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Brave New Foundation Releases New Film On Afghanistan Troop Surge (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed —
President Obama has committed 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. This decision raises serious questions about troops, costs, overall mission, and exit strategy. Historically, it has been Congress' duty to ask questions in the form of oversight hearings that challenge policymakers, examine military spending, and educate the public. After witnessing the absence of oversight regarding the Iraq war, we must insist Congress hold hearings on Afghanistan.
Watch the first part from our full-length documentary that will serve as a driving force to help make oversight hearings a reality.
Go to Brave New ...
Obama: US does not Seek Permanent Bases in Afghanistan
Informed Comment —
President Obama said on Friday that the US has no long-term goal of keeping US troops in Afghanistan. In contrast to Obama's pronouncements on getting out of Iaq, he has not announced a timetable for withdrawal. Aljazeera English reports on a demonstration in Ghazni Province against the US and NATO. The crowd say they were upset about a NATO bombing of a mosque. The USG denies that there were GIs operating in that area: Wikileaks discovered that the password for several pages on how to finesse reporters regarding Afghanistan at the Pentagon web site was ...
Is There A Message For Obama In Swat?
DownWithTyranny! —
When I ventured into Mingora in Pakistan's Swat Valley in 1969 it had just gone from being a princely state to just a normal administrative district of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, east of Afghanistan. More recently it has been more or less ceded to the Taliban. Until recently it was still a tourist and honeymooners' destination. That's over. It was Pakistan's most fabled skiing resort. The Taliban burned that down-- along with every school that teaches girls. Once it was a relatively prosperous and well-educated part of Pakistan. Now it's a Taliban hellhole, abandoned by a faltering federal government and under the sway of Shari'a law. Although ...
An Afghan Surge. . . in Civilian Casualties
Firedoglake —
If you’ve been reading along with us on Sunday nights, you’ll remember that over and over we’ve reported on Afghan civilians being killed by US forces – in air strikes and in night raids. Each report follows a very similar pattern – US forces report some number of militants killed, then a report from local authorities ...
Afghanistan Debate Always Seems To Take Place During The Weekends
DownWithTyranny! —
Busy Saturday for Afghanistan policy today! Senator Russ Feingold published an OpEd in the Wall Street Journal calling on a "flexible" timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops. He pointed to 8 years of having achieved basically nothing at all. Feingold, who voted for the initial post 9/11 attack on Afghanistan, was one of the first senators to criticize the incompetence and lack of vision with which the Bush Regime pursued America's national security objectives-- particularly when they simply abandoned the job to pick an unjustifiable fight with Iraq. Likewise, he taking a leading role in warning Obama against "an open-ended commitment to an ...
