IRC Rome's List: Afg-REPORTS

The 2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year 2009. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities. Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes.

Afghanistan remained the world’s largest cultivator of opium poppy in 2009. However, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), opium poppy cultivation decreased from 160,000 hectares (ha) in 2008 to 120,000 ha in 2009, a 22 percent decline.

(CRS Report released March 1, 2010 a .pdf file)

During 2009, the Obama Administration addressed a deteriorating security environment in Afghanistan. Despite an increase in U.S. forces there during 2006-2008, insurgents were expanding their area and intensity of operations, resulting in higher levels of overall violence. There was substantial Afghan and international disillusionment with corruption in the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and militants enjoyed a safe haven in parts of Pakistan.
Building on assessments completed in the latter days of the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration conducted two “strategy reviews,” the results of which were announced on March 27, 2009, and on December 1, 2009, respectively.

(GAO Report released March 2010 a .pdf file)

Strategy Evolving and Progress Reported, but Interim Performance Targets and Evaluation of Justice Reform Efforts Needed

(Office of Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan - updated on February 2010 )

As President Obama reiterated during his December 1, 2009 speech at West Point, the core U.S. goal remains to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda and its safe havens in Pakistan, and to prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan.
While our combat mission in Afghanistan is not open-ended, we will remain politically, diplomatically, and economically engaged in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the long-term to protect our enduring interests in the region.

(Compiled by the Coordinator for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan - August 2007 a .pdf file 636Kb)

This paper evaluates the current counternarcotics strategy for Afghanistan, examines issues, obstacles, and lessons learned, and presents a way forward on key elements of the strategy, including public information, alternative development, poppy elimination/eradication, interdiction, and justice reform.

(CRS Report, released April 30, 2008 - a .pdf file)

U.S. and outside assessments of the effort to stabilize Afghanistan are mixed
and subject to debate; the Administration notes progress on reconstruction,
governance and security in many areas of Afghanistan, particularly the U.S.-led
eastern sector of Afghanistan. However, a November 2007 Bush Administration
review of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan reportedly concluded that overall progress was
inadequate.

(Library of Congress)

The Country Studies Series of the Library of Congress presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

"Afghanistan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the country for commercial sexual exploitation, forced marriage to settle debts or disputes, forced begging, as well as forced labor or debt bondage in brick kilns, carpet-making factories, and domestic service."

"Afghanistan is an Islamic republic; population estimates range from 24 to 33 million. In August citizens voted in their second presidential and first-ever contested election; after his challenger withdrew from a run-off election, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) declared Hamid Karzai president for a second term. "

"The constitution states that Islam is the "religion of the state" and that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam." In 2004, the constitution accorded both Shi'a and Sunni Islam equal recognition. The constitution proclaims that "followers of other religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites within the limits of the provisions of law." "

Throughout South and Central Asia the United States persisted in urging governments to promote a vibrant civil society as the backbone of democracy. We maintained our robust support of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights defenders through both programs, where possible, and diplomacy.