Reluctant Pashtuns Hamper Afghan Recruitment Drive
04 March 2010
Reluctant Pashtuns Hamper Afghan Recruitment Drive, Reuters, 3 March 2010
EXCERPT: "High drop-out and low recruitment rates have hampered NATO efforts to boost security forces to control insurgents in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. general leading the effort said on Wednesday. Lieutenant-General William B. Caldwell, who is directing an effort to increase the size of the Afghan army and police to 300,000 by 2011, said drop-out rates for...
Read the post »
UN Envoy: It Is "Time to Talk" to the Taliban
04 March 2010
, The Associated Press, 4 March 2010
EXCERPT: "The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Thursday that it's 'high time' a political solution is found with the Taliban to resolve the more than 8-year-old conflict. 'It's time to talk,' Kai Eide said. In his last news conference as the U.N. representative, Eide said he hoped a spring peace jirga...
Read the post »
Russia Slams Foreign Forces over Afghan Drugs
04 March 2010
Russian Drug Chief Slams Foreign Forces over Afghan Drug Traffic, RIA Novosti, 4 March 2010
EXCERPT: "International forces in Afghanistan have failed to tackle drug trafficking during their nine-year military presence, Russia's chief anti-narcotics official said on Wednesday, reflecting Moscow's concern. 'Whereas drug production in Afghanistan has increased 40 times during the last 10 years in the presence of international...
Read the post »
Will Others Follow Dutch and Leave Afghanistan?
04 March 2010
Will Others Follow Dutch and Leave Afghanistan?, VOA News, 3 March 2010
EXCERPT: "The Dutch government has collapsed over whether to keep its soldiers in Afghanistan. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent Andr? de Nesnera looks at what effect - if any - that will have on other nations that have troops in that country under the banner of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. About 2,000 Dutch troops have been in Afghanistan's...
Read the post »