Fotografie

On the brink [ a must read ]
Afghanistan
UPDATE 3/24/08: A River Runs Backward

Northern Alliance leader,
Abdullah Abdullah
(whom Karzai unceremoniously removed from office as
foreign minister) , suddenly
showed up in the US out of nowhere after
a gap of nearly three years, meeting influential think-tankers and
American officials and leveling devastating criticism against Karzai's
leadership qualities as president.

The protagonists of the erstwhile Northern Alliance are coming out of the woodwork. But are they being encouraged to do so? Even though the presidential election is due only in end-2009, an element of uncertainty has gradually come to envelop the Afghan political landscape - the sort of haze that one associates with long sunsets.
Former Afghan Interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, who fell out with
Karzai, is also being lionized in Western capitals as a potential candidate in the presidential race.

The Independent newspaper of London reported on Monday that according
to Afghan intelligence sources, Britain has been talking to the
Taliban without the knowledge of the Karzai government and working on
a top-secret plan to train renegade Taliban fighters in a special camp
and set them against Mullah Omar's militia.

The training camp is to be set up outside Musa Qala in Helmand province. The Independent claims
unnamed British diplomats, the UN and other Western officials have
confirmed the outline of Britain's clandestine project. Apparently,
British agents have been paying the Taliban out of slush funds.

RECON: Reconstruction in Afghanistan
photographs are Afghanistan 2007
Celebrities:
1. Jessica Simpson character (the movie bombed)

2 No, Seriously, Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor

U.S.A.
infrastructure
is in dire straights

In Pictures: The Neglected War In Afghanistan

Watch the trailer here:

• Taxi to the Dark Side

Fotografie

I will have no harvest. How will I pay back my loan?

Dana Rohrabacher (R - CA).with the Taliban, 1980s

82nd Airborne Collage

In Pictures: The Neglected War In Afghanistan
Huffington Post | January 23, 2008

In the years since the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the nation's attention has steadily turned away from a mission that the Bush administration billed as vital to defeating Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Late last year, senior administration officials told the New York Times that they were conducting a top-to-bottom review of the mission in Afghanistan, believing that the effort "has begun to drift."

The Huffington Post looks at the issues that are causing alarm inside the corridors of the Pentagon and the administration, and where the mission in Afghanistan is faltering.

wilmer valderrama
that 70s show

Explosion Kills US Troop in MRAP Armoured Vehicle
Baghdad, Iraq: MRAP First Casualty

January 23, 2008

Pentagon has Ordered 15,000+ MRAP Vehicles
In 2007, the Pentagon recognised the MRAP's importance and placed a $22.4 billion order for 15,400 examples. As well as in Iraq, about 500 MRAPs also serve in Afghanistan.
Up 10 ten troops can be accommodated onboard the vehicle, which weighs approximately 18 tons and is around 12 feet in height.
Source – Armed Forces International’s US Correspondent




[][][]////][][]

The MRAP is not Resistance proof

Eric Verlo, January 23rd, 2008

It’s the critical difference between water-resistance and water-proof. Remember those watches? You could wear them near the water.

Chris Santory and Deryk Schlessinger Afghanistan 2007

WAR.pD

Update 6/18/08: Easing of laws that led to detainee abuse hatched in secret
Update 6/18/08: General who probed Abu Ghraib says Bush officials committed war crimes
Update 6/17/08: Documents confirm U.S. hid detainees from Red Cross
Update 6/16/08: U.S. abuse of detainees was routine at Afghanistan bases

Update 1/7/08: US Prison Grows Beyond Capacity in Afghanistan, NYT
US Detention Center in Afghanistan Criticized by Red Cross

"This is a kid who'd never spent...a night away from home in his life," says writer/director Alex Gibney, "until he was taken forcibly from his taxicab, thrown into Bagram Prison, and five days later he was dead."

raw story

Update 12/30/07:
Interrogation Tapes Lived And Died To Save CIA Image

Kandahar, central prison

15 Guantanamo prisoners transferred to Afghanistan, Sudan

---Thursday Dec 13, 2007
" WASHINGTON (AFP) — Fifteen detainees at the US "war on terror" camp in Guantanamo, Cuba, have been transferred to Afghanistan and Sudan, the Pentagon said in a statement Thursday.

The US Defense Department says there are about 290 detainees still at the facility on its naval base on Cuba's southeastern tip.

Thirteen detainees were sent to Afghanistan, and two others were sent to Sudan, the statement said...."

That's not good news for the detainees. At best being detained by the U.S. in Afghanistan is mysterious, no one knows much, or no one talks.

Why the Pentagon treats Omar Khadr differently

Fifteen-year-old Omar Khadr is unique because he is the only Western citizen still imprisoned at Guantanamo.
UPDATE 2/4/08: Khadr shot by U.S. forces before capture: witness

The United Nations Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child, which the U.S. ratified in 2002, says that people under 18 who are enlisted or conscripted into armed conflict are not adults and therefore “are entitled to special protection.”

Former US interrogator recounts torture cases in Afghanistan and Iraq
December 15, 2007

------ Tuesday December 11, 2007
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen testify before the House of Armed Services Committee.

"In Afghanistan, we do what we can,"
It was a pleasant day in Congress. A few problems acknowledged but Afghanistan is not a priority. Lack of training, helicopter and equipment issues, failed policies... more rough going for the troops. It's up to NATO to "support our troops".
Gates slams U.S. counternarcotics in Afghanistan

Cpl. Tanner J. O’Leary, 23, of Eagle Butte, S.D., died Dec. 9 in Musa Qal’eh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Six luckier Army 82nd Airborne soldiers lived.
They were awarded purple hearts for their courage.
PHOTOS: Bagram’s Task Force Med, a unit comprised at Craig Joint Theater Hospital

Army blocks 'narratives' of heroism
Public cannot read medal winners' stories

Afghanistan 2007

"How long do we continue to watch this [Afghanistan] thing?" asked one senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "There is a desire to keep the heat on NATO and see if they will pony up the resources." But



"If they aren't willing to do that,"

the United States may have to change its policy.

Afghanistan 2007

"We need to look at our training model. We break young trainees of many other bad habits, but we reinforce the arrogance. Something wrong here. Yeah, okay, you jump out of planes and you're a bad-ass... have some humility, kid."

Afghanistan 2007

"We don't train our line units in counterinsurgency. We train them as maneuver units, and they are damned fine soldiers; the best in the world. However, they often don't play well with others. Treating your host country's forces with disdain is a huge mistake. I saw this mistake blatantly made out in The Valley by junior leaders. It made an impression on the men who I was working with, the Afghans. Everyone can tell when they are being disrespected, even in another language; and it is not a motivator. In fact, it is not a positive in any regard. To my Afghans, the American platoon making this major error did not look like a force that they wanted to emulate; they looked like assholes. Ugly Americans.

Those young Americans, even if they read this, would never put it together. They see nothing wrong with their behavior. They will go home and tell stories about how f'd-up the Afghans were. That's like making yourself look better by racing against a guy with broken legs. They will totally misrepresent the progress being made here and unwittingly perform the same function as PVT Beauchamp, degrading our efforts and calling into question the very reason why we are here."

Blogging Afghanistan
One Third And A Wakeup

WHAT AM I DOING?THE HEROIN ROADS
[click image to enlarge]

Afghanistan....they thundered around the country in Black Hawk helicopters, with little fear for their safety...

Ciara Durkin was found shot dead on Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan on Sept. 27, 2007 shortly after she told her family to investigate in the event that she died.

Afghanistan: A brief history

The U.S. military flew some of its oldest aircraft in airstrikes in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Bagram Airbase

Robin Williams

Bush faces three major Afghanistan stumbling blocks

National Guard medic from South Carolina currently serving in Afghanistan

The war on the walls

US abuse of Afghan prisoners 'widespread'

The Dark Art of Interrogation

CIA accused of torture at Bagram base
Some captives handed to brutal foreign agencies

U.S. Troops In Their Own Hand

From Bagram to Abu Ghraib




Laura Bush joins US troops as they dine in the Dragon Chow Dining Hall on Bagram Air Base in Kabul, Afghanistan Wednesday, March 30, 2005. White House photo by Susan Sterner

Charlie Daniels Afghanistan

Afghanistan — Bagram Airbase

Bagram Airbase is located in the Parvan Province approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) southeast of the city of Charikar and 47 Kilometers (27 miles) north of Kabul. It is served by a 10,000 foot runway built in 1976 capable of landing large cargo and bomber aircraft.

Bagram Airbase has three large hangars, a control tower, and numerous support buildings. There are over 32 acres of ramp space. There are five aircraft dispersal areas with a total of over 110 revettments. Many support buildings and base housing built by the Soviets, have been destroyed by years of fighting between the various warring Afghan factions.

Bagram Airbase played a key role during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, serving as a base of operations for troops and supplies. and Aircraft based at Bagram provided close air support for Soviet and Afghan troops in the field. Some of the Soviet forces based out of Bagram included the elite 105th Guards Airborne Division."How long do we continue to watch this [Afghanistan] thing?" asked one senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "There is a desire to keep the heat on NATO and see if they will pony up the resources." But he added: "If they aren't willing to do that," the United States may have to change its policy.

MOVIES: KingOf*Hearts*

Last May The Salt Lake Tribune published a story on Deryk Schlessinger:

Dr. Laura son linked to lurid Web page
Site contained violent, sex-oriented images one official called 'repulsive'

KingOf*Hearts* CARTOONS

The following, "Movies Took a charter flight on a DC-10 to London....." was on a Web page, the KingOf*Hearts*, attributed to Deryk Schlessinger.
"TMZ has confirmed with an Army rep that a photo of a man holding a gun in his mouth did in fact appear on the MySpace page in question. The rep would not confirm the man's identity." The following (below), "Movies Took a...." is yet to be confirmed by an Army rep, it remains a curiosity along with the mysterious destruction of evidence. * * * Warrior training?
The photos are from the 1962 movie, The Manchurian Candidate

The following is from May 2007 the KingOf*Hearts*:
Movies "Took a charter flight on a DC-10 to London. Landed at Heathrow. Took a cab to the city center. Don't let people lie to you: hostels are for the ugly. I'm staying in Home House, the most beautiful hotel in the world. Called a friend from school who was selling hash, but she wasn't in. Met a couple of Brits who take me to, of all places, Camden Street. I flirt a bit at the Virgin Megastore, buy some CDs, then follow some girls with pink hair. I wandered around trying to get laid, until it started to rain, then went back to Home House. Ministry of Sound is dead, so I go to Remform - but it's Gay Night. I find the one hetero girl in the place and we dry hump on the dance floor. We cab it back to Home House. I strip her clothes off, suck her toes, and we fuck. I hung out for four or five days. Met the world's biggest DJ, Paul Oakenfold. Kept missing the Changing of the Guards. Wrote my mom a postcard I never sent. Bought some speed from an Italian junkie who was trying to sell me a stolen bike. Smoked a lot of hash that had too much tobacco in it. Saw the Tate. Saw Big Ben. Ate a lot of weird English food. It rained a lot, it was expensive, and I'm jonesing... So, I split for Amsterdam. The Dutch all know English, so I didn't have to speak any Dutch - which was a relief. I cruise the Red Light District. Visit a sex show. Visit a sex museum. Smoke a lot of hash. I meet a Dutch TV actress and we drink absinthe at a bar called Absinthe. The museums were cool, I guess. Lots of Van Goghs and the Vermeers were intense. Wandered around. Bought a lot of pastries. Ate some intense waffles. We bought some coke and I cruised the Red Light District, until I found some blonde with big tits that reminds me of Lara. I gave her a hundred guilders. In the end, she pulls me out, and I cum between her tits, even though I'm wearing a rubber. Afterward we made small-talk about AIDS, her Moroccan pimp, and herself. I wake to the sound of a wino singing. It's 8 AM and hot as blazes. I pretend to ice-skate around Central Station, while someone plays the sax. Trade songs with a Kiwi girl... Then split for Paris by train. Wander the Champs-Elysees. Climb the Eiffel Tower for only seven francs, because the ticket machine was broken. Got the hang of the Metro, took it everywhere. Went to a Ford model party and hooked up with a Romanian model named Karina. She chugs my cock at the Mariott Champs-Elysees, which is good. We played billiards, went shopping. I think she gave me mono. Drove a Ferrari that belonged to a member of the Saudi royal family. Made out with a Dutch model in front of the Louvre. Saw the Arc de Triomphe and almost became road-kill crossing the street... "Oakie" invites me to Dublin, so I catch an Aer Lingus flight and stay at the Morrison. Dublin rocks like you can't imagine. Oakenfold lets me spin some discs with him. Irish girls are as small as leprechauns. I swap hickeys with a drunk woman. After groping my abs and calling me "Mr. L.A.", she strips for me in the bath room of the club. Sneak into the Guinness factory and steal some stout so good my dick goes hard... I fly to Barcelona, which was a low-rent bust. Too many fat American students. Too many lame meat markets. I dropped acid at the Sagrada Familia, which was a trip to say the least. Cruise up the coast to the Museo Gala Dali, but had no more acid, which sucked. Some girl from Camden calls me on my cell, so I let her listen to the church bells in Cadaques. Canta Cruz is beautiful, but there are no girls here, just old hippies... So, I went to Switzerland where I, ironically, couldn't find anyone who had the time. Took the Glacier Express up the Schilthorn, which is beautiful in a way I can't describe... Euro Pass into Italy and ended up in Venice, where I met a hot girl who looks like Rachael Leigh Cook and speaks better English than I do. She's living for a year on only five dollars a day. We gondola around, buy some masks. She think's I'm a capitalist, because my hotel room costs more for one night than she's spending her entire trip. But she doesn't mind it so much when I pay the bills... I ditch her and hook up with a couple who obviously want a 3-some. Too much tension there, but the doofus offers to drive me to Rome, an offer I jump at. Traffic is bad and we're stopped for hours without moving. The wife turns out to be a freak. The guy starts to wig out on me. It's like a Polanski film... We stop for a while in Florence, where I see some big dome. A bomb goes off and I lose the weird couple, which is probably for the best... Ended up in Rome, which is big and hot and dirty. It was just like L.A., but with ruins. I went to the Vatican, which was ridiculously opulent. Stood for two hours to get into the Sistine Chapel, which - now that it's been cleaned - looks fake. I meet two under-age Italian girls who I try to talk into fucking each other while I jack off onto them. Bored, I buy them some ice cream instead. My hotel has a gym, so I work out. I bump into some guy from Camden who says he knows me, but I'm sure that he's a fag, so I lose him. I try to fart and instead shit my pants. Back in my hotel room, I masturbate and have a pain in my groin. That night, I dream about a beautiful girl, half in water, stretching her lean body. She asks me if I like it and I tell her she can clean fish with it. I don't know what it means, but I wake well-rested, masturbate in the shower, and check out... I make my way back to London and hang out in Piccadilly Circus. Hmm. Palakon. I swap shirts with some upper-crusty Cambridge chick. Hers was an Agnes B., mine a Costume Nationale. She acts stuffy and prudish, but is really wild underneath it all. She barely looks at my abs, though she wants to. The next day, I drop some acid and get lost in the subway for a full day and can't find my way out. I meet a cute girl who lets me jack off onto her as long as no cum gets onto her Paul Smith coat. We get stoned while listening to Michael Jackson records and the next morning I wake up talking to myself. I have a big bump on my head from flailing in my sleep. I get my stuff and barely make my plane back to the United States... I no longer know who I am and I feel like the ghost of a total stranger." KingOf*Hearts*