Jul 02 13:04

When Torture Kills: Ten Murders In US Prisons In Afghanistan


Jul 02 03:09

U.S. Launches South Afghan Offensive


Jul 01 17:27

Refusing to Comply: US Soldiers' Tactics of Resistance

Refusing to Comply: The Tactics of Resistance
in an All-Volunteer Military
Dahr Jamail, July 1, 2009
On May 1st at Fort Hood in central Texas, Specialist Victor Agosto wrote on a counseling statement, which is actually a punitive U.S. Army memo: "There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan. The occupation is immoral and unjust. It does not make the American people any safer. It has the opposite effect."
"If we want soldiers to choose the right but difficult path, they must know beyond any shadow of a doubt that they will be supported by Americans." So said First Lieutenant Ehren Watada of the U.S. Army, the highest ranking enlisted soldier to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq.

Jul 01 16:09

U.S. Marines Launch Major Operation in Afghanistan

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 1, 2009; 5:32 PM

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan, July 2 -- Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military's new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Jul 01 12:35

U.S.-built bridge is windfall ? for illegal Afghan drug trade

In August 2007, the presidents of Afghanistan and Tajikistan walked side by side with the U.S. commerce secretary across a new $37 million concrete bridge that the Army Corps of Engineers designed to link two of Central Asia's poorest countries.

Today, the bridge across the muddy waters of the Panj River is carrying much more than vegetables and timber: It's paved the way for drug traffickers to transport larger loads of Afghan heroin and opium to Central Asia and beyond to Russia and Western Europe.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This is a repeat of Vietnam as well. Money allocated to support drug interdiction was used to construct a highway into the heart of the Golden Triangle, right up to Kuhn Sa's heroin factory. Whereas it had taken Kuhn Sa a week to caravan his heroin to the waiting Air America planes, the highway, funded with US tax dollars, allowed the journey to be made in just a few hours.

Jul 01 08:45

Opium crop haul just a hill of beans, admits MoD


"They are definitely poppy seeds," he said emphatically.


Jun 28 10:42

U.S. announces revamp of Afghan drug policy

The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, told The Associated Press that eradication programs weren't working and were only driving farmers into the hands of the Taliban.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Ummm, Dick? The Taliban execute drug farmers. That is why prior to the US invasion, the opium trade had all but been wiped out in Afghanistan.

And if fighting opium is your goal, WHY ARE US SOLDIERS GUARDING THE POPPY FIELDS!

Jun 28 05:35

Pentagon 'rewrites' airstrike atrocity


The report reasserted the previous claim by the US command that only about 26 civilians had been killed in the US bombing on that day, despite well-documented reports by the government and by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission that between 97 and 147 people were killed.

Jun 27 09:34

US Announces Shift In Afghanistan Drug Policy


Webmaster's Commentary: 

Apparently, those making the huge profits from those opium poppies in Afghanistan have made their voices heard in the halls of power in various world capitals.

That's why we will never see decriminalization of drugs in this country: that would kill the profit from the sale of illegal drugs.

Jun 26 09:36

General: Troops needed as Afghan elections near

Despite the thousands of U.S. troops headed to southern Afghanistan this summer, a NATO commander said Thursday they'll fall short of the numbers historically needed to defeat insurgents.

Maj. Gen. Mart de Kruif said the influx of troops will let coalition forces pressure parts of the Taliban-infested region where extremists have not yet been pursued. That, in part, will spur more violence over the next few months, he said.

U.S. Gen. David Petraeus and other military experts say counterinsurgency warfare usually requires a mix of force that is 80 percent political and 20 percent military.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Toward the end of this year, we will have a total military compliment of 68,000 troops on the ground, just barely over 10% of the amount of troops the Soviet Union had here before they left in defeat and that was a military force of 500,000

The magical thinking, demonstrated in the military planning - if one can call the US campaign in Afghanistan "planned" - is inconceivably ignorant of the history of this region, the history of warfare, and is therefore doomed to fail spectacularly.

Ignorance and stupidity should be painful. The US military should have learned from the Viet Nam War that you cannot win what is essentially a ground war from the air, but apparently, the Pentagon leadership is collectively suffering from a full-on case of selective memory on this issue.

Jun 24 21:00

Bagram, the new Guantánamo

President Obama told us that this sort of thing has stopped. Well, it hasn't.

Jun 24 08:13

Mossad-Taliban whistleblower killed in Pakistan


Jun 22 22:04

US Remote viewing, drone bombing, civilian victims

Iraq, Afghanistan wars coordinated from afar
by Staff Writers
Tampa, Florida (AFP) June 19, 2009
In a windowless room at the sprawling MacDill Air Force Base, home to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), several dozen officers monitor developments across the Middle East, the Gulf and Central Asia 24 hours a day.
Despite all the high-level coordination, there are sometimes mistakes -- mistakes that often prove costly in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the US air strikes are deeply unpopular.
US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have their own command posts and operations centers, but personnel at Creech Air Force Base near Las Vegas, in the western US state of Nevada, maneuver the pilotless Predator and Reaper drones that fly over Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Jun 22 08:36

FLASHBACK - Women used in huge voter fraud in Afghanistan

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Do you remember the corporate media making as big a deal about Iraq's admitted vote fraud as they are about the mere suspicion of vote fraud in Iran??

Jun 21 22:34

What Bush Told Blair Could End the Wars


Jun 21 09:17

After Deadly Attacks, No Finding of Blame

A military investigation into American air strikes in western Afghanistan on May 4 that killed dozens of Afghan civilians calls for additional training of United States air crews and ground forces. But the inquiry does not hold any military personnel culpable for failing to follow strict rules devised to avoid civilian casualties.

Jun 21 08:49

Intruder military plane awaits permission to leave India

The Indian Air Force forced an An-124 plane, en route from the U.S. military base in Diego Garcia to Afghanistan's Kandahar, to land on suspicions that it was a military plane flying on a civilian flight code. It landed at Mumbai airport at 10:40 p.m. local time (17:10 GMT) on Friday, according to an airport source.

Jun 21 06:54

Third U.S. Soldier Killed in Afghanistan In Single Day

I count 5 dead total yesterday counting the rocket attack on Bagram.

Jun 21 06:46

Bagram Air Base Attack Kills Two U.S. Soldiers

Jun 19 08:47

Letters Mullen: Unlikely Anyone Will Face Disciplinary Action Over Farah Killings

Admiral Michael Mullen says that while “there are additional changes we’re clearly going to have to make” in the wake of the massive civilian toll in last month’s air strikes in Afghanistan’s Farah Province, he does not expect anyone will face disciplinary action over the killings.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

There will be no disciplinary charges, because this same kind of carnage will continue to happen, at an even more furious pace.


The military can't think of anything else to do, because they have no where near enough boots on the ground to pacify Afghanistan, nor will they, without the possible reinstitution of a draft in the US.

And right now, I wouldn't bet against that under Obama's watch.

The military and civilian leadership of this country has never intelligently integrated the major lesson of the Viet Nam war, which was that it is impossible to win what is a essentially a ground war from the air.

Jun 18 18:37

US military debates release of Afghan air strike probe

The release of a Pentagon investigation into deadly US air strikes in Afghanistan has been delayed amid an internal debate about what details of the report should be revealed, US officials said on Thursday.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Translation: we are unlikely to ever see any details of these airstrikes revealed.

Were I a betting person, I would bet that we will see an increase in these kinds of strikes, with ever more collateral damage (i.e., the destruction of the lives of innocent civilians), because the Pentagon doesn't know what else to do.

The US is essentially trying to win what is a ground war from the air. We tried that tactic in Viet Nam; it didn't work then either.

One would think that the US civilian and military leadership would have learned that lesson, but apparently not.

Unfortunately, that doesn't augur well for the US military campaign in Afghanistan.

Jun 18 10:17

Video: Rethink Afghanistan - Civilian Casualties


Jun 18 08:29

Civilian Casualties Could End Airstrike Support

Rising anger over Afghan civilians accidentally killed in U.S. military bombing campaigns has prompted some U.S. officers to issue a stark warning to troops involved in airstrikes: If grave mistakes persist, they could lose armed air support—considered by most soldiers and marines to be an invaluable tool during battle. "Maybe they're just saying that to us as a scare tactic," says one U.S. military officer in Afghanistan. "But they are really serious about cutting these deaths."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

If this statement was made for Afghan civilian consumption, it won't work... because Afghans have the horse-sense to know it can't work.

Air strikes are the blunt instrument in this war, and there is no way to separate civilian from insurgent when the bombs are targeted and launched.

There was a war a while back in American history, the Viet Nam war. It was there that civilian and military strategists should have learned that you cannot win what is absolutely a ground war from the air.

Apparently, that lesson has been stricken from all military and historical textbooks that are required reading for military leadership these days.

So, the bombing will continue; the civilian deaths will continue; the documentation of the carnage will continue; and we will continue to lose this war, because you cannot win a ground war from the air.

Jun 16 20:30

House passes $106 billion war funding bill

House passes $106 billion war funding bill

Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 38 mins ago

WASHINGTON – War-funding legislation survived a fierce partisan battle in the House on Tuesday, a major step in providing commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan the money they would need for military operations in the coming months.

The $106 billion measure, in addition to about $80 billion for military operations, provides for an array of other spending priorities, including $7.7 billion to respond to the flu pandemic and more than $10 billion in development and security aid for Pakistan and Iraq as well as countries such as Mexico and the nation of Georgia.

Jun 15 07:57

Obama Looses the Manhunters, Charisma and the Imperial Presidency




Jun 15 07:35

NATO's new U.S. commander in Afghanistan vows to ensure security, development

The newly appointed commander of the U.S. and NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan General Stanley A. McChrystal has vowed to accelerate security and development in the war-torn country, a statement of the alliance released here Monday said.

The general, according to the statement, has noted that, "the measure of effectiveness will not be (the number of) enemy killed, it will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to General Stanley A. McChrystal: just how, sir, do you intend to accomplish this?!?

More no-bid reconstruction projects, like those in Iraq which (if they were ever built at all) fell apart at the seams when you sneezed at them?

With a government in Kabul so crooked and transparently corrupt that the Afghans believe government members screw their socks on in the morning?

With a total troop strength of only 70,000 military personnel in Afghanistan (plus the hired mercenaries), when the old Soviet Union couldn't pacify this country with 500,000 pairs of boots on the ground?

Without basic aid services, food and shelter, going to the poorest of the poor?

General, if this is the best we can do to protect Afghans from violence, we'd better leave, right the heck now.

Of course, the issue has never been that of the safety of Afghan citizens; it has been to get the country stable enough to lay the pipelines the large oil companies want to have in place in Afghanistan.

To say otherwise is intellectually dishonest in the extreme, sir, and a gross insult to the American people who ultimately pay your salary.

And for American taxpayers with a brain, the logical conclusion here is that the only people "winning" in Afghanistan right now are the arms dealers and the drug dealers.

That is completely unacceptable!

Jun 15 07:21

Film maker sets up web site to get around media censorship on Afghanistan.

The site, started by filmmaker Robert Greewald, contains a blog, video clips, articles etc. on the war in Afghanistan and the effects on the civilian population. Some of the video clips are part of a full length documentary, presently a work in progress.

Jun 14 10:18

British troops at mercy of Taliban surge

British troops fighting the Taliban are facing three times as many attacks as any other Nato force in Afghanistan amid spiralling violence across the country which has seen insurgent bombings and shootings rise by 73 per cent.

The details of the ferocity of the conflict emerged as Nato ministers meeting in the Netherlands acknowledged that the tide must be turned in the conflict. The US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stressed the urgent need to "shift the momentum", saying "the patience of the American people and Congress would wear pretty thin... if in a year or so it appears we are in a stalemate and we're taking even more casualties"

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to SecDef Gates: regarding that statement about '.... "the patience of the American people and Congress would wear pretty thin... if in a year or so it appears we are in a stalemate and we're taking even more casualties": We the People have absolutely zero patience for continuing these wars without end, period, end of discussion!

Thinking Americans know that the only "winners" in this war are the weapons makers and the drug dealers. They are certainly not the Afghan people, with all the devastation and carnage we have heaped upon them.

And for people in Congress and the Pentagon, the entire Afghan population is simply "collateral damage", to be "neutralized" by any means necessary in order to make the place stable enough to install the pipelines the oil companies want to install here.

Sec Def Gates, you know, with absolute certainty, that we don't have any where near enough boots on the ground to successfully occupy Afghanistan, not even with all the contract mercenaries we have under contract.

We can't get more forces from NATO, because, at least to some degree, NATO countries' leadership listens to their people, and their people think that this war is insane.

The only way to possibly come up with a troop strength to begin to pacify Afghanistan would be for President Obama to re-institute the draft.

And frankly, at this point in time, I almost wouldn't bet against that possibility.

Jun 14 10:00

Afghanistan: Northern Supply Lines Under Attack


Predictably those new supply lines are now coming under attack.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

It is obvious that there were absolutely no adults in the room when the campaign to attack and occupy Afghanistan was concocted.

Magical thinking, coupled with a complete ignorance of the Afghan people and their history, created a quagmire from which the US cannot possibly emerge "victorious", from a military perspective.

The old Soviet Union was unable to do this with 500,000 pairs of boots and the ground: the total US and NATO military strength is only a fraction of that.

Jun 14 08:51

Afghan villagers slain as they took cover

Tears streaming down her face, the Afghan woman sat in a corner of a room with no roof and broken windows, mourning 19 of her closest and dearest relatives. “They were parts of my heart,” she said.

Six weeks after American warplanes bombed her village in Farah province, on Afghanistan’s remote western border, mistakenly killing dozens of innocent women and children, the terror of the moment when the bombs fell and the ground erupted, turning one mud-walled house after another into rubble, still lives in her mind.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This fallout from the continuous indiscriminate killing civilians is going to further poison the minds of Afghans against the US and NATO, and make the Taliban almost look like the good guys.

This is the absolute opposite outcome from what the US and NATO have declared they want to happen.

The answer here is not, nor has it ever been a "military victory". The old Soviet Union tried to pacify this country with 500,000 pairs of boots on the ground, and failed utterly.The total troop strength of the US and NATO is far smaller than that, even with Obama's much-vaunted "surge".

What the Afghan people need is hope, a responsible government which provides for them to some degree, infrastructure, reconstruction, and aid which actually helps the people for which it was intended.

But unless and until the US and NATO can actually come up to the plate on these issues, the military campaign is, for all intents and purposes, doomed.

Jun 13 09:46

* Home * About * Donate * Blog * US Casualties * Contact * Latest News * Letters As Gates Promises to Reduce Afghan Civilian Toll, NATO Kills More

During fighting in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province NATO forces fired artillery at civilians, killing two and wounding five others. NATO declined to provide further details about the killings, but said it was investigating the matter.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Unflipping believable.

How long do the knuckleheads in Washington think that Karzai can keep a lid on the natural tendency of people to want to retaliate against those forces which are killing their kids, brothers, wives, and grandfathers?

Tyrants and their enablers are only tolerated for just so long in human history; then, something snaps.

Ask the people of Romania about that: they have a very clear understanding of how that worked when their dictator Chauchescu was killed by a furious populace.

Jun 13 06:09

The Obama Enigma: Imperial Interventionism and Militarism

Those who thought that the election of Barack Obama as American President would mean a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy should have lost their illusions by now. Faces change but the system remains. When you want change, it's necessary to look beyond a single individual and evaluate the team he is working with ...or for. And the Obama team is what can be called a soft neoconservative team, all devoted to maintaining the military-industrial complex, [] and all sold out with the ideology of permanent wars rather than permanent human progress.

Jun 12 15:00

Obama’s Afghan War


Jun 12 13:38

Obama’s Afghan War


Jun 12 07:26

You won't see THIS on FOX News: Starving Afghan Family Displaced by US Airstrike

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This is a man who obviously loves his family, which is starving to death after a US airstrike, and he is desperate to find them food and water.

Does this look anything like "victory" to you?!?!?!?

Jun 12 06:10

Why We NEED Torture "To Keep Us Safe"


Jun 12 04:51

US moving to appeal Bagram detention ruling

The Obama administration is moving to appeal a ruling that some detainees at a military air base in Afghanistan can use U.S. civilian courts to challenge their detention.

Jun 12 04:47

NATO data shows Afghanistan violence reaches record levels

Insurgent violence hit record levels in Afghanistan last week, reaching its highest level since 2001 as the commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan warned Thursday that he expects "tough months" ahead.

Jun 11 08:04

Moves, Rhetoric Reveal Massive US Commitment to Afghanistan War

Visiting the Netherlands today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sought to use a visit to World War II era graves as a chance to press the nation’s NATO allies to observe World War II style unity in the conflict. Much of NATO has refused to commit additional troops to the seemingly endless war, despite administration pressures.

But the most telling aspect is the enormous collection of officers being picked by new US commander Lieutenant General McChrystal for the conflict. The 400-strong team will be committed to the war in Afghanistan for at least three more years, which is probably time for the administration to have to unveil at least two new major strategy changes given the war’s recent history.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to SecDef Gates, who appears to like to invoke history, but has absolutely no understanding of it: this military invasion and subsequent occupation of Afghanistan has absolutely no relationship to the events of World War II. Invoking this is a really gross error in judgment.

The US and NATO are attempting, with a far smaller contingent than the Old Soviet Union used (around 500,000 pairs of boots on the ground), to conquer this country militarily. The old USSR failed catastrophically in this endeavor: the US will, unfortunately, probably do the same.

We are not in Afghanistan to bring it's people "freedom and democracy"; we are in Afghanistan for the reasons reported in:

Which ran a story on 17 May , 2009, from which the following excerpts are taken:

"The Afghan War is about energy, heroin and military bases.

The USA would like to control the energy-rich former Soviet republics.

The USA wants to split Russia and China.

Afghanistan occupies a strategically important position.

Afghanistan is believed to be rich in natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chrome, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, and iron ore.

The heroin trade in Afghanistan uses U.S. dollars."

So, there you have it.

Jun 10 11:01

Afghan Official: US Soldier Threw Grenade Into Crowd of Civilians

The head of the provincial council of Afghanistan’s Kunar Province reported today that a US soldier had thrown the hand grenade that struck a crowd of civilians in a bustling market, killing two and injuring 56 others.

The crowd had gathered around a stalled American military vehicle when the grenade hit. The council chief said dozens of civilians had seen the soldier throw the grenade, calling it “a complete cruel crime against civilians.”

Jun 09 08:42

IVAW Member Victor Agosto Refuses Deployment to Afghanistan



Jun 08 11:34

7,000 U.S. Marines Patrolling Southern Afghan Desert

Some 7,000 of the new U.S. troops ordered to Afghanistan are fanning out across the dangerous south this week on a mission to defeat the Taliban insurgency and to change the course of a war claiming American lives at a record pace.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

This is the same place where a half million Soviet troops got their asses kicked.

Jun 08 10:46

Pentagon Quietly Sending 1,000 Special Operators to Afghanistan in Strategy Revamp

The Pentagon is sending 1,000 more special operations forces and support staff into Afghanistan to bolster a larger conventional troop buildup, and is revamping the way Army Green Berets and other commandos work to rid villages of the Taliban.

Jun 08 04:06

Taking Aim At the Taliban

"All this anger about civilian casualties by foreign forces--it's just like Baghdad before everything started going downhill,"

Jun 07 15:17

Green Berets slipped into Afghanistan on 9/12/01

May 17, 2009
Charleston native recalls days as Green Beret 'horse soldier'
Marchal slipped into Afghanistan on 9/12
By Kathryn Gregory
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, more than two-dozen U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers slipped quietly into Afghanistan and teamed up with Afghan warlords to end the Taliban militia's reign over that country.
The mission of the 25 Green Berets who went behind enemy lines to help overthrow the brutal regime that harbored Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorists is the subject of "Horse Soldiers," a new book by author Doug Stanton, due out later this month.

Jun 06 08:37

Afghanistan to 'try criminal foreign troops'

This is the first time that Afghanistan's parliament has decided to file a lawsuit against foreign forces based in the country and described them as "war criminals."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

As reported in


Jun 06 08:12

Bill Moyers nails Obama on Afghanistan

Jun 04 16:53

US does not want to keep troops in Afghanistan: Obama

"Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there," he told an audience at Cairo University.

He added the US plans to invest 1.5 billion dollars each year over the next five years in construction and aid money to the displaced in Pakistan, and 2.8 billion dollars to help Afghans develop their economy.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

(Ahem) a small memo to President Obama:

You've just made the statement:


If this is true, then what the Sam Hill is going on with the massive construction project at Camp Leatherneck?!?

As reported in,
7 May, 2009:

"It's been real busy," said Captain Jeff Boroway from the 25th Naval Construction regiment.

"This place was desert at the end of January. I mean nothing. And now you've got a 443-acre (179-hectare) secure facility," he told reporters.

They are also expanding another US base in the southern city of Kandahar."

Forgive me, Mr. President, but the establishment of 443 acre "secure facility" sounds like the absolute opposite of "we seek no military bases there" to intelligent Afghans.

And that statement about "aid"; if the current plan to pour 4.3 billion billion dollars into the Afghan and Pakistani infrastructure does as well as has previous aid efforts, we might as well just close up shop and go home.

As reported in
in the article by An Jones in January of 2009, she reported:

"Whatever the truth of the matter, in the long run, it's not soldiers but services that count -- electricity, water, food, healthcare, justice and jobs. Had the U.S. delivered the promised services on time, while employing Afghans to rebuild their own country according to their own priorities and under the supervision of their own government -- a mini-Marshall Plan -- they would now be in charge of their own defense. The forces on the other side, which we loosely call the Taliban, would also have lost much of their grounds for complaint."

"Instead, the Bush administration perpetrated a scam. It used the system it set up to dispense reconstruction aid to both the countries it "liberated," Afghanistan and Iraq, to transfer American taxpayer dollars from the national treasury directly into the pockets of private war profiteers. Think of Halliburton, Bechtel and Blackwater in Iraq; Louis Berger Group, Bearing Point and DynCorp International in Afghanistan. They're all in it together"

Unless President Obama is actually able to hold collective corporate feet to the fire in terms of true accountability, the relief/reconstruction effort in Afghanistan is just as doomed to failure as were the relief/reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

And that's pretty ugly.

Jun 04 09:04

US objects to UN report on military killings

The Obama administration charged Wednesday that a U.N. investigator violated his mandate by accusing the U.S. of failing to properly investigate allegations of unlawful killings by American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Just as did his predecessor, Obama and his team want the massacres in Iraq and Afghanistan to just fade from (at least American) public view.

Philip Alston was very brave in refusing to let that happen.

Jun 04 07:12

Faulted firm gets Afghan aid work

Last month, the U.S. Agency for International Development awarded a $150 million cooperative agreement to a partnership led by DAI, a Maryland company whose past Afghanistan contracts have been criticized by USAID's inspector general. The program is to promote alternatives to poppy crops

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Whatever governmental and lobbying influences colluded to make this contract happen, after these guys have already failed miserably in a previous contract in Afghanistan, one has to wonder if there is any real interest in stopping the farming of opium poppies in Afghanistan, because it is such a financially lucrative cash crop from which so many profit.

And "supervision" or "accountability" on this?!? Don't bet on it.

Jun 03 18:53

Pakistan the world's most dangerous country: Kilcullen

"So I don't think people are necessarily see it as an occupation. I think they see the coalition as a little bit feckless and failing to deliver on promises of security and development and in fact the international development assistance is one of the biggest grievances that you hear Afghans talk about.

"They believe it's been ineffective and that they haven't got many benefits."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Forgive me, but the mind reels to hear Lt.Col Kilcullen make that statement ""So I don't think people are necessarily see it as an occupation."

The Afghans understand what an occupation is. they knew what was happening - and why - during the Soviet occupation, and the same can be said for the current occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO.

And these occupations have had nothing to do with the betterment of life for the Afghan people; it is about the imposition of pipelines by the oil companies, agreed to by the most pliant government the US can possibly install in Kabul.

When the Taliban was in power previously in Afghanistan, their price was too high.

Jun 03 15:51

The War Party Returns

Repudiated at the polls, they're back – in a new liberal guise

Jun 02 17:59

Nato commander Stanley McChrystal: 'We must gain support of Afghans'

Nato’s next commander in Afghanistan warned yesterday that the West could lose the war against the Taleban if it fails to gain the support of the Afghan people.

Civilian deaths in Afghanistan, especially from US airstrikes launched from unmanned drones, have already inflamed anti-American sentiment in parts of the country.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

The total complement of US and NATO boots on the ground in Afghanistan is far less than the old Soviet Union had in this country (around 500,000 people, give or take) , only to have to leave, humiliated, with its tail between its legs.

Even with hired mercenaries, we still will not have enough boots on the ground to successfully occupy Afghanistan.

The US indiscriminate bombing of civilians has caused Afghans to see the Taliban as the good guys, and US and NATO forces as the bad guys.

The rank corruption of the Karzai government, coupled with our indiscriminate bombings of civilians, leaves many Afghans to believe that their lives cannot possibly get better better under the current circumstances.

And the alleged "reconstruction effort" ?!? In the words of Tony Soprano, "Fuggetaboutit!" What has been done (if it has actually been done at all) has been substandard, and awarded to many of the "usual suspects" who have underperformed and overcharged We the People for their services.

As reported in:


86 cents out of every dollar - chew on that for a moment.

Unless and until the aid actually gets to where it's supposed to go, with quality reconstruction projects providing money and training for Afghans, establish and protecting infrastructure (schools, hospitals, roads, water systems, etc.), nothing can change here.

So we have several choices here:

1. Declare "victory", and leave.

2. Stop the bombings, start reconstruction programs with real accountability, put Karzai on a short leash (he is, after all, our "cur" of a dictator), and give the Afghan people some hope for their future. With all the misery and devastation the US has caused, we owe this to the Afghan people.

3. Kill every single Afghan still breathing.

Shocked about that last one?? You shouldn't be.

There are some people in the military and congress (particularly those in congress who are "acquisitions" of the oil companies) would would absolutely prefer the third option in order to get the pipelines finally installed, with little or no opposition from the Afghan people.

Let us hope that we have some adults in the room in the Pentagon, Congress, and the White House who do understand what that second option would really cost this country, and the world.

Jun 01 12:03



Hours or days later, a drone, guided by the signal from the chip, destroys the building with a salvo of missiles. "There are body parts everywhere," said Wazir, who witnessed the aftermath of a strike.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Just out of idle curiosity, and considering the "false positives" now sitting in Guantanamo, how do we know these chips are being planted on real Al Qaeda, rather than a rival farmer whose goats are foraging on the wrong side of a fence?

Jun 01 11:35

Army Deploys Old Tactic in PR War


Webmaster's Commentary: 

The lesson from Vietnam is ... no

May 31 20:37

17,000 US troops in Afghanistan by mid-July

The Obama White House says that the 21,000 additional troops are to reinforce security ahead of the August 20 presidential elections, and are to support the NATO-led troops which have struggled to fight an escalating insurgency there.

The surge in US troops in Afghanistan comes amid frosty relations between Kabul and Washington, over the US bombing of civilians about a month ago.

The raid which left some 150 people including 95 children dead is dubbed as the deadliest incident for Afghan civilians since the 2001 US-led invasion.

May 31 05:07

Convergence and Continuity: The American-Backed Terror Campaign in Iran


May 30 09:33

Aid expert says only pennies of foreign aid reaching Afghans

Vicenzino, who is a strategic adviser for the Afghanistan World Foundation and a former official with the World Bank, said about 80 cents of every dollar goes back to donor countries, largely through the contractors doing the work.

"You have 20 cents left for Afghanistan and those 20 cents have to go through their layers of corruption. By the time any money reaches the ordinary citizen, you're lucky if you even have five cents ...."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

It appears that the "reconstruction" of Afghanistan is going just about as well as has the "reconstruction" in Iraq.

May 29 20:38

US Soldiers, routinely drugged, become homicidal /psychotic

U.S. military: Heavily armed and medicated
Prescription pill dependency among American troops is on the rise
By Melody Petersen, Tues., May 19, 2009
"Sending a person back to combat duty still under the influence of psychoactive drugs may be dangerous," he wrote."
U.S. troops in Iraq taking drugs to cope with stress, trauma
Steve Hammons, June 30, 2006
"In addition to psychotropic drugs, most troops are given the anti-malaria drug Lariam, which is known to cause severe psychiatric problems including suicidal and homicidal behavior."
"Like the scourge of methamphetamine use in the U.S. population, military personnel taking amphetamines risk impaired judgment, psychotic reactions, paranoia and homicidal behavior."

May 28 18:06

MoD admits use of controversial 'enhanced blast' weapons in Afghanistan

British pilots in Afghanistan are firing an increasing number of "enhanced blast" thermobaric weapons, designed to kill everyone in buildings they strike, the Ministry of Defence has revealed.

Its wider use was disclosed by John Hutton, the defence secretary, in answer to a parliamentary answer from Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman. "Given the MoD's reluctance to admit they were even going to use these weapons, they now seem to be getting rather more trigger-happy," Harvey said yesterday. "If these controversial weapons are being fired on a weekly basis in Afghanistan, we need to know that they are being used according to strict rules of engagement."

Webmaster's Commentary: 

The most probably reality is that these weapons are being used indiscriminately, killing all - including women, kids, and the medically infirm - in their wake.

The Afghans do not hate the Brits, Americans, or NATO soldiers "because we are free"; they hate us because we are killing their wives, their husbands, their infants, their aunts and uncles, and friends, many of whom just want to stay out of the way of combat.

May 27 11:38

US killed 97 Afghan civilians in two days

A human rights group has confirmed that the United States used disproportionate force in its recent raids in Afghanistan and killed 97 civilians to get at two Taliban militants.

Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), which launched a probe into early May US-led air strikes in the country, announced Tuesday that 21 of the fatalities of the attacks were women and 65 were children.

May 27 11:12

UN wants 'flood of drugs' in Afghanistan to devalue opium


Webmaster's Commentary: 

That makes a great cover-story for those US troops guarding the poppy fields.

Nobody will believe it...

But it is a great cover story!

May 27 08:33

U.S. Miltary Takes Long-Term Lease With Option to Buy in Iraq & Afghanistan

Remember those campaign promises to bring a swift and honorable peace in the two wars that President Obama inherited? Forget about it.

May 26 10:02

Gates Says Taliban Have Momentum in Afghanistan


Webmaster's Commentary: 

WHAT public support??????

May 25 07:30

Memorial Day - Map the Fallen in Google Earth

This is one of the most powerful poignant ways I´ve seen yet of showing who died where and when and where they lived.


May 24 17:08

Security turnaround in Afghanistan in 18 months a must: Mullen

Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military solution was not enough but the buildup in US forces would be used to turn around the security situation.

President Barack Obama has approved deployments that would double the size of the US force in Afghanistan to 68,000 by the fall.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Memo to Admiral Mullen: the old Soviet Union couldn't do this with 500,000 pairs of boots on the ground, and by fall, we'll have a total complement of (drum roll, please) ......68,000 troops with which to accomplish security improvement?

I am willing to bet one whole cent that we will see a draft be reinstituted by the end of Obama's first term.

The very muscular foreign policy goals he's put forward cannot be brought about without a return to conscription, particularly now that he's potentially looking at military involvement against Pakistan and Iraq.

May 24 08:32

Airstrike kills construction worker, wounds 18 others near Afghan capital

An airstrike of international troops on Friday night killed a road construction worker and wounded 18 others in Afghanistan's Wardak province, some 70 km west of the capital Kabul, an official said on Saturday.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

More of NATO's operations to win the hearts and minds of the Afghans, I suppose.

May 23 16:16

US forces seize drugs from narco cartel competitors

Afghanistan: U.S. Forces Seize Almost 15 Tonnes of Narcotics Including Opium, Heroin and Morphine
May 22nd, 2009
Via: Reuters:
Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s opium, most of it in the Taliban’s southern heartland. U.S. military officials have estimated the opium trade provides between $80 million and $400 million a year to the Taliban.

[It can be assumed that these narcotics will still get to market for whichever cartel the US soldiers are representing. UK/US distributors no doubt, but transported by US military aircraft and personnel to the major drug hubs of Europe. This haul isn't going to be destroyed, for sure. ]

May 23 00:02

Slouching towards balkanization

In the long run, Obama's AfPak strategy may acquire its own relentless, volatile momentum of addicting the military in Islamabad to make war on their own people - be they Pashtuns or Balochis. So Washington may in fact be setting the slow but inexorable march towards the balkanization of Pakistan. If Pashtun cousins on both sides of the border - 26 million in Pakistan, 13 million in Afghanistan - would eventually find an opening to form a long-dreamed-of Pashtunistan, Pakistan as we know it would break up. India might intervene to subdue Sind and Punjab, keeping both under its sphere of influence. Washington for its part would rather concentrate on exploiting the natural wealth and strategic value of an independent Balochistan.

May 22 17:28

Obama's War: Drunk, Bored Trigger Happy Mercenaries Kill Afghan Civilians

Blessed with immunity from the laws of any nation and a new company name mercenaries for the company formerly known as Blackwater are still hard at work, doing what mercenaries do.. getting paid, while corporate media protect us from the news.

May 22 09:13

US troop surge in Afghanistan 'could push Taliban into Pakistan'

The buildup of US troops in Afghanistan could force more Taliban fighters into neighbouring Pakistan, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff conceded last night.

Admiral Mike Mullen told the US Senate's foreign relations committee: "We can't deny that our success may only push them [the Taliban] deeper into Pakistan."

May 22 06:54

Obama's Murderous Guest


Something rotten has arrived in Washington.

President Barack Obama will shake hands and stage Oval Office photo ops for the first time with the man who many believe stole billions from the Pakistani treasury, empowered Pakistan’s newly formed Taliban by imposing Shariah law without a vote or referendum, and whom I have publicly accused of orchestrating the murder of my father, Murtaza Bhutto, an elected member of parliament until he was killed in 1996.

Pakistan has been at war with its own people for a long time now—perhaps it’s only natural that we move on to terrorizing the world at large.

May 20 06:52

Picking Out A Headstone

R.I.P. American Empire!

May 19 10:54

NASA Confirms Gas, Minieral Reserves In Afghanistan

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Motive for Obama's escalation?

May 18 09:02

Buyer's Remorse: Is it too late to swap Obama for McCain?

Anyone who has ever wasted good money on a clunker only to drop the transmission 15 minutes after leaving the car-lot, knows the feeling. It's like a swift-kick in the groin followed by weeks of fist-pounding rage. It's called buyer's remorse; "Gawd, I wish I hadn't bought that piece of dogshite!"

There are probably a lot of former-Obama supporters feeling that same agonizing sense despair now that President Rainbow has done an about-face on every campaign promise he made. So much for "truth in advertising", eh?

What a disaster. Did anyone know it was gonna be this bad?

May 18 07:59

Cheney's Chief Assassin Is Now Obama's Commander in Afghanistan


Webmaster's Commentary: 

Change? What change? anyone see any change here?

May 17 12:28


Mentioned by Mike on yesterday's radio show. Boston Legal clip. If you are not angry by now then you are just brain dead.

May 16 09:37

Rumsfeld's renegade unit blamed for Afghan deaths



Webmaster's Commentary: 

Rumsfeld never imagined a non-combatant Afghan, Pakistani or Iraqi who wouldn't be better off dead.

May 16 08:52

Rumsfeld's renegade unit blamed for Afghan deaths


May 16 08:38

Even with Obama in charge, anti-war Democrats powerless



May 15 20:53

US Soldiers under great psychological strain

Killing of Comrades by 'Stressed Out' Soldier in Iraq: Inevitable?
By Greg Mitchell

NEW YORK (May 11, 2009) -- The slaughter of five comrades by a "stressed out" U.S. soldier in Baghdad is a true tragedy -- but should not come as a shock.
Paul Rieckhoff, head of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said this afternoon: ... Many troops are under great psychological strain and are not receiving the treatment they need. Over 600,000 troops have served more than one combat tour since 9/11. Military suicide rates have hit record highs every year since 2003. Much more must be done to address troops' psychological injuries before they reach a crisis point."

May 15 13:29

U.S. air strike victims say Taliban long gone

Haji Sayed Barakat, who lost two children and his wife of 35 years in the May 4 attack, said Taliban militants were present in the area but had moved on two hours before the U.S. air strikes.

May 15 11:28

IVAW members lobby against more military funding for Afghanistan and Iraq

You can take action today

Urge your representatives in Congress to vote "NO" on a $94.2 billion supplemental wartime spending bill by emailing
or calling.

Tell them no more blank checks for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

With the revelation that prisoners were tortured into making false confessions that were the foundation for the war in Iraq, the fact is that this is and always has been an illegal war and the time to stop it is right now.

Nobody can make any argument as to why our young men and women should continue to be killed in Iraq.

There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11.
The only link between Al Qaeda and Iraq was a "confession" extracted under torture.
Al Qaeda appears to be a front group for CIA and Mossad.

Iraq has been ruined, which is what Israel so clearly wanted.

Mission accomplished.

President Obama (or Mr. Waffles, as we call him around here) has no option but to end the war and bring the kids home. Or he is an accessory to a continuing war crime.

May 15 09:35



Webmaster's Commentary: 

The level of magical thinking expressed here, coupled with an absolute naivete about the history of this region, is virtually guaranteed to lead to countless more deaths of American military troops, not to mention the huge numbers deaths of Afghan and Pakistani citizens.

At the end of the day, the US will re-experience its "Saigon Moment" in Afghanistan.

One only has to wonder just how long that will be - and how many more have to die - before it happens.

May 14 12:10


I am somewhat confused over the Obama administrations recent firing of the US Afghanistan Commander and replacing him with a General who knowingly and intentionally filed and forwarded false reports in the Tillman death.

What amazes me even more is Obama's claims that Afghanistan is where we need to be. Has America forgotten that Russia was engaged in a war with the Taliban in Afghanistan for 9 years and was beaten into withdrawing their forces?

May 14 09:48

'US strike killed 95 children in Afghanistan'

Afghan officials reveal that 95 children are among the civilians killed in a US-led strike that is surrounded with the controversy over use of white phosphorous.

Afghan lawmaker Obaidullah Helali who headed a delegation investigating the booming in the western province of Farah confirmed the children's massacre on such a large scale.

The delegation also delivered condolence payments to the victims, ordered by President Hamid Karzai.

Nearly 150 civilians were killed last Tuesday when US warplanes dropped bombs on two villages in the Bala Baluk district in the western province of Farah.

Human rights and medical officials also accused the US forces of using flesh-eating chemical white phosphorus during the lethal strikes.

May 13 15:24

The Strategic Debate Over Afghanistan


May 13 09:59

Stanley McChrystal: A History Of Condoning Torture?


Webmaster's Commentary: 

Maybe that is why he was selected.

May 13 08:09

Did newly announced top Afghan general run Cheney's assassination wing?

Speaking to a University of Minnesota audience in March, Hersh called JSOC "a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. ... They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. ... Congress has no oversight of it. ... It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on."

May 13 08:02

Stop ‘Helping’ Af-Pak



May 12 16:53

The AfPak Blues, US soldiers'/drones' civilian slaughter

Corpses of Kids By the Truckload
The AfPak Blues
May 12, 2009
In 2008, according to the New York Times, American led coalition forces killed 828 civilians, ...
A few days ago, these same gutless idiots operating in the Western province of Farah, allegedly killed over 100 civilians and are trying to blame it on the Taliban. “No that’s not true” said an MP from the area, Mujammad Naeem Farahi, “and I am someone who supports the American presence”. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates promises to “make amends”. Look at the images. This isn’t flushing out militants. It’s a killing field.
And the murders continue in Pakistan, often hatched and executed from Creech Air Force base in Nevada, where the silent drones glide into the skies every few minutes armed to the teeth.

May 12 13:27

Commando attack on Taliban stronghold leaves 800,000 homeless

The fighting is inflicting a mounting human toll. The army estimates that 800,000 people have been left homeless by the latest fighting, bringing the total number of displaced people in North West Frontier province to more than 1.3 million. About four-fifths of those are thought to be sheltering with friends or relatives, particularly in Mardan and Swabi districts, while about 130,000 are living in tents.

While conditions in the hastily-erected camps are rough and hot, authorities have managed to ensure adequate food and water. But disgruntlement among the displaced is rising, and, combined with anger over civilian deaths caused by army shelling, analysts say the government is in danger of squandering a wave of public sympathy for the operation.

May 12 11:54

Saigon Again?

The problem with assessing President Barack Obama’s foreign policy after little more than 100 days is that it is nearly impossible to distinguish what has already become policy from approaches that might be termed more tentative. Does he really think that a continued American engagement in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and on behalf of Israel serves the national interest? Maybe not. There are signs that a broad reassessment of U.S. policy is underway, though critics who have been rightly soured by eight years of George W. Bush’s blundering note that Obama appears to have embraced the interventionist formula that has proven so disastrous.

May 12 11:37

Hawks Divided: AfPak or Iran?

A potentially major clash appears to be developing between powerful factions inside and outside the U.S. government, pitting those who see the Afghanistan/Pakistan ("AfPak") theater as the greatest potential threat to U.S. national security against those who believe that the danger posed by a nuclear Iran must be given priority.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

"Any war will do, right now!" -- Official White Horse Souse

May 12 11:19

'Hidden general' to fight al-Qaeda

On Monday the general, Stanley McChrystal, was appointed to head the US forces in Afghanistan, a sudden switch that signals the US wants to drive its counterinsurgency efforts in the war-torn nation much, much harder.

May 12 08:57

Taliban rejects US claim it used white phosphorous ammunition


"We neither have nor use phosphorous. The Americans have used it in many operations and now want to attribute their tyranny to the Taliban," he alleged in a telephone conversation with the Reuters news agency.

Reuters reported last week that US military doctors had treated an eight-year-old girl with white phosphorous burns. The US military said it believes that no rounds had been fired by Western forces near her house when she was hurt, and that a mortar fired by militants may have been to blame.

However, the girl's father told Reuters that the house was hit by a volley of artillery fired by Western troops.

May 11 20:02

Flashback:Brzezinski, CIA, Afghanistan, Bin Laden,Muslim Terrorism

Ex-Security Chief Brzezinski's Interview makes clear:
Published 15-21 January 1998
"Zbigniew Brzezinski:" ... I wrote president Carter, in essence: "We now have the opportunity to provide the USSR with their Viet Nam war." Indeed for ten years Moscow had to conduct a war that was intolerable for the regime, a conflict which involved the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet Empire."
Osama bin Laden: Made in USA
by Jared Israel
[Written 28 August 1998. Posted 13 September 2001]

May 11 14:05

US sacks top military commander in Afghanistan

The top US military commander in Afghanistan was sacked today after both the Pentagon and the White House decided that “fresh thinking” was needed to win the war.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

The last military commander to succeed in conquering and hanging onto Afghanistan was Alexander the Great.

... and he only kept it for three years.

May 11 13:08

CIA and ISI together created Taliban, says Zardari


May 11 06:30

Becoming What We Seek to Destroy
