Afghanistan

Keep Calm
Even if NATO rushes to the exits, Afghan collapse is not inevitable (+video)

As French President Hollande promises troop withdrawal this year, and the rest of NATO plans to exit by 2014, Afghanistan's best hope may be the disunity and ill-discipline of the Taliban.
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With Crocker's exit, a chance for a new approach to Afghanistan

Ambassador Ryan Crocker announced he is stepping down as the US ambassador to Afghanistan. 
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Chicago NATO summit sets stage for Afghan withdrawal

With France set to leave at the end of 2012, and the rest of NATO out by 2014, the question is whether Afghanistan's own forces can meet the challenge.
Global News Blog
NATO: European missile shield 'provisionally operational'

If there is any issue that threatens to derail relations with Russia, it's the issue of missile defense. 
In Afghanistan, NATO exit plan raises concerns about stability (+video)

NATO plans to transition security control to Afghan forces over the next two years, but many Afghans question their ability to hold the gains that have been made.
Why Pakistan still hasn't reopened NATO supply lines

The government of Pakistan is facing domestic political pressure to keep NATO's supply routes to Afghanistan closed, while the US resists apologizing or paying a high per truck fee.
Afghanistan after the US: What's next?

Challenges in Wardak Province, west of Kabul, are a mirror of those the Afghan government will face as US and NATO pull back from reconstruction and aid funding in the next two years.
Afghan insurgent attacks down: A sign of widening Taliban fractures?

An independent monitoring group says insurgent attacks in Afghanistan are down 43 percent compared with this time last year.
Second Afghan peace broker assassinated

Gunmen killed a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council Sunday morning, in yet another signal that some elements within the insurgency are against talks.
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Pakistan pushback: US is 'shifting blame' for Afghan insurgency

In India, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Pakistan to do more in taking on radical Islamist groups, including handing over Hafiz Saeed, thought to have had a role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Global News Blog
Majority of Americans reject new US-Afghan security pact: poll

A large majority of Americans disapprove of a new strategic partnership with Afghanistan that will keep US troops on Afghan soil beyond 2014, according to a Monitor/TIPP poll.
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What the French elections could mean for Afghan security

Newly elected French President François Hollande pledged to withdraw French troops by end of 2012. This will increase the burden on other NATO allies as Taliban fighting season begins.
Obama's agreement with Karzai in Afghanistan short on specifics (+video)

In a move that both signals the close of the Afghan war and extends the US commitment here until at least 2024, President Obama visited Kabul to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan.
With blast, Taliban respond to Obama: 'You need to focus on leaving' (+video)

The Taliban detonated a car bomb around dawn, shortly after Mr. Obama gave a speech invoking 'a new dawn' with the signing of a US-Afghanistan strategic partnership agreement.
What the death of Osama bin Laden means for Afghanistan

The killing of bin Laden did not end the Afghan war. But it did highlight for the US the usefulness of using military bases there for striking jihadi leaders in Pakistan.
Why Afghanistan's intelligence agency has a major blind spot

Afghanistan's intelligence service is dominated by men from one small province of the country. Has this hampered the Afghan government's ability to infiltrate the insurgency?
US, Afghanistan agree in private to long-term partnership

Without making the details public, US and Afghan officials announced on Sunday that they both endorsed a final draft of a new strategic partnership.
Russia urges NATO to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the timeline for a NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan. Russia fears a spillover of Islamist militancy into the former Soviet republics on its border.
Backchannels
Afghanistan: overinterpreting the Kabul attack

A coordinated attack in the heart of Kabul - which coincided with attacks in three other provinces - isn't a good thing. But sign of imminent defeat or victory? Hardly.
Karzai blames NATO and Afghan officials for allowing Kabul attacks

Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized 'intelligence failures' by his own government but especially faulted NATO for a series of tightly coordinated insurgent attacks that rocked Kabul.
Assault on Kabul: Taliban claim attacks as show of strength

Teams of insurgents struck within Kabul and three other cities in coordinated attacks on Sunday. A Taliban spokesman called it the opening of their spring offensive.
Afghan deal on night raids presages longterm US presence

The deal increases the chances that the US and Afghanistan will strike a strategic partnership that would keep American troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
Defending Afghanistan: are Afghan forces ready?

An extended occupation and ever-shifting objectives could leave Afghanistan shakier in 2014 than when US-led forces arrived.
Afghan policeman attacks colleagues, undermining cornerstone of US strategy

The officer was part of the Afghan Local Police, a key component of the US and NATO goal of readying Afghan forces to take over security.
Global News Blog
Help for land-mine victims in Kabul

After three decades of war, Afghanistan is littered with land mines. A nonprofit employs disabled land-mine victims to make demining equipment, and funds rehabilitation clinics.