(News) Afghanistan: 5 US troops die in chopper crash

(Opinion) Afghanistan: looking for new friends

With several NATO countries withdrawing troops in Afghanistan and the United States preparing to leave in 2014, Afghanistan is now looking to make itself some new friends as it prepares for life without US and NATO assistance. Afghanistan has recently made a concerted effort to make any ally out of India, an effort supported and encouraged by the United States they are seen by the U.S. as a “stabilizing power in South Asia”[1].  The relationship between Afghanistan and India seems to be flourishing as India has “reached an agreement last year for some senior afghan officers to receive training in India”[2].

Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai has even ‘invited’ India filmmakers to shoot their movies promising “safety and provision of logistical support to the filmmakers”[3]. However, while building bridges with India is a step in the right direction, its relationship with Pakistan that probably should be on the top of the country’s agenda with regards to its security. While there is strain between the countries,  Pakistan and Afghanistan do communicate with each other and have worked together to establish peace as both countries “have… appealed to Taliban-led insurgent groups to participate in the Afghan political reconciliation process aimed at ending the war… asking the militants to sever links with al-Qaida and other international terror networks”[4].

check out the full article at:

 http://www.filmannex.com/posts/blog_show_post/opinion-afghanistan-looking-for-new-friends/57827

(Opinion) Afghanistan Violence: Why Afghanistan will never see peace

War is usually defined as one army in combat with another but in Afghanistan, this definition of war is obsolete to say the least. suicide attacks at weddings and outside mosques tell you that the frames offered by the media are less than accurate.

check out the rest of this post at:

http://www.filmannex.com/posts/blog_show_post/opinion-afghanistan-violence-why-afghanistan-never-see-peace/57285

(Video) Immortal Technique: Immortal technique in Afghanistan

(Opinion) Afghanistan election 2014; 2014 is the year of reckoning for Afghanistan

There is much that can be said about the United States and its allies 2014 exit plan, but what can be said for sure is that an awful lot is riding on one year. In that year, Afghanistan must hold free and fair elections despite little progress in democratic practice to the point that NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, two years early, stressed the importance of fair elections intimating that they weren't before. part of the occupying forces plan to leave Afghanistan with a competent army and national police force despite the fact most army and police officers are poorly paid, leaving them open to turning sides or spying for the Taliban.

If you wish to read the rest of this article, follow this link:

http://www.filmannex.com/posts/blog_show_post/opinion-afghanistan-election-2014-2014-is-the-year-of-reckoning-for-afghanistan/57109

(Opinion) Afghanistan: despair would be a good thing

There is much to be said about Afghanistan, from its culture to its recent history of turmoil, grief, and political-economic dysfunction but what can't be said is that Afghanistan, for all the efforts of NATO and the UN, will come out from the other side, if such a side exists. What it would take to get Afghanistan on its feet would mean more blood and treasure for the occupying forces as Afghanistan has been on its knees for a long time.

From the British Empire, to the Soviets, and now the United States, Afghanistan has been in a state of constant conflict with foreign powers and local warlords all scrambling for their share of Afghanistan future with normal Afghans trying to survive the carnage in the middle. The violence in Afghanistan is still rampant, death prevalent, hope dimming and reality damning.

 To see the full article, follow this link to filmannex.com

http://www.filmannex.com/posts/blog_show_post/opinion-afghanistan-despair-would-be-a-good-thing/56659

(Opinion) Afghanistan: Why the 2014 Date For Exit May be Extended

It is always good advice on a personal level to put a date on your goals, but in politics however, this advice is poisonous. The Obama administration plans to leave Afghanistan  while handing security duties to the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) looks to be failing to the point where the Department of defense has conspicuously tampered with the evaluation tools used to assess the progress of Afghan security forces.

 According to a report by the GAO, the DOD changed the highest level of capability of afghan forces from 'independent' (meaning the ANSF can carry out a given mission "without the assistance of coalition forces" ) to 'independent with advisors' (meaning that the ANSF could execute a mission successfully but required the support of the Coalition forces. 

This gave the false impression that the capability of the ANSF was increasing, however the progress was sluggish at best as only "7 percent of army units and 9 percent of police units" had reached 'full' capability. Another Problem cited in the report is the fact that the Afghan government, at least without donors, cannot sustain the army proposed by the United states and other NATO members.

There are major skill gaps within the ANSF, which contributes to the reliance on coalition forces for support as the grim truth is that the best fighters are probably with the Taliban or local warlords. the United States plans for exit are also hampered by age old problems of poor or weak governance and corruption as the government departments that oversee the military and the police either lack the 'expertise' or the will required. 

In sum,  Afghanistan is the longest war the United Sates has ever been involved in and unless it wants another decade of Afghani hospitality, It must address the ever pressing problems going forward. 

Read the GAO report on Afghanistan here: http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592913.pdf