Stories about Afghanistan from August, 2007
Afghanistan: Errors of Judgment
In his first roundup for Global Voices, Joshua Foust takes a tour of mostly Western experts on Afghanistan to see where and how things are changing. This week, he focuses on the newly unveiled American opium eradication campaign.
Afghanistan: Hostage deal
Although 11 hostages still remain in the hands of their kidnappers, Carl Robichaud speculates why the Taliban agreed to release the Korean missionary workers who have been held hostage for over a month.
Afghanistan: Uruzgan update
Péter Marton, writing on his My State Failure Blog, has the latest updates from the unruly Afghan province Uruzgan.
Afghanistan: Releasing the hostages
Although the Korean hostages are likely to come free after more than a month in custody in Afghanistan, OneFreeKorea is unhappy with the deal struck with the Taliban. In the blogger's opinion, this will “stamp “kidnap me” in fluorescent letters in every Republic of Korea passport”.
Afghanistan: Replacing a minister
From Afghanistan, Sanjar reports that he and his colleagues have launched a petition demanding the removal of the current Minister for Information and Culture. Rumours have it that a successor has already been chosen, and Sanjar voices his discontent over President Karzai's choice.
Afghanistan: No Chechens
Afghanistanica disarms the widely held belief that there are Chechen Jihadis on the ground in Afghanistan.
Tajikistan/Afghanistan: Bridging two nations
A US-funded bridge connecting Afghanistan's north with Tajikistan was officially opened last weekend. Both Mohammad Fahim Khairy and Vadim at neweurasia offer their mostly jubilant commentary.
Afghan bloggers irritated by Iranian TV series
The Afghan embassy in Iran has complained about an Iranian television series on Channel 3, Char Khoone, that depicts Afghans characters as villains. Several Afghan and even Iranian bloggers have reacted to this news. Dialogue 3, an Afghan blogger, says: Since the beginning of the summer Iranian TV has aired...
Central Asia: Clan-tastic
Christine Quirk looks at how clans shape political behaviour and in how far they make it difficult to enfranchise groups who might have different viewpoints or are far down on the clan power structure.
Afghanistan: Western military involved in organised crime?
The editor of a satirical Afghan magazine thinks that Western troops are involved in drug trafficking and the smuggling of Afghan rugs. Is that merely satirical? Sanjar thinks there's a lot of truth in the allegations.
Afghanistan: Fear of kidnapping
Õnne Pärl says that although she has usually not been overly cautious while walking through Kabul, she is now alarmed by the frequent kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan.
Central Asia: Which port to choose?
As a landlocked region, Central Asia is reliant on other countries’ maritime infrastructure to integrate with world markets. On Registan.net, Kayumars Turkistani evaluates two potential seaports, Gwadar in Pakistan and Chabahar in Iran.
Afghanistan: Situation in Herat deteriorating
Barnett R. Rubin retells a conversation he had with Homa Sorouri, a student from Western Afghanistan. According to Sorouri, the situation in Herat is deteriorating, and close family friends are affected.
Iran:Expulsion of Afghan refugees
Hooghoghe Bashar (means human rights) blog says[Fa] that mass expulsion of Afghan refugees is not a solution for Iranian high unemployment.The blog explains that Afghans always did very difficult jobs and were underpaid.According to this blog many educated Iranians are jobless and they are not going to replace Afghans.
Afghanistan: Misinformation or Taliban divisions?
Afghanistanica has serious doubts on the authenticity of an alleged Taliban pamphlet distributed in Afghanistan's Helmand province this July. Was it written by the Americans instead?
Iran:The Embassy of Afghanistan protests against Iranian TV
Yek Pezeshk says [Fa] that the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran protested against a TV series,Chahrkhaneh, where,it seems, Afghans were insulted.Afghan officials say the producers of this series presented an unreal image of Afghan young people and it will have a negative effect on Iran-Afghanistan relations.
Afghanistan: Debunking myths
Afghan President Karzai criticised the kidnapping of women (of the Korean hostage group) as un-Islamic and un-Afghan. Blogger Mohammad Fahim Khairy disagrees and says that during most of Afghanistan's recent history, women were treated badly and also got kidnapped.
Afghanistan: Hostage crisis
In the latest developments of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Eugene Echo reports that another female hostage was picked to be released today.
Afghanistan: Glass half full or half empty?
In describing the situation in Afghanistan, Barnett R. Rubin argues that it does not matter if the glass is half full or half empty: “The Afghan glass may be half full, a tenth full, or near to overflowing. But it is standing on a very rickety table in an earthquake...
Afghanistan: Sabotaging a radio station
Sanjar reports that during a fight with government troops, Taliban fighters destroyed a radio station in the Wardak province.
Afghanistan: Civilian casualties in Helmand
The US argues that by fighting from civilian compounds, the Taliban are responsible for the death of innocent people in the Helmand province. That is short of blaming the victims, thinks The Stragegist. Meanwhile, Afghanistan Watch reports that a British commander has criticised the US for not changing its strategy...
