NATO troops launch new offensives in Afghanistan
Joe Kay via sam | 01.05.2007 22:24 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Terror War | World
These killings are only the beginning of an escalation of the US-led counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan during the spring and summer, even as more troops are also being sent into Iraq. In addition to the US and British forces, in recent months Australia and Germany have also agreed to send additional equipment and soldiers to Afghanistan in an effort to crush mounting opposition.
These killings are only the beginning
US and British-led NATO forces have launched new offensives in the southern and western regions of Afghanistan in recent days, killing scores of people. The offensives are part of a military campaign begun in March to retake parts of the country not currently under control of occupation forces and the puppet government of Hamid Karzai.
In southern Afghanistan on Monday, 3,000 troops launched operations in the Sangin Valley, near the town of Gereshk. Those involved included 1,000 British soldiers and 1,000 troops from the Afghan National Army, along other forces from the US, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Canada.
The NATO forces are seeking to crush growing opposition to the foreign occupation, particularly pronounced in the south, among organizations said to be allied with the former Taliban regime. Gereshk, located in Helmand province, is a strategically important city, which lies along the road from Kandahar in the south to Herat in the west.
British Lieut. Col. Carver said that the offensive “is part of longer-term plan to restore the whole of Helmand to government control. You have to do it one piece at a time,” he said. The broader offensive in the south, dubbed “Operation Achilles,” began in March.
There are no reports yet on the number of people killed in the Monday’s operations. However, a US statement has said that at least 150 “Taliban and foreign fighters” have been killed in the Sangin district of Helmand province during the past three weeks.
At the same time, US-led forces in the western province of Herat have killed at least 136 people during the past several days, with reports indicating that most were civilians. The US military itself reported that it killed 87 people in a 14-hour engagement on Sunday, and that 49 were killed in a separate assault on Friday. One US soldier was also killed during that incident.
The Pentagon—as is routine—claimed that all those killed were “Taliban,” but protesters said that they were civilians. Thousands of Afghans demonstrated against the violence, gathering at the district government headquarters in Shindand in the west, which is also the location of a police compound.
According to a Reuters report, “Police reinforcements were sent in to control the protesters and block them from marching on the base. At least 20 civilians were wounded during police firing, several residents told a Reuters reporter in the region by phone.” Local officials in the Afghan government sought to distance themselves from the US-led assault, claiming that Afghan police and military forces were not informed or involved.
The latest round of military assaults by NATO forces in the west are the deadliest since 150 people were killed along the southern border of Pakistan in January. They also indicate an expansion of military operations, since most violence so far has been confined to the south and the east.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested the killing of six people, including two women, and the wounding of two children during a raid by US troops in eastern Afghanistan, near the city of Jalalabad.
Col. Ghafoor Khan, spokesman for the police chief in the eastern province of Nangarhar, told the New York Times, “Six civilians, including two women, were killed in this incident, and eight others were detained by coalition forces.” US forces claimed that the two women were killed by accident, and the four others were Taliban supporters.
These killings were located in the same region in which 12 civilians were massacred, and 35 more were injured, by US Marine Special Operations forces angered when their vehicle was targeted by a suicide bomb attack on March 4. As in the latest round of killings, the US military responded by trying to cover up the atrocity, but has since been forced to acknowledge that the marines did not come under fire from those killed.
An investigation by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights commission found that those killed in the incident were unarmed workers and pedestrians who happened to be in the area at the time. Criminal charges may now be filed against several of the marines involved in the massacre. If this happens, however, it will only be used to as part of an attempt to obscure the broader US policy of repression of the Afghan population.
These killings are only the beginning of an escalation of the US-led counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan during the spring and summer, even as more troops are also being sent into Iraq. In addition to the US and British forces, in recent months Australia and Germany have also agreed to send additional equipment and soldiers to Afghanistan in an effort to crush mounting opposition.
This policy has complete bipartisan support in the US itself. One of the principal concerns of critics of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq, including leading figures in the Democratic Party, has been that the troop escalation has made it more difficult for the US to maintain control of Afghanistan. Not only is Afghanistan a critical region for US geo-strategic interests in its own right, located near the oil- and gas-rich region of Central Asia, but it would also be an important base for any US operations against Iran.
In the war funding bill passed by Congress last week, Democrats supplied the military with more money than the Bush administration had requested, including an additional $1 billion for bolstering US forces in Afghanistan.
See Also:
Reports confirm Canada’s complicity in Afghan state torture
[27 April 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/afgh-a27.shtml
Australia dispatches more troops for phoney “war on terror” in Afghanistan
[19 April 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/afgh-a19.shtml
Germany to deploy Tornado jet fighters to Afghanistan
[15 March 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/afgh-m15.shtml
Highway massacre sparks anti-US protests in Afghanistan
[5 March 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/afgh-m05.shtml
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/may2007/afgh-m01.shtml
In Other Developments:
Scores killed as NATO launches Afghan offensive
US/Afghan and foreign militants say scores of resistance were killed in new action against indigenouse Taliban militants, while concerns grew about a US led coalition operation that police said killed 30 civilians.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1911848.htm
Related:Blacker Days in Afghanistan
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan statement seems to say they got rid of the Russians, then the Taliban came and things were were worse, then NATO came and things are worse than ever.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/144231.php
In southern Afghanistan on Monday, 3,000 troops launched operations in the Sangin Valley, near the town of Gereshk. Those involved included 1,000 British soldiers and 1,000 troops from the Afghan National Army, along other forces from the US, the Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia and Canada.
The NATO forces are seeking to crush growing opposition to the foreign occupation, particularly pronounced in the south, among organizations said to be allied with the former Taliban regime. Gereshk, located in Helmand province, is a strategically important city, which lies along the road from Kandahar in the south to Herat in the west.
British Lieut. Col. Carver said that the offensive “is part of longer-term plan to restore the whole of Helmand to government control. You have to do it one piece at a time,” he said. The broader offensive in the south, dubbed “Operation Achilles,” began in March.
There are no reports yet on the number of people killed in the Monday’s operations. However, a US statement has said that at least 150 “Taliban and foreign fighters” have been killed in the Sangin district of Helmand province during the past three weeks.
At the same time, US-led forces in the western province of Herat have killed at least 136 people during the past several days, with reports indicating that most were civilians. The US military itself reported that it killed 87 people in a 14-hour engagement on Sunday, and that 49 were killed in a separate assault on Friday. One US soldier was also killed during that incident.
The Pentagon—as is routine—claimed that all those killed were “Taliban,” but protesters said that they were civilians. Thousands of Afghans demonstrated against the violence, gathering at the district government headquarters in Shindand in the west, which is also the location of a police compound.
According to a Reuters report, “Police reinforcements were sent in to control the protesters and block them from marching on the base. At least 20 civilians were wounded during police firing, several residents told a Reuters reporter in the region by phone.” Local officials in the Afghan government sought to distance themselves from the US-led assault, claiming that Afghan police and military forces were not informed or involved.
The latest round of military assaults by NATO forces in the west are the deadliest since 150 people were killed along the southern border of Pakistan in January. They also indicate an expansion of military operations, since most violence so far has been confined to the south and the east.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested the killing of six people, including two women, and the wounding of two children during a raid by US troops in eastern Afghanistan, near the city of Jalalabad.
Col. Ghafoor Khan, spokesman for the police chief in the eastern province of Nangarhar, told the New York Times, “Six civilians, including two women, were killed in this incident, and eight others were detained by coalition forces.” US forces claimed that the two women were killed by accident, and the four others were Taliban supporters.
These killings were located in the same region in which 12 civilians were massacred, and 35 more were injured, by US Marine Special Operations forces angered when their vehicle was targeted by a suicide bomb attack on March 4. As in the latest round of killings, the US military responded by trying to cover up the atrocity, but has since been forced to acknowledge that the marines did not come under fire from those killed.
An investigation by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights commission found that those killed in the incident were unarmed workers and pedestrians who happened to be in the area at the time. Criminal charges may now be filed against several of the marines involved in the massacre. If this happens, however, it will only be used to as part of an attempt to obscure the broader US policy of repression of the Afghan population.
These killings are only the beginning of an escalation of the US-led counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan during the spring and summer, even as more troops are also being sent into Iraq. In addition to the US and British forces, in recent months Australia and Germany have also agreed to send additional equipment and soldiers to Afghanistan in an effort to crush mounting opposition.
This policy has complete bipartisan support in the US itself. One of the principal concerns of critics of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq, including leading figures in the Democratic Party, has been that the troop escalation has made it more difficult for the US to maintain control of Afghanistan. Not only is Afghanistan a critical region for US geo-strategic interests in its own right, located near the oil- and gas-rich region of Central Asia, but it would also be an important base for any US operations against Iran.
In the war funding bill passed by Congress last week, Democrats supplied the military with more money than the Bush administration had requested, including an additional $1 billion for bolstering US forces in Afghanistan.
See Also:
Reports confirm Canada’s complicity in Afghan state torture
[27 April 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/afgh-a27.shtml Australia dispatches more troops for phoney “war on terror” in Afghanistan
[19 April 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/apr2007/afgh-a19.shtml Germany to deploy Tornado jet fighters to Afghanistan
[15 March 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/afgh-m15.shtml Highway massacre sparks anti-US protests in Afghanistan
[5 March 2007]
http://wsws.org/articles/2007/mar2007/afgh-m05.shtml http://wsws.org/articles/2007/may2007/afgh-m01.shtml In Other Developments:
Scores killed as NATO launches Afghan offensive
US/Afghan and foreign militants say scores of resistance were killed in new action against indigenouse Taliban militants, while concerns grew about a US led coalition operation that police said killed 30 civilians.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1911848.htm Related:Blacker Days in Afghanistan
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan statement seems to say they got rid of the Russians, then the Taliban came and things were were worse, then NATO came and things are worse than ever.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/04/144231.php
Joe Kay via sam
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Chopper assembly line to boost economy: Nelson?
02.05.2007 05:03
To boost economy: Nelson?
The Defence [War] Department has ordered 46 new MRH 90 helicopters, which will eventually replace the Blackhawk and Sea King helicopter fleets.
The first four MRH 90s are being manufactured in France and the remaining 42 helicopters will be assembled in Brisbane.
Dr Nelson has opened the assembly line at Brisbane Airport and says he is confident the new helicopters will be delivered on time and on budget.
"When we make decisions based on the technological capability and also the scheduling, we do everything we can to minimise the risk," he said.
"It's ultimately up to the company itself that's providing the equipment to the Australian Defence Force that has the responsibility to meet the deadlines."
==========================
What kind of a claim is that from an alleged Dr? "inject more than $1 billion into the Australia's economy?" Are you kidding dr Nelson you need to be sent the Medical Board for a check up and a brain scan.
Why not spend it on social services? Better hospitals? Epidemics? Etc...Nah! You can't do that it's the war criminal giving you the orders!
Related:
Govt approves $1b helicopter deal
Parrot Press
Winning Hearts & Minds
02.05.2007 22:18
AFP Photo
Investigations into a US-led offensive in western Afghanistan at the weekend found around 50 civilians were killed, officials said Wednesday, as President Hamid Karzai summoned the top US general over the casualties.
The US-led coalition has said it is not aware of any civilian deaths following the offensive, which involved intense bombing and ground fighting in the western province of Herat on Friday and Sunday.
The coalition, which invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 and helped to topple the Taliban government, said 136 Taliban fighters were killed.
But hundreds of demonstrators torched government offices in Herat's Shindand district Monday, insisting civilians were among the dead.
A United Nations investigation had so far found that 49 civilians lost their lives in the operation in the Zerkoh Valley, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Herat city, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
Police inquiries showed 51 civilians were dead, the police spokesman for western Afghanistan, Akramudin Yawar, told AFP. This included "18 women and a number children," he said.
A team appointed by the provincial governor, Sayed Hussain Anwari, said 42 civilians were killed and 55 other civilians wounded, said the governor's spokeswoman Farzana Ahmadi.
Around 1,600 families had fled the area because of the fighting and 100 houses were damaged or destroyed, she said.
The figures are among the highest for civilians killed in military operations in Afghanistan.
Karzai summoned foreign military and diplomatic chiefs to his palace Wednesday, telling reporters afterwards civilian casualties were unacceptable and a "heavy burden".
"We can no longer accept civilian casualties," Karzai said after the meeting, which included the top US commander in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeil of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and US ambassador William B. Wood.
"We are very sorry when an international coalition forces, NATO soldier loses life or is wounded ... But Afghans are human beings too," he said.
"What we are seeking is value to Afghan lives," he said.
Karzai, who has made similar calls to the foreign forces before, said that things must change or "the consequences will be bad for all of us."
But there were claims of new deaths in the southern province of Kandahar, where officials said civilians, including two women, were among 13 people killed in fighting Tuesday between police and coalition forces and suspected militants.
Meanwhile, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, university students torched a US flag and chanted "Death to (US President George W. Bush)" in fresh protests over six people killed on Sunday, whom they said were civilians.
The coalition says four of those killed were militants from a suspected suicide bombing cell, and that a woman and a teenager were caught in the crossfire.
About 50,000 foreign troops are in Afghanistan, either with the coalition or ISAF, to help the fragile government assert itself over Taliban and other Islamist rebels.
The governor of Kandahar province in the south said civilians were among 13 people killed in a gunfight at a checkpoint on Tuesday that started when militants in a car opened fire on police.
"We don't know yet how many of them were Taliban and how many civilians, though we know that two women were also killed," provincial governor Asadullah Kahlid said.
The coalition said earlier that its forces were involved and five insurgents were killed.
In Italy, Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Wednesday the "modalities" of the Herat offensive were a concern, with the effort in Afghanistan requiring the defeat of "terrorists" but also the consensus of civilians.
The operation was in an area where 800 Italian troops are based, although they were precluded from the offensive by the terms of their mission.
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50 Civilians Killed By Foreign Occupier's Offensives
US under pressure for civilian deaths in Afghanistan
02.05.2007 22:42
Afghan and United Nations (UN) investigators have found that about 50 civilians, including many women and children, were killed in weekend fighting in west Afghanistan.
On top of that, more than 1,600 families fled the area and 100 houses were damaged or destroyed.
It is the highest number of civilians killed in military operations in Afghanistan in months.
Protesters rallying in several cities have chanted anti-American slogans and demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.
Parrot Press