11,000 troops in afghanistan and last month, president obama took really extended the u. S. Role in afghanistan that ensures u. S. Troops will continue to fight. They will be accompanied by jets, bombers, and drones. We will speak with kathy kelly of voices for creative nonviolence, just back from afghanistan and with journalist matt aikins. His recent piece is headlined, afghanistan the making of a narco state. The country produced about 90 of the worlds supply of opium in 2014. Then, back in new york some 20,000 Police Officers attended one of the Largest Police funerals in new york history. To honor one of two officers murdered in the last weeks. Hundreds of police turned their back outside the church as mayor de blasio delivered his eulogy inside. We will speak with the Police Officer who says those officers with their backs turned on the present the feelings of many police. I guess the main question is where do we go from now . Where does police and community decide to come together to see how were going to move forward after this tragedy . We will speak with adhyl polanco. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A search is continuing in indonesian waters for a missing passenger plane carrying 162 people. Airasia flight 8501 was en route to singapore when it lost contact with the ground after requesting a new flight plan due to poor weather. Indonesian Officials Say they believe the plane crashed and is now at the bottom of the sea. The u. S. Led nato occupation has formally ended its 13year combat mission in afghanistan. The move leaves Afghan Forces in charge of security, though more than 17,000 foreign troops will remain. This includes more than 10,000 u. S. Troops, who will continue to see a combat role despite the nominal change. The transition follows the deadliest year in afghanistan since 2001. According to the united nations, almost 3,200 afghan civilians have been killed. More than 5,000 members of the Afghan Security forces have also died the highest toll since 2001. Well have more on afghanistan after headlines. At least 7 people were killed friday in a pair of u. S. Drone strikes in pakistan. The victims were described as islamist militants in the North Waziristan region. The strikes come as Pakistani Forces have killed dozens of fighters as part of an intensified offensive following the Deadly School attack in peshawar that killed nearly 150 people, most of them children. The u. S. Continues its Bombing Campaign targeting the Islamic State in iraq and syria. The pentagon says u. S. Led forces carried out eight strikes in syria and five in iraq on sunday. Meanwhile, a new tally says the Islamic State has killed nearly 1,900 people since declaring a caliphate in parts of syria in late june. According to the syrian observatory for human rights the toll includes more than 1,100 civilians. Thousands of people including a sea of uniformed officers gathered in new york city on saturday for the funeral of officer rafael ramos, one of the two killed in a targeted ambush one week before. The funeral was said to be the largest in the nypds history. Speakers included Vice President joe biden and mayor bill de blasio. Courts i believe this great police force, this incredibly diverse city, can and will show the nation how to bridge any divide. You have done it before, and you will do it again. Their dream, that he would one day be a Police Officer and he worked for that dream and he lived it and he became it. He could not wait to take that test. He could not wait to put on the uniform. He believed in protecting others. And those who are called to protect others are special breed. As de blasio spoke, a large group of officers outside the Queens Church turned their backs to the screen projecting his remarks. It was the second time officers have turned their backs on de blasio since the officers killing. The nypd union has criticized him. On new york city commissioner sunday, bill bratton criticized the officers for turning their backs on de blasio, calling their act of protest inappropriate. A Funeral Service for the other slain officer, wenjian liu, will be held on sunday. Well have more on this story later in the broadcast. Los Angeles Police have been caught on video mocking slain ferguson teenager Michael Brown. A video obtained by the website tmz shows officers at an lapd gathering listening to a parody based on the song, bad, bad leroy brown. It includes lyrics the michael looked like some old swiss cheese his brain was splattered on the floor. Looked like old swiss cheese, his brain was splattered on the floor. Dead dead, Michael Brown. The singer of the song has been identified as former federal investigator gary fishell. The lapd says its investigating. Meanwhile in ferguson, a spokesperson for the Police Department has been suspended without pay after calling the roadside memorial to brown a pile of trash. Officer timothy zoll initially claimed he was misquoted before admitting that wasnt the case. Zoll was responding to a question about a motorist running over the memorial, which stands in the exact spot where Michael Brown was killed. Local residents have since restored it. Protests against Police Brutality and racial profiling continued this weekend across the country. On saturday, demonstrators gathered for a march in los angeles. We are marching today to bring awareness about the injustice happening around the nation. That being the things happening in new york, ferguson, and happening in l. A. The National Security agency has released internal oversight reports showing violations and errors over a 12year period. The practices include sharing americans emails with unauthorized recipients and wrongfully gathering private information. Most of the violations appear to have come from human error as opposed to deliberate intent. The American Civil Liberties union has criticized the nsa for releasing the documents on christmas eve, saying the timing suggests officials wanted to minimize their impact. Protests were held across mexico this weekend to mark three months since the disappearance of 43 students in the state of guerrero. Authorities say the students were seized by local police and handed over to a local drug gang, who reportedly executed them and burnt the remains. Among thousands marching in mexico city this weekend was adan cortes, an activist who interrupted the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in oslo this month to call attention to the students case. Cortes told democracy now said the disappearances have taken a toll on the students families. I feel careless. I would love to hand the children over to them if theyre kidnapped, turn them over a life. And if they are dead, at least handover their bodies so they can pray over them. I feel a sense of impotence and i also feel empathy for their anger. Just imagine what they must feel to not have any news about their children for three months. Were not talking one week or one month, it is three months and they know nothing about their children. Anger in solidarity is all that i can feel in this moment. Today marks one year that three al jazeera journalists have been imprisoned in egypt. Peter greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were convicted on terrorism charges including spreading false news in support of the muslim brotherhood, deemed by the government a terrorist group. Speaking in australia, grestes brother, Andrew Greste said the International Campaign for the three journalists continues. We have never given up fighting for justice because we, obviously, believe as do the majority of the world, believe he is done nothing wrong. He is remarkably tough guy. Again, it has been along 12 months. The conditions have not been all that easy to endure. You know, he is as good as he can be, i guess, given his been there for 12 months and locked up on some pretty flimsy evidence. An Egyptian Court will hear the groups appeal on thursday. In another case involving a government crackdown, an Egyptian Appeals Court has upheld the convictions of 23 prodemocracy activists for rallying against the governments antiprotest law. The group took part in a june demonstration calling for the release of Political Prisoners and the annulment of a law that only allows governmentapproved demonstrations. On sunday, the activists convictions were upheld but their sentences were reduced from three to two years. The 23 protesters include yara sallam and sanaa seif, deemed by Amnesty International to be prisoners of conscience. The sentencing comes just days after the u. S. Delivered ten apache helicopters to the Egyptian Government as part of the military aid that resumed this year. Cuba has rejected calls to extradite exiled black Panther Assata Shakur back to the United States following the historic resumption of diplomatic ties. Shakur was convicted of killing a state trooper in 1973 after being pulled over on the new jersey turnpike. The encounter left both the officer and a fellow black panther dead. Assata shakur has said she was shot by police with both arms in the air, and then again from the back. She was sentenced to life in prison but managed to escape and flee to cuba, where she has lived since 1984. New jersey Chris Christie has called on president obama to demand shakurs extradition. But in a statement, cubas Foreign Ministry said the two countries dont have an extradition treaty and political asylum is not up for negotiation, saying every nation has sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted. An oregon woman wrongly jailed in east timor has been released after over two months behind bars. Stacey addison, a veterinarian was arrested in september after sharing a taxi with a stranger who turned out to be carrying illegal drugs. Addison was freed on Christmas Day after an International Campaign for her release. She is now awaiting the return of her passport so she can return home. And those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The americanled coalition in afghanistan officially concluded its combat mission on sunday, 13 years after it started in 2001 ending the longest war in u. S. History. The commander of the interNational Security assistance force, or isaf, general John Campbell announced the end of formal combat operations. Today marks the end of a narrow in the beginning of a new one end of an era in the beginning of a new one. [indiscernible] but the war is not over. The Obama Administration said earlier this month it would leave a residual u. S. Force of about 11,000 troops in afghanistan for at least the first few months of 2015 to assist Afghan Security forces under the mission known as resolute support. Last month, president obama also secretly extended the u. S. Role in afghanistan. According to the new york times, he signed a classified order that ensures american troops will have a direct role in fighting. The order reportedly enables american jets, bombers and drones to bolster afghan troops on combat missions. Under certain circumstances, it would apparently authorize u. S. Airstrikes to support Afghan Military operations throughout the country. Afghanistans new president , ashraf ghani, who took office in september, has also backed an expanded u. S. Military role. This comes as 2014 marked the deadliest in afghanistan since 2001. According to the united nations, nearly 3,200 afghan civilians were killed in the intensifying war with the taliban a 20 rise from 2013. The National Army and police have also suffered record losses this year, with more than 4,600 killed. For more, were joined now by two guests. Kathy kelly is cocoordinator of voices for creative nonviolence, a campaign to end u. S. Military and economic warfare. She returned from kabul last month and is soon heading to prison over drone protest in missouri. She recently wrote an article headlined, obama extends war in afghanistan the implications for u. S. Democracy arent reassuring. And matt aikins is a journalist based in kabul and joins us now from halifax, nova scotia in canada. Aikins is currently a schell fellow at the nation institute. His recent report for Rolling Stone magazine is titled afghanistan the making of a narco state. Welcome both to democracy now kathy kelly, you were just in afghanistan. What is the significance of saying the formal war is over but in fact, the formal work continues with u. S. Troops fighting . I think the United States doesnt want to knowledge that what went on over the last 13 years at a cost of one tree and dollars is not only been one tree in dollars has not only been a defeat, but also the extent of expending 80 billion under the Obama Administration that feels corruption and did not improve the lives of people in afghanistan in any measurable way like never ever to be held up as some kind of a success story. I think the United States wants to walk away from responsibilities within afghanistan, is certain he doesnt talk about paying reparations. A, talk about officially what this means. You have lived in afghanistan for a long time covering it. How is this seen in afghanistan . Well, it really isnt going to change today. The war continues. You 11,000 u. S. Troops with new combat authorities, rising levels of violence, the highest ever casualties both for Afghan Security forces and civilians. So in no sense but the semantic can this war be said to be over. If we have the formal and of a war, that means beginning of an informal war, which is troubling. On thursday, president obama addressed troops gathered for a christmas dinner at a Marine Corps Base in hawaii. He spoke about the end of the u. S. Combat mission in afghanistan. We of been in continuous war now promised 13 years over 13 years. And next week, we will be ending our combat mission in afghanistan. Obviously because extort new service the men and women and the armed forces, afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. We are safer. It is not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again. We still have some very Difficult Missions around the world, including in iraq. We still have folks in afghanistan helping Afghan Security forces. The outgoing defense secretary chuck hagel announced the United States keeping an additional 1000 troops in afghanistan on top of the nearly 10,000 already committed to remain beyond this year. He announced the move during a visit to afghanistan. President obama has provided u. S. Military commanders the flexibility to manage any temporary for shortfalls that we might experience for a few months as we allow for Coalition Troops to arrive in theater. This will mean a delayed withdrawal of up to 1000 u. S. Troops. So that up to 10,000 10,800 troops, rather than 9800, could remain in afghanistan through the end of this year and for the first few months next year. Hagel said the change is temporary and will not change the longterm timeline for withdrawing troops. The announcement came midst a surge in Taliban Attacks over the past several months. The new president of afghanistan , kathy kelly, has lifted former president karzais ban on night raids. The significance of this . Using the night raids, which is their means of surprising the taliban by bursting in a homes at 3 30 in the morning, by wresting people, possibly disappearing them over a period of months or longer, is a despised tactic. They say it is a way to recruit more to tolerate or support the taliban. The decision on the part of ghani shows the continuation of the u. S. Military presence in afghanistan. I think he is try to make some changes, for instance, going after corrupt figures within kabul, but why is he so reluctant to disobey any orders from the United States or disability disobey the orders of the United States . Even britain now is saying theyve seen themselves as being an insubordinate roll to the United States and now look back with a great till of remorse on the disgrace of the war brought on by brought on by the war in britain. At this sort of point, 13 years in, what has been the effect on afghanistan . The last point about president ghanis corporation with u. S. Military, one of the results has been an extremely dependent state, perhaps the most a dependent large sta