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| Reality of Life in Afghanistan RAWA: Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan |
Editing, re-reporting by
Carolyn Bennett
The corporate Times’ September 25 editorialized reporting on U.S.
President Barack Obama’s UN oratory on “Arab democracy, free speech and
violence” contained, Steve Rendall says,
a
good sampling of the distortions, double standards and bigotry often present in
U.S. corporate reporting on these issues.
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| Afghan civilian dead taken away |
TRUTH ABOUT VIOLENCE
“Anti-American violence in the Muslim world” does not even
approach the level of violence visited on Muslim countries by the United States,”
Rendall writes.
The public record backs up Rendall’s observation. The
decade-long U.S./NATO War in Afghanistan (2001–present) began with an initial
air campaign that almost immediately prompted concerns and international
protests over the number of Afghan civilians being killed.
The U.S./NATO War on Afghanistan has now caused the deaths of thousands of Afghan
civilians directly from insurgent and foreign military action, as well as the
deaths of possibly tens of thousands of Afghan civilians indirectly as a
consequence of displacement, starvation, disease, exposure, lack of medical
treatment, crime and lawlessness resulting from the war.
Airstrikes have risen in recent years as have Afghan
civilian deaths by foreign military operations resulting in rising tensions
between the occupying/invading countries and the government of Afghanistan.
Protests
Over the past seven years, Afghan President Hamid Karzai
has repeatedly pleaded with foreign military forces in his country to stop
killing so many Afghan civilians.
The deaths of thousands of Afghan civilians caused directly
and indirectly by the U.S. and NATO bombing campaigns have been a major
underlying focus of protests since the start of the war in Afghanistan.
Every year, around the world, starting with large-scale
global demonstrations in the days leading up to the official launch of U.S.
Operation Enduring Freedom under U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in October
2001, there have been protests.
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| Afghans funeralized |
Most recent civilian casualties in the War in Afghanistan
(2012):
February 8, 2012 – 2012 Kapisa airstrike - Seven children
and a young adult are killed by an ISAF airstrike in the village of Geyaba in
the eastern Afghan province of Kapisa.
February 17, 2012 - Kunar Raid - Six civilians, including a
woman and a child were killed in a night raid in Dewa Gul Valley, in the Chawki
district of Kunar province.
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| Afghan children in crossfire of war on their country |
March 11, 2012 – Kandahar massacre - At least 16 civilians,
including women and children were killed after a ‘rogue’ U.S. serviceman
entered their homes and began to open fire in the Afghan province of Kandahar.
May 27, 2012 - Eight members of an Afghan family, including
six children and two women, were killed in a NATO airstrike in eastern
Afghanistan.
July 2, 2012 - NATO killed three shopkeepers in an airstrike
near Charkh District, east of Afghanistan. Logar province spokesman Din
Mohammad Darwesh says NATO forces were on a foot patrol in morning of July 2 in
Charkh district when they came under fire from insurgents. He says they called
in an airstrike and the bombardment killed three shopkeepers.
September, 2012 - NATO killed eight women and injured a
further seven women, in an airstrike in Laghman.
Reported by the United Nations in 2011, the civilian death
toll for the War in Afghanistan had reached a record high the previous year:
3,021 civilian deaths. That civilian death toll constituted an 8 percent rise ─
the fifth consecutive rise – not including the 4,507 civilian wounded.
TRUTH ABOUT LIBERTY CHAMPION
The claim by New York Times' Washington correspondent/editorialist Helene Cooper that the U.S.
president’s speech before the 67th UN General Assembly was a ‘strong defense of
America’s belief in freedom of speech …, [a challenge to] fledgling Arab and North
African democracies to ensure that right even in the face of violence’ lacks credibility,
Rendall continues.
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| WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange held in London |
From the UN General Assembly came another view that was closer to reality.
In his speech last week via videolink from the Ecuadorean embassy in London to a side meeting of the UNGA, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange thanked the United Nations for its treaties on political asylum and denounced
the U.S. treatment of alleged Army whistleblower Bradley Manning. Assange also
accused President Obama of exploiting the Arab Spring and called on the U.S.to
end its persecution of WikiLeaks and its supporters.
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| U.S. aggression Both sides of Red Sea Gulf of Aden: Africa to South Central Asia |
The United States has a horrendous record when it comes to
supporting free-speech [the Obama government has conducted a record number of prosecutorial
actions against U.S. government whistleblowers] and democracy in the Muslim
world, Rendall writes.
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| U.S. drone warfare victims |
“The United States continues to support and to arm
autocratic and free speech-resistant regimes in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.” And though the United States may “no
longer overtly thwart free speech and democracy in Tunisia,” the case harder to
make concerning “Egypt whose military the United States has continued to fund
through decades of torture, detention and disappearances.”
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| Egypt Could also be U.S.-allied with autocratic regimes in Bahrain Yemen Saudi Arabia today |
Until recently, the United States supported dictatorships in
Tunisia and Egypt.
Washington money continued flowing to Egyptian generals in
the face of military crackdowns after the 2011 Tahrir Square uprisings and the
dissolving in June of Egypt’s democratically elected parliament.
Washington, after the Egyptians’ uprising, pushed Omar
Suleiman, Egypt’s former vice president (also known as ‘CIA man in Cairo’ and
Egypt’s ‘torturer-in-chief’), to head that country’s supposed “transition to
democracy” (Guardian, 2/5/11).
Sources and notes
“Praising Obama's Defense of Free Speech, NYT Leaves Much
Unsaid,” Posted on 09/27/2012 by Steve Rendall, http://www.fair.org/blog/2012/09/27/praising-obamas-defense-of-free-speech-nyt-leaves-much-unsaid/
“Costas Panayotakis on Greek protests; Jesselyn Radack on Obama, ‘free speech’
and whistleblowers,” CounterSpin (9/28/12-10/4/12), http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4628
“Obama Tells U.N. New Democracies Need Free Speech” (White
Correspondent Helene Cooper, published: September 25, 2012),
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/world/obamas-address-to-united-nations.html?ref=opinion
Wikipedia on War in Afghanistan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_casualties_in_the_War_in_Afghanistan_(2012)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_in_the_War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)
Guardian on UN report, February 4, 2012,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/04/afghan-civilian-death-toll-record
View also: “Julian Assange U.N. Address ─ Speaking via
videolink from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange addressed a side meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday
evening. In his remarks, Assange gave thanks to the United Nations for its
treaties on political asylum and denounced the U.S. treatment of alleged Army
whistleblower Bradley Manning. Assange also accused President Obama of
exploiting the Arab Spring and called on the U.S.to end its persecution of
WikiLeaks and its supporters,” September 27, 2012, https://www.freespeech.org/video/julian-assange-un-address
Green on Blue
“Two Americans killed in confused Afghan shootout ─ Two
Americans were killed in Afghanistan during an exchange of fire between
NATO-led forces and the Afghan army that may have been the result of a
misunderstanding, as the death toll of U.S. military and civilian personnel
passed 2,000” (Reuters Jessica Donati, KABUL), Sunday, September 30, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/30/us-afghanistan-attack-idUSBRE88T02G20120930
Joint
operations were halted two weeks ago after a surge of attacks on the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) by its Afghan allies.
At
least 52 ISAF service members have been killed this year in so-called ‘green-on-blue’ attacks.
The
suspension of joint operations was a blow for NATO which wants to train the
350,000 members of the Afghan security forces so that they can try to ensure
stability after coalition forces withdraw.
Pentagon
data listing the number of U.S. troops and U.S. contractors killed in
Afghanistan since combat began 11 years ago showed the two new deaths pushed
the total combined number of U.S. personnel killed past the 2,000 mark.
“Afghanistan civilian deaths up 31 percent this year, says
United Nations ─ Report says child victims have risen by 55 percent as Taliban
target more Afghans, while deaths due to foreign troops fall” (By Jon Boone), http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/08/10/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-up-31-this-year-says-united-nations.html
Read more:
http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/08/10/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-up-31-this-year-says-united-nations.html#ixzz27z1tQrnu
RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of
Afghanistan, http://www.rawa.org/rawa.html
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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