Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan

“Directorate S,” was covertly training, arming, and seeking to legitimize the Taliban, in order to enlarge Pakistan’s sphere of influence From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ghost Wars, the epic and enthralling story of America’s intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11Prior to 9/11, the United… Read More Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Trump’s mental decline is undeniable / Trump’s agram-Bagram on Afghanistan airbase

Opinion by Chris Truax Confabulation is sometimes called “honest lying,” because the person doing it genuinely believes what he’s saying, even if it is obviously and patently false. A person confabulates when they are telling completely invented stories that don’t provide them any particular tangible benefit. In other words, it’s not like lying to try and get out… Read More Trump’s mental decline is undeniable / Trump’s agram-Bagram on Afghanistan airbase

‘Flat packing them’: British soldier says S.A.S. described killing Afghans in casual way

Inquiry hears elite forces had a ‘kill all males on target whether they posed a threat or not’ policy in Afghanistan Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor Afghans who were killed by members of the SAS in Afghanistan were described dismissively as having been “flat packed” according to revealing testimony given by a former member of the elite… Read More ‘Flat packing them’: British soldier says S.A.S. described killing Afghans in casual way

The Taliban’s harsh new vice and virtue laws are a throwback to the oppression of the 1990s

Kambaiz Rafi Until the collapse of Afghanistan’s US-backed government in August 2021, few knew clearly what the Taliban wanted once they had returned to power. Some western officials and observers hoped for a big change from the regime, which had governed the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate in the 1990s. This time, they hoped, a more sophisticated and pragmatic vision might… Read More The Taliban’s harsh new vice and virtue laws are a throwback to the oppression of the 1990s

Afghan girls accuse Taliban of sexual assault after arrests for ‘bad hijab’

Reports surface days before UN summit on Afghanistan that will exclude Afghan women and debate on women’s rights Ahmad Ahmadi*, Zahra Nader and Farshid Aram* Teenage girls and young women arrested by the Taliban for wearing “bad hijab” say they have been subjected to sexual violence and assault in detention. In more than one case the arrests… Read More Afghan girls accuse Taliban of sexual assault after arrests for ‘bad hijab’

Taliban’s war on women must be formally recognized as gender apartheid

Vrinda Narain The second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is fast approaching. Since then, Afghan women have been denied the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid. Only by labelling it as such and making clear the situation in Afghanistan is a crime against humanity can the… Read More Taliban’s war on women must be formally recognized as gender apartheid

Afghan women are being ‘erased from everything’

Tuesday marks the two-year anniversary of Kabul falling to the Taliban, which seized control of Afghanistan amid the United States’ chaotic, controversial withdrawal from the country after nearly 20 years of fighting…. But celebrating is the last thing many Afghan women want to do… as life under Taliban rule becomes increasingly repressive and brutal. When Zahra thinks back to her life before the… Read More Afghan women are being ‘erased from everything’