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Author Topic: New book on Afghanistan
M. Spector
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Babbler # 8273

posted 28 September 2006 04:10 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
A new book, Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence, has just come out from Seven Stories Press in the USA.

It's by Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls, the co-directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

They are on a book-promotion tour. Last Sunday they spoke at an event in Halifax organized by the Halifax Peace Coalition. At the page linked to above you can download, in MP3 format, recordings of the speeches of the authors. Or you can read James Ingalls's speech notes HERE.

Last week they spoke at the University of Toronto, and on November 4-5 they will be in Vancouver.

From the Foreword by David Barsamian:

quote:
Karzai, in his ubiquitous shawl and karakul hat, has rewarded some of the warlords with government positions and a permanent get-outof-jail-free pass. Karzai, it must be added, in a ringing affirmation of his confidence in his fellow Afghans, surrounds himself with American bodyguards. A marked man, he does not stray too far from Kabul. All imperial and colonial projects are accompanied by lofty rhetoric about noble goals. Echoing the British “white man’s burden” and the French “mission cilivilitrice,” the new wars are about democracy and freedom.

The U.S invasion and occupation of Afghanistan had an extra fillip: women’s liberation. As Arundhati Roy observed: “We’re being asked to believe that the U.S. Marines are actually on a feminist mission.” It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry.

One of the heroes of the book is Malalai Joya, the young member of the Afghan parliament. Her courage in raising inconvenient facts about the rehabilitated warlords to their faces in parliament comes through in a stirring and inspiring moment. The authors observe that Joya, “speaking for millions of Afghans, pointed out a reality that defies the U.S.’s rhetoric of ‘liberation,’” which “simply returned a different set of misogynists to power.” Joya’s life has been threatened many times but she remains steadfast and defiant. Wouldn’t it be something if Laura Bush, that great champion of Afghan women, invited her to the White House and honored her? And while the First Lady is at it, maybe she could celebrate the exemplary work of The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).



Malalai Joya says:
quote:
“Bleeding Afghanistan is without a doubt the most realistic and sincere reflection of the ongoing tragedy in my ill-fated Afghanistan, covering every aspect of life under the US domination and its fundamentalist criminals and warlord hirelings…The book breaks the silence on many hidden agendas of the US administration in Afghanistan.”

Eve Ensler, award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues, says:
quote:
“If you want the real story behind the US war in Afghanistan, read this book now! Bleeding Afghanistan is a thoroughly researched analysis of US policy. Kolhatkar and Ingalls show how Afghan women were used to dupe us into a war that has neither improved the security of Americans, nor liberated the people of Afghanistan. A wake-up call to everyone who thought the war was a success story.”

From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 13 October 2006 08:07 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Excerpt from a speech by RAWA member Zoya, October 7, 2006, in the USA:
quote:
Today the friends of the US government in Afghanistan are dark-minded oppressors such as Rasoul Sayyaf, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Mohaqiq, Younis Qanoni, Karim Khalili, Qasim Fahim, Dr. Abdullah, Ismail Khan, Hazrat Ali, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Sibghatullah Mojaddidi and others - those who should be prosecuted for their crimes against Afghan people. The US is relying on the above-mentioned “Northern Alliance” leaders and commanders who turned Afghanistan into a hell from 1992-1996 and still are a threat to the stability and peace. They are a threat not only to our country but their cancer will spread out to other countries and all over the world. The US still ignores the important words of Martin Luther King: “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Kathy Gannon, an expert in Afghanistan issues, justly states that “the US is not interested in peace in Afghanistan. The people who killed thousands, who patronized the drug business are in charge of the country."
....
US bombs, B52s and the presence of thousands US troops is not to meant to bring about liberation or establish democracy in our country. The people of the US should know that their troops only serve the strategic interests of the US government and make things worse in Afghanistan. Liberation should be achieved by the people of a country and they must fight for their own liberation. The ongoing developments in Afghanistan and Iraq prove this claim.

RAWA has been advocating for a democratic and secular government as the only cure to the wounds of Afghan people and particularly women. As women living in this very un-liberated country, it is clear that outspoken RAWA members who advocate against warlords and fundamentalism remain at high risk in a country still controlled by armed warlords and fundamentalists. After 27 years of underground resistance, RAWA continues its struggle to provide for the needs of the Afghan people, to empower women, and to work for democracy, peace, freedom and human rights for all.



From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 23 October 2006 09:35 AM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
As opposition parties step up their pressure on the Conservative government to rethink its mission in Afghanistan, the co-author of a new book on the war says that the Canadian-led mission is destabilizing the country and pushing the population into the arms of the Taliban.

James Ingalls, co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence, a new book on U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan, said in an interview that the Canadian-led combat mission in southern Afghanistan is counter-productive and destabilizing to the country.

"Canada right now, they're in full support of what the U.S. is doing, in terms of the worst aspects of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, which I think are the combat operations that the U.S. is undergoing, the so-called hunt for terrorists. Canada is right behind them, in fact they're probably the most enthusiastic," Mr. Ingalls said.

He called the mission's military tactics "counter-productive" if the intent is to achieve "a stable Afghanistan where people are capable of controlling their own destiny." Instead, he said, the country is being destabilized with the steady death of civilians and suspected Taliban fighters.

"They're just driving more and more people into the arms of the Taliban, convincing people that the Taliban rhetoric about the 'foreign invaders' is true, that they're being oppressed by a foreign, occupying force, that is not there legitimately or that is not there in the interests of the people," he said.


Hill Times

From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged

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