UN Refugee Chief: Security Worse in Afghanistan
06 May 2010
, The Associated Press, 6 May 2010
EXCERPT: "Security in Afghanistan has deteriorated in recent months to the extent that foreign staff of the U.N.'s refugee agency are unable to travel to half of the country, its top official said Wednesday. The agency has to rely on local staff or Afghan partner organizations to reach tens of thousands of displaced people and returning refugees it is trying...
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British and US Accused of Poppy Plague Warfare
06 May 2010
British and US Accused of Poppy Plague Warfare in Afghanistan, The Telegraph, 6 May 2010
EXCERPT: "Poppy plants have been suffering from a mysterious disease which leaves them yellow and withered and slashes the yield of opium resin which is sold on and processed into heroin. The worst affected farmers have said the scale of the infection is unprecedented. Yields have dropped by up to 90 per cent in some fields they complained. Farmers...
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US Afghanistan Strategy is Beginning to Work: Pentagon
06 May 2010
Pentagon says US Afghanistan Strategy is Beginning to Work, VOA News, 6 May 2010
EXCERPT: "A senior Pentagon official told Congress Wednesday that the Obama administration's new approach in Afghanistan is beginning to work, and that it is being extended from the area where it first was implemented in Helmand Province to the key population center of Kandahar. Amid reports of continuing problems at the site of the first of the new offensives...
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GAO Report Casts New Doubt on Afghanistan Policy
06 May 2010
GAO Report Casts New Doubt on Afghanistan Policy, Miami Herald, 6 May 2010
EXCERPT: "An independent government report on Wednesday raises new questions about the likelihood of success for President Barack Obama's Afghanistan policy, which nearly doubles the number of U.S. troops there before a planned drawdown begins in July 2011. The report, by the Government Accountability Office, found the Taliban remain a resilient fighting force,...
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