Landed Series Wandering

Juan Cole on Obama Karzai tensions, the military operations in Marjah and Kandahar, and the current state of events in Afghanistan.

Juan Cole writes in a post that:

I conclude from this sounding that the planned US invasion of Qandahar city is likely to be a disaster that turns millions of Western Pashtuns against the US and NATO.

NATO kills four Afghan civilians returning from a volleyball game.

Ahmed Rashid’s article in the February 25, 2010 issue of The New York Review of Books, provides us with concise picture of the present configuration of forces on the ground in Afghanistan as well as describing the opening created through a possible set of diplomatic moves which might be lumped together under the rubric, talking with the Taliban.

Juan Cole has an update on Sunday Dec. 13, 09, on the situation in South Warziristan where the Pakistani military has announced that it has ended its military campaign. The New York Times has an informative article detailing the roles and strategies of the Pakistani military, the U.S., the various Taliban on both sides of [...]

Brief survey of several analyses of Obama’s announcement that he is sending 30 000 more troops to Afghanistan, including interviews on Democracy Now with Rep. Kucinich, retired Col. Andrew Bacevich, Viet Vet and scholar, and Nir Rosen, independent journalist, and Juan cole’s article on Salon.

An additional perspective on Afghanistan placed in the context of the region and its resources. Looks at China and India and Pakistan and energy resources as related to Afghanistan.

This overview has been added to the Afghanistan and Pakistan section and forms the base, for the time being, of LSW’s presentation of these two countries.

1. In an article today, the NY Times references comments by the Afghan ambassador in Washington, Said Tayeb Jawad, indicating that the investigation of electoral fraud may necessitate a runoff election between President Karzai and his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah Excellent background on the Afghan elections can be found in Juan Cole’s Informed Consent today, [...]