by John Foster, rabble.ca, August 27, 2009 Why is Afghanistan so important? A glance at a map and a little knowledge of the region suggest that the real reasons for Western military involvement may be largely hidden. Afghanistan is adjacent…
Obama recycles Bush “extraordinary rendition” policy
U.S. President Barack Obama is being accused of recycling one of his predecessor’s most controversial policies: the transfer of prisoners for interrogation to third countries, also known as rendition. An Al Jazeera panel discusses whether this policy has helped the…
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Women Arise – Afghanistan
by Journeyman Pictures, August 24, 2009 ‘The Sex Law’ may have been watered down but forced marriage, domestic violence and rape still define life for most Afghan women. Now a fledgling women’s rights movement is determined to change that legacy.…
Why Afghans Have No Hope in This Week’s Vote
A woman walks under an election campaign banner of Afghanistan’s President Hamidi Karzai in Kabul, Tuesday June 16, 2009. The banner reads in Dari and Pashto “Our Way is the Way of the Peace.” (AP Photo/Ahmad Massoud) by Malalai Joya,…
Arrogance And Torture: A History of Guantánamo
by Andy Worthington, August 18, 2009 The mesh-wire cages, suitable only for animals, are empty now and overgrown, but they will stand forever as a symbol of the Bush administration’s inept, brutal and destructive “War on Terror” policies, implemented in…
Who will be the last to die for this mistake?
by Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian, August 8, 2009 For the past week I have been hearing the rattle of machine guns and the sonic booms of fighter jets tearing across the sky. It sounds like Helmand province, Afghanistan, but it…