Stories about Afghanistan from April, 2008
Afghanistan: Karzai Lives to Rule Kabul for Another Day
Joshua Foust opines on the essense and consequences of the Taliban militants’ attack on Afghanistan president Karzai during the Mujahideen Day parade.
Afghanistan: A Battle of Will
Sanjar reflects on how long is the Afghan insurgency going to take and says that the war challenges the will of international community, the will of Afghans and finally the will of Taliban and insurgents.
Afghanistan: Learning from PRTs
Josh Foust opines on the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan and takes a critical view on their effectiveness.
PangeaDay: Videos to change the world on May 10th
On May 10th 2008 at 18:00 GMT, 24 films will be broadcast during a 4 hour event. What makes this different is that this event, PangeaDay will be broadcast from six locations worldwide in seven different languages worldwide to be viewed through internet, television or cellphones with one unique purpose: to make each other know about the lives of others and focus on what makes us similar, instead of what makes us different and let us work together towards peace.
Afghanistan: TV stations under government pressure
Afghan PenLog returns to the issue of a ban on allegedly “un-Islamic” soap operas on the Aghanistani private TV stations, and says this decision of the government was made under pressure from the parliament and clerics.
Afghanistan: Rising Numbers of Suicide Bombings
Patrick Frost tells about an upcoming US government report describing a dramatic increase in suicide bombings in the last five years with Iraq and Afghanistan being the location of a large majority of these attacks.
Afghanistan: Progress, Problems, and Passageways
Patrick Frost reviews an optimistic appraisal of Afghanistan’s stability by the US Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, who has stated that the Afghan army and police forces should be able to secure most of the country by 2011.
Turkmenistan: Iran Bows to Ashgabat
Joshua Foust reports that Iranian officials were forced to admit defeat in the gas pricing dispute with Turkmenistan.
Afghanistan: Media vs. Mullah
The Council of Afghan Mullahs has warned private TV channels in Afghanistan to immediately stop broadcasting Indian soap operas, hadi1121 reports.
Afghanistan: Karzai Eyes New Elections
The Rumi analyzes the reported preparations of Hamed Karzai, the incumbent president of Afghanistan, for the second presidential win.
Afghanistan: Farmers Displaced in Balkh Province
Mohammad Fahim reports that dry spring, which shattered arable lands and increased the food prices, forced hundreds of farmers to leave their homes in agricultural Balkh province in order to survive.
Afghanistan: India to Train Afghan Officers
Peter Marton reports that India offered Afghanistan counterinsurgency trainings of the Afghan officers.
Afghanistan: Misleading Points on Drugs
Barnett R. Rubin continues to analyze the public and international debates on the possible strategies of counter-narcotics activity in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan: Insurgent Attacks up in 2008
Barnett R. Rubin posts charts comparing the total number of “security incidents” originated by Taliban/anti-government elements (TB/AGE) in Afghanistan for the first 13 weeks of 2008 compared to the first 13 weeks of 2007.
Afghanistan: Kochi Nomads Are Headache for Locals
Hadi1121 tells about Kochi — millions of nomads spread across South Western Pakistan, Eastern Iran, and Afghanistan — who come to Central Afghanistan every spring and arbitrarily make their homes on backyards used and owned by other people.
Afghanistan: Blogging Workshop
Nasim Fekrat posts pictures of the first blogging seminar in Kabul, organized by the Afghan Association of Blog Writers and hel by the author.
Afghanistan: First blogging workshop in Kabul
The Afghan Association of Blog Writers (Afghan Penlog) overcame financial difficulty and obstacles like electricity shortages to organize the first blogging workshop in their history. The workshop was held in Kabul on April 3-4, in association with Nasim Fekrat and Masoumeh Ebrahimi, two active Afghan bloggers.
Afghanistan: Lack of Capacity in Counter-Drugs Strategies
Barnett Rubin analyzes why many of internationally accepted standards and practices of community's capacity builing do not work very well in Afghanistan, and says that they presuppose a set of interoperable systems that do not exist.
Afghanistan: TV Soap Operas Banned
Sanjar reports that the Minister of Information and Culture of Afghanistan has ordered several private TV stations to stop broadcasting popular soap operas that allegedly contain “offensive” and “un-Islamic” scenes.
Afghanistan: Talking to the Enemy
Joshua Foust looks at the political parties in Afghanistan, particularly at the the United National Front, whose nature and course seems to be deeply worrisome for Afghanistan’s future.
Afghanistan: Two Young Men Stoned to Death
Mohammad Fahim reports that two young lovers were stoned to death in the southern province of Afghanistan after they decided to leave their village and start new life, but were caught by the Taliban fighters, who found them guilty of adultery and sentenced them to death.
