August 30, 2004

brick2 (52K) Peshawar, Pakistan: Afghan refugees in Peshawar still live in terrible conditions. Many of them are afraid to go back to their villages inside Afghanistan because of brutal warlords and a ruined economy which has yet to be rebuilt. Jobs are not available and prices of goods are sky high. Thus many choose the hell of life as a refugee in Pakistan rather than the burning hell of Afghanistan.

With All Our Strength

August 18, 2004

By Anne Brodsky “Here is a testimony to RAWA – Afghanistan’s real democrats.” – Arundhati Roy With All Our Strength is the inside story of this women-led underground organization and their fight for the rights of Afghan women. Anne Brodsky, the first writer given in-depth access to visit and interview their members and operations inRead More…

Gunmen kill two as fears mount for Afghan election

August 8, 2004

Gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying election workers into a remote Taliban stronghold, killing two and bringing to 12 the number of people slain while preparing for the landmark presidential vote.

Afghan aid as a military weapon

August 5, 2004

The United States and the United Kingdom are being accused of undermining the work of international humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan by misusing aid to advance their military interests. “There are times when aid agencies need the support of the military – as in Bosnia – but we are concerned about the increased involvement of the US and UK military in the provision of aid,” said Caroline Green of Oxfam International.

Forces that Would Rip Afghanistan Apart

August 4, 2004

Throughout its history as a field of conflict between contending empires and great powers, Afghanistan has developed a formula for survival that has helped it to keep its territorial integrity and indigenous authority system, despite its dizzying ethnic diversity and the external pressures that have been exerted on it. That formula – a weak central government allowing comprehensive power to local and regional leaders – is always vulnerable to civil war, which has been a staple of Afghan existence and threatens to break out again.