ANSF = the military.
via The Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point: The Haqqani Nexus and the Evolution of al-Qa’ida.
re: Kabul:
New people to follow on twitter — BetteDam, Pressistan, and MujMash.
Tweets of the BBC’s @bsarway:
At this stage, I can confirm there have been two suicide attacks in Karte Parwan area of Kabul. General Ayub Police Chief of Kabul. Attack took place close to a private university¬ very far from Dr. Abdullah Abdullah’s house.
We have exchanged fire with attackers, Intel
A suicide attacke close to a old Brithish Consulate building - not in use by BC- followed by a suicide car bomb. Area sarrounded, police
Site of attack close to Dr. Abdullah Abdullah& Marshal Fahim’s houses. 2 police&civilan. Building sarrounded by Police&NDS’s rapid reaction
Elite forces from NDS’s Rapid Reaction Force& General Fahim Qayam’s Quick Reaction Force of Kabul police in frontline of the attack
We are fighting several suicide attackers. Too early to say what was the target of attack.This is a very important area,Gen Ayub PC of Kabul
In last five minutes or so,fighting have intensified are receiving fire from at least three directions.Two police killed&six injured,intel
Tailor market all of our glasses broken. I can hear a lot of gunfire.We are confused.Police asked us to close our shops, tailor Nasrat
Residents close to the site of attack evacuated from their houses. Police&intel forces taken over houses, residents.
Dozen of extra security deployed around Vice President’s house - Marshal Fahim& Dr. Abdullahs house, CID officers
Extra police&security was deployed in Central Kabul& around city after intel suggesting an imminent attack in the city, senior Af official
Spoke to a butcher not very far from the site of attack. After two explosions, I saw 2 attackers open fire on police close to Nadaria school
An amazing series of images by LA based photographer Noah Abrams on the emerging skateboarding scene in Afghanistan.
Twitter, Two Days Of:
- Just One Word On Facebook Helped Wired Figure Out Who Took The Protoype iPhone by @jwyarow http://bit.ly/aQYlWt
- Utah Fans Concerned As Jazz Break Huddle By Shouting ‘Kill The Mormons’ http://onion.com/b1L5al
- 10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account http://bit.ly/9P08qP
- “YouTube to Let Users Charge Rental Fees for Videos” http://bit.ly/bF7wIu
- Don’t miss Dave Cole from the team talk abt open source principles behind @WhiteHouse.gov http://bit.ly/cb9Zx0 #drupal #gov20
- Greece has a day without TV, papers, flights, schools, doctors http://bit.ly/98Ejd7
- Hospitals Sponsor a Mommy Blog for the Merrimack Valley http://ow.ly/1GScT #mommyblog #mom #hospital #healthcare #hcmktg
- A new map of childhood obesity in the U.S. http://lat.ms/du8wyk RT @LATimeshealth
- Fallows: New York’s “emotional and social response” to terror is what America’s should be. @theatlantic http://bit.ly/9f3n0N
- Facebook up 69%, Twitter up 45%. Global users now average 6 social hours a month http://j.mp/cYGcbB
- Chile’s wired classrooms. #teachtheworld http://ht.ly/1GNVP
- Despite Cambridge City Council ban, surveillance cameras remain http://bit.ly/9KtkS4
- Street View trike hits Melbourne, and The Age was there … http://bit.ly/cAlal5
- German postman marries obese & asthmatic cat before it dies. “We cuddle all the time,” he says http://ow.ly/1H6YD
- This is a cool story about Canadian soldiers and stray dogs in Afghanistan: http://bit.ly/bPsYqr
The Foreign Secretary finished his remarks a little while ago, and — skipping past audience questions, as forums at the JFK Library have had the effect of cultivating that habit — here are a few notes I jotted down.
He is the first British cabinet secretary to visit MIT since Winston Churchill in 1949. His talk was on ‘how to win the war in Afghanistan’ and re-iterated his push for a diplomatic solution.
He noted the historical parallels between Britain and Russia both concluding — in the 1920’s and 1980’s, respectively — that a political solution with external subsidies was the way to go, though it was the elimination of external subsidies that fueled destabilization.
(If you want to read more thorough accounts of it — and the history of Afghanistan in general — go check out this blog by Adam Curtis or the book After the Taliban by Neamatollah Nojumi, Dyan Mazurana, and Elizabeth Stites.)
He says that the Afghans are tired of decades fighting, that a recent poll suggests that only 6% of the population wants the Taliban back, that 5 million refugees have returned to the country (though security is still a high concern — compare that to the recent Iraqi election), and that the army is currently 100,000 strong and is expected to grow by 1/3 by the end of December of this year.
Current education levels place 7,000,000 children in school, 1/3 of them girls.
95% of the population sees corruption as a problem, each Afghan paying up to $100 a year to corrupt officials.
“The Great Consultation” — aimed at kick-starting the ‘reconciliation’/re-integration process in the country — starts on April 29th, and the secretary had four recommendations.
1. Make arrangements to ensure that provincial groups have a greater say in the political process.
2. Empower provincial/district governors.
3. There should be a new dispensation between Parliament and the President to encourage a greater degree of give-and-take and foster a constructive opposition.
4. Tackle corruption. Tackle corruption. Tackle corruption.
Late update: an editorial from The Guardian. The Globe’s coverage.
