Afghanistan

[REASON]

Hi Reason,

 

Hey Laurie.

 

But how long can that continue to happen?

 

What? Having our hands on other countries' resources? Occupying Iraq and Afghanistan or whatever other country we deem necessary for whatever reason? Not caring?

 

As long as we, as a democratic society, allow it.

 

But you can't expect people to rise up and make a change when they they don't really know what's going on, or they prefer to remain in a state of denial, or, in their utter state of hubris, like it this way.

[DougF]

Thanks REASON,

I found this read quite interesting,

 

 

AlterNet: War on Iraq: From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots with Oil

 

*Note: I Bold-ed the text in Quote from said article*

The preparations had all been done secretly' date=' wholly within the executive branch. The Congress was not informed until the endgame, when President Bush, making his dishonest case for the "war on terror" asked for and was granted the discretion to use military force. [b']The American people were equally uninformed and misled. Probably never before in our history was such a drastic and momentous action undertaken with so little public knowledge or Congressional oversight:[/b]

 

an article in the trade journal "Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections"

<-->

The article continued' date=' "...some recent reports ... indicated ... [b']the United States was willing to police the pipeline infrastructure through permanent stationing of its troops in the region.[/b]" The article appeared on February 23, 2003.

 

The objective of the first premeditated war was now achieved. The Bush Administration stood ready with financing to build the pipeline across Afghanistan, and with a permanent military presence to protect it.

 

Within two months President Bush sent the armed might of America sweeping into Iraq.

 

Then came the smokescreen of carefully crafted deceptions. The staging of the Jessica Lynch rescue. The toppling of the statue in Baghdad. Mission accomplished. The orchestrated capture, kangaroo court trial, and hurried execution of Saddam Hussein. Nascent "democracy" in Iraq. All were scripted to burnish the image of George Bush's fraudulent war.

 

The smokescreen includes the cover-up of 9/11.

 

The objectives of the oil wars may be non-negotiable' date=' but that doesn't guarantee their successful achievement.

 

The evidence suggests the contrary.

 

As recently as January of 2005, the Associated Press expected construction of the Trans Afghan Pipeline to begin in 2006. So did News Central Asia. But by October of 2006, NCA was talking about construction "... as soon as there is stability in Afghanistan."

 

[b']As the Taliban, the warlords, and the poppy growers reclaim control of the country, clearly there is no stability in Afghanistan, and none can be expected soon.[/b]

 

Unocal has been bought up by the Chevron Corporation. The Bridas Corporation is now part of BP/Amoco. Searching the companies' websites for "Afghanistan pipeline" yields, in both cases, zero results. Nothing is to be found on the sites of the prospective funding agencies. The pipeline project appears to be dead.

 

The Production Sharing Agreements for Iraq's oil fields cannot be signed until the country's oil policies are codified in statute. That was supposed to be done by December of 2006, but Iraq is in a state of chaotic violence. The "hydrocarbon law" is struggling along -- one report suggests it may be in place by March -- so the signing of the PSA's will be delayed at least that long.

 

The U.S. and British companies that stand to gain so much -- Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, Concoco/Phillips, BP/Amoco and Royal Dutch Shell -- will stand a while longer. They may well have to stand down.

 

On October 31, 2006 the newspaper China Daily reported on the visit to China by Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani. Mr. Shahristani, the story said, "welcomed Chinese oil companies to participate in the reconstruction of the Iraqi oil industry." That was alarming, but understated.

 

Stratfor, the American investment research service, was more directly to the point, in a report dated September 27, 2006 (a month before Minister Shahristani's visit, so it used the future tense). The Minister "... will talk to the Chinese about honoring contracts from the Saddam Hussein era. ... This announcement could change the face of energy development in the country and leave U.S. firms completely out in the cold."

 

The oil wars are abject failures. The Project for a New American Century wanted, in a fantasy of retrograde imperialism, to remove Saddam Hussein from power. President George Bush launched an overt act of military aggression to do so, at a cost of more than 3,000 American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and half a trillion dollars. In the process he has exacerbated the threats from international terrorism, ravaged the Iraqi culture, ruined their economy and their public services, sent thousands of Iraqis fleeing their country as refugees, created a maelstrom of sectarian violence, dangerously destabilized the Middle East, demolished the global prestige of the United States, and defamed the American people.

Originally Posted by LaurieAG

But how long can that continue to happen?

it sounds like we are going to stay a very long time, if not for ever. :shrug:

[Michaelangelica]

Lots of reading and links ro catch up on thaks Guys

Still looking for how to send string and or kites to Afganistan troops

I found this the official Oz army site on what is happening in Afganistan

Australian Government, Department of Defence

 

 

Spying looks like it would be an easy job in Oz they seem to tell you everything.

 

Learning to fly

The crew of HMAS Bunbury did some kite flying recently to help keep their minds fresh while out on patrol.

Photo: LCDR Andy Schroder

 

where the Taliban ran that country. They used the soccer stadium to behead people. You couldn’t fly a kite, you couldn’t whistle, a woman couldn’t go out on the street without a male member of her family, and if she didn’t have one she couldn’t go out. And she couldn’t go to a doctor because they didn’t have women doctors.

 

And where are they today? They’ve got the first popularly elected president in five thousand years. They have an assembly, a congress, a constituent assembly. They have Afghan security forces that are being developed and contributing to the security in that country and they are making solid progress.

AND YOU CAN FLY A KITE !

Transcript

Flying kites seems to me to be a powerful message . A message of freedom from oppression and joy. It seems to me it would be a good way for NATO troops to make contact with the people of Afghanistan

Can girls fly kites?

I sent this letter to the PM

I am sorry to write to you but finding the Defence Minister's email or an appropriate email address in the Army has been difficult

 

Could you please have a look at this NY Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/world/asia/15kites.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

and this Science discussion web site

http://hypography.com/forums/social-sciences/13675-afghanistan.html

and the new movie based on the book "The Kite Runner".

 

Flying kites in Afghanistan seems to me to be a powerful message . A message of freedom from oppression. A message of hope and joy.

It seems to me it would be a good way for NATO troops to make contact with the people of Afghanistan. Playing with kids/adults in making and flying kites.

 

I am told there is a serious string shortage in Afghanistan.

Is there any way Australians can send string and/or kites to our troops in Afghanistan?

Most parcels seem to be forbidden (?) for obvious reasons.

 

Would any of this be appropriate, useful, fun, or maybe win some hearts and minds?

 

This might be one for the PR boys?

 

Thank you

Warmest wishes

--

Michael Angel.BA (Beh Sci) Dip Ed (TAFE)

 

(PS

Please knock off some of the 38c a litre excise on petrol-ethanol mixes and gas- this will help keep inflation numbers down.

The tax is no longer reasonable or appropriate now with added GST and is inflationary.)

[DougF]

With increasing violence in this area this should not be a surprise. :eek2:

3' date='200 Marines Told to Prepare for Afghanistan Deployment[/size']

 

WASHINGTON — Military officials said Monday that about 3,200 Marines are being told to prepare to go to Afghanistan — a move that will boost combat troop levels in time for an expected Taliban offensive this spring.

 

Once complete, the deployment would increase U.S. forces in Afghanistan to as much as 30,000, the highest level since the 2001 invasion after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

 

The notices come as explosions rocked Kabul's most popular luxury hotel Monday, killing at least six people, including one American and a journalist from Norway. Officials said the assault on the Serena Hotel by militants may signal a new era of Taliban attacks.

 

The military began notifying the Marines and their families over the weekend, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to sign the formal deployment orders. It was not clear Monday whether the orders had been signed yet.

 

The proposal went to Gates on Friday, and while he told reporters that afternoon that he had some questions about the move, there has been every indication he was poised to approve it.

 

According to officials, 2,200 members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will go to Afghanistan, as well as about 1,000 members of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, which is based at Twentynine Palms, Calif.

 

FOXNews.com - 3,200 Marines Told to Prepare for Afghanistan Deployment - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

[Michaelangelica]

The notices come as explosions rocked Kabul's most popular luxury hotel Monday

Which included the Australian Embassy:(

 

I noticed Bush was "sabre rattling' blaming Iran for sending money to Afghanistan. No mention of his friends in Saudi Arabia.

 

3,200 Marines Told to Prepare for Afghanistan

Tell them all to take a kite and TWO balls of string.

[Michaelangelica]

If the bullets don't get you, the cold will:-

Severe cold, snow kills scores in Afghanistan

Posted 6 hours 17 minutes ago

 

Aid workers say cold weather and heavy snow have killed more than 100 people and more than 35,000 head of cattle in the past week across Afghanistan.

Iran helping Afganistan Pres. Bush??

Refugees deported

 

Meanwhile, the Afghan government has voiced concern over the expulsion of Afghan refugees living in Iran, urging its neighbour to halt the deportations due to cold weather and its lack of resources to look after them.

 

The foreign ministry says it has summoned the top Iranian diplomat in Kabul to express "serious concerns about forced and mass repatriation of Afghan refugees during the freezing months of winter."

 

Nearly 9,000 Afghans in Iran have been illegally deported in the past two weeks, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

NATO 'unprepared' to fight insurgency, says Gates

 

Posted 3 hours 58 minutes ago

 

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has unleashed rare public criticism of the NATO forces deployed in southern Afghanistan, saying they are unprepared to fight a guerrilla insurgency, according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.[/color]

[Michaelangelica]

So if the bullets and the cold don't get you the friendlies will?

Former US congressman charged over militant links

 

Posted Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:48pm AEDT

 

A former United States congressman has been charged with having links to an Islamic group allegedly sending secret funds to militants in Afghanistan.

 

A federal grand jury has indicted the former US lawmaker for his links to a charity that sent funds to an Afghanistan-based supporter of Al Qaeda through banks in Pakistan.

 

Former Republican representative Mark Deli Siljander was named in a 42-count indictment against the Missouri-based Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), charged with "engaging in prohibited financial transactions for the benefit of US-designated terrorist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar," the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

 

Siljander, 57, faces money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges in the case.

 

Hekmatyar is an Islamist rebel leader who received US aid in the 1980s to resist the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He briefly served as Afghan prime minister in the 1990s and initially opposed the Taliban regime, but then switched sides after the October 2001 US-led invasion.

 

According to the indictment, in 2003 and 2004 IARA sent some $US130,000 to bank accounts in Peshawar, Pakistan "purportedly for an orphanage housed in buildings owned and controlled by Hekmatyar" - who is believed to be hiding in eastern Afghanistan or Pakistan while leading his Hizb-i-Islami (Islamic Party) faction.

 

Siljander, who represented a congressional district in Michigan from 1981 to 1987, owns and heads a public relations company.

Former US congressman charged over militant links - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

He is going to need a PR company

[Michaelangelica]

I'll bet no one saw this coming !

Newly Discovered Water, Oil And Gas Locations Surveyed In Afghanistan

 

Newly Discovered Water, Oil And Gas Locations Surveyed In Afghanistan - Topix

 

David Strahan | Articles - In praise of the United States Geological Survey

 

 

The Terrible Plight of Afghan Children

Afghanistan Struggles to Provide Decent Healthcare to Children

By TAN EE LYN

KABUL, April 21, 2008

 

1 comment

 

 

Afghan labourer Chaman travelled a whole day to bring his son to Kabul to have a kidney stone removed after doctors in their home province turned them away because they could not afford the fees.

The two-year-old boy, who suffered excruciating pain forthree days, finally had the stone removed in a charity hospital funded by Turkey.

 

"The private hospitals are only for rich businessmen. Poor people have to use government hospitals and if they can't help, the children die," said the young father from Ghazni province as he unwrapped a piece of paper to show a brown pebble measuring half a centimetre in diameter. Ghazni is southwest of Kabul.

 

Foreign donors have given some $15 billion in aid to Afghanistan since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, but several times more was spent per person in other conflict zones such as Bosnia and East Timor.

 

The U.S. military alone spends $100 million a day fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan while the total spending by all donors is only $7 million a day, aid groups say.

 

Nevertheless, the number of health facilities in Afghanistan has risen from 550 in 2001 to 1,429 now.

 

The government says free basic healthcare is available within two hours walking distance to 85 percent of the population, from just 9 percent in 2003. But people say they are far from adequate and decent healthcare is available only to those who can afford to pay, travel to the capital city, or go overseas.

ABC News: The Terrible Plight of Afghan Children

[LaurieAG]

I'll bet no one saw this coming

 

Hi Michael,

 

India to join Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline

 

Officials said the pipeline from Turkmenistan would be more easier to implement than the Iran-Pakistan-India line as it already had the backing of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

 

I'll bet they didn't see this one either.

 

YouTube - Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny2C9iDX_-Y

[Michaelangelica]

 

I'll bet they didn't see this one either.

not when politicians treat us all like mushrooms

(Kept in the dark and fed bullshit)

 

 

BTW having worked in "organisational development" (puke), I think your quote is spot on.

[REASON]

I think your quote is spot on.

 

I do too.

[Michaelangelica]

24 May 2008

 

Afghanistan Alive Online Magazine

 

http://www.afghanistanalive.com, Kabul, Afghanistan

 

Supplied note:

"Afghanistan Alive is prepared by a small group of Afghan people and

a foreign consultant, who believe that the media generally portrays a

very negative picture of this country. Our aim is to show the good

things about it - despite the troubles here. Afghanistan has unique

people, culture and history. The magazine is published in Kabul,

Afghanistan, in Pashto and Dari - the official languages - as well as

English. Originally the magazine was produced as a printed

publication but now it is an online one. [...] You can read the early

editions of Afghanistan Alive Magazine here:

http://www.afghanistanalive.com/AAM2.pdf

http://www.afghanistanalive.com/AAM3.pdf

 

We also produce a weekly email summary of news about Afghanistan

called "Kabul-e-News". The website of Kabul-e-News is at

http://afghaistanalive.com/ken.htm [...] - Afghanistan Alive."

 

URL http://www.afghanistanalive.com/

[Michaelangelica]

24 May 2008

 

Afghanistan Alive Online Magazine

 

http://www.afghanistanalive.com, Kabul, Afghanistan

 

Supplied note:

"Afghanistan Alive is prepared by a small group of Afghan people and

a foreign consultant, who believe that the media generally portrays a

very negative picture of this country. Our aim is to show the good

things about it - despite the troubles here. Afghanistan has unique

people, culture and history. The magazine is published in Kabul,

Afghanistan, in Pashto and Dari - the official languages - as well as

English. Originally the magazine was produced as a printed

publication but now it is an online one. [...] You can read the early

editions of Afghanistan Alive Magazine here:

http://www.afghanistanalive.com/AAM2.pdf

http://www.afghanistanalive.com/AAM3.pdf

 

We also produce a weekly email summary of news about Afghanistan

called "Kabul-e-News". The website of Kabul-e-News is at

http://afghaistanalive.com/ken.htm [...] - Afghanistan Alive."

 

URL http://www.afghanistanalive.com/

[Michaelangelica]

SAS soldier Sean McCarthy killed in Afghanistan | NEWS.com.au

SAS soldier Sean McCarthy killed in Afghanistan

 

By staff writers and wires

 

July 09, 2008 04:58pm

Article from: NEWS.com.au

 

 

THE Australian soldier killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan was a "top bloke" who had been looking forward to returning for his second combat tour of the country, close friends say.

 

SAS Signaller Sean McCarthy, a 25-year-old rugby-mad soldier from the Gold Coast, was killed when a bomb exploded near his vehicle, the Defence department has said.

 

Two other Australian special forces soldiers were injured, along with a soldier from another country.

[Michaelangelica]

[Michaelangelica]

Interesting US commentator on Afghanistan

Cordesman on Iraq, Afghanistan & Iran

The 7.30 Report - ABC

(Video may be available tomorrow)

[Michaelangelica]

6. The Westphalian system. Why are so many great military powers losing a war in Afghanistan? Afghanistan isn't even a nation-state, yet it's defeating all comers. Why do we even pretend to have nations these days? Hollow states, failed states, non-states... The European post-state!

 

No flag, no currency... People no longer have to believe in these effigies. Why do they persist? The benefits of believing in nations are slim. The planetary slum-dwellers of failed states may find the rollicking life of a Somali pirate far more attractive than the hard work of state-building. The nation-state is torn from both above and below. The global guerrilla and the Davos globe-hopper are cousins.

Seed: 2009 Will Be a Year of Panic