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Afghanistan

What It Really Takes To Secure Peace In Afghanistan

February 17, 2019 Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence. , , ,
Kabul - Hossein, a member of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, (APV), which hosted my recent visit to Afghanistan, rolled up his sleeve to show me a still-healing three-inch wound. Thieves had broken into his family home in Kabul. When they were discovered, one of the robbers stabbed Hossein. An APV coordinator, Zekerullah, was robbed and beaten by assailants in broad daylight. Ata Khan lost his camera and mobile phone to a gang of young thieves who accosted him and eight other people in a public park during the daytime. Habib, a recent young graduate of the APV Street Kids School program, suffered blows from several attackers a month ago.

Defying War And Defining Peace In Afghanistan

February 6, 2019 Kathy Kelly, Wagingnonviolence.org ,
On Jan. 27, the Taliban and the U.S. government each publicly stated acceptance, in principle, of a draft framework for ongoing negotiations that could culminate in a peace deal to end a two-decade war in Afghanistan. As we learn more about the negotiations, it’s important to remember others working toward dialogue and negotiation in Afghanistan. Troublingly, women’s rights leaders have not, thus far, been invited to the negotiating table. But several have braved potential persecution to assert the importance of including women in any framework aiming to create peace and respect human rights.

Who Should Negotiate Peace In Afghanistan?

January 31, 2019 By Kathy Kelly, Progressive.org , ,
In January 27, the Taliban and the U.S. government each publicly stated acceptance, in principle, of a draft framework for ongoing negotiations that could culminate in a peace deal to end a two-decade war in Afghanistan. As we learn more about the negotiations, it’s important to remember others working toward dialogue and negotiation in Afghanistan. Troublingly, women’s rights leaders have not, thus far, been invited to the negotiating table. But several have braved potential persecution to assert the importance of including women in any framework aiming to create peace and respect human rights.

Seven Gates Of Damascus And Concrete Walls Of Kabul

January 10, 2019 Andre Vltchek, Informationclearinghouse.info , ,
In Syria, it may be autumn now, but almost the entire country is blossoming again, literally rising from ashes. Two thousand miles east from there, Afghanistan is smashed against its ancient rocks, bleeding and broken. There, it does not really matter what season it is; life is simply dreadful and hope appears to be in permanent exile. Damascus, the ancient and splendid capital of Syria, now the Syrian Arab Republic, is back to life again.People go out until late at night, there are events;there is music and vibrant social life. Not all, but many are smiling again. Checkpoints are diminishing, and now one does not even have to go through metal detectors in order to enter museums, cafes and some of the international hotels.

As Trump Orders US Out Of Afghanistan, Notorious CIA-Backed Units Will Remain

January 7, 2019 By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout.org , , ,
Politicians and pundits alike have roundly criticized Donald Trump for stating he will pull our troops out of Syria and cut US forces in Afghanistan by half. James Mattis immediately resigned as secretary of defense, writing in a letter to Trump, “you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.” As the US military kills civilians in Syria and CIA-led Afghan forces continue to commit war crimes, it appears Trump is doing the right thing in pulling out military troops. But the CIA will remain and grow stronger after the US troops leave. “[A]s American military forces are set to draw down, the role of the Central Intelligence Agency is only likely to grow in importance,” according to The New York Times.

Global Looter: US To Take Afghanistan’s Minerals To Defray Costs

January 6, 2019 Ariyana Love, Middle East Rising. , , ,
The Companies of United States are planning to extract Afghanistan’s enormous reserves of valuable rare earth minerals, Reuters reported after U.S. President Donald Trump met with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani on Thursday. Afghanistan has some of the world’s largest un-extracted reserves of rare earth minerals valuable in electronic production, such as lithium, as well as gold and various gemstones. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the total value at least US$1 trillion. According to a White House statement, the presidents agreed that the development of Afghan minerals by U.S. companies would..

What’s Behind U.S. Troop Withdrawals Announced For Syria And Afghanistan?

December 27, 2018 By Sara Flounders, Workers.org , , , ,
The announced withdrawal of the remaining 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria and a partial withdrawal from Afghanistan does not mean an end to the Pentagon’s aggressive militarism and endless U.S. wars – in Syria, in Afghanistan, in the region or globally. The U.S. military has 170,000 troops stationed outside the U.S. in 150 countries, in more than 800 overseas bases. Nearly 40,000 are assigned to classified missions in locations that Washington refuses to even disclose. Because the Pentagon has continually renamed and shuffled its forces in the Middle East, it’s impossible to know how many troops are on standby and how many are on rotation.

Trump Surpasses Record For Most Bombs Dropped In One Year In Afghanistan, Over 5,200

November 16, 2018 Niall McCarthy, Forbes.com , , , ,
17 years after U.S. forces and the Northern Alliance captured Kabul, half of Afghanistan has been retaken by the Taliban and the war is dragging on. ISIS have also become increasingly active in the country and approximately 14,000 U.S. troops are still serving there in an attempt to contain a growing wave of extremism. Even though the conflict has been making fewer headlines in recent years, the U.S. has never dropped as many bombs on Afghanistan as it did this year. According to U.S. Air Forces Central Command data, manned and unmanned aircraft released 5,213 weapons between January and the end of September 2018.

Four Arrested Blocking Military Drone Base

November 1, 2018 Shirley Osgood and ToBlomé, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Beale Air Force Base, near Wheatland – Four demonstrators were arrested early Tuesday, Oct. 30, as they opposed the ongoing 17-year U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan and U.S. occupation of one of the poorest countries in the world.  Traffic was backed up for 1/2 mile or more down two merging roads, for nearly an hour as protesters – arriving in the dark of early morning – blocked the main entrance road into Beale Air Force Base, South Beale Rd, near Wheatland, CA.  Activists stretched a large banner across the road that said:  STOP DRONING AFGHANISTAN;  17 YEARS ENOUGH!  

Enough Folded Flags: Military Families Speak Out Against The Afghanistan War

October 11, 2018 By Stacy Bannerman, Otherwords.org , , ,
You’d hardly know it from the news, but we’ve been continuously at war in Afghanistan since 2001. The war quietly turned 17 on October 7. Unfortunately, America’s amnesia didn’t prevent Command Sergeant Major Tim Bolyard from being killed in Afghanistan in early September during his eighth combat tour and 13th deployment. Eight combat tours — which should be illegal — sent Bolyard down-range repeatedly in a war President Obama purportedly ended over three years ago. A war this country forgot long before that. A nation that doesn’t remember the men and women sent to fight on its behalf has no business whatsoever sending more.

Suicide Rate Surging Among Afghanistan Iraq War Veterans

September 30, 2018 Whitney Webb, Mintpress News. , , ,
Washington - New data released Wednesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs has shown that the suicide rate among young military veterans continues to climb, despite a decline in the overall suicide rate among U.S. military veterans, amid department efforts to combat the problem. The new data was made available in the VA’s National Suicide Data Report, which found that, in 2016, 6,079 veterans ended their own lives compared to 6,281 in 2015. However, the suicide rate for veterans between the ages of 18 and 34 increased from 40.4 deaths per 100,000 veterans in 2015 to 45 in 2016, four times higher than that of other age groups.

17 Years Of Getting Afghanistan Completely Wrong

September 29, 2018 David Swanson, Davidswanson.org , , , ,
There are, as far as I know, no polls on the percentage of people in the United States who know that the war is still going on, but it seems to be pretty low. Polling Report lists no polls at all on Afghanistan in the past three years. For longer than most wars have lasted in total, this one has gone on with no public discussion of whether or not it should, just annual testimony before Congress that this next year is going to really be the charm. Things people don’t know are happening are not polled about, which contributes to nobody knowing they are happening. Possible reasons for such ignorance include: there have been too many wars spawned by this one to keep track of them all; President Obama claimed to have “ended” the war while explicitly and actually not ending it, and pointing this out could be impolite...

The U.S. Goes To War Against The ICC To Cover Up Alleged War Crimes In Afghanistan

September 18, 2018 Murtaza Hussain, Theintercept.com , , , ,
September 16, 2018 "Information Clearing House" -  The United States has never been a friend of the International Criminal Court. While relations between the U.S. and the ICC have fluctuated over the course of different administrations, the American government has steadfastly refused to take the step that 124 other states have of ratifying the Rome Statute and thus becoming a member of the international legal body. The ICC’s mandate to investigate war crimes has thus been hampered by the unwillingness of the world’s sole superpower to commit to the organization. Recent statements from the Trump administration suggest that the United States is now preparing to go to war against the ICC itself...

The U.S. Goes To War Against The ICC To Cover Up Alleged War Crimes In Afghanistan

September 14, 2018 Murtaza Hussain, Theintercept.com , ,
THE UNITED STATES has never been a friend of the International Criminal Court. While relations between the U.S. and the ICC have fluctuated over the course of different administrations, the American government has steadfastly refused to take the step that 124 other states have of ratifying the Rome Statute and thus becoming a member of the international legal body. The ICC’s mandate to investigate war crimes has thus been hampered by the unwillingness of the world’s sole superpower to commit to the organization. Recent statements from the Trump administration suggest that the United States is now preparing to go to war against the ICC itself, motivated largely by an effort to silence investigations into alleged American war crimes committed in Afghanistan, as well as alleged crimes committed by Israel during the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip.

An Afghan Woman’s Reflection On Afghanistan Post 9/11

September 11, 2018 By Samira Abrar, Popular Resistance ,
The U.S. troops that invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban are still there 17 years later, and so are the Taliban. Today, up to 20 insurgent groups are waging war in my homeland. The US presence has only made the violence worse. Afghanistan has suffered from the aftermath of 9/11 more than any other nation. As we approach the 17th year of the U.S. military intervention, violence across the country is escalating at an alarming rate and the bloodshed doesn’t look set to end anytime soon.
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