Howard’s recent proposal to double the number of Australian troops in Afghanistan has been applauded by Rudd and the ALP. The notion that more occupying troops will bring stability to Afghanistan must be opposed. Immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops would be a genuine step towards stability. However, given the almost total destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, industry and other infrastructure since 1992, payment of large scale reparations is also necessary.

 http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/03/142688.php

Prime Minister John Howard has announced that more Australian troops are heading to Afghanistan.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1893214.htm

Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has given in-principle support to the Government's plan to increase Australian troop numbers in Afghanistan.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1893781.htm

==========================

No opposition to war in this country? I wonder if he lived in Afghanistan would he find it necessary to kill people? Considering they're sending SAS killers.

Impeding the development of open media, for instance, are a list of restrictions that the Afghan National Security Directorate imposed upon journalists last year. Human Rights Watch decried the restrictive list as a "blatant intrusion on the freedom of Afghanistan’s fledgling media. These directives are an insult to the hard work and personal sacrifice of Afghan journalists who try to get the truth out to the public."

 http://indymedia.us/en/2007/04/24137.shtml

"News that's not known, or not known enough."

At least 766,880 people have been killed, and
1,467,868 seriously injured in Afghanistan and Iraq

-- IN AFGHANISTAN --

8,587 AFGHAN TROOPS KILLED
and 25,761 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004

3,485 AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED
and 6,273 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004

357 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 1,071 SERIOUSLY INJURED Jan. 2007

223 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 669 SERIOUSLY INJURED Feb. 2007

? U.S. and COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and ? SERIOUSLY INJURED

US and coalition deaths and injuries listed above include deaths and injuries reported in all of "Operation Enduring Freedom," which is the Pentagon's public-relations name for what's commonly called the war on terror. About 75% of these deaths and injuries have occured within Afghanistan and its neighbor nations, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Other US and coalition deaths and injuries included in the above numbers may have occured in Cuba (Guantanamo Bay), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.

=========================

-- IN IRAQ --

30,000 IRAQI TROOPS KILLED
and 90,000 SERIOUSLY INJURED Aug. 2003

720,461 IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED
and 1,296,830 SERIOUSLY INJURED Feb. 2007

3,123 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 45,798 SERIOUSLY INJURED Feb. 2007

256 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 768 SERIOUSLY INJURED Feb. 2007

154 U.S. CIVILIANS KILLED
and 277 SERIOUSLY INJURED Feb. 2007

234 OTHER COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and 421 SERIOUSLY INJURED Feb. 2007

US and coalition deaths and injuries listed above include deaths and injuries reported in all of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," which is the Pentagon's public-relations name for the invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq. US and coalition deaths and injuries included in the above numbers may have occurred in neighboring or nearby nations, in support of OIF.

 http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html

Civilian murders define this month’s obscenities in Afghanistan but – as in Iraq - the war-mongers insist that ‘progress’ is being made. The Americans do not care about civilians dying either in Iraq or in Afghanistan. From the US perspective, perhaps every civilian killed is a future ‘terrorist.’

Canadian torture and losing prisoners in Afghanistan was under the spotlight this month. A further obscenity was the announcement of NATO racist policies in Kandahar Airbase toilets . Not surprising that Afghans, like Iraqis, don’t want occupation forces in their country?

 http://tinyurl.com/yr2tdc

War Criminal Prime Minister John Howard has refused to speculate on when Australian militants will be withdrawn from Afghanistan.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1893911.htm

=========================

What would you expect from a war criminal?

=========================

Coalition of the Killing back more Australian militants in Afghanistan

US, Britain The acting head of counter-terrorism in the United States has described Australia's joint efforts with Canadian and NATO forces in Afghanistan as vital.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1893921.htm

===========================

Vital for killing!

The US-led war on terror is only fuelling more violence by focusing on military solutions rather than on root causes, a British stink tank has warned.

"The war on terror is failing and actually increasing the likelihood of more terrorist attacks," the Oxford Research Group said in its study Beyond Terror: The Truth About The Real Threats To Our World.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1894168.htm

Repairs leave Afghanistan militants without helicopters

Australian militants in Afghanistan will be without their own helicopter support for the rest of the year after two Chinook helicopters were called back to Townsville for repairs.

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1894216.htm

=======================

Now we're supposed to feel sorry for them? Well killing people without a gun might be a little bit more difficult? So unless your average Afghani has a chopper I don't think we should be too concerned.

By the way who's counting the dead?

I know, Karen Middleton SBS News? When she gets out of bed?