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EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - The Future of NATO Potentially at Stake in Afghanistan - Experts : "The United States and its European allies have fundamentally different ideas about what is needed to build a functioning country in Afghanistan – a rift that could have possibly fatal consequences for NATO, according to an international panel of experts. A former White House official accused some European political leaders of not doing enough to prepare their voters for the possibility of violence and casualties in Afghanistan. That failure has led to greatly varying acceptance of risk among NATO member states with troop contingents in Afghanistan. That fact, in turn, threatens to scuttle the entire mission, said the former official, Kori Schake."

AlterNet: War on Iraq: Holocaust Denial, American Style : "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's flirtation with those who deny the reality of the Nazi genocide has rightly been met with disgust. But another holocaust denial is taking place with little notice: the holocaust in Iraq. The average American believes that 10,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US invasion in March 2003. The most commonly cited figure in the media is 70,000. But the actual number of people who have been killed is most likely more than one million. This is five times more than the estimates of killings in Darfur and even more than the genocide in Rwanda 13 years ago."

AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: Is the GOP Ready to Nominate a Mob-Connected Man for the Presidency? : "The Tribune uncovered a direct and personal Giuliani connection to a big time Macao/Hong Kong gambling mobster/billionaire who is in cahoots with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Giuliani was to have been paid an immense amount of money to provide security for the gambling resort in Singapore Kim Jong Il and his criminal partners wanted to put up to help launder drug money and other criminal enterprises they are engaged in. Giuliani went to Singapore for the presentation right after he announced his intention to run for president (of the United States) and hobnobbed with some of Asia's most notorious gangsters."

AlterNet: Why We Shouldn't Celebrate Thanksgiving : "The most common argument went something like this: OK, it's true that the Thanksgiving Day mythology is rooted in a fraudulent story -- about the European invaders coming in peace to the 'New World,' eager to cooperate with indigenous people -- which conveniently ignores the reality of European barbarism in the conquest of the continent. But we can reject the culture's self-congratulatory attempts to rewrite history, I have been told, and come together on Thanksgiving to celebrate the love and connections among family and friends."

Scotsman.com News - International - Taliban controlling much of Afghanistan, warn experts : "THE Taliban is back in control of 'vast swathes' of Afghanistan and its influence is growing fast, an influential think-tank warned today. Despite the massive international financial and military effort, insurgents have established a permanent presence in more than half of the troubled country. The situation is so bad that it is a question of 'when not if' the Taliban will reappear in Kabul, and there is a 'serious' danger they could regain control of the state."

Glenn Greenwald - Political Blogs and Opinions - Salon : "Bilal began to work for AP in his hometown of Fallujah, in the month leading up to the U.S. military assault on Fallujah in 2004. He took pictures under the direction of an experienced combat photographer and photo editor based in Baghdad, and his assignment was to take pictures showing what it's like to be in Fallujah, and how people were preparing. As there were insurgent attacks, he would take pictures of the aftermath, how people were affected, grieving families, charred cars, expressions of unhappiness about the attacks and daily life in Fallujah."

Al Jazeera English - Programmes - Walls Of Shame: West Bank It matters little what they are called – whether walls, barriers or fences - the intention is the same: to redefine human relations into 'us' and 'them'. This series is about division, and about the barriers that men erect, in calculation or desperation, to separate themselves from others, or others from them. When diplomacy and conciliation fail, this is the alternative, and not since medieval times have walls been so in demand around the world. Tens of new walls, barriers and fences are currently being built, while old ones are being renovated. And there are many types: barriers between countries, walls around cities and fences that zigzag through neighbourhoods.