Afghanistan
ASSIGNMENT
TOPIC
a. War on Terror - Afghanistan b. War
ARTICLE TITLE a. War in Afghanistan – Lunch with the Taliban
ARTICLE SOURCE a. The Economist.
ARTICLE SUMMARY a. This article talks about the state of affairs in Afghanistan. The Taliban is still very much around even though they are not in control of the government. The government is led by President Hamid Karzai, who is said to be very corrupt. There are also the forces of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and the US forces led by Commanding General David Petraeus. The Taliban is on one side, and on the other side are the government and the other forces. Each side seems to claim they have made headway and the other side is being dismissed as irrelevant. The Taliban is trying to spread the teachings of strict Islamic law and will not accept any government that is seen as led by foreigners. President Karzai is trying to walk a thin line between extremism and moderation. But he is riddled with accusations of corruption. The outside forces of the US and NATO are trying to bring the various tribes, the government, and Taliban leaders to the table, to negotiate terms for a peaceful democratic government. When the Taliban does not like what is happening in Afghanistan, they resort to arbitrarily imposing strict Islamic law in their areas of operation. They are extremely well-trained, have a huge bank of young recruits, with many more boys that are younger, eager, and who are willing to join the forces to defeat the Westerners. It seems like the government has no control over the activities of the Taliban. The government is seen as inept, the US and NATO forces are keen to get out of there, Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, is harboring the Taliban and training them, so in all not a happy scenario.
YOUR REACTION a. My reaction to this article is that this war against terror that is being fought in Afghanistan is very difficult. The internal politics, the hard stance of the
TOPIC
a. War on Terror - Afghanistan b. War
ARTICLE TITLE a. War in Afghanistan – Lunch with the Taliban
ARTICLE SOURCE a. The Economist.
ARTICLE SUMMARY a. This article talks about the state of affairs in Afghanistan. The Taliban is still very much around even though they are not in control of the government. The government is led by President Hamid Karzai, who is said to be very corrupt. There are also the forces of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and the US forces led by Commanding General David Petraeus. The Taliban is on one side, and on the other side are the government and the other forces. Each side seems to claim they have made headway and the other side is being dismissed as irrelevant. The Taliban is trying to spread the teachings of strict Islamic law and will not accept any government that is seen as led by foreigners. President Karzai is trying to walk a thin line between extremism and moderation. But he is riddled with accusations of corruption. The outside forces of the US and NATO are trying to bring the various tribes, the government, and Taliban leaders to the table, to negotiate terms for a peaceful democratic government. When the Taliban does not like what is happening in Afghanistan, they resort to arbitrarily imposing strict Islamic law in their areas of operation. They are extremely well-trained, have a huge bank of young recruits, with many more boys that are younger, eager, and who are willing to join the forces to defeat the Westerners. It seems like the government has no control over the activities of the Taliban. The government is seen as inept, the US and NATO forces are keen to get out of there, Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, is harboring the Taliban and training them, so in all not a happy scenario.
YOUR REACTION a. My reaction to this article is that this war against terror that is being fought in Afghanistan is very difficult. The internal politics, the hard stance of the