Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: US-Afghan relations

US-Afghan relations

‘Ghosts of the Past’: New Special Report on Local Force Mobilisation in Afghanistan

Kate Clark •

Today, AAN and the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) co-publish a new special report, ‘Ghosts of the Past: Lessons from Local Force Mobilisation in Afghanistan and Prospects for the Future’. The result of a three-year research project, the report considers why governments and their foreign partners have kept mobilising local forces in Afghanistan. It considers […]

War and Peace Read more
Police post in Kandahar, 2005. Photo: Thomas Ruttig

The Leahy Law and Human Rights Accountability in Afghanistan: Too little, too late or a model for the future?

Erica Gaston •

The Leahy Amendment, or Leahy law, is a little known piece of United States legislation that bans US assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information that a member has committed gross violations of human rights. The Leahy law has accomplished far less than its champions hoped for, but far more […]

International Engagement Read more

Leadership in Karzai’s shadow: Afghanistan’s next president to win vote, not total control

admin •

Washington Times, 6 April 2014 This article has a small quote from AAN's Thomas Ruttig pointing out that not everything that did not go well in Afghanistan can be blamed on President Karzai and about Afghan reactions to the US-Afghan spat about the BSA: “Many Afghans were tired of the high-handedness of the West in […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Political calculations may trump evidence in Afghan prisoners release

AAN Team •

Stars and Stripes, 15 January 2014 Reporting about the Afghan-US “standoff” about the BSA and the 88 Bagram prisoners, AAN’s Kate Clark opins that it may be attributed partly to the bumpy transition from a wartime detention regime, which included indefinite imprisonment for suspected insurgents, to civilian rules, which demand that evidence be presented in a […]

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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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When NATO leaves Afghanistan

AAN Team •

IPS/Asia Times online, 19 December 2014 “Afghanistan’s 30 million people are deeply divided over whether President Hamid Karzai should sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Washington”, writes Guiliano Battiston – although the headline is wrong: NATO is attempting to have a new military mission in Afghanistan after 2014. He quotes AAN’s Kate Clark in […]

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Is Afghan President Rejecting US Security Pact Due to Mysterious Civilian Killings in Wardak Province?

AAN Team •

Truthout, 9 December 2013 The website quotes Matt Aikins who has discovered the killings in Wardak, saying that the incidents in Wardak have played a major role in reshaping Karzai’s stance towards the US and the BSA. And it extensively quotes AAN’s analysis of Karzai’s motivations: “The negotiations surrounding the BSA are the only real leverage […]

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Hagel Bypasses Karzai in Afghanistan Visit with Troops

AAN Team •

Bloomberg, 7 December 2013 Reporting US defence secretary Hagel’s visit to US troops in Afghanistan during which he did not meet President Karzai includes quotes from AAN’s Martine van Bijlert: Avoiding Karzai may signal a hands-off approach toward him by the Obama administration after repeated attempts at negotiation led nowhere, said Martine van Bijlert, co-director […]

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Kabul: Deal imperiled (not online)

AAN Team •

The Week, 6 December 2013 The weekly news magazine chose a one-sentence quote from AAN’s Kate clark in its “the world at a glace” overview on the back and forth of the US-Afghan BSA: “President Karzai just doesn’t want to own the agreement.”

AAN in the Media Read more

Hamid Karzai: No ordinary puppet

AAN Team •

AntiWar (blog), 2 December 2013 The US-based pro-peace blog pull together explanations for President Karzai’s refusal to sign the BSA after the Consultative Loya Jirga’s approval. One of hem is AAN’s Kate Clark: “Bottom line, Karzai does this because he knows the US ain’t going nowhere. From Kate Clark, at the Afghanistan Analysts Network: The Americans, […]

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Karzai’s Demands On Security Pact Puzzle Afghans, Westerners

AAN Team •

NPR, 28 November 2013 In a feature, NPR brings together the opinions of different people about President Karzai’s motifs not to sign the BSA with the USA. This is AAN’s Kate Clark: “He is genuinely frightened that once the Americans get their deal, there will be no holds barred on what they do in Afghanistan.”

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Afghan president softens some demands on US deal

Other AAN •

AP/Washington Post, 27 November 2013 AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted on Kabul’s perception of the ‘zero option’: “‘He doesn’t believe in the zero option and so the threat of complete US withdrawal is for him an empty threat. So he feels quite comfortable pushing the US for more,’ said Kate Clark, a senior analyst with the Afghanistan […]

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