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Posts Tagged ‘afghanistan’

Taliban Talc: Heroin rockets in price – but only in the Guardian and BBC

News in the Guardian is that heroin made in Afghanistan (it was packaged as talc) has rocketed in price:

Nearly three tonnes of heroin with a street value of $2.7bn (£2bn) from Afghanistan have been seized from a western Indian port in a major bust, officials said.

That’s 3000000g of smack at £667 a gram. In 2016, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the average price of heroin in the US was $152 per gram – £111.

The story is from an agency, posted on the Guardian, apparently without the need to check the numbers. So off iy goes around the web:

But the BBC has it as its own report:

Such are the facts…

Posted: 21st, September 2021 | In: News | Comment


20 years of nailing it Afghanistan – watch four culpable US presidents bullshit the world

The US-led invasion of Afghanistan has been led by the US-led retreat from the country ruled by the Taliban, just as it was when the US went in. It’s been 20 years of waste, thousands of lost lives, many more damaged ones, hope destroyed and the dawning realisation that America is good at one thing: picking a president on the strength of their abilities in marketing. George Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden – you’d not want any of them in your corner in a fight. Now – get your war on!

Posted: 24th, August 2021 | In: Key Posts, News, Politicians | Comment


Austerity Army: Coldstream Guard’s Lance Corporal Kills Six Afghani Insurgents With A Single Bullet

MEANWHILE…in the austerity Army:

A British sniper in Afghanistan killed six insurgents with a single bullet after hitting the trigger switch of a suicide bomber whose device then exploded … The 20-year-old marksman, a Lance Corporal in the Coldstream Guards, hit his target from 930 yards (850 metres) away, killing the suicide bomber and five others around him caught in the blast.

It’s all about training….

Posted: 4th, April 2014 | In: Reviews | Comment


In photo: double amputee Jumping Jim Simpson tackles the Spartan Super Race

FACE of the day: Double amputee soldier Lance Bombardier James Simpson tackles the Spartan Super Race at West Midlands Water Ski Centre, Warwickshire. Simpson lost his legs in Afghanistan. He was with the 5th Regiment, Royal Artillery when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Helmand. That was in November 2009. Says James: “I’m doing it because I can.”

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Posted: 21st, September 2013 | In: Sports | Comment


Afghan boy found in traveller’s suitcase

TO Venice,  where police have found a five-year-old boy secreted in a suitcase.

Ali Shaker, 35, of Afghanistan, had arrived in Italy from Greece.  He says he was on his way to see the boy’s family in Germany. Antonio De Franchis founds the child called Assim. He says Shaker “carefully put the suitcase on the table … looked at the sky and opened the suitcase… The boy obviously seemed scared and exhausted. We don’t know how many hours he spent inside the suitcase .”

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Posted: 21st, December 2012 | In: Strange But True | Comment


LA Times exhibits double standards over suicide bomber photos

WHO is the victim here? The BBC reports on American soldiers and detonated suicide bombers – members of the 82nd Airborne Division were pictured posting with remains of suspected suicide bombers in Afghanistan:

The US government has condemned the conduct of several American soldiers shown apparently abusing the corpses of suspected Afghan insurgents in 2010. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s spokesman pledged that the perpetrators would be punished.

His comments came after the Los Angeles Times published pictures showing US soldiers posing with the mangled remains of suspected suicide bombers … “Anyone found responsible for this inhuman conduct will be held accountable in accordance with our military justice system,” the spokesman said, adding that a criminal investigation was under way.

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Posted: 19th, April 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment


Wanted Taliban suspect Mohammad Ashan hands himself in for reward money

TO Afghanistan, where Mohammad Ashan, of the Taliban commander, is the subject of a wanted poster. Anyone handing him in get $100. Ashan is wanted in connection with two attacks on Afghan security forces. His face is plastered all over Sar Howza. Ashan saw this name, noted the reward money and  handed himself in.

Says one U.S. official:

“This guy is the Taliban equivalent of the ‘Home Alone’ burglars.”

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Posted: 17th, April 2012 | In: Strange But True | Comment


The strange case of Azhar Ahmed – can you racially abuse your own side?

AZHAR Ahmed has been arrested. He is looking at charges of “racially aggravated public order offences”. Azhar Ahmed is 19.  He lives in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Ahmed’a alleged crime was to have complained on Facebook that the coverage of the  recent deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan was unfair – Cpl Jake Hartley, 20, Pte Anthony Frampton, 20, and Pte Christopher Kershaw, 19, Pte Daniel Wade, 20, Pte Daniel Wilford, 21, and Sgt Nigel Coupe, 33 were killed when their Warrior MICV fighting vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

He allegedly ranted:

People gassin’ about the deaths of soldiers. What about the innocent families who have been brutally killed… The women who have been raped… The children who have been sliced up…! The enemy’s were the Taliban not innocent harmful familys. All soldiers should DIE and got to HELL. THE LOWLIFE FOKKIN SCUM! got a problem go and cry at your soldiers grave & wish them hell because thats is where she is going”

How is that inciting racial hatred? It’s ugly. It’s stupid. It’s vain. It’s insulting. But how is that a “racially aggravated public order offence”?

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Posted: 14th, March 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (3)


The Kandahar massacre: US Sergeant is another Nidal Hasan

NEWS that a US sergeant from the Fort Lewis base in Washington state was on a “village stabilization operation” when he massacred 16 Afghans in Panjwai Kandahar province. He murdered nine children and three women. Inside the home of Haji Wazir Agha, 11 of his family are dead.

The Taleban vows to attack the “sick minded American savages” and  “take revenge from the invaders and the savage murderers for every single martyr”.

Plus ca change. From both sides. Remember Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs:

Five soldiers from the US Army Stryker Brigade based there were charged with the murder of three Afghan civilians, who had been killed “for sport”. A sergeant from the brigade was convicted on three counts of murder in November.

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Posted: 12th, March 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment


Six British soldiers killed in Afghanistan: what the papers say

THE deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan dominates the news. The  soldiers, five from 3rd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment and one from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, died when their  Warrior MICV fighting vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan. The dead had only been in Afghanistan a short time – two weeks. Since 2001, 404 Britons have died in Afghanistan.

Also, 1,874 UK military and civilian personnel have been admitted to UK field hospitals and classified as wounded in action. Of these, 269 were categorised as “very seriously injured” from all causes excluding disease.

Tom Coglan writes in the Times:

The improvised explosive device has emerged as the defining weapon of the first decade of the 21st century. In the words of one US commander in Afghanistan: “It is not a fact of IEDs on the battlefield, the IEDs are the battlefield.”

Sixteen thousand roadside bombs were laid in Afghanistan last year. In 2009 the figure was 9,300. Even the largest vehicles deployed by Western armies, such as the Warrior, have struggled to defend themselves against bombs that are growing in strength.

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Posted: 8th, March 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)


‘Marines humiliating dead Taleban insurgents’: a video of American soldiers urinating on dead Muslims?

A VIDEO of US Marines urinating on the bodies of three dead Afghan men is on the internet. Three Muslims. Is the video called  “Marines humiliating dead Taleban insurgents” a hoax? The injuries to the apparently dead men are hard to make out. The man in the middle has a large red stain on his chest.

Why was it posted on the internet? The Daily Mirror featured fake photos of British soldiers  abusing prisoners in Iraq. In one snapshot a soldier was seen urinating on a hooded man. Is this a fake?

For the The Taliban to call the clip “barbaric” it must be truly awful.

President Karzai of Afghanistan called it “inhuman“. Nato, rather peculiarly, says it is Nato  “inexplicable”.

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Posted: 12th, January 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)


Army Demands Killed Soldier Pays Back Holiday Refund

BECAUSE LCpl Jordan Bancroft was shot dead in Helmland province, Afghanistan ten days before the month’s end he was docked pay.

His parents received letter informing them that  £433 had been overpaid into his account.

The money had been taken out of a £1,493.04 refund for holiday time off not taken.

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Posted: 27th, October 2011 | In: Reviews | Comment


Royal Navy Medic Michael Lyons Dismissed For Refusing To Fight In Afghanistan

ROYAL Navy medic Michael Lyons refused to attend rifle training because of his “moral objection” to bearing arms and the war in Afghanistan. At his court martial centre at Portsmouth Naval Base, Lyons was found guilty today of disobeying a lawful order. Leading medical assistant Michael Lyons denied the offence at the court martial trial at Portsmouth Naval Base. He was also demoted to the rank of able seaman and dismissed from the service. His supporters stood up and applauded as he was marched from the court.

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Posted: 5th, July 2011 | In: Reviews | Comments (8)


David Cameron Tours Afghanistan In His Lucky Blue Shirt As Locals Laugh Inside: Photos

DAVID Cameron has been to the ANA training camp at Camp Bastion, Helmand province in south Afghanistan. He pulled on his dark blue shirt. The Cameron dark blue shirt is what the Prime Minister wears when he wants to look tough. It fails horribly. He fluctuates between looking like a villain from a 1990s shoot-em-up film checking out a bigger villain’s  private army, and a marketing executive trying to discover who stole his gold pen.

These photos are great – the locals look they are in on the joke…

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Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (centre),arrives for a visit to Camp Bastion, outside Lashkar Gah, Helmand province in south Afghanistan.

Posted: 4th, July 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)


Photos Of Life In Afghanistan: The Soldiers’ Lot

DID you know that British forces are fighting a war in Afghanistan? It’s true. We are reminded of the war whenever a serviceman dies and their name leads the news bulletins. The news then moves on to talk about the economy and football. But for those not killed and maimed in battle, the war continues.

But away from the fighting, what is a soldier’s lot like day in and day out? In these photos, you will get an idea.

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Posted: 14th, April 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment (1)


Pastor Terry Jones Would Burn The US Flag Is Was Bright Enough

PASTOR Terry Jones burns the Koran from his place of safety and the lunatics who rely on word of mouth murder UN forces in Afghanistan. Back in a small church in Florida, far away from any bother, an American patriot says the epitome of freedom is burning books you don’t agree with.

Anyone want to explain?

Posted: 5th, April 2011 | In: Reviews | Comments (5)


RIP Lance Corporal Liam Tasker: What Will A Soldier In Libya Have Died For?

RIP Lance Corporal Liam Tasker. He was shot in Afghanistan on March 1 while on patrol with his Springer spaniel Theo. Dog and handler found 14 caches of bombs and weapons caches in just five months.

Last week the Army dog handler was repatriated in a pass through Wootton Bassett. Today, his funeral was held at Tayport Parish Church in Fife. The legend has it that Theo died “from a broken heart”.

Cprl Tasker was the 358th member of the British armed forces to die since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001.

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Posted: 22nd, March 2011 | In: Reviews | Comment


Photos Of Innocent Afghanis ‘Murdered’ For Kicks By US Army ‘Kill Team’

CORPORAL Jeremy Morlock, Andrew Holmes, Michael Wagnon and Adam Winfield are alleged to formed part of a “kill team” that murdered Afghanis for kicks. In all 12 Us soldiers are accused of being in on the gang.  The man were part of a Stryker infantry brigade based in Kandahar province. Five are on trial for pre-meditated murder.

Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs is accused of cutting off a victim’s finger.

One of their alleged victims was Gul Mudin. He was killed in January 2010 at the village of La Mohammed Kalay “by means of throwing a fragmentary grenade at him and shooting him with a rifle“.

Two other allegedy murdered were Marach Agha and Mullah Adadhdad.

The accused are said to have posed for photos with their victims.

The US Army has apologised for

“We apologize for the distress these photos cause. The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that has characterized our Soldiers’ performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations.”

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Posted: 21st, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment (1)


Afghanistan: 15 Squadron RAF Regiment Come Home (Photos)

MORE service personnel return from Afghanistan. They don’t all come home in a box for a grim procession though Wootton Bassett. They don’t all get recalled by name at the start of PMQs, their sacrifice given lip-service by a duplicitous elite of self-serving tosspots. Some just come home from work…

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Sergeant David Shaw, from 15 Squadron RAF Regiment with his wife Anita and 19 week old son Charlie, on his return to RAF Honington after service in Afghanistan.

Posted: 16th, March 2011 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)


British Sniper Takes Two Taliban Out With One Bullet: The Quigley Manoeuvre

IN Afghanistan, Serjeant Tom Potter and Rifleman Mark Osmond are snipers with the British Army. They are the subject of a book by Toby Harnden.

Within 40 days, the two marksmen from 4 Rifles, part of the Welsh Guards Battle group, had achieved 75 confirmed kills with 31 attributed to Potter and 44 to Osmond… Potter had notched up seven confirmed kills in Bara in 2007 and 2008 while Osmond’s total was 23. Both were members of the Green Jackets team that won the 2006 British Army Sniper Championships…

Osmond takes aim – he’s aware of the lack of equipment and will make best use of all weaponry:

Osmond fired warning shots with his pistol and then picked up his L96, the same weapon – serial number 0166 – he had used in Iraq and on the butt of which he had written, ‘I love u 0166’. Taking deliberate aim, he fired a single shot. The bike tumbled and both men fell onto the road and lay there motionless. When the British patrol returned, they checked the men and confirmed they were both dead, with large holes through their heads.

The 7.62 mm bullet Osmond had fired had passed through the heads of both men. He had achieved the rare feat of ‘one shot, two kills’ known in the sniping business as ‘a Quigley’. The term comes from the 1990 film Quigley Down Under in which the hero, played by Tom Selleck, uses an old Sharps rifle to devastating effect…

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Posted: 15th, March 2011 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)


Afghanistan Before The Wars: Photos From A Bygone Age Of Freedom

THE news is full of bloody images of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and… But what of Afghanistan, a place that has slipped from the news agenda, only featuring when a British serviceman is killed? The place was not always a warzone full of angry men pretending to be what they think is right. Once upon a time in Afghanistan, women and men mixed and life was familiar to any Westerner…

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Posted: 20th, February 2011 | In: Reviews | Comment


Linda Norgrove’s Father Embodies Dignity Under Fire

LINDA Norgrove died in the Kunar region of Afghanistan because a US Navy Seal on a mission to rescue her feared for his safety (panicked?) and tossed a grenade.

The aide worker had been kidnapped by “brigands”. She was being kept prisoner in a remote mountain valley.

Two helicopter crews of elite US forces set out to rescue her. One crew landed too far away from the target to help in the fire fight, during which the soldier who tossed the grenade had his gun jam.

After Linda Norgrove was killed, it took 42 hours for the truth to come out – the initial explanation was that the insurgents had murdered her.

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Posted: 15th, February 2011 | In: Reviews | Comments (3)


Tory Council Sends Afghan Refugees To Dog Club

ANY Afghan refugees looking for sanctuary in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and advised to contact the Southern Afghan Club.

You may have attended their last big meeting at the Wood Green Animal Shelters, where Judges Mark Cocozza (Dogs) and Dawn Kirwan (Bitches) checked the teeth and hair of all new arrivals?

You might want the Afghan Council. Yep, the Southern Afghan Club is for Afghan Hounds.

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Posted: 10th, February 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)


The Servicemen Of 2 Signal Regiment Are Back From Afghanistan: Photos

LOOK away from the career cynicism of the likes of Tony Blair – still embroiled in an inquiry into why a bloodthirsty dictator was toppled in Iraq – and see instead the Servicemen of 2 Signal Regiment returning to their base at Imphal Barracks in York over the weekend.

The sponsored, mawkish over-sentimentalism of tabloid media that brands all serving personnel heroes plays no part in the actual bloody battle. A country not united by the war views its servicemen as something other than the vital vanguard of the national fight. The soldiers are portrayed as a poor mob of yes men forced to fight for whatever it is they are supposed to be fighting for. When they return they get their backs slapped, an evening with Ross Kemp and sympathy.

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Posted: 23rd, January 2011 | In: Reviews | Comment