In Zabul, US Commander Finds Daunting Need
01 May 2009
'', The Washington Post, 1 May 2009
EXCERPT: "In this impoverished province on the Pakistani border, the U.S. military's most senior officer came face to face with the consequences of nearly eight years of American indifference and neglect in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, sat across from Gov. Mohammad Ashraf Naseri, who nervously stroked...
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Afghan Officials Unaware Torture Illegal
01 May 2009
'Afghan Officials Unaware Torture Illegal', The Globe and Mail, 1 May 2009
EXCERPT: "Fewer than 20 per cent of Afghan law-enforcement officials are aware it's illegal to torture someone accused of a crime in that country, a report by a Canadian government-supported human-rights watchdog says. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, whose mandate comes from the Afghan constitution, also says 'torture and...
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Kabul's New Elite Live High On West's Largesse
01 May 2009
'', The Independent, 1 May 2009
EXCERPT: "Vast sums of money are being lavished by Western aid agencies on their own officials in Afghanistan at a time when extreme poverty is driving young Afghans to fight for the Taliban. The going rate paid by the Taliban for an attack on a police checkpoint in the west of the country is $4, but foreign consultants in Kabul, who are paid...
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Country Reports On Terrorism 2008
01 May 2009
'', United States Department of State, 30 April 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan continued to confront the challenges of building a stable, democratic, and tolerant government in the face of an insurgency that more and more relied on vicious and increasingly sophisticated terrorist attacks by anti-Afghan forces on coalition forces, civilians, international NGOs, and other soft targets, most notably through...
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