What's Going on in Afghanistan: An Interview with Sonali Kolhatkar
By Mike Whitney, CounterPunch, July 31, 2008.

Sonali Kolhatkar is the co-author, with James Ingalls, of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (Seven Stories 2006). She is also the Co-Director of Afghan Women's Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works in solidarity with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

Mike Whitney: On a recent stopover in France, Barack Obama said, "We must win in Afghanistan. There is no other option." Recent polls, however, show that public support for the war in Afghanistan has fallen off sharply. In fact, many American's don't even know why we are still there. Is there a big difference between what "winning" means to the Bush administration and what it means to the people of Afghanistan? Also, have you seen any indication that the Bush administration intends to keep its promises and establish security, rebuild the country's infrastructure, spread democracy, remove the warlords, liberate women, and "modernize" Afghanistan or was that all just a public relations smokescreen to promote the invasion?

The U.S. Treats Afghans Like Roaches
by Glenn Ford, Black Agenda Radio commentary, July 23, 2008.

To be occupied by foreign soldiers is always a degradation, but some countries are singularly unsuited to lord it over other nations. The United States seems incapable of conforming to the most elemental standards of civilized behavior when occupying Muslim lands. Americans routinely commit horrific atrocities against populations they are legally obligated to protect from harm. Since the beginning of the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, wedding parties have been especially attractive targets of U.S. airpower. "The crimes - mass murder from the air - point up the casually racist nature" of U.S. rule over non-European "others."

Afghanistan under the knife and hammer
by Richard Seymour, from Lenin's Tomb, July 3, 2008.

The procedure is quite simple. Choose a country in the world that seems to be suffering, in some way dysfunctional, ripe for 'intervention'. Perform some 'surgical' air strikes and, after a quick and painless stitch-up, auction it off to the highest bidders. Having done that, so the theory goes, you can return home and contemplate your good deeds. But, sticking with the medical metaphor for a second, you are not a doctor and you wouldn't know the hippocratic oath if it was printed in reverse lettering on your forehead. Whatever 'illness' you were supposedly dealing with has metastasized while the body is resisting your implants. In fact, the 'patient' keeps trying to kick your ass every time you come near him. Time to give up? Hell no. While Bush sends more troops to Afghanistan, Gordon Brown has insisted that there will be no 'artificial timetable' for British troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Okay, but how about a real timetable?

On March 28, 2008, Naomi Klein gave the keynote address to Canada's first Independent Canadian Jewish Conference, attended by over 100 Jews against the occupation of Palestine from over a dozen organizations in over 20 cities across Canada. Click here to see the video of her presentation.

Washington's Wars and Occupations: Month in Review #35
By Max Elbaum, Published on: March 30, 2008

At the Winter Soldier Hearings sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War, former Marine machine gunner Jon Michael Turner testified:

"On April 18, 2006, I had my first confirmed kill. This man was innocent. He was walking back to his house, and I shot him in front of his friend and his father. The first round didn't kill him, after I had hit him up here in his neck area. And afterwards he started screaming and looked right into my eyes. So I looked at my friend and I said, 'Well, I cant let that happen.' So I took another shot and took him out. He was then carried away by the rest of his family.

"We were all congratulated after we had our first kills, and that happened to have been mine. My company commander personally congratulated me, as he did everyone else in our company. This is the same individual who had stated that whoever gets their first kill by stabbing them to death will get a four-day pass when we return from Iraq..."

Marine Corporal Jason Washburn recounted that his platoon once killed a woman that they genuinely believed was going to hurt them... only to realize the woman was bringing them food. According to Washburn, during his second Iraq tour the Rules of Engagement declared that "anyone on the streets can be considered an enemy combatant."

With 17 prisoners still inside, the Other Campaign declares April 3 an International Day of Action, Tuesday, April 1, 2008, Narco News

In what has been declared a stunning but partial victory for the Other Campaign, the Chiapas government freed thirty political prisoners last night in response to years of protests for their freedom, but not before giving some of them one last thorough beating. Seventeen prisoners remain incarcerated in Chiapas and Tabasco, thirteen of whom are on a hunger strike that has lasted 37 days so far. Prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families and supporters are gearing up for an increasingly tense battle for the freedom of the remaining political prisoners. Outside medical experts say that the symptoms the hunger strikers report and the amount of time they've gone without food has put their lives in danger, and that they may begin to die as early as Sunday. The state government, however, declared that it refuses to negotiate over the remaining prisoners.

One gem of a mission: Feds' push for mining investors in Afghanistan muddles military presence
Saul Chernos
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=162242
Canada's mission in Afghanistan, it appears, may not be limited to hunting down insurgents or building roads.

(the author of this article has requested that we simply link to the Now Magazine site and not print the whole article here.)

IRAQ: Five Years, And Counting
By Dahr Jamail

WASHINGTON, Mar 18 (IPS) - Devastation on the ground and largely held Iraqi opinion contradicts claims by U.S. officials that the situation in Iraq has improved towards the fifth anniversary of the invasion Mar. 20.

U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, during a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday declared the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq a "successful endeavour".

According to the group Just Foreign Policy, more than a million Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion and occupation, now entering its sixth year. A survey by British polling agency ORB estimates the number of dead at more than 1.2 million.

By Malalai Joya, Rabble, March 4, 2008

After 9/11, unfortunately the United States and its allies like Canada pushed us from the frying pan into the fire, by putting in power the Northern Alliance criminals and warlords. As long as they follow this wrong policy, the situation in Afghanistan will become more disastrous.

Canada should not continue its current policy until 2011. Canada should act independently of the United States and find an alternative policy if they really want to be an honest friend of the Afghan people and improve this catastrophic situation.

Phony grassroots groups peddle Conservative propaganda
http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/4705/9/
NUPGE, 28/2/2008
Canadians for Afghanistan and Friends of Science have connections to Harper's political agenda
Before he became prime minister, Stephen Harper headed the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a pioneering wolf-in-sheep's-clothing outfit that championed conservative causes while posing as a grassroots organization.

The NCC was founded more than 40 years ago by the late Colin Brown, a cranky insurance millionaire who sensed populism could be faked and milked for political impact. He'd approve of the tactics Harper is using in Ottawa today.