When Afghanistan Had Hopes for the Future

This is how it was in Afganistan 50 years ago , before wars and the today US and NATO occupation drag the country to the stone ages.
Αλλη μία απόδειξη ότι τα πράγματα μπορούν να πισωγυρίσουν. Να πως ήταν το Αφγανιστάν πριν 50 χρόνια , την δεκαετία 1950-60 πριν οι πόλεμοι και σημερινή Αμερικανο-Νατοική κατοχή ρίξουν την χώρα στην λίθινη εποχή. (πηγή: http://izismile.com )

και όμως όλες οι παρακάτω φωτογραφίες είναι από το Αφγανιστάν!!

U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers

A soldier from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division with a dead insurgent's hand on his shoulder. It's one of 18 photos given to The Times of troops posing with corpses.

By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times

April 18, 2012, 4:30 a.m.

The paratroopers had their assignment: Check out reports that Afghan police had recovered the mangled remains of an insurgent suicide bomber. Try to get iris scans and fingerprints for identification.

The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at the police station in Afghanistan's Zabol province in February 2010. They inspected the body parts. Then the mission turned macabre: The paratroopers posed for photos next to Afghan police, grinning while some held — and others squatted beside — the corpse's severed legs.

'Bin Laden dead long before US raid'

'Bin Laden dead long before US raid'

Iran's intelligence minister says the country has reliable information that former head of the al-Qaeda terrorist group Osama bin Laden died of disease some time ago. “We have accurate information that bin Laden died of illness some time ago,” Heidar Moslehi told reporters on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. 

Obama Announces Killing of Osama bin Laden

By HELENE COOPER

Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident Obama announced the killing of bin Laden at the White House on Sunday.

WASHINGTON —President Obama announced late Sunday that Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, was killed in a firefight during an operation he ordered Sunday inside Pakistan, ending a 10-year manhunt for the world’s most wanted terrorist. American officials were in possession of his body, he said.

“On nights like this one, ‘’ the president said, “we can say that justice has been done.’’

The fate of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Al Qaeda number two in command, was unclear.

US drone attack kills 2 Americans .. with Hellfire missile...

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Marine reservist and a Navy corpsman were killed in a drone airstrike in Afghanistan last week in an apparent case of friendly fire, U.S. military officials tell NBC News.

US-led troops forced out of Samangan

Finland Loses Second Soldier in Afghanistan

US drone attack kills 2 Americans .. with Hellfire missile...  !!!!!!!!!!

Afganistan .. all according the plan ..

Nato 'kills cousin of Afghan President Hamid Karzai

A relative of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been mistakenly killed by Nato troops in southern Afghanistan, officials say.

Yar Muhammad Khan was at his home in Dand district near Kandahar city when he was shot dead in an overnight raid.      

Nato says it is investigating the incident.Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of the capital, Kabul, last week to protest about civilian deaths at the hands of foreign forces.''There were operations taking place near his house. He was killed by mistake. He was not a target," Ahmad Wali Karzai, the brother of President Karzai and head of Kandahar's provincial council, told the BBC.It comes just days after President Karzai lashed out at US-led forces over the recent accidental killing of nine boys in eastern Kunar province.US President Barack Obama, Gen Petraeus, the commander of international troops in Afghanistan, and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates have all apologised for the incident.

anti-Tehran protests in Afghanistan .. an “enemy plot.” ?

Thousands of Afghan nationals residing in Iran have taken to the streets of a northwestern city to decry the “suspicious” anti-Tehran protests in Afghanistan as an “enemy plot.”

Protesters hailed the solidarity between Iran and Afghanistan on Saturday, a Press TV correspondent reported.Shouting slogans like “The enemy's plot is to sow discord” and “Muslims, stay vigilant!” and carrying banners reading “Viva Iran and Afghanistan,” the crowd proceeded through the streets of Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Razavi Province.One Afghan figure delivering a speech at the event, condemned the latest move as “anti-Islam,” saying, “Those who gathered outside the Iranian Embassy in Kabul and insulted Iranian officials and the Islamic Republic's flag, which bears the pure name of 'Allah,' were provoked and deceived by the global arrogance.”On January 13, a group consisting of less than 50 Afghan nationals chanted insulting slogans against the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the allegation that Iran had delayed the transit of fuel trucks to Afghanistan.Western media launched propaganda against Iran by trying to harm Iran's popularity in Afghanistan and undermining its efforts in reconstruction of Afghanistan.“The Afghan expatriate are gathering today in Mashhad, Tehran and Qom it is their Islamic duty [to do so], in the face of unfair desecration of the Holy Qur'an by the Americans,” said Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Isa Hosseini Mazari, who heads a religious information website, Tebyan.“Attacking and insulting the Holy Qur'an is not the only crime of the US forces in Afghanistan and probably will not be ther last,” he added.Protesters issued a joint statement at the end of the demonstration in which they said that the global arrogance “has adapted a new scenario with the aim of sowing discord between Iran and Afghanistan.”The statement also said that all “Afghan woes” are the outcome of the 2001 US-led invasion of the country.The demonstrations came a day after hundreds of Afghan nationals gathered in front of the UNHCR office in Tehran to protest the anti-Iranian insults made by a few Afghans in Kabul.
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Fresh US-led military offensives have completely destroyed a town in southern Afghanistan, as public discontent continues to grow over civilian casualties.
The US-led military alliance says the operation targeted Taliban militants in the violent Kandahar Province. Media reports, however, say most of the victims in Tarok Kolache town were Afghan civilians.
According to the Daily Mail report, the bombing completely erased the town and its surroundings from the map. The British daily has also published images of the town before and after the operation in a bid to show the scale of destruction. The developments come as a recent report says US-led military operations have inflicted over USD 100 million in damages on public property in southern Afghanistan.
Afghans blame foreign troops and their military operations for civilian deaths. The rising number of civilian casualties has increased anti-US sentiments in the troubled region. The Afghan interior ministry has recently said that 2010 has been the deadliest year for civilians since the US-led invasion in 2001. The ministry says more than 2,000 civilians lost their lives in violence across Afghanistan. Civilians have been the main victims of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the country's troubled southern and eastern provinces, where they are killed by both militant and foreign fire. The surge in violence comes despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops, which are engaged in the so-called war on terrorism.

The war in Afghanistan, with civilian and military casualties at record highs, has become the longest war in US history. The issue of civilian casualties has long been a source of friction between Kabul and Washington. 

Afghan attack kills 6 US-led soldiers - Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:27AM

Afghan attack kills 6 US-led soldiers - Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:27AM

A militant attack has claimed the lives of six US-led soldiers in southern Afghanistan, bringing the death toll of foreign soldiers in the war-torn country closer to 700 so far this year.The international military coalition, ISAF, said in a statement that the incident happened Sunday but did not give further details. The latest incident brings the death toll for foreign soldiers based in Afghanistan to nearly 690 this year. 2010 has been the deadliest year of the nine-year war in Afghanistan, with casualties among civilians and foreign troops at record levels, mainly due to an increase in Taliban attacks. As casualties have risen in Afghanistan over the past few months, public opinion has begun turning against the war in the United States and other countries. 

Israel, NATO Launch Spying Operation against Iran at Afghan Borders

Israel, NATO Launch Spying Operation against Iran at Afghan Borders TEHRAN (FNA)- A prominent Afghan military analyst unveiled that Israel has deployed its troops at a NATO base in Afghanistan near Iran's border to launch joint operations against the Islamic Republic.

Speaking to FNA about NATO's $184 million plan to upgrade Shindand Air Base in Western Afghanistan and 20 miles from the Iranian border, Javid Kohestani said, "The NATO member states are reconstructing the base in a bid to harm the Islamic Republic of Iran and to spy against Iran." He recalled previous reports about the deployment of Israeli forces in Shindand base, and noted, "Accordingly, the reconstruction of the base by the NATO is considered as one of the NATO's clandestine programs to harm the Islamic Republic of Iran and promote Israel's spying activities in the region."

Back to Afghanistan ??

Back to Afghanistan ??
(copy from: prime13 - http://13571113.blogspot.com/2010/11/back-to-afghanistan-ex-20.html )

NATO chief asks for Russian help in Afghanistan

Two decades after the Soviet Union’s  retreat from Afghanistan, NATO is working to get Russia back into the country to help fight drug trafficking and rebuild Afghan security forces. The deal, championed by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as part of a “new start in the relationship between NATO and Russia,” would see Moscow providing helicopters to Afghan and NATO forces, training Afghan national-security forces and pilots, and helping on the ground with counternarcotics programs and border security. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is due to attend a NATO summit in Lisbon next month and sign the cooperation deal —and, in the process, repair relations damaged by years of NATO expansion and Georgia's 2008 war with Osetia. 

That new start comes at a hefty price, though. In return for cooperation in Afghanistan, Moscow is asking for substantial concessions from NATO. A draft agreement on NATO-Russian cooperation penned by the Kremlin and released last December includes proposed restrictions on NATO deployment of any force bigger than a 3,000-strong brigade in the combined territory of all former Soviet bloc members. Russia is also demanding that NATO not attempt to station more than 24 aircraft in Eastern Europe for more than 42 days a year. Most controversially, Russia also has demanded veto power on any Western military deployments of large additional forces anywhere in Central Europe, the Balkans, or the Baltics. To top off the wish list, the Kremlin wants limits lifted on Russian troops in the breakaway enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

End Military Commission Trial of Former Child Soldier

HRW: US: End Military Commission Trial of Former Child Soldier Human Rights Watch Omar Khadr before being imprisoned at Guantanamo in 2002 at the age of 15, left, and photographed in 2009, right. © 2009 CNS HRW, October 17, 2010 (New York) - The US government should stop the Guantanamo military commission trial of Omar Khadr, a former child soldier captured when he was 15, Human Rights Watch said today. According to news reports, US military prosecutors are currently in talks with Khadr's defense counsel regarding a plea agreement before trial proceedings resume on October 25, 2010. Khadr, a Canadian citizen, has spent more than eight years in US military custody. He faces charges of murder and attempted murder in violation of the laws of war, conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism, and spying. "Omar Khadr was picked up at age 15 and has now spent a third of his life at Guantanamo," said Andrea Prasow, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch. "The US government has mistreated Khadr as a child offender and now is misusing discredited military commissions to try him."

A suspected U.S. drone strike killed eight of German nationality in northwest Pakistan on Monday

(Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone strike killed eight  of German nationality in northwest Pakistan on Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

They died when two missiles from a suspected CIA pilotless aircraft struck a mosque in Mirali in North Waziristan, the officials added. The attack came a day after the United States and Britain warned of an increased risk of terrorist attacks in Europe. Western security officials said last week they believed a group in northern Pakistan were connected to a plot to stage attacks. The militants were members of a group called Jihad Islami, the Pakistani intelligence officials said without elaborating. There was no independent verification and militants often dismiss official reports of successful operations against them. "People were gathering at the mosque for prayers when a missile hit the building," Mohammad Alam, a resident of Mirali, told Reuters by telephone, describing Monday's drone strike. "The area has been cordoned off by militants and they are not allowing anyone there." The State Department warned American citizens to exercise caution if traveling in Europe. Britain raised the threat level to "high" from "general" for its citizens traveling to Germany and France.

'Death Squad' Killings: Soldier Blames Leader

'Death Squad' Killings: Soldier Blames Leader

A US soldier accused of being part of a "death squad" which randomly killed Afghan civilians for sport has appeared in court as videotape emerged of him blaming his superior for the atrocities.

The men are said to have shot their victims and then tried to cover their tracks by making it look like an attack was imminent.

Corporal Jeremy Morlock, 22, is among five members of the 5th Stryker Brigade who are charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy.

If found guilty of all the charges against him, he could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors also allege that members of the platoon mutilated Afghan corpses and even collected fingers and other body parts, and that some posed for photos with bodies.

Morlock's lawyers say his statements were made under the influence of drugs

As the case began at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, a video of Morlock being interviewed by investigators was shown on US television.

In it he blamed his squad leader, Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, for the killings.

The other three suspected of involvement in the "death squad' are Specialist Adam Winfield, Specialist Michael Wagnon II and Private Andrew Holmes.

Morlock claimed Gibbs - the highest ranking soldier accused - planned "scenarios" during which they could kill civilians.

Sept 10, 2010 - Burn 10000 books Day - Pentagon buys, destroys memoir

The Pentagon bought and destroyed nearly 10 thousand copies of a spy memoir that allegedly revealed intelligence secrets and was a threat to national security.

(κάποιοι νοστάλγησαν τον παλιό καλό καιρό) 

The book, "Operation Dark Heart" by Anthony Shaffer, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, recounts his five month tour in Afghanistan. The Pentagon had to pay the publisher of the book 47 thousand dollars in tax payer's money to acquire the books and destroy them. The book reveals that the United States, in an intelligence operation code named Able Danger had identified Mohammad Atta, the alleged ringleader of the September 11 attacks, as a terrorist threat one year before the attacks took place. 

Υποστηρίζοντας την Δημοκρατία σε ΙΡΑΚ- Ισραήλ - Αφγανιστάν

Iraq - Tortures in prisons
Ανέβηκε από kasman1. - Νέα video από όλο τον κόσμο.
Αυτή είναι η δημοκρατία που έφερε το ΝΑΤΟ σε ΙΡΑΚ- Αφγανιστάν

Thousands of Afghans stage anti-U.S. protest in Kabul

Thousands of Afghans stage anti-U.S. protest in Kabul

(Reuters) - Police fired into the air to disperse thousands of anti-American protesters in Afghanistan's capital Wednesday, witnesses and police said, with one person killed and at least five wounded. Demonstrators chanted "Death to America," "Death to Christians," and "Death to Karzai," the latter referring to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in the biggest protests since unrest erupted last week over plans by a U.S. pastor to burn the Koran.

"There are more than 10,000 of the demonstrators and some of them are waving the Taliban flag," police officer Mohammad Usman.

The protests come three days before a parliamentary election which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt. The election is a key test of stability in Afghanistan before U.S. President Barack Obama conducts a war strategy review in December.

ουδέν κρυπτόν υπό τον ήλιον..

SPIEGEL online - The Truth about Task Force 373  - 

War Logs Cast Light on Dirty Side of Afghanistan Conflict

By Matthias Gebauer  <<  http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708559,00.html

The war logs cast light for the first time on the activities of the elite American unit Task Force 373, whose task is to hunt down senior Taliban in Afghanistan. Secret reports show just how cheap life is in Afghanistan -- and how often mistakes happen during missions.

It is late at night on June 24, 2009, when a unit of Task Force 373 heads out on one of its missions. Their target is a property with the code name of "Millersville," a small farm somewhere near the Pakistani border in eastern Afghanistan where the Taliban commander Amir Jan Mutaki is believed to be staying. According to a classified United States military document, he is supposed to have taken part in attacks on ISAF convoys on Highway 1. Mutaki will die later that night because of his role in the attacks.

Some of the TF 373 soldiers are traveling by helicopter, while others are on the ground. When they arrive at their target, everything happens very quickly. Six men, identified as "enemy" in a secret US military report, are shot down by a helicopter from the air. The US forces storm the farmstead. Inside, the special forces find two men, three women and six children, one of whom gets bitten by the US soldiers' attack dog. In addition, they seize materials for making bombs, grenades and multiple AK-47's. The operation appears to be a success. It is only later that the men of the TF 373 unit find out that one of the men who was killed from the air was indeed their target, Amir Jan Mutaki. The aim of the deadly mission has been achieved.