Category: International

The US Currently Has 189,000 Personnel in Afghanistan

Stunning Statistics About the War That Everyone Should Know By Jeremy Scahill, Counterpunch, December 18-20, 2009 A hearing in Sen. Claire McCaskill’s Contract Oversightsubcommittee on contracting in Afghanistan has highlighted some important statistics that provide a window into the extent…

The CIA’s Afghan Payroll

Security By Warlords By Gareth Porter, Counterpunch, Weekend Edition: Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009 The revelation by the New York Times Wednesday that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has long been on the payroll of the…

Middle East Water War

Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, is accusing Israel of deliberately denying Palestinians fair access to water. But the Israeli government has called Amnesty’s report “preposterous,” and says Palestinians have failed to develop their own water infrastructure. Al Jazeera’s Jacky…

War next door creates havoc in Pakistan

by Eric Morgolis, Toronto Sun, Oct. 18, 2009 Pakistan, increasingly destabilized by the U.S.-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan, is getting closer to blowing apart. Bombings and shootings have rocked this nation of 167 million, including a brazen attack on army…

Afghanistan: Civilian slaughter continues

Obama’s Unspoken Trade-Off: Dead US/NATO Occupation Troops versus Dead Afghan Civilians? KANDAHAR, Aug 5, 2009 : Villagers look at the bodies of three children after they were killed in an airstrike by foreign troops in Arghandab district of Kandahar, south…

Blackwater down (or at least outed)

The US security firm formerly known as Blackwater is facing damaging new allegations about its behaviour in Iraq. Two former employees have filed testimony claiming their bosses encouraged the murder of Iraqis. The company has denied any wrongdoing, but allegations…