Obama escalates war in Afghanistan giving strikingly similar reasons as Bush's escalation in Iraq

It is almost as if Obama and his advisors are guilty of plagiarism, or at the very least unoriginality. They're contributing nothing to the intellectual reasons for advocating war. See Glenn Greenwald's take on the subject.

Blackwater collaborated with CIA in assassination operation

Jeremy Scahill provies some coverage in the Nation. Blackwater has a much closer relationship with certain parts of the government than many, including myself, would find appropriate. Also see Bill Moyer's interview with Scahill on his book about Blackwater.

Afghanistan censors its election coverage -- sort of

The Afghan government said that it expected media outlets to avoid “broadcasting any incidence of violence” between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on election day “to ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people.” The Afghan government wouldn't have done this, of course, if there had been no election violence. Way to bring unbridled democracy to a country -- marred elections AND quasi-censorship of the press.

Did Bush administration cover up a massacre?

It seems quite likely. How much longer can we pretend that we're the 'good guys' in Afghanistan?

Bush officials repeatedly discouraged efforts by the F.B.I., the State Department, the Red Cross and human rights groups to investigate the massacre and said that it would undermine our war effort.

The report appears to show how readily Bush officials not only committed war crimes in the commission of torture but embraced war criminals as allies.

US Using Viagra in Afghanistan to win over Warlords

The CIA and US military are using Viagra as a bribe to win over Afghani warlords. This is sick for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that taxpayer money is being used to perpetuate traditional Afghani cultures of polygamy, forced marriage and child rape. Awesome. Also see another Turley post on the subject of the plight of Afghani women.

Sharia death sentance in Afghanistan for man supporting women's liberation

This from a country that we have "liberated?" From Slashdot:

"A journalism student in Afghanistan has been sentenced to death by a Sharia court for downloading and sharing a report criticizing the treatment of women in some Islamic countries. The student was accused of blasphemy and tried without representation. According to Reporters Without Borders, sixty people are currently in jail worldwide for criticizing governments online, fifty of them in China, but this may be the first time someone has been sentenced to death for using the internet. Internet censorship is on the rise worldwide, according to The OpenNet Initiative."