Ron Jacobs (2021-08-19). Kabul's Victors and the Vanquished. counterpunch.org Speculation abounds. The end of US-managed rule in the nation called Afghanistan has fueled a flood of warnings, blame, and just plain guessing about what comes next there. Liberal and neocon warmongers in the media wring their hands looking for someone/anyone to blame beside their failed imperial strategy. The far right in the US have yet to speak their piece on the so-called fall of Kabul. Perhaps they are waiting for their two primary impulses of libertarianism and military imperialism factions to fight it out.

Tom Clifford (2021-08-19). Post-US Afghanistan: Can China Navigate a Way Through the Tombstones? counterpunch.org Beijing. Another name has been chiseled on the tombstone in the graveyard of empires. The United States of America. 2001-2021. From the swords of Alexander the Great, the British empire, the Russians before and after Lenin, and the US as the newest members of the Great Game, military powers have seen the Afghan sand swallow

_____ (2021-08-19). Three Activists Arrested After Blockading Drone Factory. popularresistance.org Palestine Action have returned to Elbit System's drone factory in Braunstone Town, Leicester, and have once again disrupted the production of killer drones used for repressive purposes by Israeli forces. The factory — ran by Elbit-Thales joint venture UAV Tactical Systems — has been blockaded by Palestine Action activists. Two activists in a 'lock-on' and one activist who had D-locked their body to gates have been arrested, after placing their bodies in the way of Elbit's drone manufacture operations.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-08-19). Dispatches from India: The Olympic journey. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode, we take a look at India's performance at the Tokyo Olympics, the culture of sport and the support given to it in the country. We also look at manual scavenging and the deaths caused due to it, a protest by community health activists, the developments in Parliament, and the observation of Save India Day by trade unions…

_____ (2021-08-19). As The US Empire Declines, What Openings Exist For Progressive Movements? popularresistance.org While we can't change the events of the past week — let alone the past 20 years — we can start thinking about next steps, and that leads to an important question: What can U.S. activists do with the opportunities associated with imperial decline? Here are two winning ideas.

_____ (2021-08-19). Feds Targeted BLM Activists to Foil Racial Justice Protests: Report. commondreams.org "More for me. None for you. America first. This is American Covid-19 vaccine policy now," one epidemiologist lamented as the U.S. moved ahead with its booster campaign.

_____ (2021-08-19). Activists Rally Across US Urging Congress to #SealTheDeal on $3.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan. commondreams.org

Tom Engelhardt (2021-08-19). Tomgram: Patterson Deppen, America as a Base Nation Revisited. warisacrime.org This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. In January 2004, Chalmers Johnson wrote "America's Empire of Bases" for TomDispatch, breaking what was, in effect, a silence around those strange edifices, some the size of small towns, scattered around the planet. He began it this way: …

Malalai Joya (2021-08-18). Malalai Joya: We need aid, not war machines. greenleft.org.au The situation in Afghanistan is critical, writes Malalai Joya. For ordinary people, especially for women, this means more suffering. Progressives are in more danger than ever.

Joe Piette (2021-08-18). Protest demands ICE free all detainees. workers.org Philadelphia — Despite temperatures in the mid-90s, more than 50 community activists rallied here on Aug. 12 to demand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cease transferring migrant workers and refugees from a detention center in York, Pa., to other prisons. Recorded voices from people impacted by transfers were heard by . . . |

_____ (2021-08-18). Chicago Passes Union-Backed Bill For Civilian Oversight Of Violent Cops. popularresistance.org In July, Chicago's city council passed a modified version of police accountability legislation that activists have spent years fighting for, backed by major public sector unions and Black labor leaders. | Though stripped of some of its stronger measures, the new law is one of the most prominent pieces of police reform legislation to pass since last year's uprisings after George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police. A civilian commission will now be empowered to pick the head of the police investigatory body and change the rules and policies under which the police operate. | In Chicago, the law reflec…

Brad Wolf (2021-08-18). Let's Get Those Boots Off the Ground. progressive.org The moment is ripe to end the sprawling U.S. empire of military bases.

_____ (2021-08-18). Finding Loophole in Abbott's Mask Mandate Ban, Texas School Board Adds Face Coverings to Dress Code. commondreams.org But George Bush was fighting a war for oil and empire, and victory would pose a huge tactical difficulty: with no enemy to fight he would have to demobilize his forces in the Mideast and bring them home.

Malalai Joya (2021-08-18). Malalai Joya: We need aid, not war machines. greenleft.org.au The situation in Afghanistan is critical, writes Malalai Joya. For ordinary people, especially for women, this means more suffering. Progressives are in more danger than ever.

Joe Piette (2021-08-18). Protest demands ICE free all detainees. workers.org Philadelphia — Despite temperatures in the mid-90s, more than 50 community activists rallied here on Aug. 12 to demand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cease transferring migrant workers and refugees from a detention center in York, Pa., to other prisons. Recorded voices from people impacted by transfers were heard by . . . |

_____ (2021-08-18). Chicago Passes Union-Backed Bill For Civilian Oversight Of Violent Cops. popularresistance.org In July, Chicago's city council passed a modified version of police accountability legislation that activists have spent years fighting for, backed by major public sector unions and Black labor leaders. | Though stripped of some of its stronger measures, the new law is one of the most prominent pieces of police reform legislation to pass since last year's uprisings after George Floyd's murder at the hands of Minneapolis police. A civilian commission will now be empowered to pick the head of the police investigatory body and change the rules and policies under which the police operate. | In Chicago, the law reflec…

Brad Wolf (2021-08-18). Let's Get Those Boots Off the Ground. progressive.org The moment is ripe to end the sprawling U.S. empire of military bases.

_____ (2021-08-18). Finding Loophole in Abbott's Mask Mandate Ban, Texas School Board Adds Face Coverings to Dress Code. commondreams.org But George Bush was fighting a war for oil and empire, and victory would pose a huge tactical difficulty: with no enemy to fight he would have to demobilize his forces in the Mideast and bring them home.

_____ (2021-08-17). Refugee Advocates Demand US Stop Deportations to Haiti Following Earthquake. commondreams.org "Can we believe this? Not sure," responded Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group CodePink. "But it is great he is saying this."

The Conversation (2021-08-17). As Afghanistan falls, what does it mean for the Middle East? juancole.com By Tony Walker |- In the 19th century, the phrase "The Great Game" was used to describe competition for power and influence in Afghanistan, and neighbouring central and south Asia territories, between the British and Russian empires. Neither side prevailed in what became known as the "graveyard of empires". Two centuries later, an American superpower …

Jack Rasmus (2021-08-17). Afghanistan & the American Imperial Project. zcomm.org The US is pulling out because, for the first time since 1945, it has decided to cut its costs in less strategic areas in order to be able to finance the growing costs of empire elsewhere…

Riz Wakil (2021-08-17). Afghan-Australian: 'Democracy and safety not a priority for West'. greenleft.org.au The West was never in Afghanistan to bring democracy or assure safety for ordinary Afghans. Riz Wakil said the warmongers orchestrated not only the occupation of Afghanistan but many parts of the Middle East: Iraq, Syria and also Libya.

_____ (2021-08-17). Afghanistan: Whatever the Future Brings, One Thing Is for Sure, Britain and the U.S. Should Stay Out. strategic-culture.org If we truly want peace in the Middle East and throughout the world, it is time we decide that we are no longer going to be used as pawns in the Empire's Great Game. | Afghanistan has become the United States' longest military engagement in history, lasting 20 years. | Similar to the Vietnam War (which lasted 19.5 years), there has never been a positive military objective for "winning" in Afghanistan such that American troops could finally leave. | As Col. Prouty has stated in his

Riz Wakil (2021-08-17). Afghan-Australian refugee: 'Democracy and safety not a priority for West'. greenleft.org.au Afghan refugee Riz Wakil says Western warmongers were never in Afghanistan to bring democracy or protect ordinary Afghans; they orchestrated the occupation of Afghanistan and other parts of the Middle East.

Fight Back (2021-08-17). Amazon-banned U.S. book "Capitalism on a Ventilator" to be published in China. fightbacknews.org New York, NY – As the Delta variant rages through the U.S., a major Chinese publisher has signed a contract to distribute a timely book comparing COVID-19 responses in the countries' two systems: capitalism and socialism. | Capitalism on a Ventilator: The Impact of COVID-19 in China & the U.S. – originally published last year and penned by dozens of writers from the U.S. and around the world – will now be translated and distributed in China. It will be available for sale by late September. | The book's secondary title – An anthology of social justice activists discussing a global choice: cooperation vs. comp…

Aída Chávez (2021-08-17). West Virginia Activists Are Coming for Joe Manchin. thenation.com West Virginia Activists Are Coming for Joe Manchin…

_____ (2021-08-17). Calling Out The Greatest Culprit Behind The Climate Crisis. popularresistance.org Abby Martin and Mike Prysner of The Empire Files are producing a new feature-length documentary that exposes the US military as "Earth's Greatest Enemy." Left out of the conversation about the climate crisis is the fact that even if every person, vehicle and factory stopped emitting carbon, as long as the US military continues on as it is, the earth will still be headed for disaster. Clearing the FOG speaks with war and climate journalist Dahr Jamail and Mike Prysner about the state of the climate crisis, the extent of environmental destruction caused by the military both in the United States and abroad and the n…

Editor (2021-08-17). 'We are in nobody's backyard': rejecting geopolitical and historical fatalism. mronline.org The catch-phrases "transnational criminal organizations," "humanitarian assistance" and even "disaster relief operations" are worn-out euphemisms for the neo-colonial presence of the U.S. Empire and its European allies in Guyana and throughout the region.