World-News

NATO pilots have been accused of killing 13 Afghan civilians, including nine children, during an attack close to the British base at Musa Kala in Helmand province.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082606X.shtml

Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation Friday into the deaths of eight people in eastern Afghanistan during a raid that U.S. forces claimed targeted al Qaeda members, according to a government statement.

http://tinyurl.com/ge57y


From Information Clearing House

The New York Times writes: "Reclaiming Afghanistan from the Taliban remains a crucial element in America's global struggle against terrorism. So it should be setting off alarm bells in Washington that Afghans are becoming disenchanted with the performance of the country's pro-American president, Hamid Karzai."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082406I.shtml

Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has hit record levels — up by more than 40 percent from 2005 — despite hundreds of millions in counternarcotics money, Western officials told The Associated Press.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_re_as/afghan_opium_boom


From Information Clearing House

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Afghan Opium Cultivation Hits a Record

Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has hit record levels - up by more than 40 percent from 2005 - despite hundreds of millions in counter-narcotics money. The increase could have serious repercussions for an already grave security situation, with drug lords joining the Taliban-led fight against Afghan and international forces.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/081606S.shtml

A former CIA contract worker charged with beating an Afghan detainee who later died was "full of rage" during the man's interrogation and later admitted assaulting the prisoner, witnesses at the ex-contractor's trial said Tuesday.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14438.htm

Claims that US troops shot and killed up to six unarmed Afghan civilians two months ago in Kabul have been given added credibility with a series of photographs offering visual evidence of military misconduct.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080806A.shtml

The government has said its case includes three paratroopers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division who will testify they saw Passaro beat Wali with his hands, his feet and a flashlight in June 2003.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/news/ci_4145837


From Information Clearing House

Today is the official date for the handover of responsibilities from the US coalition to NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, where Taliban incursion and coalition failure to keep aid promises complicate NATO's task.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080206H.shtml

The most senior British military commander in Afghanistan has described the situation in the country as "close to anarchy" with feuding foreign agencies and unethical private security companies compounding problems caused by local corruption. The stark warning came from Lieutenant General David Richards, head of Nato's international security force in Afghanistan, who warned that western forces there were short of equipment and were "running out of time".

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072306D.shtml