Afghanistan

[Anti-war activists held a protest outside federal parliament in Canberra during Barack Obama's Australian visit. Photo: Pip Hinman.]
By Pip Hinman,
Green Left Weekly
November 26, 2011 -- “Gillard and Abbott fly in and out of Afghanistan under heavy protection from harm. Both curry political advantage from the khaki vote. The rest of us see young Ozzie lives ripped apart without any obvious gain to ordinary Afghans. Let the pollies go and fight their own useless war …”

[US advisors train Afghan soldiers in Kandahar province.]
By Stuart Munckton & Tony Iltis, Green Left Weekly
November 5, 2011 -- In a grim piece of political theatre that is becoming more frequent, and more surreal, a sombre PM Julia Gillard on October 30 acknowledged the latest three Australian fatalities in Afghanistan by claiming that Australia was winning a just war there.
The death toll of Australian soldiers in the decade-long war is now 32.
Military deaths in Afghanistan are unusually bipartisan events in Australian politics. Gillard’s claims were unreservedly backed up by the Liberal-National opposition.

[Protest in Kabul, October 6.]
By Tony Iltis, Green Left Weekly
October 9, 2011 -- Crowds burned a US flag in Kabul on October 6 at a rally to mark the 10th anniversary the next day of the US-led invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
For three hours, Reuters said, “men and women … with placards and banners accusing the United States of massacring civilians while denouncing President Hamid Karzai as a puppet subservient to Washington” took part in the peaceful protest organised by the Solidarity Party of Afghanistan.

[Image: Snipers from the occupying forces in Afghanistan.]
By Ash Pemberton, Green Left Weekly
September 18, 2011 -- A 20-hour assault on the US embassy in Kabul by Taliban fighters on September 14 has exposed further weaknesses in the already-crumbling facade of the United States-led occupation of Afghanistan.
The Taliban launched a sustained rocket attack on what is supposedly the most secure area in the country, seriously embarrassing Western officials who continue to insist “progress” is being made.

[Australian solider in Afghanistan, October 2008. Photo: Wikipedia Commons.]
By Simon Butler, Green Left Weekly
August 30, 2011 -- In 2007, Australian government officials repeatedly told the US embassy in Canberra of its plans to increase Australian troop commitments in Afghanistan. But they asked the US government to keep quiet about it, as the plans had not yet been made public.
Other Australian officials briefed the embassy on Australia’s likely troop deployments even before the federal cabinet had approved it. The revelations are contained in three embassy cables — classified secret — that were released by WikiLeaks on August 29.

[Malalai Joya.]
August 27, 2011 -- Private Matthew Lambert became the 29th Australian solider to die in the war in Afghanistan on August 22. Most Australians disagree with the war, but the two big parties remain unswerving in their support of the US-NATO led occupation.
Malalai Joya, a former Afghan MP and outspoken anti-war activist, is visiting Australia for a third time on the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.

[Afghan children collect rubbish in Kabul. The UN World Food Program estimates that 7 million Afghans suffer food insecurity and by the northern autumn this will increase by 2 million.]
By Tony Iltis, Green Left Weekly
August 21, 2011 -- On August 19, a Taliban suicide squad attacked the Kabul offices of the British Council, a government-funded institution that “promotes educational and cultural relations” between Britain and other countries.
The August 20 Guardian said at least 12 people were killed, including a New Zealand SAS soldier and three “security contractors” working for multinational security outfit G4S.
The company was contracted to guard the offices.

[Matiullah Khan, a corrupt and brutal warlord who is a key ally of Australian forces in Oruzgan province.]
By Tony Iltis, Green Left Weekly
June 26, 2011 -- In a June 22 televised speech from the White House, United States President Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw 10,000 US soldiers from Afghanistan in 2011 and a further 23,000 in 2012.
This would leave US soldier numbers at about 70,000 the same as before the official "surge" by occuyping forces began at the end of 2009.

[Afghans protest against foreign occupation forces at a July 11, 2010 protest in Mazar-i-Sharif. Photo from Morningstaronline.co.uk.]
By Tony Iltis. Green Left Weekly
June 12, 2011 -- Prime Minister Julia Gillard has claimed successes for the war in Afghanistan, while acknowledging growing opposition.
The June 8 Age reported that Gillard said: “I understand there would be many Australians who over the past two weeks have asked themselves what are we doing there, why are we still there, should our soldiers be there?
“I do want to say to the nation we know why we're there, we are very clear about our mission and our mission is being accomplished.

By Mike Prysner
May 14, 2011 -- The pretext for the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, now the longest war in US history, was the September 11, 2001 attacks.