Rob Grace, writer for FPA’s Law and Security Strategy blog (one of my favorites), has covered the recent Maqaleh v. Gates ruling regarding Afghan detainee rights. Grace provides a historical angle to the ruling and tackles further questions in the comments. Here is a piece: Last week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in […]
Hijab is the Arabic word for “Curtain, or Cover”. It is taken from Hajb meaning to cover, to veil, to shelter. Muslim women wear the Hijab for different reasons. Some wear the Hijab to delight their God- in reference to holy Quran. Some to please their families and some to obey the Islamic law. Afghanistan is […]
A day before here in the United States we honor all of those men and women who have fought for our armed services, I came across this tragic event that occurred in Khost, Afghanistan just yesterday: There was violence as well in the southeastern province of Khost, where a barely completed high school, built with […]
I’m back already, well kind of. Below is a must-read article by the Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt about the disappearance of debate and discussion about America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Like I, he sees this as a detriment to our policy making process and a disservice to all our servicemen in harm’s way. Here […]
Just want to let everyone know I’ll be posting sporadically for the next week as I’ll be taking care of my newly born baby daughter.
That is the grim milestone of American deaths in Afghanistan since the war began in late 2001. Though it can be argued exactly what the real total may be (some say 970, while others over 1,060) the toll our American servicemen and women have given in this fight cannot. Sadly and tellingly, American deaths have […]
Sean Patrick Murphy of FPA’s Global Film Review blog has done a review of National Geographic’s ‘Inside Guantanamo‘ documentary. Check out Sean’s review in its entirety at this blog and here’s the intro: The fact that people of all political stripes take issue with this movie goes a long way to revealing its even handedness. […]
It wasn’t long ago I wrote a piece titled ‘Obama-Karzai: Fighting Alone in a Locked Room‘ and now look at where we are….hugs and kisses of the political flavor are all the rage. The Obama administration has literally and figuratively rolled out the red carpet for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his entourage and relations […]
Below you will find a topographic map of Afghanistan and its neighbors. The dense colors of the map showcase the high elevation and dry climate of the country and contrast greatly with southeastern Pakistan. Check out the full size of this map and others at www.afghan-web.com.
When President Obama announced that he was sending an additional 30,000 American troops to work under Gen. McChrystal’s leadership in Afghanistan, his very next sentence stated that US forces would be starting a withdrawal 18 months later on July 2011. I was critical of this at the time and still am. The US and the […]
A soldier’s life should include some down time where he/she can let loose. Well, some American servicemen in Farah province showed that they would use their down time to ‘get down’. Check out this video of these eight tough soldiers performing Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’:
The always provocative Ahmed Rashid has another worthwhile column in the Washington Post about the US and Karzai government negotiating with the Taliban that tangentially brought up an interesting issue: How would American voters react to American talks with the Taliban? This is obviously an important factor as there will inevitably be some form of […]
Manasi Kulkarni (Kakatkar) has a very informative piece on FPA’s India blog about India’s growing role in Afghanistan. Here is a piece: The meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit last week, seems to have produced positive results for India. The US ambassador to India, […]
Afghanistan is becoming a grave yard. Innocent people including women and children are losing their lives in every corner of the country. Sometimes they are shields to Taliban to fight with NATO and sometimes they are killed by NATO, mistaken for Taliban. People are losing hope. They do not trust foreign troops any more. In […]
In honor of the momentous events occurring in nearby Kyrgyzstan, this weeks Afghan-related map will be of the regional variety. It is an ethnicity map of Central Asia. Click on the previous link or the map to get a larger version. The map’s legend is in French, but can still be followed. Here’s a great […]