All Entries Tagged With: "Afghanistan"

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan ‘a real problem’: Gates

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan ‘a real problem’: Gates – The Raw Story |

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged in an interview with Al Jazeera that civilian casualties have become “a real problem” for the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

Gates’ remarks, in an interview to be aired Monday by the Qatar-based Arabic satellite news channel, came amid a raging controversy over an air strike that killed scores of people Friday in northern Afghanistan.

“I think it’s a real problem, and General McChrystal thinks it’s a real problem, too,” Gates said, referring to Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

According to a transcript of the interview posted on Al Jazeera’s website, Gates said the Taliban actively targeted civilians or put them at risk in other ways.

via The Raw Story | Civilian casualties in Afghanistan ‘a real problem’: Gates.

NATO Airstrike in Afghanistan Kills up to 90

NATO Airstrike in Afghanistan Kills up to 90 -  | CommonDreams.org – by Douglas Birch

KABUL – A NATO jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, Afghan officials said.

The NATO command said a “large number of insurgents” were killed or injured in the pre-dawn attack near the village of Omar Khel in Kunduz province. An Afghan police officer said the 90 dead included about 40 civilians who were siphoning fuel from the trucks.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

The top NATO commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has ordered curbs on airstrikes after a strong backlash among Afghans against the high number of civilians killed in such military operations.

via NATO Airstrike in Afghanistan Kills up to 90 | CommonDreams.org.

Obama Is Leading the U.S. Into a Hellish Quagmire

Obama Is Leading the U.S. Into a Hellish Quagmire – By Mark Ames, AlterNet.

Obama is doubling down in Afghanistan with more troops deployed now than the Soviets ever had, at a time when public support for it is sinking like a rock.

America now has more military personnel in Afghanistan than the Red Army had at the peak of the Soviet invasion and occupation of that country. According to a Congressional Research Service report, as of March of this year, the U.S. had 52,000 uniformed personnel and another 68,000 contractors in Afghanistan — a number that has likely grown given the blank check President Obama has written for what’s now being called “Obama’s War.”

That makes 120,000 American military personnel fighting in Afghanistan, a figure higher than the Soviet peak troop figure of 115,000 during their catastrophic 9-year war. Just this week, General McChrystal, whom Obama appointed to command American forces in Afghanistan, is talking ofsending tens of thousands more American troops. At the height of the Soviet occupation,Western intelligence experts estimated that the Soviets had 115,000 troops in Afghanistan — but like America, the more troops and the longer the Soviets stayed, the more doomed their military mission became.

We’re also heading into the same casualty trap as the Soviets did. This summer has been the deadliest in the eight-year war for American troops. While the number of uniformed Americans killed in combat in Afghanistan may seem comparatively low — just over 800, most of those since 2007 — the Soviets also suffered relatively light casualties. Between December 1979 and February 1989, just 13,000 Soviets were killed in Afghanistan, a seemingly paltry figure when you compare it to the 20 million Soviets killed in World War Two, and the millions upon millions who died in the Civil War and Stalin’s Terror. Unlike America, Russians have a reputation for tolerating appalling casualty figures — and yet the war in Afghanistan destroyed the Soviet Empire. Which only proves that crude number comparisons explain nothing at all in warfare today, particularly when that war is an occupation of an alien environment like Afghanistan.

via Obama Is Leading the U.S. Into a Hellish Quagmire | World | AlterNet.

Kucinich renews call for Afghan withdrawal after botched airstrike

Kucinich renews call for Afghan withdrawal after botched airstrike – Raw Story »

In a Friday press release, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) condemned a NATO airstrike which killed 95 people, including much of the population of a small Afghan village, and renewed his call for the United States to withdraw its forces from both Afghanistan and Iraq.

“News reports covering today’s attack by the U.S. command southwest of Kunduz province show that the good intentions of NATO forces in Afghanistan are not sufficient,” Kucinich stated. “If we want to avoid killing innocent civilians, we must end the war.”

The incident occurred after Taliban fighters hijacked two oil tankers and drove them to a village under their control, where they became stuck in the mud. The local villagers then emerged to try to siphon off the fuel. Meanwhile, the hijacking was reported to German troops, who called for an airstrike. The fireball when the trucks were hit killed or badly burned many of the villagers along with some Taliban.

According to the independent, “Western forces were engulfed in bitter controversy yesterday” as the extent of the carnage became apparent. “Nato initially insisted that all the dead were Taliban insurgents. Later, after angry protests from local residents and officials, they acknowledged there had been civilian deaths.”

via Raw Story » Kucinich renews call for Afghan withdrawal after botched airstrike.

Escalation: US wants 20,000 more troops to fight Taliban

US wants 20,000 more troops to fight Taliban – - The Independent

British and American soldiers to shoulder brunt of surge’s next phase

The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan will ask for 20,000 more international troops as part of his new strategic plan for the alliance’s war against a resurgent Taliban, The Independent has learned.

The demand from General Stanley McChrystal will almost certainly lead to more British soldiers being sent to the increasingly treacherous battlegrounds of Helmand, the Taliban heartland, despite growing opposition to the war.

General McChrystal, tasked with turning the tide in the battle against the insurgency on the ground, has given a presentation of his draft report to senior Afghan government figures in which he also proposes raising the size of the Afghan army and police force.

via US wants 20,000 more troops to fight Taliban – Asia, World – The Independent.

U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record

U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record – | McClatchy

With the deaths of four U.S. soldiers Tuesday, the U.S.-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan now has lost more troops this year than in all of 2008, and August is on track to be the deadliest month for American troops there since U.S. operations began nearly eight years ago.

The numbers reflect the rising pace of combat in Afghanistan and come at a difficult time, just as Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is considering asking for more U.S. troops even as opinion polls show that a majority of Americans think the war in Afghanistan isn’t worth the cost.

Underscoring the deteriorating situation, a massive explosion late Tuesday shook the southern city of Kandahar, leveling dozens of businesses as people were breaking the daylong fast of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Local officials said at least 37 civilians were killed and another 100 were injured.

via U.S. deaths in Afghanistan headed for another record | McClatchy.

Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan – The Note

Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan

The Obama administration has been keenly aware of discontent among many in its liberal base with regard to its Afghanistan policy and an expected request for additional troops following General McChrystal’s upcoming assessment of the situation there.

That liberal base just got a high-profile voice to lead its charge.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, called on President Obama to announce a timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.  “This is a strategy that is not likely to succeed,” Sen. Feingold said about the troop buildup in Afghanistan.

“After eight years, I am not convinced that pouring more and more troops into Afghanistan is a well thought out policy,”   said Feingold.  The liberal Democrat said he has expressed his reservations with President Obama, Admiral Mullen, and others inside the administration and he says he has “never been convinced they have a good answer.”

via Feingold to Obama: Announce Withdrawal Timetable from Afghanistan – The Note.

Three Former Top CIA Agents Say War In Afghanistan Making World More Dangerous (VIDEO)

Three Former Top CIA Agents Say War In Afghanistan Making World More Dangerous (VIDEO)

In a powerful new documentary, “Security” from the Rethink Afghanistan project, three former high-ranking CIA agents explain why the war in Afghanistan is making the world more dangerous, rather than safer, for Americans.

Robert Baer, former CIA field operative in the Middle East and the author of “See No Evil,” says: “The notion that we are are in Afghanistan to make our country safer is complete bullshit.”

And Graham Fuller, former CIA station chief in Kabul, emphasizes: “Both wars have made the world much more dangerous for Americans and for any American presence overseas.”

Watch the video:

via Three Former Top CIA Agents Say War In Afghanistan Making World More Dangerous (VIDEO).

Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops

Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops -  - WSJ.com

Despite Surge in U.S. Deployments, More Civilians Are Posted in War Zone; Reliance Echoes the Controversy in Iraq

Even as U.S. troops surge to new highs in Afghanistan they are outnumbered by military contractors working alongside them, according to a Defense Department census due to be distributed to Congress — illustrating how hard it is for the U.S. to wean itself from the large numbers of war-zone contractors that proved controversial in Iraq.

The number of military contractors in Afghanistan rose to almost 74,000 by June 30, far outnumbering the roughly 58,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground at that point. As the military force in Afghanistan grows further, to a planned 68,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Department expects the ranks of contractors to increase more.

via Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops – WSJ.com.

Former CIA Operatives Agree: American Occupation of Afghanistan Threatens US Security

Former CIA Operatives Agree: American Occupation of Afghanistan Threatens US Security

Brave New Foundation Interviews Former CIA Operatives on National Security

Interviews Available Upon Request

LOS ANGELES – August 19 – Afghanistan holds their elections this week and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal prepares to request additional resources for the war in Afghanistan, former CIA operatives raise US security concerns due to the American presence in Afghanistan. Former operatives assert that the US occupation of Afghanistan is a fruitless effort with unclear objectives and no possibility of a definite end. They contend that ultimately, this war only threatens the safety and security of Americans, both in the US and abroad.

To view the video, please click link below:

“Our original objective in Afghanistan was to find Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Eight years later, there is no Al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda has all fled to the Pashtun border of Pakistan. The last thing we want is for Al-Qaeda, an international terrorist organization to destabilize Pakistan and take over their nuclear weaponry.” Bob Baer, Former Officer at the Central Intelligence Agency

“Both wars have made the Middle East and the world much more dangerous for Americans and for any American presence overseas. Its creating much greater hostility towards the US and crating a whole lot more people that would be happy to kill Americans or join in some kind of terrorist operation.” Graham Fuller, former Station Chief in Kabul for the CIA.

“I don’t think the strategy we’re pursuing right now, which is focused on building up the Afghan army, building up the national police and trying to establish central government control throughout Afghanistan is going to work.” Robert Grenier, Former Director for the CIA Counterterrorism Center

Former CIA operative Bob Baer states that over the last eight years, the US has changed its main objective from finding and destroying Al-Qaeda to the never-ending arduous task of nation building. American efforts in Afghanistan have only increased activity and membership of the Taliban, a nationalist organization unaffiliated with Al-Qaeda. He explains that American involvement has only served to push the Taliban into the mountains, endanger Pakistan, and ensnare the US in an Afghan civil war. Baer concludes that US efforts in Afghanistan only further destabilize the region, and does nothing to protect the safety of the American people.

via Former CIA Operatives Agree: American Occupation of Afghanistan Threatens US Security | CommonDreams.org.

The big lie of Afghanistan

The big lie of Afghanistan -  | The Guardian

My country hasn’t been liberated: it’s still under the warlords’ control, and Nato occupation only reinforces their power

In 2005, I was the youngest person elected to the new Afghan parliament. Women like me, running for office, were held up as an example of how the war in Afghanistan had liberated women. But this democracy was a facade, and the so-called liberation a big lie.

On behalf of the long-suffering people of my country, I offer my heartfelt condolences to all in the UK who have lost their loved ones on the soil of Afghanistan. We share the grief of the mothers, fathers, wives, sons and daughters of the fallen. It is my view that these British casualties, like the many thousands of Afghan civilian dead, are victims of the unjust policies that the Nato countries have pursued under the leadership of the US government.

Almost eight years after the Taliban regime was toppled, our hopes for a truly democratic and independent Afghanistan have been betrayed by the continued domination of fundamentalists and by a brutal occupation that ultimately serves only American strategic interests in the region.

via The big lie of Afghanistan | Malalai Joya | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Experts Urge Members of Congress to Rethink Afghanistan

Experts Urge Members of Congress to Rethink Afghanistan

by Robert Greenwald, Brave New Foundation

Bringing Ann Jones, Anand Gopal, and Dr. Roshak Wardak to Washington.

‘m in DC this week for the America’s Future Now! conference, where I’m helping bring together a panel of experts from Afghanistan to discuss the war with conference attendees and members of Congress.  As this war escalates, as the death toll soars and the financial and moral costs spiral out of control, we at Brave New Foundation are working with Campaign for America’s Future to bring in experts who can provide a more complete picture of the dire situation in Afghanistan.

This Tuesday, June 2, from 5:30-6:30 PM in Room 2101 of the Rayburn House Office Building, there will be a briefing for congressional members and staff entitled: “Rethink Afghanistan: A View from the Ground.” The following experts will discuss their perspective on issues facing Afghanistan with a focus on women’s rights and empowerment:

Dr. Roshak Wardak is an MP in the Afghan parliament. She is one of the few MPs who represent nearly 1 million people in their province. She is also a gynecologist and spent many years working with Afghan women in refugee camps in Pakistan.

Ann Jones is the author of eight books of nonfiction, most recently Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan. She spent the last eight years doing humanitarian work in conflict zones—four of them in Afghanistan—and is now working on a book about the impact of war on women worldwide.

Anand Gopal is a journalist covering the “Global War on Terror” from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia to the United States.  He is a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, a contributor to the Huffington Post, and a blogger at www.anandgopal.com.

via Experts Urge Members of Congress to Rethink Afghanistan | Politics | AlterNet.

Afghans riot over air-strike atrocity

Afghans riot over air-strike atrocity

Witnesses say deaths of 147 people in three villages came after a sustained bombardment by American aircraft. Patrick Cockburn, in Herat, reports

Shouting “Death to America” and “Death to the Government”, thousands of Afghan villagers hurled stones at police yesterday as they vented their fury at American air strikes that local officials claim killed 147 civilians.

The riot started when people from three villages struck by US bombers in the early hours of Tuesday, brought 15 newly-discovered bodies in a truck to the house of the provincial governor. As the crowd pressed forward in Farah, police opened fire, wounding four protesters. Traders in the rest of Farah city, the capital of the province of the same name where the bombing took place, closed their shops, vowing they would not reopen them until there is an investigation.

A local official Abdul Basir Khan said yesterday that he had collected the names of 147 people who had died, making it the worst such incident since the US intervened in Afghanistan started in 2001. A phone call from the governor of Farah province, Rohul Amin, in which he said that 130 people had died, was played over the loudspeaker in the Afghan parliament in Kabul, sparking demands for more control over US operations.

via Afghans riot over air-strike atrocity – Asia, World – The Independent.

Karzai Says US Airstrikes “Not Acceptable”

Karzai Says US Airstrikes “Not Acceptable”

KABUL — Video of the aftermath of a disputed incident involving American forces and the Taliban shows bloodied bodies of children laid out with other corpses, confirming international Red Cross findings at the two remote villages in western Afghanistan. The U.S. military does not contest that civilians died but called “extremely over-exaggerated” a report by an Afghan official that as many as 147 were killed.

Afghans blame aerial bombing Monday and Tuesday for the deaths and destruction. President Hamid Karzai said the airstrikes were “not acceptable” and said the government estimated the number of civilian deaths to be 125 to 130, according to an interview with CNN on Friday.

“We cannot justify in any manner, for whatever number of Taliban, for whatever number of significantly important terrorists, the accidental or otherwise loss of civilians,” he was quoted as saying.

via Karzai Says US Airstrikes “Not Acceptable”.

Rethink Afghanistan (Part 3): Cost of War – trailer

YouTube – Rethink Afghanistan (Part 3): Cost of War – trailer.

Plan to Split Taliban Lures Obama Deeper Into War

Plan to Split Taliban Lures Obama Deeper Into War

WASHINGTON – Advanced reports on the Barack Obama administration’s strategy to “peel off” a majority of insurgent commanders from the “hard core” of Taliban suggest that it will be presented as a political route to victory in Afghanistan that would not require U.S. and NATO troops to win militarily.

But experts warn that the strategy is unlikely to work. And by appearing to provide a political route to victory, the strategy is luring the administration into a renewed commitment to war in Afghanistan and diverting it away from a deal with the Taliban leadership aimed at keeping al Qaeda from having a presence there.

News reports this past week have raised the possibility of negotiations by Afghan, Saudi and Pakistani officials with the Taliban leadership that could result in an agreement not to allow an al Qaeda presence on Afghan territory in return for U.S. and NATO withdrawal and assurances that they will not intervene in the country as long as al Qaeda is kept out.

via Plan to Split Taliban Lures Obama Deeper Into War | CommonDreams.org.

Sen. Sanders Says We Need to Rethink Afghanistan

YouTube – Sen. Sanders Says We Need to Rethink Afghanistan.

Intelligence Failures Crippling Fight Against Insurgents in Afghanistan, says Report

Intelligence Failures Crippling Fight Against Insurgents in Afghanistan, says Report

Leaked analysis condemns US for lack of co-operation • Senior officers’ criticisms also cover Iraq campaign

by Peter Beaumont

A highly critical analysis of the US-led coalition’s counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan has raised serious questions about combat operations in both countries – and the intelligence underpinning them.

[A US radio operator near the Afghan-Pakistan border. US forces are accused of failing to share counterinsurgency intelligence with their international military allies. (Photograph/Reuters)]A US radio operator near the Afghan-Pakistan border. US forces are accused of failing to share counterinsurgency intelligence with their international military allies. (Photograph/Reuters)

The confidential document presents a bleak picture of a counterinsurgency effort undermined by intelligence failures that at times border on the absurd.

Based on scores of interviews with British, US, Canadian and Dutch military, intelligence and diplomatic officials – and marked for “official use only” – the book-length report is damning of a US military often unwilling to share intelligence among its military allies. It depicts commanders in the field being overwhelmed by information on hundreds of contradictory databases, and sometimes resistant to intelligence generated by its own agents in the CIA.

via Intelligence Failures Crippling Fight Against Insurgents in Afghanistan, says Report | CommonDreams.org.

Blasts target main US Afghan base

Blasts target main US Afghan base

The US military says two bomb blasts near the gate to its main Afghan base have injured at least three people.

A car bombing outside the Bagram base was followed moments later by a suicide bombing, US officials said.

“No US soldier was present at that moment but three contractors have suffered minor injuries,” a US military spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Bagram air base is about 60km (40 miles) north of Kabul. It is the main base for the US-led coalition force.

via BBC NEWS | South Asia | Blasts target main US Afghan base.

Missing From the Afghan “Surge”: A Congressional Debate

OPS: Damned good point.  It seems that even with a new Administration, Congress is still exhibiting symptoms of the Battered wife, or Stockholm syndromes

Missing From the Afghan “Surge”: A Congressional Debate

During a house search in Semkar, Afghanistan, a US soldier walks past a group of Afghan men. (Photo: Oleg Popov / Reuters)

A key fact about the recent history of Iraq is absolutely critical to the nascent debate about Afghanistan: There was more to the Iraq “surge” than sending additional troops. So, if folks are going to justify sending more troops to Afghanistan on the grounds that sending more troops “worked” in Iraq, we should be talking about the other elements of US policy in Iraq that changed after November 2006, not just about more troops.

Analysts say elements of the real policy changes that took place in Iraq – changing the troops’ mission from offense to defense, increasing support for indigenous forces and stepping up diplomacy within the nation and among its neighbors – could be very relevant for Afghanistan, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. They say the mission of troops should shift from hunting insurgents to protecting civilians, and focus money on Afghan rather than US troops. “You can get 70 Afghan soldiers for the price of one American soldier deployed to Afghanistan,” noted one analyst. Empowering local leaders may require political reforms – such as allowing governors to be elected locally instead of appointed by Kabul, which would require reform of the Afghan Constitution.

via t r u t h o u t | Missing From the Afghan “Surge”: A Congressional Debate.

YouTube – Afghanistan + More Troops = Catastrophe (Trailer)

YouTube – Afghanistan + More Troops = Catastrophe (Trailer).

Brave New Films

Let’s rethink Afghanistan

ThinkProgress Challenges McCain On His 2003 Statement That We May ‘Muddle Through In Afghanistan’

ThinkProgress Challenges McCain On His 2003 Statement That We May ‘Muddle Through In Afghanistan’

Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) delivered a speech on Afghanistan at the neoconservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. TP Wonk Room’s Matt Duss attended the event and asked McCain this question:

In November 2003, in discussing Afghanistan, you said that given everything else that was going on, we’d probably just “muddle through” in Afghanistan. Now given the rather ambitious set of goals that you’ve set out for us today, it seems that you’ve come to a conclusion that muddling through is not an acceptable outcome. Could you just briefly describe the kind of process in your thinking by which you arrived at this conclusion?

McCain disputed the premise of the question, claiming: “Well, obviously you are taking that statement out of context.” Watch it:

via Think Progress » ThinkProgress Challenges McCain On His 2003 Statement That We May ‘Muddle Through In Afghanistan’.

Afghanistan: U.S. Escalates the Illegal Drug Industry

Afghanistan: U.S. Escalates the Illegal Drug Industry.

Global Research

It is common knowledge that Afghanistan remains the primary source of the world’s supply of opium and heroin. A recent United Nations’ report claims that three quarters of the world’s heroin comes from the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. But there is also recognition that poppies are grown in almost all of the country’s 34 provinces.

The western media argues that most of the production of illegal drugs is being done by the Taliban or that the Taliban is protecting the farmers. The fact that there are well known drug lords in the government of President Hamid Karzai, and many are members of the parliament, is usually ignored. Yet the Asian press carries photos of “narco palaces” in Kabul and describes the local “narcotecture.” The Afghan population is well aware of the close ties between the drug lords and the government.

Of course this is quite embarrassing to the U.S. government, which put Karzai in office and created the present Afghan constitution and system of government. Thus Hillary Clinton, nominated for Secretary of State, created quite a shock when she referred to Afghanistan as a “narco state” in her testimony before the U.S. Senate.

Forgotten in all this is the key role that the U.S. government played in the development and expansion of the illegal drug industry in Afghanistan. It goes back to the decision made in July 1978 by the administration of Jimmy Carter to give aid and assistance to the radical Islamists in their rebellion against the leftist government of the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan.

The CIA and the Afghan Drug Trade

Obama’s very own quagmire

Opinion | Obama’s very own quagmire.

Thomas Walkom

Will Barack Obama provide a way out of Afghanistan? Perhaps. But I’m not optimistic. The new U.S. president talks about the importance of diplomacy and development. However, his actions so far have focused on extending the war.

Obama is continuing the policy, started by his predecessor George W. Bush, of bombing suspected Taliban hideouts in Pakistan. As well, the U.S. has sent about 70 military “advisers” into that country.