Topic: The Taliban
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5 memoirs to add to your 2013 reading list
A new crop of memoirs takes readers to the worlds authors once knew.
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Briefing Chechnya: How a remote Russian republic became linked with terrorism
The main suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing are two brothers from Chechnya, a Russian republic that has been the scene of cyclical revolts and brutal crackdowns for the past 200 years.
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Pakistan elections: Who's running?
This election will mark the first transfer of power from one government to another without any military interference. Here is a look at the main candidates for prime minister.
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Opinion 5 factors for peace in Afghanistan
Given that Afghanistan has been in a state of war for nearly 35 years, only a broad-based reconciliation can resolve the fighting. Peace talks are a vital part of that process. Here are five factors necessary to achieving a sustainable peace in Afghanistan.
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When dictators fall, so do their banknotes
The following now defunct or possibly soon-to-be defunct banknotes are imbued with the symbols and iconography of their leaders, past and present.
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The Monitor's View Talking with the enemy: Obama, Taliban negotiate Afghanistan's future (+video)
With the US and Taliban due to open talks, Obama's idea of negotiating an end to the Afghanistan war faces its big test. Fortunately, the Taliban will also be tested to face the new Afghan realities.
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Backchannels As Karzai blusters over Taliban, more trouble in Afghanistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspended talks with the US over a new Status of Forces Agreement, furious that the US is trying to join peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
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Terrorism & Security Bagram Air Base attack: Four US soldiers killed as US seeks talks with Taliban
Bagram Air Base attack: The Taliban killed four US soldiers overnight, as the US sought talks with the militant group. The Bagram Air Base attack infuriated Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions
No one is predicting an easy road ahead for the peace talks. One key question: How united are the Taliban’s political and military wings behind this latest reconciliation effort?
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As Taliban prepares for peace talks, US braces for disappointment
The Taliban will open a political office in Qatar, the White House announced Tuesday. This would help prepare for reconciliation talks in which the government of Afghanistan and the US would take part.
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Terrorism & Security After 12 years, NATO passes security responsibility to Afghan forces
The formal transfer of Afghan forces into the lead of the fight in Afghanistan is raising questions about whether they're prepared to fight on their own.
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Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?
Army Maj. Nidal Hasan cannot use the defense that he acted to protect Taliban leaders from US soldiers deploying to Afghanistan, a military judge ruled Friday. His challenge now is to come up with another explanation to argue at his court-martial.
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Terrorism & Security Taliban assault on Kabul airport ends with seven militants dead
A small Taliban unit assaulted the Kabul airport just before dawn today. Afghan police and Army units handled the response.
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Backchannels Report confirms high toll from Afghan insider attacks in 2012
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction points to the dangers posed to foreign troops from their Afghan counterparts.
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With Nidal Hasan bombshell, time to call Fort Hood shooting a terror attack?
Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army major facing court-martial for a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, plans to argue that he acted in defense of the Taliban in Afghanistan. So much for the official US line that the shootings were an act of workplace violence, critics say.
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American public has few qualms with drone strikes, poll finds
President Obama's aggressive campaign of drone strikes has generated controversy overseas and among terrorism experts. But Americans seem fine with it, according to a Monitor/TIPP poll.
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Obama to detail terrorism policy including drone attacks and Guantánamo Bay prison
In a national security speech, President Obama will explain his policies dealing with terrorism, the use of drone aircraft, Al Qaeda, and the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
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Afghanistan fails to pass law banning violence against women
A law banning violence against women, considered a major step forward in women's rights in Afghanistan, failed to pass parliament. The law would have also created shelters for abused women, and limited the number of wives permitted to two.
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Why Afghanistan is nervous about the US troop withdrawal
By December 2014 the Afghan National Security Forces that have been built by the US and NATO will be left to largely stand on their own.
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Why insider attacks are down in Afghanistan
No one claims the problem is solved, but officials are cautiously hopeful that the lower number of 'green-on-blue' killings in Afghanistan this year means preventive measures are having an impact.
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Pakistanis hopeful as Nawaz Sharif makes a political comeback
Center-right politician Nawaz Sharif appeared set to return as Pakistan's prime minister on Monday, his third time in the job.
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The Monitor's View Pakistan election as a marker of global progress
The Pakistan election on Saturday put a former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, back in power but that's not really the big story. Democracy itself advanced against Islamic terror and other woes facing Pakistan.
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Pakistanis vote in historic election even as violence looms
The vote will be the first in Pakistan's history from one elected government at the end of its term to another.
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Of elections and extremes: Pakistan's Pamela Anderson takes on a mullah
The parliamentary race between pinup-film-star-turned-politician Musarrat Shaheen and a man described as a powerful, Taliban-tied cleric highlights the dual nature of Pakistan.
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Global News Blog Imran Khan falls from forklift at a political rally. Will it hurt his campaign? (+video)
The famous cricketer-turned-politician will miss final days of election campaigning as he recovers in a hospital named for his mother, but his party could benefit from a wave of concern.
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Terrorism & Security Back-to-back blasts in Pakistan highlight election risks
More than two dozen people were killed and 70 injured today in two bombings that targeted politicians campaigning in northwest Pakistan for the May 11 general election.
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The Monitor's View Despite stalled Arab Spring, Muslim nations grasp for democracy
Elections in Pakistan and Malaysia show step-by-step progress to reconcile Islam with secular values of elected government.
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747 crash mourned: Video of Americans killed in Afghanistan
747 crash mourned: US families mourned the deaths of seven Americans in a 747 cargo plane crash in Afghanistan. New video adds information about the crash.
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The Blind Man's Garden
Two Pakistani brothers flee to Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in this riveting story by Pakistani-British author Nadeem Aslam.
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Terrorism & Security Will pre-election violence impact Pakistan's elections?
At least eight people were killed and 40 more injured in a suicide bombing this morning in northwest Pakistan. The country has seen scores killed in pre-election violence.
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