War Made Invisible – How America Hides the Human Toll or Its Military Machine
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The War Stampede
Disputes are raging within the Obama administration over how to continue the US war effort in Afghanistan. A new leak tells us that Washington's ambassador in Kabul, former four-star Gen. Karl Eikenberry, has cautioned against adding more troops while President Hamid Karzai keeps disappointing American policymakers. This is the extent of the current debate within the warfare state.
During a top-level meeting Wednesday afternoon in the White House, The Washington Post reports, President Obama "was given a series of options laid out by military planners with differing numbers of new US deployments, ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 troops. None of the scenarios calls for scaling back the US presence in Afghanistan or delaying the dispatch of additional troops."
No doubt, there are real tactical differences between Eikenberry and the US/NATO commander in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, the ultra-spun, brainy Spartan who wants to boost the current US troop level of 68,000 to well over 100,000 in the war-afflicted country. But those policy disputes exist well within the context of a permanent war psychology…
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The Next Phase of Healthcare Apartheid
In Washington, "healthcare reform" has degenerated into a sick joke.
At this point, only spinners who've succumbed to their own vertigo could use the word "robust" to describe the public option in the healthcare bill that the House Democratic leadership has sent to the floor…
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Uncle Sam in Afghanistan: Good Help Is Hard to Find
Almost eight years after choosing Hamid Karzai to head the Afghan government, Uncle Sam would like to give him a pink slip. But it's not easy. And the grim fiasco of Afghanistan's last election is shadowing the next.
Another display of electioneering and voting has been ordered up from Washington. But after a chemical mix has blown a hole through the roof – with all the elements for massive fraud still in place – what's the point of throwing together the same ingredients?
This time, the spinners in Washington hope to be better prepared…
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Starting Another Year of War in Afghanistan
October 2009 has begun with The New York Times reporting that "the president, vice president and an array of cabinet secretaries, intelligence chiefs, generals, diplomats and advisers gathered in a windowless basement room of the White House for three hours on Wednesday to chart a new course in Afghanistan."
As this month begins the ninth year of the US war effort in Afghanistan, "windowless" seems to be an apt metaphor. The structure of thought and the range of options being debated in Washington's high places are notably insular. The "new course" will be a permutation of the present course…
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Norman Solomon on Democracy Now: September 15, 2009
He discusses human realities and politics of the war in Afghanistan.
Watch the video on the Democracy Now website, which has a page with the segment and a transcript.
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Men Toting Guns, In Kabul and Washington
For those who believe in making war, Kabul is a notable work product. After 30 years, the results are in: a devastated city.
A stale witticism calls Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai “the mayor of Kabul.” Now, not even. On block after block in the Afghan capital, AK-47s are conspicuous in the hands of men on guard against a near future. Widely seen as corrupt, inept and – with massive election fraud — now illegitimate, Karzai’s government is losing its grip along with its credibility…
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