Articles of Afghanistan

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Karzai Approves Third Phase Security Transition in Afghanistan

afganistan

Kabul, May 14 (Prensa Latina) The Afghan President Hamid Karzai approved the plan for the third phase of security transition at the hands of the local forces.In a statement made public this weekend, the president arguedthat the strong International Security Assistance will transfer full responsibility in the provincial capitals of Parwan, Kapisa and Uruzgan now in charged to protect the 75 percent of the population of the country.

Reflections by Fidel »

Chávez, Evo and Obama (Part Two – Final)

Chávez, Evo and Obama  (Part Two - Final)

If our Nobel laureate is deluding himself, something that is still to be proven, perhaps that explains the incredible contradictions in his thinking and the confusion sown among his listeners. There is not one shred of ethics, and not even of politics, in his attempt to justify his announced decision to veto any resolution to recognize Palestine as an independent State and member of the United Nations. Even politicians, who in no way share socialist philosophy and lead parties that were closely allied with Augusto Pinochet, are proclaiming Palestine’s right to be a member of the UN.

Reflections by Fidel »

Chavez, Evo and Obama (Part One)

Chavez, Evo and Obama (Part One)

I take a break from the tasks that are occupying all of my time these days to dedicate a few words to the unique opportunity presented by the political science of the sixtieth session of the United Nations General Assembly. The yearly event demands singular effort from those taking on the greatest of political responsibilities in many countries. For them, it constitutes a tough test; for the fans of that art, and there are many since it vitally affects everybody, it is difficult to remove oneself from the temptation of observing the interminable but educational show.

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Torture in Afghan Prisons Exposed

eeuu-afgnistan-iraq

“Hypocritical and manipulative” were the words used by insurgent leaders to describe NATO reports on torture in prisons in the Afghan provinces of Herat, Khost, Lagman, Kapisa and Takhar. According to statements attributed to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, the main source of brutality, torture and tyranny is the foreign occupation forces.

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US shocked and awed by the Taliban

Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan

Talk about a double whammy. It was not enough for Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the United States’ credit rating; with impeccable timing, and apparently a single shot, the Taliban in Afghanistan simultaneously downgraded the empire’s colossal war machine. As much as the US power elite refuse to accept that the US financial crisis was caused by years of George W Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and mega-corporations; massive bailouts of banks and insurance companies; and astronomic military spending on the Pentagon’s declinations of The Long War, the power elite will also refuse to acknowledge that the “new” war strategy in Afghanistan is also a failure.

Opinions »

Tomgram: Nick Turse, Uncovering the Military’s Secret Military

The Case for Withdrawal from Afghanistan

In “Getting bin Laden,” Nicholas Schmidle’s New Yorker report on the assault on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, here’s the money sentence, according to Noah Shachtman of Wired Magazine’s Danger Room blog: “The Abbottabad raid was not DEVGRU’s maiden venture into Pakistan, either. The team had surreptitiously entered the country on ten to twelve previous occasions, according to a special-operations officer who is deeply familiar with the bin Laden raid.” DEVGRU is the acronym for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known as SEAL Team Six (think “SEAL-mania”), the elite special operations outfit that killed bin Laden.

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Good Night, Afghanistan

Barack Obama

A calm and cool American president announces a small withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, less than 10% of the total number, in an expression of caution that masks the limits of empire. In an address remarkable for its brevity, President Barack Obama essentially announced success, lectured Afghanistan on its responsibilities to secure its territory, and noted upcoming troop withdrawals.

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Empire of bases

Military Base

Before reading this article, try to answer this question: How many military bases does the United States have in other countries: a) 100; b) 300; c) 700; or d) 1,000. According to the Pentagon’s own list PDF, the answer is around 865, but if you include the new bases in Iraq and Afghanistan it is over a thousand. These thousand bases constitute 95 percent of all the military bases any country in the world maintains on any other country’s territory. In other words, the United States is to military bases as Heinz is to ketchup.

Opinions »

No End to the “War on Terror,” No End to Guantánamo

The US Congress

With the death of Osama bin Laden, there is a perfect opportunity for the Obama administration to bring to an end the decade-long “War on Terror” by withdrawing from Afghanistan and closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The justification for both the invasion of Afghanistan (in October 2001) and the detention of prisoners in Guantánamo (which opened in January 2002) is the Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed by Congress on September 14, 2001, just three days after the 9/11 attacks..”

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Peace Seminar in Cuba Calls for Global Coexistence

Guantanamo

The 2nd Peace Seminar for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases begins Wednesday in the eastern province of Guantanamo with a call for peaceful coexistence worldwide. Sponsored by the World Peace Council and the Cuban Movement for Peace and Sovereignty of the Peoples, the forum will analyze the disastrous consequences of military bases for the sovereignty of the peoples.