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People & Power takes a look at Rashid Dostum, Afghanistans most notorious warlord.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23689.htm



Afghan MP: US is not seriously fighting insurgents

The following is an abridged transcript of an interview with Afghan parliamentarian Mohammad Asim.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108300&sectionid=3510302



Afghans Trained by Blackwater Defect to Taliban

An Aljazeera producer was able to interview some of those defectors who were unafraid to reveal their identities and were not bashful about their Blackwater issued IDs.

http://snipurl.com/sgbtw



What lies beneath the war in Afghanistan

Al-Qaida only numbered 300 members. Most have been killed. A handful escaped to Pakistan. Only a few remain in Afghanistan. Yet President Barack Obama insists 68,000 or more U.S. troops must stay in Afghanistan to fight al-Qaida and prevent extremists from re-acquiring "terrorist training camps."

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/eric_margolis/2009/10/11/11369636-sun.html



After Nobel nod, Obama convenes war council

Hours after being named a Nobel peace laureate, US President Barack Obama shouldered his duties as commander in chief and convened a war council for crucial talks on Afghan strategy.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/10/2710425.htm?section=justin



From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
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US: Taliban has grown fourfold

Taliban-led forces fighting US and Nato troops in Afghanistan have increased nearly fourfold since 2006, according to a US intelligence estimate presented to the US president.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/10/20091091814483962.html



Top Troop Request Exceeds 60,000

Commander Prefers 40,000 for Afghanistan, but His Report Gives Obama 3 Options.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125504448324674693.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
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Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

10/08/09

The conventional wisdom is that the war in Afghanistan is a ‘war of necessity’ that cannot be lost if the war against al-Qaeda is to be won. This proposition is only now being questioned because the fraud-plagued Afghan election makes a legitimate government almost impossible and because the war in Afghanistan has turned into an eight-year quagmire that is getting worse by the day. Not only is the conventional wisdom wrong, but Gen. Stanley McChrystal should be fired, even if it means losing the war...

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2633


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=McChrystal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=al-Qaeda
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ivan+Eland

American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against the Taleban.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6865359.ece



Opposition says US aid package will enslave Pakistan

Pakistan's opposition has expressed concerns about a US aid package that would provide the country with 7.5 billion US dollars over the next five years.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108118&sectionid=351020401


From Information Clearing House



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

Melvin A. Goodman, Truthout: "President Barack Obama is entering a crucial decision-making phase on Afghanistan at a time when geopolitical mythology is dominating the debate, the Pentagon is requesting additional forces in Afghanistan."

http://www.truthout.org/10080910



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Melvin+A.+Goodman

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/08-6

Afghanistan: Will Obama Listen to the Women?
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/08-7

Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA): Veterans on Afghanistan
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/10/08-9



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Kofferpacken in Kabul

„Zum achten Jahrestag des Beginns der NATO-Intervention in Afghanistan herrscht unter den Verbündeten Aufbruchstimmung. Das niederländische Parlament beschloß am Dienstag abend mit großer Mehrheit, den Truppeneinsatz am Hindukusch nicht über das Jahr 2010 hinaus zu verlängern…“ Artikel von Knut Mellenthin in junge Welt vom 08.10.2009 http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/10-08/031.php


Ein verlorener Krieg

„Seit dem Luftangriff auf die beiden Tanklastwagen, die in der Furt des Kundus-Flusses stecken geblieben waren, ist bis in den letzten Winkel Deutschlands klar geworden, was Verteidigungsminister Jung bislang nicht zugeben wollte. »Die Bundeswehr befindet sich in Afghanistan in einem Krieg … Weiterhin von einem ›robusten Stabilisierungseinsatz‹ zu schwurbeln, verhöhnt Opfer und Soldaten«, erkannte die Badische Zeitung in Freiburg. Auch über die Summe dieses Krieges gibt es keine Illusionen mehr. »Nach acht Jahren Krieg ist die Bilanz vernichtend: Afghanistan ist ein Armenhaus, in dem jeder Zweite unter der Armutsgrenze lebt. Es ist ein Geisterhaus, in dem Korruption, Opiumhandel und Verrohung gedeihen. Und es ist ein Totenhaus, in dem nach UN-Angaben allein im ersten Halbjahr 2009 mehr als 1000 Unbeteiligte bei Anschlägen und Kämpfen ums Leben kamen. Afghanistan ist ein gescheiterter Staat«, faßte die Ostsee-Zeitung in Rostock zusammen. Und das kann man mit den Zahlen der Weltgesundheitsorganisation präzisieren: 54 Prozent der Familien haben weniger als 100 Dollar pro Monat, nur 37 Prozent können sich Lebensmittel leisten, 25 Prozent haben Zugang zu sauberem Trinkwasser, und 54 Prozent der Kinder sind unterernährt. Nur 31 Prozent der Familien können sich Heizöl leisten, weswegen in den langen und harten Wintern viele Menschen erfrieren…“ Artikel von Norman Paech in Ossietzky 19/2009 http://www.sopos.org/aufsaetze/4ac0b8a8c0eb1/1.phtml


Acht Jahre Krieg in Afghanistan

Artikel von Oswald Spranger vom 07.10.2009 bei indymedia http://de.indymedia.org/2009/10/262827.shtml


Aus: LabourNet, 8. Oktober 2009



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Verteidigungsminister+Jung
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bundeswehr

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/07-10

The Suffocatingly Narrow Afghanistan 'Debate'
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/07-8

US Senator Russ Feingold Statement on the 8th Anniversary of the War in Afghanistan
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/10/07-0

War on Afghanistan: Eight Years Too Long
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/10/07-9

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Epitaph on empire

AntiWar.Com
by Philip Giraldi

10/08/09

These days, as the pattern of endless war seems to be locked into the DNA of all our leaders, be they Democrats or Republicans, I grieve particularly for our fellow countrymen who have given up their lives in service to their country over the past nine years. I remember well the young faces of my former Army comrades who died in Vietnam in a war that none of us understood, faces frozen in time from lives now lost forever. The numbers tell us that 4,348 Americans have died in Iraq and 869 in Afghanistan, with no end in sight on either front and the death rate in Afghanistan escalating dramatically. I carefully read the obituaries of soldiers and Marines in the newspapers, men and women just like me who leave behind shattered families, who will never see their children grow, who will never have their dreams realized. … And they have shed their blood not to nourish the tree of liberty, but rather a garden of deceit planted by our politicians, who have forgotten the cardinal rule that asking any American to die on foreign soil should be a last resort, not a ‘policy option.’ Eight years of the sacrifice of our children has not made us safer, has not made us better, and has only made much of the world hate us...

http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2009/10/07/epitaph-on-empire/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

 

http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Philip+Giraldi

"All member countries of NATO including UK will send more forces soon to Afghanistan," Johnson said Tuesday during a joint press conference with Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik in Islamabad.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108043&sectionid=351020403



Barely a third of British public support war in Afghanistan

Only 37% of the UK public supports the war in Afghanistan, according to research published today (7 October), eight years to the day after the war began.

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10352



Most Americans see Afghan fight worth US bloodshed: poll

A solid majority of Americans are willing to see some of their countrymen die to achieve a terror-free Afghanistan, but US misgivings about sending more troops remain, a poll released Wednesday said.

http://snipurl.com/sdxg6



Endless War: Americans Expecting No Resolution in Afghanistan

Majorities of American adults think the war in Afghanistan cannot be won and that its most likely conclusion would be no conclusion at all, according to a poll by Clarus Research Group.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/polltracker/2009/10/afghanistan.html


From Information Clearing House

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Stop Funding Endless War

Truthout Staff: "On the war's eighth anniversary, we urge our president, our Congress and our country to cut the military purse strings and reject an escalation of violence in Afghanistan. Yesterday, the Senate passed $128 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This appropriation could fuel a 'surge' in deployment of US troops to Afghanistan; Gen. Stanley McChrystal recommends an increase of up to 40,000 soldiers."

http://www.truthout.org/1007091



An Open Letter to President Barack Obama

Camillo "Mac" Bica, Truthout: "Dear President Obama: Afghanistan is the good war, you tell us, necessary to ensure that it not again become a training ground and base from which al-Qaeda can launch attacks against the United States. This is also what we heard from the Bush administration war criminals and from others who support continuing, even escalating, the AFPAK campaign."

http://www.truthout.org/1007098



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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/06-5

Obama Should Meet 'Rethink Afghanistan' Caucus
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/06-4

Peace Action West: Eight Years of War in Afghanistan: Peace Group Conducts a "Friendly Takeover" of White House Facebook Page
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/10/06-19

National Priorities Project : Eight Years of US War in Afghanistan: The Dollars Add Up
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/10/06-10

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500,000 Troops to Pashtunistan

Steve Weissman, Truthout: "Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, talks of winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. He sees the need to get beyond standard military thinking and understand the political, religious, social and economic context. He also knows that kicking down doors, destroying homes and killing civilians turns the Afghans against us and creates more insurgents than we could ever kill."

http://www.truthout.org/1006091



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