Afghanistan Archives - Page 21 of 49 - Foreign Policy In Focus

How to Exit Afghanistan

by Erik Leaver | Oct 2, 2009

For years, the war in Afghanistan has been in crisis. But now with a failed Afghan election, the resurgence of the Taliban as a political power, NATO allies withdrawing from the battlefield, and Pakistan’s tribal areas under increasing influence from the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the situation looks worse than ever. Obama and his team are spinning their wheels trying to devise a policy to right the sinking ship, but the most sensible solution, for Afghans and U.S. citizens, is to start planning a way out.

60-Second Expert: Afghanistan: What Are These People Thinking?

by Sean Chen, Conn Hallinan | Sep 22, 2009

The Obama administration consistently fails to learn the lessons of Vietnam in Afghanistan. It mischaracterizes the Taliban threat, has not deployed an adequate number of troops, and faces waning support from the public. Despite the hopelessness of the task, the administration continues its delusional policies.

Afghanistan: War Trumps Elections

by Frida Berrigan, John Feffer | Aug 26, 2009

The official results of Afghanistan’s presidential elections won’t be known for weeks. The ballots cast around the country need to be brought to Kabul — some by donkey and helicopter — and counted. Nevertheless, U.S. officials have rushed to celebrate the process, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen heralded the elections as "a testimony to the determination of the Afghan people to build democracy." This despite more than 75 reported incidents of violence throughout the country, an estimated 26 civilians and security forces dead, reports of more than a handful of districts where no one voted, and complaints about impermanent ink, intimidation, and other irregularities.

Elections Unlikely Barometer for Change in Afghanistan

by Farrah Hassen | Aug 25, 2009

While the outcome of the Afghan elections won’t be known for a few days at best, (raw polling data collected by media outlets suggests Hamid Karzai winning 72% of the vote, with his closest rival, Abdullah Abdullah, at 23%, although the Afghan Electoral Complaints Commission has received 225 complaints about voting irregularities since August 20) senior members of the Obama administration deemed the August 20 presidential and provincial council elections in Afghanistan the “most important event of the year.” But Malalai Joya, a member of the Afghan Parliament, thinks otherwise. “This election will change nothing and it is only part of a show of democracy put on by and for the West.” Whoever emerges victorious, she has a point, and the Obama administration should listen.

Time for Effective Aid in Afghanistan

by Daniel Atzmon, Erik Leaver | Jul 30, 2009

In this interview, IPS intern Daniel Atzmon discusses the situation in Afghanistan with Gyan Bahadur Adhikari (G.B. for short), who is the country director for ActionAid Afghanistan.

Pushing South Asia Toward the Brink

by John Feffer, Zia Mian | Jul 27, 2009

The contradictions and confusions in U.S. policy in South Asia were on full display during Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s recent visit to India. U.S. support for India, which centers on making money, selling weapons, and turning a blind eye to the country’s nuclear weapons, is fatally at odds with U.S. policy and concerns about Pakistan.

60-Second Expert: Pakistan’s Identity Crisis

by Noor Iqbal, Shibil Siddiqi | Jun 25, 2009

On the surface, it appears that Pakistan’s greatest internal threats stem from the dangerously autonomous Swat Valley and Southern Waziristan. Look deeper and you’ll see that the country’s ailment is rooted in a crisis of national identity.

Report: Pakistan’s Ideological Blowback

by John Feffer, Shibil Siddiqi | Jun 25, 2009

If the bucolic Swat valley, tucked into the Himalayas less than 100 miles from the capital city of Islamabad, is a bellwether for Pakistan’s war against the Pakistani Taliban, the war is going badly. The Swat District — an integrated part of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) as opposed to the autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) — has been beyond government control since 2007. In this period the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (Movement for the Enforcement of Mohammaden Islamic Law), a militant Pakistani Taliban group, thoroughly destroyed the threadbare state institutions that existed in the area. Most notably they targeted schools and the police force. Rebuilding these will take years.

Changing the Discourse: First Step toward Changing the Policy?

by Phyllis Bennis, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jun 4, 2009

President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated Cairo speech reflected a significant shift away from the ideological framework of militarism and unilateralism that shaped the Bush administration’s war-based policy toward the Arab and Muslim worlds. His "not Bush" focus was perhaps most sharply evident in his public denunciation of the Iraq War as a "war of choice." Obama’s call for a "new beginning" based on "the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition" was followed by a move to shift the official U.S. discourse toward something closer to internationalism — particularly by pointing to parallels between historical (and some contemporary) grievances and treating them as equivalent. This included his reference to the U.S. "role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government," along with Iran’s "role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians."

Shadow Wars

by John Feffer, Conn Hallinan | May 26, 2009

Sudan: The two F-16s caught the trucks deep in the northern desert. Within minutes, the column of vehicles was a string of shattered wrecks burning fiercely in the January sun. Surveillance drones spotted a few vehicles that had survived the storm of bombs and cannon shells, and the fighter-bombers returned to finish the job.