With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan – by Matthew Rosenberg: KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of

Mind your own back, Mr. Karzai – by Rusty Walker: For the record, why would the U.S., EVER be “stunned” as the news report stated, that Hamid Kazai would “not back the US in a confrontation with Pakistan” – mind you, a confrontation that is not in the least

Pakistan, Afghanistan and politics of US withdrawal- by Shehrbano Taseer: WASHINGTON DC: On Wednesday, the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) co-sponsored an event featuring Pervez Hoodbhoy and Zia Mian. The speakers discussed the present crisis in Pakistan regarding the Taliban

A Reponse to Cold War Thinking in Today’s Afghanistan: Pretext A former USAID director from 1950s Afghanistan insists that the Taliban were and are a good option for Afghanistan, and Afghans can’t govern themselves. My Response: Really? So it was a good thing to imprison women, conduct ethnic

General Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s letter to Mullah Baradar – by Hakim Hazik: A man believed to be Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in a photograph taken in 1998, given to The New York Times by a former photographer for the Taliban. Photo – New York Times Article cross-posted from: Justice Denied Brother

HE Hamid Karzai and FATA – by Zar Ali Musazai: People of FATA are grateful to His Excellency President Karzai for his statement against FCR in FATA President Hamid Karzai was right to say that Frontier Crimes Regulations commonly known as FCR is a terrible legacy of the British

Pakistani Taliban united against Al Qaeda’s three enemies: “Obama, Zardari and Karzai”: Taliban’s unity and our disunity Under instructions from Mullah Umar and “sheikh” Osama bin Laden, the three feuding warlords of Waziristan have announced reconciliation and merger under the rubric of Shura Ittehad Mujahideen (SIM). Heretofore, known as the divided

Seven years in Afghanistan — Article by Hamid Karzai: If we can all work together — Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, the United States, and our allies — I see a possibility of moving beyond the days when a government thinks it needs extremism as an instrument of policy. When

Hamid Karzai’s appeal to the Taliban leader Mullah Umar that he should “return home” under guarantees of safety and “help bring peace to Afghanistan": What should one make of Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s appeal to the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Umar that he should “return home” under guarantees of safety and “help bring peace to Afghanistan”? President Karzai says he has been “sending