«Noviembre negro en Afganistán»

[De Guadi Calvo] Desde la invasión norteamericana de 2001, Afganistán no ha sufrido un momento de mayor violencia cómo el de estos últimos meses. Un dato espeluznante, si se tiene en cuenta que los Estados Unidos están librando la guerra más prolongada de su historia, con un costo de más de un billón de dólares, en lo que va de este año 45 mil millones. Además de que le ha producidos la muerte de unos 2300 pertenecientes a las fuerzas norteamericanas y 22 mil heridos. También han muerto 1720 «contratistas civiles» estadounidenses, entiéndase mercenarios, y unos 1800 integrantes de las fuerzas de la OTAN. (resumenmediooriente.org)

«Guerra infinita»

[De António Santos] Só nos primeiros nove meses de 2018, os EUA lançaram 5213 bombas no Afeganistão, o número mais alto desde a invasão, há 17 anos. As estatísticas, divulgadas na semana passada pelo Comando Central da Força Aérea dos EUA, revelam uma guerra cada vez mais longe de acabar: o número de bombas estado-unidenses lançadas contra este país saltou de 947 em 2015 para 1337 em 2016; 4361 em 2017 e, só até Setembro deste ano, 5213: uma média de 17 bombas por dia. (avante.pt)

«Why the US ruling class mourns John McCain»

[De John Pilger] Like virtually every other Democrat and Republican, he supported the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, launching a war that is now approaching the end of its 17th year, the longest in American history.

It was in the second Iraq War that McCain played his most prominent and reactionary role, cosponsoring the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, along with Democrat Joe Lieberman, endorsing the bombing of Iraq, first under Clinton and then George W. Bush, cheerleading the 2003 invasion and then pushing for a more aggressive use of force during the protracted US occupation, culminating in Bush’s «surge» of additional troops in 2006-2007.

McCain was a full-throated supporter of whatever lie the Bush administration chose as the basis of its war propaganda: Saddam Hussein’s alleged ties to terrorism; his possession of «weapons of mass destruction»; the desire to establish «democracy» in Iraq; and finally, the need to preserve «stability,» i.e., to deal with the consequences of the US destruction of Iraq as a functioning society.

Along the way, McCain found time to advocate military action against North Korea in 2003, US intervention in Iran in 2007, and US support for Georgia in the war between Russia and that Caucasian republic in 2008 (when he dispatched his wife Cindy to Tbilisi in a show of support).
[…]
Throughout the Obama administration, McCain was a firm supporter of the Democratic president when he used military force, as in Libya, or threatened it, as in the South China Sea, and a critic when Obama pulled back, as in Syria. McCain and John Kerry introduced a Senate resolution to sanction the war in Libya, and McCain called for US air power to be used in «a heavier way.» In September 2013, McCain backed a resolution passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to give US support to military operations in Syria that would «change the momentum on the battlefield» and strengthen forces opposed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. He repeatedly called for «more boots on the ground» for the US-backed war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. (wsws.org)