The Huffington Post: On May 30, 2010, at 10:06 a.m, the direct cost of occupying Iraq and Afganistan will hit $1 trillion. And in a few weeks, the House of Representatives will be asked to vote for $33 billion of additional “emergency” supplemental spending to continue the occupations of Iraq and Afganistan. There...
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Archive for August, 2011
We’ve Always Been at War with Eastasia
Afghans believe US is funding Taliban
The Guardian: It’s near-impossible to find anyone in Afganistan who doesn’t believe the US are funding the Taliban: and it’s the highly educated Afgan professionals, those employed by ISAF, USAID, international media organisations – and even advising US diplomats – who seem the most convinced…. The continuing violence between coalition forces and the Taliban...
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Amnesty International Report 2010 Draws Bleak Picture of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Amnesty International: Afgan people continued to suffer widespread human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law more than seven years after the USA and its allies ousted the Taliban. Access to health care, education and humanitarian aid deteriorated, particularly in the south and south-east of the country, due to escalating armed conflict between...
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Afghan Clerics impose Taliban-style restrictions on women’s travel
PAN: A council of Afgan clerics has issued a fatwa, banning women from traveling without a father, brother or other approved escort, even during the Hajj. The ruling by the Herat Religious Council also said Islam prohibited women, engaged in activities out of home, from wearing makeup. Announcing the fatwa, tens of religious scholars...
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400 families flee Helmand towns
PAN: Hundreds of families, fearing the resumption of clashes between Taliban and security forces, have fled troubled districts of Marja and Nad Ali in southern Helmand province. The fresh exodus of 400 families from the towns comes nearly three months after a massive counterinsurgency operation, involving thousands of Afgan and foreign troops.
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A flawed strategy and a failed war in Afghanistan
The Washington Post: Speaking to graduating cadets at West Point on Saturday, President Obama noted the "ultimate sacrifice" of 78 of their predecessors who gave up their lives in Afganistan and Iraq. But he did not mention that just days before, five U.S. soldiers were killed in Kabul, bringing the toll of American dead...
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Want to know why we should get out of Afghanistan?
philobiblon.co.uk: When I was running for the Green Party in the recent British general election, there was one issue on which I had no doubt how audiences at hustings and meetings would react positively – our call to withdraw British (and NATO) troops from Afganistan. Surveys show around 70% of the public back that...
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Unemployment forces Afghan youth to trek dangerous routes
PAN: High unemployment and deteriorating security is forcing hundreds of Afgan youths to risk an often perilous journey with ruthless smugglers in the search of a better life. Some pay with their lives. Others, such as Sher Rahman, spend thousands of dollars for the journey only to find themselves right back in Afganistan.
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Russia, China, Iran defeat U.S. in the “pipeline wars”
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: A major reason for the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Afganistan was the building of a pipeline through the country that would take natural gas from Turkmenistan to India and Pakistan. Canada and the other 44 Western countries occupying Afganistan are supporting this U.S. objective by bolstering Washington’s military...
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