On the ground in Afghanistan (video)

Kathy Kelly (democracynow.org); Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, 1885

When Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced an unconditional ceasefire with the [CIA/ISI's] Taliban to last until June 20 [2018], America was lukewarm, preferring instead endless war while talking about peace.

The ceasefire comes after Muslim clerics in a loya jirga ("grand assembly") meeting in Afghanistan issued a fatwa -- or nonbinding legal opinion on a religious point of Islamic law -- against suicide bombings, after an attack the previous Monday, allegedly claimed by ISIS, killed 14 people who had gathered for a clerics’ peace summit in Kabul.

This comes as the BBC is reporting that the number of bombs dropped by the U.S. Air Force has surged dramatically since President Trump announced his Afghanistan strategy and sent in more troops to the ongoing illegal war last August.

New rules of engagement have made it easier for U.S. forces to kill by carrying out strikes against anyone it deems to be "the Taliban" or a "combatant," even if it is after the fact.

Democracy Now! speaks to Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence (vcnv.org) a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. She has made many trips to Afghanistan and just returned from a trip this week. More

Remnants of War in Afghanistan
(Kathy Kelly, July 12, 2019) Intense fighting and hideous attacks battered Afghans throughout their [U.S. invaded and occupied] country last week as negotiators in Qatar weighed the benefits and costs of a peace agreement that might stop the bloodshed. In Kabul... More