18 February 2008
'Troops Likely To Stay In Afghanistan Until 2015', Aftenposten, 18 February 2008
EXCERPT: "Defense Minister Anne-Grete Str?m-Erichsen doesn't think soldiers can be withdrawn from Afghanistan for at least seven years. She told newspaper Dagsavisen on Monday that NATO (and NATO member Norway) can't pull out until the Afghan army "functions well." That's likely to take another seven years, she said, noting that the Afghan...
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The German Army and Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan: The Need for Strategy
18 February 2008
'The German Army and Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan: The Need for Strategy', German Institute for International and Security Affairs, February 2008
EXCERPT: "Alongside their NATO allies German troops are facing a growing insurgency in Afghanistan. However, the alliance still lacks a joint strategy to deal with this challenge. While the US government recently called on NATO to pursue a "classical" counterinsurgency campaign,...
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Progress In Afghanistan 'Starting To Go Backwards': Australian Minister
18 February 2008
'', International Herald Tribune, 18 February 2008
EXCERPT: "Work toward bringing peace to Afghanistan has slowed markedly recently in part because NATO countries are refusing to send their troops to places where they are most needed, Australia's defense minister said Monday. "Some very, very good gains have been made in Afghanistan but in recent months those...
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Canadian Opposition Presents Alternative Afghanistan Strategy
18 February 2008
'Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from the Hon. St?phane Dion, Leader of the Opposition', Liberal.ca, 18 February 2008
EXCERPT: "Dear Prime Minister: Today Canada carries a heavy burden in Afghanistan. Our brave men and women in the Canadian Forces and our civilian officials face very real risks every day, as they serve their country and the people of Afghanistan by working to bring hope and stability to this troubled...
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New NATO Offensive In Afghanistan
18 February 2008
'New NATO Offensive In Afghanistan', Radio Netherlands, 18 February 2008
EXCERPT: "More than a thousand Afghan, US and Dutch soldiers are taking part in a new offensive against the Taliban in the Afghan province of Uruzgan. The operation is taking place in an area around the town of Deh Rawod in the west of the province that has fallen into Taliban hands in recent months. Since then thousands of Afghans have fled the region. It's...
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Gaps in Aid Accountability - Report
18 February 2008
'', ActionAid and Afghanistan's Economic Literacy and Budget Analysis Group, 18 February 2008
EXCERPT: "This report is an attempt to analyze the status of public expenditure in Afghanistan and the financial management of the National Solidarity Programme (NSP), in particular, from a civil society perspective. Since the end of US-led war in 2001, Afghanistan has been a major destination for international aid....
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We Can Persuade Taliban To Be Peaceful: Expelled UN Official
18 February 2008
'We Can Persuade Taliban To Be Peaceful: Expelled UN Official', The Guardian, 16 February 2008
EXCERPT: "Two-thirds of the Taliban-led insurgents in Afghanistan can be persuaded to abandon violence, according to a British aid worker expelled from the country for opening talks with some of those allied to the militant group. Michael Semple, a UN official arrested by the Afghan government on Christmas Day last year, said he was confident that...
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