General David Petraeus is set to testify before Congress today, and he’s expected to again try to put a positive spin on a war effort that’s utterly failing to meet the goals set by its backers. While intelligence assessments show that tactical moves on the ground in Afghanistan have failed to fundamentally weaken the growing [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Taliban’
Petraeus, McCain Continue Afghanistan War Spin, But No One Buys It (Nor Should They)
Posted: March 15, 2011 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Brave New Foundation, civilian casualties, Congress, counterinsurgency, insurgency, McCain, Petraeus, propaganda, Rethink Afghanistan, spin, Taliban
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Pentagon Assertions of “Progress” In Afghanistan Are a Bad Joke
Posted: March 9, 2011 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, COIN, counterinsurgency, escalation, Gates, insurgents, Obama, Pentagon, Petraeus, propaganda, Rethink Afghanistan, Robert Gates, spin, Taliban, targeted killings, troop increase
The Pentagon wants you to ignore some inconvenient facts about the failure of the escalation strategy in Afghanistan. The latest Petraeus/Gates media tour is under way in preparation for the general’s testimony to Congress next week, and they’re trotting out the same, tired spin they’ve been using since McChrystal was replaced in disgrace last year. [...]
Afghanistan War Not Worth the Burning of Children and Treasure
Posted: March 4, 2011 in UncategorizedTags: #RethinkAfghanistan, Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, civilian casualties, cost of war, defense spending, fraud, fuel theft, insurgency, insurgents, Meetup, Obama, Petraeus, Rethink Afghanistan, Taliban, tankers, war in Afghanistan, war profiteering
Fresh from the reported killing of more than 60 civilians, U.S. forces in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, killed nine boys gathering firewood in Afghanistan. General Petraeus says he’s sorry. “We are deeply sorry for this tragedy and apologize to the members of the Afghan government, the people of Afghanistan and, most importantly, the surviving family members [...]
ISAF Press Shop Can’t Keep Their Spin Straght, Part 2
Posted: November 9, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Brave New Foundation, civilian deaths, civilian killings, civilians, COIN, counterinsurgency, insurgents, Petraeus, Rethink Afghanistan, Taliban
Last week I posted about the silly contradictions in the various spin pieces coming from General Petraeus’ press shop in Afghanistan. At the time, ISAF was claiming that a) Kandahar and Helmand were “security bubbles” and b) ISAF was obviously winning because they were confining most of the violence in Afghanistan to…Kandahar and Helmand. This [...]
Media Failing to Ask Tough Questions on Afghanistan War…Again
Posted: August 15, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: act.ly, Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, Brave New Foundation, David Gregory, insurgents, journalism, Katie Couric, marines, media, Meet the Press, military, Navy, Obama, petition, Petraeus, propaganda, Rethink Afghanistan, Robert Greenwald, spin, Taliban, troops, violence
Sign our act.ly petition to tell the next journalists on Petraeus’ media tour to ask tough questions and expose his effort to extend the Afghanistan War. General Petraeus is on a media tour to sell the idea that the U.S. military is “making progress” in Afghanistan, a well-worn message aimed at convincing elites to extend [...]
Afghanistan Rights Monitor SLAMS Washington Spin About “Progress” in Afghanistan
Posted: July 13, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Afghanistan Rights Monitor, ARM, Brave New Foundation, insurgency, insurgents, International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Obama, Rethink Afghanistan, Taliban
The Afghanistan Rights Monitor’s (ARM) mid-year report on Civilian Casualties of Conflict (.pdf) blasts the happy-talk coming out of the Obama Administration about the deteriorating security situation and its effect on civilians: Despite the high-profile spin in Washington and Kabul about progress made in Afghanistan, the Afghan people have only witnessed and suffered an intensifying [...]
Hope
Posted: July 10, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Austin, Brave New Foundation, Central market, COIN, counterinsurgency, insurgency, Meetup, Rethink Afghanistan, Taliban, Vietnam
This evening, I spent a couple of hours at Central Market in downtown Austin, Texas, with 7 other people in one of the first Meetups to Rethink the Afghanistan War. I’ve been involved in a serious way in the struggle to end the war for a little more than two years. This was the most [...]
