World-News

By Gareth Porter

On Thursday, McChrystal's message that his strategy will weaken the Taliban in its heartland took its worst beating thus far, when he admitted that the planned offensive in Kandahar City and surrounding districts is being delayed until September at the earliest, because it does not have the support of the Kandahar population and leadership.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25711.htm



Afghanistan Mineral Riches: Beware the Hype

By James Joyner

The discovery in question dates to 2007, has been widely documented on US government websites for years, and the $1 trillion figure seems to have been conjured from thin air. - The Soviets had documented this trove way back in 1985!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25712.htm



Is Petraeus McChrystal's Replacement or Obama's

By Paul Craig Roberts

The most telling aspect of the McChrystal-Obama contretemps is that it has caused no one in the US government, or media, to ask why the US is still killing women and children in Afghanistan after 9 years. The US government is prepared for everyone except itself to be tried at the War Crimes Tribunal.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25808.htm

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Anxiety Reigns in Washington Over Afghanistan (Petraeus Passes Out During Senate Hearing)

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/15-2

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Senators Rap War Effort

Wall Street Journal

06/15/10

The Obama administration’s Afghan war effort came under blistering bipartisan attack in the Senate Tuesday …. The top Democrat and the top Republican on the Senate committee responsible for military oversight — both of whom were strong supporters of the White House’s decision to surge 30,000 troops into Afghanistan last year — sharply questioned administration claims of progress in southern Afghanistan, where the bulk of new troops has been deployed. … The debate over the July 2011 date dominated Tuesday’s hearing, which was cut short after Gen. David Petraeus, overall commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, briefly fainted during intense questioning by Messrs. Levin and McCain...

http://tinyurl.com/2bzk4n6



Afghan bling

AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo

06/16/10

Just as John McCain was telling Gen. David Petraeus how worried he is that the US is going to leave Afghanistan before ‘the job’ is done, the General’s head dropped onto the desk in front of him: had he passed out from ennui? McCain had the same effect on the American electorate in 2008. Petraeus blamed it on not having had breakfast, but, in any case, the US government seems intent on having Afghanistan for lunch — and what a rich meal that is going to be! According to a piece by James Risen in the New York Times, there’s gold in them thar hills!

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/06/15/afghan-bling/



A question of life and death

The New Republic
by William Galston

06/15/10

Our military commanders in Afghanistan talk incessantly about the need to ’shape’ the political context in a given area before beginning activities with a significant military component — but if their own research is correct, our chances of ’shaping’ Kandahar any time soon range from slim to none. Based on General McChrystal’s own logic, then, we cannot proceed there because a key requirement for success is not fulfilled. And if we can’t prevail in Kandahar, then we’re stuck with the Taliban as a long-term military presence and political force in Afghanistan...

http://www.tnr.com/blog/william-galston/75546/question-life-and-death


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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Making It McChrystal Clear
http://www.lewrockwell.com/shaffer/shaffer218.html

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McCHRYSTAL'S CHALLENGE
http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9755/



http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kandahar
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McChrystal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Petraeus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McCain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Taliban
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=War+Crimes+Tribunal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=James+Risen
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gareth+Porter
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=James+Joyner
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=David+Dayen
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=raimondo
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=William+Galston
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=com/shaffer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Craig+Roberts

http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9730/

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What Could $1 Trillion in Mineral Wealth Mean for Afghanistan?

Tom A. Peter, The Christian Science Monitor: "US and Afghan officials claim to have discovered more than $1 trillion in untapped copper, iron, and lithium deposits in Afghanistan, enough to significantly bolster the future development of the war ravaged country. But there remains skepticism about Afghanistan's mineral wealth, as some critics argue that the extent of un-mined deposits is being inflated to garner support for the war."

http://www.truth-out.org/what-could-1-trillion-mineral-wealth-mean-afghanistan60445

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Afghanistan Mineral Riches Story Is War Propaganda

"Liberal" New York Times sells globalist occupation once more with fake news

Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
Tuesday, Jun 15th, 2010

News that the U.S. has suddenly discovered $1 trillion-worth of mineral deposits in Afghanistan, and descriptions of the bounty as a “game changer” by the corporate media, represent nothing more than crude war propaganda designed to reinvigorate public support for a failing and ever more pointless occupation.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/afghanistan-mineral-riches-story-is-war-propaganda.html

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'Discovery' of Afghan Riches a Pro-war PR Scam?

By Daniel Tencer

The story's timing suggests a Pentagon public relations campaign designed to extend public support for the war with the hope that, in time, Afghanistan may be able to raise itself out of abject poverty.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25718.htm

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Bring on the Coalition of the Digging

Slate
by Christopher Hitchens

06/21/10

The story of countries that are poor because they are rich is an old one: The Congo has been a scandalous example since the time of its private ownership by the Belgian royal family in the 19th century, and to the list of nations subject to depredation by resource exploitation one could also add Haiti, Angola, India, and (to be fair) China. Afghanistan has no infrastructure or professional civil service, no tradition of extractive industry, and no mechanism for sharing resources among its wildly discrepant provinces and regions. A Klondike beyond the Khyber could be the last thing it needs. Still. This is at least a trillion-dollar national-resource treasure in a country that so far has had a GDP with scarcely any pulse. The governments of NATO — which include countries with vast experience in mining, from Germany to Canada and from Britain to the United States — have had almost no real work to do on the economic front except to distribute aid, itself often a cause of resentment, and waste time trying to “interdict” Afghanistan’s only other existing resource, which is opium. Is it conceivable that such an alliance of earth-moving and digging powers could not at last find something genuinely constructive to do in a country where they already have a U.N. mandate for rebuilding and reconstruction?

http://www.slate.com/id/2257659/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://sharenews.twoday.net/topics/Afghanistan/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Pentagon
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=war+propaganda
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Daniel+Tencer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Christopher+Hitchens

US's futile stalemate in Afghanistan increasingly obvious
http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9720/

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Afghanistan: The News Is Bad

While U.S. officials insist they are making progress in reversing the momentum built up by the Taliban insurgency over the last several years, the latest news from Afghanistan suggests the opposite may be closer to the truth.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25684.htm



Obama wants more money for Afghanistan war. Will Congress grant it?

"Some two-thirds of Democrats who supported the president in 2008 now oppose the president's Afghan policy," says former Rep. Tom Andrews (D) of Maine, national director of the Win Without War Coalition.

http://tinyurl.com/2ec4a5l


From Information Clearing House

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Obama's Afghanistan Strategy: The... News... Is... Bad
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/11-3

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McChrystal Faces "Iraq 2006 Moment" in Coming Months

Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal confronts the spectre of a collapse of US political support for the war in Afghanistan in coming months comparable to the one that occurred in the Iraq War in late 2006."

http://www.truth-out.org/mcchrystal-faces-iraq-2006-moment-coming-months60404



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://sharenews.twoday.net/topics/Afghanistan/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McChrystal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Taliban
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Gates
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jim+Lobe
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gareth+Porter

Afghanistan's former head of intelligence says President Hamid Karzai is increasingly looking to Pakistan to end insurgency.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/09/afghanistan-taliban-us-hamid-karzai


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karzai
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Taliban

The Nation
by Tom Hayden

06/07/10

With eighteen Democratic senators voting for Russ Feingold’s legislative call for withdrawal from Afghanistan, is a long and bloody end to the Afghanistan quagmire in sight? Feingold says he was ‘encouraged’ by the May 27 vote in spite of its rejection, particularly because of support from most of the Senate’s Democratic leadership: senators Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer and Patty Murray. Feingold noted that his amendment was only the first Senate attempt to vote on withdrawal in the decade-long war. Only thirteen senators voted for his first attempt to require a similar timetable for Iraq, ‘and today, a timetable is exactly what is in place in Iraq.’ After that first vote in 2007, the combined Senate support for either Feingold’s deadline or softer legislation by Senator Carl Levin calling for gradual withdrawal to begin, rose to majority support in 2008, under the pressure of the antiwar movement and presidential primary politics.”

http://www.thenation.com/article/afghanistan-beginning-end


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan

No to More Money for War, Yes to Feingold-McGovern bill for Withdrawal Timetable.
http://noescalation.org/2010/05/05/withdrawal-timetable/


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan+withdraw
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Feingold
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Richard+Durbin
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Charles+Schumer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Patty+Murray
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Carl+Levin
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tom+Hayden

Holbrooke declined to give clues as to when the US might withdraw its approximately 100,000 troops from Afghanistan.

http://tinyurl.com/2fmqlrj



America's War in Afghanistan Now Officially Longer than Vietnam

As of today, June 7, 2010, the war in Afghanistan has lasted 104 months, surpassing Vietnam as the longest war in American history. American forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, Kabul fell.

http://tinyurl.com/3akfjwy



UK plans to deport Afghan children

A number of other European countries, including Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, are planning to return children to care centres in Afghanistan.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/06/201068143015311885.html


From Information Clearing House

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NATO Suffers Deadliest Day This Year in Afghanistan
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/08-9



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Vietnam
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Holbrooke

Afghan demonstrators blocked the path of a U.S. military convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday after an overnight U.S. raid killed four Afghans and wounded two, an official and protesters said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/07/AR2009030700214.html



UK ex-commander says Afghanistan mission "worthless"

A former British commander in Afghanistan has described the military operation in the south of the country as "worthless" and compared the campaign to the start of the Vietnam war.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKTRE52618020090307


From Information Clearing House



http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=civilian+deaths

Deutschland hat offenbar Probleme, ausreichend Personal für die europäische Polizeimission EUPOL in Afghanistan zu gewinnen. Bei den letzten beiden Ausschreibungen habe es nicht das Bewerberaufkommen gegeben, "das sich die Bundesregierung gewünscht hat", heißt es einer am Dienstag (3. März) veröffentlichten Antwort der Bundesregierung auf eine Anfrage der FDP-Fraktion. Der deutsche Anteil an EUPOL Afghanistan wuchs den Angaben zufolge von 24 Experten Ende Januar vergangenen Jahres auf 46 Ende August und lag am Jahresende bei 42.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19400

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Friedensbewegung startet Unterschriftenkampagne gegen Krieg in Afghanistan. P.E.N. Präsident: "Die Strategie der Bundesregierung in Afghanistan ist gescheitert."

„Am 15. Juni 2010 stellte die Friedensbewegung auf einer Pressekonferenz in Berlin einen Unterschriften-Appell zur Beendigung des Krieges in Afghanistan vor. Im Folgenden dokumentieren wir zu dieser wichtigen Initiative die Pressemitteilung der Kampagne sowie ergänzende Mitteilungen und das erste Medienecho…“ Doku von und beim Friedensratschlag http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/bewegung/appell2010.html

Siehe dazu auch: Appell der Friedensbewegung: Den Krieg in Afghanistan beenden – zivil helfen

„Wir fordern von Bundestag und Bundesregierung den Stopp aller Kampfhandlungen, den sofortigen Beginn des Abzugs der Bundeswehr aus Afghanistan, den Einsatz der frei werdenden Gelder zur Verbesserung der Lebensbedingungen der afghanischen Bevölkerung nach deren Bedürfnissen. So haben ein selbstbestimmter Friedensprozess und der zivile Aufbau in Afghanistan eine Chance…“ Ein gemeinsamer Unterschriften-Appell der Friedensbewegung vom 16. Juni 2010 (pdf) http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/bewegung/afgh/appell2010.pdf


»Zutiefst beunruhigend«. UN-Konvention gegen Straffreiheit für Söldner und private Sicherheitsdienste in Arbeit

Artikel von Thalif Deen aus junge Welt vom 15.06.2010 http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb5/frieden/themen/Privatkriege/konvention.html


Aus: LabourNet, 17. Juni 2010

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24. Juni 2010

NATO-Strategie in Afghanistan gescheitert

Der Rücktritt des Generals McChrystal ist ein Zeichen des Scheiterns der NATO-Strategie in Afghanistan, meint Christine Buchholz, Mitglied im Geschäftsführenden Parteivorstand der LINKEN. Sie erklärt weiter:

Der Juni ist mit bisher 75 toten NATO-Soldaten schon jetzt der für die Koalitionstruppen verlustreichste Monat im gesamten Krieg. Die angekündigte Offensive im Raum Kandahar wird um Monate verschoben und Erhebungen unter Stammesführern belegen, dass die Besatzer unbeliebter sind als noch vor einem Jahr. Das Projekt, die Taliban mit militärischer Härte zurück zu drängen und gleichzeitig die "Herzen und Köpfe" der Afghaninnen und Afghanen zu gewinnen, die sogenannte "zivil-militärische Kooperation", ist offensichtlich gescheitert. Es stellt sich heraus, dass der von US-Präsident Barack Obama angekündigte Beginn des Truppenabzuges 2011 ein leeres Versprechen war. Damit liegt auch die Afghanistan-Politik der Bundesregierung in Trümmern. Sie hatte voll auf diese Strategie gesetzt. Die Einschätzung der LINKEN. hat sich bestätigt. Wir bleiben bei unserer Forderung: Bedingungsloser Truppenabzug sofort!

http://www.die-linke.de/nc/presse/presseerklaerungen/detail/artikel/nato-strategie-in-afghanistan-gescheitert/



http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=McChrystal
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Kandahar
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Taliban
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Schwarz-Gelb

"Internationale Truppen stehen nicht über dem Gesetz"

Angesichts der geplanten Entsendung weiterer Soldaten nach Afghanistan hat Amnesty International eine verstärkte juristische Aufarbeitung der Fälle ziviler Opfer bei Kampfhandlungen gefordert. "Die USA und ihre Verbündeten müssen sicherstellen, dass ihre Truppen die Sicherheit der Afghanen erhöhen, statt sie immer größeren Risiken auszusetzen", fordert Verena Harpe von Amnesty International. Alle in Afghanistan eingesetzten Truppen müssten mehr tun, um zivile Opfer zu vermeiden. "Die de-facto-Straflosigkeit für die Tötung unbewaffneter Zivilisten muss ein Ende haben", so Harpe. Sie fordert koordinierte und transparente Mechanismen zur Aufklärung der Fälle und für Entschädigungen, damit die Opfer und ihre Angehörigen zu ihrem Recht kämen.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19355

US-Präsident Obama erhöht, vorerst ohne neue Strategie, die Truppen, während sich die Situation verschlechtert.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29769/1.html