The rapacious adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan are going badly

"America's two 'great victories' since 11 September 2001 are unravelling," writes John Pilger.

"In Afghanistan, the regime of Hamid Karzai has virtually no authority and no money, and would collapse without American guns. Al-Qaeda has not been defeated, and the Taliban are re-emerging...

"In Iraq, scene of the second 'great victory,' there are two open secrets. The first is that the 'terrorists' now besieging the American occupation force represent an armed resistance that is almost certainly supported by the majority of Iraqis who, contrary to pre-war propaganda, opposed their enforced 'liberation' (see Jonathan Steele's investigation, 19 March 2003). The second secret is that there is emerging evidence of the true scale of the Anglo-American killing, pointing to the bloodbath Bush and Blair have always denied."