Kucinich - The truth about Afghanistan |
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3/11/10 Reuters reports:dozens of Obama's Democrats in the House did support the pullout resolution, indicating division over war policy ahead of November congressional elections in which Republicans are expected to make gains. Massachusetts reported an amazing 8 out of 10 in it's delegation getting the anti-war religion, after a wake-up call by disgusted Democrats who stayed home in a recent election, giving the nation Scott Brown.Most notable was that a key member of Congress, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey, voted to pull troops out within 9 months. As committee chairman Obey has the power to singlehandedly block war funding, or impose strict conditions.....the rest of the story at the link
3/10/10 The resolution by liberal Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich is not expected to pass. But it could be an important indicator of how Obama's Democrats feel about the war, particularly ahead of November congressional elections in which Republicans are expected to make gains. 3/8/10 3/3/10 2/24/10 (once more....we are creating 'more terrorists' that want to kill Americans et all by 'our wars'.......what is the point...are our legislators, our president even 'getting it' yet?......) 2/21/10 NATO airstrike kills 27 Afghan civilians The target was a convoy believed to be carrying insurgents in a province bordering Helmand, where a U.S.-led offensive on Marja is in its 10th day. Gen. McChrystal has conveyed regret to President Karzai. (one more - oops....! so sorry folks!....do you think this is 'cutting it" with the Afghanis?......would it 'cut it' if it was your wife, your husband, your children, etc?......and 'we' are paying for this atrocity.......is this how you want 'your' money spent?.....thnk about it!) Outgunned Taliban mounting tough fight in Marjah Outnumbered and outgunned, Taliban fighters are mounting a tougher fight than expected in Marjah, Afghan officials said Sunday, as U.S.-led forces converged on a pocket of militants in a western section of the town.Despite ongoing fighting, the newly appointed civilian chief for Marjah said he plans to fly into the town Monday for the first time since the attack to begin restoring Afghan government control and winning over the population after years of Taliban rule. PRESS RELEASEFRONTLINE GAINS EXTRAORDINARY ACCESS TO AN INSURGENT CELL IN AFGHANISTAN PLOTTING TO BOMB A U.S. SUPPLY ROUTE FRONTLINE Presents BEHIND
TALIBAN LINES Tuesday, February 23,
2010, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS This past fall, veteran Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi negotiated extraordinary access to a militant cell in northern Afghanistan with longtime ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. For 10 days, Quraishi would live among the hard-core fighters of Hezb-i-Islami’s “Central Group” as they attempt to bomb a highway that has become a vital new coalition supply route. “I was thinking that I’m going to meet a group of Taliban,” Quraishi tells FRONTLINE. “I was thinking, this is the time which I came myself to enemy. I was thinking they might not let me go back.” In Behind Taliban Lines, airing Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the growing insurgency in Afghanistan—a first-ever film among these militants as they travel from village to village, picking up support and weapons, imposing sharia law and collecting taxes as they open up a new battlefront in Afghanistan’s northern provinces. “We have around 3,000 to 4,000 Hezb-i-Islami men in the north,” a commander named Kalaqub tells Quraishi. “People come to us from all over Afghanistan. … They come from Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan. We get special mujahids from abroad, but we’re not allowed to talk about them.” Quraishi believes that these special mujahids are mainly Arabs from Yemen and Saudi Arabia trained by Al Qaeda. Indeed, as the men of Central Group proceed toward their target, Quraishi meets a young bomb maker from Uzbekistan who says he was trained by Al Qaeda. “America started this war in Afghanistan so that European countries like England and America would be safe,” he tells Quraishi. “But they should know that once the mujahideen conquer Afghanistan, … we’ll aim for the Middle East and Europe.” Quraishi films the men of Central Group building the IEDs, the improvised explosive devices—stuffing the shells with gunpowder, wiring the blast cap—and talking about the damage they hope to inflict: “This will pop out the eyes of the Americans,” one says. “The fire, smoke and debris will cover 50 to 100 square meters.” After a suspenseful night spent waiting in the field, the insurgents’ plan is ultimately foiled when the bombs fail to detonate. Quraishi manages to interview the man in charge of some 4,000 Hezb-i-Islami fighters in the north. His name is Cmdr. Mirwais, a former millionaire businessman who turned to jihad after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. “Jihad has become a duty for all the Afghan nation because the foreign and nonbeliever countries have attacked us,” Mirwais says. “They’re getting rid of our religious and cultural values in Afghanistan. They’ve increased obscenity and want to force Western democracy on our country.” It was Cmdr. Mirwais who first invited Quraishi to live among the insurgents as a guest, following the journalist’s contact with a Taliban intermediary late last summer. And, after some 10 days of filming, it was Cmdr. Mirwais who Quraishi says may have helped save his life. “Mirwais took my hand; he took me aside,” Quraishi says. “He said: ‘Brother, I invited you here as a guest. I know your plan is to be here for 14 days, but I’m really sorry.’” Two men had arrived from Pakistan—likely from Hezb-i-Islami and Al Qaeda—and they demanded to know why an outsider had been allowed in to film among the fighters. “‘They keep telling me that you are a spy and we have to behead you.’” Quraishi escapes and decides to revisit the place on the highway where he’d witnessed the insurgents planting their roadside bombs. In a telling scene near the end of the film, the local Afghan police seem not to appreciate—or even to acknowledge—the extent of the insurgent threat in the north. “Everything’s fine,” the police chief says. “There’s no problem. They’ve caused some problems, but everything’s fine in this area near the main road. It’s not a problem.” Also in this hour: David Montero reports from Pakistan on the country’s troubled public school system, which is among the worst in the world despite years of U.S. aid. “Today there are 68.4 million children between the ages of 5 and 19 in this country,” says Mosharraf Zaidi, a longtime Pakistani school reformer. “Less than 30 million of those kids are in any type of school. … You look at the consequences of these kids not going to school. If you aren’t capable of participating in the global economy, you will be very, very poor. And desperate and extreme poverty has some diabolical consequences for societies and for individuals.” Behind Taliban Lines is a Clover Films production for WGBH/FRONTLINE in association with CH4. The producer is Jamie Doran. The reporter is Najibullah Quraishi. FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers. Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Park Foundation. FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and described for people who are blind or visually impaired by the Media Access Group at WGBH. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of the WGBH Educational Foundation. The senior producer is Ken Dornstein. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is David Fanning.
2/15/10 Snipers harass US, Afghan troops moving in Marjah Sniper teams attacked U.S. Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah, as several gun battles erupted Monday on the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland.Multiple firefights broke out in different neighborhoods as American and Afghan forces worked to clear out pockets of insurgents and push slowly beyond parts of the town they have claimed. With gunfire coming from several directions all day long, troops managed to advance only 500 yards (meters) deeper as they fought off small squads of Taliban snipers. Military medics try to keep Afghan boy alive (which wouldn't have been needed if 'we' hadn't been there in this 'alleged war') 2/14/10 2/13/10 Bombs slow US advance in Afghan town Bombs and booby traps slowed the advance of thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers moving Saturday through the Taliban-controlled town of Marjah — NATO's most ambitious effort yet to break the militants' grip over their southern heartland.NATO said it hoped to secure the area in days, set up a local government and rush in development aid in a first test of the new U.S. strategy for turning the tide of the eight-year war. The offensive is the largest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. 2/10/10 Thousands of Marines along with foreign and Afghan soldiers are taking up position around the town of Marjah in Helmand, which officials say is one of the last areas of the southern province under Taliban control. The flow of residents fleeing the imminent offensive has slowed, provincial officials said, after loaded-down cars, trucks, tractors and buses clogged roads from Marjah to provincial capital Lashkah Gar for days. "We have announced and told people in Marjah not to leave their houses as our operation is well planned and designed to target the enemy," said Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for Helmand Governor Mohammad Gulab Mangal. 2/9/10 2/5/10 2/1/10 1/30/10 Anger as NATO airstrike kills 4 Afghan soldiersA joint U.S.-Afghan force called in an airstrike on what turned out to be an Afghan army post after taking fire from there before dawn Saturday, killing four Afghan soldiers and prompting an angry demand for punishment from the country's defense ministry.Both NATO and Afghan authorities described the clash around a snow-covered outpost in Wardak province southwest of Kabul as a case of mistaken identity. NATO called the attack "unfortunate" and promised a full investigation.Nevertheless, the deadly strike threatens to strain relations between NATO and the Afghan government at a time when both sides are calling for closer partnership in the fight against the Taliban. The fighting came on the heels of several cases of bloodshed between Afghans and Americans in recent weeks. Obama
Ignores Key Afghan Warning Nothing highlights President
Barack Obama’s abject surrender
to Gen. David Petraeus on the “way forward” in
Afghanistan more than two cables U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry
sent to Washington on Nov. 6 and 9, 2009, the texts of which
were released by the New York Times.
No longer is it possible to suggest that Obama was totally
deprived of good counsel on Afghanistan; Eikenberry got it
largely right.
Sadly, the inevitable conclusion is that, although Obama
is not as dumb as his predecessor, he is no less willing
to sacrifice thousands of lives for political gain. 1/28/10 US troops shoot and kill Afghan cleric near Kabul U.S. soldiers shot and killed an Afghan cleric as he drove Thursday with his young son near an American base on the eastern edge of Kabul, underscoring the dangers facing civilians despite NATO efforts to minimize casualties.The shooting occurred as Mohammad Yunus, 36, approached a four-lane highway with one of his sons, according to police and witnesses.Yunus was struck by four bullets fired at his Toyota Corolla and died on the way to the Wazir Akbar Hospital, according to his son-in-law, Abdul Qadir. His son was not injured. Yunus left two wives and 10 children, Abdul-Qadir said. (oh yes, that is the way to win friends and influence people......!!!??) 'Dogs of war' saving lives in Afghanistan For the US Marines patrolling the dusty footpaths of southern Afghanistan, a bomb-sniffing black Labrador can mean the difference between life and death.These "dogs of war" have saved countless lives and their record for finding hidden explosives has won them a loyal following."They are 98 percent accurate. We trust these dogs more than metal detectors and mine sweepers," says handler Corporal Andrew Guzman. 1/27/10 Afghanistan and Vietnam videos... Obama et. al. know the troop increase can't "work" but they're going to spend the money and spill the blood anyway. Psychopathy. Pure psychopathy. There's no "exit strategy." In Afghanistan, car bomb explodes outside U.S. base On the outskirts of Kabul, the Afghan capital, at least six people are injured in the bombing at Camp Phoenix, which comes on the heels of a Jan. 18 assault on the capital. Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan - A car bomb blew up Tuesday at the gates of a U.S. military base on the outskirts of Kabul, and Afghan officials said at least half a dozen people were hurt. The Taliban claimed responsibility. The attack, the second major strike in Afghanistan's capital in just over a week, appeared intended as a reminder of the insurgency's strength in advance of a major international conference on the country's security. 1/25/10 General hints at Taliban talks The top American commander in Afghanistan told the Financial Times that military force alone can't bring stability to Afghanistan and hinted at the possibility of negotiated political agreements with some Taliban forces. "'As a soldier, my personal feeling is that there's been enough fighting,' he said. 'What I think we do is try to shape conditions which allow people to come to a truly equitable solution to how the Afghan people are governed.' "Asked if he would be content to see Taliban leaders in a future government in Kabul, he said: 'I think any Afghans can play a role if they focus on the future, and not the past.' "The remarks reveal the growing faith the US military is placing in the hope that a power-sharing arrangement can end the war, a possibility floated in Islamabad last week by Robert Gates, the U.S. defence secretary, when he described the Taliban as part of Afghanistan's 'political fabric'.".....(ed duh note: and HOW MUCH OF THE TAXPAYERS MONEY, HOW MANY PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES HAVE BEEN KILLED/MAIMED, DISPLACED.....did it take for him to FINALLY come to that conclusion? Americans, as well as the Afghan people and others around the world have been asking for an end as well as begging for the Iraq war to end for years!.......but the good news, we still have to pay to rebuild what we have destroyed!) With Bombs Falling Around Loretta Sanchez, She Still Questions Afghanistan Adventure Speaking from Afghanistan, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) says she remains skeptical about President Barack Obama's decision to increase troop numbers there. Perhaps the bombs falling all around the House Armed Services Committee's senior female had something to do with that. Speaking by phone from Kuwait City with Dena Bunis, the Orange County Register's Washington, D.C., bureau chief, Sanchez described how bombs greeted her arrival to and departure from Kabul. She and four other members of Congress had to wear body armor and be accompanied by heavy security their entire time in Afghanistan.At a meeting with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Sanchez says she questioned whether the 30,000 additional troops Obama ordered into Afghanistan will get there within his six months timetable and whether the pull-out will really begin in 18 months. "Everyone in this room knows that isn't going to happen,'' Sanchez reportedly told the general. "He just looked at me and didn't answer back.''Later:"I still am pretty skeptical. We are going to have to sustain this much longer than 18 months. . . . We'll be there forever.'' Sanchez advocates the U.S. spending more time and resources in Pakistan, although she expects Congress to approve the money Obama wants for an Afghanistan adventure."I'm not convinced that I'll be a yes for that," she tells Bunis. "I think there could be better places to use our American dollars.'' Taliban attacks paralyze Afghan capital for hours Taliban militants wearing explosive vests launched a brazen daylight assault Monday on the center of Kabul, with suicide bombings and gunbattles near the presidential palace and other government buildings that paralyzed the city for hours. Afghan forces along with NATO advisers managed to restore order after nearly five hours of fighting as explosions and machine gunfire echoed across the mountain-rimmed city, sending terrified Afghans racing for cover. Twelve people were killed, including seven attackers, officials said.The assault by a handful of determined militants dramatized the vulnerability of the Afghan capital, undermining public confidence in President Hamid Karzai's government and its U.S.-led allies. 1/17/10 Militants, Afghan police battle in Afghan capital KABUL – A Taliban spokesman says 20 armed militants, including some with suicide vests, have entered the Afghan capital to target the presidential palace and other government buildings.Smoke rose over the city Monday and fierce gunbattles broke out in the heart of Kabul as Afghan forces fought against the attackers. City streets were emptied.Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in a telephone call that the targets were "the presidential palace and all other government buildings around the palace." 1/12/10 Fort Hood troops ordered to Afghanistan The Pentagon has ordered 3,100 troops, mostly based in Fort Hood, Texas, to deploy to Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama's plan to beef up U.S. forces there.Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division should arrive in summer. The 2,600 soldiers assigned to the brigade will be accompanied by about 500 support troops.Obama is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan with the expectation that U.S. troops would start leaving by July 2011. About 25,000 troops have been given deployment orders.Fort Hood was the site of shootings last November that killed 13. An Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Hasan, has been charged in the case Afghans Losing Hope After 8 Years of War
In Kabul, even a traffic jam can provoke a comment on this
Islamic nation's dismal state, which most people here believe
is at its bleakest since the U.S. invaded to topple the Taliban in
2001. It's a striking sentiment when you consider it comes
after eight years of international intervention, $60 billion
in foreign aid and the lives of thousands of foreign troops
and Afghan civilians.
The Obama administration is hoping to reverse that trend
as an additional 30,000 American and 7,000 NATO troops
pour into the conflict in coming months. But ''the more soldiers
they send here, the worse it gets,'' said 19-year-old carpet
seller Hamid Hashimi.
In the year after the Taliban fell, international forces
numbered a modest 12,000 or so. Today that figure has swollen
to well over 100,000 and will approach 140,000 with the latest
troop commitments. There are also 100,000 Defense Department
contractors supporting the military effort, according to
U.S. lawmakers.
The insurgency has mushroomed in equal measure.The war --
once mostly limited to Pakistan border -- has spread to nearly
ever corner of the country. It has also penetrated the frontier-like
capital, where car bombings or other spectacular attacks
like the October storming of a guest house filled with U.N. staff
make news every couple of weeks.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. 1/1/10 UK reporter, US Marine killed in Afghan blast An explosion outside a village in southern Afghanistan killed a U.S. Marine and a veteran war correspondent who became the first British journalist killed in the conflict, officials said. With the death of Sunday Mirror journalist Rupert Hamer, 18 reporters have been killed in Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, according to figures kept by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "Tragically it was a matter of time," former British forces commander Col. Richard Kemp told Sky News television. "Our journalists, the same as other journalists, our British journalists deploying on operations with forces in Afghanistan or Iraq face exactly the same risks as our soldiers face out there." Hamer, 39, and photographer Philip Coburn, 43, were accompanying a U.S. Marine patrol Saturday when their vehicle was hit by a makeshift bomb near the village of Nawa in Helmand, the Defense Ministry said1/7/10 AP: 2 ex-Blackwater guards charged with murder Two former Blackwater contractors were arrested Thursday on murder charges in the shootings of two Afghans after a traffic accident last year, according to an indictment obtained by The Associated Press. The indictment charges Justin Cannon, 27, and Chris Drotleff, 29, with second-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges. Both of them are in custody, said Peter Carr, a spokesman with the U.S. attorney's office in Virginia's eastern district. Both men have said in recent interviews with The Associated Press that they were justified in opening fire on a car that caused an accident in front of their vehicle, then turned and sped toward them after they got out to help.Wife says CIA bomber hated the United States A Jordanian doctor-turned-suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan is regarded by his family as a martyr in Islam's holy war against the United States, his wife said Thursday. Covered in a black Islamic chador, Defne Bayrak, the Turkish wife of bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, lauded her husband's Dec. 30 attack to Turkish journalists in Istanbul. "I am proud of him; my husband has carried out a great operation in such a war. May God accept his martyrdom," Bayrak told the Dogan news agency. She later told the state-run Anatolia news agency: "My husband did this against the U.S. invasion." Radical Islamists from around the world praised al-Balawi on Jihad forums and religious Web sites. 12/30/09 Western troops killed civilians, Afghan investigators say Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan - Afghan government investigators asserted Wednesday that foreign troops had killed 10 civilians in a raid this week, including eight students younger than 18. Western military officials called the charge unsubstantiated and urged a joint investigation.The deaths, which occurred Sunday in Kunar, a remote northeastern province, sparked street protests Wednesday in Kabul, the national capital, and in the eastern city of Jalalabad. "Obama, take out your troops!" organizers shouted through bullhorns. Blast kills 5 Canadians in southern Afghanistan Four Canadian soldiers and a Canadian journalist were killed when their armored vehicle was hit by a bomb in southern Kandahar province on Wednesday, the Canadian Defense Ministry said.Four other Canadian soldiers and a Canadian civilian official were wounded in the blast, which occurred about four km (2.5 miles) outside the city of Kandahar, the ministry said in a statementThe journalist killed was Michelle Lang, 34, a reporter from the Calgary Herald newspaper who was on assignment in Afghanistan for the Canwest New Service, according to the news agency.Lang, who had recently received a national award for her healthcare coverage, was on her fist assignment in Afghanistan and had only been in the country since December 11. Research related links
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