Today is the great day of Afghanistan coverage. Eric Schmitt of the NY Times reports on the income sources of the Taliban.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed an elaborate system to tax the cultivation, processing and shipment of opium, as well as other crops like wheat grown in the territory they control, American and Afghan officials say. In the Middle East, Taliban leaders have sent fund-raisers to Arab countries to keep the insurgency’s coffers brimming with cash.
Estimates of the Taliban’s annual revenue vary widely. Proceeds from the illicit drug trade alone range from $70 million to $400 million a year, according to Pentagon and United Nations officials. By diversifying their revenue stream beyond opium, the Taliban are frustrating American and NATO efforts to weaken the insurgency by cutting off its economic lifelines, the officials say.
Peter Bakery and Sabrina Tavernise are reporting from Washington on a potential delay over the troop decision Obama's.
he question at the heart of the matter, said President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is not “how many troops you send, but do you have a credible Afghan partner for this process that can provide the security and the type of services that the Afghan people need?” He appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
He echoed the thoughts of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, a top Obama ally and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who said in a separate interview from Kabul, “I don’t see how President Obama can make a decision about the committing of our additional forces, or even the further fulfillment of our mission that’s here today, without an adequate government in place.” His interview was broadcast on “Face the Nation.”
The Wall Street Journal is taking a closer look at Karzai's stand on the election in Afghanistan.
Thousands of Mr. Karzai's supporters, wearing black, marched through the town of Spin Boldak in the southern province of Kandahar, near the Pakistani border. They chanted against "foreign interference" in the elections.
"The foreigners are trying to push a second round, and we are not going to participate this time," said Talim Khan, who marched in Spin Boldak. "They don't respect our votes. Despite threats that the Taliban will cut off our nose and ears we went to the polling station. We won't do so again."
Smaller protests took place in other parts of the province. Elsewhere, a group of Islamic scholars in the eastern part of the country issued statements decrying the ECC and calling the country "under occupation." A number of pro-Karzai lawmakers Sunday issued fiery denunciations in parliament of foreign meddling.
Foreign Policy weighs in with a briefing on U.S. strategy in dealing with Afghanistan, arguing for humility. another argument for COIN.
American policy over the next five or 10 years must proceed from the understanding that the ultimate exit strategy for international forces from South Asia is Pakistan's economic success and political normalization, manifested in an Army that shares power with civilian leaders in a reasonably stable constitutional bargain, and in the increasing integration of Pakistan's economy with regional economies, including India's. Such an evolution will likely consolidate the emerging view within Pakistan's elites that the country requires a new and less self-defeating national security doctrine. As in the Philippines, Colombia, and Indonesia, the pursuit of a more balanced, less coup-ridden, more modern political-military order in Pakistan need not be complete or confused with perfection for it to gradually pinch the space in which al Qaeda, the Taliban, and related groups now operate. Moreover, in South Asia, outsiders need not construct or impose this modernizing pathway as a neo-imperial project. The hope for durable change lies first of all in the potential for normalizing relations between Pakistan and India, a negotiation between elites in those two countries that is already well under way, without Western mediation, and is much more advanced than is typically appreciated. Its success is hardly assured, but because of the transformational effect such normalization would create, the effects of American policies in the region on its prospects should be carefully assessed.
USA- domestic:
Reporting on climate change, and especially energy companies stand on green legislation the NY Times argues that a split exists in the energy sector.
Paul Krugman gives his opinion on the state of the banks, arguing that especiallz banks in the lending businss are still struggling to cope.
Newsweek is reporting on some liberal arts colleges coming up with three year programs.
For all of these reasons, some forward-looking colleges like Hartwick are rethinking the old way of doing things and questioning decades-old assumptions about what a college degree means. For instance, why does it have to take four years to earn a diploma? This fall, 16 first-year students and four second-year students at Hartwick, located halfway between Binghamton and Albany, enrolled in the school's new three-year degree program. According to the college, the plan is designed for high-ability, highly motivated students who wish to save money or to move along more rapidly toward advanced degrees.
By eliminating that extra year, three-year degree students save 25 percent in costs. Instead of taking 30 credits a year, these students take 40. During January, Hartwick runs a four-week course during which students may earn three to four credits on or off campus, including a number of international sites. Summer courses are not required, but a student may enroll in them—and pay extra. Three-year students get first crack at course registration. There are no changes in the number of courses professors teach or in their pay.
USA - Africa:
Will Inboden from Shadow govt at FP is taking an insightful look at Obama's Sudan strategy.
USA - Iran:
After the terrorist attack in Iran, the Islamic republic is blaming and threatening the U.S. and UK.
The Baluchi insurgent group Jundallah — or Soldiers of God — took responsibility for the bombings, which included a suicide attack on a community meeting led by Revolutionary Guards and a roadside attack on a car full of Guards, both in the area of the city of Pishin.
Jundallah, whose members are Sunni Muslims, has claimed responsibility for other attacks in the region in recent years, and is believed to have killed hundreds of Iranian soldiers and civilians. The southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan has been the scene of attacks in the past, and in April the government put the Guards Corps in control of security there to try to stop the escalating violence. [...]Iranian officials said they had evidence the attack was launched from within Pakistan, where Jundallah is based, and the Foreign Ministry late Sunday summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires, Press TV said.
A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, told the Daily Times newspaper: “Pakistan is not involved in terrorist activities,” adding, “We are striving to eradicate this menace.”
Ali Larijani, the speaker of Parliament, said the United States bore some responsibility for the attacks. “If they want relations with Iran, they must be frank,” he said, according to the semiofficial ISNA news service, adding, “We consider the recent terrorist measure the outcome of the U.S. measures.”
In the past, Iranian officials have accused the United States of financing and arming Jundallah.
The United States condemned the bombings and denied any connection with them. “We condemn this act of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives,” said Ian C. Kelly, a State Department spokesman. “Reports of alleged U.S. involvement are completely false.”
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