Hamid Karzai

Before he stole $169 million and fled his failed state in disgrace, Afghanistan’s puppet President Ashraf Ghani was formed in elite American universities, given US citizenship, trained in neoliberal economics by the World Bank, glorified in the media as an “incorruptible” technocrat, coached by powerful DC think tanks like the Atlantic Council, and given awards for his book “Fixing Failed States.” No individual is more emblematic of the corruption, criminality, and moral rot at the heart of the 20-year US […]

Libertarian Institute, August 27, 2021 Afghanistan and the Sham of Democracy Promotion by James Bovard Americans finally recognize the military lies that pervaded the success claims of the 20-year war in Afghanistan.  But democracy promotion was an even bigger sham. Afghanistan was Exhibit A for the triumphal crusade to spread freedom and democracy. After the […]

The collapse of Kabul was certainly inevitable but not because U.S.-trained Afghan forces woke up on the morning of August 15 and were suddenly struck with an overwhelming desire to surrender. In fact, a direct line can be drawn from the present moment back to the United States’ decision two decades ago to prevent the […]
The post America’s Original Sin in Post-9/11 Afghanistan first appeared on Dissident Voice.

American Institute for Economic Research, June 7, 2021 Will Biden’s Sham Corruption Crackdown Endanger Freedom? James Bovard Denouncing corruption is the easiest way for rascally politicians to appear honest. Upholding a venerable Washington Kabuki tradition, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he was “issuing” a memo to “establish combatting corruption as a core U.S. […]

American Conservative, May 25, 2021 Afghanistan: George W. Bush’s First Disastrous War It was a misguided effort from the start, built on lies and false idealism, and it has left a bloody legacy. |by James Bovard Former President George W. Bush is bewailing President Joe Biden’s plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Bush […]
The post George W. Bush’s Bogus Bloody Afghan Halo appeared first on James Bovard.

Welcome to the latest Washington crisis. The American people are supposed to be petrified at the threat posed by Russian spies who hack our emails, buy ads on Facebook and impersonate Americans in chat rooms.

Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has accused the US of working with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in his country.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera’s UpFrontaired on Friday, Karzai said the US government had allowed ISIL, also known as ISIS, to flourish inside Afghanistan.

Corporal Mark Hickok, a 23-year-old combat engineer from North Olmstead, Ohio, patrols through a poppy field during a clearing mission in Helmand province, Afghanistan (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. John M. McCall)
Published in partnership with Shadowproof.

The Illegality of the U.S. War on Iraq
One overlooked lesson of the invasion and occupation of Iraq is that international law–even the most fundamental one embodied in Article 2 of the UN Charter prohibiting use of force in international relations–can be violated with impunity, without legal ramifications or sanctions. Even Henry Kissinger–that embodiment of vicious amorality and imperialist aggression–noted in 2002 that the planned invasion would upset the structure of international relations existing since the Treaty of Westphalia 1648. Never mind, it happened anyway.

Our friend Jack Dallas joins Media Monarchy this month to talk about the deadly nexus between Big Pharma, Big Banks and the Big Guns.