Links / Recommended readings
Pakistanis Say Taliban Arrest Was Meant to Hurt Peace Bid
New York Times, 23 August 2010
Dexter Filkins has got ink-on-white what everyone had assumed: Pakistan wants control over developments in Afghanistan.
Top Leaders Tied to Security Companies
Killid magazine (Kabul), 21 August 2010
An excellent piece of analysis on the links of people in the presidential camp as well as in the opposition former Northern Alliance to private security companies about to be banned - written by one of the brightest Afghan journalists.
Locusts swarm over wheat crops in Samangan
Pajhwok News Agency, 9 August 2010
An annual but under-reported plague: locust invasions in Northern Afghanistan
In Kabul, a Service for Slain Aid Workers
New York Times blog, 13 August 2010
Rob Nordland reports from the memorial service for the murdered aid workers at the old British Cemetary in Kabul.
Afghanistan Money Probe Hits Close to the President
Wall Street Journal, 12 August 2010
The raid on the New Ansari hawala: another story about links worth billions between the drug industry and government structures.
Kandahar mayor's claim to shopkeeper-occupied land dividing residents
Washington Post, 12 August 2010
Rajiv Chandrasekaran reports about plans to knock down a bazaar in Kandahar city, next to the Shrine of the Holy Cloak, and build a scholl instead - land ownership is controversial and has put the mayor against tha bazaaris. 'U.S. reconstruction advisers lauded his decision', too early, it seems - and taken side again.
Afghan Former Militants Rejoin Insurgency
IWPR, 8 August 2010
Afghan reporter Zia Ahmadi describes how former Taleban fighters who 'joined the government' in Herat defected back to the insurgents after Kabul failed to fulfill promises of work and development - which should serve as a warning for everybody too enthusiastic about 'reintegration'..
Women and Modern Art in Afghanistan
New York Times blog, 6 August 2010
An interesting report with good pics about an apparently fascinationg exhibition at Kabul University.
Intimidation and bombings silence Jalalabad's thriving record stores
The Guardian, 5 August 2010
Not only a story about Jalalabad's record stores but also - and more importantly - about the deteriorating security situation in Nangrahar in general which makes one think that this is the next hitherto relatively stable province falling to the Taleban
Extracting Change in Afghanistan’s Development Quagmire
Eurasianet.org, 29 July 2010
Ignore the title and read how a program on community monitoring could be making small but crucial changes.
Afghanistan war: How USAID loses hearts and minds
Christian Science Monitor, 28 July 2010
The story about how a over-reported but under-staffed and under-achieving development project lost hearts and minds in Badakhshan - with the usual ingredients: Afghanistan-unexperienced companies, subcontracting, and spening pressure, i.e.
A City Tour for V.I.P.’s Attending the Kabul Conference
New York Times blog, 21 July 2010
Unfortunately, this tour was virtual only. The NYT's Kabul bureau chief and her Afghan colleagues Sharifullah Sahak and Abdul Waheed Wafa report what Hillary Clinton and Gen. Petraeus COULD have seen if they had been able to leave the well-protected conference venues: people losing some days' income because the bazaars were closed and no fresh food allowed in, because trucks were banned, and the funeral of a beheaded man(!) - 'no one thought it were the Taliban'.
Voters Angry at “Warlord” Candidates
IWPR, 19 July 2010
Another encouraging story of Sarepul citizens who moved to block former commanders from running for parliament, and in an factionally balanced way: one Jamiati, one Jombeshi. This is while exit-prone Western governments look for 'local strongmen' as allies.
Der lange Schatten der Taliban (The Long Shadow of the Taleban)
Frankfurter Allgemeine, 14 July 2010
For German speakers: Read Friederike Böge's reportage from Kandahar about a city in the grip of fear - and how the author tried to get hold of Taleban war poetry.
'Fuck the Taliban': US-Soldaten in Kundus (US Soldiers in Kunduz)
dpa, 13 July 2010
'After a prayer, the sergeant asks for a motto for the patrol. «Fuck the Taliban», one soldier proposes. «Fuck the Taliban», it echoes back from the platoon. A reportage by Can Merey from his embedded tour in Kunduz (in German).
Justice is missing from Afghanistan
Global Post, 13 July 2010
'What Afghans need is a transformation that ends a long pattern of human rights violations', writes Norah Niland, until recently the chief UN human rights officer in Afghanistan, in an opinion piece.
AfPak Behind the Lines: southern Afghanistan
AfPak Channel, 12 July 2010
Read an interesting interview with journalist Anand Gopal reporting from Kandahar who broadens our view at 'local power brokers' beyond Ahmad Wali Karzai and talks about the 'success' of NATO strikes against the Taleban in the area: that a younger, more radical generation of fighters takes over.
U.S. officials say Karzai aides are derailing corruption cases involving elite
Washington Post, 28 June 2010
Another report on how political protection undermines rule of law and prevents embezzlement from being exposed in Afghanistan
Corruption Suspected in Airlift of Billions in Cash From Kabul .
Wall Street Journal, 25 June 2010
Another interesting contribution on Afghanistan's political economy. Here: The boxes of money taken out of the country.
Taleban Attacks Inflame Anti-Western Feeling
IWPR, 17 June 2010
Afghan analysts and MPs seem to agree that not only the Taleban but also ISAF forces use Afghan civilians as 'human shields'. Says one analyst: “If the foreigners want to reduce this hatred, they should [...] leave the cities, and stop moving through crowded civilian areas.”
Proliferation of Bad Analysis on Afghanistan
The Captain's Journal, 21 June 2010
Hershel Smith's interesting blog takes on the assumption that the Sons of Iraq option can be copied in Afghanistan (see our discussion of LDI) and looks at why Helmand 'went wrong' and on what he calls a 'horrible deal' with Mulla Salam in Musa Qala.
The Runaway General
The Rolling Stone, 22 June 2010
THE Rolling Stone story that cost General Stanley McChrystal his Afghan job.
U.S. Hopes Afghan Councils Will Weaken Taliban
New York Times, 19 June 2010.
The US and the UK supporting an effort to establish local councils in 100 districts. The revival of ASOP after all.
Filmmaker mocks Afghan police corruption with 'reverse bribes'
McClatchy, 18 June 2010
"On behalf of the city of Kabul and the Kabul police, if you have paid a bribe or 'tip' to someone in the past, I apologize," the officer says in Dari to the disbelieving driver. "Please take 100 Afghanis."
Fighting the Viet Cong in Afghanistan (Gregor Samsa out of Coma)
Washington Post, 15 June 2010
Although we not necessarily agree with everything author Richard Cohen says, he says it very well (and funny). And we also have additionally confusing news for Gregor Samsa: Vietnam was called Iraq before Afghanistan. (Please read in combination with Robert D. Kaplan, 'Man Versus Afghanistan', see below)
Man Versus Afghanistan
The Atlantic magazine, April 2010
Stan The Man will pull it all off, with BlackOps on 'an industrial scale', against the odds of history, fate, tradition and liberal debate - that, at least, is what Robert Kaplan says.
Die Banden von Kandahar (The Gangs of Kandahar)
Le Monde diplomatique (German edition), June 2010
An excellent account of Kandahar's complex situation, full version apparently only available in German, with a shorter English version on the author's website www.stephengrey.com.
U.S. military runs into Afghan tribal politics after deal with Pashtuns
Washington Post, 10 May 2010
A report on a much-trumpeted adoption of a tribal (Shinwari) militia by the US Special Forces but then gone sour.
The only rockers in Afghanistan
Guardian, 31 March 2010
A report on the first Afghan indie rock band - you can listen to a few songs of them on MySpace or Youtube
House of pain: Canada’s connection with Kandahar's ruthless palace guard
Globe and Mail, 10 April 2010
Graeme Smith on how Canada ignored indications that Kandahar's former governor Assadullah Khaled was running private prisons and was involved in torture, and their relationship with the murky Brigade 888 (which followed Assadullah when he left).
Afghan Ghosts: American Myths
World Affairs, March/April 2010
Jonathan Steele looks back on his reporting during Soviet rule in Afghanistan and considers the parallels with the current situation.
In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism
The Washington Post, 22 February 2010
Kabul Bank provides members of the Karzai family and his entourage with special deals and campaign support, moving money in unconventional ways.
Officials puzzle over millions of dollars leaving Afghanistan by plane for Dubai
Washington Post, 25 February 2010
In a cash exodus, estimated well over $1 billion a year flows mostly to Dubai, where many wealthy Afghans now park their families and funds, according to U.S. and Afghan officials
U.S.: DynCorp Oversight in Afghanistan Faulted
IPS, 27 February 2010
A high-level investigation by two major US government agencies says that the State Department has completely failed to do any serious oversight of the private contractor DynCorp to whom they paid 1.6 billion dollars to provide police training.
Strangers at the Door: Night Raids by International Forces Lose Hearts and Minds of Afghans
Open Society Institute and The Liaison Office, 23 February 2010
Briefing paper describes how night raids by international forces in Afghanistan are widely associated with abuse and impunity.
Marja 50 Years Ago: Model Villages and American Money
New York Times, 12 February 2010
NYT publishes 50 years old article on the (then) $100,000,000 project in Marja.
Afghanistan’s outsourced war
Le Monde diplomatique, 9 February 2010
Marie-Dominique Charlier, a PolAd to the ISAF commander in 2008, describes the growing ability of private military companies 'to influence military decisions on operational matters' of ISAF in Afghanistan
Citha D. Maaß: Afghanistans Drogenkarriere (Afghanistan's Drug Career: From War to Drug Economy)
SWP Research Paper S2, January 2010
In this best paper about Afghanistan's drug economy since a long time (it is in German but SWP should be urged to translate it as quickly as possible), the Berlin-based scholar not only reviews the latest trends in this field but also puts the analysis of these developments on a new theoretical level. Her facit: 'The drug economy has created a post-war order in which a peace deformed by criminality prevails. Government and the
Pamir Mountains, the Crossroads of History
New York Times, 20 December 2009
A travelogue by Andy Isaacson about a trip through the Pamir mountains, on the Tajik side of the Afghan border
Restaurierung der Altstadt von Herat: Wettlauf mit der Zeit (Race against Time: The Restauration of Herat's Old City)
al-qantara website, 12 December 2009
Britta Petersen's reportage about the gems of an ancient cultural capital (in German).
The master of Spin Boldak
Harper's Magazine, December 2009
Matthieu Aikins' undercover reportage 'with Afghanistan's drug-trafficking border police' commander Abdul Raziq - an exemplaric story
The Predator War
The New Yorker, 26 October 2009
Jane Mayer's hair-raising account of the risks of 'the “push-button” approach to fighting Al Qaeda'. She gives the figures of people killed during the 41 drone strikes since President Obama's inauguration (between 326 and 538, 'many bystanders'), explores the psyche of those remote-operating the drones and the role of contractors and shows how the program is running in 'an accountability void'.
The Last Mission
The New Yorker, 28 September 2009
George Packer's portrait of Mr AfPak (alias Richard Holbrooke) is much more than a portrait
Karzai in His Labyrinth
New York Times Magazine, 9 August 2009
Elizabeth Rubin's portrait of an increasingly schizophrenic Afghan President
Battle Company Is Out There
New York Times, 24 February 2008
Apocalypse Now in Nuristan, by Elizabeth Rubin
Cashing in on Karzai and Co.
Options politiques (Canada), November 2007
Skyreporter Arthur Kent's piece about Kabul cronyism, featurung the Karzai brothers, a Rahim Wardak son, Zalmay Khalilzad and a lot of contracts
The Dancing Boys of the North
IWPR's Afghan Recovery Report No. 268, 12 October 2007
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahmi, the young Afghan reporter never shy to touch a touchy story, about the victims of warlords' and commanders' sexual exploitation.
'Have you ever used a pistol?'
Sunday Times, 2 July 2006
Christina Lamb under Taleban ambush in Helmand - in 2006 already
