Ahmed Wali Karzai and “the CIA’s bastards”

There was little surprise among Afghanistan experts and longtime CIA watchers at the New York Times report that claimed Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of the Afghan President and alleged drug kingpin, has been paid by the CIA for eight years. The agency has declined comment on the Times story, but Karzai’s CIA connection “has been […]

Things you would not have accepted 10 years ago

“What no one seemed to notice. . . was the ever widening gap. . .between the government and the people. . . And it provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway … and kept us so busy with continuous changes and ‘crises’ and so fascinated . . […]

Controversial Executive Orders that remain in effect

After 9/11, George W. Bush secretly signed two executive orders. Both violated basic constitutional protections as well as U.S. obligations under international treaties, yet both carried the force of law. The first order grants the president and other officials, including the secretary of defense, the secretary of homeland security) the right to declare anyone–including an […]

Stimulus Bill, at taxpayer expense, funds ridiculous research

Taxpayer-paid Stimulus Bill funds ridiculous research Duluth, Minn. received $6 million in economic stimulus funds for a snowmaking facility, even though it is the 15th snowiest city in America, according to City-Data.com. This is just one of the projects being funded by the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President […]

U.S. and NATO Military partners with Afghan Warlords

The New York Times revealed that the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has long been on the payroll of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. But this is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by U.S. and NATO counterinsurgency forces on Afghan warlords. U.S. and other NATO military contingents operating […]

Extrajudicial executions through US drone attacks

US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN’s top investigator of such crimes said. ‘The problem with the United States is that it is making an increased use of drones/Predators (which are) particularly prominently used now in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan,’ UN […]

If there’s no Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, why is the U.S there? To spend money?

In recent months we’ve learned that even in its heyday, Al-Qaeda only numbered 300 members in Afghanistan. Most of those have been killed, with a handful escaping to Pakistan. The point is only a few Al-Qaeda supposedly remain in Afghanistan. The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, confirmed this in a July 28 Los […]

U.S. paying Afghanistan Taliban fighters to not fight U.S. troops

President Obama just signed a $680 billion defense appropriations bill, which includes a Taliban reintegration provision. The buyout idea, according to the Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is to separate local Taliban from their leaders. “Afghan leaders and our military say that local Taliban fighters are motivated largely by the […]

Major Iraq bombing may have been inside job

Sunday’s twin suicide bombings in Baghdad that killed at least 155 people and wounded 500 others may have had help from within Iraq’s security apparatus, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reports. “This was a really well coordinated attack on an area in Baghdad that’s supposed to be well protected,” Maddow told viewers. “In order to reach their […]

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai questions US reliability as partner

Henry Kissinger once observed that being America’s ally can be more dangerous than being its enemy. Take poor Hamid Karzai, the amiable former business consultant and CIA “asset” installed by Washington as Afghanistan’s president. As the U.S. increasingly gets its backside kicked in Afghanistan, you can almost hear Washington rebuking, “Bad puppet! Bad puppet!” The […]