Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Obama

Obama

The NUG, brought to light by 'midwife' John Kerry in 2014, will be part of Obama's Afghan legacy for President Donald Trump. Photo c/o US Embassy Kabul

“People That Hate Us”: What can Afghans expect from President Trump?

Kate Clark • Thomas Ruttig •

If Hillary Clinton had won Tuesday’s race for the White House, the world would now have a good sense of who her top officials would be and what her foreign policy would look like. With a Secretary of State-turned-president, Afghanistan could have expected business to carry on pretty much as normal. With Donald Trump coming […]

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Nicht alle Afghanen freuen sich über US-Truppenabzug

AAN •

SRF (Swiss radio), 30 May 2014 Summary of an interview (with complete audio file of it), commenting on Obama’s announcement on the (still imcomplete) US troop drawdown till 2016.

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For Afghans, Obama’s SOTU message on US troops was loud and clear

Thomas Ruttig •

Stars and Stripes, 29 January 2014 In a report about Afghan reactions to President Obama’s State of the Union address, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted: Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said Obama did not indicate what the consequences might be if Karzai does not sign the agreement. “For me, the most important […]

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‘Gaming’ Obama on Afghan War

AAN •

Consortium News, 10 January 2014 A quick reaction by investigativ journalist Garteh Porter on former US defence secretary Robert Gates' upcoming book (print version to be out on 14 January), putting some of Gates' – probably not fully impartial – statements, and some telling omissions, in context.

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Ruttig: “Karsai will sein politisches Erbe sichern”

Thomas Ruttig •

Deutsche Welle, 10 January 2014 Text interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on DW’s website, explaining the background of the current US-Afghan debate about the release of 72 (of 88), according to the US view, high-risk prisonsers from Bagram (in German).

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Taliban, Drohnen und Pakistans Staatskrise

Thomas Ruttig •

Neues Deutschland (Berlin), 11 November 2013 Read the article by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the killing, by a US drone, of Pakistani Taleban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, his succession by the “Radio Mullah” and implication for attempts to talk peace with both the Taleban of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Conclusion: President Obama’s anti-terrorism policy contradicts Pakistani Prime […]

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Winding Down or in for the Long Haul? The emergence of a new US counter-terrorism strategy

Kate Clark •

The great behemoth of US counter-terrorism strategy is shifting. President Barack Obama has said he wants to end the war, not just in Afghanistan, but also, ultimately against al-Qaida. Congress has also been making its first attempts to claw back some of the unprecedented powers it gave the president to wage war when, just after […]

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More civilian deaths as US prepares for Afghan withdrawal

Other AAN •

ABC, 14 February 2013. Kate Clark is quoted here on the latest Obama drawdown and victory speech: ‘They are spinning a narrative of victory. They are spinning a narrative that the insurgency is weakened, the Afghan national security forces are strong enough to take on the fight against the Taliban. But they are pulling out […]

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Allen, Obama and Orwell: Continuing War is Victory

Kate Clark •

President Obama in his State of the Union address announced what to many looks like an accelerated drawdown of US troops with half out of Afghanistan by this time next year. ‘We can say with confidence,’ Obama said, ‘that America will complete its mission in Afghanistan and achieve our objective of defeating the core of […]

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The January 2013 Obama-Karzai meeting: sovereignty in exchange for immunity

Kate Clark •

The words of Presidents Karzai and Obama, who met in Washington, are now being weighed and scrutinised in an attempt to determine what they are planning for Afghanistan over the next few, crucial years. The headline news was ISAF moving to a support and advisory role sooner than planned, with phase 5 of the security […]

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Zero or Zero Plus? US-Afghan negotiations over the war

Kate Clark •

Presidents Obama and Karzai are due to start the wrangling over their countries’ post-2014 military relationship during the Afghan president’s current visit to Washington. US soldiers, bases, training, equipment, money, immunity all need to be hammered out, although no-one is expecting results just yet. Figures floated in recent days by US government and military officials […]

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What Surge? Afghanistan’s Most Violent Places Stay Bad, Despite Extra Troops

admin •

Wired (blog), 23 August 2012 ‘When President Obama surged 30,000 additional U.S. troops into Afghanistan in 2010, the new forces were concentrated overwhelmingly on two volatile areas of southern Afghanistan: Helmand and Kandahar Provinces. Now, as the troop surge is practically over, those provinces still rank as the most violent in the entire country. According […]

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