_____ (2021-12-21). French Soldiers Flee Africa Just Like the American Troops that Fled Afghanistan. journal-neo.org As the evolution of the armed expansion of the United States and its allies before our eyes testifies, the attempts of "valiant NATO troops" to gain a foothold with their weapons in foreign countries have a similar unfortunate end. Eventually, each and everyone of them has to say goodbye to their hopes of neocolonial conquest …

Newsroom (2021-12-21). Iran, Saudi Arabia FMs hold brief meeting in Pakistan. moderndiplomacy.eu The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia held a brief meeting in Islamabad on Sunday on the sidelines of a regional summit on Afghanistan, the spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry said. Speaking during a presser on Monday, Saeed Khatibzadeh said, "The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia had a brief meeting on the …

_____ (2021-12-20). Yemen and Afghanistan Face Unprecedented Famine — Crimes of Mass Starvation. journal-neo.org Sounding the alarm this December Nicholas Papachrysostomou, MSF head of mission in Yemen made clear that well beyond the many casualties War claimed over the past seven years, famine weighs much heavier on the war-torn nation, a fate Afghanistan unfortunately shares. "A nearly seven-year long conflict has badly affected the country's economy and weakened an …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). Afghanistan economy in 'freefall', threatening to take entire population with it. moderndiplomacy.eu Afghanistan's economy is in "free fall", the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday, warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may "pull the entire population with it". Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in …

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-20). West mulls Finnish war scenario for Russia in addition to Bandera, Mujahideen models. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com As Helsinki confirms it will purchase 64 U.S. F-35s, now equipped to deliver B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons, the 1939-1940 Finnish-Russian Winter War scenario is also being proposed by Western analysts to combat Russia in Ukraine in addition to those of the World War II Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Afghan Mujahideen model of the 1980s. …

Michael Kaplan (2021-12-20). West Side Stories, including the latest Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner film. peoplesworld.org Recorded just days after West Side Story opened on Broadway in September 1957, Columbia Records producer Goddard Lieberson's brilliant original Broadway cast recording was my first acquaintance with Leonard Bernstein's musical score for the updated version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The action takes place on the streets of New York as rival gangs duel …

_____ (2021-12-20). Yemen and Afghanistan Face Unprecedented Famine — Crimes of Mass Starvation. journal-neo.org Sounding the alarm this December Nicholas Papachrysostomou, MSF head of mission in Yemen made clear that well beyond the many casualties War claimed over the past seven years, famine weighs much heavier on the war-torn nation, a fate Afghanistan unfortunately shares. "A nearly seven-year long conflict has badly affected the country's economy and weakened an …

Newsroom (2021-12-20). Afghanistan economy in 'freefall', threatening to take entire population with it. moderndiplomacy.eu Afghanistan's economy is in "free fall", the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday, warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may "pull the entire population with it". Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in …

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-20). West mulls Finnish war scenario for Russia in addition to Bandera, Mujahideen models. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com As Helsinki confirms it will purchase 64 U.S. F-35s, now equipped to deliver B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons, the 1939-1940 Finnish-Russian Winter War scenario is also being proposed by Western analysts to combat Russia in Ukraine in addition to those of the World War II Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Afghan Mujahideen model of the 1980s. …

Michael Kaplan (2021-12-20). West Side Stories, including the latest Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner film. peoplesworld.org Recorded just days after West Side Story opened on Broadway in September 1957, Columbia Records producer Goddard Lieberson's brilliant original Broadway cast recording was my first acquaintance with Leonard Bernstein's musical score for the updated version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The action takes place on the streets of New York as rival gangs duel …

Zhao Huasheng (2021-12-19). Changes in Afghanistan: Regional and International Implications. moderndiplomacy.eu The Taliban's return to power has fundamentally changed the political environment of Afghanistan, both internally and externally. The internal leading forces inside Afghanistan have turned to be the Taliban instead of the political forces represented by the former Afghanistan government, and the external forces with the greatest political responsibility began to shift from the United …

Joel Warner (2021-12-19). WEEKEND READER: The Inside Stories of 2021. dailyposter.com

Zhao Huasheng (2021-12-19). Changes in Afghanistan: Regional and International Implications. moderndiplomacy.eu The Taliban's return to power has fundamentally changed the political environment of Afghanistan, both internally and externally. The internal leading forces inside Afghanistan have turned to be the Taliban instead of the political forces represented by the former Afghanistan government, and the external forces with the greatest political responsibility began to shift from the United …

Joel Warner (2021-12-19). WEEKEND READER: The Inside Stories of 2021. dailyposter.com

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-17). US Congress approves record defense budget of USD 778 billion. peoplesdispatch.org Despite its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration's first defense budget is USD 38 billion higher than last year's and more than the combined defense budgets of the next 11 countries…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-16). Stand up for Assange, stand up for press freedom. peoplesdispatch.org On December 10, Human Rights Day, a British court delivered a verdict that clears the way for the extradition of journalist and publisher Julian Assange to the United States. If the extradition goes through, Assange will face criminal prosecution in the US, including under the infamous Espionage Act, and if convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in jail. | Julian Assange and his organization WikiLeaks published vital information received from whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning that chronicled US war crimes and atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. These include 'Collateral Murder,' the horrifying video…

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-16). Max Boot: U.S. should use Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Afghan Mujahideen models against Russia. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com This is in response to an article from Max Boot, who is Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and regular contributor to The Washington Post; in fact from that newspaper's edition of December 15 entitled To deter a Russian attack, Ukraine needs to prepare for guerrilla …

_____ (2021-12-16). Afghanistan's Labyrinth of Opportunity. journal-neo.org Four months after the withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban (movement is banned in the Russian Federation) attempts to shape the country on their image, despite the lack of recognition. Nevertheless, they have complete freedom from their neighbors to do whatever they want. They do not officially interfere but try …

Staff (2021-12-16). "No Food Available": Afghanistan Faces Catastrophe as Donors Cut Humanitarian Aid to Taliban Gov't. democracynow.org Afghanistan under the new Taliban government faces a humanitarian catastrophe this winter as the United States and other donors have cut off financial aid. The United Nations warns nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan — or more than half the population — face potentially life-threatening food shortages, with nearly 9 million already on the brink of famine. In addition, people face lack of proper healthcare, unemployment and housing shortages. "The international aid organizations, for them, it's just another country … where they take pictures and make their careers out of it," says Pashtana Durran…

Staff (2021-12-16). Steve Coll on How the U.S. Pursued Withdrawal Over Peace in Afghanistan & Let the Taliban Take Over. democracynow.org As Afghanistan spirals into a humanitarian crisis after the abrupt U.S. withdrawal earlier this summer, we look at years of failed U.S. diplomacy that allowed the Taliban to seize power and leave the small nation in a state of disrepair. A New Yorker magazine investigation shows how the U.S. repeatedly undermined the Kabul-based government in a rush to leave the country. "I've been reporting in general and around Afghanistan for a long time. I was still shocked by the degree of cynicism that the United States often brought to this endeavor to seek peace, particularly during the Trump years," says New Yorker staff…

_____ (2021-12-16). The Chaotic Evacuation From Afghanistan Has Distracted From the UK's Deeper Failures During the War. strategic-culture.org By Patrick COCKBURN | They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain | In sight of help denied from day to day: | But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain, | Are they too strong and wise to put away? | Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour? | When the storm is ended shall we find | How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power | By the favour and contrivance of their kind? | Their lives cannot repay us — their death could not undo — | The shame that they have laid upon our race. | But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew, | Sha…

_____ (2021-12-16). Afghanistan's Labyrinth of Opportunity. journal-neo.org Four months after the withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban (movement is banned in the Russian Federation) attempts to shape the country on their image, despite the lack of recognition. Nevertheless, they have complete freedom from their neighbors to do whatever they want. They do not officially interfere but try …

_____ (2021-12-16). The Chaotic Evacuation From Afghanistan Has Distracted From the UK's Deeper Failures During the War. strategic-culture.org By Patrick COCKBURN | They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain | In sight of help denied from day to day: | But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain, | Are they too strong and wise to put away? | Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour? | When the storm is ended shall we find | How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power | By the favour and contrivance of their kind? | Their lives cannot repay us — their death could not undo — | The shame that they have laid upon our race. | But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew, | Sha…

Staff (2021-12-16). Steve Coll on How the U.S. Pursued Withdrawal Over Peace in Afghanistan & Let the Taliban Take Over. democracynow.org As Afghanistan spirals into a humanitarian crisis after the abrupt U.S. withdrawal earlier this summer, we look at years of failed U.S. diplomacy that allowed the Taliban to seize power and leave the small nation in a state of disrepair. A New Yorker magazine investigation shows how the U.S. repeatedly undermined the Kabul-based government in a rush to leave the country. "I've been reporting in general and around Afghanistan for a long time. I was still shocked by the degree of cynicism that the United States often brought to this endeavor to seek peace, particularly during the Trump years," says New Yorker staff…

Staff (2021-12-16). "No Food Available": Afghanistan Faces Catastrophe as Donors Cut Humanitarian Aid to Taliban Gov't. democracynow.org Afghanistan under the new Taliban government faces a humanitarian catastrophe this winter as the United States and other donors have cut off financial aid. The United Nations warns nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan — or more than half the population — face potentially life-threatening food shortages, with nearly 9 million already on the brink of famine. In addition, people face lack of proper healthcare, unemployment and housing shortages. "The international aid organizations, for them, it's just another country … where they take pictures and make their careers out of it," says Pashtana Durran…

_____ (2021-12-15). Despite Appeals, US Denies Possibility Of Unfreezing Afghan Assets. popularresistance.org US White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified on Tuesday, December 14 said that the government has no plan to unfreeze Afghanistan's assets. Psaki was responding to a public call by Afghanistan's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made a day earlier to unfreeze the assets. | The US government had announced a freeze of nearly USD 10 billion worth of Afghanistan's assets days after the Taliban took over power in the country on August 15, claiming the possibility of misuse of the funds. It also severed all diplomatic relations with Afghanistan after the complete withdrawal of its troops on August 30. | The Tali…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-15). Despite repeated appeals, US denies possibility of unfreezing Afghan assets. peoplesdispatch.org The UN and several other countries including China have asked the US to release nearly USD 10 billion worth of Afghanistan's frozen assets to help the Taliban government deal with the humanitarian situation…

Newsroom (2021-12-15). Afghanistan: Humanitarian crisis threatens basic human rights. moderndiplomacy.eu Respect for fundamental rights and freedoms by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan is critical to ensuring stability in the country, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday in Geneva. Briefing the UN Human Rights Council, Nada Al-Nashif detailed how the profound humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is threatening basic rights, with women, girls, and civil society among those most affected. Dignity or …

Staff (2021-12-15). Audio: Cover-Up in Kabul Strike. davidswanson.org By Political Misfits, December 15, 2021 LISTEN HERE. David Swanson, activist, journalist, radio host and author of the book "Curing Exceptionalism," talks to us about how the Pentagon "cover-up" in the Kabul drone killing of a family continues, with the news that no US troops will be punished for deadly Kabul strike, how impunity is …

David Swanson (2021-12-15). Audio: Cover-Up in Kabul Strike. warisacrime.org By Political Misfits, December 15, 2021 LISTEN HERE. David Swanson, activist, journalist, radio host and author of the book "Curing Exceptionalism," talks to us about how the Pentagon "cover-up" in the Kabul drone killing of a family continues, with the news that no US troops will be punished for deadly Kabul strike, how impunity is …

Brett Wilkins (2021-12-14). No punishment for US troops who slaughtered 10 Afghan civilians, says Pentagon chief. nationofchange.org "If the Pentagon wants to come clean about this horrific event, it will release documents and videotapes that show who was responsible for key decisions and what technological failings were responsible."

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-14). No action against personnel responsible for killing Afghan civilians in August drone strike, says US defense department. peoplesdispatch.org Several human rights groups have questioned the internal investigation by the Pentagon which called the drone strike inside a residential building in Kabul an "honest mistake". 10 Afghan civilians including seven children, were killed in the US drone strike in August…

Staff (2021-12-14). Headlines for December 14, 2021. democracynow.org Eight Killed by Tornado at Kentucky Factory Whose Workers Were Ordered to Remain on Site, Ice Sheet Holding Back Vast Antarctic Glacier Poised to Collapse Within Five Years, U.K. Reports First Death Linked to Fast-Spreading Omicron Coronavirus Variant, New York City to Require Proof of Vaccination for Kids 5 and Up to Enter Public Spaces, Pentagon Won't Punish Anyone over Kabul Drone Strike That Killed 10 Civilians, Sudanese Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Demanding End to Military Rule, Report: Colombian Police Killed at Least 11 People Protesting Police Brutality, Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison for Illegally…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-14). No action against personnel responsible for killing Afghan civilians in August drone strike, says US defense department. peoplesdispatch.org Several human rights groups have questioned the internal investigation by the Pentagon which called the drone strike inside a residential building in Kabul an "honest mistake". 10 Afghan civilians including seven children, were killed in the US drone strike in August…

Staff (2021-12-14). Headlines for December 14, 2021. democracynow.org Eight Killed by Tornado at Kentucky Factory Whose Workers Were Ordered to Remain on Site, Ice Sheet Holding Back Vast Antarctic Glacier Poised to Collapse Within Five Years, U.K. Reports First Death Linked to Fast-Spreading Omicron Coronavirus Variant, New York City to Require Proof of Vaccination for Kids 5 and Up to Enter Public Spaces, Pentagon Won't Punish Anyone over Kabul Drone Strike That Killed 10 Civilians, Sudanese Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Demanding End to Military Rule, Report: Colombian Police Killed at Least 11 People Protesting Police Brutality, Danish Ex-Minister Gets Prison for Illegally…

Sheikh Fakhar-e-Alam (2021-12-12). Afghan War: Pakistan's Sacrifices & Indian Hegemonic Designs. moderndiplomacy.eu Pakistan has been most affected country due to US-led war against terror. It has supported the US in combating terrorism in Afghanistan. The country paid a heavy cost in Afghan war as around 70, 000 causalities happened in the last two decades. Pakistan's contributions to Afghan peace process are highly appreciated worldwide. Pakistan has tried …

Sheikh Fakhar-e-Alam (2021-12-12). Afghan War: Pakistan's Sacrifices & Indian Hegemonic Designs. moderndiplomacy.eu Pakistan has been most affected country due to US-led war against terror. It has supported the US in combating terrorism in Afghanistan. The country paid a heavy cost in Afghan war as around 70, 000 causalities happened in the last two decades. Pakistan's contributions to Afghan peace process are highly appreciated worldwide. Pakistan has tried …

Mahmut Cengiz (2021-12-11). New Threats in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Taliban's Capacity, Tehrik-i Taliban, and ISIS-Khorasan. moderndiplomacy.eu Authors: Mahmut Cengiz, Asma Ul Hussna Durrani, Andrea Quinn The world was stunned by the Taliban's quick takeover of Afghanistan. The former Afghan government's military was four times larger than the Taliban's, but the world saw how the Afghan military surrendered to the Taliban in a short time. Overlooked or at least underestimated were the …