Feb 18

Obama orders more troops to Afghanistan

President Obama ordered his first major deployment of U.S. combat troops Tuesday, authorizing 17,000 additional soldiers and Marines for Afghanistan in what he described as an urgent bid to stabilize a deteriorating and neglected country.

The deployment will double the number of American combat brigades in the nation at a time of tension with Afghanistan's weak government over civilian casualties of the campaign against the increasingly bold Taliban, and concern over neighboring Pakistan's ability to fight Islamic militants based there.

** US troop surge in Afghanistan is just a 'teaser'
** Obama Says Afghan War ‘Winnable,’ Sends 17,000 Soldiers
** Mini-surge to test out US strategy in Afghanistan

Combat Outpost: exclusive film from the Afghan frontline

As US and the UK forces struggle for a way forward in Afghanistan, John D McHugh's unique film from one of the US military's most dangerous outposts shows just how western forces are losing ground to the Taliban

Iraq: 7 die in crash with British military vehicle

An Iraqi military official says a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims has collided with a British military vehicle on the outskirts of Basra, killing seven of the travelers.

Maj. Gen. Mohammed Jawad Huwaidi says 27 pilgrims were injured in the accident late Tuesday night.

Huwaidi, the top military official in Basra, says the pilgrims were coming from the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

** Iraq to purchase $5Million in American weapons
** Iraq museum row shows turf wars as violence fades

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. Prior update threads are here

Get Afghanistan Right Week: January 12th - January 18th

From January 12th through January 18th, citizens and bloggers are speaking out against military escalation in Afghanistan. Throughout the week, writers will talk about the dangers of escalation, the current situation in Afghanistan and South Asia, the effects of the war at home, and potential solutions.

** Combating Terrorism Post-Afghanistan ~ Alex Thurston
** Getting Afghanistan Right ~ Sean Paul
** Support Get Afghanistan Right!
** Related Get Afghanistan Right posts

Report Details Iraq Contract Failures

A $722 million contract to rebuild Iraq's oil and gas production facilities was marked by multiple changes, cost overruns, failure to meet schedules and lack of oversight, according to a new inspector general's report.

more stories after the jump

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. Prior update threads are here

Nov 18

A U.S. judge has declared Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman accused of trying to kill a U.S. soldier and FBI agents, mentally unfit for the trial. Remember our treatment of her? After being shot a judge had to ORDER medical care.

U.S. officials doubt reports that Iran has softened stance on Iraqi security pact

Iran softened its resistance Monday to a pact that calls for withdrawing American forces from Iraq by the end of 2011, a shift that could make it easier for Iraq’s ruling Shiite Muslim government to secure parliamentary approval. U.S. officials, however, said they doubted that Tehran had altered its stance.

Reports from Iran’s state news agency called an Iraqi Cabinet vote that advanced the security compact a "victory for the ruling party and its Kurdish partners," referring to the Shiite lawmakers who supported the agreement.

China rejects sending troops to Afghanistan

China said Tuesday it would not send any troops to Afghanistan _ rejecting recent speculation that Beijing might support the international coalition there.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told New York's Council on Foreign Relations on Friday that China could send troops because there was a global consensus that Afghanistan is the "the front line" in the battle against terrorism.

However, in a statement seen Tuesday on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Web site, spokesman Qin Gang said there had been no change to Beijing's approach to Afghanistan _ or to its policy of sending forces abroad only under United Nations Security Council mandates.

The issue of China sending troops to Afghanistan "simply doesn't exist," Qin said

more stories after the jump

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. Prior updates here

Nov 2 | Team Agonist

Barzani says U.S. can have bases in northern Iraq

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has said the U.S. military could have bases in northern Iraq if Washington and Baghdad fail to sign the controversial security deal, a local newspaper reported Sunday.

Barzani says U.S. can have bases in northern Iraq

"All the attempts are going right now to sign the pact, but if the pact is not signed and if U.S. asked to keep their troops in Kurdistan, I think the parliament, the people and government of Kurdistan will welcome this warmly," he said at the Centre of Strategy and International Study in Washington, AFP reported.

Juan Cole reports: Kurdish MP Mahmud Osman is pledging that there will be no US bases in Iraqi Kurdistan without a national consensus on that issue.

Hutton to face fresh questions from MPs over army equipment

John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Defence, is to face questions in Parliament after a senior SAS commander resigned in a row over the standard of equipment used to protect troops in Afghanistan.

Major Sebastian Morley was said to have warned the Ministry of Defence that forces were suffering from "chronic underinvestment" in a blistering resignation letter, which also accused the Government of "gross negligence" also: MoD 'can be sued' over SAS deaths

More stories after the jump

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. Prior updates here

What were your expectations for this debate? Did the "town hall format" enhance the discussion? Do you think your candidate did well, did poorly, or merely broke even? In which specific areas?

Let the opinions begin...

Nota bene: Don't know how long it'll be up, but if you missed me last week on the Young Turks, here's a video of the segment. ~spk

AFPWomen walk through an archway leading to the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in Kadhimiyah.

July 27

Closing in on Vietnam spending

The total cost of the Iraq war is approaching the Vietnam War's expense, a congressional report estimates, while spending for military operations after 9/11 has exceeded it.

The new report by the Congressional Research Service estimates the U.S. has spent $648 billion on Iraq war operations, putting it in range with the $686 billion, in 2008 dollars, spent on the Vietnam War, the second most expensive war behind World War II. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world.

Shiite Militia in Baghdad Sees Its Power Ebb

The Mahdi Army has been profoundly weakened in a number of neighborhoods, in an important, if tentative, milestone for stability in Iraq.

** NATO repells attack on Afghan district centre, kills dozens
** Governor says NATO air raid kills dozens of Taliban
** AP Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost--- A rebuttal from Warren at Blue Girl,Red State
** Turkish warplanes hit 12 outlawed PKK targets in northern Iraq
** Sending more troops to Afghanistan could backfire, experts say

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. (More after the jump. Prior updates here)

US troops to hold exercises in Georgia, Ukraine

(AFP) — US troops on Monday began military exercises near the Russian border in ex-Soviet Ukraine and were poised to launch them in Georgia, amid tense relations between Moscow and Washington, officials said.

A ceremony inaugurating the Sea Breeze-2008 NATO exercise was held off Ukraine's Black Sea coast, a Ukrainian defence ministry spokeswoman said, against anti-NATO protests and a hostile reaction from officials in Russia.

The NATO exercises "will increase political and military tensions in Europe as a whole," Sergei Mironov, speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency in Moscow.

** Georgia to Expand Military to Counter Russian Threat in Regions
** Picketers block road to US military to wargames in Odessa

July 11

Afghanistan's 'sons of the soil' rise up
KARACHI - The resilient Taliban have proved unshakeable across Afghanistan over the past few months, making the chances of a coalition military victory against the popular tide of the insurgency in the majority Pashtun belt increasingly slim.

The alternative, though, of negotiating with radical Taliban leaders is not acceptable to the Western political leadership.

This stalemate suits Pakistan perfectly as it gives Islamabad the opportunity to once again step in to take a leading role in shaping the course of events in its neighboring country.

Bush outfoxed in the Iraqi sands
WASHINGTON - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's demand for a timetable for complete United States military withdrawal from Iraq, confirmed on Tuesday by his National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, has signaled the almost certain defeat of the George W Bush administration's aim of establishing a long-term military presence in the country.

The official Iraqi demand for US withdrawal confirms what was becoming increasingly clear in recent months - that the Iraqi administration has decided to shed its military dependence on the United States.

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. (More after the jump. Prior updates here)

A US soldier searches a house during a patrol of Paktika province in 2007. The US-led coalition has killed 55 militants including three "extremist leaders" in fighting near the insurgency-hit Afghan-Pakistani border. (AFP/US Army/File)

June 24

Germany to send 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan

Germany plans to increase its military contingent in northern Afghanistan by up to 1,000 soldiers, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said Tuesday.

But Jung confirmed the reinforcements would instead shore up reconstruction efforts in the more stable north, where the majority of Germany's 3,500 soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed.

Pentagon, GAO see good news and bad in Iraq

Two new government reports, one by the Pentagon, pointed Monday to encouraging security improvements in Iraq, but were decidedly pessimistic about prospects for political and economic progress and warned that costly military gains would remain fragile.

** Islamic militants attack rival tribesmen in Pakistan's volatile northwest, army, witness say
** Must read: McClatchy's Guantanamo: Beyond the Law series
** 2 U.S. civilians, 2 GIs killed in Iraq blast
** No blood for ... er ... um ... ~ Tom Engelhardt

Please post new stories and comments about the coalition's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on this thread. (Prior Updates here)

Team Agonist | Blogistan | May 25

As you all know the only poetry thread rules are: no original poetry unless you just happen to be Maya Angelou or an up and coming poet that has been published. Otherwise stick to what has proven to be good poetry. Charles Bukowski once said, "I see that God has made many poets, but not so much good poetry."

originally posted Memorial Day May 29, 2006. Please add your favorites.

What's truly amazing is not that you can use a cell phone to track people (we've known that for a long time), but that judges are letting the cops track your mobile without a warrant.

Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.

In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.

Such requests run counter to the Justice Department's internal recommendation that federal prosecutors seek warrants based on probable cause to obtain precise location data in private areas. The requests and orders are sealed at the government's request, so it is difficult to know how often the orders are issued or denied.

Judges who allow tracking without warrants should be impeached. If it's widespread, impeach them all.

In the meantime, as the article notes, cell phones are essentially spies in your pocket. So what can you do about it?

• Your phone can also be turned on and used as a mobile bug. Take the batteries out of your phone when you don't want to be listened in on or tracked.
• Use different phones and pre-paid sims every day if you need a mobile phone. (This is what one opposition leader in Pakistan was advised to do when he was on the run from Musharraf).
• Your home phone can very efficiently be used as a bug--at least the old rotary ones could, and I'd be shocked if the more modern ones can't be also. So pull it out of the jack if you're having a conversation about your next peace march or anti-free trade demonstration.
• Finally, making a call and hanging up before they "complete the trace", as shown in the movies, doesn't work. The line can be held open. Expect that if you make a call under such circumstances, you are compromised, whether by landline or mobile, and ditch the phone or get away from the landline, fast. (Leaving your mobile on a bus works wonders.)

Does any of this apply to you? Well, a lot of peace activists and so on read this blog. Odds are strong that it does apply to some of you.

So use the knowledge.

Image from W.A.R.T.

Team Agonist | November 20

Pakistan frees 3,000, but arrests go on

More than 3,000 people arrested in Pakistan under emergency rule have been released, the country's interior ministry said today.

The news came as the election commission confirmed that a general election is to be held on January 8.

The interior ministry spokesman, Javed Iqbal Cheema, put the exact number of those freed in recent days at 3,416, including lawyers and political activists. He said another 2,000 would be released soon.

Pakistani police arrest 150 journalists at rally (Extra)

Police in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday baton-charged journalists protesting curbs on the media imposed by President Pervez Musharraf and arrested more 150 people, news reports said.

Several demonstrators were injured in the clashes, which occurred outside the city's press club, Geo News reported on its website, the television channel's only service still operating after it was shut down by the government at midnight Friday.

Pakistan Will Hold Ballot on Jan. 8, Amid Protests (Update5)

Pakistan will hold national elections on Jan. 8, as opposition parties said they may boycott the ballot which the U.S. says won't be fair under emergency rule.

``The announcement of a date for elections means nothing because there can't be fair elections under Musharraf,'' Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said in a phone interview. ``Before elections can be held, there needs to be restoration of the constitution, reinstatement of judges and Musharraf's resignation as president.''

** Thousands flee NW Pakistan valley ahead of offensive
** Peace efforts in Pakistan sectarian clashes: officials
** Official: Musharraf to shed uniform by weekend
** Musharraf's deputy a reluctant linchpin

more after the jump, please check comments for more articles

BBC - An internet word game has generated enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said.

The game, FreeRice, tests the vocabulary of participants. For each click on a correct answer, the website donates money to buy 10 grains of rice.

Companies advertising on the website provide the money to the WFP to buy and distribute the rice.

FreeRice went online in early October and has now raised 1bn grains of rice.

That is enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day, the WFP said on Friday.

Check it out! Feed your brain and help world hunger!

AP - Actions in Congress on Monday as lawmakers worked toward adjourning next week for their August recess.

Details after the jump

Doug's away from the tyranny of the keyboard till Tuesday. Here are a few of the regulars to start off with ~ editors

Tom Tomorrow shows us how the news works ...

Get Fuzzy screws in a few light bulbs...

Frazz raps on country clubs...

Non Sequitur riffs on faith and reason...

Doonesbury blasts the blastocyst bottleneck...

Editor-in-Chief Sean-Paul (of San Antonio) and Tech Editor Rick (of Cleveland) have agreed to share their thoughts, insights, and trash talk throughout the NBA championship series.

June 7: Cavaliers 76, Spurs 85

June 10: Cavaliers 92, Spurs 103

June 12: Spurs 75, Cavaliers 72

June 14: Spurs 83, Cavaliers 82

(Editor's Note: this letter from Danny Postel is in response to this article. You can listen to the Agonist interview with Danny here.)

Dear Ian and Sean-Paul,

Thanks both for having me on the show and for extending your engagement with my arguments online. A brief response to Ian’s post-interview post and to the readers who posted comments echoing Ian’s own:

I’m going to quote from part of the introduction to my book in which I discuss an episode involving the Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi:

Ebadi went on a speaking tour in the spring of 2006 to discuss her recently-published autobiography, Iran Awakening. As someone who every day of every week defends the victims of the regime's brutal abuses--indeed as someone who has done jail time for engaging in that work--the issue of the Islamic Republic's human rights practices tends to feature rather centrally in her scheme of things. Which is not to say that it's the only issue on her agenda, or that it in any way blunts her criticisms of the United States and its foreign policy--quite the contrary. She has spoken out in no uncertain terms against the Iraq War, the detainee base at Guantánamo, and the torture inflicted by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib--and has made it utterly clear that she opposes any US intervention in Iran. And yet, at a public event for her book in London, an antiwar activist instructed her that she should not denounce Iran's human rights record--indeed not discuss it at all--explaining that doing so only plays into the hands of the warmongers and fuels the fires of imperialism. Ebadi upbraided her would-be sage in the strongest possible terms. Leaning over the lectern and waving her finger at the activist, she made plain that any antiwar movement that advocates silence in the face of tyranny, for whatever reason, could count her out.

The antiwar activist Ebadi upbraided in London was expressing exactly your views. I’m with Shirin Ebadi, and with the many other Iranian dissidents and human rights activists who share her perspective on this. They seek the support and solidarity of global civil society — of NGOs, intellectuals, writers, and human rights activists, not of foreign governments — for their struggle, which is a struggle against both a US military attack and the authoritarianism of the Islamic Republic.

More After the Jump

Team Agonist | Blogistan | December 18

Why poetry? Because there just simply is not enough poetry in America's daily life. Post your favorites here, discuss poetry if you are in the mood.

As you all know the only poetry thread rules are: no original poetry unless you just happen to be Maya Angelou or an up and coming poet that has been published. Otherwise stick to what has proven to be good poetry.

There is some great poetry in this thread. Give it a read. You'll not be disappointed. We all need more poetry in our lives. ~spk

Raw Story | Ramadi | Sep 12

CNN via Raw Story - U.S. Commanders in Iraq have privately expressed the need for an increase of three times the number of troops currently serving in Iraq, reports Michael Ware of CNN. Officially, the military continues to say that "we have an appropriate level of force to do what we have to do within the confines of our mission."
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Ramadi has become a base of operations for Al Qaeda. Ware says, "Al Qaeda is almost untouched in its area of operations, and in the city of Ramadi itself, al Qaeda fighters are constantly attacking U.S. troops. Brigades sent to Ramadi are losing, on average, 100 American soldiers and Marines every year. And we don't see that abating. So, here's the heart of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and there's simply not enough troops and no strategy to combat it."

Al Qaeda leadership enjoys near free reign in an area north of the Euphrates which is the size of New Hampshire. The U.S. can only deploy a few hundred troops to this area. Ware laments, "They can do nothing to hamper al Qaeda's leadership in that area."

A full transcript follows the video.

(Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ptxn3a8A1E&eurl=)

submitted by techadvisor

Halliburton loses one of it's major contracts in Iraq
Pratap Chatterjee | July 12th, 2006

http://www.corpwatch.org/artic - Iraq After Halliburton

The Pentagon has taken an important first step by canceling the contract for Halliburton 's military logistics contract in Iraq and putting it up for open bid. Halliburton has only itself to blame for shoddy managment, over-charging and thumbing its nose at military investigators. In our three alternative annual reports on Halliburton , CorpWatch has uncovered innumerable cases of incompetence and corruption: for example torching brand-new $85,000 Mercedes trucks and charging $100 for a bag of laundry.

Continue to read:
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13874

submitted to newsqueue by Solve et Coagula ~ eds.

On Israel and Islam - Update on the approach to The Fifth day of the Galactic Underworld
Carl Johan Calleman

The current situation
We are now approaching the Fifth day, beginning on November 24, 2006, and the ensuing energies of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca of the Galactic Underworld. These energies are likely to generate the chaos from which the new world of oneness will be born as we come to the completion of all the Underworlds by October 28, 2011. As I wrote in the article posted on my web site in November of last year, the first half of the Fourth night, November 29, 2005 to May 27, 2006, would be a relatively uneventful time that would be well suited for integration of what had happened in the preceding Fourth day. For the second half of this night, May 28 ? November 24, 2006, the time period that we are in now, I however forecasted that new events would be occurring that prepared for the change that would be brought by the Breakthrough energy of the Fifth day. Using comparisons I pointed to the example, among others, of how the Russian revolution of 1905, shortly after the midpoint of the Fourth night of the Planetary Underworld, heralded the fall of the autocratic empires (including the Russian) that came about as a result of World War I after the breakthrough energy of Quetzalcoatl set in in this Underworld in 1913.

submitted to newsqueue by Solve et Coagula

Benson K. Whitney (U.S. emb.) | Olso | May 22

Democratic Underground - So I must ask - no, we must ask - does our historic special relationship have meaning in the 21st century - or is it a vestige of the past? As sovereign nations, Norway and the U.S. have a right to strike their own course. Nations must choose very carefully where their strongest ties will be because special relationships require serious commitments of energy, resources, and sometimes, sacrifice. No nation can be all things to all countries.

Since coming to Norway I have heard voices express a wide range of views on our future relationship. Some say that Norway should strengthen its military, economic and cultural ties to Europe. Others think Norway’s wealth and the lack of an immediate security threat means it should avoid entangling relationships of any kind. It should instead carve out an independent course, focusing on global organizations, like the United Nations. Other voices caution that hard-won experience and global realities compel Norway to continue its special relationship with the U.S. And, while these paths need not be mutually exclusive, each requires choices and priorities. Again, it is simply not possible to be all things to all people.

submitted by incy

March 10

Huffington Post - NPR's Nina Totenberg aired an amazing story this morning about a talk that just-resigned Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor gave at Georgetown University. The first woman to serve on the High Court wouldn't allow her actual words to be broadcast, and that's a shame, because -- based on Totenberg's report -- every American needs to hear what she said. The Reagan appointee who became a moderate and an American icon -- Bush v. Gore notwithstanding -- all but named names in thinly veiled attacks on former House majority leader Tom DeLay and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and ended with a stunning warning.

O'Connor told her Georgetown audience that judges can make presidents, Congress and governors "really really mad," and that if judges don't make people angry, they aren't doing their job. But she said judicial effectiveness is "premised on the notion that we won't be subject to retaliation for our judicial acts." While hailing the American system of rights and privileges, she noted that these don't protect the judiciary, that "people do".

Originally submitted by Scott M - Editor

Michael Hirsh | Moscow | March 8

Newsweek - Moscow is unhappy with Bush’s global agenda. How the Russian president is trying to reshape Washington’s Mideast policies.

Why, it was almost like being back in the U.S.S.R. When Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sat down with President Bush for a half hour in the Oval Office on Tuesday, talking about all manner of issues, his boss Vladimir Putin must have been smiling with satisfaction in the Kremlin. U.S. presidents very rarely deign to see mere foreign ministers from any country, certainly not for more than a quick grip and grin (the last such meeting Bush had was in June 2005, with Pakistan’s foreign minister). But Bush is suddenly very interested in what Russia is doing in a lot of places.

Originally submitted by Agonist member Sir John Hawkwood. - Editor