September 12, 2014
...Only one (click here) of the armed attackers (there were 15) involved in that Sept. 14, 2012, attack on Camp Bastion survived, military officials said. Mohammed Nazeer, now 24, was convicted and sentenced to death by an Afghan court, said Maj. John Caldwell, a Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon. But it still isn’t certain the punishment will stand. An Afghan appellate court affirmed the death penalty July 6, but the case is now before the Afghan Supreme Court for additional review, Caldwell said.
The uncertainty has frustrated the families of the two Marines killed, Lt. Col. Christopher Raible, 40, and Sgt. Bradley Atwell, 27, said Deborah Hatheway, Atwell’s aunt. U.S. military officials in Afghanistan contacted them last year asking for victim impact statements and family photographs to help make the case to the Afghan court that the insurgent should be punished severely for his actions, she said. The families were not informed there was an appellate process until this week, and are concerned it will function more leniently than the U.S. version....
The deadlock in the Afghan presidential election, involving Ashraf Ghani, left, and Abdullah Abdullah, is causing increasing volatility that could force a withdrawal of U.N. staffers from what has been Afghanistan’s most stable region. (Wakil Kohsar/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)
September 13, 2014
By Tim Craig
The deadlock in the Afghan presidential election, involving Ashraf Ghani, left, and Abdullah Abdullah, is causing increasing volatility that could force a withdrawal of U.N. staffers from what has been Afghanistan’s most stable region. (Wakil Kohsar/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)September 13, 2014
By Tim Craig
KABUL — The United Nations is debating (click here) whether to withdraw its staff from one of Afghanistan’s largest and safest cities as concerns grow that a deadlock between the country’s two presidential candidates could lead to unrest.
In a series of stern statements Saturday, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said it is facing increasing threats as it supervises a recount of votes in Afghanistan’s contentious presidential runoff.....
Ashraf is another Karzai. He will oversee the continued issue of corruption while Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will bring military experience and loyalty to the office. He will seek to root out corruption and confront the Taliban. Abdullah is a better alliance partner. He is not afraid of the Afghan people.
September 12, 2014
By James Rosen
Ashraf is another Karzai. He will oversee the continued issue of corruption while Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will bring military experience and loyalty to the office. He will seek to root out corruption and confront the Taliban. Abdullah is a better alliance partner. He is not afraid of the Afghan people.
September 12, 2014
By James Rosen
WASHiNGTON -- The top U.S. official (click here) for monitoring aid to Afghanistan painted a grim portrait of the country’s future Friday, saying it is riddled with corruption and graft.
With most Americans’ attention riveted on Iraq and Syria, John F. Sopko, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan, said the United States’ unprecedented $120 billion reconstruction investment there is at risk....
...President Barack Obama’s vow that only 9,800 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan by year’s end, Sopko said, has left many Americans unaware the the United States will spend up to $8 billion a year on reconstruction projects for years to come.
“If corruption is allowed to continue unabated, it will likely jeopardize every gain we’ve made so far in Afghanistan,” Sopko said.
The United States continues to pump billions of dollars into the South Asia country that its government can’t control....
Afghanistan has a drug economy. The drug economy fuels extremists in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world. It is one of the reasons the Taliban did so well in the first place. They were able to reap large incomes to arm themselves and attempt control of Pakistan and it's nuclear resources.
...Some Afghan soldiers and police (click here) are getting paid off by poppy growers to allow them to cultivate the illicit plant, Sopko said.
Afghanistan has a drug economy. The drug economy fuels extremists in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world. It is one of the reasons the Taliban did so well in the first place. They were able to reap large incomes to arm themselves and attempt control of Pakistan and it's nuclear resources.
...Some Afghan soldiers and police (click here) are getting paid off by poppy growers to allow them to cultivate the illicit plant, Sopko said.
“The narcotics trade poisons the Afghan financial sector and fuels a growing illicit economy,” he said. “This, in turn, undermines the Afghan state’s legitimacy by stoking corruption, nourishing criminal networks and providing significant financial support to the Taliban and other insurgent groups.”
Sopko warned that Afghanistan “could well become a narco-criminal state in the near future.”
Despite the widespread graft, the United States has no plan for countering corruption, Sopko said, and some U.S. agencies exaggerate progress in Afghanistan in order to justify the huge American investment there....
