The Afghanistan Impasse, Dick's Delusions,

In fact, as I recently wrote elsewhere, the fraud was assured months ago when Karzai began to align himself with regional warlords, drug traffickers, and top officials in the provinces who were terrified of losing their lucrative sinecures. The biggest mistake may have been made by the UN in not running the elections as it did in 2004 but instead handing them over to the Afghan-run "Independent Election Commission," which was beholden to Karzai, who appointed the members. On September 8, a UN-backed commission announced that it had found "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" and ordered a partial recount of returns that claimed Karzai had received 54 percent of the vote. If Karzai does not receive over 50 percent of the vote in the final count then there will be a runoff election in October. If Karzai wins over 50 percent his legitimacy will be doubted by many Afghans while the credibility of the US and the other nations involved in the elections will be even more damaged. Ahmed Rashid

Jimmy Carter: 'Hamid Karzai Has Stolen the Election' in Afghanistan By Aaron Glantz - Former President Jimmy Carter called the election in Afghanistan "despicable," and that President Obama should not be sending more troops to that country.

A Fundraising Appeal – Please Support My Work! By Andy Worthington on A fundraising appeal (*NEW*) - Please support my work! Three months ago, I held a fundraising appeal for the first time to raise money to enable me to carry on investigating and writing about Guantánamo and other issues related to the Bush administration’s “War on Terror.” At the time, I promised that I would only put out a fundraising appeal [...]

New Book Provides Behind-the-Scenes Look At Bush Administration ... The Guy's Still an Idiot
By Array - Matt Latimer, a former Bush speechwriter, has penned a new book detailing the mismanaged administration.

"I'm Proud of What We Did": Delusional Cheney Believes He'll Go Down In History As America's Great Defender By Array - In his late summer media blitz, former VP Dick Cheney reminded us just how callous, corrupt, and creepy he can be.

UN investigators make strong case for Gaza war crimes In Human Rights - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - A four-member United Nations fact-finding mission, which has just concluded an investigation into last year's brutal conflict in Gaza, makes a strong case for war crimes charges against Israel for its unrelenting 22-day military attacks on Palestinians, largely civilians, including women and children. The charges stem mostly from serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

A turning point for the US solidarity movement In Opinion/Editorial
This weekend at the eighth annual US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation national organizers' conference held in Chicago, delegates from the approximately 300 member groups that make up the US Campaign voted in favor of an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. The vote, and the deep collective breath of relief that followed, will go down in history as the moment US-based Palestine solidarity activists overcame tactical differences that had long hindered us, to finally come together to confront Israeli apartheid. Nada Elia comments for The Electronic Intifada.