South Asia

Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has recruited thousands of undocumented Afghans living there to fight in Syria since at least November 2013, Human Rights Watch said today, and a few have reported that Iranian authorities coerced them. Iran has urged the Afghans to defend Shia sacred […]

Afghanistan

A Teacher in Afghanistan: Is the Future Democracy or Muslim Extremism?

contributors

By Jeffrey E. Stern | (Informed Comment) | – – A few months ago, in downtown Kabul, a small man stood on top of a car with a megaphone in a city liberated by American troops, and faced down his government. His quarrel was with President Ashraf Ghani. Tensions rose, a guard fired on the […]

Afghanistan

6 US Troops killed by Taliban Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan

Juan Cole

Curated by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – BBC Monitoring translates from Pushtu a report from the ‘Afghan Islamic Press’ from Kabul on 21 Dec., which says that “A suicide attack has been carried out on the Afghan and foreign forces in Bagram District of Parwan Province, in which . . . foreign […]

Education

Pakistan’s New Weapon Against Taliban Is Education

contributors

AJ+ | (Video News Report) | – – “One year after 132 kids were killed in a school attack, Pakistan’s army has found another way to fight the Taliban. ” Pakistan’s New Weapon Against Taliban Is Education

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: America’s Military Money Pit

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt | (Informed Comment) | – – Let’s begin with the $12 billion in shrink-wrapped $100 bills, Iraqi oil money held in the U.S. The Bush administration began flying it into Baghdad on C-130s soon after U.S. troops entered that city in April 2003. Essentially dumped into the void that had once been […]

Afghanistan

America’s Never-Ending Wars: #1

contributors

By Ann Jones | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Ten months ago, on December 28, 2014, a ceremony in Kabul officially marked the conclusion of America’s very long war in Afghanistan. President Obama called that day “a milestone for our country.” After more than 13 years, he said, “our combat mission in Afghanistan is ending, and […]

Afghanistan

Earthquake in Pakistan & Afghanistan hits Poor Worse

contributors

Channel 4 News | (Video News Report) | – – “More than 200 people have been killed in a powerful quake which shook areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan and was felt as far as New Delhi.” Channel 4 News: “Pakistan earthquake”

Afghanistan

Putin says Afghan Situation ‘Close to Critical’: Will he intervene there, Too?

contributors

By Frud Bezhan | ( RFE / RL) | – – Russia has signaled its willingness to boost its involvement in Afghan security in a power play that could help President Vladimir Putin burnish perceptions of Moscow’s global significance while dealing a fresh blow to Western influence. The indications come with Russian military planes carrying […]

Afghanistan

Still underestimating al-Qaeda & Taliban despite 1500 Military Analysts

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – That figure stunned me. I found it in the 12th paragraph of a front-page New York Times story about “senior commanders” at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) playing fast and loose with intelligence reports to give their air war against ISIS an unjustified sheen of success: […]