Afghanistan, Year Ten

By: Friday October 8, 2010 10:31 am

It’s startling to be reminded how long ago 9/11 was because our public figures keep talking about the Afghanistan War like it started last year. General Petraeus let us know back in February in a Meet the Press interview that we were just then getting “the inputs about right,” and were now “starting to see some of the outputs.” Nine years into this war, and Petraeus lets us know they’re just getting warmed up. Good God.

Who’s Really “Relying on Assumptions and Beliefs to Shape Reality” in Afghanistan War Debate?

By: Wednesday September 15, 2010 10:23 am

The Afghanistan Study Group report is out, and the fight is on. A number of critiques have been leveled at the report, one of the most influential being Joshua Foust’s over at Registan.net, chunks of which are percolating upward into larger outlets. Foust is a smart guy with whom I regularly debate, but there’s a [...]

Security in Afghanistan Crumbles as Counterinsurgency Fails

By: Sunday September 12, 2010 9:11 pm

As President Obama’s strategy review for Afghanistan commences, let’s hope he’s balancing the information coming to him from his happy-talking generals with some independent news reading of his own.

$547 Million Can’t Paper Over Failure of Afghanistan War

By: Thursday September 2, 2010 5:55 pm

The Pentagon’s public relations machine is working overtime these days trying to sell a theme of "progress" in Afghanistan to push back against calls to end the war. The message machine behind this push is gargantuan, costing $547 million and employing more than 27,000 people. But, as our latest Rethink Afghanistan video shows, all that [...]

Who’s the Huckster for This High-Interest War?

By: Wednesday August 25, 2010 5:00 am

On college campuses, credit card companies entice naive undergrads into signing up for super-high-interest-rate credit cards by giving away “perceived high-value items” like t-shirts or coffee mugs. They’re called perceived high value items because they really aren’t worth as much as people assume. Their only purpose is to distract from the terrible terms in the [...]

Busting White House Spin on WikiLeaks: No Leak Required

By: Wednesday July 28, 2010 10:19 pm

President Obama managed to show just how nimble and how disingenuous an administration can be in his response to the WikiLeaks fiasco: Obama, speaking from the Rose Garden after a meeting with congressional leaders to discuss funding for the war and other issues, deplored the leak, saying he was concerned the information from the battleground [...]

Wikileaks Document Dump Supports New Rules of Engagement and Need for Responsible Transition

By: Tuesday July 27, 2010 6:23 am

The 92,000 classified documents on the war in Afghanistan posted by Wikileaks and made public on Sunday are already causing a firestorm.

Rethink Afghanistan: What does it mean to be less safe?

By: Thursday July 22, 2010 5:30 pm

What does the story of a night raid in Wardak province tell us about the consequences of our war in Afghanistan?

We Bought Thoreau This Straw Pony for His Birthday

By: Monday July 12, 2010 3:00 pm

Spencer Ackerman wants you to meet him halfway between his house and the straw man: Here’s where those who base their opposition to the war its promotion of human suffering have to meet halfway as well. If the U.S. stops prosecuting its end of the war, civilian casualties will not end. What will end is [...]

Hope

By: Monday July 12, 2010 9:00 am

This evening, I spent a couple of hours at Central Market in downtown Austin, Texas, with 7 other people in one of the first Meetups to Rethink the Afghanistan War. I’ve been involved in a serious way in the struggle to end the war for a little more than two years. This was the most [...]

JUST SAY NOW

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN to legalize marijuana

Email: 
Zip: 

SUPPORT MARIJUANA REFORM
Special Coverage

Just Say Now
Campaign to legalize marijuana

Foreclosure Fraud
Firedoglake uncovers foreclosure fraud across the nation

Prop 8 Trial
Liveblogging the landmark case in marriage equality and civil rights

Donate to Firedoglake

Like what you're reading? Make a contribution to Firedoglake and help us maintain the kind of fiercely independent journalism and activism you love.


Close