Sonali Kolhatkar interviewed on GRITtv, on September 12, 2008

Watch the entire interview here.

According to Human Rights Watch, civilian deaths from U.S. and NATO action have tripled in the past year. Ninety civilians were killed in just one day August 20 and now there’s news of US action claiming lives on the Pakistan border provoking a “strong protest” from the Pakistani government who this week said they reserved the right to retaliate.

Yet President Bush announced Tuesday his plans to increase U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Senator Obama countered, “his plan comes up short – it’s not enough troops, and not enough resources with not enough urgency.”

Some are declaring Afghanistan the “right war” but does that sound RIGHT to you?

Here to discuss US policy in the region –past and future — are filmmaker, Wazhmah Osman, director of the film, Post Cards from Tora Bora, …

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Sonali Kolhatkar and Jim Ingalls will be discussing their book, Bleeding Afghanistan, and the latest situation in Afghanistan in the Southern California area this May:

EAGLE ROCK
WHAT: Revolutionary Mic Nite: RAWA/AWM Benefit Event
WHEN: 7-11 pm, Friday May 18, 2007
WHERE: IMIX Bookstore, 5052 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041
FOR MORE INFO, Download the event flyer or visit www.imixbooks.com

SANTA ANA, ORANGE COUNTY
WHAT: Bleeding Afghanistan book Discussion and Slide Show
WHEN: 6 pm, Saturday May 19, 2007
WHERE: El Centro Cultural de Mexico, 310 W 5th Street Santa Ana, CA 92701
FOR MORE INFO, visit www.el-centro.org

There will be copies of Bleeding Afghanistan for sale at both events. The authors will be available to sign books. Afghan crafts and other items from Afghan Women’s Mission will also be available for sale. All sales will benefit the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

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Bleeding Afghanistan authors, Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls were recently featured on the award winning public affairs radio program, Alternative Radio. The program was founded by David Barsamian, who also wrote the foreward to Bleeding Afghanistan.

The program was a recording of a recent talk given by Sonali and James in September 2006 in Los Angeles, CA.

You can buy a CD of the program through Alternative Radio: http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/INGJ-KOLS001.shtml

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On Friday October 6th, Sonali and Jim appeared on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman to discuss the fifth anniversary of the US bombing of Afghanistan.

Click here to watch/listen to the interview.

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

AMY GOODMAN: My next guests are the authors of the book, Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence. Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls are also co-directors of the Afghan Women’s Mission. They traveled to Afghanistan last year to witness firsthand the results of U.S. policy there and to understand how ordinary Afghans felt about the war. Sonali and Jim join us from Los Angeles. We welcome you to Democracy Now!

SONALI KOLHATKAR: Thank you, Amy. It’s good to be with you.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s great to have you with us. And, …

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“If you want the real story behind the US war in Afghanistan, read this book now! Bleeding Afghanistan is a thoroughly researched analysis of US policy. Kolhatkar and Ingalls show how Afghan women were used to dupe us into a war that has neither improved the security of Americans, nor liberated the people of Afghanistan. A wake-up call to everyone who thought the war was a success story.”

– Eve Ensler

“Bleeding Afghanistan is without a doubt the most realistic and sincere reflection of the ongoing tragedy in my ill-fated Afghanistan, covering every aspect of life under the US domination and its fundamentalist criminals and warlord hirelings…The book breaks the silence on many hidden agendas of the US administration in Afghanistan.”

– Malalai Joya, member of Afghan Parliament

“Sonali Kolhatkar and Jim Ingalls worked with RAWA before it was cool and have continued to do so after Afghanistan has fallen off everyone’s radar screen. …

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

By Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls

In the years following 9/11, U.S. 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 U.S. policies in Afghanistan historically and in the post-9/11 era.

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Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls will be visiting the following locations in the US as part of their book tour:

OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH
LONG BEACH – September 16, 3 pm
2000+ Books
309 Pine Aveue, Long Beach, CA 90802
www.edunow.com, 562-435-1199

LOS ANGELES – September 29, 7-9 pm
Discussion, slideshow, and book signing
Center For The Arts
2225 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles 90041
www.imixbooks.com, 323-257-2512

AUSTIN – October 4, 7 pm
UT campus, Thompson Conference Center auditorium (TCC 1.100). TCC is next to the LBJ school at Red River and Dean Keeton.
Austin, TX
http://thirdcoastactivist.org/events.html#oct4

BOSTON – November 16, 7 pm
Spontaneous Celebrations
45 Danforth Street
Jamaica Plain
For more information, call 617-876-5310. http://www.centerfornewwords.org/events/2006/08/afghanistan.php.

BALTIMORE – November 19, 4 pm
Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse
800 St. Paul Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
For more information, call 410-230-0450 or email info@redemmas.org
www.redemmas.org.

WASHINGTON DC – November 20, 7 pm
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th Street
NW DC 200009
For more information, call 202-387-7638 or visit www.busboysandpoets.com.

NEW YORK – November 21, 7 pm
Bluestockings
172 …

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Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls will be visiting the following locations in Canada as part of their book tour:

TORONTO – September 21, 7 pm
Bahen Centre, Room 1130
40 St. George St (just north of College)
University of Toronto
Contact: grain-uoft@riseup.net / 416-978-7770 for more information, or visit: www.opirguoft.org

HALIFAX – September 24, 7 pm
KTS Lecture Hall
New Academic Building at King’s College
6350 Coburg Road
For more information, visit www.nspirg.org, and www.halifaxpeacecoalition.ca, or call 902-405-9480
New! — LISTEN TO THE EVENT IN HALIFAX:
Introduction by Stuart Neatby | James Ingalls | Sonali Kolhatkar

VANCOUVER – November 3, 7pm
SFU Harbour Centre
Vancouver, B.C.
515 West Hastings St. Rm 1900

VICTORIA – November 4, 7 pm
University of Victoria
Elliott Building, Room 168
Sponsored by Victoria Peace Coalition, Vancouver Island Public
Interest Research Group, and UVic Students Against War

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David Barsamian is founder and director of Alternative Radio, the independent award-winning weekly series based in Boulder, Colorado. He is a radio producer, journalist, author and lecturer. He has traveled extensively across Afghanistan. He wrote the foreword to “Bleeding Afghanistan,” which is reprinted below.

Most Americans have been inside their own burqas when it comes to Afghanistan. The level of knowledge about the country is minimal. When it comes to U.S. involvement, the level of ignorance and amnesia is astounding.

Five years after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and effected “regime change,” James Ingalls and Sonali Kolhatkar break what they call the “propaganda of silence” with their acutely timed Bleeding Afghanistan. The Taliban are in resurgence and “anti-American anger is boiling over.” How are these developments explained by Washington, its satraps in Kabul, and the corporate media? The problems are caused by …

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