Afghanistan
Italy to sue The Times over ‘Taliban ties’
Italy has blasted a new report in UK’s daily newspaper The Times in which Italian government has been accused of Taliban links in order to escape attacks.
Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa told reporters on Thursday that his government intends to prosecute “The Times” for the publication of alleged ties between Italian intelligence service and [...]
Just Say No to McChrystal
President Barack Obama’s war council is meeting to consider Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s proposal to increase troop levels in Afghanistan by 10,000 to 40,000 troops. Nobody seems to be pondering why we have troops in Afghanistan at all.
President Obama has reportedly taken the option of withdrawing all our troops from Afghanistan off the table. [...]
US troops die in Afghan battle
Daylong fight erupts after Taliban fighters launch attack on two remote outposts.
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)
Cheney admits detainee-abuse role
Vice President Dick Cheney said for the first time Monday that he helped get the “process cleared” for the brutal interrogation program of suspected terrorists.
In an interview with ABC News, Cheney was matter-of-fact and unapologetic about the harsh techniques used against the detainees — including waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning considered torture since the days of the Inquisition.
“I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the [Central Intelligence] Agency, in effect, came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn’t do,” Cheney said. “And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it.”
America’s chickens come home to roost
Thirty-nine women and children and eight teenagers at a wedding could hardly be mistaken for militants. Yet that’s what the U.S. military said about the 47 civilians murdered in an air strike in Afghanistan (BBC 11/07/08). Do we imagine, for a minute, that anyone vaguely knowing these people would forgive their tormentors and murderers?
“America’s chickens are coming home to roost! Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred and terrorism begets terrorism.”
By Paul J. Balles
British soldier killed by enemy gunfire in Afghanistan the fifth to die in three days
A British soldier was killed by enemy gunfire in Afghanistan yesterday – the fifth British serviceman to be killed there in three days.
The soldier from 29 Commando Royal Artillery was at a Forward Operating Base in the Gereshk area of Helmand Province when he was wounded.
Truckers refuse to haul NATO, US supplies
PESHAWAR: Pakistani truckers are refusing to haul vital supplies to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan because of mounting attacks along the main route, a transporters’ association said Monday.
Pakistani troops recently began escorting convoys through the Khyber Pass to the border to protect them from Taliban ambushes. Western military officials insist their Afghan operations are not at risk.
Pakistan: Fresh attack on NATO supply route
Source: News Yahoo
Reuters PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Militants attacked a terminal used by vehicles ferrying supplies to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan early Saturday, the latest in a string of strikes on the critical and increasingly perilous supply route that snakes through northwest Pakistan.
UK leader accuses Pakistan group
Source: Al Jazeera
Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, has named a Pakistan-based group as responsible for the Mumbai attacks during a meeting with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
The two leaders met at Singh’s residence in New Delhi on Sunday amid continued tensions between India and Pakistan over last month’s attacks that claimed more than 170 lives in India’s financial capital.
Canadian troops killed in Kandahar
Source
Three Canadian troops have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing Canada’s death toll there to 103 since its military mission in the country began in 2002.
The three were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in the Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province on Saturday, a defence ministry statement said.
The military said in a statement a fourth soldier was also wounded in the blast.