Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: US

US

Guest Blog: A Dangerous Case for Intervention: A response to the CNAS report on Afghanistan

Gary Owen •

The US-based Think Tank Center for a New American Security (CNAS) has released a report about the current political and security situation in Afghanistan and also looks at the future of US military involvement there after 2014 Afghanistan by some prominent authors, led by the previous ISAF commander General John R. Allen. It would be […]

International Engagement Read more

Legalities of the Post-2014 Landscape: The US-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement

Kate Clark •

By 1 May 2013, the United States and Afghanistan should have finalised a Bilateral Security Agreement and associated Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) for governing a post-2014 US military deployment. There is, as yet, no sign yet of any deal. These new agreements are supposed to supersede the Status of Forces Agreement ratified in May […]

International Engagement Read more

The Making of Another ‘Uprising’: The ALP in Panjwayi

Borhan Osman •

The US government and US media are upbeat about a new ‘uprising’ against the Taleban in its heartland in Kandahar. Such a revolt in Panjwayi district would be of particular importance given the area’s status as the birthplace of the Taleban leadership. AAN’s Borhan Osman who has travelled to the area finds, however, that what […]

War and Peace Read more

The Other Guantanamo 5: A New MoU for Bagram and, Finally, a Handover?

Kate Clark •

The Pentagon has announced and the Afghan presidential palace confirmed that the US military will hand over its detention facility at Bagram Airbase to the Afghan authorities tomorrow, 25 March 2013. The presidential spokesman, Aimal Faizy, told AAN the two governments have negotiated a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which, unlike the first MoU on […]

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Rancour between the Allies: Karzai speaks to the Americans

Kate Clark •

If the Americans ‘surrender’ to Afghan demands, President Karzai has said, he will sign a bilateral security agreement with them. He told an Afghan audience on national TV that the US wanted bases in Afghanistan – a globally significant country – and, as the audience laughed and applauded, he said: ‘The USA has come and […]

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The Other Guantanamo 4: The Final Handover of Bagram in Sight?

Kate Clark •

The transfer of detainees held at Bagram airbase from US to Afghan hands is once again in full swing. Transfers had begun after the US and Afghan governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on transferring Bagram almost a year ago, but they were suspended by the US in late summer 2012, due to reluctance […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Drop in Taliban attacks incorrect

admin •

AP, 26 February 2013 ‘The U.S.-led military command in Afghanistan incorrectly reported a decline last year in Taliban attacks and is preparing to publish corrected numbers that could undercut its narrative of a Taliban in steep decline.’ It is called ‘clerical errors’.

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Trying to Control the Uncontrolled: the NSC’s decision on Wardak

Martine van Bijlert •

Months of reported abuses in Wardak by armed groups and individuals apparently linked to a US Special Operations base, and the failure of ISAF to take responsibility or to adequately respond, has led the National Security Council to announce that all US Special Operations Forces are to be removed from Wardak within two weeks. Although […]

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Afghan leader orders US special forces out of province

Other AAN •

AFP, 25 February 2013. AFP quotes Martine van Bijlert on yesterday’s NSC order that US Special Forces leave Wardak within two weeks: “It appears to be an on-the-spot, emotional decision, based on a long-standing frustration that there are forces, Afghan and international, that are uncontrollable… It does not appear to be a calculated move as […]

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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 […]

War and Peace Read more

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