WikiLeaks to release video of Afghan massacre
WikiLeaks is in custody of a classified Pentagon video that purportedly shows a US airstrike in Afghanistan in May 2009. The airstrike on the Afghan village of Garani left as many as 140 civilians dead, most of them children and teenagers, in what is believed to be the most lethal combat strike in Afghanistan -- in terms of civilian deaths -- since the US invaded the country in 2001.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-15/wikileaks-founder-has-garani-massacre-video-according-to-new-email/
The Afghan Eldorado
Vast Mineral Riches in AfghanistanThe United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan. The previously unknown deposits -- including iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium -- are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, US officials believe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?pagewanted=print
The Longest War in US History
The Afghan war has gained a fresh and dubious distinction: it is the longest war in US history, surpassing the conflict in Vietnam. 103 months passed between passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the withdrawal of the last American combat forces from Vietnam. As of today, the Afghan war has lasted 104 months.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/afghan-war-now-longest-war-us-history/story?id=10849303
"Officials puzzle"
A blizzard of bank notes is flying out of Afghanistan -- often in full view of customs officers at the Kabul airport -- as part of a cash exodus that is confounding US officials and raising concerns about the money's origin. The cash, estimated to total well over $1 billion a year, flows mostly to the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, where many wealthy Afghans now park their families and funds, according to US and Afghan officials.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022404914_pf.html
Lost war
Lieutenant-General Boris Gromov, the last commander of the 40th Soviet Army in Afghanistan, stated in a 1986 memo: "After seven years in Afghanistan there is not one square kilometre left untouched by the boot of a Soviet soldier. But as soon as they leave the place, the enemy returns and restores it all the way it used to be. We have lost this war." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6971683.ece?print=yesThe Long War
Historically, the default strategy for wars that lack a plausible victory narrative is attrition. When you don’t know how to win, you try to outlast your opponent, hoping he’ll run out of troops, money and will before you do. Think World War I, but also Vietnam. The revival of the counterinsurgency doctrine, celebrated as evidence of enlightened military practice, commits America to a postmodern version of attrition. Americans today do not have a clue when, where or how their war will end. The Long War, as the Pentagon aptly calls it, has no coherent narrative. When it comes to defining victory, U.S. political and military leaders are flying blind. How does this end? The verdict is already written: The Long War ends not in victory but in exhaustion and insolvency, when the United States runs out of troops and out of money.
http://enduringamerica.com/2010/01/02/afghanistan-and-the-long-war-obama-tell-me-how-this-ends/
