Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Afghanistan
Joya on Afghanistan as quoted by Hedges:
“In eight years less than 2,000 Talib have been killed and more than 8,000 innocent civilians has been killed,” she went on. “We believe that this is not war on terror. This is war on innocent civilians. Look at the massacres carried out by NATO forces in Afghanistan. Look what they did in May in the Farah province, where more than 150 civilians were killed, most of them women and children. They used white phosphorus and cluster bombs. There were 200 civilians on 9th of September killed in the Kunduz province, again most of them women and children. You can see the Web site of professor Marc Herold, this democratic man, to know better the war crimes in Afghanistan imposed on our people. The United States and NATO eight years ago occupied my country under the banner of woman’s rights and democracy. But they have only pushed us from the frying pan into the fire. They put into power men who are photocopies of the Taliban.”
Thousands of Afghan civilians have died from insurgent and foreign military violence. And American and NATO forces are responsible for almost half the civilian deaths in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have also died from displacement, starvation, disease, exposure, lack of medical treatment, crime and lawlessness resulting from the war.
“In eight years less than 2,000 Talib have been killed and more than 8,000 innocent civilians has been killed,” she went on. “We believe that this is not war on terror. This is war on innocent civilians. Look at the massacres carried out by NATO forces in Afghanistan. Look what they did in May in the Farah province, where more than 150 civilians were killed, most of them women and children. They used white phosphorus and cluster bombs. There were 200 civilians on 9th of September killed in the Kunduz province, again most of them women and children. You can see the Web site of professor Marc Herold, this democratic man, to know better the war crimes in Afghanistan imposed on our people. The United States and NATO eight years ago occupied my country under the banner of woman’s rights and democracy. But they have only pushed us from the frying pan into the fire. They put into power men who are photocopies of the Taliban.”
Thousands of Afghan civilians have died from insurgent and foreign military violence. And American and NATO forces are responsible for almost half the civilian deaths in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have also died from displacement, starvation, disease, exposure, lack of medical treatment, crime and lawlessness resulting from the war.
Iran nuclear deal
Sahimi on why the deal proposed by the West for Iran to ship all its LEU in one batch is not so good and Iran has good reasons to doubt Russia and France's behavior.
Another article here says that Iran would prefer to buy the fuel on the market rather than ship it outside Iran.
Another article here says that Iran would prefer to buy the fuel on the market rather than ship it outside Iran.
Monday, November 2, 2009
NATO taxing drugs in Afghanistan?
See here.
Occupiers involved in drug trade: Afghan minister
Occupiers involved in drug trade: Afghan minister
The Afghan minister of counter narcotics says foreign troops are earning
money from drug production in Afghanistan.
Press TV
Sunday, Nov 1st, 2009
The Afghan minister of counter narcotics says foreign troops are earning
money from drug production in Afghanistan.
General Khodaidad Khodaidad said the majority of drugs are stockpiled in two
provinces controlled by troops from the US, the UK, and Canada, IRNA
reported on Saturday.
He went on to say that NATO forces are taxing the production of opium in the
regions under their control.
Afghanistan is the world's biggest supplier of opium.
Drug production in the Central Asian country has increased dramatically
since the US-led invasion eight years ago.
A recent report by the United Nations states that Afghan opium is having a
devastating impact on the world, killing thousands in consumer countries.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Ahmad Wali Karzai,
a brother of the Afghan president, is involved in the opium trade, meets
with Taliban leaders, and is also a CIA operative.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Iran nuclear deal
An article reminding us that:
Iran had originally proposed to refuel the Tehran research reactor through purchasing fuel assemblies from international providers, including the United States -- in fact, involving the United States was Iran’s idea of a confidence-building measure. There was a clear consensus within the Iranian leadership in support of this proposal, with President Ahmadinejad speaking about it publicly.
Iran had originally proposed to refuel the Tehran research reactor through purchasing fuel assemblies from international providers, including the United States -- in fact, involving the United States was Iran’s idea of a confidence-building measure. There was a clear consensus within the Iranian leadership in support of this proposal, with President Ahmadinejad speaking about it publicly.
The United States responded with interest to Iran’s initiative but proposed, instead, that Iran ship most of Iran’s low enriched uranium stockpile outside the country for fabrication into fuel rods for the reactor in question. From an Iranian perspective, there are two potential flaws with this approach. First, Iran’s experience of prior cooperation with international actors on its nuclear program has been disappointing. During the 1970s, Iran invested more than $1 billion to build a French reactor which was contractually supposed to guarantee Iran access to that reactor’s fuel. But, when the Islamic Republic was established, France reneged. Now Iran is being called on to trust France, again, to return its fuel.
Second, at Iran’s current production rate for low enriched uranium, it would take Tehran nine to 12 months to replenish the uranium that would be sent out of the country under this deal, if it were sent out in a single batch. For serious national security planners in Tehran, whether they like Ahmadinejad or not, this is potentially problematic as it leaves almost a year’s window of increased vulnerability to an Israeli or U.S. military attack.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Obama has more troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than Bush
There are currently about 124,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 65,000 in Afghanistan. There were 142,000 in Iraq and 31,000 in Afghanistan when Bush left office.
That’s 16,000 more imperialist troops occupying foreign territory, being where they shouldn’t be, meeting with resistance, getting killed under President Obama than under Bush.
Afghan warlords
Afghan warlords or commanders still have much influence in the country:
It is difficult to make accurate assessments of Afghan public opinion, but the attempts at polling that have been made consistently show that the Afghan people want the government to take action against these figures and that they view corruption within the government as a top concern. A 2006 survey by Integrity Watch Afghanistan found that nearly 60 percent of respondents considered the post-2001 period the most corrupt period in the country in the past 50 years, compared to only 9 percent who said corruption was highest during the period of Taliban rule. A 2004 Afghan Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium survey at the beginning of Karzai’s first term in office found that 88 percent supported reducing the power of former commanders in Afghanistan, and another Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission poll in the same year found that more than 75 percent said it was “very important” for those who had committed past crimes be brought to justice.
More recent polling by the Asia Foundation in 2009 found that those identifying warlords specifically as the main source of insecurity in their area had dropped to 7 percent, but that broader concerns about corruption and the government’s failure to deliver services remained strong. Afghan attitudes toward the international community have steadily soured as the Karzai administration has reincorporated warlords back into its government structures without establishing effective checks on their abuse of power. These warlords may offer tactical assistance against terrorist targets, but American association with these figures taints Afghan perceptions of U.S motivations in the country.
Obama expands US military presence in Colombia
Officials have said it would increase U.S. access to seven Colombian bases for 10 years without boosting the number of service personnel and contractors beyond the cap of 1,400 specified by U.S. law. U.S. law specifies that no more than 800 U.S. military personnel and 600 civilian contractors may be in Colombia at any one time. Currently, there are some 230 U.S. service personnel and 400 contractors in the country.
Under the pact, U.S. military personnel will continue to enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution. Some Colombians had objected to exempting U.S. military personnel from local criminal jurisdiction.
Increased U.S. military aid to Colombia's armed forces since 2000 has been key to the recent weakening of the country's main leftist rebel group. The U.S. military has offices at armed forces headquarters and advisers attached to Colombia's main army divisions.
Although there's no evidence of any direct correlation, the boost in aid and cooperation also has coincided with a sharp increase in extrajudicial killings by Colombia's military.
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