Asia

Angus Stickler writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: British troops have been banned from transferring suspected Taliban prisoners to the Afghan authorities because of claims of torture by local forces. The move, which follows a ruling by the British High Court, is a blow to Nato countries that want to formalise their detainee transfer […]

President Barack Obama sneaked in and out of Afghanistan by the cover of night, his advance security team clearly too worried about the situation in Kabul to allow him to appear in public by day. And they would have been right, since shortly after Obama departed, Taliban hit a foreign workers’ guest house (which was […]

The Taliban kicked off their spring offensive with numerous coordinated attacks in the capital of Kabul and well as in some provinces. Aljazeera English has video: This sort of tactic makes a lot of noise, but typically has no practical benefit for a guerrilla movement. The Sunni Arab Islamic State of Iraq has been blowing […]

Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Scholars Alex Strick van Linschoten, 28, and 32 year old Felix Kuehn have swapped the musty libraries of London for the dusty streets of Kandahar, spiritual home of the Taliban. There the two have lived for almost five years, engaging with those many call the enemy […]

Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch: The Afghan Syndrome Vietnam Has Left Town, Say Hello to the New Syndrome on the Block By Tom Engelhardt Take off your hat. Taps is playing. Almost four decades late, the Vietnam War and its post-war spawn, the Vietnam Syndrome, are finally heading for their American grave. It may qualify […]