The NATO war in Afghanistan
Washington slaps sanctions on International Criminal Court prosecutor
By Bill Van Auken, 5 September 2020
The sanctions, normally reserved for alleged terrorists or drug traffickers, are aimed at intimidating the ICC over its investigation of US war crimes.
War crimes in Afghanistan covered up by UK Ministry of Defence
By Jean Shaoul, 6 August 2020
Documents, written by SAS officers and military personnel, provide evidence of war crimes.
Australian SAS planted weapons on murdered civilians in Afghanistan
By Taylor Bennington, 30 July 2020
Several soldiers said that the framing of unarmed civilians as Taliban insurgents, with planted radios or weapons, “happened on numerous occasions.”
Majority of US veterans back full withdrawal from Afghanistan, other overseas conflicts
By Warren Duzak, 30 April 2020
A new poll reveals that more than half of US military veterans believe that the US government should be less engaged in foreign wars.
US deal with Taliban breaks down while coronavirus spreads in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 8 April 2020
The Taliban has withdrawn from talks with the crisis-ridden Kabul regime over its failure to act on a prisoner release agreement brokered by Washington.
“Four Corners” program exposes Australian war crimes in Afghanistan
By John Harris, 23 March 2020
The actions revealed in the program, including the execution of unarmed civilians, have doubtless been known by successive governments, Labor and Coalition alike.
Afghanistan “peace” deal stalls as Kabul rivals are both sworn in as president
By Bill Van Auken, 10 March 2020
The swearing in of two rival presidents of the US-backed puppet regime has upended so-called intra-Afghan talks set to begin today.
International court approves probe of US war crimes in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 6 March 2020
The ICC’s decision, following a protracted delay, came in defiance of Washington’s threats and bullying.
Within days of Afghan “peace” deal, US bombs Taliban
By Bill Van Auken, 5 March 2020
The bombing is one more indication that the deal to end Washington’s nearly two-decade war is already beginning to unravel.
Afghanistan peace deal begins to unravel as Kabul rejects prisoner swap
By Bill Van Auken, 2 March 2020
The signing of the accord is an unmistakable admission by Washington that the nearly 19-year-long war it has waged in Afghanistan has produced a debacle.
A “ceasefire” in Washington’s Afghanistan debacle
By Bill Van Auken, 22 February 2020
After 18 years of war, the killing of nearly 2,400 troops and the squandering of roughly $1 trillion, Washington is negotiating a deal it could have had with the Taliban without a shot being fired.
Psychologist responsible for devising torture methods testifies at Guantanamo Bay hearing
By Adam Mclean, 30 January 2020
James Mitchell, an Air Force veteran and psychologist who was a leading architect of torture methods used at US “black sites” testified that he threatened to cut the throat of the son of detainee Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
US airstrikes in Afghanistan hit ten-year high in 2019
By Niles Niemuth, 29 January 2020
The Trump administration has ramped up the air war in Afghanistan as it seeks to pressure the Taliban into a settlement, killing hundreds of civilians in the process.
Australia: Lauded military veteran subject of second police investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan
By James Cogan, 21 December 2019
The special forces were used for some of the most brutal aspects of the war, particularly hunting down and capturing or killing alleged Taliban resistance fighters.
The “Afghanistan papers”: The criminality and disaster of a war based upon lies
By Bill Van Auken, 10 December 2019
The documents published by the Washington Post constitute a damning indictment of both major parties as well as the media for lying to the American people for two decades.
UK covered up war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq
By Jean Shaoul, 22 November 2019
The BBC’s “Panorama” cited evidence surrounding the killing by UK troops of innocent and unarmed civilians.
New Zealand military’s unexploded bombs killed Afghan civilians
By Tom Peters, 22 November 2019
Seven children were among 17 civilians killed or injured from unexploded bombs at New Zealand’s firing ranges in Bamyan, Afghanistan.
German big business continues its new scramble for Africa
By Peter Schwarz, 22 November 2019
German big business is on the hunt for new markets, raw materials, investment opportunities and cheap labor.
UN rapporteur Nils Melzer warns: Julian Assange may die in a British prison
By Oscar Grenfell, 4 November 2019
Melzer’s statements confirm that the British government, acting on behalf of the US administration of President Donald Trump, is seeking nothing less than Assange’s psychological and physical destruction.
CIA death squads responsible for spike in Afghan civilian casualties
By Bill Van Auken, 2 November 2019
A Human Rights Watch report documents extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and attacks on medical facilities by militias trained, funded and directed by the CIA.
New Zealand defence chief admits Afghan civilian death
By John Braddock, 28 October 2019
The admission to the Operation Burnham inquiry was the first by the Defence Force, which has repeatedly covered up the truth about the 2010 SAS raid.
More evidence of cover-up of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan
By Mike Head, 26 October 2019
The damning disclosures underscore why the government is intensifying its efforts to suppress media freedom.
US drone massacre in Afghanistan
By Jacob Crosse, 21 September 2019
At least 30 Afghan farmers and day laborers were killed and 40 others injured Wednesday night in a US drone attack, despite previous notification given to local officials of farming activity in the area.
Trump breaks off talks on end to US war in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 9 September 2019
The US president announced that he had called off plans for a secret Camp David meeting with the Taliban and the Afghan president to conclude a peace deal.
Massive blast hits Kabul as US envoy announces draft deal with Taliban
By Bill Van Auken, 4 September 2019
The draft agreement would reportedly include a phased, “conditions-based” withdrawal of US troops.
Australian government boosts Special Forces despite war crimes charges
By Mike Head, 16 August 2019
The move is part of the preparation for war, as well as for the suppression of domestic dissent.
Taliban claim breakthrough in Afghanistan talks, US commander says operations continue
By Bill Van Auken, 15 August 2019
Trump is reportedly pushing for a withdrawal of US troops before the 2020 election, while leading Republicans are pressing for a “residual force” of special forces and CIA.
With Pakistan’s prime minister at his side,
Trump threatens to wipe Afghanistan “off the face of the Earth”
By Sampath Perera and Keith Jones, 24 July 2019
US President Trump threatened Monday to “kill 10 million” Afghans in “a week” so as to win a quick victory in America’s longest war.
Germany continues deportations to Afghanistan
By Marianne Arens, 25 May 2019
Just days before the European elections, the charter flight to the war-torn country exposes the deadly practice carried out by both the federal and state governments.
Unsealed documents shed light on state conspiracy against Chelsea Manning
By Kevin Reed, 22 March 2019
The unsealed documents shine a light on the desperate measures to which the US government has resorted in pursuing a legal pretext to prosecute Julian Assange.
Lawyer charged for exposing Australian war crimes in Afghanistan
By Mike Head, 11 March 2019
A former Australian military legal officer faces lengthy imprisonment for leaking damning documents.
090 UK troops given free hand to kill in Iraq and Afghanistan
12 February 2019
New York Times admission of Afghanistan fiasco provokes “human rights imperialist” backlash
By Bill Van Auken, 9 February 2019
The Times editorial supporting a US withdrawal from Afghanistan is a self-damning indictment of the entire “war on terror,” which the newspaper supported for the better part of two decades.
Afghanistan peace talks and the debacle of the war on terror
By Bill Van Auken, 29 January 2019
Whether Washington withdraws US troops remains to be seen; what is certain is that Afghanistan is viewed through the prism of preparations for far wider wars.
The resignation of General Mattis and America’s crisis of class rule
By Bill Van Auken, 22 December 2018
The panic and hysteria over the resignation of the former Marine Corps general reflects a deep-going crisis within the US ruling establishment.
US airstrikes kill at least 30 civilians in Afghanistan
By Oscar Grenfell, 29 November 2018
The strikes were part of a surge in US bombings aimed at terrorising the population.
Taliban attack kills three US soldiers in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 28 November 2018
The attack, which also wounded four Americans, came amid a worsening deterioration of the US position after 17 years of war.
New Zealand military covered up killing of Afghan children
By Tom Peters, 23 October 2018
A recent article by journalist Nicky Hager revealed that an elite medic in the SAS combat unit was given a medal after killing two Afghan boys in a firefight.
China denies establishing military base in Afghanistan
By Peter Symonds, 6 September 2018
Afghanistan is another key strategic arena for intensifying geo-political rivalry between the major powers.
UK Labour leader Corbyn silent on Afghanistan troop deployment
By Paul Mitchell, 23 August 2018
May’s announcement is a servile response to the demands of Trump, who has reversed his election promise to reduce US involvement in Afghanistan.
New evidence of more Australian special forces’ war crimes in Afghanistan
By Mike Head, 11 June 2018
After years of official cover-up, a third closed-door inquiry is being conducted in an attempt to whitewash the abuses.
UK plans deployment of hundreds more troops as part of US-led Afghan build-up
By Barry Mason, 26 May 2018
The US-led war, now in its seventeenth year, has resulted in catastrophe. It has cost at least £40 billion, with 450 UK armed forces personnel killed and tens of thousands left wounded, ill or psychologically damaged.
Trump awards Medal of Honor to Navy SEAL accused of war crimes in Afghanistan
By Shelley Connor, 26 May 2018
On Thursday, President Trump bestowed the Medal of Honor on former Navy SEAL Britt Slabinski, who has admitted to ordering the killing of unarmed Afghan men.
US involvement in enslavement and rape of Afghan children
By Kayla Costa, 29 January 2018
Between 2010 and 2016 alone, there were nearly 6,000 accusations of child sexual abuse reported by American military personnel, with no actions taken in response.
US bombing of Afghanistan up by 300 percent
By Bill Van Auken, 23 November 2017
While the media lavished attention on the Pentagon’s claims to have bombed opium production facilities, the latest raids are only part of a tripling of airstrikes this year.
US airstrikes kill dozens of Afghan civilians
By Bill Van Auken, 7 November 2017
The air war has been stepped up as the International Criminal Court reviews potential war crimes charges against the US military and CIA in Afghanistan.
Bowe Bergdahl sentenced to dishonorable discharge, avoids prison in court-martial for desertion
By Shelley Connor, 4 November 2017
U.S. army soldier Bowe Bergdahl had been held by the Taliban for five years in brutal conditions, gaining his freedom as part of a prisoner swap in 2014.
Pentagon halts release of information on Afghanistan war
By Bill Van Auken, 1 November 2017
The order to halt public reporting is part of a turn to unfettered and unaccountable control of secret US wars from Africa to south Asia by the American military brass.
Afghanistan prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl pleads guilty to desertion
By Niles Niemuth, 17 October 2017
Bergdahl pleaded guilty out of concern that he would not receive a fair trial after President Donald Trump declared him a traitor and called for his execution multiple times.
Documentary exposes the fraud of New Zealand “peacekeeping” in Afghanistan
By Sam Price and Tom Peters, 20 September 2017
Afghan villagers say New Zealand's elite SAS forces desecrated bodies and terrorised a village in Uruzgan to deliberately provoke a battle in 2004.
Pentagon to fortify Kabul for unending Afghanistan war
By Bill Van Auken, 18 September 2017
The Pentagon is reportedly sending another 4,000 troops into the conflict, the longest war in US history.
110 German deportations to Afghansitan
14 September 2017
German government backs Trump’s military escalation in Afghanistan
By Johannes Stern, 24 August 2017
The same politicians and media outlets that criticized Trump’s response to the fascist rampage in Charlottesville are now fully behind his escalation of war in Afghanistan.
Trump gives military green light to escalate Afghanistan war
By Patrick Martin, 22 August 2017
The nationally televised address to a military audience sets the stage for a massive increase in bloodshed in a country where the United States has waged war for 16 years.
Dropping the mask: A war of plunder in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 27 July 2017
The long stalled plan for reviving the nearly 16-year US war in Afghanistan is being promoted in the Trump White House on the basis of profit and corporate plunder.
US preparing to send up to 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan
By Jordan Shilton, 17 June 2017
The escalation of the longest war in US history reflects the deepening crisis of Washington’s puppet regime in Kabul, which is losing ground to the Taliban-led insurgency.
Massive bombing in Kabul as Washington mulls Afghan escalation
By Bill Van Auken, 1 June 2017
The huge truck bomb was exploded in an area of the capital that includes foreign embassies and government ministries, killing at least 90 people and wounding over 400 more.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, architect of the catastrophe in Afghanistan, dead at 89
By Bill Van Auken, 29 May 2017
“What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe?” the former national security adviser said of the CIA alliance with Al Qaeda.
Washington prepares to send up to 5,000 more troops into Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 10 May 2017
The planned escalation of US imperialism’s longest war involves not only more “boots on the ground,” but also ceding control of the war to US military commanders.
Afghanistan-Pakistan border clash erupts amid seething regional tensions
By Sampath Perera and Keith Jones, 8 May 2017
Fighting Friday between Afghan and Pakistan troops killed at least 12 people and possibly many more.
US defense secretary makes crisis trip to Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 25 April 2017
Mattis arrived in Kabul as his Afghan counterpart and other top military commanders were resigning over a disastrous Taliban attack that killed nearly 200 troops.
Book details killing of Afghan civilians in New Zealand SAS raid
By Tom Peters, 5 April 2017
The book Hit and Run, by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson, indicates that the New Zealand government and Defence Force have covered up war crimes in Afghanistan.
Air strike in Afghanistan kills more than 20 as top US commander calls for more troops
By Bill Van Auken, 11 February 2017
General John Nicholson, told a Senate panel that “a few thousand” more US troops were needed to sustain what is now by far Washington’s longest war.
Germany to begin mass deportations to Afghanistan
By Martin Kreickenbaum, 9 December 2016
Later this month the German government will begin the mass deportations of asylum seekers back to Afghanistan.
Fifteen years of the war in Afghanistan
By James Cogan, 7 October 2016
The US has been the central instigator of the Afghan tragedy for a period that now spans 38 years, with a toll in dead and wounded that numbers well over a million people.
Taliban captures key Afghan district in fierce fighting
By Peter Symonds, 31 August 2016
The latest attack takes place against the backdrop of geo-political intrigue that is drawing the entire region, including Afghanistan, into US preparations for war against China.
Obama halts drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan
By Thomas Gaist, 7 July 2016
The White House announced Wednesday that 8,400 US troops will remain deployed in Afghanistan until Obama leaves office next January.
NATO commits to Afghan war through 2020, prepares Eurasian-wide escalation
By Thomas Gaist, 17 June 2016
NATO’s extension of its mission in Afghanistan is one element in a “package of enhancements” aimed at strengthening its grip over strategic portions of Eurasia.
Obama green-lights escalation of Afghanistan war
By Thomas Gaist, 11 June 2016
The White House has authorized a major escalation of US air and ground combat operations targeting Taliban forces and others opposed to the stooge regime in Kabul.
US military whitewashes attack on Afghan hospital
By Peter Symonds, 30 April 2016
The Pentagon’s contrived account of human errors and equipment failure is intended to avoid the more obvious conclusion that the US military deliberately targeted the hospital.
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan hit record in 2015
By Thomas Gaist, 16 February 2016
Responsibility for the social catastrophe in Afghanistan lies with American imperialism, which has fomented and waged a series of wars against the Afghan people.
Six US soldiers killed as Taliban overruns Helmand district in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 22 December 2015
The suicide bomb attack on a US-Afghan patrol is symptomatic of the escalating crisis of the continued American occupation of Afghanistan.
German parliament approves expansion of military mission in Afghanistan
By Gustav Kemper, 21 December 2015
Germany’s parliament voted on Thursday by a large majority in favour of a government motion to expand the German military intervention in Afghanistan
Report reveals torture and murder of Afghan civilians by Navy SEALs
By George Gallanis, 19 December 2015
While the report details horrendous accounts of torture, resulting in the death of a detainee, charges against all four SEALs were dropped.
US Army charges Bowe Bergdahl with desertion
By David Brown, 15 December 2015
The vitriol coming from Army officials and politicians towards Bergdahl expresses deep fears about the impact of future imperialist adventures on the discipline of the armed forces.
Pentagon report whitewashes bombing of Doctors Without Borders hospital
By Thomas Gaist, 26 November 2015
While the actual report remains secret, the US military offered a summary of its internal findings on the destruction of a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan by US forces last month.
German government prepares new combat mission in Afghanistan
By Johannes Stern, 16 November 2015
German defence officials are making plans to send over 100 additional soldiers to Afghanistan, where they are to “accompany” and “advise” Afghan forces.
Highest-ranking German NATO general urges air strikes against Taliban
By Johannes Stern, 10 November 2015
The belligerent remarks by Domröse make clear that, behind closed doors, Germany’s ruling elite is discussing and preparing for another massive combat mission in Afghanistan.
Hundreds dead in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 7.5 magnitude earthquake
By Oscar Grenfell, 27 October 2015
The devastating consequences of the natural disaster will be compounded by 15 years of US-led neo-colonial occupation.
New evidence that US Army deliberately targeted hospital in Kunduz
By Joseph Kishore, 27 October 2015
Aided by the media, the US military and the Obama administration are continuing their efforts to cover up and whitewash a war crime.
The New York Times peddles excuses for Kunduz hospital slaughter
By Thomas Gaist, 23 October 2015
The Times report comes one week after the AP revealed that US Special Forces were scoping out the MSF hospital immediately prior to the attack
Obama extends unending US war in Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 16 October 2015
Seven years after his election based on promises to end US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama has ordered thousands of troops to continue fighting in both countries.
US officials seek to contain fallout from hospital massacre in Afghanistan
By Thomas Gaist, 8 October 2015
US President Barack Obama apologized to Doctors without Borders Wednesday, while vowing to forge ahead with US military operations in Afghanistan.
US repeatedly bombs hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan
By Thomas Gaist, 5 October 2015
US combat aircraft launched multiple precision strikes against northern Afghanistan’s only major trauma center on Saturday, killing at least 22.
Nine months after the official end of combat operations
US Special Forces fight Taliban militants in Kunduz, Afghanistan
By Thomas Gaist, 3 October 2015
The intensified combat operations come just days after the Pentagon announced plans to station at least 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan through 2017.
Major city in Afghanistan falls to Taliban attack
By Patrick Martin, 30 September 2015
The capture of Kunduz is a major blow to the US-backed puppet regime in Kabul and to the Obama administration.
Pentagon ramping up US military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan
By Thomas Gaist, 17 July 2015
US air and drone strikes in Afghanistan more than doubled in the month of June, according to DOD statistics.
Taliban strikes Afghan parliament in Kabul
By Thomas Gaist, 24 June 2015
Taliban fighters passed through several military checkpoints, setting off explosives and initiating an extended firefight just outside the Afghan parliament.
The vendetta against Bowe Bergdahl
By Patrick Martin, 30 March 2015
The purpose of the Pentagon’s charges against the former POW is to intimidate soldiers who, like Bergdahl, turn against the savagery of the US wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Bowe Bergdahl, former POW critical of war in Afghanistan, charged with desertion
By Zaida Green, 26 March 2015
Bergdahl, who was held captive by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network for nearly five years, could face life in prison if convicted.
Washington halts drawdown of troops from Afghanistan
By Bill Van Auken, 25 March 2015
Obama announced his reversal Tuesday of plans to withdraw some 5,000 more troops this year, under conditions of a further deterioration of the situation facing the US-backed regime in Afghanistan.
US-trained Afghan security forces committing “systematic” torture and extra-legal killings
By Thomas Gaist, 4 March 2015
The puppet regime in Kabul, established by the US and NATO powers, presides over a web of criminalized security forces and politicized crime syndicates.
US expands “secret war” in Afghanistan
By Thomas Gaist, 23 February 2015
Despite the official end to US combat operations on December 31, US commandos are intensifying their deadly “counterterrorism” operations in Afghanistan.
US drone strike against Somalia
By Bill Van Auken, 31 December 2014
The attempted assassination of a Somali Islamist militia leader is part of a global escalation of the Obama administration’s illegal drone killing program.
US raises troop deployment in Afghanistan by 1,000
By Bill Van Auken, 10 December 2014
While the US and NATO are marking the formal end of their combat mission in Afghanistan, Washington is increasing the number of troops left behind.
Afghan regime hit by wave of Taliban attacks
By Patrick Martin, 1 December 2014
The escalating bloodshed comes amid Washington’s efforts to consolidate military and financial support for the newly installed stooge regime.
Obama authorizes wider war in Afghanistan
By Patrick Martin, 24 November 2014
Less than three weeks after the congressional election, the administration has announced the escalation of US wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
US general suggests delaying troop withdrawals from Afghanistan
By James Cogan, 8 November 2014
General Campbell’s comments reflect concerns in Washington that its puppet government in Kabul could fall to the Taliban.
Last British combat troops leave Camp Bastion in Afghanistan
By Harvey Thompson, 3 November 2014
The withdrawal of hundreds of British soldiers was carried out in almost complete secrecy, amid serious security concerns.
New Afghan puppet regime accepts deal to keep 10,000 US troops
By Bill Van Auken, 30 September 2014
The new two-headed “national unity” regime threatens to be even more unstable than the previous US puppet, Hamid Karzai.
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