monday reads

Attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan surged last year, according to previously unpublished figures from allied military forces fighting insurgents.

Islamic insurgents are expanding their numbers and reach in Afghanistan and Pakistan, spreading violence and disarray over a vast cross-border zone where al Qaida has rebuilt the sanctuary it lost when the United States invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

"Make no mistake", begins a new issue brief from non-partisan think-tank the Atlantic Council of the United States, "NATO is not winning in Afghanistan".


A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country's rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after "liberation" and under the democratic rule of the West's ally Hamid Karzai.

Sign the petition to put pressure on the Afghan government to prevent the execution of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh.


Glenn Greenwald: Is Michael Mukasey Prioritizing the Harassment and Imprisonment of Journalists?


ACLU tries to ground the Boeing subsidiary that trafficked in torture.


Did The Warranties Just Run Out On Undersea Cables?