Tag Archives: afghanistan

Business/Economics, Opinion

Iran sells refined gas to Afghanistan for the first time, nice to see other countries making money off our wars

“We have exported a 1,000-ton cargo of gasoline to Afghanistan this (Iranian year), and we are amidst negotiations to export the second and third cargoes to the country,”-Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeiqami

Ironically, Iran’s refined gas industry has gotten a boost from U.S. and European economic sanctions. So much so that Iran is negotiating new contracts with surrounding countries.

The latest sanctions against Iran forbids companies from selling refined gas to Iran.  As a result Iran increased its own fuel refining, and found out that its neighbors, like Afghanistan, wanted to buy it.

Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazzemi said their fuel refining has increased so much that that Iran no longer needs foreign imports.  So much for sanctions.

By the way, does anyone like the idea that were throwing billions of U.S. dollars down the drain in Afghanistan, while other countries make money off Afghanistan?  Where did Afghanistan get the money to buy the Iranian gas?

International, U.S.

U.S. Army has evidence of Trophy Killing by U.S. Troops

The German magazine Der Spiegel has published photos that show U.S. troops in Afghanistan taking part in “trophy killing” of Afghans.

“The guys in my group have murdered an innocent Afghan. He was my age. They planned everything out. I knew about it, but didn’t believe that it would actually happen. Almost everyone in the group knows full well what happened, and they think it’s ok. I’m the only one who doesn’t. I want to do something about it, but I don’t have the courage.”  -Facebook posting by alleged whistleblower

Some of the photos show that the victims were handcuffed together. Another photo shows a dead victim with their pants pulled down, and a U.S. soldier grinning.  Kind of like the Abu Ghraib photos from Iraq, but this time people were murdered.

“We apologize for the distress these photos cause. The actions portrayed in these photographs remain under investigation and are now the subject of ongoing U.S. court-martial proceedings.” -U.S. Army

Notice that the U.S. Army apologizes for the photos, not the actions of their troops.  Army officials have stated that the troops violated policies, but there is no apology to the victim’s families.

The U.S. soldiers, part of the Stryker Brigade, are a self described “Kill Team”.  They faked enemy ambushes so they could justify killing unarmed men.

Der Spiegel magazine published only 3 of the 4,000 photos, because most of the photos were too “disgusting”.  The photos are being used in the court martial hearings.