Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence

In the years following 9/11, US policy in Afghanistan has received little scrutiny, either from the media or the public. Despite official claims of democracy and women’s freedom, Afghanistan has yet to emerge from the ashes of decades-long war. Through in-depth research and detailed historical context, Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls report on the injustice of US policies in Afghanistan historically and in the post 9-11 era. Drawing from declassified government documents and on-the-ground interviews with Afghan activists, journalists, lawyers, refugees, and students, the book examines he connections between US training and arming of Mujahadeen commanders and the subversion of Afghan democracy, to the sad state of warlordism, women’s oppression, and poverty today. Bleeding Afghanistan boldly critiques the exploitation of Afghan women to justify war by both conservatives and liberals, analyzes uncritical media coverage of US policies, and examines the ways in which the US benefits from being in Afghanistan.

Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls are the co-Directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). Their writings have appeared in Z Magazine, Foreign Policy in Focus, Alternet, Commondreams and Counterpunch. In February 2005, Kolhatkar and Ingalls traveled to Afghanistan to witness first-hand the results of US policy, and to understand how ordinary Afghans felt about the war. Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Uprising, a popular, daily, drive-time program on KPFK, Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles. James Ingalls is a Staff Scientist at the Spitzer Science Center, at the California Institute of Technology.