"Karzai rejects US apology over deaths of Afghan boys; Warns NATO forces over mounting civilian casualties" March 07, 2011|Patrick Quinn, Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of people from a left-wing political party marched through Kabul yesterday to protest US military operations and demand the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Wouldn't they be the ones most politically inclined for us to be there (as opposed to, say, Taliban)?
They chanted “death to America, death to the American government’’ and carried pictures of Afghans killed or wounded in recent airstrikes. They burned an effigy of Obama....
I think we lost their hearts and minds.
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"In Jamaica Plain, visiting Afghan activist denounces US-led war; Former lawmaker says foreign forces increase violence" March 27, 2011|By David Abel, Globe Staff
Afghan activist Malalai Joya, after initially being denied a visa to the United States for a three-week speaking tour, appeared in Boston yesterday and denounced the US-led war in Afghanistan, contending that the Obama administration’s surge of forces has led to only “more massacres, more tragedy, more violence.’’
She said she believes US officials banned her because “I exposed what the US government was doing in my country, and how most of the money goes into the pockets of the warlords. I think this is something the people in the White House and the warlords don’t want to hear.’’
She added: “I will not be silent for a moment, and they can never block my voice.’’
***************
She said she did not fear a US troop withdrawal, which Obama has said would occur by 2014. “We have three enemies: the warlords, the Taliban, and foreign occupation. When the occupation ends, we’ll only have two.’’
Joya said Americans could help more if the hundreds of billions now spent on the war were used for education. The Obama administration has sought $107 billion for the Afghan war in the fiscal 2012 budget.
“It’s already a civil war,’’ she said. “Nobody’s talking about the brutal war that’s already going on. When the [US forces] leave, the backbone of the warlords will break… . As long as the warlords are in power, there’s no hope to change the life of women in my country.’’
She ended her talk in Jamaica Plain by raising her fist into the air.
Ouch!
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The protests that got much more print:
"Afghans kill 12 in protest over Koran-burning; Mullahs steered worshipers to vengeance" April 02, 2011|By Enayat Najafizada and Rod Nordland, New York Times
MAZAR-e-SHARIF, Afghanistan — Stirred up by three angry mullahs who urged them to avenge the burning of a Koran at a Florida church, thousands of protesters overran the compound of the United Nations in this northern Afghan city yesterday, killing at least 12 people, Afghan and UN officials said....
Five Afghans were also killed.
The attack underscored the latent hostility toward the nine-year foreign presence here, even in a city long considered to be among the safest in Afghanistan — so safe that US troops no longer patrol here in any numbers.
Unable to find Americans on whom to vent their anger, the mob turned instead on the next-best symbol of Western intrusion — the nearby UN headquarters.
“Some of our colleagues were just hunted down,’’ said a spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Kieran Dwyer, in confirming the attack.
In Washington, President Obama issued a statement condemning the violence against UN workers.
“Their work is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan for the benefit of all its citizens,’’ he said. “We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence.’’
This from the biggest purveyor of violence on the planet.
*************
Yesterday’s episode began when three mullahs, addressing worshipers at Friday prayer inside the Blue Mosque here, one of Afghanistan’s holiest places, urged people to take to the streets to agitate for the arrest of Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran on March 20.
Otherwise, said the most prominent of them, Mullah Mohammed Shah Adeli, Afghanistan should cut off relations with the United States....
I agree.
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"Koran burning prompts new rioting; Afghan protests continue for 2d day; 9 more die" April 03, 2011|By Taimoor Shah and Rod Nordland, New York Times
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Violent protests over the burning of a Koran in Florida flared yesterday for a second straight day, with young men rampaging through the streets of this southern capital city, flying Taliban flags and wielding sticks.
Nine people were killed and 81 injured in the disturbances, all from bullet wounds, said Abdul Qayoum Pakhla, head of the provincial health department. One of the dead was a police officer. Kandahar has long been the heartland of the Taliban insurgency but has been relatively quiet in recent months since a surge of additional American troops arrived.
So claims the obfuscating AmeriKan media.
The protests here came a day after a mob overran the headquarters of the United Nations in Mazar-e-Sharif, killing 12 people, seven of them international staff members. The mob gathered after three mullahs at Friday prayer urged action in response to the Koran burning by a pastor, Terry Jones, in Florida on March 20.
The top UN official in Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, blamed Taliban infiltrators for the killings, saying the victims were deliberately murdered rather than killed by an out-of-control mob.
In Kandahar, several thousand young men, shouting slogans calling for death to Americans and to the government of President Hamid Karzai, were still rioting after several hours yesterday, setting tires on fire throughout the city, burning cars, and attacking journalists trying to cover the disorder....
Please, dear readers of the world, do NOT ASSOCIATE ME with the BLASPHEMY or these MASS MURDERING WARS!
I NEVER WANTED THEM, and have been YELLING, SCREAMING, and SWEARING for them to end for FIVE YEARS HERE!!
The police said some of the protesters were armed, and Afghan authorities used live ammunition on occasion to quell the disturbances, which continued all day....
Shouldn't Obama be bombing to protect the people?
Zalmai Ayoubi, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the rioters attacked the Zarghona Ana High School for Girls, burning some classrooms and a school bus. The school is supported by the US Agency for International Development. The Taliban have opposed education for girls.
AID = CIA, and I'm smelling agent provocateurs!
Related: "She taught at one of the handful of girls’ schools the Taliban permitted"
Say what?
A spokesman for the American military in Kandahar, Lieutenant Colonel Web Wright, said relatively small crowds were involved in the disturbances, with the biggest group, about 100 demonstrators, gathered outside the governor’s offices. So far, no coalition military forces had been made the target of protests.
“If we need to get involved we will, but now we’re content to let the Afghan national security forces handle it,’’ he said.
Yeah, we already kill enough Afghan civilians.
Although Mazar-e-Sharif has little or no Taliban presence, Kandahar has a significant number of residents who sympathize with the insurgents.
Meaning THEY are the PEOPLE that LIVE THERE!
There were also demonstrations over the Koran burning on Friday and yesterday in Kabul, and on Friday in Herat, in eastern Afghanistan. Both were peaceful and lightly attended.
I notice the PEACEFUL PROTESTS are getting a LOT LESS PRINT!
The latest protests were set off by sermons at Friday prayer last week over the Koran burning. The previous week’s Friday prayer had not provoked such reactions, even though the Koran burning had already taken place.
Both Afghan and international news media had initially played down or ignored the actions of Jones, the Florida pastor.
I was consider whether to do the same. He already got his 15 minutes.
On Thursday, however, Karzai made a speech and issued statements condemning the Koran burning and calling for the arrest of Jones for his actions. On Friday, that theme was picked up in mosques throughout Afghanistan.
“Karzai brought this issue back to life, and he has to take some responsibility for starting this up,’’ said a prominent Afghan businessman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution if he was identified as a critic of the president.
I noticed Karzai getting cut up in the papers lately ever since he started criticizing the surge in civilian dead.
“Karzai’s speech itself provoked people to take such actions,’’ said Qayum Baabak, a political analyst in Mazar-e-Sharif. “Karzai should have called on people to be patient rather than making people more angry.’’
Officials in Mazar-e-Sharif also blamed Taliban agitators from other provinces for stirring up violence in the Friday protests there....
A Taliban spokesman denied that the insurgents had any role in the disturbances.
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And even though the protests are small(?) and mostly peaceful:
"More killed in protests over burning of Koran" April 04, 2011|By Taimoor Shah, New York Times
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Two days of disturbances in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, with businesses closed and young men rampaging through the streets, flying Taliban flags, and chanting anti-American slogans. The demonstrations also spread to the eastern city of Jalalabad yesterday.
Would an apology help?
In Kandahar, the police fired into crowds Saturday, killing nine people and wounding 81, all by gunshots, but were more restrained yesterday, as representatives of the protesters met with government officials in an effort to defuse the violence.
Still, 40 more people were wounded and two more killed in the confrontations between the police and protesters.
Two police officers were killed over the two days here, apparently because some of the protesters were armed and shot back at them.
In addition, protesters set fire to a traffic policeman’s booth, which caused a gas canister inside to explode, killing one person and wounding 14 others.
Tooryalai Wesa, Kandahar’s provincial governor, expressed condolences for those who were killed and also apologized for some police excesses in firing indiscriminately. He announced that four policemen were arrested yesterday for shooting people without justification.
It is a start, isn't it?
At the request of community leaders, Wesa also released 22 people arrested the day before, keeping only seven who had been caught with weapons.
In Jalalabad, the largest city in eastern Afghanistan, hundreds of people blocked a main highway for three hours, shouting for US troops to leave, burning an effigy of President Obama, and stomping on a drawing of a US flag, the Associated Press reported.
Seems to be a common occurrence over there. Maybe we should leave, huh?
More than 1,000 people set tires ablaze to block another highway in eastern Parwan province for about an hour, said provincial police chief Sher Ahmad Maladani.
There also were demonstrations in Kabul and elsewhere around Afghanistan, but they were mostly peaceful....
And what fun is it to cover those, huh?
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"2 US personnel shot dead in Afghanistan" by Associated Press / April 5, 2011
KABUL — Afghanistan’s security forces, meanwhile, were struggling to contain days of protests set off by the burning of a Koran at a small Florida church two weeks ago. The desecration of Islam’s holy book has inflamed antiforeigner sentiment already at high levels because of civilian casualties. Yesterday, rock-throwing crowds hundreds deep clashed with Afghan police in several places in the east.
The latest protests over the Koran burning took place in the neighboring eastern provinces of Laghman and Nangarhar. Both ended without major injuries being reported....
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"Suicide siege at Afghan police compound kills 6; Kandahar attack comes amid fury at Koran burning" by Solomon Moore, Associated Press / April 8, 2011
KABUL — More protests are expected today.
Every Friday now, right?
Last month’s book burning at the Gainesville, Fla., church led by pastor Terry Jones further inflamed anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan, where many people were already fed up with the presence of foreign military forces and civilian casualties....
Related: AmeriKa Has Lost Afghanistan
We are fed up with it here, too, if that means anything.
Yesterday, about 300 teachers, students, and clerics gathered outside a Kabul mosque with banners demanding that Jones be prosecuted and that foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan.
Afghan police closely monitored protesters, who were peaceful in their behavior but strident in their rhetoric.
I'm sick of AmeriKan media insults, I really am.
“America is a terrorist,’’ read one banner. “No to American military bases in Afghanistan,’’ read another.
The truth hurts.
Sabor Fakhri, one of the protest organizers, said he viewed the Koran burning as a personal affront to him and his family.
“This holy book belongs to all Muslim nations, and when they burned the Koran they burned me and my people,’’ he said. “We demand the US government stop such ignorant people. Long live Islam and death to the enemies of the Muslims.’’
After working so hard to create so many of them?
“We didn’t send tanks or helicopters or weapons to America, we have sent the holy book, a bridge of knowledge,’’ Muslim cleric Abdul Salam Abad told the crowd. “America claims they are giving us human rights and freedom of speech and religion, but their burning of the Koran shows their hatred of Muslims.’’
Please do not associate that asshole's actions with us all.
Many Afghan Muslims will attend weekly prayer services at mosques today, and there are concerns that civil unrest will follow angry sermons about the Koran burning, as it did last weekend.
The demonstrations are occurring as Taliban fighters return to the battlefield in greater numbers to take advantage of temperate weather....
And yet I am still being told they lost turf and are losing.
Sigh.
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