A Letter to Americans about Afghanistan, from the Margins of Empire, by Kenn Orphan

Image by Joe Catron via Flickr

by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
August 31, 2021

Dear Americans,

I wanted to share some thoughts with you on Afghanistan, as it sits atop the rubble of another indifferent imperial folly with the dread of once again living under a fundamentalist authoritarian regime on the horizon. And especially on the American public’s disconnect from its own government’s culpability in spreading misery there and throughout the Global South. I wanted to talk about reflection too.

Chris Hedges and Max Blumenthal: International Jihadism

Image by Alisdare Hickson via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Aug 17, 2019

Host Chris Hedges talks to author and journalist Max Blumenthal about the intimate connection between the misguided support the United States has given to international Jihadism – starting with over $1billion Washington gave to the Afghan Mujahideen in the 1970s – and the rise of neo-fascists and ultra-nationalist movements in Europe and the US.

Dr. Najib — A Sketch of A Man and A Country by Gaither Stewart

Image by Image Editor via Flickr

by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
October 9, 2017

When in 1978 the 31-year old Afghan Communist politician-activist, Mohammad Najibullah, arrived in Tehran, “exiled” to neighboring Iran as Afghanistan’s Ambassador, I had just left Iran where I had worked throughout the year of 1977. Najibullah’s political party, the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) had come to power in Kabul in April, 1978 in what is known as the Saur Revolution, the name of the month in the Afghan calendar when the Communist Revolution took place. Far from united, the PDPA was divided into two factions: the more revolutionary faction (Khalq-People’s) that first took power in Kabul in that crucial year of 1978 (crucial in both Afghanistan and Iran), preferred to have the charismatic Najibullah of the Parcham faction (Banner) of the PDPA far from the halls of power.

Lies my president still tells me? By Jerry Mazza

By Jerry Mazza
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at Intrepid Report
www.jerrymazza.com
May 4, 2011

As the president’s ratings continue to sink, his approval for four wars diminishes, and there is a rise in the 14 billion-plus national debt ceiling being pushed by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, all with Wall Street speculation driving up gas and food prices, what better time for Barack Obama to announce the assassination of Osama bin Laden by a team of Navy Seals. It’s a homemade bomb of good news to wipe away all the bad.

The ‘Obvious’ Silence of the Times, China’s Pipelineistan War, Mujahedin’s Penetration of Tajikistan by Sibel Edmonds

by Sibel Edmonds
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published by Boiling Frogs Post
17 October, 2010

The other day our friend Metem brought to my attention a story that had made it to the Project Censored list, ‘US Funds & Supports Taliban.’ Here are two excerpts from the introduction which are related to our coverage of the mysterious helicopter activities in northern Afghanistan.

China-Turkmenistan Score: Another Wave of US-Mujahideen Contracts? by Sibel Edmonds

by Sibel Edmonds
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published by Boiling Frogs Post
15 October, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

Extreme Competitions May Bring More Familiar Extreme Measures

Here is one of the latest on China-Turkmenistan Pipeline deals:

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has announced the discovery of yet another gas field on the right bank of the Amu Darya River in Turkmenistan, holding in excess of 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas.

Separately, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow inaugurated a new compressor station at the Bagtiyarlyk fields, estimated by Chinese engineers to hold 1.6 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

The Three-Decade US-Mujahideen Partnership Still Going Strong by Sibel Edmonds

by Sibel Edmonds
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published by Boiling Frogs Post
13 October, 2010

In the last few weeks I’ve been reading and talking about the latest developments in Central Asia and the Caucasus. I am planning to post a few updates on the status of the score board in this region (pipeline rivalries, military base ‘erection’ scores- and what-not). Meanwhile, as I am dealing with all this I keep ending up with riddle-like situations. And instead of trying to solve or get out of these riddles, I’m going to give up and instead share one of them with you, my blogosphere friends.

Our enemies’ enemies are our friends. Many of our nation’s enemies are the enemies of our enemies, so that makes them what? Friends? Enemies? It depends? Both? And what would all this make our ‘real’ foreign policy makers? Enemies? Friends? Both? What?

Seriously! Think about it.