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Afghanistan Page
This page presents some perspectives on the situation in Afghanistan that you may not have seen. It is not intended to be comprehensive. Rather, the purpose is to bring certain things to your attention and to serve as a resource.
Aftermath: Post-Taliban Afghanistan
Is Afghanistan any better off now than it was before the Taliban? Has it been "liberated"? Or are the Afghan people only facing more brutality than they did before?
Abuse at U.S. prisons in Iraq mirrored at jails in Afghanistan, by R. Jeffrey Smith
Afghan warlords bigger threat than Taliban, by Duncan Campbell
Afghanistan Imperiled, by Ahmed Rashid
Afghanistan at the mercy of narco-terrorists, by Ian Traynor
Afghanistan could implode, MPs warn, by Ewan MacAskill
Afghanistan: Back to warlords and opium, by J. Alexander Thier
Aid Workers Threaten to Leave Unless Safety from Warlords Can be Guaranteed, by the Associated Press
Aid workers can't be protected in Afghanistan, by Conor Foley
Civil war fear as Afghan city falls to warlord, by James Astill
Death by fire: the agonising way out for trapped Afghan women, by Declan Walsh
Don't mention the war in Afghanistan, by Robert Fisk
Enhancing human dignity in Afghanistan?, by Jim Lobe
It's not just Guantanamo and Abu Ghuraib: Detainees in Afghanistan tortured by US troops, by Duncan Campbell and Suzanne Goldenberg
Now we pay the warlords to terrorise the Afghan people, by Isabel Hilton
Plunder goes on across Afghanistan, by James Astill
Returning Afghans were promised a new life. They have misery and death, by Nick Meo
Rule of the rapists, by Mariam Rawi
Seven die as move to oust Afghan city's warlord prompts riot, by Declan Walsh
The Brutality of Post-Taliban Afghanistan, by Robert Fisk
U.N. Report Paints Dismal Picture of Afghanistan, by Associated Press
US Afghan allies committed massacre, by David Rose
US-Backed Warlords Threaten Afghan Elections, by Jim Lobe
Violence and Repression in Western Afghanistan, by Human Rights Watch
Violence mars run-up to Afghan election, by Declan Walsh
West still failing to protect Afghan women, by Jonathan Steele
Women face misery in Nuristan, by IRIN
The Prisoners at Guantanamo: What Does America Think It's Doing?
The Taliban and al-Qa'ida prisoners being held in Cuba are in a legal no-man's land. If the WTC attacks were "an act of war", then shouldn't these prisoners be treated as prisoners of war? If the WTC attacks were a criminal act, then why is America at war with Afghanistan? Have these people been charged with anything other than defending their country under attack? If all people are to be held innocent until proven guilty how can the U.S. governement claim these individuals are "terrorists" and connected with the WTC attacks? And what about the torture? Wake up, America! This is wrong! It isn't justice anymore, this is acting out of vengeance.
'Even death row is preferable to this', by David Rose
A Glaring Absence of the Due Process of Law, by the Editors of the Scotsman
A Lot of People Hate the Double Standard Nation, by Molly Ivins
Afghan POWs at Guantanamo Base: Bound and gagged, drugged, caged like animals, by Patrick Martin
Al Qaeda Prisoners Entitled to Humane Treatment, by Sean Love
As Captor, U.S. Risks Dehumanizing Itself, by William Pfaff
Attorneys, Rights Groups Slam Gitmo Tribunals, by Jessica Azulay
Brits freed from X-Ray allege torture, by Antiwar.com Blog
Congratulations, America: You Have Made Bin Laden A Happy Man, by Robert Fisk
Denying Captives Rights Will Return to Haunt Us, by Mary Robinson (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights)
Ensure that the Geneva Conventions Are Upheld, by Geoffrey Robertson
Ex-Guantanamo Bay workers claim prisoner abuse was widespread, by Julian Borger
Fact and Myth About Prisoners of War, by Rachel Giese
Follow the Geneva Convention, by Michael Ratner
Gitmo Trials Designed to Convict, by Eli Clifton
Guantanamo Britons Kept in Dark Over Rights, by Vikram Dodd
Guantanamo Detainee: They tied me up like a beast and began kicking me, by The Observer
I Know What Camp X-Ray is Like, by Charles Glass (was a hostage in Beirut in 1987)
International Injustice, by the Editors of the Guardian
International Law Forbids Trials of POW'S Before Military Commissions; Violation of Convention May Amount to War Crime, by Center for Constitutional Rights
No rights, no charges, no lawyers, by Vikram Dodd and Michael White
On What Authority?, by Stephen Gowans
Pentagon Excludes Human Rights Observers from Guantanamo Trials, by Jim Lobe
Prisoners of War at Guantanamo: Bush Policy Endangers American and Allied Troops, by Kenneth Roth
Prisoners of What?, by Geov Parrish
Red Cross Finds Detainee Abuse in Guantanamo, by Neil A. Lewis
Rumsfeld's dirty war on terror, by Seymour Hersh
Spare Us the Wild West Justice, by the Editors of the Independent
Stick to the Geneva Convention, by the Editors of the Guardian
Stop This Brutality in Our Name, by the Editors of The Mirror
Subverting the Geneva Convention, by Lawrence McGuire
Taping a bag over the heads of Afghan prisoners stops us feeling anything for them, so we can breakfast in peace, by Terry Jones
Terry Waite: US in Guantanamo Acts Like My Beirut Captors, by Vikram Dodd
The Geneva Convention, by Jude Wanniski
The Guantanamo Prisoners: Justice or Revenge?, by Terry Waite (one of the hostages held in Beirut from 1987-1991)
The Heart of Darkness Beats Clear and Steady in Guantanamo Bay, by Heather Mallick
The Missing Questions, by Alan Bock
The abuse goes on, by Clive Stafford-Smith
To hell and back, by Martin Bright, Gaby Hinsliff, Anushka Asthana and Paul Harris
Treatment of al-Qaeda and Taliban Prisoners by the United States Offends Sense of Justice, by Peter Beaumont
U.S. Cannot Ignore Prisoners' Rights, by Michael Byers
U.S. Must Treat Guantanamo Prisoners Humanely, by David A. Love
U.S. Officials Misstate Geneva Convention Requirements, by Kenneth Roth
U.S. Will Be Judged on Captives' Fate, by Charles Levendosky
US guards filmed beatings at Guantanamo, by David Rose and Gaby Hinsliff
Vietnam War Hero Condemns Camp X-Ray, by Mark Coleman
War Against Terror Is Making Villains Of Us All, by Richard Norton-Taylor
We Will Not Tolerate Abuse of War Prisoners, by Hugo Young
What the world should know about Guantanamo, by Douglas Valentine
What to do with Our 'Detainees'?, by Tom Malinowski
Why is U.S. Flouting Rules on Prisoners?, by Thomas Walkom
More articles on Guantanamo:
'Fair' Trial Will Be a Travesty in Terror Cases
Abuse led Navy to consider pulling Cuba interrogators
ACLU: President authorized torture
Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay - the story of three British detainees
Amnesty International Takes Aim at United States in Annual Human Rights Report
Army Doctors Implicated in Abuse
At Guantanamo, a Prison Within a Prison
British judge's anger at US torture
Confess or die, US tells jailed Britons
FBI Agents Allege Prisoner Mistreatment in Guantanamo
FBI agents questioned value of harsh interrogation techniques
FBI Claims More Arab Prisoners Abused
Geriatric 'Terrorists' on Guantanamo
Gitmo Detainees Say Muslims Were Sold
Guantanamo Bay Military Reviews Ruled Illegal
Guantanamo Briton 'in handcuff torture'
Guantanamo has 'failed to prevent terror attacks'
Guantanamo jail switch planned
Judge Blocks Transfer From Cuba of 13 Yemeni Detainees
Maybe None of Them are Terrorists
not the way to win hearts and minds
Panel Ignored Evidence on Detainee
Red Cross Finds Detainee Abuse in Guantánamo
Republican Judge Takes Aim at Bush Terror Policies
Rumsfeld's dirty war on terror
some victories for the rule of law
Tales of Despair From Guantanamo
Terror detainees and America's gulag
UN Experts Cite Credible Reports of Torture at Guantanamo
US plans permanent Guantanamo jails
Videos Show Guantanamo Prisoner Abuse
Plus: Read the concerns of human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch.
Also: Inside Camp X-Ray - See for yourself what it's like; from the BBC
The Qala-i-Jangi Massacre: War on Terrorism Turns into a War Crime
What happened at the Qala-i-Jangi fortress in Mazar-i-Sharif? Was the United States involved in the massacre of several hundred people? How can America claim to be fighting terrorism from the moral high ground and then be a party to this? What happened at Qala-i-Jangi was wrong! Americans need to learn the truth about what happened, and hold the American government responsible. Note: all of the reports linked here are by Western journalists. This can't be dismissed as Muslim "propaganda".
Afghan Prison Massacre, by Geov Parrish
How to 'Drown Rats': Eyewitness Account of Qala Jangi Slaughter Ignored, by Laura Flanders
If the U.S. Won't Protect P.O.W.s, Who Will, by Scot Lehigh
POW Atrocities: An Ugly Lesson, by Holly J. Burkhalter
Playing the Great Game: As the Afghan War Reaches a Climax, Questions About the Slaughter of Prisoners Cannot Be Brushed Aside, by Jonathan Freedland
The Castle of Death, by Justin Huggler
There is No Excuse for This Savagery: We Too Are Responsible for the Massacre at Qala-i-Jhangi Fort, by Isabel Hilton
U.S. Forces Behind War Crimes at Mazar-i-Sharif, Media Covers Up, by Stephen Gowans
War Crimes And Media Omissions, by Danny Schecter
We are the War Criminals Now, by Robert Fisk
Life Under Taliban Rule: What is the Truth?
What was it like in Afghanistan under the Taliban? Was it really as bad as we hear from the mass media? Below are links to some reports by outsiders who went to Afghanistan and saw for themselves. What has been lacking in the coverage of Afghanistan is objective eyewitness reporting. Read these reports and judge for yourself.
Canadian Physician Describes Healthcare in Afghanistan, by Raza M. Khan, BSc, MD, CCFP
Don't Hate the Afghans, by William T. Vollman
The Taliban are Well-Liked, by Mutsuko Murakami
Also: If you are committed to making an honest and fully-informed decision, you should read what the Taliban have to say for themselves. Hear both sides before you make a judgment. Here is an official article from the Taliban's website: The Taliban and Women. This article particularly discusses the questions of education and healthcare for women.
Bonus: Some reports about the war you may not have heard
Reports on civilian casualties and other consequences of the war, by Professor Marc W. Herold, Ph.D., M.B.A., B.Sc.:
Some additional commentary on civilian casualties in Afghanistan:
17 Afghan villagers killed in US bombing raids, by Rory McCarthy
Afghans are still dying as air strikes go on. But no one is counting, by Ian Traynor
All the News That's Fit to Print or Omit, by Geov Parrish
Civilian Casualties, Theirs and Ours, by William Blum
Forgotten Victims, by Jonathan Steele
Killing Innocents: Does Anyone Out There Care?, by Ed McManus
Lies, Damn Lies, and Pentagon Statistics, by Fran Shor
On the Recognition of Death, by Suren Pillay
Tears and Rage: Afghan civilian casualties make the New York Times only through the backdoor, by Laura Flanders
The Forgotten Dead, by Geov Parrish
The Others, by Howard Zinn
Trolling the Web for Afghan Dead, by Julia Scheeres
U.S. Mis-strikes in Afghanistan: Accidents or Possible War Crimes?, by David Corn
US airstrikes kill 15 Afghan children, by James Astill
We Can't Just Forget about Dead Afghan Civilians, by Robert Jensen
When Numbers Get Serious, by Jacob Sullum
When the Body Count Doesn't Count, by Scott MacLeod
Why Does U.S. Massacre Entirely Fail to Move Us?, by Vincent Browne
Why the Civilian Death Toll is Not Considered News, by Vincent Browne
How Many U.S. Casualties Have There Really Been? from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting - Even if you think that Afghan casualties are just the "price of war", wouldn't you at least like to know the truth about the number of American casualties? Also see Are U.S. Casualties Being Lowballed? by Laura Flanders.
