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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘war in Afghanistan’
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
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2010: Worst Year for Civilian Deaths of the Afghanistan War
Posted: February 2, 2011 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Afghanistan Rights Monitor, Afghanistan war, civilian casualties, IEDs, ISAF, NATO, Obama, Rethink Afghanistan, war in Afghanistan
Last year was the worst year for civilian deaths in the war so far, and irregular armed groups backed by the U.S. and by the Afghan government are preying on the population while recruiting and abusing children. Go team. I’m almost numb from continually relaying reports like this, but every time I get an email [...]
Failure, Not Progress, in Afghanistan
Posted: December 15, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, Brave New Foundation, civilian casualties, counterinsurgency, December Review, Holbrooke, Obama, Petraeus, Rethink Afghanistan, troop deaths, war in Afghanistan
On Thursday, December 16, 2010, the White House will use its December review to try to spin the disastrous Afghanistan War plan by citing “progress” in the military campaign, but the available facts paint a picture of a war that’s not making us safer and that’s not worth the cost. Let’s take a look at [...]
Afghanistan, Year Ten
Posted: October 8, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, afghanistan year 10, Brave New Foundation, COIN, counterinsurgency, McChrystal, mckiernon, Pentagon, Petraeus, Rethink Afghanistan, war in Afghanistan, white house, year 10
Watch Rethink Afghanistan’s latest video at RethinkAfghanistan.com. I spent several days last week giving guest lectures about the Afghanistan War to freshmen and seniors at Anderson High School in Austin, Texas. It’s no secret that I loathe this brutal, futile war that’s not making us safer. So, when I talk to kids about it, I [...]
Security in Afghanistan Crumbles as Counterinsurgency Fails
Posted: September 12, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghan National Army, Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, anti-war, Army, Brave New Foundation, COIN, corruption, counterinsurgency, failure, Hamid Karzai, Kabul Bank, Kabulbank, military, Obama, Pashtuns, peace, Rethink Afghanistan, strategy review, war in Afghanistan, white house
As President Obama’s strategy review for Afghanistan commences, let’s hope he’s balancing the information coming to him from his happy-talking generals with some independent news reading of his own. While General David Petraeus serenades the major news media in the United States with the siren song of “progress,” security in Afghanistan is rapidly deteriorating, and [...]
General Petraeus, Concern Troll
Posted: June 18, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, Brave New Foundation, ISAF, Jim Jones, Levin, NATO, Obama, Petraeus, Rethink Afghanistan, Robert Gates, Taliban, war in Afghanistan
Watch "Don’t Let General Petraeus Move the Goalposts on Afghanistan" in HD on Facebook. Concern troll. In an argument (usually a political debate), a concern troll is someone who is on one side of the discussion, but pretends to be a supporter of the other side with “concerns”. The idea behind this is that your [...]
The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Mutilated Our Economy
Posted: May 30, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: $1 Trillion, $1000000000000, Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, cost of war, Dean Baker, economy, Iraq war, jobs, peri, Rethink Afghanistan, war in Afghanistan
$1,000,000,000,000.00 As of today, that’s how much we’ve spent just in direct costs so far on the stupid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. One trillion dollars, gone. And we’re just getting warmed up…there are trillions more in future direct and indirect costs coming. These two wars mutilated our economy. There’s no other way to say [...]
Afghanistan Where A Thousand Corpses Lie
Posted: May 18, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: 1000 Deaths, Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, Brave New Foundation, casualties, McChrystal, Obama, Rethink Afghanistan, Tillman, war in Afghanistan, white house
Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment, Little souls who thirst for fight, These men were born to drill and die. The unexplained glory flies above them, Great is the Battle-God, great, and his Kingdom – A field where a thousand corpses lie. –Stephen Crane, Do not weep, maiden for war is kind. According to The [...]
President Obama, Bringing the Truthiness on Afghanistan
Posted: May 14, 2010 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, Afghanistan war, COIN, counterinsurgency, Defense Department, Flournoy, insurgency, Obama, Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability, Rethink Afghanistan, war in Afghanistan
President Obama told reporters on May 12, 2010, that “we’re beginning to reverse the momentum of the insurgency” in Afghanistan. According to his administration’s own report given to Congress last week, that’s not true. The insurgency is growing in size and capabilities. Simply put, the president’s continued troop increases aren’t working. It’s time to change [...]
