ecns.cn (2022-02-13). Interview: UN refugee agency official says China's contribution helps alleviate dire situation in Afghanistan. ecns.cn The resources provided by China to Afghanistan are helping the internally displaced Afghans to weather the harsh winter and COVID-19 pandemic, while China's engagement in political levels would facilitate a long-term solution to the situation.

Human Rights Watch (2022-02-13). Biden Seeks to Seize Afghanistan's Assets. juancole.com By John Sifton | Asia Advocacy Director | — ( Human Rights Watch ) — The Biden administration has decided to recommend directing $3.5 billion of Afghanistan's $7 billion in foreign currency reserves in the United States to a trust fund for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, while agreeing to release another $3.5 billion to families …

David Swanson (2022-02-13). But How Do You Stop Putin and the Taliban? warisacrime.org When I suggest not stealing billions of dollars from Afghanistan, and thereby not causing mass starvation and death, otherwise intelligent and informed people tell me that human rights demands that theft. Starving people to death is a means of protecting their "human rights," in fact. How else can you (or the U.S. government) stop Taliban …

_____ (2022-02-12). When Cruelty Is The Point — U.S. Decides To Kill More Afghan People. popularresistance.org The U.S. also froze the $7+ billion reserve funds of the central bank of Afghanistan which have been held in New York. This is the Afghan peoples money. Part of the total funds are reserves that private Afghan banks had deposited with the central bank. It is money that ordinary Afghan people had deposited at those private banks. | Now the Biden administration, ignoring the various owners of those funds, has decided to steal all of them.

Dave DeCamp (2022-02-12). Biden Moves to Give Half of Afghanistan's Frozen Funds to 9/11 Families. news.antiwar.com President Biden on Friday took steps to take half of the $7 billion of Afghan funds held by the US Federal Reserve and give it to the relatives of victims of the September 11th, 2001, attacks as millions of Afghans are facing starvation. Biden signed an executive order that will make $3.5 billion available for …

Juan Cole (2022-02-12). US Sanctions on Afghanistan are Complicit in Mass Hunger, even as Biden withholds $3.5 bn in Afghan Money. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — Kevin Liptak and Natasha Bertrand report at CNN that the Biden administration has decided to split the $7 billion in Afghanistan government money held in the US and confiscated last August when the Taliban took over the country. $3.5 billion will be released for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan itself, while …

Asieh Namdar (2022-02-12). The Heat: Women in Afghanistan. america.cgtn.com From the humanitarian crisis to women's rights, we take an in-depth look inside Afghanistan.

Irvin Jim (2022-02-12). Solidarity is the road to liberation. peoplesdispatch.org This is a lightly edited version of a speech given to an international meeting held on 1 February under the banner: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and All Anti-Imperialist Freedom Fighters! Speakers included Abu-Jamal (via a recorded statement), Angela Davis and a number of trade unionists. | Around the world, imperialism — with its dehumanization and brute violence — has allowed for a small minority to permanently accumulate wealth at the expense of the masses of our people. In recent years, women and men have been killed — from Afghanistan and Iraq to South Africa and the prison archipelago of the US.

Irvin Jim (2022-02-12). Solidarity is the road to liberation. peoplesdispatch.org This is a lightly edited version of a speech given to an international meeting held on 1 February under the banner: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and All Anti-Imperialist Freedom Fighters! Speakers included Abu-Jamal (via a recorded statement), Angela Davis and a number of trade unionists. | Around the world, imperialism — with its dehumanization and brute violence — has allowed for a small minority to permanently accumulate wealth at the expense of the masses of our people. In recent years, women and men have been killed — from Afghanistan and Iraq to South Africa and the prison archipelago of the US.

Asieh Namdar (2022-02-12). The Heat: Women in Afghanistan. america.cgtn.com From the humanitarian crisis to women's rights, we take an in-depth look inside Afghanistan.

Kathy Kelly (2022-02-11). "Thank You for Hearing Our Afghan Pain" dissidentvoice.org During visits to Kabul, Afghanistan, over the past decade, I particularly relished lingering over breakfasts on chilly winter mornings with my young hosts who were on their winter break from school. Seated on the floor, wearing coats and hats and draped with blankets, we'd sip piping hot green tea as we shared fresh, warm wheels …

Staff (2022-02-11). Headlines for February 11, 2022. democracynow.org WaPo: Trump Took "Top Secret" Documents to Mar-a-Lago Resort, Anti-Vaccine Truckers Block Three Ports of Entry Along U.S.-Canada Border, Biden Urges U.S. Citizens to Leave Ukraine as Russia and NATO Continue Troop Buildup, Biden to Split $7B in Frozen Afghan Assets Between 9/11 Families and Humanitarian Relief, Pace of Civilian Killings in Yemen Has Doubled Since U.N. Disbanded Monitoring Group, Biden Admin Approves Billions in New Arms Deals to Middle East and Indonesia, At Least Six Killed in Mogadishu Blast, Heber López Becomes 5th Journalist to Be Killed in Mexico in 2022 , Historic Rights Trial B…

Brittani Banks (2022-02-11). The Terrible Fate Facing the Afghan People. independentmediainstitute.org On February 8, 2022, UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund) Afghanistan sent out a bleak set of tweets. One of the tweets, which included a photograph of a child lying in a hospital bed with her mother seated beside her, said: "Having recently recovered from acute watery diarrhea, two years old Soria is back in …

_____ (2022-02-11). Why Would Washington Assist the Afghan Taliban? journal-neo.org When the US decided to withdraw its military forces from Afghanistan in mid-2021, Joe Biden assured his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, of full US support against the Taliban (banned in Russia) to preserve the so-called "democratic" gains the country made during twenty years of US occupation. Evidence that we have previously examined clearly indicates that …

M. K. Bhadrakumar (2022-02-11). Pakistan in the Eye of the Storm. mronline.org New trends that have appeared in regional security since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan are highly consequential for regional politics.

_____ (2022-02-11). UK Official Secrets Act Proposals Take Cues From US Espionage Act Cases. popularresistance.org The United Kingdom's right-wing dominated government is on course to greatly expand its ability to prosecute and jail whistleblowers and journalists through amendments to the country's Official Secrets Acts. | These potential amendments would be the first major changes to the law since 1989. They come as the U.K. and U.S. governments continue to seek the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for his role in receiving and publishing the Afghanistan and Iraq war logs, Guantanamo Bay detainee files, and U.S. diplomatic cables. | Proposals would expand possible imprisonment for leakers, recipients of leaks…

Kathy Kelly (2022-02-11). "Thank You for Hearing Our Afghan Pain" dissidentvoice.org During visits to Kabul, Afghanistan, over the past decade, I particularly relished lingering over breakfasts on chilly winter mornings with my young hosts who were on their winter break from school. Seated on the floor, wearing coats and hats and draped with blankets, we'd sip piping hot green tea as we shared fresh, warm wheels …

_____ (2022-02-10). Central Asian Countries Keep Maneuvering amid Regional Powers. journal-neo.org The NEO has already raised the issue of the optimal positioning of the Central Asian countries in the field of power that is being shaped by the world's leading players, who have in varying degrees been involved in the processes that have developed in recent years in the sub-region. The change of power in Afghanistan, as …

_____ (2022-02-10). National Day Of Action: Love To Afghanistan. popularresistance.org After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, Peace Action welcomed the withdrawal of troops from the country and an end to the war. | Yet when the United States military pulled out of Afghanistan, the Biden administration also responded by choking off assets to Afghan banks and the economy by freezing the reserves of the Afghan Central Bank held in the U.S. They also imposed sanctions on those doing business with Afghanistan and cut aid. Jobs and income disappeared, people cannot afford to buy food and mass starvation is now occurring. | The Afghan people are suffering now more than ever. Hunger could kill more now than…

Rick Rozoff (2022-02-10). Guardian: Bernie Sanders against war, but…. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com It has to be recalled that he stated he was against war in general when he grudgingly backed NATO's wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya. It is supremely difficult to effectively argue against war while granting the advocates of it all their premises. From his campaign website: "NATO has been the most successful military alliance …

Staff (2022-02-10). Afghans Demand Truth About Kabul Airport Massacre as U.S. Continues to Deny Soldiers Shot Civilians. democracynow.org A major investigation by CNN raises questions about whether U.S. soldiers opened fire on Afghan civilians last August after a massive suicide bomb exploded outside the Kabul International Airport. Compiling hospital records of gunshot wounds, video evidence and eyewitness accounts, CNN's report appears to directly contradict the Pentagon's narrative, which said over 180 people were killed in the single blast that ISIS-K claimed responsibility for. We speak to one of the co-authors of the CNN report, Nick Paton Walsh, who says reporters found 19 people "who quite specifically said they saw people…

_____ (2022-02-10). ACLU Statement On Bill To Expand Police Violence. popularresistance.org Olympia, Washington – Today, the Washington State Senate passed Senate Bill 5919, a bill that expands law enforcement's ability to use physical force. Enoka Herat, police practices and immigration counsel at the ACLU of Washington, had the following statement: | "It's disappointing to see the Senate rush through a bill that will harm communities, particularly the communities of color and people with disabilities this Legislature made a commitment to protect when it passed more than a dozen bills last year aimed at reform and accountability in policing. The effectiveness of those bills is indicated by data showing…

_____ (2022-02-10). Central Asian Countries Keep Maneuvering amid Regional Powers. journal-neo.org The NEO has already raised the issue of the optimal positioning of the Central Asian countries in the field of power that is being shaped by the world's leading players, who have in varying degrees been involved in the processes that have developed in recent years in the sub-region. The change of power in Afghanistan, as …

M.K. Bhadrakumar (2022-02-09). United States Outruns Regional States in Race for Kabul. towardfreedom.org The U.S. Treasury Department quietly signaled on February 2 that it was "tweaking" sanctions against Afghanistan's Haqqani Network, a Sunni Islamist militant organization. International banks can now transfer money to the Taliban, including its affiliated Haqqani Network, without fear of breaching sanctions, which means the United States may now have a say in the Taliban-run government, writes M.K. Bhadrakumar.

ecns.cn (2022-02-09). China Red Cross donates flour to hungry Afghanistan. ecns.cn The Red Cross Society of China recently donated 130 metric tons of flour to its Afghan counterpart to help the country through its severe food crisis.

_____ (2022-02-09). Is the American Legacy Media a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction'? strategic-culture.org Not since the Vietnam War — when liberals behaved like peaceniks and not the Neocon country cousins they've become — has the media seriously scrutinized the US government's arguments for military exploits abroad. | From the oilfields of Iraq, to the mountains of Afghanistan, to Trump's classic head fake in Syria when a few missiles demolished a deserted airfield, triggering NBC host Brian Williams to get all choked up over "the beauty of our weapons," the MSM has dutifully played water boy to Uncle Sam's overseas misadventures. Somewhere, somehow along the way Americans inherited a Fourth Estate that…

Rick Rozoff (2022-02-09). U.S. to deploy warship, fighter squadron to assist UAE's war in Yemen. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The United Arab Emirates, a founding member of NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative military partnership, supplied NATO with troops for its war in Afghanistan and combat aircraft for its war against Libya, and leading NATO nations — the U.S., France, Turkey among them — return the favor. The war in Yemen is one of several military …

gmsorinoco (2022-02-09). UN Requests Venezuelan Government and Opposition to Resume Mexico Talks. orinocotribune.com On Monday, February 7, the United Nations (UN) asked the government of Venezuela and the opposition to resume the dialogue in Mexico. | Farahn Haq, spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, stated, "The Secretary General urges the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Unitary Platform of Venezuela to resume negotiations and remain fully committed to an inclusive and meaningful dialogue." | Haq added that Secretary General Guterres urges the international community to support a negotiated solution to resolve the current situation in Venezuela. "The secretary-general reiterate…

M.K. Bhadrakumar (2022-02-09). United States Outruns Regional States in Race for Kabul. towardfreedom.org The U.S. Treasury Department quietly signaled on February 2 that it was "tweaking" sanctions against Afghanistan's Haqqani Network, a Sunni Islamist militant organization. International banks can now transfer money to the Taliban, including its affiliated Haqqani Network, without fear of breaching sanctions, which means the United States may now have a say in the Taliban-run government, writes M.K. Bhadrakumar.

ecns.cn (2022-02-09). China Red Cross donates flour to hungry Afghanistan. ecns.cn The Red Cross Society of China recently donated 130 metric tons of flour to its Afghan counterpart to help the country through its severe food crisis.

Rick Rozoff (2022-02-09). U.S. to deploy warship, fighter squadron to assist UAE's war in Yemen. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com The United Arab Emirates, a founding member of NATO's Istanbul Cooperation Initiative military partnership, supplied NATO with troops for its war in Afghanistan and combat aircraft for its war against Libya, and leading NATO nations — the U.S., France, Turkey among them — return the favor. The war in Yemen is one of several military …

JANET (2022-02-08). U.S.-EU hide their role in Afghan hunger crisis. iacenter.org By Zach Kerner February 7, 2022 On Jan. 24, U.S. and European Union representatives met with representatives of the Taliban in Oslo to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting's purpose, according to the U.S. State Department, was the "urgency in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan" and the need to "help alleviate the suffering of Afghans across the country." (state.gov, Jan. 27) Credit: sanctionskill.org The U.S.-E.U. statement focuses primarily on the Taliban's conduct, particularly charges of women's and human rights violations. It fails to acknowledge that the ongoing crisis in Afghanis…

_____ (2022-02-08). Pakistan in the Eye of the Storm. strategic-culture.org New trends that have appeared in regional security since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan are highly consequential for regional politics. | The joint statement issued on February 6 following the four-day visit by the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to China has been an exceptional gesture by Beijing underscoring the highest importance attached to that country as a regional ally. Beijing feels the need to underscore that not only does it back the government in Islamabad to the hilt but is determined to boost the ties, especially by boosting the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative known as the China-Paki…

JANET (2022-02-08). U.S.-EU hide their role in Afghan hunger crisis. iacenter.org By Zach Kerner February 7, 2022 On Jan. 24, U.S. and European Union representatives met with representatives of the Taliban in Oslo to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting's purpose, according to the U.S. State Department, was the "urgency in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan" and the need to "help alleviate the suffering of Afghans across the country." (state.gov, Jan. 27) Credit: sanctionskill.org The U.S.-E.U. statement focuses primarily on the Taliban's conduct, particularly charges of women's and human rights violations. It fails to acknowledge that the ongoing crisis in Afghanis…

_____ (2022-02-08). Pakistan in the Eye of the Storm. strategic-culture.org New trends that have appeared in regional security since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan are highly consequential for regional politics. | The joint statement issued on February 6 following the four-day visit by the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to China has been an exceptional gesture by Beijing underscoring the highest importance attached to that country as a regional ally. Beijing feels the need to underscore that not only does it back the government in Islamabad to the hilt but is determined to boost the ties, especially by boosting the flagship of the Belt and Road Initiative known as the China-Paki…

_____ (2022-02-07). Peace Groups Say No To War Between U.S. And Russia Over Ukraine. popularresistance.org Groups opposed to war rallied outside the White House to condemn the Administration's role in a military buildup in Europe and warned war between superpowers would come at great cost. Speakers questioned why the U.S. is involved in yet another conflict less than a year after the end of the Afghanistan War — its most recent and the longest war it ever fought — while many families can not afford adequate housing, food and healthcare, and communities buckle under crumbling infrastructure.

_____ (2022-02-07). Peace Groups Say No To War Between US And Russia Over Ukraine. popularresistance.org Washington DC – Groups opposed to war rallied outside the White House to condemn the Administration's role in a military buildup in Europe and warned war between superpowers would come at great cost. Speakers questioned why the U.S. is involved in yet another conflict less than a year after the end of the Afghanistan War — its most recent and the longest war it ever fought — while many families can not afford adequate housing, food and healthcare, and communities buckle under crumbling infrastructure. | Speakers from anti-war groups Answer Coalition, CODEPINK Women Against War, Caudia Jones School for…

_____ (2022-02-07). The Antiwar Movement That Wasn't Enough. popularresistance.org So here we are, 20 years after U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan and months since they hotfooted it out. That two-decade-long boots-on-the-ground (and planes in the air) episode has now officially been declared over and done with, if not exactly paid for. But was that an inflection point, as this country turned its military attention to China and Russia? Not so fast. I'm impatient with the conventional wisdom about our twenty-first-century wars and the reaction to them at home. Still, I do think it's important to try to figure out what has (or hasn't) been learned from them and what may have changed because of them…

Anonymous103 (2022-02-07). Death Toll Rises In Clashes On The Pakistan-Afghanistan Border And In Balochistan. southfront.org Pakistani troops walk on a hilltop post near Ladha, a town in the tribal region of South Waziristan in May 2011 | On February 6, at least five Pakistani soldiers were killed as a result of shelling on the border with Afghanistan. | According to the Pakistani military's media wing, militants from Afghanistan opened fire on Pakistani troops across the international border, targeting a border post in Kurram district. The Pakistani Army reportedly struck back, causing heavy casualti…

Rick Rozoff (2022-02-07). Freed up by Afghan withdrawal, British special operations forces train Ukrainian troops in counterinsurgency. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com That is, for war in the Donbass and not against a mythical Russian invasion. ==== UK sends over 100 special forces to Ukraine to train Ukrainian military The UK has sent more than 100 special forces (SAS, SBS, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and Special Forces Support Group) to Ukraine as military advisers to transfer experience to …

ecns.cn (2022-02-07). IAEA to visit crippled Fukushima plant ahead of Japan's plan to dump toxic water into Pacific. ecns.cn The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plans to visit the disaster-hit Fukushima plant next week to evaluate the safety of Japan's contentious plan to discharge radioactive water from the plant into the Pacific Ocean.

ecns.cn (2022-02-07). IAEA to visit crippled Fukushima plant ahead of Japan's plan to dump toxic water into Pacific. ecns.cn The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plans to visit the disaster-hit Fukushima plant next week to evaluate the safety of Japan's contentious plan to discharge radioactive water from the plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Mark Weisbrot (2022-02-05). US sanctions on Afghanistan could kill more civilians than 20 years of war. multipolarista.com US sanctions imposed on Afghanistan are on track to take the lives of more civilians than were killed by 20 years of war. 98% of the population is not getting enough food, according to the UN.

_____ (2022-02-05). US Sanctions On Afghanistan Could Be Deadlier Than 20 Years Of War. popularresistance.org Economic sanctions have, in recent years, become one of the most important tools of U.S. foreign policy. There are currently more than 20 countries subjected to various sanctions from the U.S. government. | But if more Americans knew how many innocent civilians actually die as a result of these sanctions, would the worst of them be permitted? | We may be about to find out in Afghanistan. Sanctions currently imposed on the country are on track to take the lives of more civilians in the coming year than have been killed by 20 years of warfare. There's no hiding it any more. | Projections through the winter estimate…

MK Bhadrakumar (2022-02-04). US outruns regional states in race for Kabul. asiatimes.com In a hugely consequential advisory, the US Treasury Department quietly signaled on Wednesday (February 2) that it was "tweaking" sanctions against Afghanistan's Haqqani Network. International banks can now transfer money to the Taliban, including its affiliated Haqqani Network, without fear of breaching sanctions. Washington simply issued clarifications dilating on the relaxation of sanctions announced in …

MK Bhadrakumar (2022-02-04). US outruns regional states in race for Kabul. asiatimes.com In a hugely consequential advisory, the US Treasury Department quietly signaled on Wednesday (February 2) that it was "tweaking" sanctions against Afghanistan's Haqqani Network. International banks can now transfer money to the Taliban, including its affiliated Haqqani Network, without fear of breaching sanctions. Washington simply issued clarifications dilating on the relaxation of sanctions announced in …

Matt Sedlar (2022-02-04). US Sanctions on Afghanistan Could Be Deadlier than 20 Years of War. cepr.net If more Americans knew how many innocent civilians actually die as a result of these sanctions, would the worst of them be permitted?

_____ (2022-02-03). US Exacts Revenge on Afghanistan for its Defiance. journal-neo.org Ever since the Taliban (an organization deemed terrorist and banned in Russia) took control of Afghanistan last August amid a shameful and chaotic US withdrawal, the country, ravaged by war and occupation for 20 years, has plunged deeper and deeper into disaster, causing new waves of displacement, further impoverishing it and raising the specter of …

Staff (2022-02-03). Jan Egeland on Afghanistan Facing Famine, a Massacre in DR Congo & Civilian Casualties in Syria. democracynow.org The United Nations warns Afghanistan is "hanging by a thread" as millions in the country suffer from hunger and are at risk of freezing to death during the winter as U.S. sanctions have devastated the economy. We get an update on what is now the world's largest humanitarian crisis from Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He also discusses how the NRC has condemned the deadly attack on a camp for displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the organization's humanitarian concerns after the U.S. raid in Syria targeting an ISIS leader that reportedly killed at least 13, inc…