THE ROVING EYE : Enduring Freedom until 2050, Taliban's bombs came from US, not Iran,

THE ROVING EYE : Enduring Freedom until 2050 In only 450 days, the number of troops in Afghanistan has swelled from 67,000 to 118,000. Since 2001, the United States has spent $179 billion in the country, while its European allies have burned $102 billion. The tragicomedy is clear: the US and its allies will do - and spend - whatever it takes to implant military bases on the doorstep of Russia and China, and to get their gas pipeline on track. - Pepe Escobar

Taliban's bombs came from US, not Iran - The roadside bombs killing and maiming Western soldiers in Afghanistan are not Iranian, as a top United States intelligence agency has claimed. The devices are crude but devastating re-adaptations of Italian anti-tank mines given to the anti-Soviet mujahideen in the 1980s by the US Central Intelligence Agency. - Gareth Porter

BOOK REVIEW : Himalayan heights of disingenuousness - The Anti-Globalization Breakfast Club by Laurence J Brahm Very little in this corporate lawyer turned Tibetan Buddhist's book is served up as promised, undermining its Himalayan Consensus manifesto for international development. The author's penchant to play loose with facts also scars a potentially stimulating read. - Muhammad Cohen