Is it not curious that once the troops were sent into Afghanistan, suddenly the cause of womens’ rights becomes a reason for this military intervention. 14 years ago I worked for an alternative press newspaper, and a few years after that, the Taliban began their reign of terror, recognized as the legitimate government by both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. As the horrors against women became documented, under their strict form of Sharia Law, my paper published devastating articles on the situation, which were largely ignored by the corporate press, and worse the U.S. government. So how disingenuous is it now, for the U.S. to suddenly put on their human rights head gear, and claim they are concerned about the welfare of Afghan citizens. The abuses of women are all over the place, especially in that part of the world, reinforced by all the world’s great religions, who always claim that God is a male. So the concern over the rights of women, is really a phony excuse to continue Central Asian hegemony on the part of the West.

Canada to provide money to enhance rule of law in Afghanistan
KABUL, March 17 (Xinhua)—“The visiting Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon announced here on Tuesday that his country will contribute 21 million Canadian dollars (around 16.5 million U.S. dollars) for enhancing the rule of law in Afghanistan.

“This amount of money will serve to pay the salaries of all Afghan National Police and prison guards,” Cannon told newsmen in a press conference as he wrapped up two days’ visit.

The money, according to Afghan officials, will be administered by the UN through a trust fund.

Meantime, the top Canadian diplomat reiterated Canada’s long commitment to Afghanistan and said his country will focus on strengthening the rule of law in Afghanistan.

Canada has also promised to donate around 111 million Canadian dollars (around 87.4 million U.S. dollars) for the upcoming Afghan presidential election and improving human rights in the post- Taliban country in the next three year.

Some 2,500 Canadian troops have been deployed in former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan helping with stabilizing situation and reconstruction there. ...”

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Afghanistan unwinnable? Not so says Canada’s ex top civilian in Kandahar

1 day ago, MONTREAL — “The first person to serve as Canada’s official representative in Kandahar remains confident in the mission and the country’s role going forward, despite recent assertions by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the Afghan war may not be a winnable one.
Elissa Golberg - who until recently was Canada’s top civilian in Afghanistan’s volatile south - admitted in an interview with The Canadian Press that there have been plenty of challenges and setbacks this year as the insurgency has grown and gained strength.
But to call the battle unwinnable, as Harper did earlier this month, is inappropriate, Golberg said.
“I don’t think it’s about winning,” said Golberg in her first interview since returning to Canada after completing her Afghan mission in January.
“We’ve always said that what needs to be done in Afghanistan is more than something just the military can deliver.”
Part of defeating the insurgency and improving the lives of Afghan citizens, she said, is training the Afghan army and police forces and building the courts and corrections system.
There must also be a commitment to supporting reconciliation with moderates, an idea both the U.S. and Canada have, until recently, shied away from. ..”

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yeah, providing something that doesn’t look anything like infrastructure, social support, or even compassionate interest in the Afghan peoples…

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just something to think about… why is Texas Lite PM Stephen Harper finding funds for regional off-shore prisons while saying the war is unwinnable?
Is this another American strategy by which everybody in NATO gets their hands dirty with torture & warcrimes?

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The war-mongering empire builders within the Pentagon and on Wall St. got to have their talons into Obama pretty deep - at least, you gotta figure.  The Penny Pritzger/Petraeus axis of influence, if you like.  But why did NPR spend so much time about opining about the gift gaff?  Sometimes the effects of pentagandistic influence is hard to fathom.

Every decent Afghan knows (the memory goes back thousands of years), that it is his patriotic duty to kill invaders.  To knuckle under would be, well, unAmerican, eh?

As happens too frequently Truthdig is asleep because it busies itself with too much trivial stuff.

Here is what must be trumpeted in big letters.

When Mr. Obama began to spout rambling idiocy about his future war in Afghanistan I wrote on this site that it is the height of criminal military folly to begin a campaign when your supply lines are uncertain if not endangered.

The textbook example of the certain disaster waiting to happen in Afghanistan is what happened to the German Wehrmacht at Stalingrad.

Here is what General Duncan McNabb had to say yesterday: “If you ask me what I worry about at night it is the fact that our supply chain (through Pakistan)is always under attack”. Notice carefully, the General is more worried about his supply lines than about the Taliban or El Qaeda!

The newest plan is to ship supplies through Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Duncan, do you not worry about that supply chain? It runs through states where the armed robbery of caravans has occurred for thousands of years. Good luck, Duncan. Mountains of bribes (a.k.a. baksheesh) will have to be paid to the vile rulers of these countries.

The panic of Duncan et al. really inflated when Kyrgyzstan announced the closure of Manas Air Base for the U.S. Air Force.

Now Russia must bail our newest warlord President Obama out of his self-inflicted predicament. Are you surprised that Secretary Clinton is playing nice to Mr. Lavrov, the Russian Foreign minister? Hey, the Russians have always been superb at blackmail. The anti-ballistic sites in Eastern Europe will be sacrificed for Afghanistan. Good.

“Coalition of the unwilling.” No surprise there. What is constructive about a hazily defined mission, unmanned drones, troops spread thin and fighting across two countries?

Obama campaigned on Iraq is wrong; Afghanistan has been neglected. 17K troops are now on their way.

He’s no fool; war is expensive and the image of America takes a beating which undermines the mid-east peace process. Right or wrong, he is relying largely on his generals and Robert Gates.

With just six weeks of his administration, I am confident this situation will change for the better. Regrettably, I neither know when nor how.

radson writes: “Russia and Iran must get involved diplomatically with the US and the EU regardless whether its offends the Zionist’s or not”
I find that odd considering that just recently President Obama heeled to the AIPAC lobby by refusing to send a representative to the World Conference Against Racism, being convened in April, in Geneva, simply because a faction of Israel supporters are offended when a large portion of the world’s population considers Zionism to in fact be a form of racism, because it is seen as a way to use religious superiority to justify extreme acts of violence.
Zionist Avraham Burg, has stated that when its comes to Middle East policy, both the United States and Israel take a back seat to the whims of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who pull the chains of the U.S. President whenever he starts getting loose on his leash.
Being the puppet masters with the purse strings, as many believe, it is remarkable how quickly U.S. presidents, especially democratic ones, obey their commands.
But as for Israel itself, despite are magnanimous welfare aide in the form of state-of-the-art weaponry, the U.S. will unable to halt the decline of our special ally in the Middle East, because, as Avraham Burg so flatly stated: “a structure built on human callousness will inevitably collapse in on itself.”

Amy do think that it has become the Coalition of the Unwilling,perhaps recent events dare to suggest otherwise.President Obama has barely begun his presidential term in office and already the impatient

critiques are unjustly labeling him as a propagator of Neocon policies .How many presidents throughout US history have been able to solve all of the challenges facing America ,and divulge to the masses

the precise direction that will be adopted to confront them ;in the first two months in office ,within a geopolitical landscape that is constantly changing (NONE).The Israeli’s are still maintaining their position

that Iran must be dealt a devastating blow in order to eliminate their nuclear potential ,because of the so-called threat that it poses to mankind .On the other hand the same Zionist’s are stating ,that

in order to succeed with regards to the Iranian solution Russia must be cooperative with Zionist foreign policy in order to limit the casualties that may be inflicted if it was otherwise.The problems facing

Nato in Afghanistan are ,as we speak still the same ,which is the Safe Haven conundrum and the logistical uncertainty winding it’s way through Pakistani territory controlled by the ISI.It boggles my mind

why nobody has cared to mention the greatest challenge facing Pakistan within the next twenty years ,which comprises an explosion, not a nuclear one ,but a Demographic one.Lately Russia has agreed to

a warming of relations with Nato ,which had turned sour due to the Georgian saga and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated to a questioning journalist that Iran may play a role in solving the Middle

Eastern crises.In order for this mess to be stabilized both Russia and Iran must get involved diplomatically with the US and the EU regardless whether it offends the Zionist’s or not .The other benefit is the

enormous business opportunities in cooperation with Iran ,which could greatly ease the Global stagnation being felt worldwide.

The American Presidency, by its very nature, forces whoever occupies that position to become the ruthless arrogant bastard that most thoughtful people, most certainly dread. But it is the nature of the beast. That exceptional American vision that knows, simply knows, what is best for everyone else, and constantly seeks to wield the mighty cudgel of Christian righteousness, through economic and military intimidation. It is not surprising in the least that President Obama has called for increased funding of the mightiest arsenal on the planet, with the greatest lethality. Not surprising, because like all who proceeded him on that loftiest of executive thrones, President Obama is an American. He himself has said it. The United States maybe falling apart internally, but that does not stop our desire to push everyone else around.
The only good I can see of this situation, is that at least the neoliberal vision of hegemony incorporates a small facade of internationalism. Far far better than the xenophobic puss oozing out from the Boss Limbaughs of this world. But basically, most of the results are nearly the same: the jack booted triumph of those with the most weapons.

The world has changed in 100 years, Xntrk, and if the Elites in Mordor-on-the-Potomac really think their “brilliant” schemes will “work”, they’re as mad as hatters.

Hey Gawdun Brown—

WHO SAID YOU COULD COME OVER HERE ANYWAY…

We didn’t ask you to come to this country and try to tell us what to do. If we want to BUY AMERICAN we will. If we want to “protect ourselves”, we will. If we want to kick Obama out after one term for getting us in more wars and siding with the free trader/stealers and stock market ripoffs WE WILL, WITHOUT YOUR BIG FAT MOUTH.

Why don’t you take care of the mess you have made in your own country first. (Ya know, country first?) I’ve been there and seen your young people and students living 20 to a flat.

You spy on your own people, serve them filthy food and take their money to play on the international roulette wheel.

Better yet, why don’t you take over AIG? Turns out they are crooks and liars just like you. Get the Queen to bail them out. She’s richer than anyone.

NOW GO HOME AND DON’T COME BACK AGAIN.

As I recall, Geronimo, Ho Chi Minh also said something like, “You will kill ten of us for every one of yours we kill, and in the end, *you* will tire of it first.”

The French minister of defense has demanded a deadline for the end of the war in Afghanistan.

As in Iraq, the “Coalition of the Willing” is changing into a “Coalition of the Quitting”.

Whereas a majority of our American people support Obama’s Afghan/Pakistan adventure, the overwhelming majority of West-European people are opposed. Sooner or later their leaders will oblige if they want to be re-elected. Obama’s notion that he can get more soldiers from Europe shows what a dumb amateur he is.

Don’t be fooled by what Harpo says As usual with him its all about politics his government in is in trouble and the war unpopular He would love to escalate as he is a neocon through and through.

Harper was interviewed on CNN by Fareed Zakaria, who introduced Harper as leader of the only (first-world, or industrialized, or whatever adjective-qualifier Zakaria used) nation yet to suffer a bank failure.

Maybe something in Canadian water beyond northern Alberta.

Harper is accurate re Afghanistan, now become American Presidents’ fool’s errand. Formerly that of Soviet Premiers. And USSR bordered Afghanistan. STILL, Soviet troops were defeated. Not because those troops were somehow not so fine as American troops. Certainly Soviet/Russian troops were just as equal to the task as American troops. Albeit with not-so-sophisticated weapons systems. But those are useless in places like Afghanistan. Far more so even than in a place like Iraq.

They were useless in Vietnam.

The U.S. is not going to force Afghans to submit by technological means. Well, but for ultimate means that would destroy ALL villages (along with ALL local inhabitants) in order to save the place.

Even were war on Afghanistan justified, which it’s not, no troops from anywhere could ever “win.” Hell, the term “win” has no meaning in this case. What could “win” possibly mean?

But Obama would not likely have swept through primaries and then general election had he said he planned to order withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But since winning political office requires that politicians lie a lot of the time, I only wish that Obama lied all along regarding Afghanistan. No such luck—for Americans or for Afghans.

Where’s a damnable liar when you really need one?