Taliban's "$100 Million Opium Takings"
24 June 2008
'Taliban's "$100 Million Opium Takings"', BBC News, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "The Taleban made an estimated $100m (?50m) in 2007 from Afghan farmers growing poppy for the opium trade, the United Nations says. Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said the money was raised by a 10% tax on farmers in Taleban-controlled areas. The UN estimates last year's poppy harvest was worth $1bn (?500m). Mr...
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US To Carry On Military Trials At Guantanamo Despite Ruling
24 June 2008
'', Agence France Presse, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Hearings for terror suspects before US military tribunals in Guantanamo are going ahead despite a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed detainees have a right to challenge their detention in a civilian court. Legal experts had described the high court's decision as the death knell of the special tribunals created by President George...
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Leadership Void Seen In Pakistan
24 June 2008
'', The New York Times, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Pakistan is in a leaderless drift four months after elections, according to Western diplomats and military officials, Pakistani politicians and Afghan officials who are increasingly worried that no one is really in charge. The sense of drift is the subject of almost every columnist in the English-language press in Pakistan, and anxiety over the lack of leadership...
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Drugs In Rugs
24 June 2008
'Drugs In Rugs', Reuters, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Drug traffickers in China's far west are smuggling heroin into the country woven into carpets imported from Afghanistan and Pakistan, state media said on Tuesday [24 June 2008]. Customs officials in Xinjiang, which borders both countries, have seized more than 30 carpets containing some 50 kg (110 lb) of heroin in the last several months, the official China Daily said. 'The traffickers...
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West Links Drug War Aid To Iranian Nuclear Impasse
24 June 2008
'', The Associated Press, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Iranian forces have battled for years in the lonely canyons and deserts on the Afghan border against opium and heroin traffickers ? winning rare praise from the United States and aid from Europe for the fight along one of the world's busiest drug routes. But now, international support for Iran's drug agents could be threatened by the standoff...
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Improvement In Iraq May Allow Reinforcement Of Afghanistan
24 June 2008
'Improvement In Iraq May Allow Reinforcement Of Afghanistan', CNS News, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Progress in Iraq has been so substantial that by the end of this year, the U.S. may be able withdraw forces from Iraq to support its troops in Afghanistan, where violence has been rising, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Monday [23 June 2008]. 'I am hopeful that if the turnaround in Iraq continues as...
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Afghanistan Must Clean Up Corruption: Canadian DM
24 June 2008
'', The National Post, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Canada's defence minister says the Afghan government must eliminate the corruption that threatens to undermine the good work being done by Canadian soldiers and their allies. Peter MacKay made the comment Monday night while attending a fundraising dinner for the Manitoba PC Party. He said corruption, particularly in the southern region of Kandahar,...
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Russia Joins The War In Afghanistan
24 June 2008
M.K. Bhadrakumar, '', Asia Times Online, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "Moscow is staging an extraordinary comeback on the Afghan chessboard after a gap of two decades following the Soviet Union's nine-year adventure that ended in the withdrawal of its last troops from Afghanistan 1989. In a curious reversal of history, this is possible only with the acquiescence of the United States. Moscow is taking advantage...
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Germany Signals Plan To Add 1,000 Troops
24 June 2008
'Germany Signals Plan To Add 1,000 Troops', Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: " German Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung has announced plans to add an additional 1,000 soldiers by the end of this year to the 3,500-strong German contingent already in Afghanistan. The move would include deploying German soldiers to southern Afghanistan and, if approved by parliament, would appear to signal that NATO is taking the...
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NATO Steps Up Taliban Attacks Along Pakistan-Afghanistan Border
24 June 2008
'NATO Steps Up Taliban Attacks Along Pakistan-Afghanistan Border', Christian Science Monitor, 24 June 2008
EXCERPT: "In the latest incident to spell trouble on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, suspected Taliban militants attacked check posts, kidnapped Pakistani policemen, and blew up oil tankers destined for US and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday [24 June 2008]. In retaliation, NATO forces are stepping up attacks inside Pakistan,...
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