Today I will provide several links to three or so stories which have been developing for days and sometimes weeks now in the region. Some aspects have to do with items and themes we have covered, 'soft power’ in Afghanistan, another is an issue or event that I have barely mentioned. Though I want discuss it today, I plan on doing a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit analytical summary later this week, so you have something to look forward to!
1. Afghanistan insurgency/NATO presence – The report of over 90 civilians, including tens of children, killed by a US airstrike in the village of Azizabad has been perculating and gathering steam for two or three days now, with each side, the villagers, Taliban spokesman, and US military, having different accounts. The US military insists ‘only’ about 5-7 civilians were killed and over 30 militants in the strike. In any case, the US military was opening up a follow-up investigation and Gen. McKiernan, leader of all NATO forces, stated "The people of Afghanistan have our commitment to get to the truth." This case show's the dangerous of fighting an insurgency embedded in the local populace and the ramifications of doing so with air power. We will see what develops in the next few days.
2. Dexter Filkins has written a long article titled 'talibanistan’ for the New York Times Magazine. I have not had time to read through the whole thing, but it show's the Taliban's advancements in the Afghanistan and describes how they would lead the region again if they continued to garner more authority and support. I will hopefully discuss this in greater length this week.
3. A few days ago the US military admitted that they performed a helicopter-led raid into Pakistan to target major insurgent leaders. Here is a press conference by the US State Department discussing the US reasoning and some information about the attack. And just hours ago, the US launched several missiles from a predator drone inside of Pakistan's North Waziristan, aimed at prominent Taliban leaders. These efforts of course come on the heels of a secret meeting between the Pakistan Army Chief and senior US/NATO military officials aboard an aircraft carrier and provide an immediate challenge for the newly elected Prime Minister Asif Ali Zardari. About Zardari, here is an editorial welcoming him and here is one labeling him ‘mad and bad.’ In any case, he’ll have some busy first days at the office.
4. With VP Dick Cheney calling Russia's actions in Georgia 'troublesome and unhelpful actions’ and warning that if Moscow has its ways with S. Ossetia and Abkhazia; "We know that if one country is allowed to unilaterally redraw the borders of another, it will happen and it will happen again," there is new heat between the these old cold war foes and Central Asia may find itself squeezed between the two (with a solid pinch from China). For a perspective on what that would be like, James Traub wrote an interesting article about how the ramping up of rhetoric, animosity, and actual geopolitical gains and loses might have on all of us. He discusses that Russia truly may have entered a 19th century world where on its borders it only sees ‘enemies or vassals.’ If this is true, and of course nothing is ever that simple, than the Central Asian states are stuck between two very sharp and unfriendly choices when it comes to relations with Mother Russia.
Tidbits: Martha Brill Olcott and Johannes Linn wrote a concise piece analyzing Central Asia's current difficulties. And in what is being billed as a visible sign of Kazakhstan's economic prosperity, the first British private school, Haileybury Almaty, has opened in the nation's capital.
Hope you find these of interest. Comments and questions are always welcome and will be posted on the site.
