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2021-08-31: News Headlines

Gareth Porter (2021-08-31). Afghanistan collapse reveals Beltway media's loyalty to permanent war state. thegrayzone.com Biden's popular and long overdue withdrawal from Afghanistan triggered a big media meltdown that exposed its de facto merger with the military. In the wake of a remarkably successful Taliban offensive capped by the takeover of Kabul, the responses of corporate media provided what may have been the most dramatic demonstration ever of its fealty to the Pentagon and military leadership. The media did so by mounting a full-throated political attack on President Joe Biden's final withdrawal from Afghanistan and a …

Marjorie Cohn (2021-08-31). As Biden Threatens More War, Don't Forget the Afghanistan Invasion Was Illegal. zcomm.org Missing from the national discourse is analysis of the illegality of the 2001 U.S.-led NATO invasion of Afghanistan and resulting war crimes committed by four U.S. presidents and their top officials and lawyers…

Ben Slowey (2021-08-31). Milwaukee activists, artists campaign to increase Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions awareness. liberationnews.org BDS activists have launched a Milwaukee-wide Palestine solidarity letter encouraging artists and creatives of all kinds to endorse the cultural boycott of Israel.

New Atlas (2021-08-31). US War on China' Belt & Road Continues: Terrorist Attack Targets Chinese Engineers in Pakistan. newatlas.report August 31, 2021 (The New Atlas) — In late August 2021 yet another terrorist attack has targeted China's Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan's Baluchistan province. I discuss the background of this terrorism, the long standing open US support for armed militants operating in Baluchistan carrying out these attacks, and how this is America's "answer" …

WSWS (2021-08-31). US pulls last of its troops from Afghanistan after chaotic evacuation. wsws.org The withdrawal was preceded by the drone massacre of an entire Afghan family, the last in a long series of atrocities carried out by the US military in its 20-year neocolonial war.

Staff (2021-08-31). Headlines for August 31, 2021. democracynow.org Taliban Celebrate as Last U.S. Troops Leave Afghanistan, Over 1 Million in Path of Hurricane Ida Could Remain Without Power for Weeks, Florida Withholds Funds to Schools Defying Gov. DeSantis's Ban on Mask Mandates, Advocates Demand Biden End Deportations to Haiti After Devastating Earthquake, Over 500 Migrants Rescued in Mediterranean; EU Plans to Bar Entry to Afghan Refugees, U.N. Hails End to Worldwide Use of Toxic Leaded Gasoline, Mass Evacuations Ordered for Lake Tahoe Region as Caldor Wildfire Spreads, Federal Court Strikes Down Trump-Era Rule Gutting Clean Water Act, Emergency Petition Asks U.S. Supreme Co…

_____ (2021-08-31). Did The US Support The Growth Of ISIS-K In Afghanistan? popularresistance.org The list of governments, former government officials, and organizations in the region that have accused the US of supporting ISIS-K is expansive and includes the Russian government, the Iranian government, Syrian government media, Hezbollah, an Iraqi state-sponsored military outfit and even former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called the group a "tool" of the United States.

Anonymous007 (2021-08-31). Military Situation In Syria On August 31, 2021 (Map Update). southfront.org Click to see full-size image | On August 31, Russian warplanes attacked Sham Legion military camp in the Iskan village | On August 31, clashes and shelling between SAA and former rebels continued in southern Daraa | On August 31, clashes and shelling between SDF and Turkish-backed forces were reported near Ain Issa | On August 30, two SDF member were killed by unknown gunmen in Jadida Akidat | On August 30, artillery of Turkish-backed forces shelled SDF positions near Tal Tamar | MORE ON THE TOPIC…

_____ (2021-08-31). Why Hezbollah Is Bringing Iranian Fuel To Lebanon. popularresistance.org The chokehold on Lebanon has grown even tighter, thanks to the embargo imposed against it by the United States and its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf. This comes at the lowest point of Lebanon's two-year-old economic crisis, a catastrophe the World Bank calls the worst the world has seen since 1850. The country's sudden-but-deliberate fuel shortage, vital to essential daily activity and life-saving medical services, has accelerated this alarm.

Editor2 (2021-08-31). 'Let Them Stop us if They Dare' — Why Hezbollah is Bringing Iranian Fuel to Lebanon. orinocotribune.com By Radwan Mortada — Aug 24, 2021 | As Lebanon's economic crisis deepens amidst an effective US embargo, Hezbollah begins to supply the Lebanese population. | The chokehold on Lebanon has grown even tighter, thanks to the embargo imposed against it by the United States and its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf. This comes at the lowest point of Lebanon's two-year-old economic crisis, a catastrophe the World Bank calls the worst the world has seen since 1850. The country's sudden-but-deliberate fuel shortage, vital to essential daily activity and life-saving medical services, has accelerated this alarm. Today, b…

Anonymous103 (2021-08-31). Failed State Tactical Analysis. southfront.org Illustrative Image | Written by Steve Brown. | Empire has historically failed to appreciate the resolve of indigenous people who fight to enforce their right to self-determination. Now, empire has devised a subversive means to suppress that right, by the west's established policy of creating failed states to divide and exploit. The prototype US failed state plan began with the destruction of Nahr al Bared camp, Lebanon, in 2007. The policy was developed by Elliott Abrams and the Office of Special Plans after the US's 2…

Editor (2021-08-31). Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics — Book Review. mronline.org "Except for Palestine" is a remarkable little book. Within it, the authors Hill and Plitnick present the larger picture that the self-proclaimed progressive "universal" values of the United States are argued for in many troubled spots of the world, except for Palestine.

Michael Yates (2021-08-31). Save a Space for Lou Proyect, Rebel Against the Status Quo. counterpunch.org Like most of us, he had to earn a living. He labored as a social worker in Harlem, and as a computer programmer at an insurance company, a hospital, on Wall Street, and finally for more than two decades at Columbia University. During this time, he moved steadily to the left, eventually joining the Socialist Workers Party, which he left after eleven years, watching it sink into sectarian irrelevance. He was active in the struggle to end the war in Vietnam. He gave technical support to the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the African National Congress in South Africa. He was a steadfast supporter of the Cuban Revolutio…

Morteza Ahmadi Al Hashem (2021-08-31). VIDEO: Taliban entering Kabul Airport after US withdrawal. en.mehrnews.com The first footages show Taliban entering Kabul International Airport after withdrawal of US military forces from the airport, ending occupation of Afghanistan for 20 years.

teleSUR (2021-08-31). Taliban Welcomes US Withdrawal From Afghanistan. telesurenglish.net The Taliban welcomed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shortly after the U.S. Central Command announced that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Asian country has completed. | RELATED: | The last U.S. soldiers were evacuated from Kabul airport at mid-night on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced, commenting that "in this way, our country became completely free and independent." | The final evacuation flight was con…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-08-31). After 20 years, countless deaths and a Taliban victory, US finally leaves Afghanistan. peoplesdispatch.org The US diplomatic mission has also temporarily been shifted to Doha from Kabul. The US and coalition forces evacuated 123,000 people from Kabul, including 6,000 US citizens, since August 14…

Gavin OReilly (2021-08-31). Bye-den — Afghanistan to be Used as the Pretext for a Harris Administration? globalresearch.ca

Chandra Muzaffar (2021-08-31). Humiliating Defeat in Afghanistan. counterpunch.org The mainstream Western media is full of news these days about people fleeing Kabul in the wake of the Taliban victory. Dramatic pictures of young and old scrambling to get on to jam-packed aeroplanes do make a huge impact. The message they convey is that a collective fear has gripped the Afghan people as they

Michael Winship (2021-08-31). Afghanistan may forever be the graveyard of empires. canadiandimension.com Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the US Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan to become the final US soldier to depart Afghanistan. Photo courtesy CENTCOM/US Department of Defense. | Less than a month after 9/11, President George W. Bush

_____ (2021-08-31). Afghan Activist: We All Deserve Refuge, Not Just Those Who Served The U.S. popularresistance.org Following the Taliban's seizure of power, people across the political spectrum have expressed concern about the fate of Afghans who helped the United States and are therefore at risk of retribution. Pundits and politicians who gave little attention to civilian deaths in Afghanistan during 20 years of U.S. occupation are joining in this outpouring‚Äâ—‚Äâa dynamic that is building pressure for the Biden administration to extend the U.S. military presence.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-08-31). U.S. Troops Leave Afghanistan: Is a Geopolitical Strategy Behind This? libya360.wordpress.com Yoselina Guevara The Taliban celebrate the US departure The last US military plane left Kabul at 23: 59 on August 30, bringing to a close a nearly 20-year invasion by the United States and its allies on Afghan soil. The Taliban immediately took control of the airport, announcing that the Islamic Emirate is now a "free…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-08-31). Lawyers urge ICC to probe Saudi-led coalition's war crimes in Yemen & other stories. peoplesdispatch.org Today we look at the latest efforts to prosecute war crimes committed in Yemen at the ICC, the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan & more…

_____ (2021-08-31). Let's Take The Profit Out Of Wars. popularresistance.org On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats set up a committee to investigate the munitions industry and named a progressive Republican, North Dakota's Gerald Nye, to chair it. "War and preparation for war," Nye noted in 1934, had precious little to do with "national defense." Instead, war had become "a matter of profit for the few." The war in Afghanistan offers but the latest example.

Chris Cole (2021-08-31). UK Planning for Strikes Against ISIS in Afghanistan Says Head of Royal Air Force. globalresearch.ca

Renee Parsons (2021-08-31). "Where Have All the Flowers Gone"?: "Something Surreal" About the Afghanistan Troop Withdrawal Scenario. globalresearch.ca

Rep. Ron Paul (2021-08-31). Afghanistan: A Tragically Stupid War Comes to a Tragic End. globalresearch.ca

Thom Hartmann (2021-08-31). Afghanistan: The 'Big' Media's Question Today is Wrong and Dangerous. counterpunch.org The big question in the media today is, "Will Afghanistan again become a 'breeding ground' for terrorists who may again attack America?" It's the wrong question. We've all heard that question asked, in a dozen variations, probably a hundred times in the past few months in the media. And it's not just the wrong question:

Anand Naidoo (2021-08-31). The Heat: U.S. completes withdrawal from Afghanistan. america.cgtn.com The United States has pulled out the last of its troops from Kabul, officially bringing an end to the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2021-08-31). Colonialism and the Epistemology of Ignorance: A Lesson from Afghanistan. zcomm.org In Afghanistan, the fixation on technology has reached new heights, leaving behind more than 200,000 dead and a plethora of experts on new destruction technologies…

Staff (2021-08-31). Peace Activist Kathy Kelly on Reparations for Afghanistan & What the U.S. Owes After Decades of War. democracynow.org As the United States ends its military presence in Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation and war, the Costs of War Project estimates it spent over $2.2 trillion in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and by one count, over 170,000 people died during the fighting over the last two decades. Kathy Kelly, longtime peace activist who has traveled to Afghanistan dozens of times and coordinates the Ban Killer Drones campaign, says it will be important to keep international focus on the people of Afghanistan. "Everybody in the United States and in every country that has invaded and occupied Afghanistan ought to make reparations…

Anonymous007 (2021-08-31). Resistance Forces Repel Taliban Attack In Panjshir Once Again. southfront.org Click to see full-size image | On August 30th, resistance forces in Afghanistan's northern province of Panjshir, which refuses to recognize the Taliban authority repelled an attack on its outpost in the province's western part. | 7 or 8 Taliban fighters were killed in a fight that broke out in Panjshir where resistance forces are holding a last stand against the outfit in Afghanistan, Fahim Dashty, the spokesperson of Ahmad Massoud who is leading the resistance movement to the Taliban, said. | Dashty said the Taliban launch…

Labor Video Project (2021-08-31). George Bush, Obama, Trump & Biden, You Have Blood On Your Hands-Afghani's Rally & March In. indybay.org Hundreds of Afghani's rallied in San Francisco to demand the entry of Afghanistan's under threat. Many were angry with Biden, Trump, Obama and George Bush.

Peter Koenig (2021-08-31). Kabul Is Not Saigon. Afghanistan: Drug Trade and Belt and Road. globalresearch.ca

sputniknews (2021-08-31). Taliban Offered US Military to Secure Kabul, But Americans Said No, Bombshell Report Reveals. sputniknews.com In early August, the US intelligence community thought that Kabul would be isolated within a month and gave the capital 90 days before it would fall to the Taliban*. But no one expected that the US-trained and equipped Afghan forces would surrender without a fight, and the city would crumble in a matter of days.

Anonymous007 (2021-08-31). Former U.S. Generals Call For Resignation Of Secretary Of State, Joint Chiefs Of Staff Head. southfront.org Click to see full-size image | On August 30th, 90 retired US Generals called for US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) General Mark Milley to resign over the botch Afghanistan withdrawal. | They did so in an open letter, with their signatures included. [ The signatories, who claim member…

Editor2 (2021-08-31). Afghanistan Redux: Malala Yousafzai, White Feminism and Saving Afghan Women. orinocotribune.com By Fawzia Afzal-Khan — Aug 27, 2021 | So the usual "experts" are out and about on airwaves, in newsprint and social media, offering their punditry regarding the situation unfolding in Afghanistan even as the US-backed government crumpled like a house of cards with the advance of the Taliban, once the US troops started their announced pullback in earnest after 20 years of occupation a few weeks ago. The shock-and-awe tactics of the Bush doctrine that dragged the world into a post 9/11 horror picture show euphemistically known as the War on Terror (in truth, it was intended— and has been experienced by i…

Staff (2021-08-31). Afghanistan Faces Future Under Taliban as U.S. Withdraws & Drone Strikes Continue to Kill Civilians. democracynow.org As the last U.S. forces leave Afghanistan, ending the longest war in U.S. history, we go to Kabul to speak with Danish Afghan journalist Nagieb Khaja, who was once kidnapped by the Taliban and later embedded with them on a reporting assignment. He has been investigating Sunday's U.S. drone strike that killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children.

Catherine (2021-08-31). War on Afghanistan: The Most Expensive Mass Murder in History. indybay.org The war on Afghanistan was the most expensive mass murder in history. About US$2.3 trillion of the US taxpayers' money was spent killing 230,000 people–$10 million for each civilian, military personnel, soldier of fortune. Who profits from major disasters, wars, pandemics?>

Ananth Krishnan (2021-08-31). China to Require Foreign Vessels to Report in 'Territorial Waters'. asia-pacificresearch.com

New Atlas (2021-08-31). Cambodia Fights Against US Meddling: Arrests US-Backed "Union Leader" newatlas.report August 31, 2021 (The New Atlas) — The US policy of encircling and containing China spares no nation in Southeast Asia. Cambodia is also being targeted, though Cambodia has arrested or driven out the US-backed opposition party of choice — the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) — which now resides in Washington D.C. There are …

Staff (2021-08-31). Venezuela Proposes ALBA-TCP Strengthen Ties with ASEAN and Arab League. orinocotribune.com This Monday, August 30, Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Félix Plasencia, invited the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) to establish cultural and tourist ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Arab League. | During a videoconference to discuss cooperation strategies in cultural and tourism issues, Plasencia emphasized that cultural connections cannot be forged without tourism. | He added that all of the nations that make up ALBA possess virtues in this regard, and extended a commitment on behalf of Venezuela t…

sputniknews (2021-08-31). US Pens Deal for New Military Base in Micronesia in Latest Move to Keep China Out of Pacific. sputniknews.com As the US pursues "great power competition" with China, Washington is on the hunt for new bases in the Pacific it can use to potentially get an upper hand in the fight. The latest site to be agreed upon is in the Federated States of Micronesia, a group of archipelagoes on the far side of the Philippine Sea from China.

Anonymous007 (2021-08-31). Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran And Kazakhstan To Hold Joint Naval Exercises In The Caspian Sea. southfront.org Click to see full-size image | Warships from Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Kazakhstan will hold joint naval exercises in the Caspian Sea in early September after the end of the Sea Cup competition, Rear Admiral Sergei Yekimov, head of the Russian delegation, deputy commander of the Caspian Flotilla, told reporters on August 31st."Immediately after the completion of the Sea Cup, we will hold joint exercises, in which the warships of the Russian Navy, the Iranian Navy, Ka…

ecns.cn (2021-08-31). Comicomment: Is U.S. intelligence community's virus origin report credible?>. ecns.cn The COVID-19 origins tracing report compiled by the U.S. intelligence community failed to make scientific conclusion and it's a way for the U.S. to shift blame to China.

WSWS (2021-08-31). New York Times cites US torturer Michael Chertoff on Chinese "repression" wsws.org Over the weekend, the New York Times published an editorial calling China the world's leading purveyor of "transnational repression," based entirely on a report produced under the supervision of a war criminal.

_____ (2021-08-31). New U.S. Military Base In Micronesia to Challenge China. popularresistance.org As the US pursues "great power competition" with China, Washington is on the hunt for new bases in the Pacific it can use to potentially get an upper hand in the fight. The latest site to be agreed upon is in the Federated States of Micronesia, a group of archipelagoes on the far side of the Philippine Sea from China.

Editor (2021-08-31). China's top court says grueling '996' work schedule illegal. mronline.org The Supreme People's Court published a set of labor-related disputes to clarify legal standards of working hours and overtime wages.

Editor (2021-08-31). China announces massive greening plan to achieve carbon goals. mronline.org The task includes planting 54 million mu of trees and 46 million mu of grass each year, said Zhang Wei, head of the ecological protection and restoration department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA).

WSWS (2021-08-31). Faurecia parts workers denounce forced overtime and brutal conditions in scorching hot factories. wsws.org Workers at the Faurecia plants in Saline, Michigan, and Gladstone, Indiana, were forced to work 12-hour days in sweltering heat without adequate breaks and air conditioning.

Joyce Chediac (2021-08-31). NYC candidate Cathy Rojas backs socialist India Walton's mayoral bid in Buffalo, NY. liberationnews.org NYC socialist candidate for mayor in Cathy Rojas stated, "My campaign stands in 100% solidarity with India Walton and against all well-financed, illegal and underhanded ways the establishment in Buffalo is trying to subvert her victory in the Democratic primary."

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2021-08-30: News Headlines

sputniknews (2021-08-30). Video: Biden Refuses to Answer Questions on Afghanistan, Gets Lost on Way Out During FEMA Remarks. sputniknews.com As the southern coast of the United States is being ravaged by Hurricane Ida, US President Joe Biden arrived at a Sunday meeting of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to deliver remarks on the major storm.

Labor Video Project (2021-08-30). George Bush, Obama, Trump & Biden, You Have Blood On Your Hands-Afghani's Rally & March In. indybay.org Hundreds of Afghani's rallied in San Francisco to demand the entry of Afghanistan's under threat. Many were angry with Biden, Trump, Obama and George Bush.

ecns.cn (2021-08-30). Xi says China willing to walk together with Cuba in building socialism. ecns.cn Chinese President Xi Jinping said China is willing to walk together with Cuba in building socialism and be good partners in pursuing common development in a phone conversation with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Steven Sahiounie (2021-08-30). Macron Orchestrates Baghdad Summit Excluding Syria. globalresearch.ca

Sen. Richard Black (2021-08-30). "Who Is Our Friend, Syria . . . or al-Qaeda?", Retired Virginia State Senator Richard Black Asks. globalresearch.ca

Ramzy Baroud (2021-08-30). 'Blood for Blood': On Jenin and Israel's Fear of an Armed Palestinian Rebellion. counterpunch.org The killing of four young Palestinians by Israeli occupation soldiers in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, on August 16, is a consequential event, the repercussions of which are sure to be felt in the coming weeks and months. The four Palestinians — Saleh Mohammed Ammar, 19, Raed Ziad Abu Seif, 21,

Staff (2021-08-30). Frankfurt Palestine stand highlights struggles of imprisoned Palestinian women. samidoun.net Samidoun Deutschland organized a Palestine Stand in central Frankfurt on Sunday, 29 August 2021. The action, organized at Hauptwache, highlighted the cases of several Palestinian women prisoners, including Israa Jaabis, Anhar al-Deek, Fadwa Hamadeh and Yasmin Jaber. Organizers set up a display of photos and calls to action highlighting imprisoned Palestinian students and calling for […] | The article

Staff (2021-08-30). Headlines for August 30, 2021. democracynow.org Up to 10 People Killed in U.S. Strike in Kabul, Rockets Fired at Airport as Withdrawal Deadline Nears, Hurricane Ida Slams into Louisiana, Killing One Person, Cutting Power to Entire City of New Orleans, Florida Judge Says Schools Can Impose Mask Mandates; Dr. Fauci Banks Vaccine Mandates for Students, Rev. Jesse Jackson Transfers to Rehab as Wife Moves to ICU; Conservative Radio Hosts Die of COVID-19, Thousands Rally for Voting Rights on Anniversary of March on Washington, 30 Yemeni Soldiers Killed in Attack During Military Exercise, Israel Launches New Airstrikes on Gaza; Soldiers Use Live Fire on Palestinian P…

Editor2 (2021-08-30). Palestine's Africa Dichotomy: Is Israel Really 'Winning' Africa? orinocotribune.com By Ramzy Baroud — Aug 24, 2021 | The To answer the above questions, one has to appreciate the new Great Game u…

Allan Fisher (2021-08-30). Saturday 8/28: Free Palestine. indybay.org Corner of Water and Ocean Streets, Santa Cruz…

WSWS (2021-08-30). US evacuation from Afghanistan nears its end. wsws.org The bulk of those remaining to be evacuated are the American soldiers who were dispatched to the Kabul airport by President Biden two weeks ago.

Staff (2021-08-30). Several rockets target Kabul airport, US military activate missile defenses to repel attack — reports. rt.com Five rockets have reportedly been launched towards Kabul airport, which is the focal point of the US evacuation from Afghanistan. The missiles were shot down by an air defense system, media report, citing US officials. | Several rockets rained down on the area near Kabul airport on Monday morning, Reuters reported, citing a US official, who said that missile defense systems were deployed to intercept the incoming projectiles. | Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported, citing a US defense official, that the Pentagon used the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) missile system to…

Staff (2021-08-30). U.S. Winds Down Afghanistan Occupation Like It Began, with Drone Strikes & Civilian Casualties. democracynow.org U.S. troops in Afghanistan are racing to evacuate people from the country ahead of Tuesday's withdrawal deadline as the Kabul airport is targeted by rocket fire from militant groups. The rocket attacks come just days after over 175 people, including 13 U.S. troops, died after a suicide bomb outside the airport, with the group ISIS-K claiming responsibility for the attack. The Pentagon has publicly acknowledged that some of the people killed outside the airport on Thursday may have been shot dead by U.S. servicemembers in the panic after the suicide bombing. The U.S. retaliated over the weekend with two airstrikes…

Juan Cole (2021-08-30). Ida: The Climate Emergency and Fossil Fuels, not Afghan terrorists, just Knocked out Power to America's 4th-Largest Port. juancole.com Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — The two big stories on Sunday, of the continued evacuation effort at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the landfall of Hurricane Ida on the coast of Louisiana have something in common. Both are about potential threats to the United States. America's national security elites and arms manufacturers …

WSWS (2021-08-30). Twenty years after Australia turned away the Tampa refugees. wsws.org Supported by the Labor Party, the government barred entry to more than 400 asylum seekers, mostly from Afghanistan, and transported them to a remote Pacific island to be detained indefinitely.

Brandon J Weichert (2021-08-30). Afghanistan today, Africa tomorrow: America's saga of failure. asiatimes.com As the recent heartbreaking images from Kabul prove, the Americans have lost a war. This, just a few short years after they lost Iraq. Like it did in Iraq in 2003, the US went after Islamist militants in Afghanistan, but it hung around for 20 years trying vainly to remake ancient Afghanistan into a protectorate …

Melvin Goodman (2021-08-30). Robert M. Gates: Poster Child for Bureaucratic Deceit. counterpunch.org From 2001 to 2015, the number of U.S. servicemen and women in Afghanistan exceeded 100,000, although four secretaries of defense (Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel) conceded privately that the war was not winnable and that no strategy would alter our glide path to defeat. In 2019, the last soldier to die in Afghanistan from Ft. Carson in Colorado was Sgt. Maj. James G. Sartor, who was on his seventh combat deployment in Afghanistan. All four of these secretaries presumably signed at least one deployment order for Sgt. Sartor, one of many victims of deceit as the Pentagon played Russian Roul…

James Bovard (2021-08-30). Afghanistan and the Sham of Democracy Promotion. globalresearch.ca

Binoy Kampmark (2021-08-30). The Neocons Speak: Afghanistan as Political Real Estate. counterpunch.org The noisiest group of Afghanistan stayers are the neoconservatives resentful because their bit of political real estate is getting away. In being defeated, they are left with the task of explaining to the soldiery that blood was not expended in vain against a foe they failed to defeat. "You took out a brutal enemy," goes a statement from US President George W. Bush and his wife Laura, "and denied Al Qaeda a safe haven while building schools, sending supplies, and providing medical care." The couple throw in the contribution of Dr. Sakena Yacoobi of the Afghan Institute of Learning, behind the opening of "schools…

Staff (2021-08-30). Hurricane's Collision With COVID Illustrates Threat of GOP Hostility to Science. truthout.org It is an understatement to say there is a lot going on right now. The two biggest stories over the weekend were the winding up of the dangerous airlift out of Afghanistan and the arrival of an epic hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. | Now is a dangerous time — but judging from the news coverage, I don't think we've fully grasped just how much danger Americans are actually in. | In a number of states, this latest COVID-19 surge, driven by the leth…

Staff (2021-08-30). As Biden Threatens More War, Don't Forget the Afghanistan Invasion Was Illegal. truthout.org President Joe Biden's decision to end the Afghan war — one that should never have been fought in the first place — was correct. Missing from the national discourse, however, is analysis of the illegality of the 2001 U.S.-led NATO invasion of Afghanistan (dubbed "Operation Enduring Freedom") and resulting war crimes committed by four U.S. presidents and their top officials and lawyers. Once again, the United States has lost a war it started illegally. But as U.S. troops leave Afgha…

Staff (2021-08-30). Don't Listen to Panetta and Bolton. The US Must Stay Out of Afghanistan. truthout.org It began as it always seems to, with some entrenched stakeholder in the foreign policy establishment solemnly invoking their idea of The Right Thing To Do. "[B]ottom line is that our work is not done in Afghanistan,"

Anonymous007 (2021-08-30). Taliban Move To Ban Opium Production, But Could It Majorly Backfire? southfront.org Click to see full-size image | The Taliban have vowed to reduce Afghanistan's opium trade, This is incredibly suspect, as the movement's primary bankrolling comes from poppy growing and opium production. | The Islamic group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid vowed to crack down on the production of narcotics, saying "nobody can be involved" in the heroin trade. | Taliban leaders have…

Richard Falk (2021-08-30). Crime and Punishment in Afghanistan. zcomm.org Security in the future depends on cooperative networks of global solidarity and not on innovations in military technology that turn the world into a single battlefield in a global forever war…

Kerry Smith (2021-08-30). Calls grow for federal gov't to help Afghan refugees. greenleft.org.au Hundreds of Afghan-Australians marched to the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide to demand the federal government lift the country's humanitarian intake of refugees trying to flee Afghanistan. Kerry Smith reports.

Riz Wakil (2021-08-30). Video: A left perspective on the West's defeat in Afghanistan. greenleft.org.au Livestream of the Green Left/Socialist Alliance public forum held on August 28 about a left perspective on Afghanistan.

Anonymous103 (2021-08-30). Gunfire On Afghan-Pakistani Border Left Two Pakistani Soldiers Dead. southfront.org Pakistani troops walk on a hilltop post near Ladha, a town in the tribal region of South Waziristan in May 2011 | On August 29th, two Pakistani soldiers were killed in a gunfire on the border with Afghanistan. It was the first attack on Pakistani forces since the Taliban took control over the Afghanistan's capital Kabul. | According to the Pakistani army, it retaliated and killed two or three attackers."As per intelligence reports, due to fire of Pakistan army troops, 2-3 terror…

sputniknews (2021-08-30). Sweden Allegedly Sought to Bomb Afghanistan as Advertisement for Its Fighter Jets, WikiLeaks Reveals. sputniknews.com A sensational WikiLeaks disclosure has revealed that Sweden's Armed Forces wanted to use the Afghanistan war to advertise its Saab Gripen fighter jets across the world thanks to combat experience.

Josh Frank (2021-08-30). Noam Chomsky on Afghanistan (Post-9/11). counterpunch.org

Sarah Lazare (2021-08-30). Military Contractor CACI Says Afghanistan Withdrawal Is Hurting Its Profits. zcomm.org It's Funding a Pro-War Think Tank…

Anonymous103 (2021-08-30). China Foreign Minister Slams Blinken For "Double Standards" And Fighting Terrorism "In A Selective Way" southfront.org Illustrative Image | Originally published on In the aftermath of Biden's catastrophic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, which not only handed the country with its

Jonathan Gorvett (2021-08-30). Iraq the big loser of Middle East water wars. asiatimes.com With two of the world's most famous rivers flowing through it, Iraq was known for centuries as the Middle East's "Fertile Crescent," its rich civilizations watered by the Tigris and Euphrates. Now though, soaring temperatures, a lengthy drought, poor water management and fractious politics have combined to threaten eco-catastrophe for these rivers and the country. …

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2021-08-30). Taliban Victory May Strengthen Pakistan in Dispute for Kashmir. asia-pacificresearch.com

Brian Shilhavy (2021-08-30). Aussies Hoping for a Repeat of 1979 Truckie Blockade when the Government Backed Down to Truckers' Demands. asia-pacificresearch.com

ecns.cn (2021-08-30). China-U.S. cancer collaboration may open door for new era 'Ping-Pong Diplomacy': Forbes. ecns.cn A joint effort by China and the United States to fight cancer may open door for the "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" of new era, former Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Saturday, according to Forbes.

Joshua Cho (2021-08-30). Corporate Media Politicize WHO Investigation on COVID Origins to Vilify China. globalresearch.ca

ecns.cn (2021-08-30). Experts refute U.S. intelligence community's COVID-19 origins tracing report. ecns.cn Foreign experts have refuted the U.S. intelligence community's report on the origins of COVID-19, saying an approach that isn't scienced-based and aimed at scapegoating China will undermine global efforts to end the pandemic.

WSWS (2021-08-30). Japanese and Taiwanese ruling parties hold talks aimed at Beijing. wsws.org In highly inflammatory remarks afterward, both sides referred to Taiwan as a country, thus calling into question the "One China" policy, which recognizes Taiwan as part of China.

Sahand Yazdanyar (2021-08-30). It's Time for the US to Reassess Its Relationship With Israel. counterpunch.org In April 1996, Israeli artillery shells rained down on a United Nations compound where hundreds of civilians were taking refuge. As the shells exploded and the building collapsed, 106 civilians died and another 116 were injured. The attack, now known as the Qana Massacre, was part of a larger Israeli offensive known as Operation Grapes

Joris Leverink (2021-08-30). Organizing against militarism from Israel to Europe. roarmag.org Israeli soldier launches a skylark drone near the border to Gaza. Photo: By the end of 2020, a total of 82.4 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes according to the

Peoples Dispatch (2021-08-30). Israel suppresses weekend Gaza protests with violence, airstrikes; injures close to 30. peoplesdispatch.org Gazan have been holding demonstrations to demand the lifting of the 14-year-long Israeli blockade and resolved to continue protesting until their demands are met…

Morgan Artyukhina (2021-08-30). Protest outside White House as Israeli PM seeks assurance of U.S. support for apartheid. liberationnews.org Protesters rallied outside the White House Aug. 26 as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was set to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Yumiko Urasaki (2021-08-30). 1.6M Moderna Doses Withdrawn in Japan Over Contamination. globalresearch.ca

Staff (2021-08-30). North Korea has apparently restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, IAEA says, citing satellite imagery. rt.com North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor at Yongbyon after an almost three-year pause, the UN's nuclear watchdog said in its annual report on the country. | Monitoring of the site through satellite imagery showed indications that the five-megawatt reactor was put back in operation as of early July after apparently being idle since December 2018, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in its

Moderator (2021-08-30). Hedges: The Empire Does Not Forgive. scheerpost.com Original illustration by Mr. Fish. |
| By Chris Hedges / Original to ScheerPost | The Carthaginian general Hannibal, who came close to defeating the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War, committed suicide in 181 BC in exile as Roman soldiers closed in on his residence in the Bithynian village of Libyssa, now modern-day Turkey. It had been more than thirty years since he led his army across the alps and annihilated Roman legions at the Battle of Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae, considered one of the most brilliant tactical victories in warfare which centuries later inspired the plans of the German Army…

Binoy Kampmark (2021-08-30). Abandoned and Alone: Lamenting the US-Australian Alliance. dissidentvoice.org Listening to Australian pundits talk about the relationship of their country with the US — at least from a strategic perspective — can be a trying exercise. It is filled with angst, Freudian fears of abandonment, the strident megalomania of Australian self-importance. Critics of this complex are shouted down as Sinophiles or in the pay …

Staff (2021-08-30). Climate Crises Converge as Wildfire Burns West and Hurricane Pummels South. truthout.org Hurricane Ida made landfall in Southern Louisiana on Sunday as one of Scientists say that…

Anonymous103 (2021-08-30). Far-Right Ideology Has Cemented Itself In Ukraine Under Zelensky. southfront.org "Democratic" torch march in KievZelensky is incapable or unwilling to deal with the Ukrainian Far-Right. | Written by Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst | Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was believed to be a reformer and a liberal when he took over the presidency from Petro Poroshenko. The billionaire former president is part of the corrupt oligarchy who from 2014 relied on neo-Nazis to fight and kill Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens in Donbass (Eastern Ukraine). Zelensky, a comedian and actor before b…

WSWS (2021-08-30). Sri Lankan big business reaps huge profits during pandemic. wsws.org Last December, Rajapakse told a Ceylon Chamber of Commerce conference that investors should "take up the opportunities" provided by the coronavirus pandemic.

WSWS (2021-08-30). Oppose school reopenings in unsafe conditions in Turkey! wsws.org The Rank-and-File Committee for Safe Education calls on educators, parents and students to oppose the reopening of schools for in-person education from September 6, as the Delta variant spreads rapidly and the pandemic is not under control.

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