What About Afghan Women?

NYT OP-ED COLUMNIST, By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, Published: October 23, 2010 KABUL, Afghanistan Pari Gol, an illiterate woman from Helmand Province, prayed for the fall of the Taliban back in 2001. But since then fighting has cost the lives of her husband and daughter,...

Rogue security companies threaten US gains in Afghanistan war

The Pentagon is dependent upon contractors in the Afghanistan war. But many of the security companies are undermining – or even working against the US war effort. On the job: A US contractor turned away as a helicopter departed a combat outpost in Kandahar,...

Tea in Kabul

NYT, OP-ED COLUMNIST, By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, October 16, 2010 A few vignettes to explain why I believe America’s strategy in Afghanistan isn’t working: Scene 1: A home in Kabul where I’m having tea with a remarkable woman, Soora Stoda, who runs a logistics company...

Win by adopting a bottom-up strategy and not suddenly withdawing

October 3rd, 2010 by Jake Chapnick One of the reasons the West fails to comprehensively understand Afghanistan and its people is because there has been limited access to its rural areas. According to the United Nations, there are over 10,000 settlements in that...

U.S. to temper stance on Afghan corruption

By Greg Jaffe Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 4, 2010; 1:32 PM KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN – U.S. commanders in southern Afghanistan are adopting a strategy that increasingly places the priority on fighting the Taliban even if that means tolerating...