Afghanistan Archives - Page 17 of 76 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Our Own Worst Enemy

by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Apr 20, 2012

The brazen terrorist assault on Kabul on April 16 was the biggest attack on the Afghan capital in the last decade. For some 18 hours, strategically perched Taliban militants linked to the Haqqani network fired on government buildings, embassies, and foreign military bases. A total of 51 people died, including 36 militants. Some 74 were wounded in Kabul along with three neighboring provinces where government and military targets came under synchronized attack.

The Afghan Syndrome

by Tom Engelhardt | Apr 19, 2012

Take off your hat. Taps is playing. Almost four decades late, the Vietnam War and its post-war spawn, the Vietnam Syndrome, are finally heading for their American grave. It may qualify as the longest attempted burial in history. Last words — both eulogies and curses — have been offered too many times to mention, and yet no American administration found the silver bullet that would put that war away for keeps.

U.S. Thinking on Afghanistan Is Not Just Magical, But Hallucinatory

by Conn Hallinan | Apr 17, 2012

The Taliban shut down preliminary talks with Washington, because, according to its spokesman, the Americans were “shaky, erratic and vague.”

U.S. Only Lightening Grip on Reins of Afghan Night Raids

by Melissa Moskowitz | Apr 12, 2012

Whether U.S. or Afghan-led, night raids are still night raids.

Many Share Blame With Sgt. Bales for Killing of 17 Afghans

by Russ Wellen | Apr 4, 2012

Guilt for the 17 Afghan civilians that Sgt. Bales was alleged to have killed is shared by many Americans.

Congress Tunes Out Lt. Col. Davis’s Allegations It’s Been Misled on Afghanistan

by Dana Liebelson | Apr 3, 2012

Lt. Col. Daniel Davis publicly called out his superior officers on their assessments of the war.

Sgt. Bales: Is Further Proof Needed That Multiple Tours Are a Recipe for Disaster?

by Julia Heath | Mar 28, 2012

ing Afghan civilians in two shifts qualifies Sgt. Robert Bales as a serial killer.

America’s Image Problem

by John Feffer | Feb 28, 2012

It’s not that Afghans are inherently untrustworthy. Rather, the United States has put them in an untenable position. They must choose between supporting unpalatable insiders and unpalatable outsiders.

But it’s actually worse than this.

Qur’an Burning an Arson Attack on Islam

by Julia Heath | Feb 28, 2012

Nearly a decade into the Afghanistan war, foreign forces continue to demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of Islamic culture.

Is China Reentering the Great Game?

by Dong Yu | Feb 9, 2012

Many countries have contributed to Afghanistan’s reconstruction. But it’s only been since 2007 that China has attracted attention with its investments. In November 2007, the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) won the tender to invest over $2.9 billion to develop the Aynak copper mine, which is the second-largest copper deposit in the world. This was not only the second-largest investment in Afghanistan in recent years – equivalent to one-third of all foreign aid spent in the country between 2002 and 2007 – but it also raised China to the top tier of investors. In a more recent deal in October 2011, the PetroChina Company Ltd (CPNC) plans to invest about $300 million in three oil fields in northern Afghanistan.