6.27.2004

Remember Afghanistan? While Bush administration officials pooh-pooh the claims made by an anonymous CIA counterterrorism expert in Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror--among them, that the US waited so long after 9/11 to strike against the Taliban that terrorists were long gone by the time bombs started falling --news out of Aghanistan is increasingly bleak. While the Bush administration has focused on bringing "democracy" to Iraq, Afghanistan has seen the Taliban's power expand. Sixteen people were recently killed by the Taliban for possessing voter registration cards from the September election, and five employees of Doctors without Borders were murdered by the Taliban in early June. Plus opium production has gone through the roof; according to the UN, Afghanistan now produces 75% of the world's supply of illegal opium. Imperial Hubris' author also says we're probably far from catching Osama bin Laden and that al-Qaeda is probably stronger than ever. And: Home of the Not-So-Free, by the Dissident Voice's Kim Petersen.

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