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Published on Monday, January 12, 2009
by
TomDispatch.com
The Afghan Scam
The first of
20,000 to 30,000 additional U.S. troops are
scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan next month to
re-win the war George W. Bush neglected to finish in
his eagerness to start another one. However, "winning"
the military campaign against the Taliban is the
lesser half of the story........... more
How many Canadians will die for nothing in
Afghanistan?
By Peter G. Prontzos
It is hard to write when one is upset, and I was very distressed to hear
on December 5 that three more young Canadians were killed in Afghanistan.
The terrible news also made me angry.
The 101 Canadians who have been killed in Afghanistan believed they were
serving our country, and for that they deserve our respect and gratitude. We
must not forget or trivialize their ultimate sacrifice.
But there is an awful truth that we tend to avoid, a truth that must be
proclaimed if we are to end the killing on all sides of this bloody
conflict. The truth is that those 101 brave Canadians died for nothing.
Their lives were stolen from them, and from their loving families and
friends, because of a lie. Too many young children will never see their
fathers again, because of a lie. More accurately, they died for a series of
lies. .....more
Published on Friday, December 12, 2008 by
the McClatchy Newspapers
As Possible Afghan War-Crimes Evidence Removed, US
Silent
DASHT-E LEILI, Afghanistan - Seven years
ago, a convoy of container trucks rumbled across northern
Afghanistan loaded with a human cargo of suspected Taliban and
al Qaida members who'd surrendered to Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum,
an Afghan warlord and a key U.S. ally in ousting the Taliban
regime.
When the trucks arrived at a prison in
the town of Sheberghan, near Dostum's headquarters, they were
filled with corpses. Most of the prisoners had suffocated, and
others had been killed by bullets that Dostum's militiamen had
fired into the metal containers.
Dostum's men hauled the bodies into the nearby desert and
buried them in mass graves, according to Afghan human rights officials. By
some estimates, 2,000 men were buried there..........more.
KABUL - October 17 - Earlier this week, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates
spoke about the need for a greater commitment of troops and money from NATO
countries involved in Afghanistan. He described NATO's operations in
Afghanistan as being 'hamstrung' by national differences over troop numbers
and budgets. Gates' statements favour a troop surge in Afghanistan, similar
to the one in Iraq. The Realnews spoke with Anand Gopal, a journalist for
Inter Press Services (IPS) who is stationed in Kabul. Gopal states that the
recent rise in violence is not impacted by the number of NATO troops.
Increasing levels of insurgency are due to a weak central government,
perceived by the public as being corrupt, and the high numbers of civilian
casualities. Gopal argues the number of NATO troops would contribute less to
the stabilization of the situation. Instead, reconstruction and
reconciliation should be NATO's priority.
After seven years, the US is 'realizing the war is not going their way,'
Gopal notes. He concludes the Afghanistan needs less boots on the ground and
an increased emphasis on reconstruction..........Continue
Published on Thursday, October 9, 2008 by
Inter Press Service
Afghan Peace Talks Widen US-UK Rift on War Policy
WASHINGTON - The beginning of political talks between the Afghan government
and the Taliban revealed by press accounts this week is likely to deepen the
rift that has just erupted in public between the United States and its British
ally over the U.S. commitment to an escalation of the war in Afghanistan.
According to a French diplomatic cable that leaked to a French magazine
last week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government is looking for an exit
strategy from Afghanistan rather than an endless war, and it sees a U.S.
escalation of the war as an alternative to a political settlement rather than
as supporting such an outcome.
The first meetings between the two sides were held in Saudi Arabia in the
presence of Saudi King Abdullah Sep. 24 to 27, as reported by CNN's Nic
Robertson from London Tuesday. Eleven Taliban delegates, two Afghan government
officials and a representative of independent former mujahideen commander
Gulfadin Hekmatyar participated in the meetings, according to
Robertson........Continue
WASHINGTON - September 16 - Following the release of civilian casualty
figures by the United Nations today, Campaign for Innocent Victims in
Conflict (CIVIC) expressed sympathy for the families with loved ones killed
and called on all warring parties to provide swift, consistent, coordinated
amends for that harm......... Continue
America's Iraq adventure led it into a moral vacuum. Will the error be
repeated in the renewed US Afghan campaign?
The Iraq war has been replaced by the declining economy as the most
important issue in
America's presidential election campaign, in part because Americans
have come to believe that the tide has turned in Iraq: the troop "surge"
has supposedly cowed the insurgents, bringing a decline in violence. The
implications are clear: a show of power wins the day.
It is precisely this kind of macho reasoning that led America to
war in Iraq in the first place. The war was meant to demonstrate the
strategic power of military might. Instead, the war showed its
limitations. Moreover, the war undermined America's real source of power
-- its moral authority................ Continue
Published on Friday, September 12, 2008 by
The Guardian/UK
A secret order issued by George Bush giving US special forces
carte blanche to mount counter-terrorist operations inside
Pakistani territory raised fears last night that escalating
conflict was spreading from Afghanistan to Pakistan and could
ignite a region-wide war......... Continue
Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008
Defence Minister Peter MacKay promised his counterparts from across the
Western Hemisphere on Wednesday that Canada will play a leading role in
protecting the Americas with beefed-up funding and modernized equipment....Continue
NEW YORK - September 8 - Civilian deaths in Afghanistan from US and NATO
airstrikes nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007, with recent deadly airstrikes
exacerbating the problem and fuelling a public backlash, Human Rights Watch
said in a new report released today. The report also condemns the Taliban's
use of "human shields" in violation of the laws of war. ..... Continue
The Canada-Israel "Public Security"
Agreement Ottawa & Tel Aviv collaborate in counter-terrorism & Homeland
security..........Continue
This next article demonstrates the character of our
new Public Security Partners.
Martial Law by Andrew G. Marshall
information every Canadian should know.....Continue
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