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By Lauren B. Davis
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By Chris Abani
$11.20
$21
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Wikimedia Commons
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By Robert Fisk — In the dying days of the Bush administration, yet another presidential claim in the “war on terror” has been proved false by the withdrawal of the main charge against six Algerians held without trial for nearly seven years at Guantanamo prison camp.
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By William Pfaff — Governments, like corporations and modern organizations of all kinds, make much of systematically teaching “lessons learned” to those newly arrived to responsibilities, yet they seem infrequently to succeed.
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By William Pfaff — It did not take the clash between Russia and Georgia to reveal that relations between Russia and the West have taken a bad turn. They have been deteriorating since the mid-1990s, when the decision was taken to expand NATO to include the former Warsaw Pact states.
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By William Pfaff — Military and economic disasters have caused Europeans and European governments to view the United States in a new, unflattering light.
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AP photo / Fraidoon Pooyaa
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By Robert Fisk — When U.S. troops massacre Iraqi civilians in Haditha because their buddy has been murdered, what is the difference between their revenge and that of Saddam?
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By William Pfaff — The issues that have fueled Russian-American tensions in Europe in recent months, and European tensions with both Russia and the United States, have suggested a willingness on all sides to reignite tensions that on the face of it serve no one’s real interests. Recent developments could change all that.
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DoD / Michael L. Casteel
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Victory in Afghanistan? That’s “neither feasible nor supportable,” according to the outgoing commander of British forces there, who tells The Times of London that the Taliban “seems relatively impervious to losses.” The Afghan government must instead reach some political settlement with more moderate insurgents, concluded Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith.
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army.mil
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There are at least three differing accounts of exactly what happened on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border Thursday, but most agree that American and Pakistani forces shot at each other. Cross-border raids by U.S. forces into Pakistan’s territory have inflamed relations between the two countries.
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topnews.in
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Although she acknowledged that Georgia fired the first shots in August’s bloody conflict with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday laid most of the blame for that showdown on Russia. During a strident speech, she also gave several other examples of how she believed Russia’s leaders were taking their nation down a dangerous road.
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By William Pfaff — Thanks to Russia’s incursion into a belligerent Georgia in mid-August, a country in possession of Washington’s assurance that it soon would be given a “membership action plan” for joining NATO now hasn’t a hope of membership in the alliance.
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abcnews.go.com
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Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is finally answering questions from a journalist in ABC’s three-part interview series with chosen reporter Charles Gibson. Palin comes out of the gate with guns blazing, rewriting history about the Georgia-Russia conflict and considering the possibility of a U.S. war with Russia in the first episode, airing Thursday.
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By William Pfaff — The United States has just invaded Cambodia. The name of Cambodia this time is Pakistan, but otherwise it’s the same story as in Indochina in 1970.
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AP photo / Fraidoon Pooyaa
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Cell-phone footage shot by a doctor in a makeshift morgue in Azizabad, Afghanistan, showing rows of dead Afghan civilians, including several children, has led to a renewed inquiry into an American-led airstrike that occurred on Aug. 22. American officials had previously insisted that only seven civilians had been killed in the attack, but they’re now having to face the possibility that the actual figure could be as high as 90.
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AP photo / Musa Sadulayev
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Russia announced Wednesday its willingness to withdraw its remaining troops from Georgia if, and only if, some conditions were met: one, bring international peacekeepers in to replace Russian soldiers and, two, Georgia must sign nonaggression pacts with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
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By William Pfaff — NATO has now been broken because it was used by the United States and the European NATO members as a tool for expanding Western power into the Russian “near abroad,” and after that, to make an inexplicably rash and dangerous effort to break into and split off portions of the Russian empire as it existed in the 19th century—long before the Soviet Union existed.
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topnews.in
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Where in the world is Condoleezza Rice? Well, as the ink was drying on the deal she signed to secure Poland’s cooperation in the United States’ controversial missile shield project, Secretary of State Rice turned up in Baghdad on Thursday for an unscheduled visit with Iraqi leaders. Surprise!
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Flickr / DavidDennis
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The Bush administration continued efforts to resurrect the Cold War this week by demanding that European governments back sanctions against Russia. So far, America’s allies in NATO are showing relative restraint in the face of a transatlantic temper tantrum.
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By Patrick J. Buchanan —
For reasons too numerous to fit into a short summary, Pat Buchanan isn’t someone whose writings we’d routinely pick up on this site. However, in this case his essay about the Georgia-Russia conflict, er, bears repeating here, if only to illustrate how not all conservatives see the recent clash in Eastern Europe the way the Bush administration does.
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yes-ukraine.org
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Since Karl Rove skipped out on his subpoena to appear before the House Judiciary Committee last month, the whereabouts of Bush’s longtime political strategist have emerged—Rove was in Crimea, Ukraine, for the fifth annual Yalta European Strategy summit. Also in attendance: former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
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“Unfortunately, today we are looking evil directly in the eye,” an emotional Mikheil Saakashvili said Friday after he signed a cease-fire agreement to end his country’s eight-day showdown with Russia. The Georgian president declared that other European nations ignored clear signs of impending conflict last spring and he hinted that trouble could also be in store for other countries.
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With the worst timing imaginable, the U.S. and Poland announced a missile shield deal on Thursday, which prompted a Russian general to strut like a peacock and threaten to punish the land of pirogi. The proposed missile shield has been a go-to irritant for President Bush to use on old friend Vladimir Putin, and for an obvious reason: It works.
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By William Pfaff — History—not democracy—provides the explanation for the crisis in Georgia, in which the United States is recklessly involving itself.
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By Joe Conason — The discovery that John McCain’s remarks on Georgia were derived from Wikipedia is, to put it politely, disturbing and even depressing—but not surprising.
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By William Pfaff — British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was the man who said the first three rules of warfare are “Do not invade Russia,” repeated three times. A footnote to that rule would be that while the disputed Georgian districts of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not parts of Russia today, they were yesterday, and probably will again be tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.
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martinfrost.ws
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made his position vis-à-vis his country’s ongoing conflict with Georgia eminently clear on Monday, lamenting how, as he put it, the “aggressor” has been painted as the “victim” in the Western press (hint: said “aggressor” ain’t Russia).
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arcent.army.mil
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Despite criticisms of the efficacy of the “surge” in Iraq, a U.S. commander in Afghanistan has dared to say that a planned “surge” in Afghanistan would in fact not help U.S. interests in the country. The commander did make sure not to completely deweaponize the Bush administration’s rhetoric, suggesting instead that a different type of surge is needed.
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michaelfowlkes.com
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Forging an agreement with the Czech Republic to host the radar for the United States’ planned missile shield project represents, according to Condoleezza Rice, a way of making the missile defense system “transparent to the Russians.” Officials in Moscow, however, are inclined to take this latest move as a hostile gesture that could provoke military retaliation.
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voanews.com
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For the second month in a row, the number of American and NATO troops killed in Afghanistan—45—was higher than in Iraq. In fact, the so-called forgotten war was deadlier last month than at any time since the United States invaded in 2001, according to an AP tally.
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It’s been more than six years since the invasion of Afghanistan but, as this Mosaic Intelligence Report illustrates, it looks like the Taliban is actually getting stronger and bolder—as evidenced by the recent Taliban-led prison break at Kandahar’s Sarposa Prison. Could 2008 be the Year of the Taliban?
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AP photo / Allauddin Khan
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A nighttime raid on Kandahar’s Sarposa Prison, carried out by Taliban operatives Friday, led to the escape of 1,200 prisoners, including around 400 Taliban members. The attack represented a serious security challenge in the Afghan city that’s considered the traditional home of the country’s leaders and the Taliban’s spiritual center.
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Agence France-Presse
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As the train that is the Bush administration begins to slow, the president has attended his last ever NATO summit. Speaking to alliance leaders Wednesday, Bush asked for patience and resolve to “finish the fight” in Afghanistan, a war now in its seventh year.
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nytimes.com
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The United States’ chief supplier of ammunition to Afghan forces is under investigation for a number of potential violations that give the unfortunate impression that America is less than fully committed to its fight against the Taliban.
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Newsday
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in London Wednesday to declare his readiness to send additional troops to Afghanistan. The move, seen by some as an effort to strengthen ties with his chums across the Channel, was well received by British lawmakers who believe an increase of NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan would best prevent a Taliban resurgence.
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bfs-zh.ch
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Vladimir Putin isn’t taking the expansion of NATO and a planned missile shield lightly. The Russian president told his people: “It is already clear that a new phase in the arms race is unfolding in the world. ... It is not our fault, because we did not start it.” Flush with oil money, Russia is planning to beef up and flaunt its military capabilities in response.
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By Marie Cocco — Winter approaches, and as many as 400,000 Afghans face starvation. The trouble is not an insufficient supply of food. There is no way to get food to those who need it.
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Great—along with the United States’ ongoing (and escalating) international debacle in Iraq and Afghanistan, the current administration has clearly worked its particular brand of diplomatic charm on Russia. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country’s air force is once again sending nuclear-equipped bombers on regular overseas patrols.
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AP Photo / Abdul Khaleq
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A U.S.-led airstrike on a meeting of Taliban leaders killed a “large number” of civilians, witnesses said. Roughly 50 people were hospitalized for injuries. NATO has said it is considering the use of smaller bombs in order to curtail civilian casualties.
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A tragic milestone has been marked in Afghanistan: The number of civilian deaths attributed to American- and NATO-led forces in the last half-year has outstripped the number caused by insurgents.
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AP Photo/Farzana Wahidy
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NATO officials have registered Afghan President Hamad Karzai’s strong criticism of the Western coalition’s recent tactics, which have resulted in tragically high numbers of civilian deaths, and are offering conciliatory words in response.
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Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai angrily accused American- and NATO-led forces in his country of becoming increasingly reckless with their combat strategies, killing innocent civilians and straining relations with Afghanistan.
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Afghan President Hamad Karzai is warning foreign troops that more civilian deaths would seriously compromise Afghan citizens’ support (such as it is) for NATO-affiliated forces in their country.
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Afghan forces retook a district in Kandahar province that had been captured by the Taliban. The Afghan forces said they had made a tactical decision to withdraw, but the Taliban said it captured the district outright after days of battle. Either way, the former ruling fundamentalists of Afghanistan appear less than beaten.
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An airstrike by U.S.-led forces near the eastern border of Afghanistan killed seven children Sunday night—a tragic error that coalition forces attributed to al-Qaida operatives who had used “human shields” as cover, according to The New York Times.
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Afghan police say U.S.-led troops opened fire on a security post, killing seven police officers. The U.S. military has acknowledged the skirmish, but said it was responding to an attack and did not confirm the Afghan casualties. The Red Cross has described worsening security in Afghanistan as “a very worrying situation.”
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Five Americans, a Canadian and a Briton died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Wednesday, apparently shot down by a resurgent Taliban. The grim news from what some have called “the forgotten war” in Afghanistan comes amid mounting casualty reports from Iraq.
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AP Photo / Hans Punz
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Relations between the U.S. and Russia may be strained by the Bush administration’s planned implementation of an anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin had strong words for the U.S. Tuesday as Kremlin officials proudly unveiled new missiles—a month before Putin and President Bush will meet in Kennebunkport, Maine.
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An Afghan official said civilian homes were bombed in an air raid led by U.S. troops in the country’s Sangin district Wednesday. Tragically, this latest reported incident is not an isolated occurrence in the battle zones of Afghanistan.
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irfwp.org
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai berated foreign military leaders after local police reported roughly 50 civilian deaths, including women and children, from a U.S.-led operation. He told the top brass his people’s patience was “wearing thin.” The U.S. says it is not aware of any civilian deaths, but a U.N. team investigated and found the report credible.
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AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel
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Russian President Vladimir Putin took a moment during his final parliamentary address to make it eminently clear that he disapproves of a U.S. plan to create a missile shield in Eastern Europe, vowing to put a hold on Russian compliance with a key European military treaty in retaliation.
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Human Rights Watch issued the sobering news Monday that 2006 was the deadliest year in terms of civilian casualties in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban. Almost 700 deaths are linked to insurgent groups—and of that number about two-thirds resulted from suicide bombings—while 230 more have been chalked up to NATO-led troops.
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Real American Boy: How Our Byzantine Immigration System and Failed Economy May Have Made a Terrorist
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