Andrew Cockburn – A Special Relationship

One morning early in 1988, Ed McWilliams, a foreign-service officer posted to the American Embassy in Kabul, heard the thump of a massive explosion from somewhere on the other side of the city. It was more than eight years after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, and the embassy was a tiny enclave with only a handful of diplomats. McWilliams, a …

Jon Queall – ‘Endless War’ Continues as US Troops Re-Enter Combat Against Taliban in Kunduz

Two days after Taliban fighters launched a surprise attack and took control of the northern city of Kunduz, promises made by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that his forces could quickly re-take the city have not been realized and reports on Wednesday reveal that U.S. Special Forces units are now on the ground engaging in the fight as new rounds of …

Nafeez Ahmed – Beyond Extinction – Transition To Post-Capitalism Is Inevitable

In Margaret Atwood’s powerful essay [It’s Not Climate Change It’s Everything Change] on the reality of climate change and its implications for the future of oil-dependent industrial civilization she tells two vastly distinct stories of our future. The first is a tale of dystopia – a future so bleak, it would make Hollywood moguls looking for the next science fiction …

The Mark Riley Show – 07.29.15

Mark discusses these topics on the show today: Woman found dead in holding cell in Westchester County. This could be something simply tragic, but after Sandra Bland, people have a right to be suspicious. And speaking of Sandra Bland…. Texas authorities release more jailhouse video relating to Sandra Bland case. They spinning as hard as they can, but the fact …

Sonali Kolhatkar – We Have Failed Afghanistan Again and Again

The 2013 death of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, confirmed this week, should have marked the end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. But the fates of the two main leaders identified as responsible for the 9/11 attacks—Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar—are only milestones. Thanks to the destructive nature of the U.S. war, many newer and more formidable enemies …

Fallout from Reagan’s Afghan War By Paul R. Pillar

In a blast from the past in Afghanistan, a warlord who became a model for combining ruthless ambition and destructive methods with radical ideology, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has advised his followers to support the so-called Islamic State or ISIS in fighting against the Afghan Taliban. While some in the West might see this as one more indication of ISIS spreading its tentacles with …

The Real Afghan War

The sky clotted gray and the winds gusted cold as the men crowded into an old roadside gas station. It was daybreak in Band-i-Timor, early December 2001, and hundreds of turbaned farmers sat pensively, weighing the choice before them. They had once been the backbone of the Taliban’s support; the movement had arisen not far from here, and many had …