Flashpoint #5

• A suicide bomber on Friday attacked a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing police chief and killing at least five other people
• Spokesman for the militia, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed in a text that the police chief was the target of the attack
• Six policemen were killed.
• The attack came only three days after attacks on Shiite Muslims in the capital of Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif
• These attacks killed at least 59 people in an assault on the holy day of Ashura.
• Afghan officials fear that Tuesday's killings could unleash Iraq and Pakistan-style sectarian violence.
• The Guardian newspaper reported Friday that up to 4,000 British troops could leave Afghanistan before the end of 2013 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gBFXl0WmUwX5tTa3FIgBxoceYwcA?docId=CNG.769cfb938cc7e9d16a0ff9ccbf764fce.81
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/214265.html

More attacks on the citizens of Afghanistan is not a good sign. What makes it even worse is that the Taliban is publicizing the fact that they executed the attacks. These attacks are most alarming because the first set came on a holy day which was supposed to be a day in which there was a treaty of sorts. These attacks raise major problems, as the date for withdrawing the troops is fast approaching. These attacks could potentially lead to a civil war, which is never a good option. It is clear that the Taliban has strayed away from their goals, as their intention was to fight the foreign forces until they left the country. They are attacking citizens of their country who they claim to be trying to protect. And for a large scale attack to be executed at a mosque on a holy day is very perplexing. In my mind, it seems as if the militia groups of Afghanistan are looking for a civil war in order to come out on top and lead the country their way

Afghanistan Intro

Location:
• Between Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
• On the “slik route” therefore very sought after despite its very rough terrain
• Slightly smaller than texas
History:
• Gained independence from UK in 1919
• Afghanistan was a cold war battleground when soviet troops invaded to promote communism. The country brought a lot of international attention, but the attention faded very quickly
• 1978 a coup was planned and executed that overthrew Muhammad Daoud, and this started a civil war that has not yet ended.
• Afghanistan is also a major part of the worlds drug trade, supplying about 90% of the world’s opium (main ingredient in heroin) = half of the econ
• This has been discussed on the international scale, because it is believed that the opium trade is greatly boosting the Taliban resurgence

Afghanistan, a country that has been in the international spotlight for decades, is an extremely troubled country. There is an extremely unstable balance in the government, as the Taliban and other militia groups of the country pull a lot of weight in the decisions being made in the country. They influence the citizens by using scare tactics, making them believe that their army, and foreign armies are the enemy. Afghanistan's borders are a huge problem as well, as the country borders 6 countries. A lot of Afghanistan's money comes in through the drug trade, which is also heavily influenced by militia groups. With the US, and NATO troops scheduled to be completely withdrawn by 2014, there is a lot of speculation as to how secure the country will be in the near future. Much, much more to come

Flashpoint #4

· President Karzai wants to shut down all private security companies in order to free up billions

· Private security companies have long been a source of tension in the country. Some Afghan companies operated as private militias for warlords and many, along with some American companies, have been plagued by accusations of corruption, illegal use of weapons and reckless use of force resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.

· replacing the private companies with his country’s forces is an important step toward Afghan sovereignty.

· NATO, the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development are setting up a task force that could grow to more than 170 people to advise and help train the guard force

· The Pentagon will also be asking Congress to reallocate $35 million to $40 million in funds designated for security in Afghanistan to pay for the task force, a senior NATO official said.

· Of 166 essential criteria only about 1/3 were met

· “has no money available to procure necessary supplies and equipment”; its training center is not teaching leadership skills and cannot generate enough guards to meet the forecasted demand; and the ministry has failed to provide the seed money

· running out of time, as the force needs to be finalized by march

The information presented above is extremely important and relevant to the IR community. This is looking even further into Afghanistan's border security issues which has become an international issue. This also goes into the severe corruption issues that Afghanistan has, putting the people of the country in danger. This also raises the issues of the training of the guards because there are such insufficient funds and trainers to keep the Afghan security forces up and running.

Flashpoint #3

· September 13, multiple suicide bombers attacked the US embassy and the NATO headquarters.

· Kabul is widely viewed as relatively safe because of the international presence and large numbers of Afghan security and intelligence forces there.

· This displayed the Taliban’s power in Afghanistan, and the ability to infiltrate anything, anywhere in their home country

· At least 5 Taliban enemies hid in a nearby building with vantage points looking down on the embassy and the NATO headquarters

· They fired RPG’s and lots of bullets leaving 7 dead and 19 injured

· The fight ended after 19 hours of continuous gunfire leaving 9 more enemies killed

· This is one of many recent attacks that show the afghan and world’s populations that they can do what ever they want whenever

· This showed that they can dominate media as well, and that they still have control over what the US is trying to do to stop them

· This attack showed that the Taliban does not care, and will fight the US until the second all of the troops are gone

· This also completely ruled out the potential peace talks between the US and the Taliban

· Another reason that this brings trouble is because people had to let the heavily armed Taliban into the city thru the heavy security into the capitol

· The president stated that these attacks will encourage the Afghani people to take responsibility of their own affairs.

These attacks prove extremely problematic for the afghan government and community alike. This demonstrated that the Taliban still has unsurmountable amounts of power in thier country of operation. These attacks were immediately claimed by the Taliban, showing that they cannot be stopped. This indicates domestic compellance, rather than compellance on an international stage. The force that they are exerting is very dangerous, and they are trying (and succeeding) to show that they can't be stopped, especially by the american military forces. This, along with the recent assassination of former president, Rabbani has completely ruled out peace talks between government forces and the taliban, meaning that the violence and murders of hundreds of innocent citizens will continue indefinitely. As the US begins to withdraw troops, there is worry that the Taliban's strength will grow, and even take over the country. There is much more to come on the Taliban, and the growing problems that they present in Afghanistan.

Flashpoint #2

Afghanistan border problems

· The Tajikistan border is very loosely patrolled, making it very easy to infiltrate

· The border between Afghanistan. and taj. is 870 miles long, and the guards are “poorly trained, undereducated and easily corruptible”

· There is extreme amounts of violence at the borders of afghanistan because of the large drug trade.

· 2 shootouts took place in June between border guards and traffickers

· It is estimated that tens of thousands of pounds of heroin goes through Afghanistan each year which originates in afghanistan and goes north, first traveling thru Tajikistan

· Afghans have been known to snipe unsuspecting people from across the border

· The border situation has brought international attention with countries like U.S. Russia going to afghan capitol to discuss border security

· US withdrawl of troops is bringing worry to people because violence in the north is on the rise

· Moscow had troops in Afghanistan, but withdrew in 2005 when asked, they might return soon

· “Tajikistan and also Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, all the republics on the northern border with Afghanistan, are facing serious threats to their security,”

This is related to our recent studies in IR because it discusses alliances, and the effects of dominance. Afghanistan's allies such as Russia and the US have taken note that the country is growing rapidly more unsafe, and want to protect it. They have sent their own troops to protect the borders, knowing very well that the troops that have been deployed by Afghanistan are undertrained, and unsuitable for the job. The topic of dominance can also be related because the major world powers that are allied with Afghanistan are making suggestions to fortify, and further secure the borders. They are also willing to deploy troops in order to make the border safer for the guards and civilians alike.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/world/asia/10tajik.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=drugtrafficking