The TV series, The Vietnam War, is absolutely riveting. The ten discs in the DVD set provide over 17 hours of viewing, and there is hardly a moment wasted. It is even-handed to the most admirable degree, and presents the points of view of war-supporters in the US and Vietnam as well as doubters, protestors and…
The Afghan province of Badakhshan borders China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It used to be part of an artery between the East and West known as the ancient Silk Road. Today, that road is being revived as an element of China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative, which has prompted major infrastructure construction in Afghanistan and Central Asia,…
If Turkey is not bluffing, U.S. troops in Manbij, Syria, could be under fire by week’s end, and NATO engulfed in the worst crisis in its history. Turkish President Erdogan said Friday his troops will cleanse Manbij of Kurdish fighters, alongside whom U.S. troops are embedded. Erdogan’s foreign minister demanded concrete steps by the U.S….
The Intercontinental hotel in the heart of Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul was stormed by militants last Friday, with the intent to kill and shed blood, to portray an Afghanistan which is still at war. In the grisly attack, many private sector and government officials were burned to ashes and declared “missing” inside the building after…
Violent geopolitical rivalries between imperialist and hegemonist powers over Afghanistan’s natural resources, trade and transit routes, and geostrategic location have dramatically intensified. Despite sixteen years of heavy-handed US presence to establish its hegemony in Afghanistan and beyond, influence of regional powers like Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan, and India is growing. The Perpetual War Sixteen years…
Since WWI, armies have provided code names for their military operations. Many, however, have been euphemisms to conceal what really stands behind them. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a military campaign against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the enclave of Afrin, situated in northern Syria. Codenamed ‘Operation Olive Branch,’ it…
