Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: February 2010

A reform of the electoral law?

Antonella Deledda •

The reform of the Afghan electoral law is moving again. ANTONELLA DELEDDA looks at the proposed amendments that are circulating in Kabul, at the question whther this can be done by presidential decree and whether this would be the urgently necessary ‘organic reform’ or mainly serves the interests of the current elite after the faulty […]

Political Landscape Read more

Recommended readings: 114,000 plus…

Thomas Ruttig •

With the US troop surge and announcements at and around the London conference that additional troops will be deployed from other NATO countries, NATO and its allies are now exceeding the number of troops the Soviet Union had sent to occupy the country between 1979 and 1989. This does not include contractors from private military […]

War and Peace Read more

17 February, Kabul: AREU Lecture about the Shia Personal Status Law

AAN • admin •

AREU invites for a special lecture that will look deeper into the process around the controversial law that met strong protest both inside and outside of Afghanistan. AREU invites for a special lecture by Lauryn Oates, titled ‘A Closer Look: The Policy and Law-Making Process Behind the Shiite Personal Status Law’. The event takes place on […]

Events Read more

Implications of Mulla Baradar’s Arrest

Thomas Ruttig •

With Mulla Baradar the operational leader of the Taleban movement has been captured. Mulla Baradar – this is a nom-de-guerre and his real name is Abdul Ghani – had been appointed one of the two deputies of Mulla Muhammad Omar when the movement reorganized after its collapse in late 2001. That made him the movement’s […]

War and Peace Read more

Wondering where all of this is going

Martine van Bijlert •

Back in Kabul, I am struck by the sense underlying most conversations that things are happening above people’s heads, out of their reach and largely unseen. The London conference seems to have confused more than it has clarified and the questions that are always latently present are becoming more pronounced: What are the foreigners doing? […]

International Engagement Read more

An Offensive Foretold

Thomas Ruttig •

When I checked the BBC website last night after watching the world premiere of the reconstructed famous 1927 German silent movie ‘Metropolis’ (a ‘don’t miss’ for all cineasts), the red ribbon for breaking news flashed: NATO and Afghan troops have started ‘Operation Moshtarak’ (Together) in Helmand. In Afghanistan, it was already after 2 am on […]

War and Peace Read more

Afghanistan Bird Watch

AAN Team •

The most underreported Afghan story of January 2010 already has been identified: One of the world rarest birds has been spotted in Badakhshan. Overshadowed by the coverage of the London conference, the BBCreported that scientists of the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society found specimen of the large-billed reed warbler (photo), one of the rarest birds on earth, during […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Rules and Empty Promises

Martine van Bijlert •

I have finally arrived in Kabul, after spending several days travelling half the world to get a visa for Afghanistan. My quest started in Dubai, where in the past it had been relatively easy to get multiple entry, multiple months. I had heard about a new system that involved getting a “Mofa number” (i.e. a […]

Context and Culture Read more

On Commander Razeq again

Joanna Nathan •

AAN member JOANNA NATHAN draws attention to the recent “mistaken” killing of civilians by Kandahar’s border police, which has gone largely unnoticed. So Commander Razeq is once again in the news with dead civilians on his men’s hands. TheNew York Times reports that seven people mistakenly thought to be insurgents were shot by the border police […]

War and Peace Read more

World to Afghans: ‘Unhappy with our choices? Grin and bear it.’

Fatima Ayub •

After participating in parallel events to the main London Afghanistan conference, FATIMA AYUB points at the alarm amongst many Afghans caused by indications of a ‘headlong dash to give Taliban leaders recognition and power’. A near-hysterical optimism accompanies any official event on Afghanistan, and the London Conference almost two weeks ago was no different. To […]

International Engagement Read more

Afghanistan’s outsourced war

admin •

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

Recommended Reads Read more

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