TOM PLATE WRITES — We patriotic Americans usually call it Memorial Day weekend, but sometimes the barbecues and beer throw memory off base, as if the holiday on the last Monday of every May signifies no more than the winding down of a 72-hour party. On the Saturday of Memorial…
Full Article US-CHINA RELATIONS: AN AMERICA ALL TOO EXPERIENCED IN WAR MUST TAKE STOCK
LIAM ROGERS WRITES — Afghanistan has been an unfriendly place for women. During the 1996-2001 Taliban rule, women were not allowed to attend school, work, leave their homes without men, or show skin in public. The 2018 Academy Award Nominee, The Breadwinner, featured a beautifully horrific presentation of this reality.…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: WITH THE WITHDRAWAL OF AMERICAN TROOPS, ARE WOMEN LEFT BEHIND?
NAWAF AL-SABAH WRITES- Although Colombia is the world’s top source of illicit drugs, traffickers have now made Asia a hub for both transportation and consumption. Interestingly, a few years ago, South Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka became vulnerable regions for human trafficking due…
Full Article PHILIPPINES: IS THIS THE WAY TO RUN A DRUG WAR?
SARA ALTUWAIJRI WRITES – Afghans are under attack in Iran. The war in Afghanistan left many without a home. Having no choice but to flee their country, they sought asylum in Iran, where about 2.5 million, documented and undocumented, live today. They have not found a new home. On May 1st,…
Full Article IRAN: BRUTALITY AGAINST AFGHANS
America’s 44th president is often cruelly hit, if sometimes quietly and behind his back, with the wicked “w” word. For many angry or disappointed people — here and abroad — that word is: “wimp.” It is hurled in the direction of the White House of Barack Hussein Obama as an…
Full Article A Sane Man Facing the InsanityVITTO BANEZ WRITES – With Afghan elections around the corner, it’s no surprise that the Taliban have something to say. On March 10, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghans should sit out the elections, because they’re “an American conspiracy” cooked up by the U.S. for its own evil purposes. Evil…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Causes Trouble for Presidential ElectionsVITTO BANEZ WRITES – Because of its unique, soap-box position, the media has an outsized ability to influence. But when it stops objectively calling things as it sees them, it becomes a propaganda tool for the powers that be. Recently, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) proposed paying journalists…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Paints a Positive Picture of its PresenceELODIE INTROIA WITH LIZ MURRAY WRITE — President Hamid Karzai holds the destiny of women in his hands. A few days ago, the Afghan parliament passed a law banning women from seeking any sort of legal recourse in the face of domestic abuses. President Karzai is unequivocally under tremendous international…
Full Article WOMEN IN ASIA: The Plea for President Karzai to Defend Women’s Rights!VITTO BANEZ WRITES – Western Afghan religious leaders claim the media is displaying material that is un-Islamic. The mullahs assert that said material is inflicting more harm than a suicide bomb. Farouq Hussaini, the spokesman for the council of Muslim scholars, articulated this belief in his statement that “suicide attackers…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: Bombs Blow up People but Media Blows up MoralityVITTO BANEZ WRITES – What makes a good journalist? Is it the way they pursue a lead? Or can it be the way they go with their gut? For Najiba Ayubi, it was her love for the media of her homeland. This passion led her to voice her opinion on the country’s…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: The “Courage” of an Afghan JournalistELODIE INTROIA WRITES – On October 23, three Asian and Middle-Eastern women were recognized for their journalistic bravery. It is well known that being a reporter is one of the most dangerous professions. But for women, the risks are even greater. The women who were honored with the Courage in…
Full Article The ‘Big Guns’ of Journalism Show More Than Just CourageVITTO BANEZ WRITES – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Vine are all social apps used to connect with friends, but Afghanistan says they’re more than that. The country aimed to promote these sites as democratizing tools through a recent summit. “Paiwand,” which translated to English means “connection,” was held on September…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: Social Media Summit Praises Positive ImpactVITTO BANEZ WRITES – A U.S. airfield was under attack! Late in the night of October 13, Taliban fighters launched several missiles in Bagram, an airfield north of the capital of Kabul. It’s still uncertain on how much of an impact the attack made. Reports on its effectiveness varied. A Taliban…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: Taliban Strike but was it a Big Deal?Wall Street Journal writer Maria Abi-Habib’s recent article in that newspaper on the rights of Afghan women in the present, and the direction their rights are heading towards as the US withdraws from Afghanistan, is compelling and urgent. Although 11 years have passed since the ousting of the Taliban regime by U.S. troops, citing…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: What Future for Women’s Rights?The U.S. news media often has to make publish-or-not-publish decisions under immense time pressure. And sometimes these decisions are not easy ones, especially for our most responsible media (Los Angeles Times top editor Davan Maharaj pictured above left). Take the case of disturbing photographs of U.S. soldiers posing all too…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN AND LOS ANGELES: Pictures at a Most Gruesome Exhibition