An Introduction by Tom Engelhardt:

It's now a commonplace of the Afghan War. Western leaders in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Washington, as well as on flying visits to Kabul or even Kandahar, excoriate Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the "corruption" of his government. In return for their ongoing support, they repeatedly demand that he take significant action to "step up efforts to root out crime and corruption," that he, in fact, "arrest and prosecute corrupt officials."

Can there be any question that there is a plethora of corrupt officials to arrest? The president's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, reportedly on the CIA payroll, is also, as it's politely put in the press, a "suspected player in the country's booming illegal opium trade." Ahmad Rateb Popal, the president's cousin and another figure long linked to the drug trade, runs a local security company protecting American supply convoys that, according to Aram Roston of the Nation magazine, is involved in an industry-wide protection scam, using American Army money to pay off the Taliban not to attack. In addition, American arms and ammunition are clearly ending up in Taliban hands. The recent presidential election was a spectacle of fraud; the Afghan Army, despite years of training, may hardly exist (as Ann Jones reported for this site in September); the ill-paid, ill-trained Afghan police are known to operate on the principle of corruption; and a surprisingly small percentage of foreign reconstruction funds actually makes it out of the pockets of big private contractors and western specialists, as well as security firms, and into Afghan hands.

And then, of course, there's Kabul's "Obama market." (In the period when the Soviets ruled Kabul, it was the "Brezhnev market" in honor of the Russian leader, and decades later the "Bush market.") This "notorious bazaar" is "full of chow and supplies bought or stolen from the vast U.S. military bases," according to Jay Price of the McClatchy newspapers, who calls the name "a modest counterweight to [Obama's] Nobel Peace Prize." His description includes the following: "One shop offered an expensive military-issue sleeping bag, tactical goggles like those used by U.S. troops and a stack of plastic footlockers, including one stenciled 'Campbell G Co. 10th Mtn Div.' Another had a sophisticated 'red-dot' optical rifle sight of a kind often used by soldiers and contractors."

Fresh claims that British soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners are to be investigated by the Ministry of Defence.

They include allegations of rape and torture, some by female British soldiers.

But hundreds more alleged cases could remain buried for ever, the lawyer representing the Iraqi complainants said yesterday.

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has blocked the release of new photographs showing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq being abused by their Americans captors.

Gates said that public disclosure of the photos would endanger US citizens, US armed forces, and employees of the US government deployed outside the US.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had sued for the release of 21 color photos under the Freedom of Information Act.

Warning. This video contains images that depict the reality and horror of war.

A U.S. arms-control official said today there is "strong evidence" Iran sought to develop the means to put a nuclear weapon on a missile prior to 2003 and perhaps afterward.

Robert Einhorn, the State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, said the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna will report on the issue next week.

The IAEA will "address Iran's continuing failure to cooperate with the IAEA's investigation of the possible military dimensions of its nuclear program, including strong evidence that it has done work on a missile warhead for delivering nuclear weapons," Einhorn said.