Afghan Police Protect Voters Registering For Ballot
30 January 2009
'Afghan Police Protect Voters Registering For August Ballot', Calgary Herald, 30 January 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan's national elections were delayed Thursday due to security concerns, but the man in charge of the country's embattled police force says officers will be ready to help protect would-be voters when they go to the polls this summer. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan's interior minister, admitted the country's...
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30 January 2009
'', The Associated Press, 30 January 2009
EXCERPT: "For Afghanistan, the United States has appropriated $32 billion for humanitarian aid and reconstruction while other nations have contributed an additional $25.3 billion, said a separate report released late Thursday by the office of Arnold Fields, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Congress recently approved...
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British Were "Smug and Complacent" In Afghanistan
30 January 2009
'"British Were Complacent In Afghanistan"', Times Online, 30 January 2009
EXCERPT: "Britain's top military commander has admitted for the first time that America was right to criticise the way in which British troops carried out counter-insurgency operations against the Taleban in southern Afghanistan when they first deployed to Helmand province in 2006. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence...
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Russia-NATO Agree On Afghan Routes
30 January 2009
'Russia-NATO Agree On Afghan Routes', The Moscow News, 30 January 200
EXCERPT: "Both Russian and NATO officials have confirmed that an offer of alternative transit to Afghanistan was in effect. Alternative transit routes to Afghanistan have gained particular urgency because routes through Pakistan, such as the Khyber Pass, have grown increasingly volatile with militant attacks. What was keeping the actual transit from becoming...
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Harassment Forces Afghan Girls Out Of School
29 January 2009
'Harassment Forces Afghan Girls Out Of School', Reuters India, 29 January 2009
EXCERPT: "From acid attacks, murder, torching of schools and sexual assault, violence against female students is dashing the dreams of thousands of Afghan girls and women who are thirsty for an education that may help rejuvenate the fractured economy and society of their war-torn country. In villages, and particularly in the deeply conservative south,...
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NATO High Commander Issues Illegitimate Order to Kill
29 January 2009
'NATO High Commander Issues Illegitimate Order to Kill', Spiegel Online, 28 January 2009
EXCERPT: "A dispute has emerged among NATO High Command in Afghanistan regarding the conditions under which alliance troops can use deadly violence against those identified as insurgents. In a classified document, which SPIEGEL has obtained, NATO's top commander, US General John Craddock, has issued a 'guidance' providing NATO...
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Bagram Poses Problem In Overhaul of Detainee Policy
29 January 2009
'', The New York Times, 27 January 2009
EXCERPT: "For months, a national debate has raged over the fate of the 245 detainees at the United States military prison at Guant?namo Bay, Cuba. But what may be an equally difficult problem now confronts the Obama administration in the 600 prisoners packed into a cavernous, makeshift prison on the American air base at Bagram...
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Presidential Vote Delayed To August 20
29 January 2009
'', AFP, 29 January 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan on Thursday delayed its second ever presidential election three months to August 20, expressing hope that extra US troops could ease the worst violence the country has seen in eight years. President Hamid Karzai, who won the first presidential vote in 2004, is expected to lead candidates at the polls, despite weakened support among Afghanistan's...
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"Deliberate Slip" Reveals Afghan Superbombs
28 January 2009
'"Deliberate Slip" Reveals Afghan Superbombs', Wired.com, 28 January 2009
EXCERPT: "A 'deliberate slip' by Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morell indicates that while the threat of armor-piercing bombs has decreased sharply in Iraq, they are an increasing danger in Afghanistan. The explosively-formed penetrator (EFP) or 'superbomb' is a type of improvised explosive device which fires a high-velocity...
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EU To Help Afghans Secure Transparent Elections
28 January 2009
'EU To Help Afghans Secure Transparent Elections', Ceske Noviny, 28 January 2009
EXCERPT: "The European Union is prepared to help Afghanistan secure that the forthcoming presidential elections be transparent, reliable and safe, and with a high voter turnout, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said today. Schwarzenberg made his statement after European Union representatives' talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin...
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