Afghanistan

Women's rights in Afghanistan

SamSam — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 13:41:14 +0000

FREEDOM ENOUGH

Dean Omori — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:52:05 +0100

Omar Deghayes on Receiving Letters in Guantanamo

Spectacle — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:21:59 +0100

Afghanistan: is it time to talk to the Taliban?

Niluccio — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:08:00 +0100

Eight years after they were overthrown by US air power, a drumbeat is starting to sound across Afghanistan in favour of talking to the Taliban, the country's once-hated former rulers. An idea that used to seem absurd, if not defeatist, is coming to be seen as the only credible way to end an ever-widening war. Moreover, the proposed agenda of negotiations is not a Taliban surrender, but an offer to share power in Kabul.

Source: Afghanistan: is it time to talk to the Taliban?

Rove 'proud' of US waterboarding terror suspects

DrPot — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:07:40 +0000

A senior adviser to former US President George W Bush has defended tough interrogation techniques, saying their use helped prevent terrorist attacks.
In a BBC interview, Karl Rove, who was known as "Bush's brain", said he "was proud we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists".
He said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, should not be considered torture.
In 2009, President Barack Obama banned waterboarding as a form of torture.

Source: Rove 'proud' of US waterboarding terror suspects

Live blog: Criticism of MI5 to be restored to Binyam Mohamed judgment | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:39:17 +0000

Criticism of MI5 that was removed from the ruling on the involvement of the security service in the torture of Binyam Mohamed must be restored to the judgment, the court of appeal ruled today.
The decision is another blow to the government after it lost its attempt earlier this month to cover up MI5's complicity in "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" meted out to the British resident Mohamed by the US.
Passages that appeared in the original draft judgment were removed after Jonathan Sumption QC, the government's counsel, claimed the words suggested that MI5's approach undermined assurances given by ministers and that MI5 had "an interest in suppressing information".

Source: Live blog: Criticism of MI5 to be restored to Binyam Mohamed judgment | World news | guardian.co.uk

Poland admits role in CIA rendition programme | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:47:48 +0000

The Polish authorities have for the first time admitted their involvement in the CIA's secret programme for the rendition of high-level terrorist suspects from Iraq and Afghanistan, it emerged today.
"It is time for the authorities to provide a full accounting of Poland's role in rendition," Adam Bodnar, of the Warsaw-based Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, said.
"These flight records reinforce the troubling findings of official European inquiries and global human rights groups, showing complicity with CIA abuse across Europe."

Source: Poland admits role in CIA rendition programme | World news | guardian.co.uk

Guantanamo guard reunited with ex-inmates

DrPot — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:45:51 +0000

"You look different without a cap."
"You look different without the jump suits."
With those words, an extraordinary reunion gets underway. The last time Ruhal Ahmed met Brandon Neely, he was "behind bars, behind a cage and [Brandon] was on the other side". He would say, 'you ever listen to Eminem or Dr Dre' and... I thought how could it be somebody is here who's doing the same stuff that I do when I'm back home
Mr Neely was one of his guards.

Source: Guantanamo guard reunited with ex-inmates

Mark Steel: Here's one soldier who told the truth about this war

Niluccio — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:25:43 +0000

Politicians and newspapers love to revere a war hero from Afghanistan, so it's strange that they haven't got round to Lance-Corporal Joe Glenton. When Joe went out there he must have been warned he could end up being held in captivity, but he can't have expected that would mean getting locked away by the British Army.

Source: Mark Steel: Here's one soldier who told the truth about this war

Fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan

DrPot — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:53:23 +0000

"I heard Kilo company lit up nine guys today," said Craig, a young US marine, his face illuminated by the flickering flames that separated us.
Craig, square-jawed and of Irish American stock from Boston, looked like a young Kennedy stranded in Afghanistan. Night had fallen over the shattered compound in Now Zad where we were bedding down.
The company that Craig and I were attached to, Lima, had spent its day blasting its way through an area of abandoned farms believed to be host to dozens of Taliban.

Source: Fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan

Blackwater operating at CIA Pakistan base, ex-official says | World news | The Guardian

DrPot — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:31:28 +0000

The US contractor Blackwater is operating in Pakistan at a secret CIA airfield used for launching drone attacks, according to a former US official, despite repeated government denials that the company is in the country.
The official, who had direct knowledge of the operation, said that employees with Blackwater, now renamed Xe Services, patrol the area round the Shamsi airbase in Baluchistan province.
He also confirmed that Blackwater employees help to load laser-guided Hellfire missiles on to CIA-operated drones that target al-Qaida members suspected of hiding in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions.......

Source: Blackwater operating at CIA Pakistan base, ex-official says | World news | The Guardian

Wootton Bassett, outpost of lost England

Niluccio — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:36:08 +0000

I was booked to be a guest on last night’s Question Time, filmed in Wootton Bassett. It would have been my second appearance on the show and I was looking forward to it in an egotistical “Look, everyone, I’m much cleverer than you’d expect” kind of way.

Source: Wootton Bassett, outpost of lost England

Win hearts and minds in Afghanistan to win the war

Niluccio — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:52:27 +0000

Three years ago I travelled across Afghanistan to make a film about what conditions for ordinary Afghans were like. We wanted to make it in the winter of 2006-07 because there was talk of a spring offensive from the Taleban — which indeed came, and came, and has kept coming ever since.

Source: Win hearts and minds in Afghanistan to win the war

'Torture documents' can be seen

DrPot — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:02:40 +0100

The High Court has ruled that US intelligence documents containing details of the alleged torture of a former UK resident can be released.
Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 31, who spent four years in Guantanamo Bay, claims British authorities colluded in his torture while in Pakistan.
High Court judges were previously blocked from making the details public.
The UK government denies allegations of collusion and says it will appeal against the court's judgement.

Source: 'Torture documents' can be seen

BBC NEWS | Health | Torturing 'does not get truth'

DrPot — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:15:32 +0100

Torture techniques used on suspected terrorists by the Bush administration may have failed to get to the truth, researchers say.
Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College, Dublin, said the interrogation techniques had a detrimental effect on brain functions related to memory.
He listed 10 methods of what he called torture used by the US, including stress positions and waterboarding.
His review is published in the journal, Trends in Cognitive Science.

Source: BBC NEWS | Health | Torturing 'does not get truth'

MI6 reports own officer over torture allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:44:37 +0100

The Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has reported one of its own officers to the attorney general over allegations of complicity in torture, the foreign secretary revealed today.
David Miliband disclosed the move in a letter to William Hague. The shadow foreign secretary had written to Miliband about allegations made by MPs, first reported in the Guardian, of complicity in torture or ill treatment of detainees and terror suspects by officers in the Security Service, MI5.
Miliband said the case was referred to the attorney general, Lady Scotland, by MI6 on its own initiative, "unprompted by any accusation against the service or the individual concerned".

Source: MI6 reports own officer over torture allegations | World news | guardian.co.uk

US launches probe into CIA abuses

DrPot — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:25:17 +0100

A special US prosecutor has been appointed to investigate allegations of abuse of terror suspects.
The announcement of John Durham's selection came as a report was published detailing the allegations of abuse by CIA agents.
Agents threatened to kill a key terror suspect's children and sexually assault another's mother, it is claimed.

Source: US launches probe into CIA abuses

US 'names secret terror suspects'

DrPot — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:18:52 +0100

The US military has begun notifying the Red Cross of the identities of terror suspects being held at secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan, US reports say.
The International Committee of the Red Cross would not comment on the report, which the New York Times carried quoting unnamed US officials.
The policy reportedly took effect this month with no public announcement.
Correspondents say that, if confirmed, the move represents a victory for human rights groups.

Source: US 'names secret terror suspects'

Bombshell report on CIA interrogations is leaked | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:59:25 +0100

CIA interrogators threatened a captured al-Qaida leader with a power drill and a pistol in what was described as a mock execution, according to a long-suppressed report due to be released on Monday.......The full findings on the CIA's interrogation programme are to be made public after a federal judge upheld an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union for their release.
The report is understood to describe mock executions where interrogators tried to get detainees to talk by firing a gun in an adjoining room to pretend another prisoner had been killed.

Source: Bombshell report on CIA interrogations is leaked | World news | guardian.co.uk

Taliban chop off Afghan voters' fingers | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:52:51 +0100

New evidence of violence against Afghan voters have emerged as election observers confirmed that Taliban fanatics in the south of Afghanistan hacked off the fingers of at least two people who dared to vote in last week's elections.
The country's biggest election monitoring organisation said the Taliban carried out the long-threatened punishment in Kandahar province soon after the voters cast their ballots on Thursday, after which right index fingers were inked to prevent anybody voting again.

Source: Taliban chop off Afghan voters' fingers | World news | guardian.co.uk

CIA hired Blackwater for al-Qaida assassination programme, sources say

DrPot — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:19:04 +0100

The CIA enlisted the infamous security company Blackwater in a secret programme to track down and kill al-Qaida leaders, US intelligence sources confirmed today.
Blackwater staff, many of whom are former members of US special forces and former members of the CIA, were recruited in 2004 as part of the programme, estimated to have costs millions of dollars. No raid to capture or kill al-Qaida leaders was ever carried out and the programme was closed down this year.
But the employment of Blackwater raised new questions about the legality of the CIA's behaviour during the Bush administration and about the agency's widespread use of outside contractors.

Source: CIA hired Blackwater for al-Qaida assassination programme, sources say

Trade in guns and drugs that fuels war in Afghanistan

Niluccio — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:57:56 +0100

Hekmat the smuggler and I sat among a group of men in a wood-walled hotel room in Ishkashim, a town in Badakh–shan province in the far north of Afghanistan.

Source: Trade in guns and drugs that fuels war in Afghanistan

Horia Mosadiq: Help Afghan women – and win the debate over the war

Niluccio — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:42:39 +0100

Many Afghans tell Amnesty that they support the presence of international troops as long as they're there to help protect their human rights and improve their lives. The UK government should take this seriously, incorporating human rights benchmarks into its Afghanistan strategy.

Source: Horia Mosadiq: Help Afghan women – and win the debate over the war

Row over Afghan wife-starving law

DrPot — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:05:12 +0100

Afghan legislation allowing a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex has been published in the official gazette and become law.
The original bill caused outrage earlier this year, forcing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to withdraw it.
But critics say the amended version of the law remains highly repressive.
They accuse Mr Karzai of selling out Afghan women for the sake of conservative Shia support at next week's presidential election.

Source: Row over Afghan wife-starving law

The fog of war

Niluccio — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:55:18 +0100

Out into the attack with the Royal Marines last year, we drove in dust-choked Viking armoured vehicles through the sand desert and to the crest of a ridge that overlooked the lush, irrigated valley along the Helmand River known to the soldiers as the Green Zone, their battlefield.

Source: The fog of war

Alleged British army deserter appears at court martial

farahfoo — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:43:33 +0100

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, who wrote to PM explaining refusal to fight in Afghanistan, will argue the war is illegal in his court martial

Source: Alleged British army deserter appears at court martial

From Gitmo to Bagram | Sean Duggan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:08:54 +0100

It is disappointing that the panels responsible for reviewing the Obama administration's detention policy at Guantánamo Bay and its interrogation policy overall announced on Tuesday that they would need more time to complete their evaluations. Thankfully, though, the pending review of the Afghan prison and judicial system is on track to be completed swiftly and thoroughly by the US military at this critical juncture in the nearly eight-year-long conflict.

Source: From Gitmo to Bagram | Sean Duggan | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Bush's key men face grilling on torture and death squads | World news | The Observer

DrPot — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:08:15 +0100

America is bracing itself for a series of investigations that could see top officials from the administration of President George W Bush hauled in front of Congress, grilled by a special prosecutor and possibly facing criminal charges.
Several investigations will now cast a spotlight on Bush-era torture policy and a secret CIA assassination programme, examining the role played by big names such as the former vice-president Dick Cheney and the former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
In one investigation into the controversial firing of federal prosecutors, Bush's political guru, Karl Rove, has already been forced to appear before Congress and give testimony behind closed doors.

Source: Bush's key men face grilling on torture and death squads | World news | The Observer

Police inquiry into torture allegations could risk UK security | World news | guardian.co.uk

DrPot — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:36:18 +0100

Alan Johnson, the home secretary, has said Britain's security could be put at risk by a police investigation into allegations that MI5 agents colluded in torture.
Johnson said he had "nothing but admiration" for the work of the security service and believed it operated "to the highest ethical and professional standards". He suggested that Britain's interests would be at risk if the service's counter-terrorism capabilities were "diminished and diluted".
Scotland Yard said last week it was launching an investigation, at the request of Lady Scotland, the attorney general, into claims of torture made by former Guantánamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed.

Source: Police inquiry into torture allegations could risk UK security | World news | guardian.co.uk

Women's rights 'in decline' in Afghanistan

Niluccio — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:16:09 +0100

Women in Afghanistan are facing increasing violence almost eight years after the fall of the Taliban, a UN report showed today.

Source: Women's rights 'in decline' in Afghanistan