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Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’

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Russia-NATO ties sour over Georgia

Posted by seumasach on August 19, 2008

““I fully agree with Mr. Scheffer that ‘business as usual’ between Russia and NATO is no longer possible,” said Mr. Lavrov, adding: “We will draw our conclusions.” Analysts said Russia could stop providing a transport corridor and planes to airlift NATO supplies to Afghanistan. Russian transport aircraft at present ferry about 30 per cent of such shipments. This threat stopped the NATO Foreign Ministers from supporting a U.S. demand for suspending all ties with Russia, including cooperation on counter-terrorism.”

Vladimir Radyuhin

The Hindu

20 th August, 2008

MOSCOW: Russia may complete its withdrawal from Georgia in three to four days if Georgia complies with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday. He rejected as “biased” a NATO statement on the conflict.

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The hollow heart of the West now lies on display

Posted by smeddum on July 8, 2008

The Daily Star
By Dominique Moisi
Commentary by
Tuesday, July 08, 2008

It is tempting to compare NATO and the European Union to the French and Italian football teams in this year’s Euro 2008 competition. What unites them, above all, is a process of “competitive decadence.” The EU and NATO may see themselves as potential rivals or complementary partners in the field of defense. But what their leaders say in private reveals a sense of common frustration.

“We fail to translate military presence into political influence,” says the NATO person, who sounds very much like EU representatives commenting on the union’s role in the Middle East. “We have failed to transform economic aid into political influence,” they lament. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hunkering Down in Afghanistan with Field-Marshall Obama

Posted by seumasach on July 5, 2008

 

Mike Whitney(ICH)

3rd July, 2008

 Afghanistan was supposed to be the “good war”; a “just response” to the attacks of September 11. It was supposed to bring Bin Laden to justice “dead or alive” and quash terrorism in the places where it originated. 95 per cent of the American people supported the invasion of Afghanistan. Now less than half think the U.S. will prevail. The war was promoted as a way to replace a repressive fundamentalist regime with a democratic government based on western ideals. The Bush administration promised to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan, transform its feudal system into a free market economy, and liberate its women from the oppression of Islamic extremism. 

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Russia joins the war in Afghanistan

Posted by seumasach on June 26, 2008

The minutea of the diplomatic manouvering outlined below are well worth following: at some point, these processes will crystalise in a shift away from NATO influence and towards a greater role for regional powers in stabilising the Afghan situation.

By M K Bhadrakumar (Asia Times)

Moscow is staging an extraordinary comeback on the Afghan chessboard after a gap of two decades following the Soviet Union’s nine-year adventure that ended in the withdrawal of its last troops from Afghanistan 1989. In a curious reversal of history, this is possible only with the acquiescence of the United States. Moscow is taking advantage of the deterioration of the war in Afghanistan and the implications for regional security could be far-reaching. 

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Nato’s lost cause

Posted by seumasach on June 17, 2008

The west’s ‘good war’ in Afghanistan has turned bad. A local solution, rather than a neocolonial one, is what’s needed

Tariq Ali

Guardian

Wednesday June 11 2008

In the latest clashes on the Pakistan-Afghan border, Nato troops have killed 11 Pakistani soldiers and injured many more, creating a serious crisis in the country and angering the Pakistan military high command, already split on the question.

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Afghans demand withdrawal of NATO and US troops

Posted by seumasach on June 11, 2008

Daily Times

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

PESHAWAR: The American and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops should leave Afghanistan because they are responsible for creating unrest in the country, Afghan leaders said on Monday. Read the rest of this entry »

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CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan

Posted by seumasach on May 19, 2008

By Joe Kay(WSWS)
19 May 2008


A United Nations investigator released a preliminary report last week citing widespread civilian deaths in Afghanistan, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA or other foreign intelligence agencies. Read the rest of this entry »

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