Jul 14 2010
Sorting through the complexities in Afghanistan
July 13: Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, talks with Rachel Maddow about the history of the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the different Taliban groups active in the region.
Apr 22 2010
The two young teenaged sons of Rahmatullah Rahmat, of Khost, Afghanistan, were coming home from playing volleyball on the spring day in April, when they were killed by NATO forces which mistook them for “insurgents” as they drove towards them.
NATO has apologized for the deaths.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
All of the victims were unarmed, and died at the scene after failing to respond to warning shots.
Mr. Rahmat, who is called Rahnatullah Mansour in another story, also has 2 brothers who lost sons in the tragedy.
http://www.google.com/hostedne…“Nobody can imagine what is going on in my family”
Mansour said that the victims in Monday’s shooting were his sons Faizullah, 13, and Nasratullah, 17; and nephews Maiwand and Amirullah, both 18. He said all were students except Amirullah, who was a police officer.
NATO originally claimed that 2 of the deceased were insurgents whose fingerprints were in a biometric database, but have backed away from that.
http://news.iafrica.com/worldn…
It added that the presence of their fingerprints in the database “has not yet been determined to be relevant to the incident on Monday night,” ISAF said.
“We sincerely regret this tragic loss of life,” it quoted Major General Mike Regner, deputy chief of staff for joint operations, as saying.
Training is supposed to begin soon to help prevent further incidents.
In the southern province of Kandahar, where the next NATO large scale, “terrorist purging” activity is going to go, the situation amongst the civilians is getting grimmer as the time approaches. The vice mayor of Kandahar, who was known for being a good man who was not corrupt, was recently gunned down in a mosque. An 18 year old Afghan woman was murdered right outside a U.S. Development Alternatives International office. Nida Khayani, a woman lawmaker from the north, barely survived an assassination attempt. http://www.undispatch.com/node…
http://www.independent.co.uk/o…
As a result, roads are now shut and the drab march of blast barriers has begun. It is just one sign that things are getting worse. Foreigners cannot walk down the street or stop in the bazaar to gauge the local climate. Meetings invariably take place in private rooms deep inside fortified compounds. Yet for some reason, Kandaharis continue to risk talking to journalists in the knowledge that what they say might get them killed.
/snip
Nor is it just the Taliban who are the problem. Criminal syndicates wage their own terror campaign, allegedly killing business rivals, upstarts and those who speak out against them. The deaths of several prominent campaigners, such as the women’s rights advocate Sitara Ackakzai, have been unofficially linked to the mafia rather than the Taliban.…. “You can’t say anything about these guys. The government is involved with them.”
As NATO gets ready to go in, the real insurgents have been busy planting landmines everywhere. Since Kandahar is an agricultural province, this helps ruin the ability of farmers to be able to grow crops.
The Canadians have been busy trying to get rid of various military hardware, including landmines, and suffered serious losses to a demining team on April 11th.
This is a statement from their government:
http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/c…“Canada vehemently condemns the violent attacks that occurred on a team working for the Demining Agency for Afghanistan in Kandahar on April 11th which resulted in the deaths of four deminers and injuring 17 more.
“Deminers play a vital, yet often overlooked role in Afghanistan. They risk life and limb to remove the thousands of landmines that litter this country, making the land available for use once more.
“Deminers, and all NGO workers, put their own lives at risk every day to ensure the safety of Afghanistan’s communities. Their efforts mean that children have a place to play, farmers have fields to sow and Afghans can move more safely across this land.”
“On behalf of all Canadians, I extend our deepest sympathies to those who were injured and condolences to the friends and families of those who were killed in this terrible attack.
There were still an estimated 10 to 20 million landmines in the ground of Afghanistan in the 1990’s.
A sobering history of how 30 years of war destroyed farming for food and replaced it with farming for poppies for cash can be found here in this March 2010 article by history professor Alfred McCoy of the Univ of Wisconsin at Madison:
The Opium wars in Afghanistan
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/S…
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/S…
To understand the Afghan War, one basic point must be grasped: in poor nations with weak state services, agriculture is the foundation for all politics, binding villagers to the government or warlords or rebels. The ultimate aim of counterinsurgency strategy is always to establish the state’s authority.
“We can’t keep on doing business as usual,” one senior Afghan official said. (quote from the first WAPO link)
It remains to be seen if somebody working for Gen. McChrystal can come up with a universal translation of “STOP THE CAR HERE NOW” which makes sense to people who are expecting to get killed if they do stop.
Apr 04 2010
Germany’s Chancellor Merkel expressed regrets for 6 accidental friendly fire deaths of Afghan soldiers to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday March 3rd. http://www.google.com/hostedne…
So does Nato Brigadier General Eric Tremblay
http://www.euronews.net/2010/0…
Issuing an apology, NATO Brigadier General Eric Tremblay said: “We regret this tragic loss of life. We will try and strive to improve our tactics, techniques and procedures.”
Germany, The Local
Earlier Friday April 2
http://www.thelocal.de/nationa…
Earlier Friday, three German soldiers were killed and eight were injured – four seriously – when the Taliban ambushed a patrol in the worst firefight the Bundeswehr has seen in its nearly eight years in the war-torn country.
According to Brigadier Frank Leidenberger, the commander of the international ISAF forces in northern Afghanistan, the patrol was attacked by about 100 Taliban insurgents as it removed mines planted in the road in the dangerous district of Chahar Dara, near the Bundeswehr’s Kunduz base.Other reports said up to 200 Taliban fighters had been involved in the ambush and had used rocket-propelled grenades among other weapons.
The deaths of the German soldiers bring to 39 the total number of Germans killed since the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2002. They have caused shock and dismay in Germany.
There are currently 4000 troops from Germany in Afghanistan, many in the northern, more peaceful area, with 850 more to be sent soon.
Canada, CBC
Later Friday April 2
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/…German soldiers in an armoured personnel carrier opened fire after coming across two civilian vehicles that refused to stop. Soon after, it was discovered the vehicles were carrying Afghan troops.
“Yesterday, after a military operation which took place in the Char Dara district of Kunduz province, Afghan national army troops were distributing food near the German troops when German troops opened fire,” said Afghan defence ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi.
“In this incident six Afghan soldiers were killed. The defence ministry have already condemned the incident,” he said.
America, Boston Globe
2 days later
http://www.boston.com/news/wor…The friendly fire shooting Friday took place in northern Kunduz Province, where German forces were sharply criticized last September (2009) when they ordered an air strike on two tanker trucks that had been captured by the Taliban. Up to 142 people died, many of them civilians.
Speaking during a visit to South Africa, German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg expressed sorrow over the friendly fire deaths and said German soldiers were doing everything possible to avoid such incidents.
The September 4th airstrike may have been called in by the Germans, but it was carried out by a United States warplane.
Chancellor Merkel expressed regret and took responsibility for that incident in December, and it resulted in a cabinet resignation. http://af.reuters.com/article/…
Mar 31 2010
Produced in 1992 for the BBC by Director Alan Frankovich, the three part documentary ‘Operation Gladio’ reveals ‘Gladio’ (Italian for Gladius, a type of Roman short sword) is a code name for a clandestine NATO “stay-behind” operation in Italy after World War II, set up ostensibly to conduct anti-communist resistance in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe.
According to a well documented and extensively referenced Wikipedia article “Although Gladio specifically refers to the Italian branch of the NATO stay-behind organisations, “Operation Gladio” is used as an informal name for all stay-behind organisations, sometimes called “Super NATO”.
This BBC series “is about a far-right secret army, operated by the CIA and MI6 through NATO, which killed hundreds of innocent Europeans and attempted to blame the deaths on Baader Meinhof, Red Brigades and other left wing groups. Known as ‘stay-behinds’ these armies were given access to military equipment which was supposed to be used for sabotage after a Soviet invasion. Instead it was used in massacres across mainland Europe as part of a CIA Strategy of Tension. Gladio killing sprees in Belgium and Italy were carried out for the purpose of frightening the national political classes into adopting U.S. policies.”
Jeffrey Kaye in a Seminal post Sunday March 28, 2010 notes that “When the invasion never occurred, the networks were not dismantled, but took on a different mission: to keep the left from gaining power in any of these states, from Sweden and Belgium to France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey and elsewhere.”
Jeff goes on in his post to note that “The sensationalistic charges have fed a number of conspiracy theories, particularly those around the existence of “false flag” government operations. Some have indicated they see the 9/11 attacks in this light, though I can’t say I have the kind of evidence to make such an assertion. But one can understand how any individual might come to seriously mistrust the U.S. government after learning of the Gladio history, which is extensive and well-documented.”
“Among other canards the Gladio story can put to rest is the silly belief that no large scale conspiracies can exist, at least in a so-called open, democratic society such as ours. And yet, Gladio proves that is not true. In fact, since the revelations of the early 1990s, there has been practically no discussion of this crucial aspect of contemporary history by U.S. historians or policy makers.”
Watch parts Two and Three below the fold…
Mar 08 2010
Afghan president to host April peace conference
Is this just show from our puppet, or rather cheney’s cabal hand picked leader, or does he really care and wants to end the devisions and violence leading to the occupation forces pulling out but helping in finally rebuilding, and promised some nine years ago, what has long been a destroyed country under constant war.
Feb 23 2010
On Sunday, Feb 21st, NATO planes fired on what they mistook for a convoy of 3 insurgent vehicles in central Afghanistan, during the biggest offensive of the war, called “Moshtarak,” (“Together”) near Marjah.
When the bombing was over, and the scene looked at more closely, at least 27 civilians had been mistakenly killed, including 4 women and a child, and 12 others were injured. According to another account, the dead included 2 children, a 3 year old boy and a 9 year old girl.
General Stanley McCrystal has issued an apology to the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
“We are extremely saddened by the tragic loss of innocent lives,” McChrystal’s statement said. “I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people, and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission. We will redouble our efforts to regain that trust.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/201…
President Karzai had called for NATO forces to try to protect more civilians from harm on Saturday.
“We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties,” Karzai said. “Our effort and our criticism will continue until we reach that goal.”
That was the day there was another civilian death, which came after the initial NATO bombing mistake which took the lives of 12 civilians on Feb 14th, the day after the start of the Marjah operation. There was an apology for the single death also.
The civilian was killed Friday after he dropped a box which soldiers feared contained a bomb and began running toward a coalition position, NATO said. The box contained materials that could be used to make a bomb but no explosives NATO said.“This is truly a regrettable incident, and we offer our condolences to the family,” said a NATO spokeswoman, Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, said in a statement.
Per the BBC, NATO (British) Lt. Gen Nick Parker said that an investigation is underway.
video transcript (warning, advertisement before Lt Gen Parker is bizarre in context)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sou…
Lt Gen Parker:
“I have to say these are very difficult incidents. Our people are not doing this deliberately. They have to make snap judgements, and sometimes these incidents occur. General McCrystal had all his junior commanders in this morning,
and he made it absolutely clear to them, that he expects commanders on the ground to make these difficult judgements as clearly and as carefully as they possibly can, in order to minimize the risk of casualties to civilians. We’re clear, if we kill the people we’re trying to protect, our credibility is undermined.”
On Sunday, according to McClatchy, via the WAPO today, US Army General David Petraeus said the Afghanistan Marjah operation is just the beginning of a hard effort that will last 12 to 18 months, and the level of United States casualties will be “tough to bear.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
Feb 20 2010
Another One Bites the Dust: The Dutch Government (Parliament Coalition) Collapses over the issue of staying in Afghanistan Saturday morning.
The Dutch had been scheduled to end their participation in NATO’s mission in Afghanistan in August of 2010, with their troops to be out by December, but had been asked to stay longer. Concerns over the Dutch budget deficit, which meant that either tax hikes or spending cuts were looming, doomed the coalition led by Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s government.
“I unfortunately note that there is no longer a fruitful path for the Christian Democrats, Labor Party and Christian Union to go forward,” Balkenende, who leads the center-right Christian Democrats, told reporters.Balkenende wanted to extend the Dutch troop deployment in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan past an August deadline, but Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos’s Labor Party opposed any extension.
http://www.reuters.com/article…
Parliamentary elections to form a new government could be held by the summer, but establishing a functional coalition between 4 or 5 parties to get a majority may take some finangling.
The Dutch have been participating in NATO’s Afghanistan occupation since 2006, and have lost 21 troops out of about 2000 deployed.
Oct 26 2009
Welcome to the 25th installment of “Considered Forthwith.”
This weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies.
This week, I am looking at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Two thoughts before proceeding. First, I am happy to be out of the newspaper business because I can say what I really think without worrying about objectivity. Second, what I really think is that the committee’s website is in dire need of a redesign.
Sep 09 2008
On 8 September 2008 Human Rights Watch issued a 43 page report which shows that civilian deaths in Afghanistan from US and NATO air-strikes had nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007, and that recent deadly air-strikes are “exacerbating the problem and fueling a public backlash” and that they have dramatically decreased public support for the Afghan Government and for the presence of US and NATO troops.
Back on 22 August of this year the United States military claimed that 30 to 35 “militants” (note that they don’t refer to them as “terrorists”) were killed in what was called a successful operation against the Taliban. They also admitted that 5 to 7 civilians, might have been killed. This was a Special Operations ground mission backed up by American air support.
Villagers in Azizabad, Shindand District in Herat Province in western Afghanistan claimed that more than 90 civilians were killed in the bombing raid, the majority being women and children.
Sep 03 2008
The United States may have ‘invaded’ Pakistan.
The Washington Post reports, U.S. and Afghan troops kill 20 in Pakistan. This marks the “first known instance” that U.S. forces “conducted an operation on Pakistani soil since the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan began”.
According to the NY Times, NATO Accused of Civilian Deaths Inside Pakistan. The incursion and subsequent attacks were made “a little after 3 a.m. when three U.S. army helicopters carrying American and Afghan troops landed in Musa Nika in the Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan… Troops then left the helicopters and launched a ground assault on three houses where Taliban fighters were believed to be hiding.”
Pakistan is not amused. The “hot pursuit” of Taliban forces across the Afghan-Pakistan border is contentious issue with Pakistan.
Aug 28 2008
Original article, by Simon Assaf, via www.socialistworker.org.uk:
The occupation of Afghanistan has entered a new and deeper crisis. A rising number of sophisticated attacks on foreign troops, combined with a growing rebellion in Pakistan and Russia’s crushing of Nato ally Georgia, have raised the prospect that the occupation is heading for defeat.
Things sound like they’re going swimmingly in Afghanistan, don’t they?
Aug 24 2008
Original Article, sub-headed After seven days of bloody war in the Caucasus and growing tension between the US and Russia, John Rees asks what is it about the new world order that has made it so prone to warfare?, via socialistworker.org.uk:
There is one fundamental thing that is common to capitalism in every age that makes it a uniquely violent system. It is not a marginal or accidental part of the system but something that is part of the very definition of capitalist society. That thing is competition.
Uh-oh! Competition being bashed…must restrain from shouting ‘USA, USA, USA.’ After all, isn’t our competitive spirit what made us greater than everybody else? Isn’t competition what makes our ‘free market’ system of capitalism work so well?