This video from Chicago in the USA says about itself:
On March 20, 2007 over 4000 people protested the Iraq war’s 4th anniversary by marching from Ogden School to Daily Plaza on Michigan Avenue. This is the video of the speakers at the school before the march and the march.
By John Bachtell in the USA:
Chicago mayor calls for end to Afghanistan and Iraq wars
February 15 2010
CHICAGO – With frustration mounting over the economic crisis and its devastating impact on city services, Mayor Richard M. Daley blasted US funding for military occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq. Speaking to the Feb. 9 Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards dinner, Daley pleaded for money being spent on war to be redirected to social needs.
The speech marks an about face for the mayor. The Daley administration has engaged in ugly confrontations with anti-war protesters since 2003 including the mass arrest of 800 marchers protesting the invasion of Iraq.
“Just think of all the money that we spend on wars to save the world. Today we can’t save America. Why do we always have to go to war, continually, why can’t we rebuild America? Why is it we have to take $300 or $400 billion . . . and then tell people we’re only going to be there for a year and we’re coming home . . . and then we’ll declare victory,” said the mayor, whose son Patrick is facing overseas redeployment.
Afghanistan: Marjah Offensive Marked by Confusion, Civilian Deaths: here. And here. And here.
Afghanistan: ‘Nato bombs killed my brother’s son’: here.
Anti-war campaigners renewed their calls to the government on Wednesday to withdraw troops from Afghanistan following the death of two more British soldiers: here.
The New York Times’ decision to run a column stressing military subordination to civilian authorities comes amid growing assertiveness and impunity of the military and intelligence establishments: here.
Pentagon Still Doesn’t Consider Post-’Mission Accomplished’ Iraq Deaths to Be Combat Deaths: here.
Britain: Tony Blair descended into such a deep depression after the Iraq war that he told Gordon Brown and John Prescott he would quit No 10 the following summer – only to renege on the pledge within months, a new book by the Observer‘s Andrew Rawnsley reveals: here.
Related articles
- Stop these wars (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- Nathan Gardels: Hans Blix: Whether Obama in Syria or Bush in Iraq, The US Is Not the World Police (huffingtonpost.com)
- Video of the Day: Bill Hicks on the Iraq War (libertyblitzkrieg.com)
- WATCH: Colin Powell Calls Out Cheney For Iraq Mistake (huffingtonpost.com)
- DOJ Pursues Immunity for Bush and Six Others for Iraq War Crimes (thestateweekly.com)
- CIA ‘helped as Saddam gassed Iran’ (stuff.co.nz)
- Chicago’s Babies- Our Dying Youth (chibydesign.wordpress.com)
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
http://sify.com/news/civilian-death-toll-climbs-in-afghan-offensive-news-international-kcqnaegadjh.html
Civilian death toll rises in Afghan offensive
2010-02-16 14:30:00
Three more Afghan civilians were killed in the assault on a southern Taliban stronghold, NATO forces said Tuesday, highlighting the toll on the population from an offensive aimed at making them safer.
The deaths — in three separate incidents — come after two errant U.S. missiles struck a house on the outskirts of the town of Marjah on Sunday, killing 12 people, half of them children. Afghan officials said Monday three Taliban fighters were in the house at the time of the attack. …
The offensive is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, and a major test of a retooled NATO strategy to focus on protecting civilians, rather than killing insurgents.
But in the fourth day of an assault that could take weeks, the drumbeat of gunfire and controlled detonations of planted bombs sparked fears that civilians will bear the burden of the fight.
In two of the incidents NATO confirmed Tuesday, Afghan men came toward NATO forces and ignored shouts and hand signals to stop, NATO said. Troops opened fire and killed them.
In the third incident, two Afghan men were caught in the crossfire between insurgents and NATO forces. Both were wounded and one died of his injuries despite being given medical care, NATO said.
Taliban fighters have stepped up counterattacks against Marines and Afghan soldiers in Marjah, slowing the allied advance to a crawl despite Afghan government claims the insurgents were broken and on the run.
Though NATO has only confirmed 15 civilian deaths, an Afghan human rights group said Tuesday that they have counted 19 civilians killed since the beginning of the operation. Four of those were people who were caught in the crossfire when they had to leave their homes for various reasons. …
“Their neighbors tell us that the bodies are outside and they want someone to pick them up. They say they’re scared if they go outside they will also be shot dead,” said Ajmal Samadi, the director of Afghanistan Rights Monitor. It was unclear whether NATO or insurgent forces were to blame for the deaths, he said.
In the streets, Taliban fighters appeared to be slipping under the cover of darkness into compounds already deemed free of weapons and explosives, then opening fire on the Marines from behind U.S. lines. …
Afghan President Hamid Karzai approved the assault on Marjah only after instructing NATO and Afghan commanders to be careful about harming civilians. “This operation has been done with that in mind,” the top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, said Monday.
Despite those instructions, NATO reported its first civilian deaths Sunday, saying two U.S. rockets veered off target by up to 600 yards (meters) and slammed into a home — killing six children and six adults. …
In a separate incident unrelated to the Marjah offensive, a NATO airstrike in neighboring Kandahar province killed five civilians and wounded two. NATO said in a statement they were mistakenly believed to have been planting roadside bombs. …
Allied officials have reported only two coalition deaths so far — one American and one Briton killed Saturday. There have been no reports of wounded. Afghan officials said at least 27 insurgents were killed so far in the offensive.
As long as the town remains unstable, NATO officials cannot move to the second phase — restoring Afghan government control and rushing in aid and public services to win over inhabitants who have been living under Taliban rule for years.
___
Associated Press Writers Heidi Vogt in Kabul and Rahim Faiez in Shorabak Airbase in Helmand province contributed to this report.
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Group: NATO Forces Blocking Movement of Wounded Afghan Civilians
Lakshar-matteo
The US is coming under increasing criticism over the rise in civilian casualties during the assault on the Afghan city of Marjah, one of the largest military offensives of the eight-year war. At least nineteen civilians have been killed so far, including six children who died when a missile struck their house on the outskirts of the city. We speak with Matteo dell’Aira, medical coordinator of the Emergency Lashkar Gah hospital. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/17/group_nato_forces_blocking_wounded_afghan
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19.02.2010 01:36
NATO airstrike mistakenly kills 7 Afghan police
Seven Afghan police officers were killed Thursday when their vehicle was mistakenly hit by fire from a NATO military plane, police and witnesses said, dpa reported.
Afghan and NATO-led forces began a joint operation against Taliban militants in Emam Saheb district of the northern province of Kunduz earlier in the day, district police chief Abdul Qayoum said.
“During the operation, a NATO jet hit a police ranger and killed seven policemen,” Qayoum told the German Press Agency dpa. “We believe the pilot mistook the police forces for Taliban.”
One police officer was wounded in the attack, he said.
The website of a German news magazine, Der Spiegel, said the air cover was called in by a US special forces unit. Resident Abdul Latif told dpa that one of his relatives, who was a police official, was killed in the attack.
“Some of the bodies were torn to pieces and are beyond recognition,” he said in an interview at the hospital, where the bodies were taken.
Sofi Nazikmir, a member of provincial council meanwhile said local villagers told him that they saw military plane firing a rocket at the police vehicle.
A NATO spokesman in Kabul said that the alliance was aware of an incident, and that its forces were investigating.
Mohammad Omar, Kunduz’s provincial governor, said authorities in the region had been asked to probe the incident.
The deadly airstrike could strain relations between the Afghan government and NATO forces at a time when both sides are calling for closer partnership and cooperation in fight against Taliban, who are active throughout the war-torn country.
As part of US new strategy to turn the tide of the eight-year-war in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan and NATO troops, mostly US and British soldiers, recently began the largest-ever operation in southern province of Helmand to root out Taliban in the last main bastion in the country.
The NATO leaders have recently endorsed a new plan to boost up the number of Afghan police and army to 300,000 by summer 2011. The alliance are to send more trainers to accelerate the process.
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/afghanistan/1641894.html
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