UNITED NATIONS — Set to the backdrop of continuing violence, growing narcotics production, and fear about the future following the pullout of international forces, the recent round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections have become all the more crucial to produce a climate of needed stability in a land which knows only chaos. Moreover, given the ongoing […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The clock is ticking and the calendar counting down for Afghanistan as the embattled South Asian country heads for presidential elections in April and the pullout of foreign security forces by the end of the year. A credible electoral process would go a long way in paving a peaceful […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com During a lively American-style presidential TV debate, major Afghan candidates for presidency staked out contrasting views on the nation’s future ties to the United States. The immediate issue facing the nation is whether the Afghan government should sign a security agreement with the United States after NATO troops’ […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com The president of Afghanistan has once again refused to sign a security pact with the United States until Washington fulfills one condition: start peace talks with the Taliban to guarantee a post-NATO withdrawal peace for the country. Failing to do that, according to President Hamid Karzai’s unyielding stance, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com A committee appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai decided on Monday, Dec. 30, that 650 of 764 or 85 percent of the criminals in the Bagram prison should be deemed “innocent” and released immediately. The Karzai government has consistently accused the U.S. military authorities of mistreating the Afghan […]
Jeffrey T. Kuhner What really happened to Navy SEAL Team Six? In August 2011, the elite special forces unit suffered the worst battlefield calamity in its history. A Taliban fighter shot down a Chinook helicopter carrying 22 Navy SEAL Team Six members in Afghanistan. All 38 persons on board — the Navy SEAL warriors, other […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com NEW DELHI — Why do high-powered U.S. diplomats persist in thinking that sitting around a table with the bad guys is going to produce a lasting peace and everyone will then live happily ever after? Apparently Washington never learned from years of yakking that resulted in the “Paris […]
Sol W. Sanders For those of us who lived through it, current negotiations for the American exit from Afghanistan smells much too much like the end of the U.S. commitment in Vietnam. Washington, after a decade of enormous sacrifice of life and treasure, has chosen to negotiate with the enemy following diplomatic “modalities” pretty […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered U.S. special forces out of Wardak province. It lies southwest of and near to Kabul, where he resides – isolated and dependent on foreign protection. The U.S. soldiers are said to have assisted local forces in kidnapping locals and beheading one of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Qatar has formally hosted Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, long aligned with Al Qaida. The Gulf Cooperation Council emirate has announced the establishment of a Taliban presence, which included an office in Doha. In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said the emirate viewed the Taliban presence as a means to […]