Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts

Thursday, March 5, 2020

ICC gives green light to investigate US crimes in Afghanistan




In this file photo taken on June 19, 2014, a US soldier investigates the scene of an attack at the Afghan-Pakistan border crossing in Torkham, Nangarhar province. (File photo by AFP)

Source: Press TV

Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have given the green light to prosecutors to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity by the US in Afghanistan.

"The prosecutor is authorized to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003," ICC judge Piotr Hofmanski said in a ruling on Thursday.

"It is for the prosecutor to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to initiate an investigation" under the court's statutes, the judge added.

The court upheld an appeal by prosecutors against a pretrial chamber's rejection in April last year of chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's request to open a probe in Afghanistan.

In 2006, the ICC's prosecutors opened a preliminary probe into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Asian nation since 2003.

In 2017, prosecutor Bensouda asked judges to allow a full-blown probe, not only into Taliban and Afghan government personnel but also international forces, US troops and members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Bensouda's move angered Washington, which in April last year revoked the Gambian-born chief prosecutor's visa as part of broader restrictions on ICC staff probing American or allied personnel.

Former national security adviser John Bolton warned in 2018 that the US would arrest ICC judges if the court pursued an Afghan probe.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other international rights bodies on Thursday hailed the decision to uphold the prosecutions' appeal.

"The decision also sends a much-needed signal to current and would-be perpetrators of atrocities that justice may one day catch up to them," HRW's Param-Preet Singh said.

The US invaded Afghanistan to overthrow a ruling Taliban regime in 2001. American forces have since remained bogged down in the country through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with unknown tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban militants and Afghan civilians.

America has spent more than $1 trillion in fighting in Afghanistan.

Fighting has continued ever since -- last year more than 3,400 civilians were killed and almost 7,000 injured, according to data provided by UN agencies.

Over 100,000 Afghans have also been killed or injured since 2009, when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.

The direct US-Taliban talks were launched in 2018 as part of a push by US President Trump's administration to strike a deal with the militant group.

Trump has long expressed eagerness to bring US soldiers home and to end the country's longest war as he seeks re-election in 2020.

After nearly two decades of war, the United States and the Taliban last week signed an agreement aimed at paving the way for complete withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

About 14,000 US troops and approximately 17,000 troops from NATO allies and partner countries are stationed in Afghanistan.

The Taliban now control or hold influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since 2001.

Experts say, however, that it is the Afghan government and the Taliban, rather than the US and the militant group, who should address important questions on the future of Afghanistan.
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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Congress cites 9/11 Bush cover-up, demands Obama act


 
People walk amongst US national flags in Malibu, California, hoisted by students and staff from Pepperdine University to honor victims of the 9/11 attacks, September 11, 2013

By: Gordon Duff
Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/12/18/340605/congress-cites-911-bush-coverup/

Two members of Congress, specially authorized to view documents on 9/11 censored under the personal authority of President Bush (43), have come away “absolutely shocked,” demanding immediate action.

However, the full story, told for the first time below, explains “why now” and who is really being targeted by revelations of cover-up and conspiracy.

In accusations published yesterday by the leading Tea Party publication, Family Security Matters, Saudi Defense Minister and Intelligence chief Prince Bandar referred to as “Bandar Bush” in his Wikipedia biography for his close relationship with that family, was said to be the planner of 9/11.

In an article by Paul Sperry of the Hoover Institute, Bandar was cited with fleeing the US to avoid prosecution. Here, Sperry quotes a government source: “Our investigations contributed to the ambassador’s departure,” an investigator who worked with the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Washington told me, though Bandar says he left for “personal reasons.”

Despite these pronouncements, these accusations may well be unfounded speculation. What we have to ask is why are they being made now and why by political groups long close to the Saudi government. Why has Saudi Arabia failed to respond to these very public accusations coming from some of the highest authorities in Washington? “Why are the rats turning on each other?”

Startling disclosures?

This week, Congressional representatives Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) have officially requested a congressional resolution demanding President Obama declassify the heavily redacted Congressional Investigative Report on 9/11.

The two representatives had just been given authority under penalty of “national security secrecy” to read the censored 28 pages of the 800-page report that had not been seen.

For nearly a decade, the US has maintained security policies, both domestic and international, based on threats now known to have been totally fabricated. The cost, trillions of dollars, thousands of Americans dead in wars against “enemies” long known to have never been involved in terror attacks on America, the phony “hunt for bin Laden,” all of it, nothing but utter hogwash.

Bush cited as conspirator

What has been made clear is that President Bush was fully aware that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq were involved in 9/11 and that military action against those two nations was done to cover involvement of his administration in 9/11, involvement that included support from foreign intelligence agencies.

The representatives, while reviewing the report, came to the portion titled “Specific Sources of Foreign Support.” A 28-page section here had been “butchered” by the White House on the personal orders of President Bush. On the original report given to Congress, an estimated 5-10,000 words were omitted from this section with page after page of dotted lines replacing text.

The full report carries a tale of not only broad complicity of foreign intelligence agencies but, in the use of the term “complicity,” indications of full knowledge of the funding and planning of 9/11 by the Bush administration.

However, the lawmakers, without the support of a resolution, are under a “gag order” and unable to name the nation or nations that supplied.

Israel, Saudi Arabia or both

Recent revelations tied to events in Syria and Egypt have exposed an unimagined level of cooperation between the intelligence services of Israel and Saudi Arabia. For years, Israel has cited Saudi Arabia as the greatest threat to their security, much greater than Iraq under Saddam or their claims of a “nuclear Iran.” This and much else of what Israel has publicly claimed as part of their “mythology of victimization” is now recognized as falsehood. Though both Israel and Saudi Arabia are known as allies of the US, their partnerships with America have been with specific groups, extremists within government and the military willing to back the plots now plainly evident even when US interests are sacrificed or even American lives are lost.

Telling, today, is the relationship between Al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda “franchises” and the Israeli/Saudi alliance, a relationship that has provided both financial support and weapons, used against Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

The sections of the 9/11 report that were censored by President Bush may well include reference to that al-Qaeda/Israel/Saudi nexus. What is clear is that not only did the Bush administration wrongly blame bin Laden or “al-Qaeda,” a spurious and illusory group at best, but that those cited, Israel, Saudi Arabia or both, though named for funding and supporting the 9/11 attack, were always under the full control of the Bush administration.

What does exist is proof that the war on terror was, in reality as confirmed by General Wesley Clark, a plan to invade and occupy 7 oil- and gas-rich nations.

Israel put the blame on Saudi Arabia

In an article released yesterday on www.familysecuritymatters.org , Paul Sperry of the Hoover Institute cited, not just the Saudi government as having been behind 9/11 but set the relationship between George W. Bush and Prince Bandar at the crux of the conspiracy.

After the 9/11 attacks, the public was told al-Qaeda acted alone, with no state sponsors. “But the White House never let it see an entire section of Congress’ investigative report on 9/11 dealing with “specific sources of foreign support” for the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals.

It was kept secret and remains so today. President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report.”

Sperry goes on: “Saudi consulate official Fahad al-Thumairy allegedly arranged for an advance team to receive two of the Saudi hijackers - Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi - as they arrived at LAX in 2000.”

Sperry goes on citing instance after instance where Saudi intelligence directly aided al-Qaeda every step of the way.

What is important is that we understand who Sperry represents. Family Security Matters isn’t a simple blog. It is the voice of not just the extreme right but AIPAC as well. Their editors include Senator Ted Cruz, top GOP domestic policy maker and former UN Ambassador John Bolton, Islamophobe extremist, “Israel Firster” and a man who never saw a war he didn’t love.

“Family Matters” is the power center for everything pro-money, pro-hate and pro-Israel. Self-proclaimed “investigative journalist Paul Sperry serves with the Hoover Institute, along with former Secretary of State Condi Rice. The critical aspect of yesterday’s article is that it represents the first time the Israel lobby has been willing to throw former President Bush “under a bus” in order to distance themselves from accusations of complicity in 9/11.

Prior to the exposure of Israel’s role as “mentor” for al-Qaeda in Syria, America’s media was able to suppress not just “conspiracy theories” but accusations backed by evidence and testimony that placed Israel at the center of the 9/11 attacks.

Prince Bandar accused of planning 9/11

Though there is no reason to assume Saudi Arabia is mentioned whatsoever in the redacted Congressional report, Sperry cites payments by Bandar to the alleged 9/11 hijackers and other funding to al-Qaeda.

“Other al Qaeda funding was traced back to Bandar and his embassy - so much so that by 2004 Riggs Bank of Washington had dropped the Saudis as a client. The next year, as a number of embassy employees popped up in terror probes, Riyadh recalled Bandar.”

Real from conjecture

Members of Congress have openly admitted that they have seen documentation that would support an immediate criminal investigation against President Bush (43) and his closest advisors. Further, those agencies involved in compiling this report, key portions of which have remained secret, were also responsible for lying to the 9/11 Commission, not just through omission. All the intelligence that sent America into two wars is now not just suspect, it is proven false.

Recognizing that the nations responsible have not yet been named, though attempts by Family Security Matters to subvert this process are underway, what does stand is evidence of the same conspiracy.

From a CIA transcript dated September 24, 2001, Osama bin Laden is quoted: “The United States should try to trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself; the people who are a part of the US system, but are dissenting against it. Or those who are working for some other system; persons who want to make the present century as a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own civilization, nation, country, or ideology could survive.”

Family Security Matters celebrates the death of Osama bin Laden as a terrorist fanatic. They also celebrate the death of Nelson Mandela as a terrorist fanatic. Mandela was right, as history has shown.

----------------------------- 

Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam veteran, a combat infantryman, and Senior Editor at Veterans Today. His career has included extensive experience in international banking along with such diverse areas as consulting on counter insurgency, defense technologies or acting as diplomatic representative for UN humanitarian and economic development efforts. Gordon Duff has traveled to over 80 nations. His articles are published around the world and translated into a number of languages. He is regularly on TV and radio, a popular and sometimes controversial guest .

 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Horrors of war US UK munitions cause birth defects in Iraq


 
Iraqi women wait with their sick children at a Baghdad hospital.(AFP Photo / Karim Sahib)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/birth-defects-iraq-report-385/

US and UK weapons ammunition were linked to heart defects, brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs, according to a recent study. The report revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in Iraqi children conceived after the US invasion.

Titled ‘Metal Contamination and the Epidemic of Congenital Birth Defects in Iraqi Cities,’ the study was published by the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. It revealed a connection between military activity in the country and increased numbers of birth defects and miscarriages.

The report, which can be found here, also contains graphic images of Iraqi children born with birth defects. (The images were not published on RT due to their disturbing content.) It documents 56 families in Fallujah, which was invaded by US troops in 2004, and examines births in Basrah in southern Iraq, which was attacked by British forces in 2003.

The study concluded that US and UK ammunition is responsible for high rates of miscarriages, toxic levels of lead and mercury contamination and spiraling numbers of birth defects, which ranged from congenital heart defects to brain dysfunctions and malformed limbs.

Fallujah, around 40 miles west of Baghdad, was at the epicenter of these various health risks. The city was first invaded by US Marines in the spring of 2004, and then again 7 months later. Some of the heaviest artillery in the US arsenal was deployed during the attack, including phosphorus shells.


A round lights up the night-sky before a U.S. bombardment over the Iraqi city of Falluja at the beginning, November 8, 2004.(Reuters / Eliana Aponte)

Shocking findings

Between 2007 and 2010 in Fallujah, more than half of all babies surveyed were born with birth defects. Before the war, this figure was around one in 10. Also, over 45 percent of all pregnancies surveyed ended in miscarriage in 2005 and 2006, compared to only 10 percent before the invasion.

In Basrah’s Maternity Hospital, more than 20 babies out of 1,000 were born with defects in 2003, 17 times higher than the figure recorded in the previous decade.

Overall, the study found that the number of babies in the region born with birth defects increased by more than 60 percent (37 out of every 1,000 are now born with defects) in the past seven years. This rise was linked to an increased exposure to metals released by the bombs and bullets used over the past decade.

Hair samples of the population of Fallujah revealed levels of lead in children with birth defects five times higher than in other children, and mercury levels six times higher. Basrah children with birth defects had three times more lead in their teeth than children living in areas not struck by the artillery.


The intense fighting in Iraq led by the US and UK is not the only thing that harmed children in cities like Fallujah and Basrah – a new study revealed a shocking rise in birth defects in children conceived after the invasion. (AFP Photo / Odd Andersen)

The study found a "footprint of metal in the population,” Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, one of the lead authors of the report said. Savabieasfahani is an environmental toxicologist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

"In utero exposure to pollutants can drastically change the outcome of an otherwise normal pregnancy. The metal levels we see in the Fallujah children with birth defects clearly indicates that metals were involved in manifestation of birth defects in these children," she said.

The study's preliminary findings, released in 2010, led to an in-depth inquiry on Fallujah by the World Health Organization (WHO), the results of which will be released next month. The inquiry is expected to show an increase in birth defects following the Iraq War.

According to the WHO, a pregnant woman can be exposed to lead or mercury through the air, water and soil. The woman can then pass the exposure to her unborn child through her bones, and high levels of toxins can damage kidneys and brains, and cause blindness, seizures, muteness, lack of coordination and even death.

US and UK 'unaware' of rise in birth defects

US Defense Department responded to the report by claiming that there are no official reports indicating a connection between military action and birth defects in Iraq.

"We are not aware of any official reports indicating an increase in birth defects in Al Basrah or Fallujah that may be related to exposure to the metals contained in munitions used by the US or coalition partners,” a US Defense Department spokesperson told the Independent. “We always take very seriously public health concerns about any population now living in a combat theatre. Unexploded ordnance, including improvised explosive devises, are a recognized hazard.”

An UK government spokesperson also said there was no "reliable scientific or medical evidence to confirm a link between conventional ammunition and birth defects in Basrah. All ammunition used by UK armed forces falls within international humanitarian law and is consistent with the Geneva Convention."

 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Pentagon: US-Pakistani talks stall as no agreement reached


Pakistani protesters hold burning US and NATO flags rallying against US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal belts during a demonstration in Multan on June 4, 2012. (AFP Photo/S.S Mirza)

Source: Russia Today
http://www.rt.com/news/pakistan-us-talks-stall-586/

US negotiators are leaving Pakistan with no agreement on a supply route to NATO troops in Afghanistan have been reached.

Part of the US team left Islamabad over the weekend and the rest will leave shortly. However, they will be prepared to return on short notice if circumstances change, Pentagon spokesman George Little said on Monday.

"We will continue to work through the (ground supply route) matter with Pakistan. And the members of the team that are leaving, or have, left are prepared to return to Islamabad at any moment to continue discussions in person," Little said.

Senior Pentagon official, Peter Lavoy, held talks with senior Pakistani officials over the weekend, but he failed to meet with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, chief of the Pakistani army, Pentagon said.

Little added that the withdrawal was not imposed by Pakistan saying that the team, which has spent six weeks in Islamabad needs a rest.

Ties between the long-time partners started souring in 2011 from assassination of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Pakistan considered that attack “violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Over the years, the US military mission in Pakistan’s little-controlled tribal areas was criticized for indiscriminate killing of civilians along with militants. The culmination of the conflict was a US cross-border attack that mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November.

In response to the strike Islamabad closed its territories for the US which actively used Pakistani soil to deploy supplies and troops.

In addition to banned routes, Pakistan also denied the US the use of its Shamsi Air base in south of the country.

In March 2012 Pakistani parliamentary commission demanded an end to American drone strikes on the country’s territory as a condition for renewing Pakistani relations with the US.

The withdrawal of US negotiators comes just days after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the US was “reaching the limits of patience”.

Worsened relations between Washington and Islamabad significantly complicates NATO’s military mission in Afghanistan. The alliance had to turn to Afghanistan’s northern neighbors. However, alternative routes – from the north through Russia and Central Asian countries – are about two times more expensive than shipping directly through Pakistan.

Possibly that is why Pentagon says securing a deal with Pakistan remains a priority for the US and NATO.


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Kucinich: “NATO Talks a Sham: War in Afghanistan is Not Ending”


By: Rep Dennis Kucinich

Source: Global Research
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30998

Washington, May 21 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today released the following statement as world leaders meet in Chicago for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit.

“The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not a benevolent organization. NATO is not about the North Atlantic and it’s not about our collective defense.

“NATO is a cost-sharing organization that finances aggressive military action. By hiding behind the claim that the organization provides for ‘common defense,’ NATO allows us to wage wars of choice under the guise of international peacekeeping. The most recent example was the unconstitutional war in Libya where NATO, operating under a United Nations mandate to protect civilians, instead backed one side in a civil war and pursued a policy of regime change.

“Today, NATO leaders are meeting in Chicago to discuss the future of Afghanistan. The talks are being billed as discussions of plans to end the war. The war in Afghanistan is not ending. These talks are simply about financing the next phase of the war.

“The Strategic Partnership Agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan commits us to the country for at least another decade, despite public support for the war being at an all time low. The United States will pay for half of the estimated $4.1 billion per year cost of supporting 352,000 Afghan army and police officers. Afghanistan’s contribution will be $500,000. The rest will be financed by our ‘NATO partners.’ It is not surprising that support for the war among NATO members is waning, with France threatening to pull out its troops by the end of this year.

“Our participation in NATO comes at a great financial cost to the U.S. We contribute the majority of funds for NATO’s common budget, including 25% of the military budget. Between fiscal years 2010 and 2012 alone, we contributed more than $1.3 billion to NATO’s military budget. We also incur significant costs through the deployment of our forces in support of NATO missions. According to The Atlantic, the war in Libya cost the United States $1.1 billion.

“NATO was originally founded to provide a strategic counterbalance to the Soviet Union. Its founding purpose no longer exists, but NATO continues to circumvent the authority of the United Nations and to provoke other nations. NATO is an anachronism. Instead of trying to bolster the organization, we should begin serious discussions to dismantle it.”


Saturday, May 19, 2012

French troops will leave Afghanistan in 2012: Hollande


US President Barack Obama (R) meets with French President Francois Hollande (L) in the Oval Office on Friday, May 18, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/19/241929/france-exiting-afghanistan-in-2012/

French President Francois Hollande has met with US President Barack Obama in Washington and announced that he will withdraw all French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, as originally scheduled.

"The withdrawal is not negotiable. The withdrawal of combat forces is France's decision and this decision will be implemented," Hollande told reporters after talks with Obama in the White House on Friday, AFP reported.

"I am aware that France is part of an alliance, that it has been involved in operations for a long time and must therefore make its decisions in harmony with its allies, including our American partners," he added.

He went on to say that the 3,500 French troops will be pulled out in consultation with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Hollande’s pledge to withdraw troops from Afghanistan was one of his key campaign promises and is thought to have helped him defeat Nicolas Sarkozy.

However, the French leader added, “We will continue to support Afghanistan in a different way. Our support will take a different format.”

Obama did not question Hollande's position but said that NATO countries must uphold their commitment to help "Afghans build security and continue down the path of development."

US-led troops have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001. Their initial offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of about 130,000 foreign forces.


Pakistan reopens NATO supply routes to Afghanistan


Trucks carrying NATO supplies are seen parked at Pakistan’s Torkham border crossing. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/19/241933/pakistan-us-supply-trucks-afghanistan/

Pakistan has allowed four trucks containing office supplies for the US Embassy in Kabul to cross into Afghanistan, which is the first time the supply routes have been opened since Islamabad closed them six months ago.

Pakistani officials, speaking condition of anonymity, said that the four trucks recently crossed Pakistan's Torkham border into Afghanistan, AFP reported on Friday.

"I can confirm that three trucks have gone to Afghanistan and there are also reports about the crossing of the fourth one on Friday," said one of the officials.

Islamabad closed the border crossings used to transfer NATO supplies to landlocked Afghanistan in November 2011, after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in US-led airstrikes on two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

Pakistan has called on the United States to apologize for the November attack, but Washington has refused to do so.

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has left the country and is traveling to the US at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen to attend the May 20-21 NATO summit in Chicago, during which he will discuss future ties with NATO countries.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Oil extraction in North Afghanistan to begin in 5 months


Oil extraction in north Afghanistan will begin in five months

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/16/241563/afghan-oil-extraction-to-begin-in-5-months/

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines has announced that oil extraction from the northern Amu Darya Basin will begin during the next five months, Press TV reports.

Ministry officials noted that an estimated daily amount of 5,000 barrels of crude will be extracted from the basin in the initial phase of the plan.

The figure will increase to 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the later phases of development.

Amu Darya Basin is situated in Faryab and Sar-e Pol provinces in northern Afghanistan and, based on Afghan government’s estimate, contains about 87 million barrels of crude oil.

The Afghan government has signed a contract with China National Petroleum Corporation for oil extraction from Amu Darya Basin and the company has taken preliminary measures in this regard.

The Afghan government has also signed a deal with a Dubai-based Canadian company to start oil exploration in other areas in the northern part of the country.

Despite reports on the abundance of natural resources in Afghanistan, many experts still believe that it is too early to talk about the exact value of those reserves.


Monday, May 14, 2012

Russia calls to speed up India and Pakistan joining SCO


Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states pose for a group photo before a meeting in Beijing, May 11, 2012 (Reuters / Petar Kujundzic)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/politics/russia-sco-pakistan-india-lavrov-076/

In an effort to add some muscle to the regional economic bloc, Russia is looking to expedite India and Pakistan's membership process into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Acting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said delaying the decision on the accession of India and Pakistan was "counter-productive." He made his comments while taking part in a meeting of foreign ministers of SCO member states in Beijing on Friday.

"We should take an active part in all international discussions on Afghanistan, coordinating our positions and stressing the SCO's readiness to contribute to efforts by the international community aimed at the political and economic revival of Afghanistan," Lavrov said.

The SCO, which was officially established in 2001, includes Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan presently have observer status, while Afghanistan and Turkmenistan attend SCO meetings as guest nations.

Lavrov said that an international conference on Afghanistan will take place in the Afghan capital of Kabul on June 14.

The acting minister stressed that granting SCO observer status to Afghanistan would help achieve these goals.

China has held the organization's rotating presidency since August 1, 2011


Monday, April 16, 2012

Thousands of Pakistanis attend anti-US rally


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/236466.html

An alliance of around two dozen political parties gathered in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Sunday for a demonstration against the United States.

The parties resolved to launch a movement to push the Pakistani government to cut off its ties with the U.S.

Thousands of activists and supporters from various Pakistani parties turned up at the Defense of Pakistan Council Conference, waving flags for their respective parties.

Pakistan's parliament recently unanimously approved new guidelines for the country in its troubled relationship with the U.S., a decision that could pave the way for the reopening of supply lines to U.S.-led troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

The strategic routes have been closed down since last November, when a U.S. airstrike left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead.

The party chiefs at the rally were unequivocal in their condemnation of the U.S., lashing out at the Pakistani government as well for following the American line. AP

FACTS & FIGURES

Killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers back in November sparked the worst diplomatic crisis between Islamabad and Washington over the past decades.

Pentagon claims the soldiers were killed because of firing at a U.S. helicopter. However, Islamabad has firmly rejected the claim, saying the attack was premeditated.

The attack prompted Pakistani officials to close a U.S. base in the country which was used for carrying out assassination drone strikes in northwestern tribal regions. Pakistan has also shut down a key supply line for U.S.-led in Afghanistan.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

American soldier opens fire on Afghan civilians, killing 17


A file photo of a US soldier in Afghanistan

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/231084.html

An American soldier goes on a shooting spree in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, killing at least 17 innocent Afghan civilians and wounding several others, Press TV reports.

The shooting took place early Sunday in the district of Panjwaii in southern Kandahar province.

The US soldier has been reportedly detained following the assault.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan confirmed the incident but did not disclose further details. The motive behind the deadly attack is not known yet. The Western military alliance says it will launch an investigation into the incident.

"This is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved,” ISAF said in a statement."

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan have been a major source of friction between President Hamid Karzai's government and the US .

The incident came in the wake of recent violent clashes in several provinces of the war-ravaged country over Qur’an burning by the US-led forces, which left over 30 people, including six American soldiers, dead and around 180 others injured.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

US: Turning war-fear into warfare





U.S. Military Academy cadets wave a flag in the stands prior to the 112th Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/america-warfare-militarized-society-251/

Ever since its creation, the US has had a role to play in combat operations worldwide. Today the country’s public opinion is dominated by warfare, making American society all-too-easily manipulated and turned against practically any country.

The US has a strong record of persuading the public that war is the only way.

A military industrial complex worth billions of dollars is largely America’s driving force. Deeply rooted in the system, it would serve no purpose if there was no one to fight.

“If there were no more enemies left, there would be a loss of a sense of mission,” anti-war activist and journalist Don Bebar told RT.

Serving Americans are on permanent stand-by to deploy to battle zones on command.

“The US army flag has 183 campaign ribbons on it. Those 183 ribbons each represent wars,” Iraq war veteran Matthis Chiroux from New York shared with RT.

“When you compare that to the 236 years that we’ve actually been around as a country, you’re talking about a war on average of once every year and three months,” he calculated.

As a consequence of the American bellicosity in general, Matthis Chiroux is now soothing his nerves in company with 170,000 American soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The US always has a bone to pick with one enemy after another. For nearly half a century it was the Soviet Union.

“The communist threat was the most useful enemy. Where legitimate, and where completely fantastical, it was always available as a global conspiracy against which to justify anything,” Roots Action campaigner David Swanson told RT.

With the Cold War declared over, the list keeps expanding to smaller antagonists.

So it was with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1991, when then President George H. W. Bush Sr. announced that “Allied forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.”

Or with the former Yugoslavia, to which former President Bill Clinton signed a sentence in 1999 by announcing that the American Air Force was conducting “Air strikes against Serbian forces.”

Then it was ex-President George W. Bush, who was let off the leash after 9/11 terror attacks and announced a global War on Terror symbolized by Al-Qaeda. He started by invading Afghanistan in 2001 and continued with the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In 2003, the US Air Force was “Striking selective targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war,” announced George W. Bush, meaning that waging wars is an exclusive privilege of the chosen mighty ones.

Ultimately, it has been current President Barack Obama, who was elected on promises to end wars, but now looks forward to military conflict with Iran after lending a hand in toppling the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. As in previous cases, last spring he made a characteristic “We hit Gaddafi’s air defenses” statement on the American TV.

With a defense budget that surpasses the military expenditure of all other countries combined, no other nation drums up war as consistently as America.

“While people are still responding and recovering from the violence that’s been committed in one place, or even in the same place, we’re launching new operations and more atrocities in different parts of the world,” acknowledged war correspondent Keith Harmon Snow.

So Fox News cannot but reiterate that Iran is the biggest threat, Syria is a minor threat, Russia is a traditional threat and China is an emerging threat.

That makes America's top brass state that a strike on Tehran is in the planning stages.

It also makes the US President Obama latest quest for diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program look derisive in the face of a pending military confrontation.

Year in, year out, Americans are convinced that the US has to remain on the defensive.

“We’re petrified of death by terrorism. Shoot, I think a lot of Americans wish we’d spend more money on war,” veteran Matthis Chiroux confessed.

Finding the next target is never difficult.

Campaigner David Swanson says “We are inventing the nation of Iran as an enemy, as a threat to the United States, as a possessor of nuclear weapons it does not possess, a nation that has not attacked another in literally centuries, and has no capability or desire to attack ours.”

RT's Anastasia Churkina asked people on the streets of New York “Which country is the US going to be in a war with next?”

The most common answer she got was “Iran.”

The US has been picking and choosing which countries to intervene in for centuries. As the list of nations the US loves to hate expands, the concept that no war at all is also an option seems to have been forgotten.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

NATO withdraws Afghanistan staff after US advisers killed



Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/228625.html

NATO on Saturday pulled all its staff out of Afghan government ministries after two U.S. military advisers were shot dead in the interior ministry, as anti-U.S. protests raged for a fifth day.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was in revenge for the burning of Qur'ans at a U.S.-run military base - an incident that forced U.S. President Barack Obama to apologize to the Afghan people. Thejakartaglobe

HIGHLIGHTS

"For obvious force protection reasons, I have also taken immediate measures to recall all other ISAF personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul," said U.S. General John Allen, commander of NATO's international security assistance force. news24.co

The two advisers, including a lieutenant colonel and a major, were shot in the back of the head, according to Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information. Huffington Post

U.S. officials said the assailant - who has not been identified by name or nationality - remained at large and a manhunt was underway. Huffington Post

Britain said its embassy was also temporarily withdrawing all civilian mentors and advisers from Afghan government institutions in Kabul. Thejakartaglobe

The latest deaths come hard on the heels of the killing of two American troops on Thursday when an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on them at their base in eastern Nangarhar province as demonstrators approached. Thejakartaglobe

Friday, February 24, 2012

Anglo-French drone files stolen


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228282.html

Highly secret documents related to the Anglo-French project aimed at building Europe’s assassination drones have been stolen at the Gare du Nord station in Paris.

A briefcase containing highly confidential documents relating to the Anglo-French assassination drone project has been stolen from a senior French executive.

The senior executive from Dassault Aviation, a French manufacturer of military jets, was on his way to London when two people, possibly linked to “a highly-sophisticated operation by a spy agency” as described by the French police, stole the documents.

Britain and France agreed to carry out a joint project aimed at building a new generation of assassination drones, known as Male (medium altitude long endurance) drones, by 2020.

British arms giant BAE Systems and Dassault Aviation are to launch the joint venture so that the new assassination drones will fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the US and Britain’s so-called “War on Terror.”

British anti-arms campaigners have severely criticized the Anglo-French project as they describe the assassination drones as “the latest ‘must have’ weapon system” that Britain is “desperate” to build.

“Drones are the latest ‘must have’ weapon system and it is important they say, that the UK keeps up with the US and Israel in this key market,” said Drone Wars UK in a statement.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

US presses Pakistan to allow intelligence bases near Iran


Satellite photo of Iran-Pakistan border

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227892.html

An Indian newspaper says the United States is putting pressure on Pakistan to allow Washington to establish espionage bases in the country’s Balochistan province to gather intelligence on Iran.

According to a report published by The Times of India on Monday, the US Congress has been discussing a resolution to recognize the right of Baloch people to self-determination as a means of putting pressure on Islamabad to give in to the US demands.

The move elicited angry reactions from Pakistan’s top leaders including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who described it as an attack on the country's sovereignty.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, also said though the resolution was an isolated move by a few individuals, it "is contrary to the principles of the UN Charter and international law.”

“The outburst in America for Balochistan…is part of the move [by the US] to set up intelligence bases close to the Iranian border,” an unnamed Pakistani official was quoted by the paper as saying.

The official indicated that the Congressional hearing and resolution were nothing but "pressure tactics."

"They [Americans] want to use our soil against Iran, which we can never allow," he added.

Meanwhile, two officials from Pakistan’s security agencies and one from diplomatic circles confirmed to the daily that the American diplomats and military leaders had requested permission for their agents to operate near the Iranian border in Balochistan.

The revelation came a few days after the US House of Representatives blamed Pakistani security agencies for the abductions and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan.

This is not the first time that the United States has made efforts to spy on Iran.

On May 30, 2011, the members of a CIA espionage and sabotage network were arrested by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry.

On November 24, Iran announced the arrest of a dozen other CIA spies, who were found to have been on a mission to sabotage the country's nuclear facilities and other important compounds.

Another CIA espionage network with 12 members was busted in Iran and Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah.

On December 4, Iranian Army's electronic warfare unit downed a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft when flying over the northeastern Iran city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) away from the Afghan border.

Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the drone had been part of a CIA reconnaissance mission, involving the United State's intelligence community stationed in Afghanistan.

Friday, February 10, 2012

UK to deploy second Prince to frontline


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225793.html

In a bid to fulfill the constitutional role of the British monarchy, Tory-led government will deploy yet another member of royal family, Prince Harry, to the frontline in Afghanistan as an Apache attack helicopter pilot.

The Prince, the third in line to the throne, will be deployed to Afghanistan warzone towards the end of 2012, following a Ministry of Defense announcement that Harry, known as Captain Wales, would fly the aircraft to fight Taliban.

The latest development comes as the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, was sent to the Malvinas Islands for a six-week deployment as a search and rescue pilot while tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed islands have heightened.

Royal sources claimed that Harry was looking forward to “doing his duty” after finishing a demanding 18-month training program and will join an operational unit in Afghanistan, where he was sent four years ago to stay 14 weeks, but ended up his duty 10 weeks into the tour after reportedly failing in military operations.

Analysts criticize MoD’s plan to send Harry again to Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter, which can fire different types of rockets such as laser-guided Hellfire missiles and has a 30mm cannon for close-quarters fighting.

Analysts believe that the deployment of the royal brothers to the frontlines while the monarchy is celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee year, show that the royal family is seeking to increase its constitutional role in the country.

Anti-monarchy activists also condemned the costly deployments of the second and third in line to the throne and blamed the government for being “anti-democratic” as it put the monarchy’s controversial policies into practice.

The question on the minds of the critics now is that if 27-year-old Prince is ready enough to represent a role for Britain, while his regular evenings at London nightclubs made him unsure on his feet.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Pakistan leaders spurn pro-NATO move


Activists of Pakistan Defense Council gather during a rally in the city of Multan on January 29, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/223828.html

Pakistani religious and political leaders say they will not let Islamabad reopen Pakistan's crossings to NATO's supply trucks, closed after the US forces with the alliance conducted a deadly attack against the country.

The leaders made the announcement on Sunday during a massive anti-US demonstration arranged by the Defense of Pakistan Council, which is an alliance of 40 religious and political parties, in the city of Multan, about 400 kilometers southwest of the capital Islamabad.

Attending the demonstration, thousands of people from different religious and political groups condemned Washington's policies and its non-UN-sanctioned drone strikes on Pakistan's tribal region.

Islamabad stopped the supply convoys destined for the 130,000-strong US-led force deployed in Afghanistan in response to NATO airstrikes on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

According to reports, Pakistan's parliament is likely to approve reopening of the supply routes to NATO on the condition that the Western military alliance pays heavy tariffs.

Speaking during the rally, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest religious political party, said that any resolution submitted in parliament favoring the reopening of the routes would be a step to the detriment of the country.

In a reference to the clandestine activities of the CIA and Israel's spy agency, Mossad, in Pakistan, Munawar Hassan said that international spy agencies were involved in terrorist incidents in the country.

He also stated it was time that Islamabad detached itself from Washington and its harmful policies for the region.

The head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami, another large religious political party in Pakistan, told the participants in the rally that if “the US, Israel, India or NATO forces” attacked Pakistan's border again, members of his party would retaliate against them with full force.

A leader of a religious movement warned the government that if it decided to reopen the routes, his group's members would block the passageways themselves.

Former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Hameed Gul, also said that renewed flow of the supplies to the US-led forces would expose Pakistan to potential dangers.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Pakistani parliament backs PM Gilani



Pakistani officials and media members gather outside the Parliament House building during a joint session, Islamabad, Pakistan, January 13, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221479.html

Pakistan's parliament has passed a resolution in support of the government shortly after the country's Supreme Court issued a contempt of court notice against the prime minister.

The Pakistani parliament on Monday night voted with majority for the resolution to endorse the government of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani for its efforts to "strengthen democracy" amidst the country's worst legal and political crisis in over a decade.

Lawmakers of the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), boycotted the proceedings.

"This House endorses and supports the efforts made by the political leadership for the strengthening democracy and reposes full confidence and trust in them," the resolution said.

The vote came after Pakistan's Supreme Court issued a contempt order against Gilani for not complying with orders related to the reopening of corruption cases.

Gilani was asked to appear in person at the court due to the government's refusal to reopen graft cases against top officials including President Asif Ali Zardari.

Gilani praised the lawmakers for passing the resolution and said that he would appear in the Supreme Court on January 19.

The Supreme Court has demanded that the government ask Swiss officials to reopen old corruption cases against the president.

The government and the ruling party, however, say Zardari has immunity from prosecution as long as he remains in office.

Zardari is also under pressure due to an investigation into who was behind efforts to ask for US help to avert an army coup in Pakistan, in May 2011.

The request for US help is said to have been made by former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, with support from Zardari. However, both Haqqani and Zardari have denied the accusations.

The government has been trying to avoid the escalating tensions with the military and the judiciary.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Pakistan court finds Gilani in contempt



Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221341.html

Pakistan's Supreme Court has issued a contempt order against the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for not complying with orders related to the re-opening of corruption cases.

"The Supreme Court has issued a contempt of court notice to the prime minister for not complying with its orders," Judge Nasir-ul-Mulk said on Monday.

He added that Gilani should appear in person at the court on January 19 due to his refusal to reopen corruption cases against the president and over eight-thousand other people.

The judge said the court met to debate how to proceed on graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari.

"We are left with no option but to issue a show cause notice to the prime minister of Pakistan (for him to explain) as to why he shall not be proceeded against for contempt of this court," Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq said.

The Supreme Court has demanded that the government ask Swiss officials to reopen old corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

This is while, the government and the ruling party say Zardari has immunity from prosecution as long as he remains in office.

Zardari is also under pressure due to an investigation into who was behind efforts to ask for US help to avert an army coup in Pakistan, in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.

The request for US help is said to have been made by former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, with support from Zardari. However, both Haqqani and Zardari have denied the accusations.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Pakistan says reviewing ties with US



Pakistani women staged an anti-US protest rally in Karachi on December 20, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/219112.html

A Pakistani parliamentary committee is reviewing the country's relations with the United States after recent tensions between the two countries.

A senior government official said on Tuesday that the committee is reviewing the state of ties with the US and the kind of relationship that Pakistan should have with Washington in future.

"The relationship in future will be transparent and there will be new terms of engagement with the US in counterterrorism," the unnamed official said.

Washington-Islamabad relations entered a new phase after US-led airstrikes killed at least 24 Pakistani troops and injured dozens of others in northwest Pakistan in November. The raid prompted several anti-US demonstrations in Pakistani cities.

The Pakistani government has shut vital supply routes for US-led foreign soldiers in Afghanistan following the attack.

NATO has expressed hope for a quick reopening of the border, arguing that the blockade is damaging the economies of both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The US claims that the drone strikes target militants, although casualty figures indicate that the aerial bombings have led to the loss of hundreds of Pakistani civilian lives.

The country has lost more than 35,000 people in militant attacks and bomb explosions since 2007, according to independent estimates.

Millions more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy across the country.

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