World-News

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/30

 

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https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/09/28-3

 

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https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/09/28-8

Gates Contradicts Obama: Afghan 'Exit Strategy' a 'Strategic Mistake'
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/09/28

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Insanity Trumps Common Sense in Afghan Policy Fight

Alexander Cockburn, Truthout: "The ripest moment of absurdity last week was the spectacle of Pentagon officials berating The Washington Post for publishing the supposedly confidential assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, prepared by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, America's Man in Charge of that doomed adventure. The Pentagon asked the Post to cut certain passages on the ground that they would compromise national security. Since the document is commonly supposed to have been leaked to Bob Woodward by either McChrystal himself or one of his retinue, it seems silly to start whining about the irresponsibility of the press."

https://www.truthout.org/092809W?n

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Afghan strategy: Mission improbable

Orange County Register
by Alan Bock

09/27/09

I have finished reading the assessment of the Afghan war by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the general tabbed by President Barack Obama to handle that conflict. I confess I was somewhat blown away by how thoroughly nation-building it is. I probably shouldn’t be surprised. Gen. McChrystal was chosen because he’s supposed to be an expert on counterinsurgency, and this assessment basically consists of plugging what can be garnered from the facts on the ground into classic counterinsurgency doctrine. The trouble is that while the doctrine is well-established among military intellectuals (if that isn’t an oxymoron) it has seldom worked in the real world...

https://tinyurl.com/y9b2oa7



Afghanistan: It is decision time

QandO
by Bruce McQuain

09/28/09

We can flood Afghanistan with troops, have them at a one-to-one ratio with the population and provide the security COIN requires. But if that population has no confidence in the viability of its own government, doesn’t support it and doesn’t consider those trying to topple it ‘the enemy,’ the entire effort is doomed. So essentially the choice facing the administration now is to nation build or withdraw. Withdrawal doesn’t necessarily mean we quit the fight against al Qaeda. But for the most part, it would mean quitting the fight against the Taliban. And I think we all know how that would end...

https://www.qando.net/?p=4896


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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The UN said in a new report that NATO air strikes were to blame for about a quarter of civilian deaths across the war-ravaged country over the past months.

https://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107213&sectionid=351020403

 

McChrystal: Things getting worse in Afghanistan

Amid concerns that he might resign over a rift between the military leadership in Afghanistan and the civilian leadership in the Obama White House, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, America's top commander in Afghanistan, sat down for an interview with David Martin of 60 Minutes, airing Sunday.

https://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts925


From Information Clearing House

 

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https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/09/25-10

 

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By Haroun Mir

Almost eight years after military defeat of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan is back to square one. - The same powerbrokers, who should have been sidelined from political process after president Karzai's election in 2004, still manipulate Afghan politics. Meanwhile, a majority of senior officials from Afghan Diaspora, who were once considered a hope for the country, have lost their credibility by enriching themselves at the detriment of the very poor people.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23572.htm

 

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Classified McChrystal Report: 500,000 Troops Will Be Required Over Five Years in Afghanistan

By Tom Andrews

Congress should immediately convene hearings to discuss alternatives to General McChrystal's proposal for such a massive escalation of the war in Afghanistan. It is time for the administration and Congress to demilitarize U.S. policy in Afghanistan and strike out in a new, sustainable, direction.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23566.htm


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The American Prospect
by Tim Fernholz

09/23/09

The Nixon administration, elected on a promise to end the Vietnam War via ‘peace with honor,’ described its strategy as ‘Vietnamization’: building the capacity of the Vietnamese armed forces so that American troops could leave. Today, we have different catchphrases but similar ideas. After requests for more troops and resources from on-the-ground commanders, Sen. Carl Levin, the influential chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced his opposition to sending more American soldiers to Afghanistan but has proposed a ’surge of Afghanistan security forces.’ Which is to say, Afghanistan-ization. � The Republican Party in general has denied the lessons of Vietnam, long associated with two Democratic presidents and ended by a Republican, however disgraced...

https://tinyurl.com/mktxxo

 

Afghanistan

Freedom's Phoenix
by Brock Lorber

09/23/09

Maybe it’s the historic town squares where good friends, neighbors, and occupying armies gather for a great time dancing to the rhythm of bombs echoing off the canyon walls, the sense of satisfaction that comes with getting potable water to a restaurant you bombed this morning and the enemy will bomb tomorrow morning, or enjoying the latest in military hardware. Maybe it’s the endless opportunities to fine tune a lifelong passion for nation building, try something you’ve always wanted to try in your own nation, or just funnel the last of the Treasury through your political friends. Or, maybe it is as simple as the song; ‘It’s a little slice of paradise with sunshine and mines galore �’ Whatever your retirement dream, you’re sure to find it here...

https://tinyurl.com/kruywh


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

 

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Airstrike kills 21 Taliban "militants" in SW Afghanistan

Air raid carried out by international troops against Taliban militants on Wednesday claimed the lives of 21 "militants" in Nimroz province of southwestern Afghanistan, said the provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad.

https://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/23/content_12103192.htm

 

At Pentagon's Request, Post Delayed Story on General's Afghanistan Report

Woodward and Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran, administration officials "did a wholesale declassification of 98 percent" of the document, Woodward said, while The Post agreed to withhold certain operational details.

https://snipurl.com/s2p2z


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By Stephanie Westbrook

While there was definitely an outpouring of solidarity for the families of the soldiers, it was also a remarkably well orchestrated show of "patriotism" - few words were reserved for the 15 Afghan civilians who were also killed that day - aimed at keeping the focus on the fallen soldiers and off the question of the Italian military presence in Afghanistan.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23562.htm

 

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