Afghanistan Among Top Ten Humanitarian Crises: Report
23 December 2009
Politics of Aid Leaves many Afghans Cut off from Humanitarian Assistance, Doctors Without Borders, 21 December 2009
EXCERPT: "As the war in Afghanistan escalated in 2009, Afghan civilians endured increasing levels of violence throughout the country. The insecurity has damaged an already beleaguered health-care system, leaving only a few poorly functioning hospitals and clinics in provincial capitals. Afghans in need of any health care...
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Pakistan Taliban Sent to Afghanistan to Counter US Surge
23 December 2009
Fighters "Sent to Afghan Taliban", Al Jazeera, 23 December 2009
EXCERPT: "A senior Pakistani Taliban commander has said he has sent thousands of fighters into neighbouring Afghanistan to counter the rising level of US troops. Waliur Rehman's comments, made to the Associated Press, came in a report released on Wednesday. 'Since [Barack] Obama [the US president] is also sending additional forces to Afghanistan, we sent...
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How Do Afghans Tick? An Ethnologist's View
23 December 2009
, Foreign Policy // The AfPak Channel, 16 December 2009
EXCERPT: "The following is the translation of an interview given by late Dr Bernt Glatzer to a Berlin daily newspaper in 2008. He talks about how he himself became involved in Afghanistan, gives his opinion about current events and covers the ethics of ethnologists in war. More than six years ago, the Taleban regime in Afghanistan was toppled, the war started...
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Anti-Drug Push in Afghanistan Lacks Strategy: Report
23 December 2009
, The New York Times, 23 December 2009
EXCERPT: "The United States-led counternarcotics effort in Afghanistan, which is critical to hopes of cutting off the flow of money to the Taliban and curtailing rampant corruption in the central government, lacks a long-term strategy, clear objectives and a plan for handing over responsibility to Afghans, the State Department inspector general...
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Hunting Insurgents Afghan Police Kill Senator
23 December 2009
Afghan Police Hunting Insurgent Kill Parliament Member Instead, Los Angeles Times, 23 December 2009
EXCERPT: "Police hunting for a wounded insurgent commander mistakenly ambushed a vehicle carrying a member of the Afghan parliament, killing him and his son, provincial officials said today. President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation into the incident, which took place overnight in Baghlan province, in Afghanistan's north. . ....
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The Northern Distribution Network and the Modern Silk Road
22 December 2009
The Northern Distribution Network and the Modern Silk Road, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 17 December 2009
EXCERPT: "As the U.S. presence in Afghanistan increases, so too will its demand for nonmilitary supplies. To accommodate this growth and address ongoing concerns with Pakistani supply lines, U.S. planners have opened the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a commercially-based logistical corridor connecting Baltic...
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Despite Aid, Hunger Still Stalks Afghan Children
22 December 2009
, The Associated Press, 21 December 2009
EXCERPT: "While international forces in Afghanistan battle militants hiding in the mountains, aid agencies are fighting an even more elusive enemy: malnutrition. The World Food Program and UNICEF have launched a project to feed thousands of mothers and children ? some too weak to cry. Aid workers hope a high-protein diet distributed through a network of village clinics...
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NATO Will "Stay the Course" in Afghanistan: Chief
22 December 2009
, AFP, 22 December 2009
EXCERPT: "Visiting NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday reiterated the alliance's commitment to Afghanistan, saying troops will stay for as long as necessary despite paying a high price. 'The international community will stand with you, will protect you and help rebuild your country until you are ready to stand on your own and...
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For US, Vast Challenge To Expand Afghan Forces
22 December 2009
For U.S., Vast Challenge To Expand Afghan Forces, NPR, 20 December 2009
EXCERPT: "Twice as many recruits joined the Afghan army in the first two weeks of December as during the entire previous month. Among them are hundreds of young men at a military training center in the hills of eastern Kabul. President Obama's strategy for Afghanistan hinges on a rapid buildup of the Afghan army and police force to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida...
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An Interview with Karzai
21 December 2009
Karzai's Challenge, Newsweek, 21 December 2009
EXCERPT: "Will a surge of American soldiers turn the tide in Afghanistan? Or will the United States endure a defeat similar to the one suffered by the Russian Army not so long ago? In the wake of President Obama's decision to send an additional 30,000 young men and women to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, all eyes are on Afghan President Hamid Karzai?who now suggests...
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