New Bagram Prison in Afghanistan, inmates buoyant

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan By Saeed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers — The bearded Taliban prisoners at Bagram broke off from a spirited game of soccer in the yard to greet a McClatchy reporter, the first journalist allowed into the notorious U.S. jail in Afghanistan since detainees there were moved into a shiny new multimillion-dollar facility….

HOPE FOR HAITI

Brazil’s Lula visits Haiti troops Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, has arrived in Haiti to see for himself the damage last month’s earthquake caused. He will meet Rene Preval, his Haitian counterpart, and visit Brazilian troops at the UN’s new logistical base there. Even before the earthquake, Brazil had a “special relationship” with…

France pledges $450m to Haiti

News Americas France pledges $450m to Haiti Sarkozy is the first French president to visit the former French slave colony [Reuters] Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has pledged an aid and debt relief package amounting to about $450m to earthquake-ravaged Haiti. The amount includes a cancellation of Haiti’s debt to France of $77m, Sarkozy said during a…

Has poppy production in Afghanistan decreased?

NATO begins one of its biggest offensives in Afghanistan since the beginning of the war, coalition troops face a multitude of challenges. Helmand province is known for its opium production and as a hub of Taliban activity. Sunday ,” retired Gen. James Jones, President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, said, “One of the ancillary benefits…

Let’s Make a Deal

Pakistan plays Let’s Make a Deal in Afghanistan By Bill RoggioFebruary 10, 2010 12:50 AM The Pakistanis are dangling a settlement for the Afghan war to the US. The bait is the Haqqanis, according to The New York Times. That’s right, the same Haqqanis who are the closest to al Qaeda: What the Pakistanis can…

The Iraqi oil conundrum

STORY HIGHLIGHTS : How the mighty have fallen. Just a few years ago, an overconfident Bush administration expected to oust Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, pacify the country, install a compliant client government, privatize the economy, and establish Iraq as the political and military headquarters for a dominating US presence in the Middle East. These successes…