The Taliban in Belgium

https://www.euractiv.com/news/taliban-envoy-abdul-qahar-balkhi-to-lead-delegation-to-brussels/

The Taliban does not want to do business with the United States. Given the bad blood connected to the horrific war of the 1980's, it's surprising that Kabul would want anything to do with Moscow either, but indeed it would seem the two nations are proceeding on the basis of common interests. China looms over all and while the Taliban looks to Beijing as its primary foreign investor, the Afghan leadership knows that it's in their interest to diversify - lest they become wholly dependent on Beijing.

Attacking Chinese Targets in Tajikistan

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/26/tajikistan-taliban-border-clashes-whats-behind-them-why-it-affects-china

This is a story unlikely to get any attention in US media but it has American fingerprints all over it.

US Special Forces and Latin American Drug Cartels

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/14/fort_bragg_cartel_seth_harp

Undoubtedly this story will prove shocking to many, but for anyone that has ventured down this road of inquiry, it is in reality an old story going back to the end of World War II. This is just the latest chapter in a larger story of US government, CIA, and US military complicity in drug trafficking that ties in with the Kuomintang and the Golden Triangle, the Mafia and Marseilles, the French Connection and Turkish smugglers, the Contras and Colombia.

The Multifaceted Competition Continues in Central Asia

https://eurasianet.org/us-strikes-mineral-deals-with-uzbekistan-tashkent-report

https://eurasianet.org/kyrgyz-pm-gets-polite-brush-off-by-us-business-executives

https://www.eurasiantimes.com/china-intrudes-in-russias-backyard-as-moscow/

https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Central-Asia-and-Beijing-after-the-Astana-summit-63374.html

https://eurasianet.org/united-states-and-russia-angling-for-influence-in-turkmenistan

https://eurasianet.org/rumors-of-chinese-land-deals-spark-public-unease-in-uzbekistan

As Ankara seeks to work with Azerbaijan in the creation of a new energy and trade corridor connected to Central Asia, the other big players are also quite active and the region is astir.

The Grand Chessboard 2.0? - Central Asia, Iran, Israel, and the Shah

There's so much that could be said right now about events in the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and Iran and the potential for a wider war including the United States and others.

For my part I think about scenarios in which the war could go sideways or the aftermath of a regime collapse.

The Weapons that Keep Killing Long After the Battlefield Falls Silent

https://theworld.org/segments/2025/03/28/study-high-levels-of-uranium-and-lead-found-in-bones-of-iraqis-linked-to-conflict

As expected PRI's The World didn't go very deep in covering this story but to be honest I was surprised it was mentioned at all. The programme is informative but not exactly adversarial. The story of Depleted Uranium and its connections to cancer occasionally pops up in the media but the Establishment has made every effort to discount and dismiss the question.

The Balochistan Insurgency and Opposition to the BRI in Pakistan

https://dialogue.earth/en/business/pakistan-and-china-pursue-corridor-dream-despite-financial-security-risks/

The article began relating events surrounding the Balochi insurgency in southwest Pakistan but as it progressed I realized it was an anti-China piece critical of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the larger Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The port of Gwadar has been an object of interest for some time and tangible evidence of the breakdown of US-Pakistani relations. India is also less than keen on the project.

The Taliban, Poppy Cultivation, and Opium Markets

https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/06/talibans-successful-opium-ban-bad-afghans-and-world

https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan-farmers-livelihood-taliban-bans-opium/31803532.html

The United States Institute for Peace or USIP is a mouthpiece for the US government. The fact that this federal agency is required to have both the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense on its board reveals it to be a sham. It does not promote or stand for peace. It cannot with these kinds of imperialist and militarist connections.

Dictators and Drug Dealers: America's Dissonant Practice of Celebrating the Fall of its Allies and Activist Deaths that Don't Matter

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/3/17/the-criminal-hypocrisy-of-hernandezs-drug-conviction-in-a-us-court

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/honduras-president-arrested/

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/01/years-after-berta-caceres-is-there-new-hope-for-justice

The death of Alexei Navalny received around-the-clock coverage and it was simply assumed that Putin ordered it and yet when someone like Berta Caceres of Honduras is killed, virtually no one in Western (and certainly American) media seems to care and suggestions of American involvement are met with scoffs.

The ISIS-K Attack on Moscow

 It's fairly obvious that Western media wants to find a way to put an anti-Putin spin on the Moscow theatre attack. There are hints that since American intelligence warned him and he didn't act therefore... it's never said, but we're left to conclude that something nefarious took place. He wanted it to happen or let it happen or he's incompetent. Why won't the Russian people realize this? Such allegations and suggestions when put into an American context are ridiculed but are perfectly acceptable when it comes to other countries, particularly America's enemies.

Stoltenberg's Gaffe

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_218172.htm

This is from a speech given by NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg. Read this excerpt carefully.

Then lastly on Sweden. First of all, it is historic that now Finland is member of the Alliance. And we have to remember the background. The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition for not invade Ukraine. Of course we didn't sign that.

The opposite happened. He wanted us to sign that promise, never to enlarge NATO. He wanted us to remove our military infrastructure in all Allies that have joined NATO since 1997, meaning half of NATO, all the Central and Eastern Europe, we should remove NATO from that part of our Alliance, introducing some kind of B, or second class membership. We rejected that. 

So he went to war to prevent NATO, more NATO, close to his borders.

Pakistan's Internal Affairs

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested again and has now been sentenced to prison. Ousted from office in April 2022, he has repeatedly insisted the US played a role in what many view as a bureaucratic coup.

The Information Gatekeepers and Assange

Western Mainstream Media continues to largely ignore the situation with Julian Assange. He has now spent more than a decade effectively (and actually) imprisoned without ever facing any kind of trial or due process – the bogus charges being used as a pretense to seize him being found without merit and dropped. But by then he was caught in a series of legal traps and in order to avoid the snares laid for him by the CIA – he became a fugitive and asylum seeker.

Assessing Musharraf's Tenure 1999-2008

Here we go, I thought as I heard the BBC lead-in on the death of Pervez Musharraf. As expected the story was for the most part an exercise in spin and disingenuous reflection.

Khan and US Drones in Pakistani Airspace

https://thediplomat.com/2021/06/dont-expect-pakistan-to-host-us-military-bases/

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-accuses-pakistan-allowing-us-drones-use-its-airspace-2022-08-28/

In some respects this is a small story and received little attention but it deserves a second look. The Taliban has protested regarding US drone strikes in Afghanistan and particularly the targeted killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. They are of course upset with Washington but the real target of their accusations and perhaps their ire is Pakistan. The Taliban accuses Islamabad of hosting US drones or at the very least allowing them to strike from its airspace.

Americas Secret Cache of Warsaw Pact Weapons

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/22/us-soviet-air-defense-ukraine/

Though largely unknown to most of the American public, the US began to purchase large quantities of Warsaw Pact weaponry in the 1970's and would continue to do so until the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet alliance. It is therefore not too surprising that some of the weapons are now being funneled into Ukraine where they will be able to integrate easily enough with the extant arms in Kyiv's possession.

Media Hypocrisy, Cluster Bombs and the Arming of Ukraine

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/28/1083616770/russia-is-using-controversial-cluster-munitions-in-ukraine-humanitarian-groups-s

The NPR story – but one of an endless stream – attacks Russia for its alleged use of cluster bombs. The weapon has long been condemned because of the high percentage of 'bomblets' that don't actually explode and left exposed on the ground, they lead to future injuries in the months and years following the conclusion of the war. People are maimed and killed long after the fighting has stopped.

Some Comments on the Ukraine Invasion and the Motivations of Putin and the Western Leaders Who Oppose Him

An old friend (from my shameful Air Force days) shared a link with me:

https://unherd.com/2022/02/putins-spiritual-destiny/

It's a problematic article on many levels and in terms of theology it's highly dubious. But it touches on a lot of things I've been writing about on these sites for the past twelve years.

I wrote to my friend the following (slightly edited) as a response:

The Afghan Legacies of George W Bush and Tony Blair

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/7/31/george-w-bush-should-shut-up-and-go-away

The author of the editorial is correct in exposing a rather startling truth - men like George Bush have no conscience. A man who should be in sackcloth and ashes is instead living the good life and has been largely rehabilitated in the eyes of the American public. 

Taliban Reprisals and Lex Talionis

Many people seem to be shocked that the Taliban are going door to door looking for those who collaborated with the previous regime. They are especially looking for those who worked in a military or intelligence capacity, but they're also looking for translators and others who worked alongside NATO.

What did you expect? The media seems to present this as the targeting of civilians. Is it?