'Warlords Toughen US Task In Afghanistan', TIME, 9 December 2008
EXCERPT: "The Afghan warlords largely responsible for assisting the U.S.'s ousting of the Taliban in 2001 are now deeply entrenched in Afghan society. They have positions in government, in the police, in the army and in business. Though they have largely relinquished their tanks and heavy artillery, most have been able to maintain their core militias in the form of private security companies, political parties or loose business networks. Allegations of land grabs, rape, murder and kidnapping are rife. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Afghan human rights organizations, such as the Afghan Human Rights Organization, have documented extortion rackets run by former warlords and militia-run prisons where captives are held for ransom. Afghan journalists covering their crimes have been harassed by police or thrown in jail. Last year Samimi received a phone call from General Abdul Rashid Dostum, a U.S. ally who was appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai as Army Chief of Staff, threatening to have her raped 'by 100 men' if she continued investigating a rape case in which he was implicated. Dostum denies ever making such a threat, and calls the rape allegation 'propaganda.' A witness to the phone call, military prosecutor General Habibullah Qasemi, was dismissed from his post soon after, despite carrying a sheaf of glowing recommendation letters penned by U.S. military supervisors."
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See also:
'Lashkar militants ordered to move from Pakistan to Afghanistan', Thaindian News, 9 December 2008
'Warlords show determination in Afghanistan', Albuquerque Express, 9 December 2008
'Afghan troop boost will differ from Iraq surge', Reuters, 9 December 2008
'Afghanistan: Awaking to new realities', Middle East Times, 8 December 2008
Related posts:
'Afghans wary of Taliban, US', 1 December 2008
'Afghanistan: Little has changed in 200 years', 12 November 2008
'Karzai admits failure in securing Afghanistan', 29 October 2008
'Afghanistan needs more than money', 11 June 2008
'A struggle between war and peace', 3 June 2008
