Tag: afghanistan

In 2008, Seyed Hasan, a father of 6, fled his home in the Wardak province of eastern Afghanistan. Hasan and his family were targeted by the Taliban for resisting their demands. It had been seven years since the United States had intervened to oust the group, but the Taliban was still acting with impunity in … Continue reading “Afghanistan’s Forgotten Refugees”

One night in 1979, bombs dropped from the sky, killing 16 members of Ismail’s family. “The war took some people to Europe and America, but it destroyed my family,” Ismail, who is universally addressed as “uncle”, says. Hailing from the Haska Mena district in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, he says his parents insisted he go … Continue reading “The Mindlessness of War in Afghanistan”

KABUL — On Oct. 24, two days before Eid, an opinion piece published in the elite U.S. journal Foreign Policy extolled the fact that U.S. forces are winning in Afghanistan, adding, “Why hsn’t the media noticed?” In the article, the author suggests that Taliban forces are so decimated and demoralized that they have been resigned … Continue reading “Eid ‘Sensations’”

“Mirwais, son of Hayatullah Haideri. He was 1½ years old and had just started to learn how to walk, holding unsteadily to the poles of the family tent before flopping onto the frozen razorbacks of the muddy floor. “Abdul Hadi, son of Abdul Ghani. He was not even a year old and was already trying … Continue reading “Survival and Dignity in an Afghan Winter”

Although the surge of “insider attacks” on U.S.-NATO forces has dominated coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2012, an even more important story has been quietly unfolding: the U.S. loss of the pivotal war of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to the Taliban. Some news outlets have published stories this year suggesting that the U.S. … Continue reading “How the US Quietly Lost the IED War in Afghanistan”

With all foreign troops due to leave Afghanistan just two years from now, the news out of the Central Asian nation is becoming increasingly gloomy. Adding to the pessimism is a just-released report by one of the most astute observers of the U.S. war, Gilles Dorronsoro, an Afghanistan expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International … Continue reading “Gloomy News, Prognosis Out of Afghanistan”

Oh Lordy, Lordy, how I love the Afghan war: it just goes on and on, without end. By comparison, death and taxes seem long shots. In the latest episode of this long-running sitcom, the Afghan army is killing GIs. Yes. Blowing them away right and left. In Washington, the Five-Sided Wind Tunnel is in shock … Continue reading “Soap Opera Over Kabul”

In the wake of several deaths among its contingent of troops in a previously peaceful province in Afghanistan, New Zealand (like France and South Korea) is now expediting the departure of its 140 soldiers.  That’s not exactly headline-making news here in the U.S.  If you’re an American, you probably didn’t even know that New Zealand … Continue reading “The Best-Laid Plans”