Ralph Nader, Dahr Jamail and Matthew Hoh: Iraq War—Twenty Years Later + Peace in Ukraine – Say NO to Endless U.S. Wars

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Dandelion Salad
March 19, 2023

with Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Mar 18, 2023

In a lively and insightful roundtable discussion, Ralph hosts former Marine company commander, Matthew Hoh, who when not deployed also worked in the Pentagon and the State Department, and independent and unembedded Iraq war correspondent, Dahr Jamail. They mark the twentieth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and discuss the consequences of that misbegotten and illegal war. Plus, we hear a clip from Ralph’s and Patti Smith’s antiwar concert tour conducted in 2005.

Afghan Lesson For Uncle Sam’s Running Dogs, by Finian Cunningham + Afghanistan: Who’s to Blame and What Next?

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Ireland
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation, August 15, 2021
August 17, 2021

Afghanistan is the most glaring proof of the American treachery. It’s a cautionary tale for others who incredibly still seem trusting in hitching their wagon to a U.S. alliance.

Chris Hedges and Matthew Hoh: The High Rate of Suicide Among Veterans

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on May 9, 2020

On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Matthew Hoh, former U.S. Marine Company Commander, about the high rates of veteran suicides. Hoh served two tours in Iraq as a Marine and with the State Department. He resigned his position as a State Department political officer in Afghanistan in 2009 in protest over the Obama Administration’s escalation of the war.

Will Griffin and Matthew Hoh: Fighting the Unwinnable War in Afghanistan, Parts 1-3

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With Will Griffin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Peace Report
March 8, 2019

“For all these costs, particularly the bloody expenditure of lives, the war remains the same as it was in 2009: neither side can win and neither side will surrender. US proclamations of military success and “hard won gains” are specious and are just one of the ever present lies of war.” — Matthew Hoh

Matthew Hoh: Trump’s New Afghanistan Strategy: Windfall for the Military-Industrial Complex​

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TheRealNews on Aug 21, 2017

After 16 years and over a trillion dollars’ worth ​of fighting, the U.S. has accomplished none of its stated goals–except the goal of​ enriching the ​flourishing military-industrial complex.

David Swanson: Purposeless Death in Syria + No U.S. Warplanes Over Syria News Conference

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
August 9, 2017

Statement by David Swanson as Director of World Beyond War at DC press conference August 8, 2017.

I won’t have time to list all the reasons I want U.S. military planes and drones out of Syrian skies much less all the reasons people have noted in comments on our petition, but there’s no question what my first reason is, although it’s not a reason always given much weight here in Washington.

Has Trump Threatened Nuclear War on North Korea?

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Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews on Aug 8, 2017

As President Trump threatens North Korea “with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen,” the need for diplomacy is as urgent as ever, says veteran journalist Tim Shorrock.

Chris Hedges and Matthew Hoh: Afghanistan War Keeps Going Because the Money Keeps Flowing In

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Jul 15, 2017

On this week’s episode of On Contact, Chris Hedges takes an in-depth look at the 16-year-old conflict in Afghanistan with Matthew Hoh, a Marine Corps veteran and diplomat who resigned his State Department post in Afghanistan in protest over the war. RT Correspondent Anya Parampil looks at the decades of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

Angry? You’re Damn Straight I’m Angry. Roger that. by Jill Dalton

by Jill Dalton
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
recoveringarmybrat
February 16, 2012

After reading Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis’ first hand account of his recent time spent in Afghanistan I’m more pissed off then ever. Yet another military officer comes forward to tell the truth about yet another ill-fated war we find ourselves engaged in. Another illegal war of aggression with no end in sight and surround sound corruption aided and abetted by an enabling government and a bloated military too full of its own hubris to admit defeat.

The New Pentagon Papers: WikiLeaks Releases 90,000+ Secret Military Documents

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Democracy Now!
July 26, 2010

The New Pentagon Papers: WikiLeaks Releases 90,000+ Secret Military Documents Painting Devastating Picture of Afghanistan War

It’s one of the biggest leaks in US military history. More than 90,000 internal records of US military actions in Afghanistan over the past six years have been published by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The documents provide a devastating portrait of the war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, how a secret black ops special forces unit hunts down targets for assassination or detention without trial, how Taliban attacks have soared, and how Pakistan is fueling the insurgency. We host a roundtable discussion with independent British journalist Stephen Grey; Pentagon Papers whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg; former State Department official in Afghanistan, Matthew Hoh; independent journalist Rick Rowley; and investigative historian Gareth Porter. [includes rush transcript]

Rethink Afghanistan War: The Eikenberry Cables

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Take Action:

Sign our act.ly petition to the House Armed Services Committee

***

rethinkafghanistan
February 02, 2010

Get more breaking news: http://www.rethinkafghanistan.com

This year, 30,000 additional American troops will be deployed to Afghanistan despite the fact that the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan expressly opposed troop escalation in two strongly worded cables sent to the White House in 2009.

The White House ignored his warnings and sent troops anyway.

Afghanistan War: The Soviet Lesson Not Learned

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bravenewfoundation
December 22, 2009

Advice on Afghanistan by Ralph Nader

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by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
Nov. 18, 2009

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Dear President Obama,

You are nearing the day of decision as to whether you order the dispatch of more soldiers to Afghanistan.

Some of your advisors have urged up to 50,000 more soldiers, including several thousand called trainers of the Afghan army.

Other advisors have urged more caution, notably the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and former general, Karl W. Eikenberry, who opposes more soldiers so long as the Afghan government remains grossly dysfunctional.

Beside your own military and civilian advisors, you are receiving disparate counsel from an anemic Congress and your allies abroad.

Matthew Hoh: Taliban is not a threat to the US, it is a threat to the Karzai Government

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AlJazeeraEnglish
November 03, 2009

Will the US send 44,000 more troops to Afghanistan as part of a counter insurgency strategy or will it instead opt for a smaller counter terrorism force?

Why and to what end in Afghanistan by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
Nov. 3, 2009

Matthew P. Hoh, a former U.S. combat marine captain and Department of Defense civilian in Iraq starting in 2004 and until September a political officer in the Foreign Service stationed in Afghanistan is giving some consternation to President Obama’s advisors as the Commander in Chief considers sending more soldiers to that war-torn country next to Pakistan.

Mr. Hoh wrote a letter of resignation to the State Department in September. His four page letter frames his doubts about what he said is the “why and to what end” behind “the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. He notes that like the Soviets’ nine year occupation, “we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by its people.”