Asia Opinion

Mike Hanna is the project manager for a trucking company called Afghan American Army Services. The company, which still operates in Afghanistan, had been trucking for the United States for years but lost out in the Host Nation Trucking contract...

On October 29, 2001, while the Taliban’s rule over Afghanistan was under assault, the regime’s ambassador in Islamabad gave a chaotic press conference in front of several dozen reporters sitting on the grass. On the Taliban diplomat’s right sat his...

“The tribes consider the king rather differently to the Tajiks, the latter vesting the king with many powers, whereas for the tribes he has limited prerogatives; the tribes are largely selfgoverning.” (Elphinstone 1815) State and nation A nation is, wrote Benedict Anderson...

Reasons for war A pickup bearing formless, faceless women drives into the stadium. They get out and walk to their execution. The crowd looks on. Overlaying all is heavy music, heralding death. ...

“In Afghan history the communists had an ideology and the Taliban had an ideology, they were fighting for something they believed in. It is good to believe, to have an aim. You didn’t see that with the mujahideen, or even...

Afghanistan is not a well understood country. This is something of a paradox, for a great deal of impressive scholarly work has been devoted to the analysis of its politics, economy and society, and events such as the Soviet invasion...

The idea for this book first emerged in August 2001 when we realized that between us we had lived in Afghanistan and witnessed the history of international engagement here since 1989-an experience that seemed worth reflecting upon. Events since September...

Preface Foreword 1. The mirage of peace Illusions of peace ‘Liberation’ Raising the stakes Bombing in a peace Losing hearts and minds New beginnings? ‘Failure is not an option’ 2. Identity and society New values and old Rooted in Islam Identity and others Civil society? Making decisions, being represented War and social change Ethnicity Closing ranks Managing the world...

By Pepe Escobar Asia Times, 04/05/09 Apocalypse Now. Run for cover. The turbans are coming. This is the state of Pakistan today, according to the current hysteria disseminated by the Barack Obama administration and United States corporate media-from Secretary of State Hillary...

Part 1 History of the Taliban Movement Chapter 1 KANDAHAR 1994: THE ORIGINS OF THE TALIBAN The Taliban Governor of Kandahar, Mullah Mohammed Hassan Rehmani, has a disconcerting habit of pushing the table in front of him with his one good leg. By...