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The Reason to Fight For
July 30, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
Incessantly, we are living on the edges of four decades of war in Afghanistan that left hun dred and thousand of deaths and thousand of people as a result have been handicapped; millions of them have been left homeless and more than one million children orphaned or alienated from their parents with extreme vulnerability. ...
Army Chief’s Statement on Durand Line
July 28, 2011 | Abbas Daiyar
Recently I was watching a TOLO TV talk show hosted by Dawood Sultanzoy. He was interviewing the Chief of Armed Forces General Shir Ahmad Kairimi about the capability of Afghan security forces and the transition of security from international troops to Afghans. During the questions, Sultanzoy asked General Karimi about the rocket firings ...
Transitional Uncertainty
July 28 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
The challenges both for Afghan and international forces are increasing as the terrorist acts in the country are marked with a rising trend. Afghanistan is going through a transition period, wherein, the security responsibilities have to be transferred to Afghan forces; whereas, the first phase of this ...
High Desertion Rates Holding Back Afghan National Army
July 28, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
High turnover rates of recruits in the Afghan National Army has once again come under spotlight with a recent report presented to the U.S. Congress by U.S. government admitting that 1 out of every 4 new recruits or roughly 25% of new soldiers leave the Afghan National Army after the first few months. This figure of 25% is the desertion rate ...
Neighbors Speaks Against the Expected Afghanistan-US Partnership Agreement
July 27 2011 | Ahmad Shah Katawazai
According to the newly appointed U.S. ambassador the United States has no interest in permanent bases in Afghanistan. However behind the scene talks are going on between authorities from Afghanistan as well as the United States regarding long-term strategic accord. It is an open secret now that both Afghanistan and the United States are interested...
Politics of Holograms
July 27, 2011 | Farman Nawaz
People have dreams and they wish to see them turning into realities in their life time. Politicians create national dreams and try to make them true during their tenure. It is true that politics is the name of possibilities but here in Pakistan the game of possibilities has turned into game of blames and controversies. Instead of creating...
Friday’s Attacks and Islam-phobia
July 26 2011 | Jawad Rahmani
Norwegians are still in sulfurous shock days after terroristic bombing and shootings, which left 93 dead and numerous injured. First, a strong explosion shook the office of Prime Minister, Mr. Stoltenberg, and surrounding buildings, and, Later on, followed by almost an hour-long rampage shooting at youth camp which took the lives ...
Taliban Denial of Talks
July 26, 2011 | Abbas Daiyar
A latest Taliban video released by the Al-emara studio has been uploaded online. The 40 minutes video features attacks, RPG firings, blasts and interviews of Taliban commanders in Kunar province. It focuses on the talks about talks with Taliban, strongly denying the media reports that some Taliban officials had direct talks with the...
Military Drawdown and America’s Internal Politics
July 26, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
The withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan has long been a contentious issue. The Obama Administration has announced a plan of withdrawing 33,000 American troops from Afghanistan by the fall of 2012. According to the much-publicized plan, 10,000 troops will be evacuated by the end of the current year, 2011, while another 23,000 ...
The Butchery in Oslo
July 25 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
No reason can stand solid for mass killing, provided that the victims are armless and do not intend to harm anyone in any way, except that they differ in their views. In real sense they are bound to be so, as human beings are born with different perceptions. Every individual is bound to be different in some way or the other from ...
The Security Transition Process
July 25, 2011 | Jawad Rahmani
The Headlines of domestic print and electronic Media are dominated by security transition process and its political and military consequences. Under the process, the responsibilities of several areas have been already handed over to Afghan security forces, like Bamiyan Province, Mehtarlam, the center Laghaman Province, Lashkargah, the ...
Will Democracy & Political Stability Survive After the U.S Withdrawal?
July 25, 2011 | Abdul Samad Haidari
In a major speech to the American public on June 22nd, President Obama has finally promulgated the beginning of the American forces drawdown from Afghanistan which has upset and scared all Afghans, particularly the women. One week later, after the President Obama ...
Extremism – the Real Terrorist!
July 24 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
It is very unfortunate to note that human history is filled with violent incidents. The violence has been able to overshadow the docile aspect of human nature every now and then both through major wars and individual conflicts. There have been many occasions when hundred of people are killed in no time. People in the name of religion...
Making Foreign Aid Work for Afghanistan
July 24, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
>In an environment of constant war and conflict, and when the news of fatalities, explosions, the dead and the wounded grab the headlines, the welfare and economic prosperity of the people of Afghanistan have been pushed to the bottom. Its seems that gone are the days when there was a remarkable enthusiasm within the government...
Poppy Crop Drops in Helmand, Increases in North
July 24, 2011 | Abbas Daiyar
According to the latest reports on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, there has been 15% drop in the crop in Helmand province, which alone produces more than 50% of opium production in the country. However, it makes no difference on opium statistics countrywide as there is an increase of similar percentage in Northern Afghanistan due to the rise ...
Reconciliation with Taliban: Easier Said than Done
July 23 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
The American and NATO plans for the future of the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan center around an unprecedented surge in Western optimism that one way or the other, the reconciliation efforts with Taliban will bear fruit and the government in Kabul will once again find the upper hand in relation to its adversaries. The chorus leaders ...
Divergent Stances on a Global Concern
July 23, 2011 | Nasruddin Hemati
Reports revealed another diver gence by world main actors on a global issue. It was reported that western nations had clashed with Russia and developing countries on Wednesday over whether climate change was a security matter meriting the attention of the Security Council, the most powerful UN body. The ...
Corruption is the Biggest Injustice
July 23, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
It is believed that corruption is one of the severest injustices done to a society. Cor ruption is an injustice in the sense that when justice demands that a person should be given what he\she deserves, corruption does the exact opposite. It is corruption that makes systems and institutions suffer and even collapse. Therefore, corruption should ...
U.S. Needs to Stay Longer in Afghanistan
July 21 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
Like many people in Afghanistan and other parts of world the Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Chrishna emphasizes for longer presence and support of U.S. in Afghanistan. He mentions, "It is necessary for the United States to factor in Afghanistan's ground realities so that Afghanistan will be in a position to defend itself against ...
Why Militants Have Intensified Attacks
July 21, 2011 | Jawad Rahmani
Seemingly, the recent series of murders and suicidal attacks taking place across the country are linked to the ongoing process of delivering the security responsibilities to Afghan security forces. Taliban-led militants have staggeringly mounted their operations, and recently have attacked high ranking officials like assassination of ...
Debt and Deepening Economic Ruin in the West - Democracy is the Victim
July 21, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
The tragic happenings in Greece are a stark reminder of the larger simmering problems that plague the Western countries, societies and economies. The sad state of Greece is also the state of much of the Western societies although for many of them the worst is yet to strike. Excessive indebtedness, rapidly declining economies, a raging class war...
Taliban’s Attack in Kabul Serves a Sinister Agenda
July 20 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
The process of transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces has hit a rough patch from the very beginning with the assassination of Jan Mohammad Khan, former governor of Uruzgan Province who served as an advisor to President Karzai. Another MP fromUruzgan, HashemWatanwal, was also assassinated ...
“There Will be Tough Days Ahead”
July 20, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
"There will be tough days ahead". This is the statement of General John Allen in a ceremony in Kabul on Monday, July 18, 2011, wherein he took over the command of International forces in Afghanistan from General David H. Petraeus. General David Petraeus served for one year or so in Afghanistan as the commander of International Security ...
A Reactionary Move Against Women
July 20, 2011 | Jawad Rahmani
Last week, a group of young Afghan women held a peaceful demonstration in Kabul against increasing street harassment in the country. They were carrying placards and handing out leaflets, which were written about verbal and physical abuses enduring Afghan women on daily basis. I really do not know much about this particular issue in ...
The Post-Taliban Education
July 19 2011 | Nasruddin Hemati
Since the beginning of the post-Taliban era in Afghanistan, security issues have always topped the news and analysis. It has received the highest attention and bulk of aids. The government of president Karzai has turned to a security cabinet however, it has deteriorated even more. This has overshadowed the entire government agenda for rebuilding...
David Petraeus’ Unfinished Job in Afghanistan
July 19, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
David Petraeus, the top commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, bid a historic farewell to his Afghanistan assignment on Monday as he handed over the charge of the international coalition to his successor and prepared to head back home where yet another challenging job as the chief of Central Intelligence Agency ...
Environmental Pollution – An Unattended Dilemma
July 19, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
With the growing population and congestion in the urban areas of the country, the problem of environmental pollution is getting more serious. The air sur rounding us, from which everyone gets his/her share of oxygen is getting more polluted with each passing day. Moreover, as there is no proper sewarage system and waste disposal ...
The Transition Begins
July 18 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
The withdrawal of U.S. troops that was announced by President Barrack Obama has started. In the first phase the most peaceful parts of the country are being handed over to Afghan forces. In the first ceremony for the same purpose on Sunday, July 17, 2011, Bamyan province was handed over to Afghan forces formally, which will follow transition ...
Rising Drug Addiction Deadlier Than War
July 18, 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
Fahima, an Afghan woman of 40, has had a tiring day. It is sunset and as it is her everyday routine at the end of a day of hard work, she gets up from the wooden frame of the rug she is weaving and goes to kitchen to prepare dinner for a husband who will be home soon. Her husband is a landless agricultural laborer whose seasonal work on ...
Withdrawal and Easing Military Pressure on Destructive Forces
July 18, 2011 | Sher Alam Saqib
Taliban militants continue to jib at playing ball with Karzai government in the presence of inter national forces, whom they regard as occupiers. But the militants have shown a contradiction in their statements and behaviors as they have also said that they would not talk with what they call as Karzai's puppet government. In the ...
14 Taliban Members Excluded from UN Blacklist
July 17 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
The names of 14 Taliban leaders who had been blacklisted are now excluded from the list maintained by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It means now they are free of the travel bans and asset freezes. This particular step has been taken to pave the way for political solution of the conflicts existing in the region. The ...
It is a Grim Reality
July 17, 2011 | Jawad Rahmani
One of the most remarkable and appreciating achievements of government in post-Taliban democratic process is indefinite engagement of Afghan women in social, economic as well as, chiefly, in political spheres. We had woman presidential candidates in two previous presidential elections. And, in both previous Parliamentary elections, ...
From Wrestling with International Community to an Internal Game of Unknown Consequences
July 17, 2011 | Sher Alam Saqib
It is now becoming evident that President Hamid Karzai is relentlessly stubborn in continuing the ongoing parliamentary election crisis. President Karzai created this crisis extra-constitutionally and now wants to trample the constitution and other laws enforced in the country by hook or by crook. From the very...
Troop Withdrawals and A Resilient Taliban
July 16 2011 | Mehdi Rezaie
Following the U.S. Government's announcement of troop drawdown from Afghanistan, the first contingent of American troops left the country marking the beginning a process that will see 33,000 American troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by the fall of 2012. Since that announcement, many of the countries contributing...
Is Everyone Fed a Day’s Meal?
July 16, 2011 | Dilawar Sherzai
The agricultural sector in Afghanistan has not been able to fulfill the requirements of the people as it has not been given proper attention by the concerned authorities. Mostly, this sector is highly dependent on the individual farmers and landowners. Most of them grow as much as they require ...