Afghanistan

The Hard Places — the Tom Little story

by News Sources 01.23.2013

Afghanistan is on the verge of momentous change as U.S. and NATO troops prepare to withdraw in 2014. Will this be the dawn of lasting stability or will the country slip back into war? What kind of commitment will be required to address the huge problems facing the country? “The Hard Places” is a new [...]

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Video: Bringing music back to Afghanistan

by News Sources 01.17.2013
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Afghanistan has poetry in its soul

by News Sources 05.22.2012

Reza Mohammadi writes: When the Taliban’s poetry book was published in the UK this month, many found it very strange indeed, but someone who understands the culture and lifestyle of Afghans knows how important poetry is to Afghans. On a visit to Jalalabad during the orange flower blossom celebration, I have felt the power of [...]

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Video: Afghan women — priority or bargaining chip?

by News Sources 05.17.2012
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Video: Afghan women battle for gender equality

by News Sources 05.11.2012
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Why Afghan women risk death to write poetry

by News Sources 04.29.2012

Eliza Griswold writes: In a private house in a quiet university neighborhood of Kabul, Ogai Amail waited for the phone to ring. Through a plate-glass window, she watched the sinking sun turn the courtyard the color of eggplant. The electricity wasn’t working and the room was unheated, a few floor cushions the only furnishings. Amail [...]

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Afghanistan sees rise in ‘dancing boys’ exploitation

by News Sources 04.05.2012

The Washington Post reports: The 9-year-old boy with pale skin and big, piercing eyes captivated Mirzahan at first sight. “He is more handsome than anyone in the village,” the 22-year-old farmer said, explaining why he is grooming the boy as a sexual partner and companion. There was another important factor that made Waheed easy to [...]

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Afghan-Pakistan cricket match a break from war

by News Sources 02.10.2012

AFP reports: Excitement was building in cricket-loving parts of Afghanistan ahead of their historic one-day international against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday – even among Taliban insurgents. “I am personally a fan of cricket, I will follow this match closely,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP. Asked which side he would support, given reported backing [...]

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Afghan commission: U.S. abuses detainees

by News Sources 01.08.2012

The Associated Press reports: An Afghan investigative commission accused the American military Saturday of abusing detainees at its main prison in the country, saying anyone held without evidence should be freed and backing President Hamid Karzai’s demand that the U.S. turn over all prisoners to Afghan custody. The demands put the U.S. and the Afghan [...]

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Monika Bulaj: The hidden light of Afghanistan

by News Sources 12.21.2011
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Afghanistan — touch down in flight

by Paul Woodward 12.04.2011

This film is best viewed on full screen. Hit the play button and then the full-screen button on the right (between “HD” and “Vimeo”). Afghanistan – touch down in flight from Augustin Pictures on Vimeo. © by Lukas and Salome Augustin All rights reserved. Published here with the filmmaker’s permission. “Feel free to watch it [...]

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Afghanistan is a country — not a war

by Paul Woodward 11.28.2011

Everyone lives at the center of the world. But in a world where power and resources are so unevenly distributed, it’s easy for those of us who live in the domineering West, to place everyone and everywhere else out on the periphery. As Americans who have for so long looked at the rest of the [...]

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Inside Story – Kabul’s new strategy for peace

by News Sources 10.04.2011
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Secret US and Afghanistan talks could see troops stay for decades

by News Sources 06.15.2011

The Guardian reports: American and Afghan officials are locked in increasingly acrimonious secret talks about a long-term security agreement which is likely to see US troops, spies and air power based in the troubled country for decades. Though not publicised, negotiations have been under way for more than a month to secure a strategic partnership [...]

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An interview with Nir Rosen

by News Sources 01.07.2011

Nir Rosen, independent journalist and author of Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America’s Wars in the Muslim World, interviewed on Press TV. (H/t Pulse.)

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How the Afghan counterinsurgency threatens Pakistan

by News Sources 12.17.2010

Anatol Lieven writes: By now, almost all the likely outcomes of US strategy in Afghanistan are bad ones. They range from unending civil war, with government forces barely managing to hold their own against the Taliban, to de facto partition of the country. There is a chance that the Taliban would accept a settlement involving [...]

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$52bn of American aid and still Afghans are dying of starvation

by News Sources 12.13.2010

Patrick Cockburn reports: The most extraordinary failure of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan is that the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars has had so little impact on the misery in which 30 million Afghans live. As President Barack Obama prepares this week to present a review of America’s strategy in Afghanistan which is [...]

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Desperate Afghan wives choose self-immolation

by News Sources 11.10.2010

The New York Times reports: “Why did you burn yourself?” asks the doctor. “If I threw myself from a building, I’d break an arm or a leg, but I wanted to die,” Halima answers. “That’s why I set myself on fire. I thought I would die instantly.” As an answer it is more how than [...]

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CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration

by News Sources 08.28.2010

The Washington Post reports: The CIA is making secret payments to multiple members of President Hamid Karzai’s administration, in part to maintain sources of information in a government in which the Afghan leader is often seen as having a limited grasp of developments, according to current and former U.S. officials. The payments are long-standing in [...]

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How Pakistan shut down Afghan-Taliban peace talks

by Paul Woodward 08.25.2010

In the New York Times, Dexter Filkins reports: When American and Pakistani agents captured Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s operational commander, in the chaotic port city of Karachi last January, both countries hailed the arrest as a breakthrough in their often difficult partnership in fighting terrorism. But the arrest of Mr. Baradar, the second-ranking Taliban [...]

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The latest threat to Afghanistan’s existence

by Paul Woodward 06.15.2010

Ask a foreigner what Afghans most need and he’s most likely to say: to escape from poverty. Ask an Afghan and he’s more likely to say: to escape from foreign interference. The latest news from Afghanistan is no cause for celebration. The New York Times reports: The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in [...]

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Karzai’s troublesome independence

by Paul Woodward 04.05.2010

After Benjamin Netanyahu was recently insulted by President Obama during his March visit to Washington (Obama declined to offer him dinner), Israeli commentators struggled to make an appropriate comparison and for some reason thought this was treatment that the head of a small African state might expect — the rather transparent implication being that Netanyahu [...]

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The opium wars in Afghanistan

by Paul Woodward 03.30.2010

At TomDispatch, Alfred W. McCoy writes: To understand the Afghan War, one basic point must be grasped: in poor nations with weak state services, agriculture is the foundation for all politics, binding villagers to the government or warlords or rebels. The ultimate aim of counterinsurgency strategy is always to establish the state’s authority. When the [...]

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Karzai refuses to be an American puppet

by Paul Woodward 03.30.2010

The New York Times reports: This month, with President Hamid Karzai looking ahead to a visit to the White House, he received a terse note from aides to President Obama: Your invitation has been revoked. The reason, according to American officials, was Mr. Karzai’s announcement that he was emasculating an independent panel that had discovered [...]

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