From the category archives:

Afghanistan

Antonio Maria Costa on “Sinister Affairs”

by Asher Kohn

Today I had the opportunity to hear Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) give a short talk on what he does and what he is trying to do. He had lots of interesting things to say (as someone who went to University of Turin, Moscow State, [...]

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Holbrooke, Foot, Mouth

by Joshua Foust

Richard Holbrooke, everyone’s favorite envoy they love to hate to love, has an almost Biden-esque talent for saying things that make people angry. His most recent comment, that “Taliban is woven into the fabric of Pashtun society on both sides of the border with Pakistan and almost every Pashtun family has someone involved with the [...]

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AfPax Insider Is Death

by Joshua Foust

In 2008, I mocked Robert Young Pelton. I know, right? Shocking! But read why:
I believe he is saying there is something dishonorable, or unnatural, about people getting paid to participate in a war. This, along with the baseless assertion that “mercenaries” (a general, pejorative, and somewhat meaningless term) are “above the law,” forms the basis [...]

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America the Unreliable

by Joshua Foust

The next time some American official mentions they want to engage in negotiations with the Taliban, please: laugh really hard.
The Afghan government was holding secret talks with the Taliban’s No. 2 when he was captured in Pakistan, and the arrest infuriated President Hamid Karzai, according to one of Karzai’s advisers.
The detention of Mullah Abdul Ghani [...]

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Uzbeks Are Scary

by Joshua Foust

Previously:
Does the IJU Even Exist?
Oh, Actual Terrorists
Talking the IMU in Northern Afghanistan
There’s a pretty interesting essay at SWJ on the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in Afghanistan. Most of it is fine—I’d seriously question relying on Ahmed Rashid for meaningful information about Uzbeks, for example. There are some bits that are pretty questionable, however, and it [...]

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Oh, the Shinwari

by Joshua Foust

It’s almost like no one could have seen this coming.
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Six weeks ago, elders of the Shinwari tribe, which dominates a large area in southeastern Afghanistan, pledged that they would set aside internal differences to focus on fighting the Taliban.
This week, that commitment seemed less important as two Shinwari subtribes took up [...]

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Romancing Hekmatyar (and other related monsters)

by Joshua Foust

Blake Hounshell is on to something:
There’s been a lot of chatter recently over bringing Hekmatyar and/or Haqqani over on the the government side… There’s no question these are nasty men, but they don’t strike me as particularly worse on human rights issues than say, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, or any number of petty [...]

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Thinking Big, Thinking Small

by Asher Kohn

…or perhaps not thinking. Not at all. Seuss-ian writing aside, there are a few different ways to view how ISAF is trying to change the built environment in Afghanistan. I’ve been bullish on architectural changes for a while now, and the military wings its way besides. I’d imagine the impulse to make wholesale changes is [...]

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Attacks in Khost; Police Respond Again

Thumbnail image for Attacks in Khost; Police Respond Again by Joshua Foust

There was another suicide attack in Khost today.
A Reuters reporter in the town heard an explosion and shooting near the headquarters of the Khost provincial department for tribal affairs.
Smoke could be seen rising over the area. Afghan forces had cordoned off the road leading to the site of the blast and a helicopter was [...]

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How to Move Forward in Marjeh

by Joshua Foust

“As the United States and its Western allies renewed their commitment to the Afghan war in recent months,” reports Alyssa Rubin, “they stressed that it cannot be won without good government.” So what?
But news reports that a newly chosen top leader for that city may have a criminal background underscore the difficulties of finding leaders [...]

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