...evident throughout the novel. By examining the corrupted values, abuse, and discrimination visible in the society of Afghanistan, it becomes apparent how evil humankind can be. Hosseini portrays the struggles of two young Afghan women, Laila and Mariam, in war riddled Afghanistan. Both women are years apart by age, but are forced to marry an older man, Rasheed, who they do not know. The women learn to co-exist as they endure Rasheed's mental and physical abuse. The women in Afghanistan have to face arranged or forced marriages, poor education and restrictions brought on by the Taliban. The lack of respect and freedom of Afghan women compels them to fight for their rights to halt the inequalities they face in society. Corrupted values are detrimental to society by the fact that it takes away one’s freedom and a chance to live. Marriage is the voluntary union of two people, who choose to be together and nobody else for the rest of their lives. In the case of Afghan women, they deal with forced under-age marriages. Freedom is a basic fundamental right that every person deserves to have. The opportunities to speak, believe, and pursue happiness without any restriction defines freedom of a person. Some Afghan women have been wed off at a very early age, some at the age of thirteen to men much older than them. Although the legal age for marriage in Afghanistan is sixteen for females and eighteen for males, many people, particularly in rural...
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...Troop Withdrawals in Afghanistan The United States is enduring a rapid withdrawal of troops while still attempting to empower the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In doing so, the US Military has developed an increased reliance on engaging partner Afghan forces in order to better enable them with the ability to maintain operations autonomously post-withdrawal as well as reinforce the manpower of conventional US military units who continue to lose support with the decrease in occupying forces. One of the primary missions in Afghanistan is to establish a stable government and empower the Afghan military and police forces with the training and equipment necessary to protect and sustain the republic. Rapid withdrawal has left US troops more vulnerable as a result in the increased reliance on partnering with Afghan defense forces. The Taliban have recognized this as a weakness and by infiltrating the Afghan military and police forces have been able to successfully inflict numerous US and Afghan casualties through what is referred to as “Green on Blue” attacks. As a response, the US locks down on partnered missions. While this protects US troops, it detracts from the ability to enable Afghan troops with the ability to defend themselves and their government. Over the last decade, training missions have often become a secondary and tertiary responsibility of most US and NATO units. With poorly equipped and trained partner forces, the US cannot rely on the Afghan...
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...Migration in Afghanistan 1. Introduction Afghanistan is home to the largest refugee crises experienced since the inception of the UNHCR. Decades of war have led millions to flee their homes and seek refuge in the neighboring countries of Pakistan and Iran, and for those who were able, further abroad. The number of refugees spiked in 1990 at 6.2 million. They began to decrease in 1992 with the fall of the government, but began to increase again in 1996 with the rise of the Taliban. In 2002, with the fall of the Taliban and the US-led invasion, record numbers of Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan. An international reconstruction and development initiative began to aid Afghans in rebuilding their country from decades of war. Reports indicate that change is occurring in Afghanistan, but the progress is slow. The Taliban have regained strength in the second half of this decade and insurgency and instability are rising. Afghanistan continues to be challenged by underdevelopment, lack of infrastructure, few employment opportunities, and widespread poverty. The slow pace of change has led Afghans to continue migrating in order to meet the needs of their families. Today refugee movements no longer characterize the primary source of Afghan migration. Migration in search of livelihoods is the primary reasons for migration and occurs through rural-urban migration in Afghanistan or circular migration patterns as Afghans cross into Pakistan and/or Iran. Afghans utilize their...
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...Analysis of Indian Developmental Projects in Afghanistan and its impact on Pakistan THEME * Pakistan and Afghanistan are generally labeled as inseparable states due to their historical, religious, cultural, linguistic, trade and ethnic linkages. However, history of bilateral relations between Kabul and Islamabad reveals turbulence. The main reasons for this rocky relationship are the issues related to the Durand Line, the idea of a greater Pakhtunistan, the 1980’s Soviet War, the rise of the Taliban, post 9/11 war, and India’s rising influence in Afghanistan. Through multi-sectoral long-term development projects, apparently carving socio-economic space through application of soft power, India ultimately aims at enhancing its regional relevance to extract politico-economic benefits, while correspondingly constricting contemporary space for Pakistan. Indian sponsored / assisted projects in Afghanistan indicate their character to be more of anti-Pakistan than pro-Afghanistan. Development of road Zaranj-Delaram off sets Afghanistan’s over dependence on Pakistan for transit trade, through offering ground link to Iranian Port Chahbhar. Similarly, Indian offer to build water reservoirs on river Kabul can be termed as extension of her water war against Pakistan. It has implications for Pakistan on its economic, defense and foreign policy fronts. Apropos, carry out a detailed analysis of Indian sponsored / assisted projects directly or indirectly influencing Pakistan and recommend...
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...POLICY BRIEF SUMMARY SHAPING EUROPE’S AFGHAN SURGE Daniel Korski Unnoticed by many, the last few years have seen something of a European military surge in Afghanistan. Since late 2006, 18 of the 25 EU countries participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), NATO’s Afghan mission, have increased their troop contributions, and as a result EU member states now account for 43% of ISAF’s total deployment. This military surge has been accompanied by a steady growth in European efforts to contribute to Afghanistan’s reconstruction, from development aid to police training – although not every EU member state is pulling its weight. These measures have made the EU a major stakeholder in Afghanistan. Yet the EU’s real impact on the country has been limited. In the face of a likely request from the Obama administration to do more, European governments should now formulate a hard-headed political strategy as a complement to the coming US military surge. Introduction President Barack Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, have made it clear that they expect a significant enhancement of the European effort in Afghanistan. The issue is likely to be viewed in Washington as a litmus test of whether the Europeans can be taken seriously as strategic partners. Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan is likely to include an attempt to “regionalise” the issue, involving some kind of dialogue with Iran and efforts to bring India, the Gulf states and the central Asian...
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...The Story of Afghanistan Abstract The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in the third world is one of the poorest countries of about only 29,928,987 in population. It consists of Sunni Muslim 80%, Shiite Muslim 19%, and some select others 1%. There are also many different tribes and ethnicity’s in Afghanistan in which the major ethnicities are Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, the Nuristani 2%, and other minor ethnic groups (Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch). Dari and Pashtun are the official languages of Afghanistan and after the US troops began occupation, English is the next major language in Afghanistan. The capital of Afghanistan is Kabul and the president is Hamid Karzai. (US Department of State, 2010) In this part of the term paper the topic is going to focus on the Economic development, history, the people of Afghanistan, the urbanization of the country, geography, agriculture, and even a little about the impact of war on Afghanistan. The topic will start from the introduction of Afghanistan and discussing the impact of different factors faced by Afghanistan, the main issue related to Afghanistan, the poverty alleviation and the opium is also one of the major issues of the country. (Department of the Army, 2010) The current basic economy of Afghanistan is currently on US and allied country aids, the opium production, some gas and petroleum, gemstones and other resources. The people of Afghanistan are experts in carpets, crafting...
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...seemingly intractable foreign policy problems. Regionally, where do you start, some of the region’s problems, for example, the former Maoist insurgency in Nepal and the protracted civil war that raged for decades in Sri Lanka have finally been resolved ( I believe that it must be remembered that although, in the case of the latter, Tamil aspirations for independence could eventually reignite that conflict at any time), the region’s most dangerous problems remain unresolved, when we look at the two major powers of the region India and Pakistan which remain in a state of perpetual conflict, although their current governments have kept nationalistic/religious fervour in their respective countries to a minimum – a situation that could change soon with the election of a Hindu nationalist to be prime minister of India( Narendra Modi). With both countries possessing nuclear weapons and both countries harbouring considerable numbers of extremists, the potential for the world’s first nuclear war remains focused on the issues that divide India and Pakistan, mainly Hindu versus Muslim sentiments and the future of the region of Kashmir. Southwest Asia, of course, is also where Afghanistan sits, and the situation there does not look good. The government of President Hamid Karzai remains extremely corrupt and inefficient, while the...
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...BOOK REVIEW | LOSING THE BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMIC RADICALISM | | Raghav Sharma Research Intern, IPCS Descent into Chaos: How the War against Islamic Extremism is Being Lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia Ahmed RashidPenguin Books, 2008Pages: lviii+ 484 Price: Rs. 495 | | | The timing and the title of the Ahmed Rashid's latest book could not have been more appropriate. It comes at a critical juncture as the US shifts into election mode marked by politically-charged debates over its policies on the so-called war on terror and as much of South and Central Asia appear to be sliding dangerously down the path of anarchy. Rashid's work makes for a gripping read, his meticulous attention to detail, familiarity with the political and ethnic complexities, credentials as a journalist par excellence having covered the region extensively for 25 years and his access to key political players across the spectrum lend weight to his work.The author makes a stinging critique of the failure of the policies followed by the international community at large and the US in particular in addressing issues pertaining to social stagnation and state failure in the region that have been vital in fuelling the rise of extremism. While he rightly criticizes the Clinton administration's fire and ice policies in dealing with the rising extremist tide, it is the Bush administration he castigates most strongly for its ham-handed approach. This approach, he says was primarily responsible...
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...Public Disclosure Authorized April 2013 Afghanistan Economic Update Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized 77083 Photo by Graham Crouch Poverty Reduction, and Economic Management, South Asia Region The World Bank 1|Page Summary One year into the transition process, Afghanistan sustains robust economic growth. An exceptional harvest, supported by the launch of first large-scale mining activities, increased real GDP growth from 7.3 percent to an estimated 11.8 percent in 2012. Inflation dropped to 6.4 percent and continuing high levels of aid helped to build up further international reserves. So far, transition manifests itself predominantly in a loss of business confidence, reflected in lower private sector activity and a depreciating exchange rate. This compounds the already sluggish recovery of the banking sector from the Kabul Bank crisis which hit the country in 2010. Trends in public finance deserve attention: more onbudget aid poses challenges the Government’s capacity to execute an increasing budget. Growth of domestic revenues is slowing due to lower performance in the collection of customs revenues. The medium-term outlook is tainted by uncertainty. Political and security uncertainties are expected to limit private-sector growth in the coming years. Increased public spending, however, will continue to fuel demand for services and construction through 2013. Mining should contribute...
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...DynCorp International LLC 1. Case Name: Decision Matter of: DynCorp International LLC Citation: B-402349 (Comp. Gen), 2010 CPD P 59 (Comp. Gen), 2010 WL 893517 Date: March 15, 2010 2. Key Facts - On August 24, 2007, five indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts were awards on the basis of full and open competition to Blackwater Lodge, Lockheed Martin Integrated systems, Northrop Grumman/TASC, Raytheon Technical Services, and ARINC Engineering Services. These contracts were awarded pursuant to request for proposals No. W9113M-06-R-0014, issued by the US Army. The scope of work for the ID/IQ contracts was limited to providing the “necessary goods and services required by the Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office to support the Counter Narcoterrorism mission.” There are three “program performance areas”: technology development and application; training, operations, and logistics support; and program and executive support. The performance work statement indicated that these services would be provided worldwide but, the current locations would be Columbia and Afghanistan. The performance work statement also specifically noted that the goods and services provided would outfit and support counter-narcoterrorism units such as the Counter Narcotics Police in Afghanistan and the Counter Narcotics Brigade in Columbia. The solicitation for these ID/IQ contracts included three sample task orders. Sample tasks were (1) develop high resolution short-wave...
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...May 12th, 2013 GEOPOLITICS OF SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Borders in South and Central Asia INTRODUCTION While some seem to care above all about the economic growth of several booming economies (or as they are often called “emerging markets”, such as China, Russia or India), it is legitimate for others to worry more about the borders of some states in the very same region. A border is the very line separating two political or geographical areas, more commonly called countries. Whereas in some parts of the world, the borders between two countries are not even a marked and are seen as simple trade corridors, the issue is raised in a totally different way when it comes to both South and Central Asia. The question of borders presents a major problem for several countries, especially given all it symbolizes: the stability of a state and its legal territory, a politically controlled and delimited zone and a corridor between two nations. Were it after the end of the British Empire or that of the Soviet era, the borders keep being a matter of dispute and the cause of severe contentiousness in South and Central Asia nowadays. Drug trafficking and the circulation of energy are not the only problems. The border disputes mostly jeopardize the transnational security and the ethnical conflicts at stake. A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more states, or over the possession and control of land by a new state that is...
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...“And the Mountains Echoed” by Khalid Hosseini Summary It is the year 1952 and autumn is coming to a fictional village of Afghanistan called Shadbagh. The prospect is sufficiently miserable. Lacking central heating and adequate food, some small child is liable to perish. One of the villagers, Saboor, tells his children a story to this effect. A monster called a div, with horns and tail and shining red eyes, invades the village one day, according to this story “Families would pray that the div would bypass their home, for they knew that if the div taped on their roof, they would have to give it one child.” The main thread is the story of Saboor and his descendants, with Abdullah ending up in the United States owning a restaurant called Abe’s Kebab House. This last part of the novel is narrated by Abdullah’s American-born daughter, a familiar type in this sort of literature — the child torn between America and the restrictive culture of her parents. In this case Abdullah insists on his daughter learning Farsi and undergoing instruction in the tenets of Islam, much against her inclination. Abdullah and his wife can hardly be blamed for this. Back in Afghanistan, even the poorest of villages has a mosque and a mullah (Islamic priest) to impart literacy and the teachings of the Quran. While no one in the novel is at all religious, it is clear that such village institutions supply the sinews and backbone of a culture — a culture almost sufficiently powerful to resist the allure...
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...such as Afghanistan is doing more harm than good, and it should be discontinued; the practice has caused Afghanistan countries to become vulnerable to inflation, currency fluctuations, corruption, and civil unrest. I've learned that proper education, government control, and environmental development would help the poor become more prosperous and independent. I feel that this practice is a lot more beneficial than sending over government aid. Although there are some pros I feel that the cons may out weigh the pros in this particular situation. In this paper I'm going to attempt to give examples of how foriegn aid has both hindered and helped the government in Afghanistan make a turnaround, however some of the aspects may not look so good in the future. Also I will discuss the influences both negative and postive the government has on foreign aid and corruption. Right now the Afghan economy is in a very vulnerable state because they have been at war for almost 35 years. Afghanistan is about to go into an uphill battle because they have several factors that are heavy impactors that are affecting the country. For example their are still many political and security uncertainties. Their was also a presidential election that took place back in April of 2014. Their is a very vast amount of corruption in the government as well as bad governance all together. However in light of these little pitfalls the economy as well as the security have improved somewhat in Afghanistan. One of the...
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...January 27, 2010 War on Afghanistan We are all humans, and as other creatures we are imperfect and full of sin. We might have wrong thoughts, unique beliefs, or even dour doctrines. However, all these features shouldn’t drag us to be authoritarians under any circumstance. These words precisely illustrate the situation that was ongoing in Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban government. I tended to think that killing cannot be justified in defense of the innocent against unjust attack, whether the victim deserves it or not. But that right is not absolute; someone can forfeit that right if they willfully threaten or taken the lives of innocent people. Therefore, the American involvement in Afghanistan was fair and justified in order to bring the Afghan’s sorrow, tyranny, and violation of rights to an end. Historically, the country of Afghanistan was devastated by the successive wars. The people were exhausted from the consecutive occupations and tyranny. As a result, it summed in an enormous human and economic toll. After the Soviet withdrawal, the government steadily lost ground to the extremist forces. In early 1992, Kabul was captured, and Al-Qaeda militia men set up a new government consisting of a 50-member ruling council. The new brutal government started imposing their extremist, strict beliefs on people. They used radio broadcasts to coerce residents into adhering to their strict edicts. The extremists spread fear and despair among the Afghans by their brutal...
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...to maintain effective troop levels in theater, Combined Joint Task Force – 1 (CJTF-1) will be redeployed to home station and replaced by selected elements of Joint Task Force (JTF) Wolverine. This transfer of authority involves several combat brigades, headquarters elements, combat support and combat service support units, approximately 46,000 service members. The scheduled rotation for these forces will begin within the next few months. This rotation marks a return to 2009 troop levels before the increase initiated by President Obama raised the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to over 100,000. Once this rotation is complete, about 68,000 troops will remain in the country. This level of commitment demonstrates continued U.S. support to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, yet it is flexible and adaptable in order to meet the evolving requirements for the successful completion of the mission in Afghanistan. Upon deployment, JTF Wolverine will be re-designated as Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Eagle Fury. 3. Purpose: This message provides public affairs guidance for military forces assigned to CJTF-1 and JTF Wolverine involved in theater...
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