Mostly Water: International news feed

Seven Years in Afghanistan: From "War on Terror" to "War of Terror"

blackandred — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:40:33 -0700

By GARY LEUPP - October 7, 2008

October 7, 2008. Seven years ago today the U.S. began the assault on Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime and produced the present mess. Abetted by U.S. bombing and commando operations, the Northern Alliance took Kabul on November 13, 2001. This was the initial U.S. response to 9-11, an assault on the U.S. by Saudi Islamist fanatics based in Afghanistan. The al-Qaeda attacks killed 3000 people. By March 2002 the U.S. bombing had produced that many Afghan civilian fatalities. This was just the beginning.

Let's Not Forget Iraq

blackandred — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:45:41 -0700

By Mahir Ali - Znet

UNTIL as recently as a year ago, the conflict in Iraq was being portrayed by the primary aggressor as a well-intentioned intervention gone wrong, while Afghanistan was supposed to be the good war. This year the narrative has changed. As Afghanistan's pear shape has become progressively more pronounced, Iraq has suddenly become the success story.

Reports Link Hamid Karzai's Brother to Afghan Heroin Trade

blackandred — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:05:08 -0700

By JAMES RISEN - New York Times

When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden beneath concrete blocks in a tractor-trailer outside Kandahar in 2004, the local Afghan commander quickly impounded the truck and notified his boss...Before long, the commander...received a telephone call from Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, asking him to release the vehicle and the drugs...He said he complied after getting a phone call from an aide to President Karzai directing him to release the truck...[A]llegations that [Ahmed Wali Karzai] has benefited from narcotics trafficking have circulated widely in Afghanistan.

South Africa: The Betrayal of a People's Liberation

blackandred — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:21:40 -0700

By John Pilger - Znet Commmentary

Public services fell in behind privatisation, and low inflation presided over low wages and high unemployment, known as "labour flexibility". According to the [African National Congress], the wealth generated by a new black business class would "trickle down"...[B]lack capitalists proved they could be every bit as ruthless as their former white masters in labour relations, cronyism and the pursuit of profit. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost in mergers and "restructuring" and ordinary people retreated to the "informal economy". Between 1995 and 2000, the majority of South Africans fell deeper into poverty.

The Right of Return is Non-Negotiable: An Open Letter to Palestinian President Abbas

blackandred — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:41:05 -0700

By Palestinian [Organisations] - October 05, 2008

We, the undersigned Palestinian refugee organizations, civil society movements and institutions in the Palestinian homeland and in exile are national organizations working to defend the right of return. We appeal to you now because we are convinced that the alignment of the official Palestinian position and the position of the Palestinian people with regards to the final status negotiation issues is of the highest priority. Foremost among these issues is the cause of the Palestinian refugees.

Torture in the 21st Century

blackandred — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:20:28 -0700

By Deepak Tripathi - October 05, 2008

The 'war on terror' had left a long trail of human rights abuses and created deep divisions that cast a shadow on international relations, making the world more dangerous. In one of the strongest repudiations of the policies of Western governments, the Secretary-General of Amnesty [International], Irene Khan, said: "The politics of fear are fuelling a downward spiral of human rights abuses in which no right is sacrosanct and no person safe." She accused these governments of adopting policies which undermine the rule of law, feed racism and xenophobia, divide communities, intensify inequalities and sow the seeds for more violence and conflict.

Invasion of the Sea-Smurfs

blackandred — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:25:37 -0700

By Amy Goodman - October 05, 2008

A little-noticed story surfaced a couple of weeks ago in the Army Times newspaper about the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team. "Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months...the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks...[T]hey may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control"...The force will be called the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive Consequence Management Response Force. Its acronym, CCMRF, is pronounced "sea-smurf."

The Surge and the Stench of "Victory"

blackandred — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:36:06 -0700

By WILLIAM BLUM - Counterpunch Weekend Edition

No American should be allowed to forget that Iraqi society has been destroyed. The people of that unhappy land have lost everything -- their homes, their schools, their neighborhoods, their mosques, their jobs, their careers, their professionals, their health care, their legal system, their women's rights, their religious tolerance, their security, their past, their present, their future, their lives. But they do have their surge.

Immigrants Among Millions Unlawfully Detained

blackandred — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:23:19 -0700

by Stephanie Nebehay - Thursday, October 02, 2008

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced concern on Thursday that increasing numbers of immigrants and asylum-seekers are being put behind bars in rich countries...Navanethem Pillay, a judge from South Africa, said they are among millions of people believed to be detained arbitrarily or unlawfully worldwide, with many held in inhumane conditions without facing charges.

Ten Reasons Why "Save Darfur" is a PR Scam to Justify the Next U.S. Oil and Resource Wars in Africa

blackandred — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:20:00 -0700

by Bruce Dixon - 1 December, 2007

Bruce Dixon is another who makes the case that the “Save Darfur” campaign is more or less a “humanitarian imperialism” front to be used to justify intended neocon oil and resource wars in the African continent, particularly in the resource-rich Sudan.