‘United States’
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.
Continues >>
Tags:Afghan National Army desertions, Afghanistan, United States
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war | Leave a Comment »
November 24, 2009
Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, Nov 23, 2009
At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, “snatch and grabs” of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help run a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.
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Tags:Blackwater, CIA predator strikes, covert JSOC program, Jeremy Scahill, Pakistan, United States, US military drone bombing campaign
Posted in Pakistan, 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.
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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
by Jacob G. Hornberger, The Future of Freedom Foundation, Nov 18, 2009
Speaking about the Ft. Hood killings, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs stated, “The investigation is ongoing to figure out what would motivate an individual to carry out the type of act that this major carried out.” Of course, it goes without saying that in examining into motive, Gibbs is not justifying what the alleged killer, Major Nidal Hasan, did. (See my article “Motivation vs. Justification.”)
As the investigation into motive progresses, it will be interesting to see the extent to which the U.S. military’s policy on conscientious-objector status played in the Ft. Hood horror.
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Tags:an illegal invasion, conscientious-objector status, Ft. Hood killings, Jacob G. Hornberger, Major Nidal Hasan, U.S. government’s war on Iraq, United States, wars of aggression
Posted in Iraq, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war, war crimes | 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.”
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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
Yesh Prabhu, A Sane Voice For Peace blog, Nov 17, 2009
Those who habitually read newspapers or listen to broadcast news know that President Obama had until now two mantras in his mind. His first mantra: “Our support of Israel to live in security is unshakable”, has been heard around the world, loudly and clearly, dozens of times.
His second mantra: “The bond between Israel and USA is unbreakable”, also has been heard around the world on many occasions. He chanted it even at the Cairo University in Egypt. “America’s strong bonds with Israel are well known. This bond is unbreakable.” These two mantras and some minor variants of the mantras have been chanted just like mantras, repeatedly, by Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Clinton, and Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell every time they found an opportunity to chant them.
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Tags:bond between Israel and USA, Israel, new Israeli settlements, President Obama, United States, Yesh Prabhu
Posted in President Barack Obama, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, Zionist Israel | Leave a Comment »
November 16, 2009
WASHINGTON: The CIA has funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan’s intelligence service since the September 11 attacks, accounting for as much as one-third of the agency’s budget, US officials say.
The Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) also has collected tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA program that pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants, a clandestine counterpart to the rewards publicly offered by the State Department.
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Tags:Al Qaeda, CIA program to pay and reward, Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Pakistan, United States
Posted in Pakistan, Uncategorized, US policy, USA | Leave a Comment »
November 14, 2009
Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz/Israel, Nov 13, 2009
Judge Richard Goldstone told Haaretz Thursday that President Shimon Peres’ remarks criticizing him were “specious and ill-befitting the head of State of Israel.”
Peres was quoted Wednesday as calling Goldstone “a small man, devoid of any sense of justice, a technocrat with no real understanding of jurisprudence,” who was “on a one-sided mission to hurt Israel.”
In Thursday’s interview by e-mail with Haaretz, Goldstone said: “I am content to be judged by my actions over the course of my career both in terms of my professional judicial career and my voluntary service.”
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Tags:Hamas, Israel, Judge Richard Goldstone, Palestinians, United States, violations of human rights
Posted in Commentary, Human rights, Uncategorized, US policy, war, Zionist Israel | Leave a Comment »
November 13, 2009
Bill Van Auken, WSWS.org, Nov. 13, 2009
With the Obama administration on the verge of announcing an escalation that will almost certainly send tens of thousands more troops into the war in Afghanistan, popular opposition to the war continues to grow.
According to a CNN poll released this week, 58 percent of the American people oppose the war. Across the Atlantic, antiwar sentiments in Britain, which has the second largest troop contingent in Afghanistan, is even higher. The latest poll shows just 21 percent supporting the war and 63 percent in favor of withdrawing British troops.
Casualties have risen sharply, with 288 US and 95 British troops having died so far this year. Many more have suffered wounds, resulting in an increasing number of amputations and cases of brain damage.
Continues >>
Tags:airstrikes, anti-war opinion in US and UK, Britain, casualties, Major Nidal Hasan, puppet government of Karzai, troop escalation, United States, war in Afghanistan
Posted in Afghanistan, Commentary, imperialism, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, war | Leave a Comment »
November 12, 2009
It did not take the Israel Lobby long to make mincemeat out of the Obama administration’s “no new settlements” position. Israeli prime minister Netanyahu is bragging about Israel’s latest victory over the US government as Israel continues to build illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
In May President Obama read the Israelis the riot act, telling the Israeli government that he was serious about ending the Israeli conflict with the Palestinians and that a lasting peace agreement required the Israeli government to abandon all construction of new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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Tags:Goldstone report, illegal settlements, Israel, israel Lobby, Obama administration, Paul Craig Roberts, President Obama, United States, US Rep. Dennis Kucinich, war crimes in Gaza
Posted in Commentary, crime, Gaza, President Barack Obama, Uncategorized, US policy, USA, Zionist Israel | Leave a Comment »
US headache over Afghan deserters
November 27, 2009By 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.
Continues >>
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Tags:Afghan National Army desertions, Afghanistan, United States
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