Peter Symonds: "A Western diplomat confirmed this week that delegates in
Bonn chose a different leader, Abdul Sattar Sirat, to head the interim
government. Pressure from American and United Nations officials resulted
in the naming of Mr Karzai and the selection of ministerial positions.
'The result is that a lot of people feel that Karzai is a US imposition,
' the diplomat said. 'Depending on how he plays his cards, that could be
a problem'
Karl: If this report is reliable we get a glimpse of the degree to which
this interim government in Afghanistan is a stooge of imperialism.
Symonds reports too that the Security Council determined the overall
structure of the government too.
Figures for the number of Taliban POWs are being given as at about
7000. However these figures may not be reliable as they are provided by
a US source and not by the Red Cross or some more independent body. It
must be remembered that the figures for the WTC were conveniently
exaggerated to double what they were.
There are still no estimates as to the number of casualties suffered by
the Taliban and the Opposition forces. As I have said before the so
called war in Afghanistan has been rather extraordinary. The public are
informed that there had been fierce fighting. Yet we have almost no
knowledge of the casualties. In a sense ways we don't really know who
this war. Part of the problem is the role played by the commercial print
and broadcasting media. It simply follows the US line largely failing to
engage in any "independent" investigation or reporting of its
own --despite its greater resources. Even journalists such as Pilger and
Fisk merely engage in commentary. They don't engage in any independent
investigation. Consequently there liberal outpourings don't really
amount to much in a context in which facts are king.
An anti war campaign must make the demand for the facts a key demand in
its campaign.
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PS
Sonia Shah wrote: While outrage over the Taleban's requirement that
Afghan women wear a head-to-toe veil continues, a new comprehensive
study shows that the majority of Afghan women consider the Taleban's
dress codes a non-issue, and many choose to wear the burqa or chadari
whether the Taleban decrees it or not.
Karl Carlile
Be free to visit the web site of the Global Communist Group at
http://homepage.eircom.net/~beprepared/
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