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The US’s top general in Afghanistan was replaced this week in the wake of a deadly bomb attack that killed over 100 civilians. General McKiernan, who had lobbied the government for more troops, was swiftly replaced by General Stanley McChrystal, who some say signals an even more aggressive approach to the war in Afghanistan. The killing of 147 civilians in the Western province of Farah, is the single deadliest attack by the US since the 2001 fall of the Taliban. Dissident MP Malalai Joya released a statement yesterday denouncing the attacks and calling for an end to the occupation. Such incidents have increasingly turned the Afghan public against the US/NATO occupation, now in it’s 8th year. The operation has no end in sight: President Obama has announced an increase in troops but no coherent exit strategy. The US/NATO occupation has many historical parallels: most notably the decade-long Soviet occupation which the US fought through proxy fundamentalist soldiers. The details of Afghanistan’s history and its relevance to the US war are at best misunderstood among the American mainstream. But now they have been captured in great detail and insight by two people intimately familiar with the Afghan political landscape: Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould.

The Afghan government has reached out to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar through ex-Taliban intermediaries. The overtures are an attempt to launch peace talks with the fundamentalist militants. President Hamid Karzai, who faces re-election this year and has thrown in his lot with the warlords who dominate the Parliament, has promised political asylum for Taliban members. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives last night voted to pass supplemental war funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the defection of 51 Democrats who have doubts about the Afghanistan war. President Obama had to rely on the significant allegiance of Republicans to pass the $97 billion measure. Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, who voted against the bill, remarked, “The mission has greatly expanded and the policy is vague…I get this sinking feeling that we’re getting sucked into something that we’ll never be able to get out of.” To emphasize his uneasiness about the war, McGovern yesterday introduced H.R. 2404 a bill requesting that President Obama provide an exit strategy in Afghanistan by the year’s end. Most of the 73 co-sponsors to the bill are associated with the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

GUESTS: Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, co-authors of “Invisible History: Afghanistan’s Untold Story,” experts on Afghanistan’s history and politics for over twenty years.

Paul and Elizabeth will be speaking at two events in Southern California:

Friday, May 15th, 7:00 pm
Levantine Cultural Center
5998 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035

Join Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould for a book signing at the Levantine Center. Evening sponsored by CODEPINK: Women for Peace.

$10 at the door. For $20 you will receive an autographed copy of Invisible History. Free for members and students with I.D.

For more information, call 310.657.5511 or email jordane[at]levantinecenter[dot]org.

Saturday, May 16th, 2:00 pm
Book Soup
8818 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould present and sign their new book, Invisible History: Afganistan’s Untold Story.

For more information, please e-mail: tyson@booksoup.com or call:310.659.3684