Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: February 2010

Strangers kicking in your door

Martine van Bijlert •

“Hello, I am calling from Kandahar. I got your number from a friend. One of my employees, a driver, was arrested a month ago. ISAF forces came to my house at night and took three people away. They also almost took me. They are still holding the driver, the ICRC says he is in Bagram. […]

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U.S.: DynCorp Oversight in Afghanistan Faulted

admin •

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.

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Voices from Zabul

Martine van Bijlert •

Just got back from a short visit to Zabul, the largely forgotten province that is surrounded by Kandahar, Uruzgan, Ghazni, Paktia and Pakistani Baluchistan. I was curious how things had developed since my last visit three years ago. The governor had been changed – and so had the Taliban governor – some provincial department heads […]

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Flash from the Past: Russian Advice on Afghanistan

AAN Team •

‘In fact, we [the Soviet Union] were the first to defend Western civilization against the attacks of Muslim fanatics. No one thanked us.’ This is only one of the core sentences in an op-ed I almost had missed. It was co-authored by ex-General Boris Gromov, now the governor of the Moscow region who commanded the […]

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Taleban Attack on Muhammad’s Birthday

Thomas Ruttig •

It was around 6.30 this morning when we were woken up by a violent blast. As it turned out, it was another of the ‘complex’ (or multiple) attacks using suicide bombers and ‘commandos’ armed with small arms for which the Taleban have regularly claimed responsibility. The main targets seem to have been two guesthouses in […]

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Officials puzzle over millions of dollars leaving Afghanistan by plane for Dubai

admin •

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

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Elvis Ain’t Dead: The story of Marja

Thomas Ruttig •

He has been spotted in Marja (Helmand, Southern Afghanistan). The only problem is: Marja does not exist. Because it is not on Google Earth. And Operation Moshtarak in Helmand is a fake. But let me start from the beginning. Back in Kabul, as usual the unexpected happened: The rumour of the day did not come […]

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Afghanistan in World Literature (II): Dr Watson Sent Packing

Thomas Ruttig •

With part II of this series, we present a few pieces of colonial literature, featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. This part, of course, is clearly not exhausted yet. An apparent survivor of another Afghan tragedy became famous amongst fans of crime literature: no one less than Dr Watson, assistant of the masterly […]

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Dreaming of a pliable parliament and a ruling family

Martine van Bijlert •

President Karzai has changed the electoral law, driven by anger over an in his eyes over-interfering ECC, the desire to have a pliable parliament and a sense that it his right as a president to be in charge. The substantive changes in the electoral law have, as a result, focused on roughly four areas: gaining […]

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Strangers at the Door: Night Raids by International Forces Lose Hearts and Minds of Afghans

admin •

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.

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In Afghanistan, signs of crony capitalism

admin •

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.

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After two years in legal limbo: A first glance at the approved ‘Amnesty law’

Sari Kouvo •

(Updated: 30 September 2017) – Impunity is certainly a problem in Afghanistan, but now impunity has been made into law. The so-called amnesty law (now titled the National Reconciliation, General Amnesty and National Stability Law) was published in the official gazette in December 2008 (Qaus 1387). While opinions differ about whether the law was formally passed […]

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