War Made Invisible – How America Hides the Human Toll or Its Military Machine
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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…
Read the full column
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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…
Read the full column.
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The view from Afghanistan
I'm about 7,400 miles from home, but that's the least of the distances between the pleasures of Marin and the agonies of war here in Kabul. Across Afghanistan, when the call to prayer greets a new day, the most fervent prayers are for peace.
To the ears of Americans, "peace" may sound a bit wispy or abstract – but here it's a hope-laced word for a lifeline that continues to fray. Thirty years of war have decimated Kabul and much of the rest of Afghanistan.
From the air, looking out on a vast panorama of sandy-colored mountains and valleys near Kabul, I wondered: Where are the trees?
They're gone – destroyed by war and deprivation – victims of countless bombs and the collapse of irrigation.
At home, we push for green sustainability. Here, the streets are blowing with harsh dust, a brutal harvest of war…
Read the full Marin Independent Journal op-ed
Listen to a short interview
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A Little Girl in Kabul
Yesterday, I met a little girl named Guljumma. She's seven years old, and she lives in Kabul at a place called Helmand Refugee Camp District 5.
Guljumma talked about what happened one morning last year when she was sleeping at home in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Valley. At
about 5 a.m., bombs exploded. Some people in her family died. She lost an arm.With a soft matter-of-fact voice, Guljumma described those events…
Read the full column (which includes a photo)
Readers who wish to assist residents of refugee camps in Kabul can make a tax-deductible donation to PARSA, a nongovernmental organization that provides vocational training and employment placement for displaced Afghans.
The contributions can be made via the website afghanistan-parsa.org or by check to: PARSA, P.O. Box 31292, Seattle, WA 98103
Robert Koehler wrote September 10th, 2009 in the Chicago Tribune:
OK, let's jump now to a refugee camp in Kabul, where journalist Norman Solomon introduces us to a 7-year-old girl named Guljumma Khan, who lost her arm in a U.S. bombing raid, and whose father has gotten nowhere trying to get redress or the least support fromthe United States, the United Nations or the Afghan government to obtain medical assistance for her or take care of his family.
Furthermore, Solomon writes, "Basics like food arrive at the camp only sporadically." The girl's father "pointed to a plastic bag containing a few pounds of rice. It was his responsibility to divide the rice for the 100 families" in the refugee camp.
"Is the U.S. government willing to really help Guljumma, who now lives each day and night in the squalor of a refugee camp?" asks Solomon. "Is the government willing to spend the equivalent of the cost of a single warhead to assist her?"
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The Afghanistan Gap: Press vs. Public
This month, a lot of media stories have compared President Johnson's war in Vietnam and President Obama's war in Afghanistan. The comparisons are often valid, but a key parallel rarely gets mentioned — the media's insistent support for the war even after most of the public has turned against it.
This omission relies on the mythology that the U.S. news media functioned as tough critics of the Vietnam War in real time, a fairy tale so widespread that it routinely masquerades as truth. In fact, overall, the default position of the corporate media is to bond with war policymakers in Washington — insisting for the longest time that the war must go on…
Read the full column
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Hope for health reform fading
A year ago, I sat with other delegates at the Democratic National Convention and cheered when Barack Obama said in his acceptance speech: "Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American."
Now, the promise is fading.Now, the promise is fading…
Read the full Marin Independent op-ed