Monday 23 December 2013

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Well Prince Nadir candidacy for President of Afghanistan has certainly created interest. He writes, "the real test is yet to come as the campaign season officially starts on the 2 February 2014".

See this link for the latest news on the Afghan elections: THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Afghanistan's Populist Prince


For those of the readers of this blog who know Prince Nadir - this al Jazeera link may be of interest

On October 6, Prince Nadir announced his candidacy for the 2014 Afghan presidential elections. He is among 11 figures across the political spectrum, who are running for the top job, including three former foreign ministers Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Dr Zalmai Rassoul and Hedayat Arsala, a former World Bank consultant, Ashraf Ghani, and the brother of the incumbent, Qayum Karzai.

With NATO troops set to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, whoever follows the current head of state, the affable Hamid Karzai, will inherit the colossal challenges of coping with a crumbling economy, a spikein opium cultivation, deteriorating security conditions and an emboldened, even metastasized insurgency. 

Saturday 9 November 2013

The Candidates for PRESIDENT of AFGHANISTAN

The candidates for the Afghan elections have been announced, at least one of which, HRH Prince Nadir Naim, is known to members of the NCF.  If you want to like Nadir's facebook page it's at www.facebook.com/sardarnadirnaim
 
Following the display of the final list in a fortnight, Presidential runners will be allowed to canvass in the 60 days from 2 February 2014.
 
Biographies Of Ten Candidates For Afghan Presidential Elections

The following report was sent to us by the Middle East Media Research Institute (Memri) and is based on a Pajhwok report

On October 22, the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan released a list of 10 candidates for the country's presidential election scheduled for April 5, 2014. The commission disqualified 16 other candidates for not meeting requirements, but they have 20 days to appeal against their disqualification. The rules required the candidates to provide signatures and voter ID numbers of 100,000 Afghans from all states in support of their candidacy.

Under the Afghan constitution, President Hamid Karzai is not entitled to run for election again, as a president is barred from running for a third consecutive term. Among the top candidates are Dr. Zalmai Rassoul and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. President Karzai's brother is also in the fray.
Excerpts from the biographies of the ten candidates who appear on the preliminary list are given below, as reported by the Afghan website Pajhwok:[1]

1) Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai –Administrator, Architect Of Bonn Plan
"Born into an influential Afghan family in 1949, Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai spent his early life in the central province of Logar.  He completed his primary and secondary education at the Habibia High School in Kabul. He travelled to Lebanon to attend the American University in Beirut and returned to Afghanistan in 1974 to teach Afghan Studies and Anthropology at Kabul University before winning a government scholarship to pursue a master's degree in Anthropology at New York's Columbia University. He received his PhD from Columbia University with a doctoral thesis (Production and Domination: Afghanistan, 1747-1901) and was immediately invited to teach at the University of California, Berkeley (1983) and then at Johns Hopkins University (1983-1991).
"In 1991, Ahmadzai joined the World Bank (WB) as lead anthropologist, advising on the human dimension to economic programs. Following the ouster of the Taliban from power in late-2001, he was asked to serve as special advisor to Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN secretary general's special envoy to Afghanistan. In that capacity, he worked on the design, negotiation, and implementation of the Bonn Agreement, which set out the roadmap for transition to a new government. During the interim administration, he served on a pro bono basis as chief advisor to then-interim President Karzai. He worked on preparation of the Loya Jirgas (grand assemblies) that elected President Karzai and approved the Constitution.
"As finance minister during the transitional administration, he issued a new currency in record time; computerized operations of treasury, introduced the budget as the central instrument of policy, centralized revenue [collection system] and instituted regular reporting to the cabinet, the people of Afghanistan and international stakeholders as a tool of transparency.  He won the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan Medal, the highest civilian award in the country. He was recognized as the Best Finance Minister of Asia in 2003 by Emerging Markets. From March 31 to April 2004, he presented a seven-year program of public investment, securing Afghanistan's future at an international conference in Berlin attended by 65 finance and foreign ministers."

2) Dr. Zalmai Rassoul – Foreign Minister, Former National Security Advisor
Dr. Zalmai Rassoul
"Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, born in 1953 in Kabul, is a son of Dr. Abdul Qayyum Rassoul. He attended LycĂ©e Istiqlal where he graduated as valedictorian before travelling to France to study on a scholarship at the Paris Medical School. He received his MD in 1973. Rassoul has been serving as minister of foreign affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan since he received a confidence vote from the Wolesi Jirga (Afghan National Assembly) in January 2010.
"Prior to his appointment as minister, he served as national security advisor, a post he held from June 2002 to January 2009. He played a constructive role in bringing activities of security institutions in line with the country's foreign policy. Included in his numerous responsibilities were conducting national threat assessments and the national security policy. Rassoul accompanied President Hamid Karzai on official visits since the establishment of the interim administration in 2001. An ethnic Pashtun, he remains unmarried and is fluent in Dari, Pashtu, French, English, and Italian and has working knowledge of Arabic. He has written multiple articles and papers on medical issues in European and American magazines.
"Karzai nominated Rassoul as minister of civil aviation and was unanimously approved by the Cabinet in March 2002. Under his leadership, the aviation sector was revived after many years of UN sanctions against the Taliban and Afghanistan. Rassoul played an important role in Afghanistan's readmission to the International Civil Aviation Organization. He is one of the presidential candidates, with Ahmad Zia Massoud – head of National Front – his first vice president and Habiba Sarabi – former governor of Bamyan province – as his second VP."

3) Engineer Qutbuddin Hilal – Independent, Links With Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan
"A son of Maulvi Zaheeruddin, Qutbuddin Hilal was born in 1952 in the Zazai Maidan district of Khost province. He graduated from Kabul Military Academy in 1970 and pursued his higher education in construction engineering. He completed his bachelor's degree from the Engineering Academy in 1975. Hilal served as an engineer in the planning and designing branch of the Defence Ministry until 1978. He was imprisoned at the notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison on charges of anti-state activities. After his release, he fled to Pakistan.
"Hilal then joined the Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) led by Engineer Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He headed HIA's political committee and served as party chief for Paktia province. He later became head of the military commission, tasked with uniting jihadi organizations besides heading the leadership council after the collapse of the Dr. Najibullah government in 1980.
"He fluently speaks Pashtu, Dari, Arabic, English and Urdu. Hilal twice served as first vice president in 1993 and 1996. A member of HIA, he filed nomination papers for the presidential elections as an independent candidate with Inayatullah Inayat as his first vice president and Mohammad Ali Nabizada as his second VP. He is married and has six children."

4) Dr. Abdullah Abdullah – Former Foreign Minister
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah
"Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is the son of Ghulam Mohiuddin Khan, who was selected as a senator from Kandahar province in the last year of kingdom. Born in 1959 in Kabul, Dr. Abdullah received education at the Ghazi Mohammad Ayub Khan School and went on to graduate from the Naderia High School in 1976. In 1977, he got admission to the Kabul University's Faculty of Medicine, where he completed his training in ophthalmology in 1983. He subsequently served as a specialist at the Noor Eye Hospital in Kabul.
"In 1984, he went to Pakistan to take care of refugee families at the Sayed Jamal-ud-Din Hospital. The following year, he joined the Afghan Freedom Fighters and served as caretaker in charge of health affairs for the Panjsher Valley resistance front. It was there that Abdullah became an advisor to Ahmad Shah Massoud. From 1992 to 1996, he served as a spokesperson for Afghanistan's Defense Ministry and subsequently as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Abdullah was in charge of foreign affairs for the government-in-exile of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, led by President Burhanuddin Rabbani from 1999 until the collapse of the Taliban regime.
"After the Taliban's ouster from power, Abdullah continued as foreign minister of the transitional government. Approved by the Grand Assembly (Loya Jirga), and within the first elected government, he continued as foreign minister until 2006. Dr. Abdullah is married and has three daughters and a son. He is fluent in Dari, Pashtu and English, and is proficient in Arabic and French as well."

5) Prof. Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf – Former Jihadi Leader, Now Founder Of University And Radio, TV Channels
"He was elected as a member of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of parliament, from Kabul. He won 7,158 votes. Prof. Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf was born in 1944 in the Paghman district of Kabul province. Belonging to the Pashtun tribe, he speaks Dari, Arabic, and English fluently. Sayyaf holds a bachelor's degree in religious studies from Kabul University, and a Masters from the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.
"He is the founder and director of Dawat Private University and is also the head of Dawat Radio and Television.  Sayyaf is an influential Islamic scholar and former jihadi commander. Previously, he was a member of the Afghan-based Ikhwan al-Muslimeen, an organization with links to the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood. He served as a professor at the Sharia Faculty of Kabul University until 1973 before migrating to Pakistan following a failed coup against the regime of that time. Subsequently, he played a key role in the jihad against the Soviets and the civil war in Kabul.
"Currently, Sayyaf is the head of Hezb-i-Tanzim Dawat-i-Islami Afghanistan (the Afghanistan Islamic Invitation Party). Sayyaf was elected to parliament in 2005. He is a runner for the 2014 presidential election with Mohammad Ismail Khan, a former jihadi leader his first vice-president and Irfanullah Ifran as his second VP."

6) Abdul Rahim Wardak – Former Defense Minister
"Abdul Rahim Wardak was sacked by the Wolesi Jirga as defense minister in late 2012. Later, the president appointed him as acting defense minister, a slot that he resigned later on. A son of Abdul Ghani, he was born in Wardak province in 1944. After graduating from the Habibia High School, he joined the Military Academy in Kabul. He completed higher education in the United States and Ali Nasr Academy in Cairo, Egypt.
"Wardak served as a lecturer at the Military Academy. In 2004, he was named as defense minister. He had political affiliation with the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan led by Pir Syed Ahmad Gilani during the jihad era [of the 1980s]. He served as head of the armed wing of Mahaz-i-Milli during jihad against the Soviet forcesHe was also commander-in-chief of the Mahaz-i-Milli’s guerrilla front and military advisor to the political party.
"After the collapse of the communist regime, Wardak was appointed as chief of armed forces and head of the Military Training Commission.  He speaks Pashto, Dari, and English fluently. After receiving the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Medal, Wardak was appointed as senior security advisor. He is a presidential candidate, with Shah Abdul Ahad Afzali, a former MP, his first vice president and Syed Hussain Anwari his second VP."

7) Abdul Qayyum Karzai – Elder Brother Of President Hamid Karzai
"A son of Abdul Ahad Karzai, Abdul Qayyum Karzai is the elder brother of President Hamid Karzai. He was born in 1957 in the Karz locality of Kandahar. His father, the Popalzai tribe head, was elected as a parliamentarian during King Zahir Shah's rule.
"Qayyum Karzai has six brothers and one sister. He did his graduation in Political Science from a university in the United States. He served as MP from Kandahar in the previous term of National Assembly. But he resigned the position after criticism of his continued absence from the National Assembly.
"Qayyum Karzai has his own business and spends most of his time living in the United States.  He is also one of the potential presidential runners with Wahidullah Shahrani his first vice president and Ibrahim Qasimi his second VP."

8) Mohammad Shafiq (Gul Agha Sherzai) – Nangarhar Governor, Leading Businessman
"Mohammad Shafiq, popularly known as Gul Agha Sherzai, is a son of Haji Abul Sherzai. He was born in the Barakzai area of Kandahar province in 1954. His family name is Mohammad Shafiq but he was called Gul Agha Sherzai by his father. Sherzai graduated from the Mashraqi High School in Kandahar and later completed his education at the Teacher Training Institution.
"Sherzai started working at the Kandahar revenue department in 1963 before taking up a job in Spin Boldak district. As a mujahideen commander, Sherzai helped topple the Dr. Najibullah government. He had to migrate to the Quetta city of Pakistan several times, running his private business there. 
"During the mujahideen government [in the early 1990s], Sherzai was appointed as Kandahar governor. Subsequently, he served as public works and transport minister. In 2006, he was appointed as Nangarhar governor. Sherzai owns the Jamal Baba Company that has a presence in most parts of the country. His sons are also managing a variety of businesses. Sherzai speaks Pashtu, Dari, Urdu and English languages. He was a member of the Mahaz-e-Milli Jihadi faction."

9) Sardar Mohammad Nader Naeem – Served Under King Zahir Shah
"Sardar Mohammad Nader Naeem is a son of Ustad Aziz Naeem. He was born in 1965 in Kabul. He is the maternal grandson of Sardar Dawood Khan, the former president of Afghanistan. Sardar Naeem did his bachelor's degree in computer sciences from one of the universities in London. He served as chief of staff to King Zahir Shah.
"He has been living in Afghanistan over the past eight years. In 2012, he launched a political campaign known as Woles Ghag (Voice of the Nation) and visited several parts of the country to convey his message to the people.
"He is a member of Sardar Dawood Khan's family. He filed his nomination papers for the presidential elections as an independent candidate. Taj Mohammad Akbar is his first vice president and Azizullah Poya as his second VP. He speaks Pashto, Dari and English languages."

10) Hidayat Amin Arsala – Served As Senior Advisor To President Karzai
"A son of Abdullah Amin Arsala, he was born in 1941 to an influential Afghan family in Kabul. He received his BA degree in Economics and Political Science from Kabul University. He completed his PhD in Economics from a university in the United States. He was the first Afghan to join the World Bank (WB) in 1969 and worked there for 18 years.
"In 1987, he joined the mujahideen in fighting against the Soviet occupation. He served as finance minister in the interim government from 1989-1992. For a short period in 1993, he served as foreign minister. After the collapse of the Taliban regime [in 2001], Arsala was chosen as commerce minister at the Bonn Conference and endorsed by the Emergency Loya Jirga as vice chairman of the interim government.
"He also headed the Independent Commission of Administrative Reforms, the National Statistics Commission and the Economic Cooperation Committee, as well as member of the Security Council. For years, he served as senior adviser to President Hamid Karzai before resigning the job to contest the next presidential elections. He was also a contender in the previous presidential ballot, but had to step down in favor of Karzai. He has selected General Khudaidad and Safia Siddiqui as his first and second deputies respectively."

[1] Pajhwok.com (Afghanistan), October 26, 2013. The original English of the report has been mildly edited for clarity.

 

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Exporting mismanagement to Afghanistan

Things go from bad to worse it would seem. Note this article sent in by Princess Basmah:

The purchase of spare parts by the U.S. military is a big business, with more than $25 billion worth of screws and widgets kept in storerooms. It is also a notoriously sloppy one. Pentagon auditors have found that, due to poor bookkeeping, the military services regularly buy parts that they already have plenty of. Due to poor oversight, moreover, they frequently pay too much for them.
A partly-plastic roller wheel for an aircraft ramp worth a bit more than $7 is billed to the Pentagon at $1,678. “Commander” seats for Stryker armored vehicles are purchased long after they became obsolete. A 38-year supply of parts is stocked for an aircraft with a much shorter lifespan. “Do we have enormous warehouses sitting around with stuff that no one is going to use?” asked a senior defense official who briefed reporters over breakfast on these and other episodes earlier this year. “Yes.”
Now, in an act of generosity, the Pentagon has successfully exported its spare parts mismanagement to Afghanistan. It seems that a multinational, U.S.-led military office called the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan spent $370 million from 2004 through the middle of this year on spare parts for vehicles operated by the Afghan National Army. But last year, it confirmed that it could not account for $230 million worth of the spare parts, according to an Oct. 16 report by the Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

FOR FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Monday 16 September 2013

Senior Afghan Policewoman killed in string of attacks on pominent women



An Afghan senior woman police officer was shot by unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle outside police headquarters in Lashkar Gah in the Helmand province. Lieutenant Negar was shot in the neck and died in hospital the next day from her injuries. Lt. Negar who was recently interviewed by the New York Times, loved her job and felt it was important that more women join the police force. She served as a sub-inspector in the police criminal investigation department in Helmand. The province of Helmand has been plagued by Taliban insurgents.

Omar Zawak, the spokesman for the governor of Helmand described the assailants of Lt. Negar as “enemies of Afghanistan.” The BBC’s David Lyon also stated that “Afghan troops and police are increasingly bearing the load as British and American troops withdraw their forces.” Javid Faisal, the Kandahar government spokesman described Lt. Negar as the “most important woman in Helmand province.”



She is the 3rd senior policewoman to be killed this year. Her predecessor, Islam Bibi was also killed in Helmand in July. In 2008, Lt-Col. Malalai Kakar, Afghanistan’s most prominent policewoman was gunned down in Kandahar. She was Kandahar’s head of department for crimes against women. 


There has been a string of attacks on Afghan women in positions of power and authority.  There was the prolific kidnapping of a female MP and the convoy of a female senator was ambushed resulting in the death of her 8 year old daughter. 

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission says general violence against women has increased sharply over the last two years.

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Taliban chief blames US for breakdown of Doha talks

Why do we have to negotiate with the Taliban - all those people - especially all those Afghans let alone our own boys - died for nothing? Are we doing this just to keep Karzai in power? Thank heavens the talks have broken down at least for now.

Gulf Times - 07 August, 2013


Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar has blamed the US and its allies for creating ‘obstacles’ in the path of peace in Afghanistan following the opening of the group’s Political Office in Qatar.

In an Eid message released to the media yesterday, the elusive leader also warned that the Taliban would not stop their attacks until all the US and Nato troops withdraw from Afghanistan, and rejected all aspirations of the US and Kabul administrations to have a continued presence of foreign troops after 2014.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

U.S. Considers Faster Pullout in Afghanistan

The following article has created quite a stir in Washington (note especially the part at the end concerning elections):

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Mark Mazzetti and Matthew Rosenberg

08 July 2013

WASHINGTON — Increasingly frustrated by his dealings with President Hamid Karzai, President Obama is giving serious consideration to speeding up the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan and to a “zero option” that would leave no American troops there after next year, according to American and European officials.

Mr. Obama is committed to ending America’s military involvement in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, and Obama administration officials have been negotiating with Afghan officials about leaving a small “residual force” behind. But his relationship with Mr. Karzai has been slowly unraveling, and reached a new low after an effort last month by the United States to begin peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.

Mr. Karzai promptly repudiated the talks and ended negotiations with the United States over the long-term security deal that is needed to keep American forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

A videoconference between Mr. Obama and Mr. Karzai designed to defuse the tensions ended badly, according to both American and Afghan officials with knowledge of it. Mr. Karzai, according to those sources, accused the United States of trying to negotiate a separate peace with both the Taliban and their backers in Pakistan, leaving Afghanistan’s fragile government exposed to its enemies.

Mr. Karzai had made similar accusations in the past. But those comments were delivered to Afghans — not to Mr. Obama, who responded by pointing out the American lives that have been lost propping up Mr. Karzai’s government, the officials said.

The option of leaving no troops in Afghanistan after 2014 was gaining momentum before the June 27 video conference, according to the officials. But since then, the idea of a complete military exit similar to the American military pullout from Iraq has gone from being considered the worst-case scenario — and a useful negotiating tool with Mr. Karzai — to an alternative under serious consideration in Washington and Kabul.

The officials cautioned that no decisions had been made on the pace of the pullout and exactly how many American troops to leave behind in Afghanistan. The goal remains negotiating a long-term security deal, they said, but the hardening of negotiating stances on both sides could result in a repeat of what happened in Iraq, where a deal failed to materialize despite widespread expectations that a compromise would be reached and American forces would remain.

“There’s always been a zero option, but it was not seen as the main option,” said a senior Western official in Kabul. “It is now becoming one of them, and if you listen to some people in Washington, it is maybe now being seen as a realistic path.”

The official, however, said he hoped some in the Karzai government were beginning to understand that the zero option was now a distinct possibility, and that they’re learning now, not later, when it’s going to be too late.

The Obama administration’s internal deliberations about the future of the Afghan war were described by officials in Washington and Kabul who hold a range of views on how quickly the United States should leave Afghanistan and how many troops it should leave behind.

Spokesmen for the White House and Pentagon declined to comment.Within the Obama administration, the way the United States extricates itself from Afghanistan has been a source of tension between civilian and military officials since Mr. Obama took office.

American commanders in Afghanistan have generally pushed to keep as many American troops in the country as long as possible, creating friction with White House officials urging a speedier military withdrawal.

But with frustrations mounting over the glacial pace of initiating peace talks with the Taliban, and with American relations with the Karzai government continuing to deteriorate, it is unclear whether the Pentagon and American commanders in Afghanistan would vigorously resist if the White House pushed for a full-scale pullout months ahead of schedule.

As it stands, the number of American troops in Afghanistan — around 63,000 — is scheduled to go down to 34,000 by February 2014. The White House has said the vast majority of troops would be out of Afghanistan by the end of that year, although it now appears that the schedule could accelerate to bring the bulk of the troops — if not all of them — home by next summer, as the annual fighting season winds down.

Talks between the United States and Afghanistan over a long-term security deal have faltered in recent months over the Afghan government’s insistence that the United States guarantee Afghanistan’s security and, in essence, commit to declaring Pakistan the main obstacle in the fight against militancy in the region.

The guarantees sought by Afghanistan, if implemented, could possibly compel the United States to attack Taliban havens in Pakistan long after 2014, when the Obama administration has said it hoped to dial back the C.I.A.’s covert drone war there.

Mr. Karzai also wants the Obama administration to specify the number of troops it would leave in Afghanistan after 2014 and make a multiyear financial commitment to the Afghan Army and the police.

The White House announced last month that long-delayed talks with the Taliban would begin in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban opened what amounts to an embassy-in-exile, complete with their old flag and a plaque with their official name, “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

But the highly choreographed announcement backfired, with Afghan officials saying the talks gave the insurgents undeserved legitimacy and accusing the Obama administration of negotiating behind Mr. Karzai’s back.To the surprise of American officials, Mr. Karzai then abruptly ended the negotiations over a long-term security deal. He has said the negotiations would not resume until the Taliban met directly with representatives of the Afghan government, essentially linking the security negotiations to a faltering peace process and making the United States responsible for persuading the Taliban to talk to the Afghan government.

The Taliban have refused for years to meet directly with Afghan government negotiators, deriding Mr. Karzai and his ministers as American puppets.

There have been other points of contention as well. Meeting with foreign ambassadors recently, Mr. Karzai openly mused that the West was to blame for the rise of radical Islam. It was not a message that many of the envoys, whose countries have lost thousands of people in Afghanistan and spent billions of dollars fighting the Taliban, welcomed.

The troop decisions are also being made against a backdrop of growing political uncertainty in Afghanistan and rising concerns that the country’s presidential election could either be delayed for months or longer, or be so flawed that many Afghans would not accept its results.

Preparations for the election, scheduled for next April, are already falling behind. United Nations officials have begun to say the elections probably cannot be held until next summer, at the earliest. If the voting does not occur before Afghanistan’s mountain passes are closed by snow in late fall, it will be extremely difficult to hold a vote until 2015.

Of potentially bigger concern are the rumors that Mr. Karzai, in his second term and barred from serving a third, is trying to find a way to stay in power. Mr. Karzai has repeatedly insisted that he plans to step down next year.

The ripple effects of a complete American withdrawal would be significant. Western officials said the Germans and Italians — the two main European allies who have committed to staying on with substantial forces — would leave as well. Any smaller nations that envisioned keeping token forces would most likely have no way of doing so.And Afghanistan would probably see far less than the roughly $8 billion in annual military and civilian aid it is expecting in the coming years — an amount that covers more than half the government’s annual spending.

Monday 17 June 2013

The Thistle and the Drone

The LSE Middle East Centre and Asia Research Centre present:

The Thistle and the Drone
by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed

Chair: Professor Christopher Coker, LSE

Wednesday 26 June 2013, 16.00 - 17.30, Shaw Library, 6th floor, Old Building, LSE

The United States declared war on terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. More than ten years later, the results are decidedly mixed. In The Thistle and the Drone, world-renowned author, diplomat, and scholar Akbar Ahmed, called "the world's leading authority on contemporary Islam" by the BBC, reveals a tremendously important yet largely unrecognized adverse effect of these campaigns: they actually have exacerbated the already-broken relationship between central governments and the tribal societies on their periphery.
In the third volume of his trilogy that includes Journey into Islam (2007) and Journey into America (2010), Ambassador Ahmed draws on forty case studies of tribal societies across the Muslim world to analyze how the war on terror is being fueled by the conflict between central governments and tribal peripheries.  Beginning with Waziristan in Pakistan and expanding to similar tribal societies in Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere, this groundbreaking study offers an alternative and unprecedented paradigm for winning the war on terror.

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C. and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is a Visiting Professor and was First Distinguished Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He has taught at Princeton, Harvard, and Cambridge Universities.

This event is free and open to all however registration is necessary. Please register using the online booking system.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

ATTACKS AND BLASTS IN KABUL

Today a car bomb exploded in Kabul killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 40 others. The target of the attack was the Supreme Court. The attacker drove a car full of explosives into buses which were transporting Supreme Court staff and judges. The Taliban have taken responsibility for the blast. The Supreme Court is located near the US embassy and NATO headquarters. 

This comes following the attack on the capital's airport and the discovery of the bodies of 2 boys. On Monday, 10th June, 7 Taliban insurgents targeted the Kabul airport. All 7 attackers were killed and 3 policemen and 15 civilians were injured.

On the same day, in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the bodies of 2 boys were discovered. The Taliban, beheaded 2 boys for allegedly spying. The boys aged 10 and 16 were scavenging for food near police headquarters when they were abducted on 9th June.The boys also accepted food handouts from police too. It is thought that they wee suspected of working for the police by the Taliban. However, the Taliban have denied responsibility . According to several sources, the children were beheaded as a warning to villagers to not cooperate with the Afghan government. 

In 2012, the Taliban were accused of beheading a 12 year old boy and 7 year old girl. The Taliban have denied responsibility in both cases.

The NCF condemns these attacks and all types of violence against the Afghan government and people. Security is a serious concern in Afghanistan.  Huge amounts of humanitarian aid goes into Afghanistan and there is a general assumption that the more aid is spent, the more security will improve. What is clear that aid is effective in helping development needs but it is evident that this isn't effective in addressing security concerns. 






Monday 10 June 2013

LANDAYS: POETRY OF AFGHAN WOMEN

Interesting article about landays and women in Afghanistan


The teenage poet who uttered this folk poem called herself Rahila Muska. She lived in Helmand, a Taliban stronghold and one of the most restive of Afghanistan’s thirty-four provinces since the U.S. invasion began on October 7, 2001. Muska, like many young and rural Afghan women, wasn’t allowed to leave her home. Fearing that she’d be kidnapped or raped by warlords, her father pulled her out of school after the fifth grade. Poetry, which she learned from other women and on the radio, became her only form of education.


Poems and Pictures of Contemporary Afghanistan

by Eliza Griswold

Tuesday 16 April 2013

138 Comments so far!

Afghan National Army soldiers graduating. A Commons committee has predicted civil war
when the west pulls out next year. Photograph: Xinhua Press/Corbis

writing in The Guardian says: When I returned to Kabul in January and asked an American journalist I'd known in 2001 his view of the situation, he said: "When you look at the facts on the ground, it is hard to believe that civil war is not inevitable."

The facts on the ground include the militias the west has set up in the countryside in a desperate attempt to shore up the barely legitimate Karzai regime. Sadly, these militias, plus the many Afghan private security companies, have contributed to a proliferation of armed groups that will be roaming the country after 2014.

FOR FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Wednesday 27 February 2013

AFGHANISTAN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES DOWN


For the first time in 6 years, casualty figures in Afghanistan have declined. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), there has been a 12% decrease in civilian casualties with a slight increase in injuries.

This is due to a harsh winter which saw fewer suicide bomb attacks, fighting on the ground and air operations.  However, this is rather misleading and does not mean that threats against Afghan men, women and children have diminished. Civilians continue to face threats, intimidation and interference from armed militant groups.

Jan Kubis, the UN special representative in Afghanistan, claimed that seeing the recent decrease in casualty numbers granted temporary relief but the “human cost of the conflict remains unacceptable.”  He further added that it is mainly women and children who continue to suffer the most from the effects of armed conflict while engaging in everyday activities with an increase of 20% in those killed and injured. 

In 2012, 81% of civilian casualties were a result of improvised explosive devices laid by insurgents and 8% from operations by pro-government forces. The report also states that targeted killings by militants increased by 108%.

Although the number of Afghans killed by NATO-led forces dropped by 40%, a recent UN report stated that hundreds of Afghan children have been killed by US air strikes over the last 4 years. The numbers especially doubled between 2010-2011 due to the “lack of precautionary measures and use of indiscriminate force.” This led President Hamid Karzai to ban the Afghan military from requesting aerial support from NATO-led forces.

The recent figures generated mixed feelings among the Afghans who were more concerned about security with some even claiming that the UN was biased in its research. For now, it seems that the Taliban have shifted their focus to targeting foreign troops. 

To date 14, 728 Afghans have lost their lives.