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