Archive for the ‘Afghanistan’ Category

In a rare triumph of human rights in Afghanistan, a young woman who was jailed for “zina” (adultery) has been pardoned by President Karzai. (more…)

In the deadliest single combat incident of the decade-long war, America’s longest, the Taliban say they downed a NATO helicopter in eastern Afghanistan killing at least 31 US and seven Afghan soldiers. (more…)

What if the U.S. had stayed focused on Afghanistan after 2001, had rebuilt the country as it said it would, had ignored Iraq?

Women fear that even the small steps that they have taken so far will be threatened if the Afghan government and Western donors make a peace that does not allow small steps to become larger ones.

At least 25 were killed in southern Afghanistan when a bus struck a roadside mine, officials said.

A six-year archive of classified military documents made public online Sunday by an organization called WikiLeaks offers a picture of the war in Afghanistan that is in many respect more grim than the official portrayal.

The one year anniversary of the Afghanistan Shi’ite Personal Status Law passed without even a whisper from the U.S. media. Apparently, daily stories of oiled-soiled pelicans are vastly more important and newsworthy to CNN and FOX, as well for the alphabet soup of “news” of organizations vying for the attention of the coveted U.S. population. (more…)

Western nations attending an international conference in Kabul on Tuesday are expected to endorse President Hamid Karzai’s plan for Afghan forces to take the lead throughout the country by 2014.

The U.S. military is trying to transfer authority for the prosecution of Afghan detainees to Afghans, but Americans still play a substantial role.

After intensive discussions with NATO commanders, the Afghan government approved a program to establish local defense forces around the country.

An American-led training program is part of an effort to repair relations with the Pakistani government, military and public, but it has serious limitations.

Gul Abbas grew up with olive trees in Bati Kot district and spent his life nurturing them. He hopes they can flourish again.

[Photo credit: Ahmad Masood/Reuters]
Without much of a fuss made by the media, if even reported at all, last month Afghanistan’s new Shiite Personal Status Law was put into effect. The law grants Shiite men the legal right to starve their wives if their sexual demands are not met. These sexual demands are not defined or limited by the law. The law also requires Shiite women to obtain permission from their husbands to even leave their home. Parental custody is solely the father’s or, in his absence, the paternal grandfather. Incredibly, the law also allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying “blood money” to a girl who was injured when he raped her. That payment, of course, is offered to the father, paternal grandfather or the brothers of the raped girl. (more…)