Afghan government

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium on December 16th, 2010
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

Al Jazeera's senior political analyst comments on the US administration's review of its military strategy in Afghanistan.

Why a review of the military strategy in Afghanistan?

Releasing the review is an exercise in public diplomacy; it marks the first year anniversary of President Barack Obama's speech last year that laid out his surge strategy to avoid losing the war in Afghanistan. During long and difficult deliberation with his national security team in 2009, the president was sceptical of the generals and hardliners' argument for surge of troops without clear benchmarks and for a major escalation without exist strategy, according to Bob Woodward inside account of the White House meetings in Obama's Wars. Today, his administration is offering what is deemed balance sheet that shows "progress" but also difficult challenges ahead.

By Clayton Swisher in Asia on July 25th, 2010
82nd Airborne soldiers in Arghandab Photo by Tom Nicholson

Last night we got a 0345 wakeup call from Spooky. For those of you who play Call of Duty-type video games, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

By James Bays in Asia on June 4th, 2010
Photo from Reuters

Over the last two days, the Jirga members were divided into 28 committees and asked to discuss the way forward towards peace in Afghanistan.

Each of the chairmen of those committees have now been giving a summary of their decisions in the main tent of the Jirga.

Some of the proposals match the way forward that the Afghan government and international players want to take.

But some of the proposals will cause alarm in international circles.

Many talked about new measures to tackle corruption.

Others focused on the UN blacklist – the list of Taliban senior members subject to financial and travel restrictions.

They want names taken off that list, as an inducement to the Taliban side, something the international community may agree to.

But other proposals will almost certainly not be acceptable to America and its allies.

Many said they want Taliban prisoners released – with Guantanamo, Bagram and other jails closed.

By Gregg Carlstrom in Asia on May 24th, 2010

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan (his autobiography was released earlier this year), talked with me today about a range of topics: Recent peace talks in the Maldives, the Taliban's desired role in a future Afghan government, women's rights, and other issues.

We've posted a video of part of our conversation, and a longer transcript of the chat follows below.

Let me ask you first, very generally, what is it the Taliban want in Afghanistan?

By James Bays in Asia on April 25th, 2010

Our most recent video report from Afghanistan covered the Taliban plots to attack Kabul, which the Afghan government says it has thwarted:

A number of different agencies are involved in these operations.

We filmed at one specialist police headquarters in the capital.

As Al Jazeera reported last year, the Counter Terrorism Police (CTP) suffered a spate of resignations after the presidential elections, because of allegations of political interference.

This unit, an elite force mentored by the New Zealand special forces, is easy to spot. All its men wear black uniforms. Their police cars are also painted black.

By Hashem Ahelbarra in Asia on December 20th, 2009
AFP PHOTO/HO/PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

Achieving stability, undermining the Taliban and restoring public credibility to the Afghan government is going to be America’s toughest challenge in the war-torn country.

The new cabinet of Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president, falls short of the huge expectations of the West and the Afghan people. They were expecting a major change, a strong signal that business will be conducted in a radically different way. But that is unlikely to happen today.

Karzai’s recent picks for the much anticipated cabinet was less than meets the eye for many. The prominent ministers of interior, defence and the head of national intelligence will all remain in office if approved by the parliament. Eleven new candidates join the cabinet, most of them affiliated with the country’s feared warlords who have dominated politics in the country for decades.

By Rob Reynolds in Americas on November 30th, 2009
Photo by EPA

On Tuesday, Barack Obama, the US president will go before cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point - and a national and worldwide television audience - to announce his plan and strategy for Afghanistan.

He’s expected to say he will send something in the order of 30,000 extra troops, perhaps as many as 35,000. He is also going to outline a plan and a time frame for turning responsibility for the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda over to the shaky and corrupt Afghan government, so that American forces can be brought home eventually.

I think the actual number of troops is not the important thing. 30,000 or 40,000 or even 100,000 or 300,000 troops would still be too few, if the goal is to entirely wipe out the Taliban. What is important is how Obama conveys to the American people the mission in Afghanistan.

By David Chater in Asia on November 26th, 2009

Like the "Grand Old Duke of York", Commander Suleiman has marched his men to the top of the hill and marched them down again.

The words in the famous English nursery rhyme are believed to refer to a battle in Europe's War of the Roses, but now they can equally be applied to events in the hills surrounding the city of Herat in western Afghanistan - and the war against the Taliban.

Commander Suleiman used to control a police unit patrolling the volatile border with Iran, but defected to the insurgents along with eighty of his men and all of their weapons just over a year ago.

He told Al Jazeera at the time that he'd seen the foreign troops on Afghan soil involved in prostitution and drinking alcohol. He considered it was his duty as a Muslim to wage Jihad against them.

By Teymoor Nabili in Americas on November 21st, 2009
Photo from AFP

Hamid Karzai has promised that government officials in Afghanistan will henceforth be compelled to declare and register their assets, a strategy apparently insisted upon by Hillary Clinton.

But in a world where even top UN officials are able to profit to the tune of tens of millions of dollars through activities that many are calling a conflict of interest, Harvard Professor Stephen Walt ponders whether the principle of transparency shouldn't be more broadly applied, including in western nations.

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