World-News

In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Air Force said late Friday that it will no longer disclose the number of drone strikes it launches in Afghanistan. In addition, data regarding drone strikes was removed from reports from prior months that had been posted to the Air Force website.

http://is.gd/gJ3no6



Erased US data shows 1 in 4 missiles in Afghan airstrikes now fired by drone

The US military has stopped publishing data on drone use in Afghanistan, claiming missions that include drone strikes are 'the exception', just 3% of all drone flights. However, the figures themselves demonstrate the increasingly important role played by drones in airstrikes by the US and its allies in Afghanistan.

http://is.gd/hdtTmF



US drones spread fear to Afghan villages

Video

Every civilian that US drones kill by mistake is another victory for the Taliban s recruitment campaign.

http://is.gd/qkZra6


From Information Clearing House



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+military
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+Air+Force
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Taliban
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=airstrike
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=drone
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
-----

Hashmat Baktash and Shashank Bengali, McClatchy Tribune Agency: New allegations from Afghan President Hamid Karzai accuse US troops of torturing and abducting civilians.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/14766-karzai-citing-abuse-orders-us-units-out-of-afghan-province



We Are Those Two Afghan Children, Killed by NATO While Tending Their Cattle

Staff, Voices for Creative Nonviolence: Two young Afghan boys herding cattle in Uruzgan Province of Afghanistan were mistakenly killed by NATO forces on March 2nd. They were seven and eight years old.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/15039-we-are-those-two-afghan-children-killed-by-nato-while-tending-their-cattle



SOF Troops Still in Wardak as Joint US-Afghan Probe Continues

Shah Noori and Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: Two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded the withdrawal of all US. Special Operations Forces, American military presence is still active.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/15049-sof-troops-still-in-wardak-as-joint-us-afghan-probe-continues

--------

Afghan governor details alleged abuse by U.S. Special Operations forces

Karzai on Sunday stunned the International Security Assistance Force, as the coalition of foreign forces is known, by ordering all U.S. Special Operations forces to leave Wardak in two weeks, based on allegations that they had been involved in the torture and murder of ''innocent people.''

http://is.gd/NKIujK



Afghans demand inquiry into US special forces

Video

The US special forces, and Afghans working with them, have been accused of torture, theft and even murder in the province directly west of Kabul.

http://is.gd/TXWCdp



US ordered to hand over Afghan militia

President Hamid Karzai yesterday gave US-led foreign forces three months to transfer control over armed Afghan militias to his government, following allegations of abuses by the militiamen.

http://is.gd/o0cuGD



General Says 20,000 Troops Should Continue Afghan Occupation

Gen. James N. Mattis of the Central Command, revealed his recommendation during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he also said that a NATO contribution to an ''enduring mission'' in Afghanistan could equal half of the American deployment.

http://is.gd/Y4zw8R



Karzai accuses US and Taliban of double speak

The bombings, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for, ''were not to show [Taliban] prowess to the United States. They were in the service of the United States. They were in the service of the rhetoric of '2014'. It was meant to scare us, [to show] if they [foreign forces] are not here, 'we will not leave you alone''', Karzai said.

http://is.gd/a4Yusi



US dismisses Karzai s accusations of Taliban terror collusion

The US has denied that it is collaborating with Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan to prolong the stay of its forces beyond next year, refuting an accusation made by President Hamid Karzai in the wake of a series of suicide bombings.

http://is.gd/ULt81i



Afghan villagers threaten uprising if US special forces don t leave

Despite Karzai s orders, the American special operations forces remain in the province where dozens of villagers accuse them and their Afghan partners of intimidation through unprovoked beatings, mass arrests and forced detentions.

http://is.gd/uv1SMe



Massive Afghan rally demands US troops withdrawal from Wardak province

VIDEO

Hundreds of Afghans have marched to the parliament complex in Kabul demanding the withdrawal of US special troops from the eastern province of Wardak. The demonstrators were infuriated by reports of civilians being tortured and killed.

http://is.gd/0vlo7a


From Information Clearing House



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Wardak
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Kabul
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Karzai
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=James+N.+Mattis
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=islamic
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=foreign+forces
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Armed+Services+Committee
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+Central+Command
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Centcom
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+troops
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=special+forces
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=special+operations
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=NATO
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Taliban
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=children
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=detention
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=abuse
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=torture
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Hashmat+Baktash
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Shashank+Bengali
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Shah+Noori
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Gareth+Porter

-----

By Human Rights Watch

The committee said it was ''alarmed'' at reports of the deaths of hundreds of children from US attacks and air strikes in Afghanistan since the committee last reviewed US practices in 2008.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33868.htm



UN body ''alarmed'' by US killings of Afghan children

A UN committee has expressed ''alarm'' over reports that hundreds of children have been killed by US military forces in Afghanistan in the past five years.

http://is.gd/BW1XSx



Senator Feinstein: Why did the US kill two 16 year-olds?

Join us and send a letter to Senator Feinstein, urging her to start with two cases: 16-year-old U.S. citizen Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, killed by a drone strike in Yemen, and 16-year-old Tariq Aziz, killed by a drone strike in Pakistan.

http://is.gd/jTDMtU



Afghanistan confirms UN report on child killings by US-led troops

''We agree with the UN report and confirm that innocent kids have been killed during coalition forces operations specifically US troops operations during the past ten years,'' Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for the Afghan government, said Saturday.

http://is.gd/Oyo52z



12 Afghans killed in US-led forces attack

Witnesses say there six civilians were among those killed in the Monday night attack in Tagab district of Kapisa province.

http://is.gd/Einv60



US strike kills 10 civilians as Obama touts end of Afghan occupation

By Bill Van Auken

Obama reiterated that Washington intends to maintain a military force in Afghanistan well past the formal date for the US-NATO withdrawal at the end of 2014

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33936.htm



Karzai summon NATO commander over civilian deaths

''Pointing to a commitment Gen. Allen had previously made not to conduct any air strike or bombing in residential areas, President Karzai reminded that such incidents must strictly be avoided in future and any recurrence is not acceptable.''

http://is.gd/mzKvSS



Karzai to ban Afghan forces from requesting NATO airstrikes

''I will issue a decree tomorrow that no Afghan security forces in any circumstances can ask for the foreigners' planes for carrying out operations on our homes and villages,'' Karzai said during a speech at the Afghan National Military Academy in Kabul on Saturday.

http://rt.com/news/karzai-ban-nato-airstrikes-385/



US To Continue Afghan Occupation: Will station up to 12,000 troops in Afghanistan, says German official

The US defence secretary has told Nato allies the US will leave between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014, when combat ends, according to a senior government official.

http://is.gd/GOgGrb



Kabul orders US forces out of two Afghan provinces

Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded Sunday the withdrawal of US special forces from Wardak and Logar within two weeks, accusing them of fuelling ''insecurity and instability'' in the volatile provinces neighbouring the capital Kabul.

http://is.gd/b2Upx6


From Information Clearing House

--------

Afghan Civilians Bear Brunt of Death, Injury as US War Continues
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/02/19/

--------

Why the Awlakis Were Killed
http://lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger195.html



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Obama
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Feinstein
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Karzai
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Aimal+Faizi
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Yemen
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Pakistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=NATO
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=special+forces
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Al-Awlaki
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Tariq+Aziz
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+military
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=military+force
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+attack
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=airstrike
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=bombing
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=drone
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=children
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Human+Rights+Watch
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Bill+Van+Auken
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Jon+Queally
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=com/hornberger
-----

Bundestag verlängert Afghanistan-Mandat. Grüne stimmen zum Teil dagegen: ISAF-Einsatz trage zur Gewalteskalation bei

''Mit großer Mehrheit hat der Bundestag am Donnerstag das Mandat zum Einsatz der Bundeswehr in Afghanistan verlängert. 435 Abgeordnete votierten in namentlicher Abstimmung für die Fortsetzung der deutschen Kriegsbeteiligung, 111 Parlamentarier wandten sich dagegen, es gab 39 Enthaltungen. Bis zu 4400 Soldaten sollen bis Ende Februar 2014 am Hindukusch eingesetzt werden, derzeit liegt die Obergrenze des Parlamentsmandats bei 4900 Soldaten?'' Artikel in Neues Deutschland vom 31.01.2013 http://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/811558.bundestag-verlaengert-afghanistan-mandat.html


Krieg in Afghanistan: Was elf Jahre falsch war, wird im zwölften Jahr nicht richtig

''Leere Versprechen, Lügen und Schönfärbereien / Neues Mandat bedeutet Fortsetzung des Krieges / Friedensbewegung fordert: Truppen raus, sofort und bedingungslos. Anlässlich der Debatte im Deutschen Bundestag um die Verlängerung des ISAF-Mandats für Afghanistan erklärten die Sprecher des Bundesausschusses Friedenratschlag, Dr. Peter Strutynski und Lühr Henken, in einer Stellungnahme: Die heutige Bundestagsdebatte hat wieder einmal gezeigt, dass es der Bundesregierung nicht um eine Beendigung des Afghanistankriegs und um den Abzug der deutschen Truppen geht. Sie spricht zwar unermüdlich davon; ihre Taten weisen aber in eine andere Richtung. Das neue Mandat, das heute beschlossen wurde, produziert keinen Abzug sondern leere Versprechen, Lügen und Schönfärbereien?'' Pressemitteilung des Bundesausschusses Friedensratschlag vom 31. Januar 2013 http://www.ag-friedensforschung.de/regionen/Afghanistan/mandat2013-baf.html


Aus: LabourNet, 1. Februar 2013



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=ISAF
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Bundeswehr
-----

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/01/28-3

War Goes on for People of Afghanistan
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2013/02/05-0

--------

Afghanistan security better before British troops arrival: Karzai

Karzai also expressed doubts regarding foreign troops fight in the right part of the country for the past 10 years and questionned whether western forces were pulling out because they had realised the mission was a mistake, or if they believed they had successfully broken up the country s terrorist groups.

http://is.gd/sIOKh6



2 Afghan women killed, 3 children injured in US troops operation

According to local authorities in western Herat province of Afghanistan, at least two women were killed and three children were injured following a military operation by US special forces in this province.

http://is.gd/XqM7bX


From Information Clearing House

--------

Afghan People Face Fearful Future as American Troops Prepare to Exit the Ravaged Country

Laura Flanders, Truthout: Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, talks to Laura Flanders about the economic and social conditions in Afghanistan and what the US ''departure'' and a ''light-footprint strategy'' look like to Afghans.

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14352-the-longest-war-afghan-people-face-fearful-future-as-american-troops-prepare-to-exit-the-ravaged-country



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Karzai
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+troops
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=special+forces
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=military+operation
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=terror+group
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=children
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Kathy+Kelly
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Laura+Flanders
-----

Villagers say all the victims were civilians and had no links to any militant group.
http://is.gd/BPiirj



Prince Harry: I have killed in Afghanistan

But Dad wants me to act like a prince: At end of four-month tour, Captain Wales describes his time at Camp Bastion and frustration with sections of the media.

http://is.gd/KLuiko



'Arrogant and insensitive': Stop the War Coalition attacks Prince Harry for admitting he has killed Taliban insurgents

The Taliban have also condemened the third in line for the throne, calling him a 'coward'.

http://is.gd/oa9Npl



Prince s Harry

By Joe Glenton

Captain Harry Wales; fighter, lover, occasional exhibitionist and warrior-prince of the House of Saxe-Gotha-Coburg.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33697.htm



US-led drone raids kill dozens in Afghanistan

Dozens of people have been killed in two successive US-led assassination drone strikes in eastern Afghanistan, Press TV reports. The deadly attacks took place in eastern Nuristan province late on Monday.

http://is.gd/nesiRC



I killed people in Afghanistan. Was I right or wrong?

By Timothy Kudo

When I joined the Marine Corps, I knew I would kill people. I was trained to do it in a number of ways, from pulling a trigger to ordering a bomb strike to beating someone to death with a rock.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33740.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Marine+Corps
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=insurgent
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Taliban
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=drone
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=assassin
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Joe+Glenton
-----

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/01/07-9

A Voice for Peace in Afghanistan: 'Stop This Criminal War'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/01/10-7

Seeking Security in Afghanistan
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/01/10-10

--------

Special Afghanistan inspector blasts Pentagon, USAID waste

''At $28 million a day, the United States has spent more money rebuilding Afghanistan over the past 11 years than we spent rebuilding Germany after World War II,'' said Sopko.

http://is.gd/zm0cpd



Russia urges NATO to stop killing Afghan civilians

Killing of civilians in Afghanistan by NATO airstrikes has become a vicious trend and must stop, a senior Russian diplomat said on Monday.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/8093159.html


From Information Clearing House



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Russia
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Pentagon
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=NATO
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=USAID
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=airstrike
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Malalai+Joya
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Kathy+Kelly
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Martha+Hennessy
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Jon+Queally
-----

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/12/08-1

Bagram: Torture, Detention Without End at US Military s 'Other Guantanamo'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/08/05-5

US Detention Without Charge at Bagram
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2013/09/04-0



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Bagram
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Guantanamo
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+military
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=enemy+combatant
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=detention
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=torture
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Lauren+McCauley
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Sarah+Lazare
-----

Revised U.S. military statistics show a much, much larger drone war in Afghanistan than anyone suspected.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/12/2012-drones-afghanistan/


From Information Clearing House



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=drone
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Spencer+Ackerman
-----

The Nation
by Robert Dreyfuss

12/04/12

In October, I blogged about an incident in Afghanistan in which three small children were killed in a US airstrike. In that one small incident, which drew little attention at the time and since, three children aged 12, 10 and 8 were blown to smithereens in a NATO bombing while they were out gathering dung for fuel. Now, in a despicable article in Military Times, the US military says that children are legitimate targets in the war in Afghanistan because sometimes the Taliban and other insurgents use kids...

http://tinyurl.com/dyflqhx


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

Prince Harry kills Taliban commander in Afghanistan: reports

Prince Harry who is an RAF helicopter pilot deployed in Afghanistan, has killed a Taliban leader in an airstrike, notching up his first 'kill', British media reported today.

http://is.gd/aSDLeN


From Information Clearing House



http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Afghanistan
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=US+military
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=NATO
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=airstrike
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=bombing
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=insurgen
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Taliban
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://www.sharenews-blog.com:8090/helma/twoday/sharenews/search?q=Robert+Dreyfuss
-----