US, Russia Seize $250 Mln Worth of Drugs in Joint Afghan Raid near Pakistani Border
29 October 2010
Russia and US Collaborate in Afghanistan Drug Raid, BBC News, 29 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Russian and US agents have taken part in a joint operation to destroy drug laboratories in Afghanistan, the head of Russia's drug control agency says. More than a tonne of heroin and opium was seized during the raids, which took place on Thursday close to the border with Pakistan, Viktor Ivanov announced. Mr Ivanov said the haul had a street value...
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Kandahar Campaign's Fate not Clear until June: NATO
29 October 2010
Kandahar Campaign's Fate not Clear until June: NATO, Reuters, 28 October 2010
EXCERPT: "A NATO offensive to secure the Taliban's birthplace of Kandahar is putting pressure on militants, but genuine success will not be clear until next June, the region's top commander said on Thursday. British Major-General Nick Carter's comments were the latest by U.S. and NATO officials touting battlefield advances but also calling for...
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Warlord's Militia Secretly Flown to Australia for Training with Special Forces
29 October 2010
Afghan Warlord's Private Army Trained in Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Senior militia fighters loyal to a notorious Afghan warlord have been flown to Australia to train with elite special forces as part of a covert strategy to strengthen military operations against the Taliban. The six fighters are allied to Matiullah Khan, a powerful Oruzgan warlord with whom Dutch forces refused to work because...
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29 October 2010
, AFP, 28 October 2010
EXCERPT: "An Afghan election watchdog has registered almost 6,000 complaints following last month's parliamentary poll, around half of which could affect the final results, an official said Thursday. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has already thrown out 1.3 million votes amid concerns about fraud in the September 18 poll, the second of its kind since the...
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Billions in US Aid Dollars Unaccounted for, Lost in Bureaucratic "Labyrinth": Audit
28 October 2010
, AFP, 27 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Nearly 18 billion dollars earmarked for reconstruction in Afghanistan remain unaccounted for, snagged in a 'labyrinth' of contract bureaucracy, a sweeping US government audit has shown. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said 17.7 billion dollars was obligated over three years to nearly 7,000 contractors,...
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Private Contractors: The Good, the Bad, and the Strategic Impact
28 October 2010
, National Defense University // Strategic Forum, October 2010
EXCERPT: "In Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of contractors reached a level unprecedented in U.S. military operations. As of March 31, 2010, the United States deployed 175,000 troops and 207,000 contractors in the war zones. Contractors represented 50 percent of the Department of Defense (DOD) workforce in Iraq...
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Bin Laden Threatens France over Afghan War, Veil Ban
28 October 2010
, The Associated Press, 27 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden threatens in a new audio tape to kill French citizens to avenge their country's support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a new law that will ban face-covering Muslim veils. In the tape obtained by satellite television station Al-Jazeera and then posted on its website on Wednesday, bin Laden said...
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Marjah's Displaced Reluctant to Return Due to Threats, Insecurity
28 October 2010
Afghanistan Displaced Still Waiting to Go Home, BBC News, 26 October 2010
EXCERPT: "Seven months after a Nato and Afghan army operation ended in Helmand's Marjah district, about 15,000 refugees from the area are still hesitating to return. They are fearful of roadside bombs, Taliban remnants not removed by the Nato operation, and continuing battles between insurgents and coalition troops. Marjah's displaced families live in poorly-built...
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Karzai Delays Ban on Security Firms by Two Months
27 October 2010
Afghanistan Delays Ban on Private Security Firms, BBC News, 27 October 2010
EXCERPT: "A deadline for private security companies to end operations in Afghanistan has been extended by at least two months, President Hamid Karzai has said. A committee would have until 15 November to draw up a timetable for firms to close, his office said. Once the timetable is approved, companies would have a maximum of 90 days to disband. In August, Mr...
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Audit Finds Lack of Civil-military Integration, Local Input in Aid Projects
27 October 2010
, The Washington Post, 27 October 2010
EXCERPT: "U.S. and other international development programs in a key Afghan province are "incoherent" and lack mechanisms to avoid wasteful overlap or to monitor their success, according to a new report by government auditors. More than $100 million in U.S. aid to Nangahar province, an area in eastern Afghanistan often cited as a model...
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