South Asia

Photo: Millions of Afghans have been displaced by the war. Credit: MikrofonNews

Afghan Crisis Must End America’s Empire of War, Corruption and Poverty

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*

NEW YORK (IDN) — Americans have been shocked by videos of thousands of Afghans risking their lives to flee the Taliban’s return to power in their country—and then by an Islamic State suicide bombing and ensuing massacre by U.S. forces that together killed at least 170 people, including 13 U.S. troops.

Even as UN agencies warn of an impending humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the U.S. Treasury has frozen nearly all of the Afghan Central Bank’s $9.4 billion in foreign currency reserves, depriving the new government of funds that it will desperately need in the coming months to feed its people and provide basic services.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 31 August 2021

Photo: New, expanded worker safety pact will build on Bangladesh Accord’s success. Source: UNI Global Union

New Accord Set To Improve Workers’ Health and Safety In Bangladesh Garment Factories

This article is transmitted under a new partnership between IDN-InDepthNews and Uni Apro, a Regional Organisation of Services workers in Asia Pacific, part of UNI@uniglobalunion.

By Kim Lui

SINGAPORE (IDN) — Representatives from international textile retailers have reached a new, 26-month agreement with UNI Global Union and IndustriALL that builds on the progress made by the ground-breaking Bangladesh Accord while promising to expand the scope of the Accord’s legally binding commitments.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 30 August 2021

Photo: Lower Manhattan skyline as seen from Governors Island in June 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

The Ultimate Nuclear Terrorist Attack?

Viewpoint by Donald A. Collins

Donald A. Collins is a former US Navy officer, banker, venture capitalist, and a free-lance writer who has spent over 40 years working for women’s reproductive health as a board member and/or officer of numerous family planning organizations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Guttmacher Institute, Family Health International and Ipas.

WASHINTON D.C. (IDN) — A nuclear attack on New York city? It can’t happen. But the question of a nuclear war has been feared since Hiroshima.

: Opinion Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 30 August 2021

Photo: American soldiers overseeing training of their Afghan counterparts at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Source: The Indian Express.

The West Spins A “Humanitarian” Tale, China Speaks at Human Rights Council of War Crimes in Afghanistan

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — To cover up America and its allies humiliating defeat in Afghanistan, the Anglo-American media is spinning tales of a great “humanitarian” airlift to save Afghani women from assumed brutality when Taliban consolidate their power across Afghanistan. But, at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on August 24 the Chinese changed the narrative calling for the US, UK, Australia and other NATO countries to be held accountable for violations of human rights committed during the two-decade-long war in Afghanistan.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; UN INSIDER; 28 August 2021

ALCAP’s “Documentaries for Development” at World Forum 4.0

Viewpoint by Niba Mirza*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Documentaries have always been a potent medium to exchange ideas, information and knowledge. They manifest an inherent tendency of the human beings to document reality of their times and communicate with each other.

Among others, this year’s World Forum 4.0 shall feature “Documentaries for Development,” a unique concept developed by Mr. Manish Uprety F.R.A.S., Special Adviser - Asia and Africa, of the Audiovisual Regional Hub of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Comunicación Audiovisual Parlamentaria, ALCAP, or the Latin American Parliamentary Association of Audio-Visual Communication.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 28 August 2021

Photo: Remains of 6, 7, and 1 WTC on September 17. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Lies About How the Attack on Afghanistan Started

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) — The mainstream media, including the BBC, do not tell us the true story of how Afghanistan was invaded by the United States and its allies. Here is a link to an article by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies about the invasion of Afghanistan:

https://truthout.org/articles/will-the-voices-of-those-who-were-always-right-on-afghanistan-still-be-ignored/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=0260a0ca-3224-4181-89de-adf54fb583df

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 28 August 2021

Photo: Indian evacuation in Afghanistan. Source: DNA.

India Has Lost the First-Mover Advantage in Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) — In the wake of the US retreat from Afghanistan, as the world’s leading nations engage with the Taliban in Kabul, India appears to have shot itself in the foot and gone into a sulk. When New Delhi does break its sullen silence, it only serves to remind the world of its seething animus against Pakistan.

As the regional superpower with unique civilisational connections and people-to-people ties with Afghanistan, India ought to have been a prominent player at this juncture of historic transition.

: Shastri Ramachandaran; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 27 August 2021

Photo: View from the Herat Citadel, also known as the Citadel of Alexander the Great, in Afghanistan. CC BY 2.0

Would "Reformed" Taliban Respect Other Religions, Cultural Heritage and Non-Believers?

Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira

COLOMBO (IDN) — The Taliban’s fanatical yearning to attack everything opposed to what they mistakenly believe as Islam was displayed in two acts of destruction in the year 2001. The return of Taliban as rulers of Afghanistan raise question whether the remaining remnants of a Buddhist civilization in the region would be wiped out in coming years.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 26 August 2021

Photo: US Sponsored Al Qaeda “Freedom Fighters” Were Used to Railroad the Formation of a Secular Socialist Government. Mohammad Najibullah, Former President of Afghanistan, in the centre. Source: Global Research

The Story of US-Led Collusion in Razing Afghanistan to the Ground

Viewpoint by John Pilger

This article was produced by Globetrotter. John Pilger is an award-winning Australian journalist, filmmaker, and author. Read his full biography on his website here, and follow him on Twitter: @JohnPilger. Source: Globetrotter

SYDNEY (IDN) — As a tsunami of crocodile tears engulfs Western politicians, history is suppressed. More than a generation ago, Afghanistan won its freedom, which the United States, Britain and their “allies” destroyed.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 25 August 2021

Photo: New Zealand Hercules airlifts evacuees from Kabul. Credit: New Zealand Defence Force.

New Zealand Should Have Stayed Out of the War in Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Keith Locke

Former Green MP Keith Locke was the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson. He writes occasional pieces for Asia Pacific Report. This article was first published by The Spinoff, republished in Asia Pacific Report, our partner, on August 19 with the author’s permission.

WELLINGTON (IDN) — After the fall of Kabul, the obvious question for New Zealanders is whether we should ever have joined the American war in Afghanistan. Labour and National politicians, who sent our Special Forces there, will say yes.

The Greens, who opposed the war from the start, will say no.