Afghanistan Follow

"In the villages around Kandahar there is a name that provokes horror and fear. It is not Taliban leader Mullah Omar, nor is it Osama Bin Laden. It is Gul Agha, the former Mujahadeen governor of Kandahar, whose tribal militia is backed and advised by the US."

"We are The War Criminals Now." That was the headline in both the Independent and Mirror last week above a powerful article by veteran correspondent Robert Fisk. It was one of a string of pieces that described the horror of the capture of a prison near Mazar-e-Sharif by the Northern Alliance, the US and Britain's ally in Afghanistan.

Over 150 people packed out the debate on the war in Afghanistan organised by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Stop the War group last week. Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee and writer on the Independent David Aaronovitch presented their pro-war position.

'I lost my daughter two days ago. The Americans bombed our home in Kandahar and the roof fell in. Her name was Muzlifa. She was two. Then there was my other daughter. Her name was Farigha. She was three. There wasn't much left of my son. When the roof hit him he was turned to meat and all I could see were bones. His name was Sherif. He was a year and a half old.'Shukria Gul speaking to journalist Robert Fisk last week

"Afghanistan is just the start." Those were the words of George W Bush last week as he made a sickeningly violent speech to 15,000 troops, including the 101st Airborne Division-the aptly named "Screaming Eagles". Bush whipped them into a frenzy by chanting "Airborne assault!" as they pumped their fists in the air.

The 100,000-strong march in London against the war two weeks ago shattered the myth that almost everyone in Britain supports Tony Blair over the bombing of Afghanistan. If that many people marched, think how many millions supported the demonstration.

We may never know how many women have been blown to pieces in Afghanistan by B-52s and cluster bombs. That has not stopped Laura Bush and Cherie Blair proclaiming that their husbands' war in Afghanistan is motivated by the high ideals of women's liberation.

George W Bush apparently requested a special screening of this film. But don't let that put you off seeing Kandahar, by Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. His concern for the suffering of the people of Afghanistan goes back to at least 1987, with his film The Cyclist, which featured Afghan refugees in Iran.

The warmongers aim at new victims The US is preparing to attack more countries even as the chaos and horror in Afghanistan unfold daily. "There are 40 to 50 countries which harbour terrorists and which could be targeted for diplomatic, financial or military action," said US vice-president Dick Cheney last week.

Tony Blair, George W Bush and their media cheerleaders are hailing "liberation" in Afghanistan. But the record of the Northern Alliance forces which took control of much of the country last week is every bit as bad as the Taliban regime the West is out to crush.

I am Somali woman living and working in London who decided to join Health Workers Against the War. I took that decision after my seven year old daughter came home from school and said it is not right that poor children should be bombed in Afghanistan. If only Bush and Blair had the same morality as a child!

Tony Blair was cheered when he spoke at the Labour conference of taking action over the "slums of Gaza" and stressed that "the Palestinians must have justice". Yet during the war on Afghanistan Blair and Bush have allowed the Israeli state to launch a new and bloody reign of terror against the Palestinians.