MalarkyNews » afghan occupation

US Soldiers ‘Killed Afghan Civilians for Sport and Collected Fingers as Trophies’

Syndicated News — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:52:24 +0000

by Chris McGreal

Twelve American soldiers face charges over a secret "kill team" that allegedly blew up and shot Afghan civilians at random and collected their fingers as trophies.

Five of the soldiers are charged with murdering three Afghan men who were allegedly killed for sport in separate attacks this year. Seven others are accused of covering up the killings and assaulting a recruit who exposed the murders when he reported other abuses, including members of the unit smoking hashish stolen from civilians.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

Afghanistan Bomb Attacks Kill Twenty-One US Soldiers in 48 hours

Syndicated News — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:09:41 +0000

by Ben Farmer in Kabul

A series of bomb attacks have badly hit US troops in eastern and southern Afghanistan in the past 48 hours.

The death toll among in the Nato-led coalition has reached 484 this year and is predicted to far surpass 2009's total of 521.

Deaths have risen consistently each year since 2001. Afghan police and civilians have suffered far higher casualties.

The coalition blames the rise in troop deaths partly on the influx of reinforcements, which is allowing commanders to target previously untouched insurgent safe havens where rebels are mounting stiff resistance.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

Afghanistan: Ouster of Contractors Throws US Strategy in Doubt

Syndicated News — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:26:26 +0000

by William Fisher

NEW YORK - Charging that U.S. private security contractors are "mafia- like groups" being financed by U.S. taxpayers to carry out "terrorist activities" with the support of the U.S. government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered a four- month phaseout of all private security companies in his embattled country.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

A Plan B For Afghanistan

Syndicated News — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:56:59 +0000

by Dan Froomkin

There's another way forward in Afghanistan.

Call it Plan B.

An ad hoc group of disillusioned foreign policy experts is offering President Obama a serious, well thought-out alternative to his current failing strategy there.

Their Plan B entails a dramatic reduction in the American troop presence, a mission focused on the minimal Al Qaeda threat rather than on trying to defeat the Taliban, and a peace process that leads to power-sharing.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

Karzai Bans Private Security Firms

Syndicated News — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:44:35 +0000

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has given private security firms working in Afghanistan four months to end their operations.

Karzai has repeatedly called for banning private security companies, saying they undermine government security forces.

"Today the president is going to issue a four-month deadline for the dissolution of private security companies," Waheed Omer, Karzai's spokesman, said on Monday.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

Why Petraeus Can’t Make The Sale

Syndicated News — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:06:37 +0000

by Dan Froomkin

As Gen. David Petraeus kicks off an extended media blitz intended to make Americans feel better about the war in Afghanistan -- or at least give him some more time to fight it -- he faces a foe more implacable than al Qaeda, or even the Taliban: Reality.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

Afghanistan Prepares for Bagram 2.0

Syndicated News — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:12:58 +0000

by Andrew Wander

In the summer of 2009, an extraordinary meeting took place in Kabul, the Afghan capital. On one side of the room sat Anthony Lieto, a retired American army colonel who had helped to oversee sweeping reforms in US detention policy in Iraq. Opposite him were two senior figures from the former Taliban government, both of whom had spent years as prisoners in US custody.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

WikiLeaks Preparing to Release More Afghan Files

Syndicated News — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:40:15 +0000

by Raphael G. Satter

LONDON - WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange said Thursday his organization is preparing to release the rest of the secret Afghan war documents it has on file.

WikiLeaks already has published 77,000 classified U.S. military reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010, an extraordinary disclosure which some say could expose human rights abuses across the NATO-led campaign.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

The Coming Military Offensive Against the July 2011 Timetable

Syndicated News — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:37:53 +0000

by David Dayen

The military has put together a game plan, set up their strategy and deployed their troops into the field. They are ready to storm with full-spectrum pressure to achieve their objective.

I’m not talking about winning the war in Afghanistan, whatever that means these days. I’m talking about winning the war on the end of the war in Afghanistan.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here

Claims of Afghan Civilian Deaths Spark Protest

Syndicated News — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:23:40 +0000

by Amir Shah

A crowd of about 300 villagers yelled "Death to the United States" and blocked a main road in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday as they swore that U.S. forces had killed three innocent villagers, officials said.

Article from CommonDreams.org Headlines read more here