1
POPSSenior Taliban Commander Reported Killed In US Strike A long-time Taliban leader killed . . . . confirmation pending Omar was born in the town South Waziristan. Like many Taliban leaders, he earned his stripes by battling against the Soviet Red Army in Bagram and Kabul, Afghanistan during the 1980s. He was wounded several times but continued to return to the fight. After the Soviets withdrawal, Omar left Afghanistan as the Afghan warlords battled for power. He returned after Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, took power in 1996. Haji Omar forged close links with Mullah Omar while serving as one of his senior lieutenants. He lived in Kandahar and took an Afghan wife. After the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Omar fled to his base in South Waziristan. From there he carved out his enclave and worked to build the Pakistani Taliban as a formidable fighting force. His fighters cross the border to fight US and allied forces in Afghanistan.
5
POPSPentagon To Expand Intel Ops at US Prison in Afghanistan
What incredible crap they sling at us... Originally built as a Soviet air base in the 1980s, the Bagram prison was meant to be a short-term holding site. Bagram has been a flash point in the debate over U.S. treatment of detainees. The International Red Cross has negotiated with U.S. officials about conditions and access to detainees. After peaking at nearly 700 prisoners in 2006, the population at Bagram has hovered for the past year at its 600-prisoner capacity, according to Central Command figures provided in response to a USA TODAY inquiry. The intelligence hires are to be in place before next summer's scheduled completion of the new detention center that will hold 1,000 prisoners, an increase in capacity by 65%. "In 2001 ... we never thought we'd still be (at Bagram) today," said Brig. Gen. Robert Holmes, deputy operations chief at U.S. Central Command, which oversees Afghanistan operations. "Now that we see this as a sustained activity, there were improvements to be mad
8
POPSA USAF Captain’s Observation Of Obama’s Visit To Afghanistan So really he was just here to make a showing for the Americans back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you. I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States . I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-in-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country. If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake. In service, CPT J Bagram, Afghanistan
5
POPSDetainee Abuse was Routine in Afghanistan The article goes on: "I was punched and kicked at Bagram. ... At Bagram, when they took a man to interrogation at night, the next morning we would see him brought out on a stretcher looking almost dead," said Aminullah, an Afghan who was held there for a little more than three months. "But at Guantanamo, there were rules, there was law."
3
POPSAmerica's prison for terrorists suspects often held the wrong men Cont... "This unprecedented compilation shows that most of the 66 were low-level Taliban grunts, innocent Afghan villagers or ordinary criminals. At least seven had been working for the U.S.-backed Afghan government and had no ties to militants, according to Afghan local officials. In effect, many of the detainees posed no danger to the United States or its allies. The investigation also found that despite the uncertainty about whom they were holding, U.S. soldiers beat and abused many prisoners. Prisoner mistreatment became a regular feature in cellblocks and interrogation rooms at Bagram and Kandahar air bases, the two main way stations in Afghanistan en route to Guantanamo. While he was held at Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base, Akhtiar said, "When I had a dispute with the interrogator, when I asked, 'What is my crime?' the soldiers who took me back to my cell would throw me down the stairs."
9
POPSWho murdered Ciara Durkin? Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy have supported Ms Durkin's family's call for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death. Ciara was the 8th of 9 children, all born in Ireland. After retiring as a teacher in Galway, the father, Tom Durkin returned to the US with his wife, Angela, and settled in Dorchester in 1986 when Ciara was 9. He died of a heart attack several weeks after the family moved to Boston. As a young girl, she attended St. Mark’s Elementary School in Dorchester. She joined the Army National Guard in October 2005 after getting laid off from her information technology job at Fenway Health. Brother Pierce Durkin wasn’t home when Ciara called from Afghanistan to wish him a happy birthday. Hours later, after learning that she had been killed, he listened to her singing ‘‘Happy Birthday’’ again.
0
POPSOmar Khadr Omar was 15 when he was shot. He was refused pain meds by the US Military. True story. Go to the site, over on the sidebar are the profiles. Click on his and follow the links. Then please take the action. (Note: the wiki link has been updated and is excellent!)
0
POPSSAVE Abdel Al Ghazzawi! Abdel is dying of Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis, contracted in Guantanamo. PLEASE write Judge Bates in support!! His Attorney is going to Cuba to see him Monday. Please let him know that WE SUPPORT HIM by writing/faxing TODAY! Bless you!
6
POPSTaxi To The Dark Side "An isolated incident. There's always a few bad apples" A few?? The whole damn tree is rotten to the core.
16
POPSExtracted line by line from Hell by pro bono Attorneys
"Osama Abu Kabir is a Jordanian water truck driver who worked for the municipality of Greater Amman. After joining an Islamic missionary organization called Jama'at al-Tablighi, he traveled to Afghanistan, where he was detained by anti-Taliban forces and handed over to the US military. One of the justifications offered for his continued detention is that he was captured wearing a Casio digital watch, a brand supposedly favored by members of Al Qaeda because some models may be used as bomb detonators. Kabir remains at Guantánamo. IS IT TRUE? Is it true that the grass grows up again after the rain? Is it true that the flowers will rise up in the spring? Is it true that birds will migrate home again? Is it true that the salmon swim back up their stream? It is true. This is true. These are all miracles. But is it true that one day we'll leave Guantánamo Bay? Is it true that one day we'll go back to our homes? I sail in my dreams, I am dreaming of homes. To be with my children
3
POPSTHE ENDLESS SUMMER OF DISTRACTION This is a well written remarkable story of how our military is showing signs of... ("You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run." The reference to his hit song, "The Gambler," is not facile. The Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote that war, in its complexities and uncertainties, most resembles a game of cards -- let's say Texas Hold'em in honor of the President's adopted state. Over the last four-plus years, we've shoved hundreds of billions of dollars into the Iraqi pot, suffered sobering losses in killed-in-action/wounded-in-action, yet we're still holding losing cards dealt from a stacked deck. Even so, the Bush administration has recently doubled-down instead of folding, hoping to hit an inside straight despite long odds.) MORE BELOW:
0
POPSMurder Mystery on Afghanistan Military Base To watch the video for this story click the rawstory.com link and scroll to the bottom of the page. I'm not surprised that this has happened. I know people who have worked at Bagram and they were always careful about what said and did, not just to keep their jobs but to watch out for their well-being. Corruption and fear are the keywords.
18
POPSIt's WORSE Than Guantanamo And Abu Ghraib The clip does not do the article justice. It was impossible to relay the horrors in such a short space. This is a two page article, that everyone with an iota of humanity left in them MUST read. The U.S Administration and the U.S Military are engaged in widespread, worldwide, systematic torture, abuse, imprisonment and murder!. This is the new USA and what is stands for. I am so sickened, disgusted, angry and I can't even begin to express the outrage I feel. It's sick!! Are you proud of yourself Mr Bush? How do you friggin' sleep at night?!? Geeez... Bush and his fellow partners in crime, have to be removed from power and if there's an ounce of decency left in the citizens of the USA, these people must be stopped and held accountable for all the atrocities and crimes against humanity they have and continue to commit! :mad:
8
POPSInmates’ Words: The Poems of Guantanamo The publication of an anthology of works, composed on paper cups by detainees, provides a harrowing insight into the torments and fading hopes of prisoners. "Aami al Haj, a Sudanese national, was a journalist covering the war in Afghanistan for al-Jazeera television, when, in 2001, he was arrested stripped of his passport and press card and handed over to US forces. He was tortured at both Bagram air base and Kandahar before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay. The US military says he was a financial courier for Chechen rebels and that he assisted al-Qa’ida but has offered no evidence to support the claims. “When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees, Hot tears covered my face,” he wrote from his prison cell. “They have monuments to liberty And freedom of opinion, which is well and good. But I explained to them, that Architecture is not justice."
8
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update