And none of it makes the US or its allies any safer; in fact the opposite is true: Tens of billions of dollars are being lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan because of a toothless U.S. contracting system so reliant on a handful of major contractors that it rarely suspends or desbars…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
What the West fears is true independence in the Arab world
The following article by Kate Ausburn appears in Green Left Weekly: Popular uprisings in the Arab world have challenged a political landscape dominated by undemocratic regimes and fronted by dictators, a panel of academics and journalists said at a Sydney University forum on February 15. Speakers discussed the regional and international ramifications of the uprisings…
Obama’s legacy; increase in private mercenaries
Really: The number of private security contractors working for the Defense Department in Afghanistan has more than tripled to about 19,000 since June 2009, according to a new congressional study. The study found a steady increase in private security contractors — most of whom are Afghans — since the DOD started tracking the data in…
Private armies living like kings in “war on terror” fantasies
What does it take for mercenaries to stop getting contracts in occupied nations? More than a year has passed since the State Department decided to drop its contract [1] with the security firm protecting the US embassy in Kabul, following an international scandal featuring drunken debauchery [2] fit for a Van Wilder flick. But the…
Talking to Finkel, Anderson and Stewart in India on occupation
I recently attended the Jaipur Literature Festival in India and moderated a session with three men who know something about war and conflict. Brit Rory Stewart, New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson and the Washington Post’s David Finkel. The video of the event is now online (the sound and picture aren’t perfectly in sync but you’ll…
Just how many Afghans is Australia murdering in Afghanistan?
It’s called counter-insurgency but in many cases this is simply operations to train, capture and allow the subsequent torture (and/or murder) of supposed Afghan insurgents. A failed strategy that deserves exposure: Counterinsurgency, also known as COIN, is the main focus in Afghanistan. It is a partnered effort between Afghan government and coalition forces to bring…
Memo to MSM; your job isn’t to pimp for foreign wars
VIDEO: WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Night raid in Mirabad Today’s Murdoch press features this “world exclusive“: The commando raiding party approaches the mud-walled qala, or compound, after a long night march from the helicopter insertion point. As they move in with their infra-red laser sights beaming and their alien-like night vision “eyes” switched on, all hell breaks…
Finland wants to kill Muslims to get far with UN
Thank you, Wikileaks: According to Wikileaks cables acquired by YLE, Finland has made deals to exchange votes with other countries in an effort to get a place on the United Nations Security Council. If Israel votes for Finland to join the Security Council in 2013, then Finland will vote for Israel to join in 2019.…
Because the Middle East needs so much more US involvement
Just what the Middle East needs; more meddling in its affairs, because the current state of the region shows a wonderfully happy place. Only in America could “stability” be defined as backing Zionist occupation and Arab dictatorships: There’s a raging debate on Capitol Hill surrounding huge cuts to foreign aid funding proposed in the House…