AFGHANISTAN & PAKISTAN :

PBS NewsHour, 26 Jul 10, with Jeffrey Brown
WikiLeaks Revelations Raise Questions Over Pakistan's Role in Afghan War
'Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks released thousands of U.S. military documents related to the Afghan war on Sunday, creating a major stir among government officials and raising questions about Pakistani involvement in the war.'

Reuters, 27 Jul 10
Afghanistan Questions U.S. Silence Over Pakistan's Role
'The United States has pursued a contradictory policy with regard to the Afghan war by ignoring Pakistan's role in the insurgency, the Afghan government said on Tuesday, following the leak of U.S. military documents.'

Washington Post, 15 Jul 10, by Karen DeYoung and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Afghan President Karzai approves plan for local defense forces
'In a welcome step forward for the Obama administration's beleaguered war strategy, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a U.S.-backed plan to create local defense forces across the country in an attempt to build grass-roots opposition to the Taliban, U.S. and Afghan officials said Wednesday.'

New York Times 'At War', 14 Jul 10, by Wesley Morgan
Elusive Game in Afghanistan
'... To the battalion’s officers, Company A’s encounters seemed to fit into a pattern of activity by full-time Afghan insurgents and a small number of foreign fighters they believe to be working with them.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Jul 10, by Dan Murphy
What Kandahar residents say about the Afghanistan war: It's complicated
'Even before Tuesday's suicide attack in Kandahar killed three US soldiers and five Afghan civilians, the view from Kandahar was that the Afghanistan war wasn’t going well.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Jul 10, by Dan Murphy
The other, powerful Karzai boss in Afghanistan
'To many Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half brother of Afghan president, is the key to taming the Taliban in the critical city of Kandahar. But to others he's a highly controversial figure.'

BBC News, 01 Jul 10, by John Simpson
Taliban rule out negotiations with Nato
'The Taliban statement is uncompromising, almost contemptuous. They believe they are winning the war, and cannot see why they should help Nato by talking to them.'

BBC News, 01 Jul 10
US General Petraeus vows to protect Afghan civilians
'Gen David Petraeus has been briefing allies and partners at Nato HQ in Brussels before heading to Kabul.'

New York Times, 30 Jun 10, by Mark Landler
After Afghan Shift, Top U.S. Civilians Face Tricky Future
'... privately, at least one senior White House official suggested using General McChrystal’s exit as an excuse for a housecleaning, according to senior officials. That was rejected as too disruptive during a military campaign that relies heavily on civilian support, these people said.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jun 10, by Dan Murphy
Afghanistan war: Top three challenges facing General Petraeus
'Topping General Petraeus' to-do list in the Afghanistan war: Making his own counterinsurgency strategy work in Afghanistan where General McChrystal could not.'

Washington Post, 01 Jul 10, by Karin Brulliard and Karen DeYoung
Some Afghan officers to get training in Pakistan
'The move signals a significant policy shift as officials in both countries become increasingly convinced the U.S. war effort is faltering.'

New York Times, 24 Jun 10, by Jane Perlez, Eric Schmitt and Carlotta Gall
Pakistan Is Said to Pursue a Foothold in Afghanistan
'Pakistani officials say they can bring the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Al Qaeda ally who runs a major part of the Afghan insurgency, into a power-sharing arrangement.'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 10, by Karen DeYoung
U.S. indirectly paying Afghan warlords as part of security contract
'The U.S. military is funding a massive protection racket in Afghanistan, indirectly paying tens of millions of dollars to warlords, corrupt public officials and the Taliban to ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout the country, according to congressional investigators.'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 10, by Karin Brulliard
Pakistan conflicted over targeting rising extremists in its heartland
'Even as its army battles insurgents on the mountainous western border, Pakistan's government remains deeply ambivalent about tackling extremist Sunnis it says are a rising menace within its populous heartland.'

Washington Post, 22 Jun 10, by Ernesto Londoño
Nine NATO troops killed in helicopter crash, spate of attacks in Afghanistan
'... putting June on pace to become the deadliest month for the U.S.-led international force in the nearly nine-year war.'

Reuters, 23 Jun 10
Afghan Police Struggle Ahead Of U.S. Pullout
'Afghanistan's long term stability hinges on the performance of its army and police. NATO military officials say both have come a long way and are confident they will be able to keep the Taliban from returning to power, even though the insurgency is raging after nine years of conflict.'

Washington Post, 21 Jun 10, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
U.S. eager to replicate Afghan villagers' successful revolt against Taliban
'U.S. diplomats, military officials view rebellion as a milestone, but it is a turnabout U.S. and Afghan officials were not certain would ever occur.'

Christian Science Monitor, 21 Jun 10, by Howard LaFranchi
Counterterrorism help from Pakistan is insufficient, report finds
'US officials recently praised Pakistan for taking the fight to extremist groups in its midst. Now, a report from the RAND Corp. says some official elements in Pakistan are still thwarting counterterrorism efforts – and that the US should withhold some aid as a result.'

New York Times, 13 Jun 10, by Dexter Filkins
In Visit to Kandahar, Karzai Outlines Anti-Taliban Plan
'The speech by Mr. Karzai was his most demonstrative effort to date to sell the people of Kandahar on the police and military operations planned for the area over the coming months.'

Washington Post, 13 Jun 10, by Joshua Partlow
Ahmed Wali Karzai, an ally and obstacle to the U.S. military in Afghanistan
'A summertime U.S. military offensive in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar has now been delayed, in what American officials said was an acknowledgment of opposition among local officials, without singling out [Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half-brother of Afghanistan's president] by name.'

The Times, 13 Jun 10, by Miles Amoore
Pakistan puppet masters guide the Taliban killers
'Pakistani support for the Taliban in Afghanistan runs far deeper than a few corrupt police officers, however. The Sunday Times can reveal that it is officially sanctioned at the highest levels of Pakistan’s government.'

New York Times, 12 Jun 10, by Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt
U.S. Military Intelligence Puts Focus on Afghan Graft
'Military intelligence officers in Afghanistan are scouring seized documents and interrogating captured fighters and facilitators — but not just to learn about insurgent networks that plan attacks, plant roadside explosives and send out suicide bombers.'

New York Times, 11 Jun 10, by Dexter Filkins
Karzai Is Said to Doubt West Can Defeat Taliban
'The Afghan president has been pressing to strike his own deal with the Taliban and Pakistan because he has lost confidence that the United States and NATO will win, officials said.'

Washington Post, 14 Jun 10, by Joby Warrick
U.S. adopts reintegration strategy to subdue Afghan insurgency
'In recent months, U.S.-run detention camps -- hated by many Afghans as symbols of occupation -- have undergone a transformation aimed at putting the more pliable detainees on a path toward reentering Afghan society.'

Washington Post, 05 Jun 10, by Ernesto Londoño
Delegates at Afghan peace conference back Karzai's plan to talk to Taliban
'Afghan leaders attending a national peace conference decided Friday to back President Hamid Karzai's plan to broker a truce with the Taliban but fell short of delivering a clear strategy for negotiating with the militant group.'

New York Times, 02 Jun 10, by Alissa J. Rubin and Rod Nordland
Taliban Attacks Shake Afghan Peace Gathering
'As rockets landed nearby and suicide attackers detonated explosives, President Hamid Karzai opened a national consultative peace assembly on Wednesday morning with the goal of winning popular backing for his plan to persuade Taliban and insurgent foot soldiers to stop fighting.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Jun 10, by Aunohita Mojumdar
Afghanistan peace jirga's unlikely critics: victims of war crimes
'Some 1,500 delegates at Afghanistan's peace jirga are debating how to reconcile with insurgents. But war crimes victims say their concerns are being buried.'

Washington Post, 23 May 10, by Karen DeYoung
Results of Kandahar offensive may affect future U.S. moves
'The Obama administration's campaign to drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan's second-largest city is a go-for-broke move that even its authors are unsure will succeed.'

Los Angeles Times, 23 May 10, by David Zucchino
U.S. troops, Afghan police sweep through Taliban stronghold
'Military and civilian teams search homes and offer reconstruction aid in a Kandahar district. The operation is a preview of a wider summer campaign.'

New York Times, 21 May 10, by John F. Burns
Into Kandahar, Yesterday and Tomorrow
'As American forces prepare for a pivotal engagement, a reporter remembers the failures of an earlier time.'

New York Times, 23 May 10, by Elisabeth Bumiller
U.S. Tries Luring Taliban Foot Soldiers Back to Society
'Even as Washington and Kabul debate their plans to reconcile with senior members of the Taliban, military commanders on the ground in Afghanistan are reintegrating insurgent foot soldiers on their own.'

New York Times 'At War', 26 May 10, by Elisabeth Bumiller
Commander Cites Progress and Frustration in Afghanistan
'A British major general in charge of NATO operations in southern Afghanistan said "we are not yet where we need to be'' in Marja, the site of a major offensive in February that sought to flush out the Taliban.'

New York Times, 25 May 10, by Sabrina Tavernise
U.S. Is a Top Villain in Pakistan’s Conspiracy Talk
'Conspiracy theory is a national sport in Pakistan, where the main players — the United States, India and Israel — change positions depending on the ebb and flow of history. Since 2001, the United States has taken center stage, looming so large in Pakistan’s collective imagination that it sometimes seems to be responsible for everything that goes wrong here.'

New York Times, 12 May 10, by Alissa J. Rubin
Distrust of Afghan Leaders Threatens U.S. War Strategy
'The fate of the new U.S. strategy may well depend on whether Afghans can overcome their corrosive distrust of President Hamid Karzai’s government.'

Washington Post, 12 May 10, by Greg Jaffe and Karen DeYoung
Afghanistan's Karzai to urge caution as U.S. pushes to empower local leaders
'In recent months, American officials have focused their plans in Afghanistan on pushing power and money down to district, tribal and village leaders. But those plans have not sat well with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has argued that any weakening in his position could fracture the central government and undermine his ability to woo Taliban fighters away from the insurgency.'

New York Times, 11 May 10, by Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah
Drone Strikes Pound West Pakistan
'The missiles struck a region known as Datta Khel on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where Taliban and Qaeda fighters prepare for operations against United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 10, by Ben Arnoldy
Faisal Shahzad case intensifies scrutiny of links between Pakistan militant groups
'Officials aren't saying which militants, if any, Faisal Shahzad may have met in Pakistan, but focus is intensifying on how interlinked Pakistan militants groups may be. Pakistan and US officials differ in their assessments.'

The Guardian, 05 May 10, by Jon Boone
Taliban leaders to be offered exile under Afghanistan peace plan
'The long-delayed Afghan Peace and Reintegration Programme has emerged just as Karzai prepares to go to Washington for talks with Barack Obama, where the issue is likely to be top of the agenda.'

New York Times, 12 May 10, by Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Mysterious Blight Destroys Afghan Poppy Harvest
'Up to one-third of Afghanistan’s poppy harvest this spring has been destroyed by a mysterious disease ... potentially complicating the American and NATO military offensives this summer in the country’s opium-producing heartland. ... in recent weeks Afghan farmers have started blaming the American and NATO militaries for spreading the disease ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 23 Apr 10, by Ben Arnoldy
Precedent suggests Afghanistan Taliban could win: report
'A new study says the Afghanistan Taliban enjoy a slew of advantages that historically correlate with insurgent success, such as Pakistani sanctuary and a weak government in Kabul.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Apr 10, by Julius Cavendish
Afghanistan war: Taliban escalates violence with Kandahar blasts
'The Taliban appear to be making good on a promise to escalate violence in Kandahar, where NATO is planning to launch what it sees as the next major offensive of the Afghanistan war.'

New York Times, 20 Apr 10, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Taimoor Shah
A Killing Further Erodes Afghan Faith in Leaders
'As American and NATO troops prepare for a summer offensive in Kandahar — what could be their most critical push in more than eight years of war — any sense of safety in the area is being worn away by assassinations, bombings and other attacks on American and Western contractors, political officials and religious leaders.'

New York Times 'At War', 19 Apr 10, by C.J. Chivers
A Firsthand Look at Firefights in Marja
'... Marines in several companies encountered something unusual in the American experience of the Afghan war – insurgent snipers.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr 10, by Ben Arnoldy
Can Afghanistan President Karzai and Obama still work together?
'Angry words lately between Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and the administration of Barack Obama have raised questions about whether they can work together to stabilize the war torn country.'

Asia Times, 22 Apr 10, by Syed Saleem Shahzad
Pakistan, US undeterred by Afghan setback
'The recent withdrawal of United States troops from the strategic Korengal Valley in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar is a result of the Pakistan military not being able to defeat militants in the Bajaur and Mohmand tribal agencies, which serve as vital militant bases in support of the insurgency directly across the border. All the same, ties between the armed forces of the US and Pakistan have never been better.'

New York Times 'At War', 14 Apr 10, by Alissa J. Rubin and C.J. Chivers
Leaving the Korangal Valley
'A place iconic for its violence and breathtaking in its beauty, the outpost was at times during its four years in existence the deadliest place in Afghanistan for Americans and the Afghan soldiers who fought with them.'

Washington Post, 22 Apr 10, by Griff Witte and Karen DeYoung
Pakistan holding thousands in indefinite detention, officials say
'... arguing that the nation's dysfunctional civilian justice system cannot be trusted to prevent them from walking free, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.'

New York Times, 09 Apr 10, by Helene Cooper and Mark Landler
U.S. Now Trying Softer Approach Toward Karzai
'After more than a year of watching America’s ability to influence President Hamid Karzai ebb, Obama administration officials now admit privately that the tough-love approach Mr. Obama adopted when he came to power may have been a big mistake.'

Washington Post, 10 Apr 10, by Joshua Partlow and Karen DeYoung
Afghan officials say Pakistan's arrest of Taliban leader threatens peace talks
'The episode offers a window into the mutual suspicions that still divide Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly because of Pakistan's long history of support for the Taliban, as well as differences between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States about how best to seek reconciliation between insurgents and the Afghan government.'

Los Angeles Times, 07 Apr 10, by Laura King
Afghan President Karzai's anti-Western remarks leave many guessing sincerity
'Some analysts wonder whether President Hamid Karzai is playing to a domestic audience. Others worry that his rhetoric may mean he won't back an impending campaign against the Taliban.'

Washington Post, 31 Mar 10, by Karen DeYoung and Craig Whitlock
U.S. forces set sights on Taliban bastion of Kandahar
'U.S. forces have begun the initial phases of a political-military offensive in this Taliban bastion and hope to control the city and surrounding areas by late summer, according to senior U.S. military officials.'

Washington Post, 29 Mar 10, by Karen DeYoung
Afghan corruption: How to follow the money?
'U.S. officials fear that some U.S. money is finding its way to the Taliban and lining officials' pockets.'

Washington Post, 29 Mar 10, by Joshua Partlow and Scott Wilson
Obama presses Karzai for cooperation
'In his first visit as commander in chief to the war zone he has remade, President Obama on Sunday pushed for greater cooperation from the government of his Afghan counterpart, a stagnant and corruption-laced administration that poses perhaps the biggest threat to U.S. success against the Taliban insurgency.'

Washington Post, 19 Mar 10, by Keith B. Richburg
As Taliban makes comeback in Kunduz province, war spreads to northern Afghanistan
'... the past year has brought such a dramatic Taliban comeback in Kunduz that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, is planning to shift some of the ongoing troop reinforcements to the north of the country, the first significant American deployment to the region since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, U.S. officials say.'

New York Times, 15 Mar 10, by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Rod Nordland
U.S. Is Reining In Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan
'Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has brought most American Special Operations forces under his direct control for the first time, out of concern over continued civilian casualties and disorganization among units in the field.'

Wall Street Journal, 22 Mar 10, by Matthew Rosenberg and Peter Spiegel
U.S. Sees Hope in Pakistan Requests for Help
'Pakistan sent a 56-page document to the U.S. ahead of strategic talks scheduled for Wednesday, seeking expanded military and economic aid in what some American officials believe is an implicit offer to crack down in return on the Afghan Taliban.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Mar 10, by Edward Girardet
Afghanistan war: lessons from the Soviet war
'In the Marjah offensive of the Afghanistan war, a reporter hears echoes of the Soviet war.'

Washington Post, 14 Mar 10, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
At Afghan outpost, Marines gone rogue or leading the fight against counterinsurgency?
'U.S. Marine commanders have a different view of the dusty, desolate landscape that surrounds Delaram. They see controlling this corner of remote Nimruz province as essential to promoting economic development and defending the more populated parts of southern Afghanistan.'

New York Times, 11 Mar 10, by Alissa J. Rubin
Afghan Tribal Rivalries Bedevil a U.S. Plan
'Fighting between Afghan subtribes raises questions about using tribes as part of a counterinsurgency strategy.'

Washington Post, 12 Mar 10, by Greg Jaffe
Program aims to rebuild Afghan police force, repair its image
'U.S. and Afghan officials are beginning a major overhaul of the Afghan police with the goal of cleaning up a force whose recent history of corruption has undermined confidence in the Kabul government and fueled the insurgency.'

The Times (London), 03 Mar 10, by Zahid Hussain
Pakistan's Army takes control of al-Qaeda cave network on Afghan border
'Pakistani forces have taken control of a warren of caves that served until recently as the nerve centre of the Taleban and al-Qaeda and sheltered Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command to Osama bin Laden.'

Washington Post, 03 Mar 10, by Karen DeYoung and Joshua Partlow
In Afghanistan, Karzai's invitation to Taliban creates discord and confusion
'... the Obama administration has argued that substantive talks should wait until the military balance has shifted more sharply in favor of the coalition.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Mar 10, by Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers
After the Taliban, what do Marjah residents want?
'Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal and President Hamid Karzai's deputy walked the streets of Marjah Monday. With US-led forces now in control of the former Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, US and Afghan officials told Marjah residents that the Taliban were gone - and life would improve.'

New York Times, 02 Mar 10, by Alissa J. Rubin and Abdul Waheed Wafa
Afghanistan Aims to Ban Live Coverage of Attacks
'The government says live coverage is a security risk because attackers can see how the security forces are responding and send guidance to operatives.'

New York Times, 01 Mar 10, by Robert Mackey
Don’t Mention the Insurgency, Afghanistan Tells Reporters
'Afghanistan’s intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, summoned reporters on Monday to tell them that they will no longer be allowed to report on attacks by Taliban insurgents while they are in progress ...'

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