Author: mara.ahmed

US special forces have also been active along the border, in the tribal belt east of Balochistan. The source said US commando units had conducted four cross-border raids into Pakistan since 2003. Only one, in September 2008, was reported. The first three went undetected thanks to “constant reporting about American spies” in the tribal belt. The former Nato officer said: “There’s so much bullshit out there – the militants blame everything on American soldiers or spies or helicopters. So [when we did act] it was real easy to become part of the background noise.” Full article.

My personal breaking point, after months of jaw-dropping astonishment at Obama’s betrayals, was his refusal almost alone of the world’s leaders to ban child-killing landmines and cluster bombs. His state department announced this shameful policy on Thanksgiving eve, as if to hide it from public notice Obama is continuing Bush’s policy of refusing to honour an international antipersonnel landmine ban – the Ottawa treaty – signed by 158 nations. It’s so cruel and pointless. Mostly the victims are the rural poor, many of them children of the same age as the president’s two daughters. They die from shock or blood loss far from any hospital; and the survivors suffer amputations and blinding. Full article.

Thus the bewildering continuities between Obama’s policies and those of George Bush, his predecessor, emerge: the continued presence in Iraq – which is not close to “winding down” as the president described it, the deepening footprint in Afghanistan, the refusal to support treaties banning land mines and biological weapons, the continued use of private mercenaries, the ongoing detainee abuse at Guantanamo and Bagram prisons, and defence spending higher even than his Republican predecessor’s.These are not mistakes; they are inevitable policy choices in a system built on imperial dominance. And like empires past, they are justified by the use of rhetoric and arguments that exalt one’s own ideals while misrepresenting and denigrating those against whom the mistakes are committed. Full article.

Obama’s rejection of negotiations as a possible solution to terrorism also doesn’t square with the evidence. After analyzing hundreds of terrorist groups that have operated over the last 40 years, a RAND corporation study published last year concluded that military force is almost never successful at stopping terrorism. The vast majority of terrorist groups that ended during that period “were penetrated and eliminated by local police and intelligence agencies (40%), or they reached a peaceful political accommodation with their government (43%).” In other words, negotiation is clearly possible. Full article.

greenwald on thomas-friedman-the-moron: The person who has spent weeks depicting Afghanistan as a “special needs baby” is now lecturing us about the “corrosive mind-set” of “infantilizing” Muslims. And the person who is now inveighing against seeing ourselves as “subjects” and Muslims as “objects” was one of the most vocal cheerleaders for the attack on Iraq on the ground that our invasion would “put Iraq on a more progressive path and stimulate some real change in an Arab world.” Full article.

Calling military contractor activity an “accountability free zone,” Scahill argues that Obama has “paid lip service to oversight and cracking down” while he’s actually expanding the use of contractors. “Without the draft, these wars wouldn’t be possible but for hiring these private contractors,” says Scahill. Watch video.

i usually like hendrik hertzberg. in this piece he is way too soft on obama. maybe coz he’s quite misguided about the war. what struck me however was his astute understanding of why obama is calling for an escalation. the reasons r purely political: “Withdrawal, beginning at once? The political and diplomatic damage to Obama would be severe: a probable Pentagon revolt; the anger of NATO allies who have risked their soldiers’ lives (and their leaders’ political standing) on our behalf; the near-certainty that a large-scale terrorist attack, whether or not it had anything to do with Afghanistan, would be met at home not with 9/11 solidarity but with savage, politically lethal scapegoating.” Full article.

most interesting article. state machinations and outlandish geo-political strategies r not just “conspiracies” – they’re v real. we only have to look at history:

“I was the head of the KGB’s foreign counterintelligence branch when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Dec. 24, 1979. The fateful order to send our military into such difficult terrain was by no means a foregone conclusion. Before Soviet leaders made the final call, we wrung our hands, considered our options, and argued among ourselves. Here is the inside story of how that wrenching decision was made.” Full article.

The winners in this health care reform bill are insurance companies; the American taxpayer is about to be fleeced with a bailout in a situation that dwarfs even what happened at AIG. Full article.

The Barack Obama administration is refusing to acknowledge an offer by the leadership of the Taliban in early December to give “legal guarantees” that they will not allow Afghanistan to be used for attacks on other countries. Full article.

Four presidential candidates join Afghan war protest: Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, Cynthia McKinney speak out against the wars. Watch here.

“Although Obama declared that success in Afghanistan is “inextricably linked” to our “partnership” with Pakistan, he has turned reality on its head by embracing the Pakistan myth: that stabilizing Afghanistan is the key to stabilizing Pakistan. But US pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan is pushing more militants into Pakistan, with the potential for upsetting the delicate political balance there and spreading the Pakistani insurgency beyond the border regions.” Editorial, The Nation, Dec 2, 09

Watch here.

THIS GROUNDWORK paid off for the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11. The U.S. immediately set up military “facilities” in the five Central Asian states formerly part of the USSR that would play an important role in the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Suddenly, the strongest military on earth had secured a position that greatly furthered its aims–militarily pressuring Iran to the west, and giving the U.S. military a key airbase within short flying times of key cities in both Russia and China.Certainly, control of proposed oil and gas pipelines is a key part of the equation. But what the U.S. is after is even bigger–limiting Russia’s economic, political and military revival, and raising the stakes for China as it attempts to turn its growing economic power into greater political clout. Full article.