Religious Leaders' Easter Message To Obama

Suicide Attacks On the Rise

Suicide attacks, once uncommon, on the rise in Afghanistan | GlobalPost: 

"Unheard of during the mujahideen's struggle against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, they are routine today. There have been at least four such attacks in Kabul alone in the last three months. More attempts have been foiled.
Each incident leaves behind a feeling that nowhere is safe, and prompts fresh debate about the nature of the conflict here."

Nato alarm over Afghan Army Crisis

Nato alarm over Afghan army crisis: loss of recruits threatens security as handover looms - Asia - World - The Independent: 
"Shashank Joshi, of the Royal United Services Institute, said: "There is a long-term problem with attrition that has not been resolved, and I suspect the [coalition's] priority now is to salvage the mission and leave as quickly as they can. Even where the Foreign Office suggests there is an improvement in the ANSF, they can't guarantee this will continue after withdrawal because Afghan forces will no longer be able to rely on massive support from the coalition such as intelligence and airlift."
Coalition governments have spent billions developing the ANSF in an effort to create the fully staffed and trained national security forces seen as crucial if Afghanistan is to thrive as a democratic state."

Karzai in Qatar 'to discuss Taliban talks'

BBC News - Afghanistan's Karzai in Qatar 'to discuss Taliban talks': 

"Karzai's office said the talks in Qatar would focus on bilateral cooperation and on Afghanistan's peace process.
Last month Mr Karzai and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said that they would work towards a peace deal for Afghanistan within six months.
Previous talks between the Taliban and the US have run in to difficulties, with the Taliban suspending talks in March last year."

Afghan officials: 15 civilians died in an attack by a NATO helicopter

Afghan officials: 15 civilians died in an attack by a NATO helicopter - UPI.com: 
"A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force confirmed a helicopter had opened fire on suspected Taliban fighters outside Kabul, but did not confirm reports from local officials in the Ghanzi district that 15 civilians had been killed."

Gen. Dunford - Afghanistan Not Ready For US Exit

 

More Civilian Casualties From NATO Raid Yesterday

Afghan civilians suffer casualties in NATO airstrike in Ghazni - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper:
"According to reports at least 8 Afghan civilians have been injured following NATO airstrike in eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan.
Officials in provincial hospital confirming the report said at least 8 civilians including two women, one kid and five men were taken to this hospital."

Harvard study: Iraq, Afghan wars will cost $4 trillion to $6 trillion

Harvard study: Iraq, Afghan wars will cost $4 trillion to $6 trillion - UPI.com: 
"As a consequence of these wartime spending choices, the United States will face constraints in funding investments in personnel and diplomacy, research and development and new military initiatives," Bilmes' report said. "The legacy of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets for decades to come."

Russia may establish new Afghanistan bases

Russia may establish new Afghanistan bases | New Europe: 

"According to RT, Russian Defence Ministry officials and NATO representatives will soon discuss the possibility for Russia establishing new Afghanistan bases. Russian NATO envoy Aleksandr Grushko also said that Moscow was not excluding the possibility of broader cooperation with the international organisation."

Afghanistan 'overreacted' to a 'small incident': Pakistan

Afghanistan 'overreacted' to a 'small incident': FO - PakTribune:

"The spokesman said Pakistan is in favour of intra-Afghan dialogue and that was why it immediately agreed to providing a safe passage to Afghan Taliban at the behest of High Peace Council by releasing several prisoners from jails. He said both countries at a trilateral meeting in London had agreed to form a technical group to finalise the list for release of more Taliban prisoners from Pakistani jails. He said Islamabad has already released 26 Taliban prisoners on the request of the Afghan High Peace Council and was ready to release more prisoners if Kabul sent a request in this regard."

Drones - Naming The Dead

Thanks to the Pan Asian Anchor Blog for this.
Naming the Dead from TBIJ on Vimeo.

Shape of Things to Come - 13 Bombs Defused in Eastern Afghanistan

Fars News Agency :: ISAF: 13 Bombs Defused in Eastern Afghanistan:

16 Year Old Kills ISAF Soldier In Nangarhar

PESHAWAR: A 16-year old boy stabbed a foreign soldier to death in the Shinwar district in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province on Wednesday, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.It said the incident took place in Gurguri village in the Shinwar district close to the border with Pakistan. The ISAF office in Kabul admitted that a foreign soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan but it didn’t provide details of the incident, the AIP added.
A Taliban spokesman told the AIP that the 16-year old boy named Khalid escaped after stabbing the foreign soldier to death and joined the Taliban fighters in the area.

Afghan villagers flee their homes, blame US Drones

Afghan villagers flee their homes, blame US drones as targeted killings of militants rise: 

"The U.S. military is increasingly relying on drone strikes inside Afghanistan, where the number of weapons fired from unmanned aerial aircraft soared from 294 in 2011 to 506 last year. With international combat forces set to withdraw by the end of next year, such attacks are now used more for targeted killings and less for supporting ground troops.
It's unclear whether Predator drone strikes will continue after 2014 in Afghanistan, where the government has complained bitterly about civilian casualties. The strikes sometimes accidentally kill civilians while forcing others to abandon their hometowns in fear, feeding widespread anti-American sentiment."

Afghan Killed US Soldiers Over Koran Insults

BBC News - The Afghan 'green-on-blue' attacker seen as a hero: 
"On 4 April 2011, Samaruddin opened fire on two US soldiers in the northern province of Faryab, killing them both before fleeing.
It was one of dozens of "green-on-blue" attacks in which Afghan security personnel have targeted their Western allies since 2007. More than 100 soldiers in have been killed in one of the gravest security threats to Nato in recent years.
Samaruddin was tracked down three days later.
Nato said that "in the course of conducting an operation to detain him, he was shot and killed while trying to escape from the house he was hiding in"."

Russia seeks to underpin Afghan security after NATO pullout

Russia seeks to underpin Afghan security after NATO pullout | Reuters: 
"With the withdrawal of ISAF, keeping the weapons and equipment of the Afghan national security forces in repair and working condition will be of major importance," Koshelev said.
He indicated that at a conference it plans to host in late May on European security, Russia would like to discuss "the creation of repair facilities on the territory of Afghanistan to keep their military equipment in working condition."
He also said Russia wants closer cooperation between its security alliance with Central Asia and other ex-Soviet states on the one hand and NATO on the other in combating threats that could emerge from Afghanistan."

The Sisyphean US Terror Policy

Speaking to the Brookings Institution this week in Washington, DC, the retired General John Allen said out of all the options for American forces in Afghanistan after the supposed 2014 withdraw date, the “zero option” – removing all US troops – was never really an option at all.
“I was never asked to conduct any analysis with respect to the zero option,” General Allen told Brookings. More

7 Civilians among 32 killed in Logar Operation

7 civilians among 32 killed in Logar operation | Pajhwok Afghan News: 

"Women and children were among the civilians killed in the air raid that wounded several others, the provincial council head, Dr. Abdul Wali, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Some of the victims succumbed to their injuries on their way to hospital, because foreign forces had blocked roads to the district centre, he alleged."

Irak, Afghanistan, Mali, Libye - Toujours la même guerre?

Irak, Afghanistan, Libye, Mali: toujours la... by non-merci

Handover of Bagram - Short Clip

First UK Casualty in Two Months

As the annual Winter lull ends the attacks increase once again. 11 years of failure. How much longer? 
MORE

Drone Carnage - Graphic Illustration of Attacks in Pakistan

LINK TO  GRAPHIC HERE

Bagram - Handover of Notorious Torture Centre

Rush For The Exits Underway

Afghanistan News/Incidents 26th March

Most Australian Troops to Leave Afghanistan by 2013:

5 Police dead in Attack

Taliban deny Karzai Talks

Most Australian troops to leave Afghanistan this year

Most Australian troops to leave Afghanistan this year - Times LIVE:

"Defense Minister Stephen Smith said Tuesday that at least 1 000 of the 1 550 Australian troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn by the end of 2013."

8 suicide bombers attack Afghan police station in Jalalabad

8 suicide bombers attack Afghan police station in Jalalabad - The Globe and Mail: 

"An insurgent in a bomb-laden car detonated his vehicle in front of the Jalalabad Police Quick Reaction Force to start the attack, and another seven attackers wearing bomb vests then stormed the compound, police said. Three of those attackers blew themselves up inside the compound and the other four were shot by police during a gunfight that lasted more than an hour."

Pakistani Taliban threaten to kill Pervez Musharraf

Pakistani Taliban threaten to kill former President Pervez Musharraf - CNN.com:

Incidents 25th March, 2013

10 Afghan Soldiers abducted by Taliban.

Kerry Makes Surprise Visit

US hands over notorious Bagram Prison to Afghan authorities

Kidnapped German Aid Worker Freed

22 killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan bombings

22 killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan bombings - UPI.com:

Incidents 22/23 March

• Three members of the Afghan National Police (ANP) were killed during a joint security operation in the Narang district of the Eastern Kunar province, an official said.
• Kabul (BNA) As a result of explosion a NATO soldier killed in the east of Afghanistan.It is said while he was patrolling on the east of Afghanistan killed in a roadside explosion.
• DEHI KOZI, Tajikistan -- Three Afghan citizens and a Tajik man have been killed in a hostage-taking incident in Tajikistan's south.
• HERAT: An Afghan policeman has shot dead five of his colleagues at a checkpoint in the northern province of Badghis, officials said on Friday.

Anti-US Film From As-Sahab Media

As-Sahab Media : Operations against american... by ecureuil3

Kapisa - Afghanistan

"Kapisa-Afghanistan": Les confidences d'un... by UnionArdennais

Afghan Civilians Continue To Bear The Brunt

UN: Afghan Civilians Continue to Bear Brunt of War by presstv

Nato containers come under attack in Khyber, Peshawar

Nato containers come under attack in Khyber, Peshawar | Pakistan | DAWN.COM:

Buying The War

German court to rule on Kunduz airstrike

German court to rule on Kunduz airstrike | Germany | DW.DE | 20.03.2013: 
"The attack was ordered by German officer Col. Georg Klein and killed between 91 and 141 people - the victims' lawyer Karim Popal and the German Ministry of Defense report different numbers. Taliban fighters had hijacked the fuel tankers at a fake checkpoint and murdered one of the drivers at around midday on September 3."

Bomb kills Afghan district chief, two guards

Bomb kills Afghan district chief, two guards - Trend.Az:

Dying US Veteran's Letter To George Bush

Dangerous Minds | Dying vet’s ‘fuck you’ letter to George Bush & Dick Cheney needs to be read by every American: 
"I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries. I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all—the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief."

Afghanistan: The Way to Peace by Anatol Lieven

Afghanistan: The Way to Peace by Anatol Lieven | The New York Review of Books: 

"Two major new books, together with a number of lesser works, are crucial to an understanding of Afghanistan, the flaws of the Western project there, the enemies that we are facing, and therefore of possible future policies. Barnett Rubin, senior adviser to the US special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan in the first Obama term, has been consistently among the wisest and most sensible of US expert voices on Afghanistan. His book Afghanistan from the Cold War Through the War on Terror is a compilation of his essays and briefing papers over the years, framed by passages looking back at the sweep of Afghan history and the US involvement there since 1979."

“Aimless and Unwise”

Afghanistan calls NATO’s war as “Aimless and Unwise” - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper: 
"Faizai quoted by state news agency, BIA said, “the people of Afghanistan ask NATO to define the purpose and aim of the so-called war on terror, as they question why after a decade, this war in their country has failed to achieve its stated goals, but rather has resulted in the loss of thousands of innocent lives and destruction of their homes.”"

Bush May Be Gone, But "Psychosis" of U.S. Foreign Policy Prevails

Role of US-led Death Squads

Thanks to stunning revelations this month published by The Guardiannewspaper, we know now a key U.S military officer with ties to those"clandestine paramilitary units" in El Salvador – Colonel James Steele – was a key yet albeit shadowy figure behind the training of the Shia militias accused of engaging in the very same extrajudicial activities in Iraq, including the disappearance of thousands of Iraqi men at the beginning of the war into detention centers that were nothing more than secret interrogation and torture chambers run with the funding and assistance of the U.S military. More

Sweden Shows Her Credentials

Guess whose side Sweden is on in the hand over/rendition #Assange to America campaign - LINK 

UN denounces US drone use in Pakistan

UN denounces US drone use in Pakistan - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English: 
"Emmerson visited Pakistan for three days this week as part of his investigation into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killings.
"It involves the use of force on the territory of another state without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," he said.
Emmerson said in January that he would investigate 25 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. He is expected to present his final report to the UN General Assembly in October."

American Empire

Second NATO helicopter Crash This Week

NATO helicopter crash in Kandahar province of Afghanistan - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper:

Afghans protest US forces

Afghans protest US forces - Trend.Az: 

"A council of senior Muslim clerics on Saturday voice support for Karzai's call to withdraw forces in the area as well to handover Bagram detention centre, a key US-run prison, to Afghran control.
The Ulema Council said in strongly-worded statement that if the "Americans won't fulfill the commitment" to relinquish control of the prison and leave Wardak province, then "it would mean occupation, and we will see a reaction."
Bagram prison has become a thorny issue between Karzai and the US military."

Many Afghans held by ADF are falsely accused

Many Afghans held by ADF are falsely accused:
"By the reckoning of elders at Chora, north of Tarin Kowt, the Australians trained an army of local spies who, according to one man, ''make the right reports and the wrong reports, because of local disputes''."

The Destruction of a Nation: Syria’s War Revealed in Satellite Imagery

Interesting images. But Time Magazine manages, as usual, to airbrush out any US/CIA involvement in stoking the chaos and destruction.
The Destruction of a Nation: Syria’s War Revealed in Satellite Imagery | TIME.com:

MoD admits campaign in Afghanistan is 'an unwinnable war'

MoD admits campaign in Afghanistan is 'an unwinnable war' - UK Politics - UK - The Independent: "The report, Lessons from the Soviet Transition in Afghanistan, is an internal research project produced in November last year by the MoD’s think-tank, the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC). Based in Shrivenham, Wiltshire, the DCDC’s reports “help inform decisions in defence strategy, capability development and operations” across all three branches of the armed forces.
The study examines the “extraordinary number of similar factors that surround both the Soviet and Nato campaigns in Afghanistan” and highlights lessons that military commanders could learn.
“The highest-level parallel is that both campaigns were conceived with the aim of imposing an ideology foreign to the Afghan people: the Soviets hoped to establish a Communist state while Nato wished to build a democracy,” it says. “Equally striking is that both abandoned their central aim once they realised that the war was unwinnable in military terms and that support of the population was essential.”"

Massive truck bomb defused in Afghanistan

Massive truck bomb defused in Afghanistan - RTÉ News:

“Afghans suffer in the war on terror” President Karzai

“Afghans suffer in the war on terror” President Karzai: 

"The president criticized the NATO’s fighting mission on the war on terror and said since decade the world utters that terrorism exist beyond the Afghan border, but the NATO forces are still fighting in our villages, they didn’t fight the enemy in their hideouts, training camps and sources equipping them.
President Karzai while touching on the Taliban leaders’ visits to foreign countries said” the Taliban leaders that resides in Quetta and Pakistan and travel to overseas in special aircrafts and traveled to France two months before also hold talks with foreigners and some Afghan politicians and kill a widow here in Afghanistan and express their strength to America."

Robert Bales - Mad Or Just A Bit Drunk?

The best spin that the US military can put on the Kandahar bloodbath is that it was one insane bad apple who did it. But Bales was a soldier they promoted and feted as a poster boy in newspaper articles and military periodicals. 
US soldier accused of Afghan massacre undergoes sanity review - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper:
"John Henry Browne said, the review of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales by Army doctors will start Sunday and could last three to seven days. He has not entered a plea. The Army is seeking the death penalty.
Bales, a father of 2, is accused of being drunk when he crept away from a remote U.S. combat post on foot in the predawn hours of March 11 and gunning down Afghans in their homes."

Suicide bomber attacks Afghan Buzkashi Fans

BBC News - Suicide bomber attacks Afghan buzkashi sports fans:
"The brother and father of the speaker of the Afghan parliament are said to be among the dead in Imam Sahib district, Kunduz province.
Hundreds of people were watching and the death toll may rise further.
Buzkashi is played on horseback and is similar to polo, but uses the headless carcass of a goat instead of a ball."

US Suffers Deadliest Day In 2013

Pentagon Standard "on track" Press Release Released

Where's That Exit?

KUNA : US military transition in Afghanistan "on track" - Pentagon - Military and Security - 12/03/2013:

I am not  saying it is a nicely paved road to the future' he said. No. Really?

US Intel Agencies Issue Pessimistic Report on Afghan War

US intelligence agencies issues pessimistic report on Afghan war - Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper: 

"According to the intelligence agencies battlefield progress is tentative and fragile in areas due to be handed to Afghan forces and the Afghan economy is headed for a downturn when Western aid declines after most NATO troops leave next year.
The report said, “We assess that the Taliban-led insurgency has diminished in some areas of Afghanistan but remains resilient and capable of challenging US and international goals.”"

Thanks For the Nation Building, America

Kandahar Victims' Relatives Fear A US Whitewash

Afghans await justice a year after Kandahar killings | Waslat: "Six representatives from the victims’ families travelled to the US a week ago to sit in at the trial. They wanted to put pressure on the court case by showing their presence, explains Samiullah Khan.
“We have waited for exactly a year now. Our government is weak and has not paid any attention to us,” the 35-year-old says angrily. “The trial should have taken place in Afghanistan. The murders were, after all, committed in Afghanistan. We lost members of our families. The injustice was done to us; the oppressors have done wrong and we are the ones who suffer from it. We want those responsible to be brought to justice.”
“We would rather have seen him hanged in Afghanistan long ago,” says Haji Abdul Balqi, who lost three relatives in the massacre. “But he’s gone now and we cannot hang him here.”"

If You Didn't Know The Afghan Occupation Was a Clusterfuck, Watch This.

This is from a news outlet, CNN, which is essentially a US mouthpiece on geopolitics. They succeed here in nothing less than exposing, in one report, the depths of the chaos which America has compounded in Afghanistan.

Five Americans die in Afghanistan helicopter crash

BBC News - Five Americans die in Afghanistan helicopter crash:

Latest Green On Blue Attack

U.S. troops kill two Afghan Civilians

U.S. troops kill two Afghan civilians after truck ignores warnings to stop - NY Daily News:

"The victims were employees of a company that fixes police cars, Afghan officials said."

2 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan In Latest Insider Attack

2 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan insider attackhaha i - Associated Press - POLITICO.com:

A spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Jamie Graybeal, confirmed that a man in an Afghan police uniform turned his weapon on coalition and Afghan forces and that there were injuries, but declined to give further details or confirm any deaths.
Five Afghan police officers were being held for questioning by the Americans, Koraishi said.
   

Afghan interpreters accuse Danish Def. Ministry

Afghan interpreters accuse Def. Min. - Politiken.dk: 
"One of the interpreters, who worked for Denmark between 2007 and 2009 says that he is definitely from Helmand Province.
“I would like to say to his face: I am from Helmand. If you want to see my identification papers, I have them. I was born in Helmand and grew up in Helmand,” the anonymised interpreter says.
He took part in patrols with Danish soldiers in Helmand, and continues to be attached to the ISAF forces in Afghanistan. His work involved attachments a few kilometres from his home in Helmand’s provincial capital Lashkar Gah.
The allegation is in direct conflict with statements by the defence minister, who in February this year said: “Unlike during the Iraq War, the interpreters we use in Afghanistan are not local. This means that when they have finished their jobs, they do not have to re-enter their local area again and be disliked.”"  'Disliked'?

Afghan actor killed in NATO Air Strike

Afghan actor killed in NATO air strike: "Prominent Afghan actor Nazar Mohammad Majnonyar Helmandi who starred in more than a dozen films has been killed in a NATO air strike in Afghanistan.
Helmandi was killed along with three militants who had seized the movie star on suspicion of spying for the government in Helmand province, his brother Dilawar told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Helmandi had gone to Khoskabi on the outskirts of Lashkargah to inquire after his ailing sister when he was captured by the armed rebels, he said.
The militants were interrogating Helmandi when the NATO air strike took place, killing the actor and the rebels.
Dilawar identified his brother's body which was mutilated beyond recognition.
Police confirmed the air strike, saying a rebel commander, Mohammad Alam, was among those killed.
Helmandi's movies highlighted the struggle against drug trafficking and terrorism in the country."