OTHER INCIDENTS OF AFGAN FORCES KILLING NATO TROOPS

"... NATO is investigating an incident in which two U.S. Marines were killed earlier this month in southern Helmand province, allegedly at the hands of an Afghan army soldier. On July 20, an Afghan army sergeant got into an argument at a shooting range in northern Afghanistan and shot dead two American civilian trainers before being killed... In a July 13 attack, an Afghan soldier stationed in the south killed three British troopers, including the company commander, with gunfire and a rocket-propelled grenade in the middle of the night. Also, in November 2009, an Afghan policeman killed five British soldiers at a checkpoint in Helmand. A month earlier, an Afghan policeman on patrol with U.S. soldiers fired on the Americans, killing two..."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/11/29/world/asia/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?_r=2


AFGHAN POLICE OFFICER KILLS 6 NATO TROOPS

"An Afghan border police officer opened fire on NATO troops... killing six... the latest in a series of shootouts in which Afghan security forces have turned on their NATO partners... the Afghan Interior Ministry.. confirmed that the gunman was a border police officer, rather than an insurgent who had donned the uniform to infiltrate government forces..."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/11/29/world/asia/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?_r=2

AFGHANISTAN VIOLENCE AT ALL TIME HIGH
Taliban emboldened by NATO departure date

"Violence in Afghanistan has reached an all-time high, with clashes up fourfold since 2007... the Pentagon attributed much of the increase in violence to the growth in the coalition force after US President Barack Obama's escalation this year... Approximately 97,000 US troops and 48,800 troops from other countries are in Afghanistan at present... the US defence department is suggesting the strategy of American, British and other politicians is the cause of the Taliban's success... America would deny it is going to leave... but a handover by collation forces in four years' time is exactly what was agreed at the Nato summit last weekend."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11825294

BLEAK PICTURE OF KANDAHAR CAMPAIGN

"... the military's purported gains in the southern war zone do not align with the bleak picture painted by most sources on the ground... reports from journalists embedded with troops in the field are at variance with the official assertions. Most describe a stalemate at best, or even describe the Taliban as having the initiative. Aid organizations, meanwhile, note that civilian casualties in Kandahar are at an all-time high. Thousands have fled their homes en masse. Development projects are at a near standstill..."
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2030184,00.html

U.S. CAN'T ACCOUNT FOR BILLIONS BUSH SPENT IN AFGHANISTAN

"The U.S. government knows it's awarded nearly $18 billion in contracts for rebuilding Afghanistan over the last three years, but it can't account for spending before 2007... The finding raises doubts about whether the U.S. government ever will determine whether taxpayers' money was spent wisely in Afghanistan..."
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/27/102724/us-cant-untangle-billions-sent.html

$511 MILLION EXPANSION OF KABUL EMBASSY

"The U.S. government will spend $511 million to expand its embassy in Kabul... as a demonstration of America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan..."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/03-5

IRAN CONCERNED OVER HUMAN RIGHTS IN U.S.

"... Police brutality, the mistreatment of prisoners, inmates’ problems in gaining access to lawyers, illegal detentions, discrimination toward minorities, and insults directed toward the sanctities of religions under the pretext of “freedom of speech” are examples of human rights violations in the United States, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman stated...

"... there were 45 executions in the United States in 2009... 2,574 prisoners serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole for crimes committed when they were under age 18... (and) the incarcerated population had reached an all-time high of nearly 2.4 million. The United States continues to have both the largest incarcerated population and the highest incarceration rate in the world..."

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=229665

AFGHAN POLICE UNIT DEFECTS TO TALIBAN

"In Khogeyani, a volatile area southwest of the capital, the entire police force... defected to the Taliban side... 19 officers vanished, as did their guns, trucks, uniforms and food... A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, said the Afghan officers decided to defect after “learning the facts about the Taliban.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/world/asia/02afghan.html?_r=1&ref=world