afghanistan - Vikash Yadav on Diigo

22 Nov 09

As Afghans Resist Taliban, U.S. Spurs Rise of Militias - NYTimes.com

The Return of Strategic Hamlets, a.k.a. screw democracy, let's create more warlords!

www.nytimes.com/...22militias.html - Preview

taliban afghanistan us afpak

American and Afghan officials have begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias that have independently taken up arms against insurgents in several parts of Afghanistan, prompting hopes of a large-scale tribal rebellion against the Taliban.
the Community Defense Initiative
- I prefer the term "strategic hamlet"... - on 2009-11-22
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iCasualties | Operation Enduring Freedom | Afghanistan

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afghanistan casualties

21 Nov 09

Al Jazeera English - Focus - Business flees Afghan instability

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afghanistan business

a total of $5.3bn has been invested by the private sector in Afghanistan in the past seven years, of which only 27 per cent was foreign investment.

Delawari says that foreign investment has diminished due to deteriorating security conditions, but with over 60 per cent of private investment stemming from Afghan entrepreneurs, recent reports of an 'exodus' pose a far graver threat to the already shaky reconstruction process.
In its 2008 report, Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog, ranked Afghanistan as the fifth most corrupt state in the world.
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- "While the day-to-day operations of most businesses are continuing, no major new investment is being made," he says. He adds that banks have put a temporary freeze on granting approvals for new loans or even credit extensions, which has perpetuated the stagnation.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Afghans 'blame poverty for war'

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taliban afghanistan survey

Poverty and unemployment are overwhelmingly seen as the main reasons behind conflict in Afghanistan, according to a survey in that country.
British aid agency Oxfam - which
questioned 704 Afghans - said seven out of 10 respondents blamed these factors.
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- One in five said they had been tortured and one in 10 claimed to have been imprisoned at least once since 1979, when Soviet forces invaded.
- one in six Afghans are currently considering leaving the country
  • three-quarters of Afghans have been forced to leave their homes since 1979
  • one in 10 Afghans have been imprisoned at least once

Reasons behind the return of the caravan of terror

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taliban afghanistan

13 Nov 09

U.S. Special Inspector: Afghan Corruption A 'Mix' Of External, Internal Factors - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2009

As the United States' special inspector-general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), Arnold Fields has the arduous task of preventing the "waste, fraud, and abuse" of U.S. funds appropriated fo..." /><meta http-equiv="content-language" content="en

www.rferl.org/...1876279.html - Preview

afghanistan corruption

Op-Ed Contributor - 'They Will Kill Us All' - NYTimes.com

"Afghanistan is listed as having the 176th most corrupt government in the world by Transparency International out of a total of 180. It's no wonder people here don't like it."

www.nytimes.com/...13iht-edhayes.html - Preview

afghanistan

Want to buy US military wares in Afghanistan? Go to Obama Market.

Afghanistan vendors in the 'Obama Market' in Kabul sell MREs, military cots, and goggles like those used by the American military. It's not clear where they come from, but the Otis Spunkmeyer cookies are popular.

www.csmonitor.com/...p06s01-wosc.html - Preview

afghanistan

02 Nov 09

China taps huge copper reserves in Afghanistan - Yahoo! Finance

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china afghanistan

Chinese company is at work on a $3 billion mine project to tap one of the
world's largest unexploited copper reserves, a potential financial boon for an
impoverished country
"The world isn't fair," said Robert Kaplan, a senior fellow at the Center for a
New American Security in Washington. "A worse outcome to staying and helping the
Chinese would be withdrawing and losing a great battle in the war against
radical Islam."
- Oh my God, will Kaplan ever just shut up? What a moron. - on 2009-11-02
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Abdullah pulls out of runoff | guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk/...fghan-election-karzai-abdullah - Preview

Afghanistan elections

04 Oct 09

Galbraith v. Eide

www.afghanistannewscenter.com/...oct32009.html - Preview

Afghanistan election fraud peter_galbraith UN

04 Sep 09

Op-Ed Contributor - The Same Old Mistake - NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com/...04iht-edmarten.html - Preview

afghanistan iraq awakening bribes imperialism us

02 Sep 09

Kashmir in the AfPak equation | The AfPak Channel

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india kashmir afpak afghanistan us security diplomacy

When Kashmir is discussed in the strategic discourse these days, it is usually
in the context of the broader stabilization effort in the region. Reducing
tensions between India and Pakistan would improve Pakistani cooperation in
Afghanistan and thus advance US interests.
- I find it curious that Americans are so willing to go down this road. The idea that India should sacrifice its claim to Kashmir so that Pakistan will finally act to counter terrorism. It basically shows that American pundits cannot be trusted and that India must remain ever vigilant in fending off US efforts to intervene in its domestic affairs. - on 2009-09-01
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itself is curiously absent from many of these discussions
- No. Wrong. The fact is that President Obama tried to convince India to go along with this game from the moment he was elected and India balked, just like it did in 2001 when Bush and Powell suggested the same idea. The US lacks any serious leverage on this issue, since the US clearly knows that elements in the government of Pakistan are sponsors of terrorism. Asking India to accept negotiations would be to reward terrorism. - on 2009-09-01
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- Kashmiris
  - This is much more heterogeneous group than implied here. - on 2009-09-01
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- While in Kashmir it is impossible to miss the depth of sentiment against Indian
  policy
  - This is a remarkably stupid comment. It really depends which part of Kashmir one is in. In the Valley there is genuine resentment, but popular sentiment is much more complex outside of there. - on 2009-09-01
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- Second, the politics of the Valley have become far more closely contested than
  either the period before militancy
  - The level of cynicism in the Valley is also at a high point. - on 2009-09-01
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- political instability in the state has the potential to disastrously unsettle
  India-Pakistan relations
  - The problem here is that the author is only interested in this issue because of its impact on US objectives in the region. - on 2009-09-01
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- If the United States tries to facilitate deals over Kashmir in the future, as some suggest and others fear, it must pay very close attention to the politics
  on the ground in the Valley.
  - A good analyst would warn the US that its intervention in this issue could damage its comprehensive relationship with India and thus its soft-containment strategy with China. - on 2009-09-01
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- Srinagar
  - It looks even more complex from the streets of Leh or Jammu... - on 2009-09-01
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- Taking Kashmiris seriously is essential for slowly removing Kashmir from the
  "AfPak" equation.
  - Oh give me a break. This logic of resolving "underlying causes" did not work in the middle east and it won't work in South Asia. The best way to take Kashmir out of the Af-Pak situation is to play hardball with Pakistan and stop appeasing those elements which would continue to sponsor terrorists. - on 2009-09-01
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Taliban's growth in Afghanistan's north threatens to expand war | McClatchy

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afghanistan taliban us security

Taliban insurgents have taken over parts of two northern provinces from which
they were driven in 2001, threatening to disrupt NATO's new supply route from
Central Asia
The senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed that the Taliban have set up
"shadow governments," a tactic they've used to exercise control elsewhere in
Afghanistan by punishing crimes and settling feuds that usually linger in
corrupt, incompetent government institutions and courts.
- This is not just a "tactic" it basically lays the ground work for an overthrow. As we have known for decades, we can't be out fought but we can be out administered. - on 2009-09-01
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Contractors Outnumber U.S. Troops in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com/...02contractors.html - Preview

us afghanistan mercenaries security

Civilian contractors working for the Pentagon in Afghanistan
not only outnumber the uniformed troops, according to a report by a
Congressional research group, but also form the highest ratio of contractors to
military personnel recorded in any war in the history of the United States.
- This is why the debate about troop escalation is rather misleading. - on 2009-09-02
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Is It Time to Negotiate With the Taliban? - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/...-to-negotiate-with-the-taliban - Preview

us afghanistan taliban moderate cowards

There is no military solution to the Afghan insurgency
- The US military could easily win in a direct confrontation with any number of Taliban. And with enough long term resources, the US might even pacify the country. So there is a military solution, some just don't have the stomach for it. - on 2009-09-02
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The Taliban is a catch-word for different groups who are fighting the coalition
and the government for many different reasons.
- This ignores the degree of centralization in the logistics and command structure of the major units. - on 2009-09-02
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- luring in moderates
  - Oh boy, here we go again with the myth of the moderate Taliban... - on 2009-09-02
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- There is no risk to pursuing reconciliation or talks with the Taliban.
  - Actually there is a risk, it is demoralizing the troops and eliminating domestic support. Finally, any woman who advocates negotiating with the Taliban should agree to live in Afghanistan after ISAF troops leave. - on 2009-09-02
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- rather than military victory
  - Unless of course the Taliban win... - on 2009-09-02
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- The majority of insurgents fall into the former camp, and may be dissuaded from
  fighting if their interests and grievances are addressed
  - This blather has been repeated since 2001. It is complete non-sense and it doesn't work and hasn't worked. - on 2009-09-02
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- national reconciliation with the Taliban
  - The US first called for national reconciliation with the Taliban in 1996. Think about that for a minute... - on 2009-09-02
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- persuade Taliban fighters to give up the fight.
  - And why should they when they're winning? Are these two on crack? - on 2009-09-02
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- guardians of the interests of the fighters pledged to them
  - They are also occassionally disciplined by the organizational hierarchy within the Taliban. - on 2009-09-02
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- If the conditions are right, they will readily leave the movement and shift
  allegiances
  - Big "if" when they are on the verge of humiliating a superpower. - on 2009-09-02
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- A well-organized reconciliation program would have to offer Taliban fighters
  substitutes for comradeship and security
  - Oh god, this is straight from the nauseating Foreign Affairs article. Don't tell me... we need tea-drinking diplomacy... Arrrgghh... - on 2009-09-02
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- Reconciliation diplomacy must woo enough commanders in any single area to
  make recalcitrant fighters feel excluded, and it must enable the government to
  make a credible case that it can back commanders and their followers when they
  realign.
  - This is basically the logic of the "tipping point." It is so speculative as to not be worth writing down. - on 2009-09-02
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- a willingness to accept and work with the elected government.
  - The Taliban do not believe in women's rights which are at least nominally in the Afghan constitution. - on 2009-09-02
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- hard to locate the so-called “moderate Taliban”
  - Because they don't exist. The US has been trying for years to conjure them up. - on 2009-09-02
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Mercs Gone Wild at U.S. Embassy Kabul (Updated) | Danger Room | Wired.com

www.wired.com/...-gone-wild-at-us-embassy-kabul - Preview

afghanistan us mercenaries

the misbehavior by guards includes “peeing on people, eating potato chips out of
ass cracks, vodka shots out of ass cracks” and other fratboy-style antics.
“You will see that they have a group of sexual predators, deviants running
rampant over there,” the whistleblower wrote. “No, they are not jamming guys in
the ass per say [sic], but they are showing poor judgenment [sic].”
- These clowns outnumber the official military in Afghanistan... - on 2009-09-02
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01 Sep 09

Obama's unspoken trade-off

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afghanistan us military security nato

Faced with the prospect of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces
being withdrawn as restless NATO-country citizens mobilised against the war, the
Obama war machine took the decision to trade off (mostly) lower-class U.S.
“volunteer” soldiers from rural America² for fewer rural Afghan
civilians killed. The decision had nothing to do with valuing Afghan lives and
everything to do with a careful political calculation. In outlying areas such as
in the Pakistan borderlands or in isolated rural areas of Afghanistan, Obama’s
war machine cavalierly slaughters innocent civilians with the same impunity and
at the same rate as his maligned predecessor did, as drone strikes in Pakistan
and U.S. air strikes in Farah and Logar have demonstrated.
- A bit hyperbolic even though the point may be accurate. - on 2009-08-31
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“From the point of view of U.S. policymakers and their mainstream
media-boosters, the ‘cost’ of a dead Afghan civilian is zero as long as these
civilian deaths can be hidden from the general U.S. public’s view. The
‘benefits’ of saving future lives of U.S. military personnel are enormous, given
the U.S. public’s post-Vietnam aversion to returning body bags….
2 more annotations...
- The sacrificed Afghan civilians are not ‘white’, whereas the overwhelming number
  of U.S. pilots and elite ground troops are white.
- the politics of making war (in Afghanistan) has reversed the killing trade-off.

30 Aug 09

Indian interests in regional security @ The Hindu

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india afghanistan us pakistan security

Islamic radicalism and its manifestations of separatism and extremism justifying
terrorist methods of conflict add to the potential for instability in Central
Asia.
Islamic radicalism and its manifestations of separatism and extremism justifying
terrorist methods of conflict add to the potential for instability in Central
Asia.
9 more annotations...
- Slowly but surely, the outside actors principally Russia, the United States,
  China are consolidating or increasing their presence in the region through
  complex modes of relationships that promote cooperation as well as trigger
  competition
- A kind of polarisation of relations between Russia, on the one side, and the
  U.S., on the other, has been accelerating in the region.
- India will be averse to being the promoter or participant in a competing effort.
  However, it cannot but be affected by the outcome of the ongoing struggle for
  spheres of influence between the pro-Russian and pro-American vectors
- India is called upon to promote regional stability and bolster its
  anti-terrorist efforts without resorting to military-political modes of
  cooperation. The predicament is similar to Chinas.
- We almost lost sight of a profound pre-9/11 background to the U.S.
  occupation of Afghanistan. The U.S. intended to recognise the Taliban regime in
  Kabul in 1996. Senior Taliban officials were welcomed in the U.S. Big Oil
  financed the Taliban. The U.S. encouraged the Central Asian states to work with
  the Taliban. Key U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
  generously helped the Taliban and accorded it diplomatic recognition. A major
  NATO ally, Turkey, kept up official consultations with the Taliban regime right
  till 2001. Indeed, the then U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Robin Raphel (who
  is reportedly being inducted into Richard Holbrookes team), used to enjoy
  privileged access to the Taliban leadership in Kandahar, and actively campaigned
  for the Talibans unique credentials as an indigenous force capable of
  stabilising Afghanistan, which posed no real threat to regional security.
- The U.S. intent to strategically dominate the Central Asian region predates the
  military intervention in 2001. In sum, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
  has arrived for an open-ended stay in our region within the framework of the
  U.S. strategy to make it a global political organisation.
  - The US does seek to dominate, but it hopes to do so with out a military presence. The US has been seeking an exit strategy since it first invaded in 2001. - on 2009-08-30
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- Islamism will remain a principal instrument of geo-strategy for the U.S. towards
  Central Asia,
- The imperative of seriously engaging Russia, China, Iran and the Central Asian
  states on issues of regional security as powers affected by extremism emanating
  from the AfPak belt cannot but be stressed.
- Tehran may be willing to work with the U.S. on the stabilisation of Afghanistan
  provided Washington makes a comprehensive engagement of Iran as a regional power

Antiwar Movement Plans Fall Campaign on Afghanistan - NYTimes.com

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us afghanistan anti-war

Anticipating a Pentagon request for more troops there, antiwar leaders have
engaged in a flurry of meetings to discuss a month of demonstrations, lobbying,
teach-ins and memorials in October to publicize the casualty count, raise
concerns about the cost of the war and pressure Congress to demand an exit
strategy.
- It is not necessary that the US fight this war, but it hardly seems acceptable for liberals to leave civilians to fend for themselves against the Taliban. The anti-war movement should be pushing for a regional solution or hand-off. - on 2009-08-30
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Vikash Yadav's Library tagged afghanistan → View Popular

As Afghans Resist Taliban, U.S. Spurs Rise of Militias - NYTimes.com

iCasualties | Operation Enduring Freedom | Afghanistan

Al Jazeera English - Focus - Business flees Afghan instability

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Afghans 'blame poverty for war'

Reasons behind the return of the caravan of terror

U.S. Special Inspector: Afghan Corruption A 'Mix' Of External, Internal Factors - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2009

Op-Ed Contributor - 'They Will Kill Us All' - NYTimes.com

Want to buy US military wares in Afghanistan? Go to Obama Market.

China taps huge copper reserves in Afghanistan - Yahoo! Finance

Abdullah pulls out of runoff | guardian.co.uk

Galbraith v. Eide

Op-Ed Contributor - The Same Old Mistake - NYTimes.com

Kashmir in the AfPak equation | The AfPak Channel

Taliban's growth in Afghanistan's north threatens to expand war | McClatchy

Contractors Outnumber U.S. Troops in Afghanistan - NYTimes.com

Is It Time to Negotiate With the Taliban? - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

Mercs Gone Wild at U.S. Embassy Kabul (Updated) | Danger Room | Wired.com

Obama's unspoken trade-off

Indian interests in regional security @ The Hindu

Antiwar Movement Plans Fall Campaign on Afghanistan - NYTimes.com

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