British Private Security Employee Jailed amid Afghan Crackdown
10 December 2010
, The Washington Post, 9 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Afghan authorities this week arrested a British private security company employee and sentenced him to eight months in jail, the latest move in the government's crackdown on private security firms. Global Strategies Group consultant Michael Hearn was arrested Wednesday for allegedly failing to register weapons...
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Risking NATO: Testing the Limits of the Alliance in Afghanistan
10 December 2010
Risking NATO: Testing the Limits of the Alliance in Afghanistan, RAND Corporation, November 2010
EXCERPT: "NATO's success in Afghanistan ? or lack thereof ? will have significant implications for the alliance itself. Success could promote the image of a capable global security alliance. Failure, or even an indeterminate outcome, would cloud the alliance's own future. The authors examine the risks, commitments, and obligations...
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Combat-related Mental Health Problems Affect "Just about Everyone" in Afghanistan
10 December 2010
Shell Shocked, Newsweek, 6 December 2010
EXCERPT: "U.S. troops aren?t the only ones in Afghanistan who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. It also afflicts Afghan civilians?and the Taliban, too. [...] Among American troops, posttraumatic stress disorder has become one of the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of service members suffering from the condition has been estimated as high as 400,000,...
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Former Afghan Spy Chief Slams Taliban Talks
10 December 2010
, The Washington Post, 9 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Peace talks with the Taliban will lead to disaster unless the insurgent group is disarmed first, Afghanistan's former intelligence chief said Thursday. Amrullah Saleh, who headed Afghanistan's spy agency from 2004 until earlier this year, said the key to peace with the Taliban is cutting off their support from Pakistan and disarming and...
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Abducted Afghan Deminers Freed by Security Forces
10 December 2010
Abducted Deminers Freed by Afghan, Foreign Troops, Reuters, 10 December 2010
EXCERPT: "Afghan and foreign troops freed 18 kidnapped Afghan deminers on Friday in southeastern Khost province, the provincial police chief said. The group from the Kabul-based Mine Detection Centre were kidnapped on Thursday in Musa Khel district by unidentified gunmen. It was the second abduction of a mine clearing team in Afghanistan this month. Provincial...
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