Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Der afghanische Präsident Aschraf Ghani ruft die Taliban zu Friedensgesprächen auf

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF4, 29 January 2019 Listen to the audio (in German) of a Swiss Radio interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, discussing the US-Taleban talks in Doha and the Afghan president Ghani’s reaction to it. Starts at 4:26 min under the (different) headline (“Anti-Korruptions-Index: Die Schweiz steht im Ranking gut da”). Also a number of quotes in […]

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US-Deal mit Taliban: Afghanische Regierung in Zuschauerrolle

Thomas Ruttig •

ORF, 28 January 2019 In this background article on Austrian TV’s website, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted as saying that the framework agreed upon by the US and the Taleban in Doha was “only the first step on a long way” but that it is essential to involve the third party to the conflict, the […]

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Shuffling deckhands: Afghanistan prepares to vote for the same old faces

Thomas Ruttig •

The Economist, 24 January 2019 In an article looking at the candidates’ constellation for Afghanistan’s July 2019 presidential election, the weekly quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig as saying: “I do not see any clear newcomer those who want real change can connect with,” says Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a research group. (You might […]

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The Sangorian: Weakening the Taliban from Within

AAN •

Jamestown Terrorism Monitor, 11 January 2019 This rather weak and outdated analysis uses some information from the AAN website about a militia in Helmand and its (now assassinated) founded Jabbar Qahraman (and is also badly edited, as it writes our organisation in two different versions).

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Irreguläre Milizen – Amerikaner operieren im rechtsfreien Raum

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF 4 (Swiss radio), 10 January 2018 Interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about a New York Times report on CIA-linked Afghan militias and torture. He says that there have been consistent reports of abuses by such units but little legal consequences; and that the role of militias has grown under Trump (in German). It is […]

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آیا گروه طالبان در مشهد دفتر دارد؟ [Do the Taleban have an office in Mashhad?]

AAN •

BBC Farsi, 7 January 2019 The BBC Farsi’s Fawad Masiha looked at the available sources on this subject (and the existence of a ‘Mashhad shura’ that does not recognise the Quetta shura’s authority. In his feature, he finds the source base rather narrow – although, he says, a Wall Street Journal article quoting one anonymous Western security official […]

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Afghanistan fallen lassen, zum Zweiten

Thomas Ruttig •

Blättchen, 1/2019 (7 January 2019) AAN’s Thomas Ruttig provided an article on the possible fallout of Trump’s much-discount hint he might reduce US troops in Afghanistan for the German online political magazine (in German).

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C.I.A.’s Afghan Forces Leave a Trail of Abuse and Anger

AAN •

New York Times, 31 December 2018 Another key piece by Mujib Mashal, on an often overlooked aspect of US military presence in Afghanistan – the “parallel mission to the United States military’s [Resolute Support], but with looser rules of engagement.” “The Times went to the sites of half a dozen of their raids, often less […]

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Remarks by President Trump in Cabinet Meeting [incl. about Afghanistan]

AAN •

The White House, 2 January 2019 Full text of the cabinet meeting and press conference in which Trump said, in some twist of history, that “Russia used to be the Soviet Union” and “was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia”.

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‘Worse every day’: Afghans expect 2019 to be even deadlier

Thomas Ruttig •

AFP/Daily Sabah and RTL, 1 January 2019 The news agency tries a look ahead into the new year 2019 and Afghanistan, with quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, among others, on 2018: “It was a very bad year, the situation has not improved at all,” said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of Afghanistan Analysts Network. (…) Ruttig said Washington […]

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Is it safe for Europe to force Afghan migrants to return home?

Thomas Ruttig •

Christian Science Monitor, and MSN News 31 December 2018 Quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in this article – who thinks the headline should better read ‘Is it safe at home for forced Afghans?’The article itself correctly mentions “questions about the ethics of sending migrants back to an active war zone.” The article is behind a […]

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