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A Responsible Withdrawal Strategy
April 01, 2012
The US Ambassador in Kabul Ryan Crocker has said Al-Qaeda would make a comeback in Afghanistan, if the West makes and hasty and early withdrawal.Talking to a British newspaper, Ambassador Crocker said: "if we decide we are tired, they will be back. Al-Qaeda is still present in Afghanistan. If the West ...
Peace Process: Taliban Would Try to Stretch it until 2014
April 01, 2012
In the last three decades of conflict in Afghanistan what has been mostly said is that war is not the solution and there should be negotiation among the parties involved. Nonetheless, efforts in that direction have always failed. And that is why the Afghan war is making its journey in its fourth decade. After the US invasion of ...
Dying Hopes of Afghans
April 01, 2012
With the Afghan war in its eleventh year, the fate of Afghanistan is still vague increasing concerns inside and outside the country. 2011 was the deadliest year for civilians in Afghanistan questioning the roles of NATO and Afghan government that have committed to protect lives of the people of Afghanistan. The prevailing ...
Reform the Afghan Local Police
March 31, 2012
A militiaman of the notorious Afghan Local Police has killed nine of his colleagues in Paktia on Friday. Provincial Police Chief Dawlat Zadran said the attacker mixed drug with food of his colleagues and when they fell asleep, he killed all nine of them at midnight, and escaped the check post in Yahyakhel district with ...
Tiring War - the Biggest Question
March 31, 2012
The war in Afghanistan has proved to have its global impacts. Concerns prevail in every country that has deployed its troops in Afghanistan. The sooner the war comes to an end, the better it will be for Afghanistan, region and the world. The three decade war has snatched peace and prosperity from the lives of ...
A Need for Inside-the- System Consensus
March 31, 2012
International community is drawing down their combat forces from Afghanistan. This withdrawal is supposed to complete in 2014. Recently, foreign troops have been facing a crisis of trust. This intensified after the reportedly unintentional Quran-burning issue that occurred in Bagram military base, in the aftermath o ...
Moral Crimes and Self-Immolation
March 29, 2012
A new report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) says there are about 400 women and girls imprisoned for “moral crimes”. The findings of the report are based on 58 interviews conducted in three prisons and three juvenile detention facilities with women and girls accused of “moral crimes.” These “crimes” include escape from ...
Why Should Iran Decide for Afghanistan?
March 29, 2012
Afghanistan’s House of Elders or Senate has condemned the recent statement by President Ahmadinejad in a joint session of Afghan, Tajikistan and Iran’s leaders in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on celebration of the new solar year. Ahmadinejad is quoted to have asked NATO forces to leave Afghanistan and pay remedy ...
War Goes More Unpopular
March 28, 2012
The urge for the US to pull out its forces from Afghanistan is multiplying as the Afghan war is becoming unpopular. Amid the time and again incidents of killing of NATO soldiers by their Afghan counterparts or uniformed Taliban, according to a survey, conducted among 986 adults from March 21-25, just 23 percent of Americans believe ...
Why We Should Not Expect the Same Response…?
March 28, 2012
Afghan and NATO sources confirmed that two international service members were shot and killed by a man wearing an Afghan army uniform in the southern Helmand province. The attack happened at a military base and the attacker was killed by coalition troops. There is not reliable information about the attacker's real ...
Infiltration of Taliban Should be Stopped
March 27, 2012
Again two NATO soldiers have been killed by a person in Afghan National Army uniform. The incident has occurred in Helmand province of Afghanistan. This is making the crisis of infiltration into Afghan national security forces extremely serious. It is also affecting the relations between international community and ...
A Self-Centered Approach
March 27, 2012
With several domestic challenges overriding achievements obtained over the past few years, external threats and barriers are of a bigger role in holding back the post-Taliban processes in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's geostrategic location is said to have caused part of the trouble. Clearly, the countries' geo-strategic ...
“Peace Without Women is a Figment”
March 26, 2012
It is not concealed from most of us that women are not permitted proper participation in different institutions in our country. Almost all of the social and political institutions have been dominated by men. It is not because women do not have the required ability. The fact is that they are not provided the opportunities to do ...
Adaptation Capacity of Democracy
March 26, 2012
It is said that democratic system of government is endowed with flexibility and capacity for constant adaptation to accommodate diverse interests in a plural society. Afghanistan is a culturally diverse country, where ethnic divides continue to carry the potential for recurrence of conflict. The relations ...
New Educational Year and Possible Security Threats
March 25, 2012
On Saturday, March 24, 2012, the new educational year began. There have been progresses in education sector. But insecurity has continued to hamper required gain. In a ceremony to mark the beginning of new educational year, President Hamid Karzai humbly asked the Taliban to cease to kill teachers and school ...
Robert Bales’ Legacies for Afghan Mission
March 25, 2012
The US-Afghan relationship has entered a sensitive, quite frankly, a frustrating sage that is known to every stakeholder in the country’s post-Taliban period. The US soldiers are expected to leave Afghanistan after more than a decade of bloody and unconventional battle with a mysterious enemy that could target them ...
System Must be Made Participatory
March 24, 2012
The discontent within Afghan people seems to be rising about the ongoing transition period and the prospects of peace and tranquility in the country. The people of Afghanistan, at the moment, does not seem to be in the position to have vivid clue about where the scenario is leading as there have been many ambiguities and secrets about the most important ...
Karzai Urges Afghan Security Forces to Assume More Responsibilities
March 24, 2012
An army professionally competent and equipped with latest weapons, war crafts and modern technology is what Afghanistan is in dire need of. After the US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, the Afghan security forces have nurtured well. In the wake of this development, they have been handed security responsibility of ...
Nauroz Knocking the Doors! But….
March 19, 2012
Tomorrow is the first day of the SY 1991. Afghanistan, along with many other nations in Asia, is ready to celebrate Nauroz or the "New Day". It corresponds to the beginning of the spring season and welcoming the new season after an extremely cold winter feels fascinating. Nauroz has been celebrated for the past 3,000 years and The UN's General ...
The Formidable Challenges and President Karzai’s Failure
March 19, 2012
The challenges lying ahead of President Hamid Karzai in his current term are formidable. International community is walking out of Afghanistan without a stable political system, leaving the room for more intrusions and interferences by hostile ...
Future of a Stable Afghanistan at Stake
March 18, 2012
The recent statement of President Karzai saying the international troops should withdraw by 2013, an year earlier than the deadline set by the US and NATO, once again show the current Government has not a clear strategy and vision for the country. While the coming two years are decisive for the fate of Afghanistan and stability in ...
A Choice between Perpetuating Instability and Permanent Stabilization
March 18, 2012
No doubt, in the political arena, campaign and bargaining in Afghanistan, ethnic divisions continue to be at play. In fact, ethnicity is the predominant variable influencing politics, development of political parties, institution-building and peace-building. There are four major ethnic identities and groups that ...
Peace Talks Suspended, Taliban will Wait and See
March 18, 2012
All the hopes about settling the Afghan conflict through table talks died on Thursday march 15, 2012 when the Taliban in a statement said they are walking away from talking with the US. The Taliban accused the US of alternating and ever-changing positions, and they said they would sit out the talks until the Americans clarify ...
Contention and Instability in Absence of Representation
March 17, 2012
Over the last ten years, Afghan government as well as international community has been making a choice between security and governance, representation and stability. But the assumption to choose security and stability versus governance and representation has proved fatally wrong. The kind of institutional and electoral ...
The Situation is Getting Worse
March 17, 2012
After the dramatic statement of President Karzai demanding international troops to withdraw from villages and restrict military operations, his aides were trying to 'explain' it to media yesterday. He also said the transition should be completed by 2013 instead of the 2014 deadline that has been scheduled by the US and ...
Fighting Corruption Needs a Strong Will
March 17, 2012
Bribery has turned into a culture in Afghanistan. People are sick of paying millions of Afghanis in bribes each year for receiving basic government services for which they are already paying in the forms of various kinds of taxes. This is no less than a disaster for a country where according to UN figures about ...
Fleeing Cash and Sleeping Government
March 15, 2012
Foreign and domestic investments are considered the lifeblood of an economy. Keeping the economic vulnerability of Afghanistan and its dependency on foreign aids, investments are more than lifeblood to this country. But due to worsening insecurity in Afghanistan, not only Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) but also investment ...
A Reiterated “Responsible Exit” That is Difficult
March 15, 2012
Taliban have been saying that withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan will bring an end to the war and fighting in this country. They have been stated this because they believe that with the help of terrorist networks and elements in the region they will be able to take over Afghanistan. The US president Barack Obama has said ...
The Bogus Claim of Militants
March 15, 2012
Two suicide bombings in Helmand and Kandahar, the two previous strongholds of Taliban militants left nine killed and many more injured. Both attacks likely organized to target foreign soldiers but no foreign citizen killed or injured. All victims were innocent Afghan citizens. The attacks carried out simultaneous ...
Afghanistan: A Theatre of Aggressive Campaigns for Conflicting Goals
March 14, 2012
There appears to be a huge wave of political developments happening in Afghanistan. All actors and parties that have a stake in this war-torn country are at play and have intensified their campaigns to achieve their own defined goals. International community- no longer ...
Afghan Women Honored International Courage Award
March 14, 2012
Remaining socially and politically active has never been easy for Afghan women, as Afghanistan has been ranked the worst place for a woman to live in. With the ouster of Taliban government in 2001, a new chapter began in the life of women of Afghanistan. Their involvement has significantly increased ...
Afghanistan is Moving Towards its 90s
March 14, 2012
Release of video in January that show US Marines urinating on dead bodies of Taliban, burning of holy Qur'an at Bagram Airbase in February and massacre of 16 civilians by an American Sergeant in Kandahar on Sunday have put the decade-long efforts and sacrifices in blood and treasure of the international community in Afghanistan at ...
A Crisis Situation and an Unpromising Future
March 13, 2012
Growing tired of a lingering war, international community has been taking hasty decisions on withdrawal from Afghanistan and transitioning security responsibility to Afghan forces. An agreement was signed last Friday about transferring the control of main coalition prison to Afghan authorities within six months. There is not any ...
The Panjwae Shocking Attack
March 13, 2012
Another shocking incident in one of the restive province—Kandahar—caused eyes, set on televisions, drowned in tears. An American soldier walked off his base in a remote southern Afghan village shortly before dawn Sunday and opened fire on civilians inside their homes, killing at least 16, including nine children. President Hamid ...
The Gross Inequality
March 13, 2012
Amidst vague and unclear negotiation process with Taliban leaders and approaching deadline for foreign military withdrawal, there are worrying reports about the democratic achievements of Afghan women. Human rights activists are worried that weaknesses of the government do not lead the country towards further chaos and instability ...