Category Archives: Afghanistan

Afghanistan, General T&T, International, USA

The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them

4 Comments

How about some accountability for Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen?

By Philip Giraldi
August 24, 2021 – unz.com

US War ShipIf you want to know how the United States wound up with “government by stupid” one need only look no farther than some of the recent propaganda put out by members of Congress, senior military officers and a certain former president. President George W. Bush, who started the whole sequence of events that have culminated in the disaster that is Afghanistan, is not yet in prison, but one can always hope.
Continue reading The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them →

Afghanistan, General T&T, International, Islam, Pakistan, Religion, USA

Surprise us, Mullahs

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
August 23, 2021

Raffique ShahIf there was anything shocking about what happened in Afghanistan last weekend, it was the millions of people who were surprised by the speed at which the Afghan regime collapsed, the military imploded and the Taliban swiftly moved in to declare itself the new government.

BBC journalists referencing Saigon way back on May 1, 1975, when the last Americans who were evacuated from a war that never should have been, reversed on board the aircraft, kicking away desperate Vietnamese who had worked for the US, and who wanted to escape before General Giap’s army took control of the country. “Experts” spoke of the colossal waste of US resources in pursuing yet another ‘mission impossible’ in a country and among a people who will never be tamed, not by Western standards anyway.
Continue reading Surprise us, Mullahs →

Afghanistan, General T&T, International, USA

How the Taliban Overran the Afghan Army

6 Comments

How the Taliban Overran the Afghan Army, Built by the U.S. Over 20 Years

By Yaroslav Trofimov
August 14, 2021 – wsj.com

Taliban CommanderKABUL—The Afghan government outpost in Imam Sahib, a district of northern Kunduz province, held out for two months after being surrounded by the Taliban. At first, elite commando units would come once a week on a resupply run. Then, these runs became more scarce, as did the supplies.

“In the last days, there was no food, no water and no weapons,” said trooper Taj Mohammad, 38. Fleeing in one armored personnel carrier and one Ford Ranger, the remaining men finally made a run to the relative safety of the provincial capital, which collapsed weeks later. They left behind another 11 APCs to the Taliban.
Continue reading How the Taliban Overran the Afghan Army →

Afghanistan, Elections, General T&T, International, Iraq, USA

Beware Trumpism

2 Comments

By Raffique Shah
November 18, 2020

Raffique ShahDonald Trump seems prepared to plunge the United States of America into civil war if that becomes his only option as he clings to the office of President, refusing to acknowledge that he lost the presidential election to Joseph Biden. The world looks on with much foreboding as this real-life tragi-comedy plays before an audience of billions of people.

Trump refuses to recognise the official counting of votes that are presided over by state governors and their staff, many of whom belong to his Republican party. In so doing, he is showing contempt for the state institutions that he, as president, oversees. And he ignores the political and social mores of Washington that hinge on the loser graciously bowing out of office to allow for a smooth transition of power.
Continue reading Beware Trumpism →

Afghanistan, General T&T, International, USA

Pompeo Imposes Visa Ban on ICC Staff Probing US War Crimes

3 Comments

“It reeks of the very totalitarian practices that are characteristic of the worst human rights abusers.”

By Jessica Corbett
March 15, 2019 – Common Dreams

“This is an unprecedented attempt to skirt international accountability for well-documented war crimes that haunt our clients to this day.”

—Jamil Dakwar, ACLU

USAThe move, Pompeo confirmed to reporters Friday morning, is a direct response to ongoing efforts by the ICC to probe allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program, was among those who spoke out against the decision. The ACLU currently represents Khaled El Masri, Suleiman Salim, and Mohamed Ben Soud, who were all detained and tortured in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2008.
Continue reading Pompeo Imposes Visa Ban on ICC Staff Probing US War Crimes →