Karzai to Open Negotiations with Taliban

  Afghan President Hamid Karzai has reached out to the Taliban earlier

this week, according to the New York TImes, in an effort to bring about a

peaceful resolution to the conflict waging between Taliban insurgents

and US and allied backed Karzai government. This report comes at a time when

the war against the Taliban has risen in violence and destruction, with constant Taliban

attacks against US forces and the Afghan government in order to destabilize the country.

After months of stalled efforts to negotiate with the Taliban, the top American Commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus told reporters Monday that the Karzai administration has been contacted by Taliban leaders. Petraeus compared the conditions of a cease-fire with the Taliban to the IRA in Northern Ireland. that they would have to respect Afghanistan's Constitution and surrender their weapons. Petraeus had recently said that US forceshave managed to curb the extent of Taliban activity, despite continued violence. Prior to negotiations, Karzai has announced the formation of a 70-member peace council which will negotiate with the Taliban. The council is mostly composed of Afghan government officials, many of them anti-taliban, a few influential former members of the Taliban government, and at least 8 women, a move made to show the Afghan government continued support for women's rights. The council will not directly negotiate with the taliban but will instead appoint smaller commissions of neutral parties to do it. This course comes reportedly from Karzai's lack of faith in coalition forces to bring security to Afghanistan, prompting his government to chart it's own course.

This new move is not the first attempt by the government to reconcile with the Taliban. In recent years since the spike in taliban violence, Karzai has attempted numerous times to bring the taliban to the negotiation table, but with no success.This attempt seems to be have better organization than previous ones, and also has the backing of NATO and US.The outcome of this now is unclear, but if there is a success this could mean the end of conflict in Afghanistan. However, the outcome will also depend on the willingness, or unwillingness, of the taliban to negotiate or to continue their campaign. Also to consider is that whether the taliban will keep their word on any peace settlement.

The Problem with Karzai

Afghanistan's drug problem

Kabul Bank Verges on the Edge of Collapse

Afghanistan has been facing a severe financial crisis since the beginning of September, when thousands of Aghans rushed to the country's central bank Kabul Bank to make withdraw their accounts. By September 2, according to the New York Times, $180 million dollars in Afghan currency had been withdrawn from the bank in only two days. The cause of this run on has been pointed toward the demands by Afghanistan's leading finance officials for the resignation of Khalilullah Fruzi, Kabul Bank's chief executive and second largest shareholder and Sherkan Farnood, the bank's chairman. Both men have been accused by American and Afghan officials of giving millions to supporters of President Karzai and of recklessly investing in failed business ventures. This lack of confidence compelled thousands of Afghan depositors to attempt to withdraw their savings, culminating in a near collapse of Afghanistan's largest private bank. Kabul Bank was formed with US assistance after the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001. The bank officially opened in 2004, and has become the center of Afghanistan's fledgling financial system. It has 68 branches covering 34 provinces, including 28 in the nation's capital Kabul.  It holds the bankrolls of thousand of Afghan civilians, administers payments for the government, and reportedly holds about $1 billion in deposits. The bank has been plagued, like so many institutions of the government, by alleged corruption within its leadership. The bank has close ties with the Karzai administration, with one of its largest shareholders being Mahmoud Karzai, the president's brother. Afghan and American official fear that a collapse of the bank could be disastrous to the country's treasury and to the Afghanistan's overall economy. The Afghan government has attempted to calm these fears by stating that Kabul Bank is in no imminent danger, and by giving over $100 million to the bank to ensure the salaries of 250,000 public employees. This Monday, both Fruzi and Farnood resigned their posts, though bank officials denied this was related to the allegations. Still, their are worries that if the present situation continues, there could be a bailout of Kabul Bank by the US government to safeguard Afghanistan's economy.

Afghanistan: The Basin of Problems

There seems to be no other country in the world which does not face the multitude of problems as Afghanistan. For the past 30 years Afghanistan has been engulfed in war, causing enormous civil unrest and great destabilizing the country. The beginingof Afghanistan's recent problems can arguably be said to have started in 1973, when the king of Afghanistan Zahir Shan, who presided over a period of stablity and peace in the country, was overthrown in a coup by his cousin Daoud Khan who declared Afghanistan a republic. In 1978, Daoud himself was overthrown during a revolt which saw the rise of a communist regime. This new government immediately faced resistance from rebel groups known as the mujahideen. The government appealed to its ally, the Soviet Union who sent soldiers into Afghanistan in 1979 to bolster the regime. After over 10 years of war with the CIA-backedmujahideen, the Soviets withdrew from the country in 1989, leaving a growing civil war between factions of Afghan groups. Fighting continued until 1996 when the Taliban took control of the country.  After the US led invasion in 2001, war has continued to plaque the nation as an insurgent Taliban fights against the government and Allied forces. Despite the progress which has been made under the more democratic government, such as extending more rights to women, the country still faces more troubles which can lead to further weakening the country. The Taliban are fighting a guerrilla war against US forces, using a variety of methods from suicide bombing to RPGs to weaken our armies there. The Taliban is also engaged in a campaign of intimidating the the population by threatening those who collaborate with the government or Allied forces. Because of such widespread fighting, the nations economy has suffered terribly, leading to an increase in poverty. The government has little authority outside of cities, making it harder to establish a relationship with its people. Afghans are also dissatisfied with rampant corruption within the government. Another serious problem is the rampant heroin trade in Afghanistan. Produced from poppies, the trade of heroin is used by the Taliban to finance their campaign. The US and its allies have waged a war on drugs against this trade, but problems make it difficult. Afghan farmers, already living impoverished life's, have found that it is profitable for them to farm poppies for the Taliban. This economic dependency makes it difficult for the US to ensure the eradication of the drug trade. 

Afghanistan-Country Profile

Afghanistan is located in South Asia, bordering most of northern and western Pakistan to the east and bordering Iran in the west. It encompasses an area of about 652,230 square kilometers, making it the world's 41st largest country. Afghanistan is a landlocked country and has no major lakes or rivers. Terrain consists of many rugged mountainous regions, especially the Hindu Kush mountain range which separates the northern provinces from the rest of the country, and having  plains in the north and southeast. Climate is composed of harsh cold winters and dry hot summers. Naturally occurring disasters include earthquakes in mountainous areas, flooding and drought.
The estimated population of Afghanistan is 28,395,716 people. Of that 43.6% are between 0-14 years of age, 54% are between 15-64 years, and 2.4% are 65 years or higher. Birth rate is 38.37 births per 10,000 and its death rate is 17.83 per 10,000. The average life expectancy for the population is 44.4 years. Literacy is Afghanistan is small, with only 28.1% of the total population being able to read.
Natives of Afghanistan are referred to as Afghans. Many ethnic groups make up the country's diverse population. There are 42% Pashtun, 27% Tajik, with other groups below 10%. The country is solidly Muslim, with 80% Sunni & 19% Shia. Afghanistan has two official languages: Afghan Persian or Dari (50%) & Pashto (35%). Other languages are Uzbek and Turkmen (11%) as well as 30 other minor languages, which make up 4%.
Afghanistan's government is officially an Islamic Republic. Its capital is located in Kabul in central Afghanistan, the largest city in Afghanistan. The country has been a democracy since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October, 2001 which toppled the Taliban government. The government has three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief of state and head of government  President Harmid Karzai, who held office officially since December 2004. A bicameral legislature has the House of Elders, with 102 seats and the House of People with no more than 239 seats. The president and two vice-presidents are elected by more than 50% of the vote for five-year terms. Universal suffrage is extended to all those over 18. Religious groups and tribal leaders have great influence over government policy.
Afghanistan's economy has been greatly weakened by more than 30 years of warfare in their land. After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the economy has improved greatly due to outpouring of economic aid. Despite this, the country remains mostly poor. Most civilians lack adequate housing, clean water, electricity, and medical care. All of this has contribute to Afghanistan having one of the lowest standard of living in the world. The economy itself is mostly agriculturally based with 78.6% of the labor force engaged in agricultural work.

The Global Threat from Terrorism

The first decade of the 21st century  became witness to the most terrible terrorist attack on American soil. For the first time since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the United States had experienced a violent act of terrorism. On September 11, 2001, the United States once more became aware of the worldwide danger of terrorism, the greatest threat to international security and peace during this present time. Terrorism involves extremes acts of violence and aggression, varying from bombings, hostage taking and the indiscriminate killings of civilians by organized groups or hostile states. All of these crimes are committed and "justified" by the groups ideological beliefs or agenda. In different regions of the world, terrorist groups either operate worldwide, like Al Queda, or may just be active in one country or region, as the IRA exists in Northern Ireland. Terrorism may gain support stemming from key root causes: extreme poverty in a country which turns civilians into the fold of extremist groups as a possible way to change their lives; ethnic or religious differences that fuel civil division and prompt the rise of insurgent groups who use conflict in the name of their cause. Though these causes can be viewed sympathetically, they do not excuse for violence perpetrated by terrorist groups that have destroyed and ruined life's all around the world. The problem today with combating terrorism is that these groups usually do not engage in conventional warfare. They instead to fight using guerilla style tactics, focusing on small fights and ambushes rather than a full engagement. These are the kinds of engagements that have framed the conduct of the current War on Terror. Our soldiers in Afghanistan face these dangers on a daily basis as they struggle to stabilize that country and defeat the insurgent Taliban. However, terrorist attacks have also been attempted recently on America. The attempted Christmas Day Bombing almost about a year ago reminds us that the terrorist threat still poses a constant threat to our country and allies across the world.