Monthly Archives: February 2022

2022-02-08: News Headlines

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.

2022-02-09 00:44 | 20:44 EST | jz | 10 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 

2022-02-05: News Headlines

_____ (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 …

2022-02-06 03:54 | 21:54 EST | jz | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 

2022-02-04: News Headlines

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…

2022-02-04 14:54 | 16:54 EST | jz | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 

2022-02-03: News Headlines

Pip Hinman (2022-02-02). West continues war by starvation in Afghanistan. greenleft.org.au More than half of the population of Afghanistan is facing starvation since the US-led occupation forces withdrew last August. Pip Hinman comments on the ongoing crisis.

Rachel Godin (2022-02-02). US Economic Policy is Bringing Famine to 23 Million Afghans. peaceaction.org People, Not Statistics Without urgent humanitarian support and international cooperation, one million children are predicted to starve this year in Afghanistan. Ever since America's withdrawal of troops from the country, humanitarian partners have been "racing against time to deliver aid and supplies" to half of the country's population that now requires humanitarian assistance to survive. …

2022-02-03 19:38 | 15:38 EST | jz | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 

2022-02-02: News Headlines

Pip Hinman (2022-02-02). West continues war by starvation in Afghanistan. greenleft.org.au More than half of the population of Afghanistan is facing starvation since the US-led occupation forces withdrew last August. Pip Hinman comments on the ongoing crisis.

Binoy Kampmark (2022-02-02). Special Privileges: Charlotte Bellis, Fortress New Zealand and the Taliban. dissidentvoice.org Not wishing to be left out from the brutal closed border system that has characterised COVID-19 policy in Australia, New Zealand has also been every bit as extreme in limiting the return of its nationals. Pandemic policy, if not logic, has taken issue with the nature of citizenship, which, truth be told, is simply not …

2022-02-02 21:58 | 17:58 EST | jz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 

2022-02-01: News Headlines

Staff (2022-01-31). Headlines for January 31, 2022. democracynow.org U.N. Security Council Meets over Russia-Ukraine Tensions as Ukraine Calls Out Western "Panic", U.N.: 2,000 Children Died Since 2020 After Being Forced into Combat in Yemen, Taliban Killed Dozens of Former Gov't and Allied Forces Workers Since Takeover, Sudanese Security Forces Kill Another Demonstrator as Protests Continue 3 Months After Coup, North Korea Tests Most Powerful Ballistic Missile Since 2017, Pipeline Bursts on Indigenous Land in Ecuadorian Amazon; Thailand Rushes to Contain Coastal Oil Spill, Spotify Adds Advisory to Podcasts About COVID; Joni Mitchell Removes Music from App, Ahmaud Arbery's Family,…

WSWS (2022-01-31). Ukraine war would threaten regional and global food prices. wsws.org A disruption of Ukrainian wheat and grain exports would be especially damaging to countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

_____ (2022-01-31). US Military: a Civilian Killing Machine. journal-neo.org On August 29, 2021 when the US launched an air strike in Kabul supposedly on an ISIS hideout, it killed 10 innocent civilians. Victims included Zemari Ahmadi, who worked for a US-based aid organisation, and nine members of his family, including seven children. While the US officials back then were quick to affirm that the …

2022-02-01 15:35 | 11:35 EST | jz | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0