The Dayton Accords ended the war, but with what kind of peace?
The news of Richard Holbrooke’s sudden death engulfed diplomatic circles in Washington with an ineffable sorrow. His condition was reported critical but stabilizing a day earlier, as his doctors hoped for a slow recovery after a lengthy surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. But 69 year old Richard Holbrooke could not survive. Holbrooke, whose forceful style […]
Some good stuff to stuff your brains with! Troops, Troops, and Less Troops – To supplement the 30,000 American soldiers headed to Afghanistan this year in President Obama’s Afghan plan, it was expected approximately 10,000 other NATO troops would also follow suit. Unsurprisingly, this is turning out to be difficult to accomplish. Germany has ponied […]
It’s hard to believe how much Afghanistan is dominating (with health care reform a close second) the American media landscape. The Afghan presidential election results, and all of the fraud claims surrounding them, are constantly changing, leaks from Gen. McChrystal’s ‘secret’ Afghan war strategy review are popping up everywhere, and poll results and calls from […]
U.S. Envoy to Pakistan, Holbrooke expresses possible U.S. assistance in energy development in Pakistan offering hope to everyday Pakistani’s. President Gilani specifies increased funding is most useful and this could serve as a profound opportunity to finally begin winning hearts and minds of Pakistani’s and move in the direction of truly securing Pakistan for the long term.
“Pakistan Objects to U.S. Plan for Afghanistan War” reads a New York Times article yesterday updating us on our foreign policy. The article forewarns of “fissures” in the U.S. Pakistan alliance at this critical moment when President Obama sends additional troops to the region. The article specifically outlines Pakistan’s insistence on maintaining forces along the […]
A couple days ago, my US State Department daily feeder cooked me up this press conference by US Afghan/Pakistan Envoy Richard Holbrooke. The Q & A, though centered on Holbrooke’s most recent trip to Pakistan and the Gulf States, held several interesting items regarding Afghanistan and the nascent Obama administration strategy for the region. Right […]
The Guardian newspaper has the best overview of US Special Representative Richard Holbrooke’s ‘listening tour’ of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Holbrooke spent most of his time in Pakistan and met with government leaders, military leaders, opposition members, and some elements of civil society. He visited Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, the insurgent targeted and vital transportation hub, Khyber […]
A few items… 1. Eurasianet and the FPA’s Global Food Crisis blog have once again highlighted the plight of hunger in the Afghan state. The Eurasianet report states that around 40,000 Afghan citizens die every year because of hunger, way overshadowing those that are killed by violent conflict, though the two are connected in many […]
It is amazing how much the US media is now concentrating on the war in Afghanistan as the war in Iraq is dropping further and further onto the back pages. This also appears to be true in looking at US government entities as Afghan envoy Richard Holbrooke is seemingly everywhere and we do not even […]
Newly appointed Afghanistan/Pakistan US ‘representative’, which gives him a bit more power than an ‘envoy’, stated during a Munich security conference that the war in Afghanistan will be a ‘long and difficult struggle,’ one which is 'tougher than Iraq.’ Not exactly breaking news, but it's important to know where Mr. Holbrooke stands and how he […]