Updated News

Fighting in Afghanistan is due to intensify as more US troops arrive

Guest columnist Ahmed Rashid says 2010 looks like presenting Afghanistan and Pakistan with their most difficult set of challenges since the end of the Cold War.

People in the South Asia region will be holding their breath in the new year.

If both nations fail to achieve a modicum of political stability and success against extremism and economic growth, the world will be faced with an expansion of Islamic extremism, doubts about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and major questions about US prestige and power as it withdraws from Afghanistan.

The challenges for both countries are deeply interlinked and enormous.

Read more ….

Taliban bomber wrecks CIA’s shadowy war — Times Online
Taliban: CIA Attack Was Retaliation for Drone Strikes — Wall Street Journal
Killings Rock Afghan Strategy – Wall Street Journal
Exclusive: CIA Attacker Driven in From Pakistan — ABC News
Al-Qaeda target British soldiers returning from Afghanistan — The Telegraph
18 militants killed in Afghanistan: military — Press Trust Of India
Afghans Answering the Call to Fight — New York Times
MoD ‘is Not Capable’ of Winning War — The Scotsman
U.S. troops rely on Afghan police while trying to train them — McClatchy News
Drone crashes in E Afghanistan — China View
Many Karzai Afghan Cabinet Choices Are Rejected — New York Times
Afghan Lawmakers Reject Most of Karzai’s Cabinet Picks — Washington Post/AP
Cabinet rejections a setback for Afghanistan – U.N. — Reuters
Remains of journalist, 4 soldiers killed in Afghanistan return home today — Canadian Press
Five Canadians ride Highway of Heroes today — Toronto Sun
Afghanistan struggles to keep girls’ schools open — Stars And Stripes
Seattle attorney battles to keep girls’ schools open in Afghanistan — McClatchy News
Afghanistan war strategy faces mounting challenges in year ahead — The Hill
‘I Am For Sale’ — Masha Hamilton, Los Angeles Times opinion
Afghan Army Troop Surge? — Captain’s Journal