By Feroze Mithiborwala, September 14, 2009.
“If they didn’t have an Osama Bin Laden, they would have invented one.”
Milt Bearden – CIA agent, in an interview with anchor Dan Rather of the CBS (September 12, 2001)
“The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11. He has not been formally indicted and charged in connection with 9/11 because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11”.
(Rex Tomb, spokesman, FBI’s Chief of …

By Mike Head, 11 February 2011.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed for the first time that the Obama administration has demanded the establishment of a system of permanent US military bases across the country, effectively laying the basis for an indefinite neo-colonial occupation.
Karzai stated that his government was negotiating with US officials on a range of strategic agreements, including the permanent bases. He said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had discussed the issue with him during last week’s Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Referring to his discussions with US officials and …

By James Cogan.
A special forces unit completing an early morning raid on Saturday gunned down seven men in the village of Rohani Baba, in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province. Abdul Rahman Mangal, the deputy governor of Paktia, told CNN that the victims were road construction workers. A press release by the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) alleges that the men were employees of a private security company.
Details of the incident remain sketchy, but the ISAF statement claims that its troops had detained an alleged arms dealer and had moved on …

Afghanistan War, Nightmare without End for Troops, Innocent Civilians and US Taxpayers
Washington D.C. (November 23, 2010) – Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, a leading proponent of peace, today renewed his call to end the Afghan war after it was revealed that a self-proclaimed senior Taliban negotiator working with President Hamid Karzai and NATO officials was in an imposter.
“The war in Afghanistan is taking place in a netherworld where facts and common sense have no place. Elections are fake. Our deadline to withdraw is a fake.  Now, we learn that a fake Taliban leader has been leading …

By Julie Hyland.
Budgetary constraints notwithstanding, the aim of London and Paris is to preserve their ability to continue military involvements in Afghanistan, where they supply the second and fourth largest military contingents respectively, and throughout the world. Their intent is to combine forces in order to secure their global predatory ambitions.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron have signed treaties on defence and nuclear co-operation, in what was described as a “new chapter” in military relations between the two nations.
The framework agreements include:

Plans for a combined joint …

By Patrick O’Connor.
Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday declared that Australian forces, working with their US and NATO allies, would maintain operations in Afghanistan for at least the next decade. The government’s commitment to the indefinite occupation of the Central Asian state marked the opening of what is to be a two-week parliamentary debate on the neo-colonial war.

Some context for less-informed readers

Mining in Australia is a significant primary industry and contributor to the Australian economy.
Afghan mineral wealth could top $1 trillion: Pentagon | Reuters.

~ empirestrikesblack | Follow @nit2am on Twitter
Gillard …

By Paul Craig Roberts.
Does anyone remember the “cakewalk war” that would last six weeks, cost $50-$60 billion, and be paid for out of Iraqi oil revenues?
Does anyone remember that White House economist Lawrence Lindsey was fired by Dubya because Lindsey estimated that the Iraq war could cost as much as $200 billion?
Lindsey was fired for over-estimating the cost of a war that, according to Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, has cost 15 times more than Lindsey estimated. And the US still has 50,000 troops in Iraq.
Does anyone remember that …

By Scott Creighton.
The worm has turned; it’s time to demonize China’s human rights and labor policies for the good of the global economy.  China is moving toward protectionist policies and that can’t be allowed, so bring in The Simpsons.
UK street artist, Banksy, has been given credit for having directed the opening sequence for the latest episode of The Simpsons and it’s receiving a great deal of “progressive” support… which it doesn’t deserve. Whether or not “Banksy” actually submitted the script for this sequence …

By the Editor.
I learned of Oliver Stone’s new documentary film ‘South of the Border’ many months ago, and have been eagerly anticipating it ever since. It’s a welcome change from the suffocating bias that clouds the mainstream media (especially in the US) with regards to South America and Hugo Chavez in particular. In a nutshell, Stone’s new piece gives the viewer an insight into the Socialist revolution in South America and the leaders pioneering it. You’ll also get a brief history of how US imperialism and financial …

By John Pilger.

Washington: The TV anchorwoman was conducting a split-screen interview with a journalist who had volunteered to be a witness at the execution of a man on death row in Utah for 25 years. “He had a choice,” said the journalist, “lethal injection or firing squad.” “Wow!” said the anchorwoman. Cue a blizzard of commercials for fast food, tooth whitener, stomach stapling, the new Cadillac. This was followed by a reporter in Afghanistan sweating in a flak jacket. “Hey, it’s hot,” he …