Welcome to The Roashans

Where we discuss Afghanistan...
The Circus Manager and the Clowns
Originally Posted On: 11/25/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

Another secret was exposed of the inefficiency of the Afghan Government. Karzai's government has been talking to an imposter as the Taleban second in command. For months rumors had it that the Afghan gover menu_book


Self Deception of the Innocent
Originally Posted On: 11/15/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The blame game, hypocrisy and false claims for credit have become the law of the land in Afghanistan. Power, on the other hand, has corrupted the already corrupt system of government. All the powerful, or the so-called leaders menu_book


The Naivete of the Uninitiated - Afghanistan is not kid's play
Originally Posted On: 10/18/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

There is a need for mature politics and mature politicians to work hard to find a realistic solution to the complex Afghan dilemma. Has any one done any serious work on removing many of the problems Afghanistan is facing? And what would be menu_book


Exotic Birds in a Cage - Criticism Grows of Afghanistan's Bloated NGO Industry
Originally Posted On: 09/23/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

By Walter Mayr The NGO community in Afghanistan has grown into an industry where a large part of aid budgets is spent on security, and money gets frittered away on pointless projects. Afghans are becoming increasingly skeptical about the foreign menu_book


Afghanistan The Other Side of the Coin
Originally Posted On: 07/05/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The recent changing of the commander at the helm of the military operations of the United States showed the world that there are problems with our war on terror in Afghanistan. Could it be that we have consistently only seen our own side of menu_book


U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan
Originally Posted On: 06/14/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

By JAMES RISEN WASHINGTON � The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan wa menu_book


In Search of Peace
Originally Posted On: 06/07/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The Consultative Peace Jirga in Kabul was a daring undertaking by the government of Afghanistan. Its resolution was praised by the United Nations as well as the US government. As is the case in similar situations, some have shown pe menu_book


The Link
Originally Posted On: 05/17/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

At this time that a flurry of activity is undertaken by the Afghan president Karzai, mending, confirming and expanding his relations with the West, a true economic development project namely extension of railway service from Central Asia to menu_book


Suicide bomber strikes Afghan border police
Originally Posted On: 05/17/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

By MIRWAIS KHAN, Associated Press Writer KANDAHAR, Afghanistan � A suicide bomber detonated his cache of explosives late Sunday near the gate of an Afghan Border Police residence in Kandahar where insurgents are waging a campaign of targeted menu_book


Fueling the Afghan War
Originally Posted On: 04/25/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

By Aram Roston This article appeared in the May 10, 2010 edition of The Nation. April 21, 2010 Research support for this article was provided by the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. In Napoleon Bonaparte's day an army may have marc menu_book


120 Afghans die in a week of carnage
Originally Posted On: 04/19/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 120 people and injured over 100 more over the past week. On Sunday, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said dozens of civilians were killed in another week of carnage. He menu_book


NATO doubts Afghan forces ability
Originally Posted On: 04/19/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The commander of NATO-led operations in Afghanistan says he has doubts about Afghan forces ability to secure the war-weary country by 2015. German General Egon Ramms believes that the timetable set for Afghans to take over security will not menu_book


Karzai appoints new election chief
Originally Posted On: 04/19/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has appointed a new election commission chief, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary vote in the war-weary country. Karzai appointed Fazel Ahmad Manavi as the chairman of the Independent Election Commission (IEC). menu_book


US-led soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Originally Posted On: 04/19/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

As Afghanistan continues to struggle with militancy, NATO says a roadside bomb has killed two more US-led soldiers in the country's volatile south. The nationalities of the soldiers have not been disclosed yet. The deaths bring the number of menu_book


5.7 magnitude quake hits Afghanistan
Originally Posted On: 04/19/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale has struck an area in central Afghanistan about 67 miles (107 km) southeast of Mazar-i-Sharif. The quake occurred at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km) at 12:58 local time (2028 GMT) on Sunday, 124 menu_book


Multi-dimensional Peace Talks
Originally Posted On: 04/03/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

President Karzai of Afghanistan plays a complex game of politics in deciding to talk peace with the insurgency. He should consider the many faces of the die before tossing them in this delicate and complex game. Politics is menu_book


Taliban reject "deal" with Afghanistan, West
Originally Posted On: 02/07/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

A Taliban-Kabul deal must protect women's rights - U.N. Fri Feb 5, 2010 11:32pm IST GENEVA (Reuters) - Any future peace deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban should include a clear commitment to respecting women's rights, a United menu_book


Soviet Lessons From Afghanistan - By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
Originally Posted On: 02/07/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The New York Times February 5, 2010 Op-Ed Contributor Afghanistan is in turmoil, with tensions rising and people dying every day. Many of them � including women, children and the elderly � have nothing in common with terrorists or militants menu_book


From Here to London!
Originally Posted On: 01/31/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The London Conference came and went. It gave President Karzai of Afghanistan green light to go on with some of his proposals. But there are many questions as to the practicality of those plans that still depend on regional powers, nei menu_book


Killing in Distant Lands
Originally Posted On: 01/17/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

Washington Post on August 28, 2008 carried an article titled: " Only a Two-Page �Note' Governs U.S. Military in Afghanistan." The title alone points to the complications that can arise when you carry out military operations anywhere without a c menu_book


My Front Page
Originally Posted On: 01/17/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

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Afghan Lobby Scam
Originally Posted On: 01/15/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

Taxpayer's Money Going To Insurgents? By Aram Roston December 22, 2009 As President Obama prepares a massive military buildup in Afghanistan, a House subcommittee has launched an investigation into whether Defense Department contractors are pa menu_book


How the US Funds the Taliban
Originally Posted On: 01/15/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

By: Aram Roston November 12, 2009 "The Nation" On October 29, 2001, while the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan was under assault, the regime's ambassador in Islamabad gave a chaotic press conference in front of several dozen reporters sittin menu_book


UK army 'providing' Taliban with air transport
Originally Posted On: 01/11/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

By Press TV Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:47:38 GMT The British army has been relocating Taliban insurgents from southern Afghanistan to the north by providing transportation means, diplomats say. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymi menu_book


Rain
Originally Posted On: 01/03/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

Part You Must, With the Earth You Love, As You Plan Descending, From the Above. Promised in Books, Sacred to All, Shaping the Land, As You Do Fall. Awesome Canyons, Majestic Valleys, Carve You Do, Those Mountain Bellies. Crystal Clea menu_book


What Next in Afghanistan
Originally Posted On: 01/03/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

The country is at the threshold of a new era of either or both despair and hope. This is because Afghanistan has fast become a land of controversies. Everything that happens there is controversial. Think of its government, its president, its war, i menu_book


Afghanistan The Reign of Confusion
Originally Posted On: 01/03/2010
Category: Country Corner - By: Dr. G. Rauf Roashan

As if under a spell, wherever you look, whichever you focus on in Afghanistan is drowned in confusion. Confusion prevails in government, in its all three branches, in its relationship with regional powers even its allies. The politician is confused menu_book