South Korea Plans Afghan Deployment
30 October 2009
'South Korea Plans Afghan Deployment', BBC News, 30 October 2009
EXCERPT: "South Korea has announced it will send troops and police to Afghanistan to protect an expanded civilian reconstruction team. The troops would not take part in combat operations, officials said. The plan must be approved by parliament, where the ruling Grand National Party has a majority. The announcement comes two years after South Korea pulled...
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Taliban Leader Rejects US Attempts To Lure Away Fighters
30 October 2009
'Taliban Leader Rejects US Attempts To Lure Away Fighters With Money', CNN, 30 October 2009
EXCERPT: "A top Taliban political leader delivered a message Friday to President Obama, calling his attempt to lure away Taliban fighters with money 'an old weapon that has failed already.' 'The Mujahedeen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan are not mercenaries and employed gunmen like the armed men of the invaders and their...
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Electing To Fight In Afghanistan
30 October 2009
Astri Suhrke, '', Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre, 29 October 2009
EXCERPT: "The move to hold a second round of elections in Afghanistan on 7 November underscores the limitations of Western democratic election processes in a deeply divided society that, moreover, is at war with itself and with external forces. Apart from the inherent potential of the elections for generating violence, the...
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Narco-Belligerents Across The Globe: Lessons From Colombia For Afghanistan?
30 October 2009
Vanda Felbab-Brown, '', Real Instituto Elcano, 28 October 2009
EXCERPT: "With the great increases in insecurity in Afghanistan and the overwhelming sense that the counter-insurgency in Afghanistan is not being won, analysts and policymakers are looking for analogies to understand the conflict's dynamics and devise counter-measures. One of the analogies...
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German Troops OK In Calling For Airstrike: General
29 October 2009
'', The Associated Press, 29 October 2009
EXCERPT: "A top German general said Thursday that a NATO investigation of an airstrike against a pair of hijacked Afghan tanker trucks showed the attack was appropriate even though it led to civilian casualties. Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, who is the general inspector of the German army, also said that the exact death toll could no...
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29 October 2009
'Northern Returnees Need Aid', IRIN News, 29 October 2009
EXCERPT: "Several thousand people returning to their homes in the northern Afghan provinces of Sar-i-Pul and Jowzjan need help before winter, according to aid agencies and local officials. Aid agencies say most are returnees from Iran and from a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in southern Afghanistan. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it had set up...
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Karzai's Brother "On CIA Payroll"
29 October 2009
'', The Independent, 29 October 2009
EXCERPT: "US involvement in Afghanistan has come into new question with the claim that President Hamid Karzai's brother has for years been on the payroll of the CIA ? even though he is suspected of being a major figure in the illicit opium trade that Washington and its allies are pledged to do everything to stamp out. The allegations against...
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More Voting Centers Will Open For Runoff
29 October 2009
'', The Associated Press, 29 October 2009
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan will open more voting centers in next week's presidential runoff than in the fraud-tainted first-round vote, officials said Thursday, rejecting U.N. recommendations that they cut sites to prevent cheating. The decision highlights the deepening rift between the Afghan election commission and international advisers pushing...
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Taliban Kill Nine In UN Staff Assault
28 October 2009
'Taliban Kill Nine In UN Staff Assault', The Australian, 28 October 2009
EXCERPT: "Taliban gunmen stormed a UN hostel in Kabul yesterday, killing nine people in an assault the militants said marked the start of a bloody countdown to new Afghan elections. Embattled President Hamid Karzai - who faces off against his rival Abdullah Abdullah on November 7 - condemned the attack at the Bekhtar Guesthouse as 'an inhuman act'...
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MoD Cost Cuts Led To Plane Crash That Killed 14
28 October 2009
'MoD Cost-Cutting Led To Nimron Spy Plane Crash That Killed 14', The Telegraph, 28 October 2009
EXCERPT: "The damning verdict, from leading aviation lawyer Charles Haddon-Cave QC, attributed the tragedy to a 'systematic breach of the military covenant'. He said: 'There was a shift in culture and priorities in the MoD towards 'business' and financial targets, at the expense of functional values such as safety and airworthiness.' Aircraft...
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