Newswires: Afghanistan | WOMBLES - News, Information for anarchist direct action

Afghan police recruits abusing drugs, US report finds

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:57:56 +0000

BBC News: Drug abuse is rife in the Afghan police force with up to four out of 10 recruits testing positive for illegal drugs in some areas, a US report says. The report for the US Congress said the illegal drugs trade "undermines virtually every aspect" of efforts to secure Afghanistan. Afghanistan produces 90% of the world's opium and the drugs trade is a key source of funding for the insurgency.

HRW: Measure Brought into Force by Karzai Means Atrocities Will Go Unpunished

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:06:56 +0000

HRW: The Afghan government should urgently act to repeal a law that provides an amnesty to perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said today. The law was published unannounced in the official gazette, bringing it into force, despite repeated promises by President Hamid Karzai that he would not allow the law to go into effect.

In Kabul, hopelessness weighs on job hunters

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:21:19 +0000

The Los Angeles Times: The men come at dawn, a ragged, anxious collection of faces peeking through scarves and hoping for work as they stand in a traffic circle beneath billboards advertising war heroes and washing machines. They are bricklayers, gardeners, hole diggers and carpenters. Sometimes they are tapped on the shoulder, most times they are not, so they hunch amid the cars and fruit stands, knowing that the higher the sun climbs the lower their chances of returning home with money in their pockets.

One Month of the Obama Killing Machine in Afghanistan: Data and a Lesson for the UNAMA and its Groupies

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:54:48 +0000

RAWA News:Let the numbers tell the story. The following presents a detailed summary and analysis of Afghan civilians killed directly - so-called impact deaths - by U.S/NATO forces in Afghanistan during a single month, February 2010. The Obama killing machine left 80-86 dead Afghan and Pashtun civilians. By contrast, the number in February 2009 was 50. The intent here is to set the record straight as regards Afghans killed by the U.S/NATO, and in so doing challenge the UNAMA to move beyond its “faith-based” counting.

Women’s worst world-wide

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

A ranking released on Women’s Day reveals that while Afghanistan is deemed the worst country world-wide for women to live in, the ranking is a saddening lecture for African women as well. Of the top-ten worst countries for women, seven are African. Sadly, the list ignores the many successes in the African countries listed. HSEN

AFGHANISTAN: Women’s rights trampled despite new law

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:46:38 +0000

IRIN: As the world marks International Women’s Day, ambivalence, impunity, weak law enforcement and corruption continue to undermine women’s rights in Afghanistan, despite a July 2009 law banning violence against women, rights activists say. A recent case of the public beating of a woman for alleged elopement - also shown on private TV stations in Kabul - highlights the issue.

Solidarity with Women in Iran

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:42:00 +0000

More than 50 men and women, mainly Iranians, took part in a protest organised by the 8 March Women's Organsiation (Iran-Afghanistan) to mark International Women's Day. They protested at the Iranian Embassy against the 31 years of anti-women Islamic laws and repression and calling for an end to the Islamic regime in Iran before marching to Trafalgar Square for a rally. London 07/03/2010

Joe Glenton jailed for nine months

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:03:30 +0000

A British soldier who refused to return to duty in Afghanistan and went on to speak at anti-war rallies was sentenced to nine months' detention in a military prison on 5th of March. Support group in London is going to appeal, but it's not known whether that can change the situation. Though, people from all over the world already could show, how much solidarity can be effective, organised on 4th and 5th of March actions in support of Joe in UK, Italy, USA, Germany, Greece, Russia and earlier, in January, also in New Zealand and Poland. Thanks to those people, charge of desertion was dropped and instead of 10 years detention in prison Joe was sentenced to 9 months.read more

The Election - What's The Point?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:42:54 +0000

Now that politics have focused down on the election, I find myself thoroughly demotivated. There is a substantial percentage of the population who wish to see a very early withdrawal from the occupation of Afghanistan, who want genuinely firm measures against the casino banking economy, who are very sceptical about the direction the European Union has gone, and who do not want to waste many scores of billions of dollars on a nuclear submarine system which can wipe out half the world's population instantaneously and the rest shortly thereafter. Yet the great "leader's debate" will be between three people who all follow the same pro-bank bailout, pro-Afghan war, pro-EU and pro-Trident consensus. The political differences between them are insignificant - they are engaged in a Mr Smarm contest. They are not even good at that - Brown is an aggressive churl, Cameron is comfortable only working alongside his team of fellow toffs, Nick Clegg seeks to avoid offending the establishment consensus at all costs. Only in Wales and Scotland do any significant number of people have a hope of electing anybody who stands outside the cosy Westmnister consensus on key issues. To work, democracy must present the electorate with real choices. Our democracy does not work.

Lawyer Says Canada Wanted Afghan Prisoners Tortured

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:53:09 +0000

By CBC News - March 5, 2010 Federal government documents on Afghan detainees suggest that Canadian officials intended some prisoners to be tortured in order to gather intelligence, according to a legal expert..."[W]hat [the documents] will show is that Canada partnered deliberately with the torturers in Afghanistan for the interrogation of detainees..." read more

Army launches investigation: Corrupt Afghans stealing millions from aid funds

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:11:39 +0000

The Independent: A major investigation has been launched into contracts awarded by coalition forces in Afghanistan that are worth hundreds of millions of pounds. The probe into construction and logistics contracts of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has been ordered by Major General Nick Carter, commander of Isaf forces in the south of the country.

No school for almost half of Afghan children

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:29:30 +0000

DAWN: Almost half of school-age children in Afghanistan do not have access to education, President Hamid Karzai said Saturday as he inaugurated the new school year. “Five million school-age children in our country do not go to school, some because of war or because their schools have been closed by the Taliban or others, some because they do not have the ability to go to schools,” he said.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton jailed for 9 months

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:39:00 +0000

On the same day that Gordon Brown -- whose war polices have killed thousands -- insisted that the illegal Iraq war was the "right" thing to do, Lance Corporal Joe Glenton was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for refusing to return to Afghanistan to fight a war he believed to be unjustified and a sensless loss of life for Afghans and Iraqis alike. By Peter Walker guardian.co.uk 5 March 2010

British soldier jailed for refusing to fight in Afghanistan

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:34:07 +0000

CNN: A British soldier who went absent without leave rather than return to fight in Afghanistan was jailed Friday for nine months by a military court, officials said. Glenton, who completed a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2006, became an outspoken critic of British military operations in the country during his absence, frequently appearing at anti-war rallies and on television.