Afghanistan War Formally Ends

Via CBS News:

The United States and NATO formally ended their war in Afghanistan on Sunday with a ceremony at their military headquarters in Kabul as the insurgency they fought for 13 years remains as ferocious and deadly as at any time since the 2001 invasion that unseated the Taliban regime following the Sept. 11 attacks. The symbolic ceremony marked the end of the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force, which will transition to a supporting role with 13,500 soldiers, most of them American, starting Jan. 1. Gen. John Campbell, commander of ISAF, rolled up and sheathed the green and white ISAF flag and unfurled the flag of the new international mission, called Resolute Support.

More from NBC News:

President Barack Obama marked the formal end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan Sunday, saying that after 13 years the longest war in American history was coming to a "responsible conclusion." "For more than 13 years, ever since nearly 3,000 innocent lives were taken from us on 9/11, our nation has been at war in Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement that came hours after the United States and NATO formally ended the war with a ceremony Sunday at a military headquarters in Kabul. Obama said the ceremony marked a milestone for the nation and thanked U.S. troops and intelligence personnel for their "extraordinary sacrifices." Approximately 2,200 American troops were killed in Afghanistan in a war that cost the U.S. $1 trillion since the initial invasion in 2001. "We are safer, and our nation is more secure, because of their service," he said, adding that the war effort helped the Afghan people reclaim their communities and hold historic democratic elections.

Today In Crazy People

"President Palling Around With Terrorists: Good God, Mr. President. To partner with Iran is to trust the enemy, which is insane. Iran has complicity in the rise of ISIS as it supports radical militias and arms Islamic terrorists. You've been the luckiest man in the world, in an un-American Democracy sort of way, to have had the liberal media in your lap allowing you to execute the least transparent presidency in history while they mock and destroy your critics for you. Until now. Even they must see that without accountability you are leading us into very, very dangerous territory.

"In the 2008 campaign Sen. McCain and I warned, on behalf of every reasonable person, that your willingness to negotiate with terrorists would get Americans killed; that pulling an anti-Reagan move by taking our Big Stick of strength and putting it in the hands of any foe could be insurmountably devastating for our allies. Iran is one of Israel's staunchest enemies. Mr. President, who is advising you to come against Israel? What is wrong with you, Barack Obama? You can not pal around with terrorists and expect us to survive." - Sarah Palin, who clearly wasn't reading newspapers in the 80s either.

Pakistani Teen Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Via CNN:

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to India's Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai for their struggles against the suppression of children and for young people's rights, including the right to education. Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, "Children must go to school, not be financially exploited." Yousafzai came to global attention after she was shot in the head by the Taliban -- two years ago Thursday -- for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after recovering from surgery, she has taken her campaign to the world stage, notably with a speech last year at the United Nations. Yousafzai said Friday that the award is a "great honor for me," and that she's honored to share it with Satyarthi. "I'm proud that I'm the first Pakistani and the first young woman or the first young person getting this award," she said in Birmingham, England.

Yousafazai got the news this morning while in chemistry class.

Tweet Of The Day - Chris Meloni

Anti-US Protests Widen In Afghanistan

The Taliban has announced that it will now behead any American soldier captured in Afghanistan.

Frothy Taliban Mix

Afghan Leadership Condemns U.S. Marines For Body Desecration Video

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has issued a strong denouncement of the video which appears to depict U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of killed Taliban fighters.

In a statement, President Karzai's office said: "The government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed by a video that shows American soldiers desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans. "This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the strongest possible terms. We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime." Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told the BBC that this was not the first time Americans had carried out such a "wild action" and that Taliban attacks on the Americans would continue.

The story dominated international news programs last night as the Pentagon scrambled to identify and punish the involved service members.

VIDEO: The Afghan public reacts.

Leaked Video Depicts U.S. Soldiers Urinating On Dead Taliban Members

The Pentagon and the USMC are facing international condemnation after the posting of a video that purportedly shows U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of alleged members of the Taliban.

"Headquarters Marine Corps has recently been made aware of a video that portrays Marines urinating on what appear to be deceased members of the Taliban," the USMC statement said. "While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our Corps." The video surfaced on several websites early Wednesday. On one website, the member who posted the video identified the Marines as belonging to the 3/2 Marine battalion out of Camp Lejeune. The battalion served in the northern Helmand Province in Afghanistan last summer.

We'll see some payback for this, bet on it.

WARNING: The video is exactly as described. NSFW.


UPDATE: UK tabloid The Daily Mail has more.

At one point one of the men can be heard saying: 'Have a great day, buddy' to laughter from his colleagues. Another of them jokes: 'Golden like a shower' and 'Yeahhhh!' as they groan with relief whilst urinating. It is not clear if the corpses belong to civilians or insurgents engaged in combat, although the film does appear to have been shot in Afghanistan. The anonymous person who posted it included the caption: 'Scout sniper team 4 with 3rd battalion 2nd marines out of camp lejeune peeing on dead talibans.' The film is likely to spark a huge diplomatic row between Washington and Kabul and rekindle memories of the abuse meted out by American troops at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. The three corpses are all male and are wearing civilian clothes. The youngest lies on his front with an overturned wheelbarrow dumped by his side. The other two are on their backs and one has a large blood stain on his chest.

The Marine Corps Times reports that an investigation to identify the soldiers has been launched.

Tea Party Or Taliban?

(Source)

American Family Association's Bryan Fischer: Gay Sex Is Domestic Terrorism

Yesterday Britain's tabloids claimed that the Taliban is planting HIV-laden needles in its bombs in order to infect British and American soldiers. Reportedly, bomb teams have been issued Kevlar gloves to deal with the threat. Cue American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer.

If we connect the dots here, the inescapable conclusion is that gay sex is a form of domestic terrorism. Every time an HIV-infected male has sex with another male, it's essentially the same as plunging an infected heroin needle into his arm. He's passing on a potential death sentence, just as the Taliban seeks to do on a foreign battlefield. It is because of the risk of HIV transmission that the FDA will not allow a male homosexual to donate blood if he has had sex with another male even one single solitary time since 1977. The second riskiest behavior for HIV infection is injection drug use. Now if gays are allowed into the military, they will be inevitably be put in battlefield situations where donated blood from soldiers may be necessary to save the lives of wounded comrades. An HIV-infected American soldier whose blood is used in those circumstances may very well condemn his fellow soldier to death rather than save his life. If open homosexuals are allowed into the United States military, the Taliban won't need to plant dirty needles to infect our soldiers with HIV. Our own soldiers will take care of that for them.

Last month Fischer claimed that repealing DADT would lead to another Holocaust, because gay men are the only people savagely brutal enough to murder millions.

PAKISTAN: Taliban Claims Credit For Failed Car Bomb Attack In Times Square

A Pakistani sect of the Taliban is claiming to be behind yesterday's failed car bomb attack in Times Square. Homeland Security officials and the NYPD say no evidence has yet been uncovered to verify the Taliban's involvement.

According to the Associated Press, a one minute video allegedly released by the group says the attack is revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and killings of top al-Qaida leaders in Iraq. In the video, images of the dead militants are shown along with a voiceover message. A U.S. based intelligence group that monitors militant websites uncovered the video. This, after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the events of Saturday night's incident in Times Square an "act of terrorism." During an appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Napolitano said the investigation is in its early stages, but has no reason at this point to believe the incident is connected to any other plots. "You look for fingerprints, you look for all those kind of traditional things people read, hear about, see on television, and then we also begin looking at, for example, video tape. There's a lot of cameras in that area of New York City," Napolitano said.

ABC Nightline Covers Uganda's "Kill Gays" Bill And Pastor Martin Ssempa

Last night Nightline delivered an excellent report on the situation in Uganda, interviewing the genocidal Pastor Martin Ssempa and his American evangelical accomplice Scott Lively. Watch this.

Virginia Christians Tell Women: Dress Like That And You Deserve To Be Raped

Our second American Talibangelists post for today: An anonymous Christian group is approaching women in Virginia and handing them leaflets that advise that their clothing is "ungodly" and because men cannot withstand such temptation, they may be deservingly facilitating their own rapes. Here's what a young woman working a fast food drive-thru window experienced:

“Even though nothing is showing, you’re being ungodly,” Canter recalled the woman telling her. “You make men want to be sinful.” Canter was wearing boots pulled up over jeans, a pink zebra-print shirt with a black jacket zipped up over it. She has blond hair, dark eye make-up and a little red lip ring. “I just asked if she needed any salt, pepper or ketchup,” Canter said. “I mean, how do I respond to that?” Minutes later, Canter’s mother, Pam Yates, who owns the restaurant, returned from the bank. Canter handed her “Women & Girls” and Yates started reading. “You may have been given this leaflet because of the way you are dressed,” it begins. “Have you thought about standing before the true and living God to be judged?”

It continues with one essential theme: The sins of men are, in part, the fault of women, specifically women in tight-fitting clothing. Yates was annoyed. Then she got to a section on page two: “Scripture tells us that when a man looks on a woman to lust for her he has already committed adultery in his heart. If you are dressed in a way that tempts a men to do this secret (or not so secret) sin, you are a participant in the sin,” the leaflet states. “By the way, some rape victims would not have been raped if they had dressed properly. So can we really say they were innocent victims?”

Victim blaming is the #1 reason women do not report rape.

American Talibangelists Destoying Lives Of Swingers In Texas

Dan Savage notes that the bizarre Christian group Repent Amarillo is staking out a Texas swingers club and calling the employers, employees, and families of its patrons in order to wreck their jobs and home lives. You might recall Repent America, their parent group, for their call for a boycott of Houston due to their newly elected lesbian mayor.

In June, when the building reopened, Repent Amarillo became an almost-constant presence, shouting through bullhorns, blasting Christian music, haranguing club members, following swingers in vehicles and sticking video cameras into people’s faces. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has been called out twice. Police records show that nearby businesses have called frequently with noise complaints. Repent even showed up on occasion when the Route 66 building was rented out for non-swinger events. “They have been here every time we open our doors, regardless of what kind of functions we have, whether I’m down here doing maintenance, cleaning, whatever,” Mac says. “They don’t have a life. Well, I guess we are their lives. We’re their blood. At three or four in the morning, we’ll open the door, and there they are. They come waddling out of their vehicles with their cameras.”

Some of the club's members have lost their jobs, others have been ostracized by friends and family. Read the full story. On their website Repent Amarillo has a war chart of sexually-related business they are targeting: gay bars, porn shops, strip clubs, etc. The site includes military imagery and gunshot sound effects when scrolling over certain items. They note that they intend to target upcoming gay pride events in Texas. Repent America: sharia law with a Christian face.

Taliban Down, Boy Sex Up

The ancient tribal tradition of sexually abusing boys is surging in northern Afganistan.

The practice of "bacha baazi", meaning "boy-play", is enjoying a resurgence in the North of Afghanistan where ownership is seen as a status symbol by militia leaders according to Afghan news site, e-Ariana.

While condemned by clerics and human rights groups, authorities are doing little to end it.

Dancers, known as "bacha bereesh" or "beardless boys", are under 18, with 14 being the "ideal" age. Owners or "kaatah" meet at bacha baazi parties in large halls where the boys dance late into the night, before being sexually abused. Bacha baazi also serve as marketplaces, with good-looking boys being traded for money.

"Some men enjoy playing with dogs, some with women. I enjoy playing with boys," said 44-year-old Allah Daad, a one-time Mujahedin commander in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz, who participates in bacha baazi.

"I am married, but I prefer boys to women," he adds. "You can't take women with you to parties in this region, and you can't make them dance. These boys are our prestige."

Often poor and orphaned, the boys are lured into bacha baazi by money. Some receive a monthly allowance while others have jobs of their own and only work at parties. Many are treated to expensive clothes and even cars by owners eager to have them reflect their own wealth and social standing. But if they refuse to perform or don't meet their owners expectations, they are beaten.

Some blame the U.S. presence in Afganistan in contributing to the abuses, as American troops quell the influence of the local Taliban, who ban the practice elsewhere as against Islamic law. As those who organize the "beardless boys" bazaars are usually the leaders of local militia, the government dares not interfere.