Afghanistan
Updated: Nov. 23, 2010
THE LATEST:
Following months of secret talks between Afghan and Taliban leaders to end the war, a participant believed to be Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, one of the most senior commanders in the Taliban movement, was unmasked as an impostor in November. The high-level discussions conducted with the assistance of NATOappeared to have achieved little.
The Obama administration is increasingly emphasizing the idea that the United States will have forces in Afghanistan until at least the end of 2014, a change in tone aimed at persuading the Afghans and the Taliban that there will be no significant American troop withdrawals in the summer of 2011. The message shift is effectively a victory for the military, which has long said the July 2011 deadline undermined its mission by making Afghans reluctant to work with troops perceived to be leaving shortly.
In October 2010, new details emerged about talks between that Afghan government and the Taliban that could possibly lead to a settlement of the nine-year conflict. The talks involve extensive, face-to-face discussions with Taliban commanders from the highest levels of the group’s leadership, who have secretly leaving their sanctuaries in Pakistan with the help of NATO troops. Part of the overall American strategy is to wear down the Taliban with ground offensives, in the hope that they will become more receptive to a deal.
Election officials announced that more than 20 percent of the ballotscast in the Sept. 18, 2010 parliamentary elections were being thrown out for fraud. In all, 1.3 million votes were rejected. The voting itself was so tainted — by ballot-box stuffing and armed intimidation of voters, among other tactics — that many candidates are appealing the vote totals to a second electoral body, and in some cases a political solution may have to be found to deal with the inequities.
OVERVIEW
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country north and west of Pakistan and east of Iran. Its strategic location has long granted it a pivotal role in the region, while its terrain and population have stymied would-be conquerors for centuries. The country's population is 34 million. Its capital is Kabul.
The United States has been militarily involved in Afghanistan since 2001, when it led an invasion after the Sept. 11 attacks by Al Qaeda. The group had been given safe haven in the country by theTaliban, the extremist Islamic group that had seized control in 1996 after years of civil war. The 2001 invasion succeeded in dislodging Al Qaeda and removing the Taliban from power, but not in eradicating either group. Fueled by profits from the opium trade and dissatisfaction with the weak and often corrupt new Afghan government, the Taliban has made a steady comeback, particularly in the Pashtun regions of the south and east where the group originated.
Articles
Pentagon Report Cites Gains in Afghanistan
The report’s cautious findings of progress, especially in southern areas where the American and NATO presence is strongest, are balanced against those of a strong, expanding insurgency.
November 23, 2010
The Great Game Imposter
The Great Game is now about conning the Americans who have come to help.
November 23, 2010Afghanistan Threatens to Indict Election Officials
The threat against two officials with the elections commissions, whose work has won international praise, came as final results were about to be announced in September’s parliamentary voting.
November 23, 2010
NATO Official Calls Kabul’s Children Safer Than New York’s
The senior civilian representative of NATO in Afghanistan provoked critics after saying that Kabul is safer for children than major Western cities.
November 22, 2010Taliban Leader in Peace Talks Was an Impostor
A man purporting to be a key figure in the talks was faking, American and Afghan officials say.
November 22, 2010
iCasualties.org Keeps Tally in Iraq and Afghanistan
The Web site iCasualties.org has had a decline in traffic and donations as public interest in the wars has waned.
November 21, 2010Ending Our Wars
A reader responds to an article about the Obama administration’s plan to wind down American and allied fighting in Afghanistan by 2014.
November 21, 2010
Between Firefights, Jokes, Sweat and Tedium
Life on the front lines has two sides: the adrenaline-fueled moments of fighting, and the unglamorous everything else.
November 21, 2010
Afghan Voting Fraud Caught on Tape
An audiotape of conversations between an election worker and a cabinet member is under investigation, as officials disqualified 21 more parliamentary candidates for fraud.
November 21, 2010
Between Firefights, Jokes and Sweat, Tales and Tedium
For G.I.’s, life on the front lines has two sides: the adrenalin-fueled moments of fighting, and the dirty, unglamorous everything else.
November 21, 2010
NATO Sees Long-Term Role After End of Afghan Combat
NATO leaders, backing President Obama’s plan for a phaseout, agreed to run security in Afghanistan until 2014.
November 20, 2010
On TV, an Afghan Unit Tackles the Taliban
“Eagle Four” is a police show financed largely by American Embassy money.
November 20, 2010In Britain, Supporting the Troops, Not the Wars
Britons are commemorating their country's fallen soldiers in a ceremony that began with World War I, but while their respect for the dead is as strong as ever, their support for the current wars is less so.
November 19, 2010U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan
The Department of Defense has identified 1,383 American service members who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations.
November 19, 2010Worker Fired in War-Hero Dog’s Death
A Pinal County employee has been fired after euthanizing a dog that helped thwart an attack by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, officials said.
November 19, 2010Obama Arrives in Lisbon for NATO Summit
The two-day NATO summit meeting is expected to focus in part on Washington’s strategy in Afghanistan.
November 19, 2010TV Channel, Part Owned by Murdoch, Draws Threats in Iran
The campaign against Farsi1 illustrates the growing fear in Iran over the intrusion of private broadcasters onto the country’s airwaves.
November 19, 2010Afghan Transition
Can the Afghan National Army become a truly national army, or will it be seen as nothing more than a corrupt appendage of foreign rule?
November 18, 2010
Target, Afghan Hero Dog, Is Euthanized by Mistake in U.S.
The dog, Target, survived a suicide bombing, but after she escaped from her adoptive family, a shelter mistakenly administered a lethal injection.
November 18, 2010The Afghan View
Many Afghans believe things are getting better – slowly to be sure, but improving despite the odds.
November 18, 2010Military Deaths in Afghanistan
he Department of Defense has identified 1,380 American service members who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations.
November 18, 2010U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan
The Department of Defense has identified 1,375 American service members who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations.
November 17, 2010
Despite Gains, Night Raids Split U.S. and Karzai
The raids have put pressure on the Taliban, but they are a liability for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
November 16, 2010
NATO Destroys Booby-Trapped Homes in Afghanistan
The campaign in districts abandoned by the Taliban is meant to reduce casualties but is drawing complaints.
November 16, 2010
Medal of Honor for Army Sergeant
President Obama gave a Medal of Honor to an Army staff sergeant who placed himself in the line of fire in Afghanistan.
November 16, 2010SEARCH 8449 ARTICLES:
Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era.
Tanks to Afghanistan Analysis
Tanks to Afghanistan: The More Things Change...
Follow the latest Afghanistan updates on The Times’s news blog.
U.S. Rescuers May Have Killed British Captive in Afghanistan
New Video Game Changed to Prevent Players Taking on Role of Taliban Militants
Headlines Around the Web
What's This?
THE HUFFINGTON POST
NOVEMBER 23, 2010
Fake Taliban Leader, Fake Elections, Fake Deadline, Real Trouble
MEMRI LATEST BLOGS
NOVEMBER 23, 2010
Cartoon In Saudi Paper: 'NATO Confirms Its Plan To Leave Afghanistan'
Multimedia
On the Set of “Eagle Four”
“Eagle Four” is a popular new police show on Afghanistan’s Tolo TV.
Destroying to Save Lives
NATO forces in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, have been blasting their way through homes and other structures booby-trapped by the retreating Taliban, in the wake of a troop surge by the American-led troops.
Burning Desperation
Self-immolation has become a common form of suicide for Afghan women. Photographer Lynsey Addario speaks with women who survived their suicide attempts.
Suicide in Herat
Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually nourishes. But it also can be the makings of a combustible escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women.
An Afghan Corridor Cloistered From War
The rules that apply to the rest of Afghanistan are often irrelevant in the Wakhan Corridor.
Afghanistan Navigator
A list of resources from around the Web about Afghanistan as selected by researchers and editors of The New York Times.
- Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
- NATO mission in Afghanistan
- United States Embassy in Afghanistan
- C.I.A World Factbook
- Maps of Afghanistan
- University of Texas Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
- Operation Enduring Freedom Casualties
- iCasualties.org
- World Bank Country Profile
- World Health Organization Country Profile
- United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
- Afghanistan Digital Library
- New York University
ADVOCACY GROUPS AND BLOGS
- Human Rights Watch
- The Afghanistan Analysts Network
- Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
- Registan
- Afghan Lord
- Exploring the Heart of Asia: the Narrative of Afghanistan
- Ghosts of Alexander
- Sanjar
OTHER COVERAGE
- The AfPak Channel
- Foreign Policy
- BBC Country Profile
- Ongoing Coverage
- The Guardian (UK)
- Washington Post Country Guide
- National Geographic Country Guide
BOOKS
- Descent Into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia
- By Ahmed Rashid
- Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
- By Ahmed Rashid
- Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
- By Steve Coll
- The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
- By Lawrence Wright
- The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban
- By Sarah Chayes
- Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier
- By Joel Hafvenstein
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- By Khaled Hosseini
- Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
- By Deborah Rodriguez and Kristin Ohlson
- The Places in Between
- By Rory Stewart
- Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story
- By Said Hyder Akbar and Susan Burton
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