by Jean Shaoul, WSWS, Jun 24 2022
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in a remote area of Afghanistan has killed at least 1,000 people and injured at least 1,500. While the worst affected area is the mountainous Paktika province, deaths have also been reported in the eastern provinces of Khost and Nangarhar. Many more bodies are thought to be buried in mud as heavy rain hampers rescue efforts.
…
With the ever-expanding US war against Russia, the US is preparing to bring the type of devastation wrought upon Afghanistan and Iraq to Europe, at an even greater cost in lives and treasure.
Afghanistan earthquake exposes disaster caused by decades of US occupation
Tag: Humanitarian Aid
State Department ‘Illegally Obstructing’ Afghanistan Probes, Watchdog Says
Inspector General John Sopko fired off a letter to Ron Klain and others, blaming State and USAID for “illegal obstruction” of his office’s investigation.
State, USAID refuse to cooperate on Afghanistan audits, watchdog says
H/T: State Department ‘Illegally Obstructing’ Afghanistan Probes, Watchdog Says
EU punishes Palestinian cancer patients to please Israel
Katrina vanden Heuvel on How U.S. Media’s “One-Sided Debate” on Ukraine Fans the Flames of War
Majority Of Americans Think Protecting Economy—Not Sanctioning Russia—Should Be Country’s Top Priority
More than half of Americans now believe the country’s top priority should be staving off damage to the economy rather than punishing Russia for invading Ukraine, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, as soaring costs and inflation amid the ongoing war prompt a reassessment of priorities.
Majority Of Americans Think Protecting Economy—Not Sanctioning Russia—Should Be Country’s Top Priority
Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last + Some Notes on the astroturfed Heritage Action for America
Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last
Today, Heritage Action, a conservative grassroots organization with two million grassroots activists, released a statement from Executive Director Jessica Anderson ahead of the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote on a $40 billion Ukraine aid package.
…
The legislation does not include several important measures – there are no spending offsets, no accountability for where each dollar will be spent, and no guarantees for equal contributions from European neighbors. Additionally, the aid package only lasts through September of this year, meaning Congress will be expected to reconsider the legislation after only about three months.
They claim to be a grassroots organization but they were created by Heritage Foundation!? That’s astroturfing! Who’s policies are they advocating for?! Theirs?! I highly doubt that it’s for the working class (see below, for just one example)!!
Recognizing that elected leaders are more responsive to adopting policy solutions when they know the American people already support them, Heritage created Heritage Action for America. Heritage Action works with lawmakers to implement Heritage Foundation solutions while it also organizes nearly 20,000 Sentinel activists and more than 2 million local grassroots activists around the nation to push for their adoption. Heritage Action ensures that citizens are speaking up and their elected officials hear their voices.
About Heritage
They push for private school choice and are anti-union (I’m not arguing for school closures, with the below quote, but showing it as an example of their views)!!
The only way out of this mess is to free families from the clutches of the teachers’ unions. Funding students directly would empower families to access educational alternatives. The good news is that the unions’ political games could further the movement to fund students instead of systems, which already enjoyed significant growth in 2021.
…
Her continued push to keep schools closed may be just what wide-spread school choice needs to become reality—and to rescue a generation from misguided and politicized COVID policies. In this sense, the power-hungry teachers unions might just destroy their own empire.
More COVID School Closures Spell the End of Teachers Unions Empire
School Choice Cons:
Three big problems with school ‘choice’ that supporters don’t like to talk about
The hidden downsides of school ‘choice’
Anyway, in three months, Congress will probably vote on another aid package for Ukraine (doesn’t matter who wins between Russia and Ukraine, they’ll still send Ukraine money, whether it’s for weapons or reconstruction)! 🙄
Why the Once-Hawkish Heritage Foundation Opposed Aid to Ukraine
Why the Once-Hawkish Heritage Foundation Opposed Aid to Ukraine
What They Missed:
Policy: Heritage is consciously shifting gears on foreign policy, with an eye toward less military involvement in Europe and more attention on China in particular, [Kevin] Roberts told Axios in an interview.
Republicans plot foreign intervention pullback
War in Eastern Ukraine Looks a Lot Different in Person Than It Does on CNN + Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the east feel abandoned
I had just left the Lugansk People’s Republic, making my way to an interview in Moscow, when I saw a May 11 CNN story claiming Russia had targeted civilians in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. This was after the bombing of a hotel and shopping center there. When such structures are bombed, one assumes that they were filled with civilians.
Fact-finding trip to Donbass: A front-line shelter in Rubizhne
Related:
Ukrainian volunteer fighters in the east feel abandoned (archived):
In a rare interview, a Ukrainian military commander and his top lieutenant describe disillusionment, deprivations and a sense of certain death among their troops on the front lines in Donbas.
— Washington Post
CPRF Statement: In Ukraine Russia is Fighting Neo-Nazism
Comments on the Article of the International Department of the CC KKE “On the Imperialist War in Ukraine and the Stance of the CPRF”
On April 23, 2022 the newspaper Rizospastis, the organ of the Communist Party of Greece, carried an article by the International Department of the CC KKE “On the Imperialist War in Ukraine and the Stance of the CPRF.”
The article assesses the actions of the CPRF in connection with the special operation Russia is conducting in Ukraine openly accusing the party of having a pro-government, i.e. pro-imperialist position. We categorically disagree with this utilitarian assessment.
CPRF Statement: In Ukraine Russia is Fighting Neo-Nazism
French Medical Volunteer in Ukraine Opens Up About Azov Regiment’s ‘War Crimes’
French Medical Volunteer in Ukraine Opens Up About Azov Regiment’s ‘War Crimes’ (Video link in article, use auto-translate for English subtitles)
Other sources:
Former French serviceman Bocquet witnessed the crimes of Ukrainian
French Volunteer, Outraged By Lies Of Western Media, Revealed Truth About War Crimes In Ukraine
Videos:
Adrien Bocquet tells the war crimes committed by the Ukrainian army (in French, use auto-translate for English subtitles, they show photos of him in Ukraine)
Back from Ukraine, a former commando rifleman tells the crimes (same as above, in French)
The war in Ukraine has been raging for more than two months now. Adrien Bocquet and Régis Le Sommier had the opportunity to cover this conflict on the ground, they give us their version of the facts: between media lies, war crimes and geopolitical escalation.
[Ukraine] WAR CRIMES, FAKE NEWS: we take stock with Adrien Bocquet and Régis Le Sommier (Over an hour long, use auto-translate for English subtitles)
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.