US New Counternarcotics Strategy: Promises & Potential Pitfalls
30 September 2009
'', Brookings Institution, 29 September 2009
EXCERPT: "Nearly eight years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime, Afghanistan remains far from stable. As President Barack Obama considers alternatives to increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, his administration's new counternarcotics strategy...
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Afghanistan's Hard Summer
30 September 2009
'Afghanistan's Hard Summer: The Impact On European Troop Contributing Nations', The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 30 September 2009
EXCERPT: "The summer of 2009 has been without a doubt a bad one for ISAF, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The increase in fighting this summer has led to debates in most of the troop contributing nations as to how they perceive Afghanistan's...
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30 September 2009
'', The Canadian Press, 30 September 2009
EXCERPT: "Canada could still have soldiers in Afghanistan beyond 2011, although the government maintains that 'combat' operations will cease. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada will pull its troops out of Afghanistan by 2011. But the government is considering many options for continuing to help the Afghan population...
Mullah Omar Not In Pakistan: Taliban Commander
30 September 2009
'Mullah Omar Not In Pakistan, Taliban Commander Says', Reuters, 30 September 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is not in Pakistan and the United States is only saying he is there to justify an expansion of its drone missile strikes, a Taliban commander said on Wednesday. The Washington Post said this week U.S. officials had expressed concern over the ability of Omar and his lieutenants to...
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Insecurity Continues To Plague Afghanistan: UN
29 September 2009
'Decisions On Forming Effective Government In Afghanistan Will Determine Prospects For Ending Conflict, Top Official Tells Security Council in Briefing', United Nations Press Release - Security Council 6194th Meeting (AM), 29 September 2009
EXCERPT: "The Security Council had before it a report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security (document A/64/364-S/2009/475),...
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Afghan Vote Result Up To Officials: Karzai Spokesman
29 September 2009
'', AFP, 29 September 2009
EXCERPT: "The final result of Afghanistan's fraud-tainted presidential election will be determined by electoral authorities investigating suspect ballots, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday. Based on preliminary results, Karzai has 54.6 percent of the votes declared valid, against 27.8 percent for rival Abdullah Abdullah. The...
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Taliban Sowing Fear Along Afghanistan's Highways
29 September 2009
'', The Associated Press, 29 September 2009
EXCERPT: "Taliban militants are sowing fear along Afghanistan's highways with stepped-up checkpoints, hijackings and bombs ? including one Tuesday that killed at least 30 bus passengers in the south. Afghan authorities say the attacks, often carried out by only a handful of militants, are part of a psychological campaign...
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Securing Helmand
29 September 2009
Jeffrey A. Dressler, '', Institute for the Study of War, 28 September 2009
EXCERPT: "Southern Afghanistan is ground-zero for the Taliban insurgency, and this is especially evident in Helmand province. Helmand is notorious, if not for the flourishing narcotics trade, then for the Taliban insurgency that dominates large swaths of territory. The coalition's lack of sufficient...
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NATO Tactics Must Change: NATO Chief
28 September 2009
'NATO-Led Force Must Change Afghanistan Tactics, NATO Chief Says', Bloomberg, 28 September
EXCERPT: "NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said nations fighting the war in Afghanistan must change their tactics and tout successes or risk losing public support there and at home. 'Reaching our goal in Afghanistan is not guaranteed,' Rasmussen told an audience at the Atlantic Council policy group in Washington today....
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Canadian Soldiers Ordered To Report ANA Child Abuse
28 September 2009
'', The Toronto Star, 28 September 2009
EXCERPT: "Canadian soldiers have been explicitly ordered to stop or report incidents of Afghan soldiers or interpreters raping young boys, the defence minister says. Peter MacKay maintains there is no evidence to support allegations that senior officers have turned a blind eye to the troubling abuse, which is the subject of an...
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