Afghanistan

NOVANEWS Witnesses: Troops Lined Up All Men From Mokhoyan, Told Them They'd 'Pay' by Jason Ditz, The incongruous stories surrounding the March 11 massacre on Afghan civilians in two villages took another turn today, with reports from witnesses in Mokhoyan, one of the two villages targeted, that they were threatened by US troops just days before the massacre. The witnesses say that troops rounded up all the men from the villages after a roadside bombing, lined them up against a wall, and told them they would “pay a price” for the attack. The witnesses put the date of the bombing at either March 7 or 8. Previous stories had massacre suspect Robert Bales supposedly “upset” about a bombing in which one of his friends lost a leg. The military would neither confirm or deny any bombings in t...

NOVANEWS By Qais Azimy Nine of the 16 victims were children [AFP] March 20, 2012 “Information Clearing House” —In the days following the rogue US soldier’s shooting spree in Kandahar, most of the media, us included, focused on the “backlash” and how it might further strain the relations with the US. Many mainstream media outlets channelled a significant amount of  energy into uncovering the slightest detail about the accused soldier – now identified as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. We even know where his wife wanted to go for vacation, or what she said on her personal blog. But the victims became a footnote, an anonymous footnote. Just the number 16. No one bothered to ask their ages, their hobbies, their aspirations. Worst of all, no one bothered to ask their names. In honoring the...

NOVANEWS "Military attacks like these in civilian areas make discussions of human rights an absurdity. Robert Bales, a U.S. Army staff sergeant who allegedly killed 16 civilians in two Afghan villages, including nine children, is not an anomaly. To decry the butchery of this case and to defend the wars of occupation we wage is to know nothing about combat. We kill children nearly every day in Afghanistan. We do not usually kill them outside the structure of a military unit. If an American soldier had killed or wounded scores of civilians after the ignition of an improvised explosive device against his convoy, it would not have made the news. Units do not stick around to count their “collateral damage.” But the Afghans know. They hate us for the murderous rampages. Mary Shepard ----------...

NOVANEWS The American staff sergeant accused of shooting dead 16 Afghan villagers had   not wanted to return to the frontline, his lawyer has said.   telegraph.co.uk   The 38-year-old father-of-two, from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord base in   Washington, had been drinking with two other soldiers before wandering 500   yards from his base in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan,   and gunning down 16 villagers, the official said. The soldier was suffering from stress over a fourth deployment and was under   pressure from his wife, it was claimed. His lawyer John Henry Browne said he   had been reluctant to return to the frontline. He said soldiers in the suspect’s camp had been very upset that somebody in   their unit had their leg blown off the day before the...

NOVANEWS cbsnews.com The American soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians — mostly women and children — is on his way back to the United States where he will be held before trial, the soldier’s lawyer and defense officials said today. The shooting suspect, who has not been publicly identified, is expected to arrive at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas later today, attorney John Henry Browne told CNN, echoing the timeline defense officials provided to ABC News. The soldier had been held in Kuwait after he was spirited out of Afghanistan days after the alleged murders. Browne, a high profile Seattle-based attorney who has represented the northwest’s infamous Barefoot Bandit Colton Harris-Moore as well as convicted serial killer Ted Bundy, disputed a New York Times report that his ...

NOVANEWS THE NEW LOOK OF "CHRISTIAN DEMOCRACY" TO THE WORLD'S CHILDREN Sixteen Dead, Nameless “Lone Gunman,” We Have Heard It All Before    by  Gordon Duff, Senior Editor   The village is Balandi, outside Kandahar in Afghanistan.  Thus far the dead are 16, shot in their homes, not just said to be “women and children” but actually infants murdered in their mother’s arms and set afire. The US claims the perpetrator to be an unnamed “Army Staff Sergeant who has turned himself in.” There are inconsistencies. YouTube  Tuesday Morning Update:  According to live accounts and eye witnesses multiple weapon sounds were heard, including pistols and machine gun bursts simultaneously. The houses attacked are at least 2 miles apart and it becomes literally impossible for a single gunma...

NOVANEWS by Sartre Batr     What did the last decade accomplish in the occupation of Afghanistan? Other than streamlining the opium shipment trade, what did this foreign expedition achieve? Wikipedia reports, “As of December 29, 2011, there have been 2,765 coalition deaths in Afghanistan as part of ongoing coalition operations (Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF) since the invasion in 2001.” This may seem a small number by recent loss standards, but the excuse of fighting the CIA invention and bogyman, Al Qaeda is the height of hypocrisy. Not much, comfort for the Pat Tillman family or confidence in the inept cover-up mission to silence would be whistleblowers. The convenient idiot Osama bin Laden overstayed his usefulness. Too bad that Seal Team 6 knew too much to risk the...

NOVANEWS By Victor Thorn Although U.S. military troops have occupied Afghanistan for more than a decade, addictive drugs flow in ever-increasing quantities from that war-torn nation, ending up on the streets of major cities across the globe. On Feb. 17, Iranian news agency Press TV reported: “Opium production by Afghan farmers rose between 2001 and 2011 from just 185 tons to a staggering 5,800 tons. Last year, levels increased by 61 percent, with more than 90 percent of heroin found on British streets being traced back to opiates cultivated in Afghanistan.” Press TV also pointed out, “Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in 2001 that a significant reason for deployment of foreign forces to Afghanistan was to curtail a flourishing heroin trade.” Author Gregg Kalina told AFP an intr...

NOVANEWS by crescentandcross ed note--WE CAN JUST IMAGINE Reuters Afghanistan wants NATO to put on public trial those who burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base, President Hamid Karzai's office said on Thursday, after a third day of bloody protests over the incident. It said NATO had agreed to a trial, but that could not be immediately confirmed. Karzai had earlier accused a U.S. officer of "ignorantly" burning copies of the Koran, in an incident that has deepened anti-Western sentiment in a country NATO is trying to stabilise before foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014. Demonstrations have drawn thousands of angry Afghans to the streets, chanting "Death to America!" amid violence that has killed 11 people including two U.S. service personnel. "NATO officials, in...