Afghan opinion

Paper on the perceptions of Afghans of US and NATO troops in Kandahar. Locals don't trust the troops. Excerpts:

In informal discussions with villagers and residents
of Kandahar city and surrounding districts it was evident that locals don’t really understand
the purpose of this so called ‘surge’. Most believe it will end like previous operations in the
south, in failure, bringing only more grief and sorrow to their homes and villages. Indeed,
many Kandaharis have come to believe that coalition military operations result only in the
death, injury, arrest and dishonouring of innocent Afghan civilians who have nothing to do
with the Taliban.
This said, nor do Kandaharis want the coalition to leave. They see a role for coalition military
forces in the province, albeit one that focuses less on active military operations and more on
stabilisation and peace-building ones.

If there is, however, one overriding reason why locals have little confidence in US-led
operations in Kandahar it is the continued failure of American and coalition forces to
understand local context and dynamics and the impact of their stalled operations on the local
population.

Afghanistan media

A report from the US Institute of Peace on the media in Afghanistan and its problems. They suggest many media programs that would be better, some of which are things like reality tv shows. The report is, of course, not critical.

Taliban ideology

A paper on the Taliban's evolving ideology, which is less fundamentalist than the 1990s' Taliban.

Gaza Youth Manifesto 2

A second Gaza Manifesto is here.

Wikileaks Pilger

Good article on Wikileaks and interview with Assange by John Pilger.

Mexico drug war death data

The Mexican authorities have released extensive data on drug war deaths which can be downloaded here.

Conservatives and Afghanistan

The number of conservatives who think the US should get out of Afghanistan or reduce troop levels there is quite high: 66% according to this poll.

NYT freedom of speech wikileaks

New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told readers in an online exchange that the newspaper has suggested to its media partners and to WikiLeaks what information it believes should be withheld.

"We agree wholeheartedly that transparency is not an absolute good," Keller wrote. "Freedom of the press includes freedom not to publish, and that is a freedom we exercise with some regularity."

The article also explains how wikileaks cables are released and redacted by the media organizations.

Krugman Europe crisis

Krugman on Europe's crisis, he talks a lot about Ireland.

US empire of bases

Excellent article by Nick Turse who tries to count the overseas US military installations, which can reach over 1,000 depending on what is counted and what is not.

Stuxnet

AN ISIS paper about the Stuxnet virus and its possible impacts on Iran's nuclear program.

MEK

Glenn Greenwald has a good article on the meeting of Republican officials with the MEK, a terrorist group according to the US.
And David Cole has a good article on the same subject.

First Gulf War wikileaks

Wikileaks has released a cable from Glaspie describing her meeting with Saddam on July 25 1990.

US Latin America

US foreign policy in Latin America and Colombia.

Gaza Youth's Manisfesto for Change

A group of University students from Gaza has a manifesto denouncing Hamas, Israel, the US, etc.