World-News

UK ministers believe that if Afghanistan falls into the hands of the Taliban, Pakistan may also fall, with dire consequences for British security. According to a report in the Guardian, Britain has been pressing for greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, but recognises that the border means little to local tribes.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/09/top14.htm


From Information Clearing House

Carlotta Gall reports for The New York Times, "A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080907E.shtml



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

Simultaneously stressed and bored, U.S. soldiers are turning to the widely available drug for a quick escape.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/07/afghan_heroin/



Britain is protecting the biggest heroin crop of all time

Afghanistan now exports not opium, but heroin. Opium is converted into heroin on an industrial scale, not in kitchens but in factories. Millions of gallons of the chemicals needed for this process are shipped into Afghanistan by tanker. The tankers and bulk opium lorries on the way to the factories share the roads, improved by American aid, with Nato troops.

http://tinyurl.com/2s49tu


From Information Clearing House

This war against the Taliban is part of a post-imperial spasm. The longer it is waged, the graver the consequences.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2143788,00.html


From Information Clearing House

The head of Japan's main opposition party reiterated his opposition to extending support for U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan and said his party might submit a bill to scrap Tokyo's mission to help rebuild war-torn Iraq.

http://tinyurl.com/3yo9ej


From Information Clearing House

Mother Jones
by Peter Bergen

08/07

Last year suicide bombings quintupled, attacks on international forces tripled, and support for the Taliban grew. According to CNN terror analyst and Taliban expert Peter Bergen, here are the top 10 entirely avoidable mistakes made by the Bush administration...

http://tinyurl.com/3ycacw


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

On the eve of his Camp David meeting with President George W. Bush, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan painted a bleak picture of life in his country, saying that the security situation had worsened and that the United States and its allies were no closer to catching Osama bin Laden than they were a few years ago.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/06/news/afghan.php


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karzai
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Osama+bin+Laden

Afghanistan: Der Krieg könnte lange dauern, so britische Kommandeure. Indes werfen die USA Iran vor, die Taliban zu bewaffnen.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/25/25883/1.html

Britain and America have been urged to prepare an exit strategy from Afghanistan by sources within the Pakistan government as the number of fatalities among Nato forces fighting the Taliban grows.

http://tinyurl.com/yuzvz4


From Information Clearing House