Press TV: The CIA wasted numerous opportunities to kill Osama bin Laden before September 11, 2001, because the former al-Qaeda chief was essentially working for the US government, says Dr. Kevin Barrett, an American academic who has been studying the events of 9/11 since late 2003. Dr. Barrett, a founding member of the Scientific Panel for the
VOA News Ayaz Gul February 25, 2016 ISLAMABAD—An anti-corruption monitoring group says despite “small signs” of progress in the fight against corruption, Afghanistan’s official commitment to effectively address the problem is weakening, eroding public trust in the administration’s ability to govern. The independent Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, or MEC, in its half yearly report released
Tolo News: A number of high ranking officials are accusing cabinet members of hiring relatives instead of experienced directors in sixteen government ministries. The statement was made after a number of directors who were fired, protested the move on Monday, and said that they have sent a letter in this regard to the National Unity Government
1TV: The research by Afghanistan’s Freedom House institution covered 18 provinces in the country. It showed that the land grabbers included former and current government officials, ministers, governors, parliamentarians, police chiefs and strongmen. According to the report, 1,942,045 acres (7859175 hectares) of land were usurped by thousands of individuals in the country. Click here to read more (external
The Washington Post: When the next major earthquake hits Afghanistan, could it leave the leadership of the Afghan military buried under five stories’ worth of rubble? John F. Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, does not rule it out. In an audit set for release Thursday, Sopko said the new $155 million Afghan military headquarters, funded
Transparency International: Providing the first-ever comprehensive assessment of Afghanistan’s capacity to fight corruption, National Integrity System Assessment: Afghanistan 2015 identifies the weaknesses that have undermined the effectiveness of billions of dollars of international funding and contributed to ongoing war in the country. It makes key recommendations to improve Afghanistan’s chances of establishing a viable government with
1TV: Testifying before House Armed Services Committee late last week, U.S. Defense Department officials said they hope to have in place in coming months “an integrated pay and personnel system” for Afghan security forces that will help identify and account for thousands of individuals in the ranks, the Military Times reported Tuesday. Click here to read
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani’s deputy spokesman Sayed Zafar Hashemi said that the Smart City housing contract has been canceled as part of the Presidential Palace’s new decisions on the controversial deal. He added that Ghani fired his legal advisor Abdul Ali Mohammadi and ordered that the court’s decision should be implemented on Khalilullah Frozi, one
The New York Times: More than ever, Afghan government officials have become directly involved in the opium trade, expanding their competition with the Taliban beyond politics and into a struggle for control of the drug traffic and revenue. At the local level, the fight itself can often look like a turf war between drug gangs, even
Salon: Salon sat down with the journalist Antony Loewenstein to discuss one of the more explosive controversies he uncovers in his book: how the U.S. war in Afghanistan was privatized. Loewenstein spent time in war-torn Afghanistan, as well as neighboring Pakistan, researching for “Disaster Capitalism.” His compelling recounting of his experiences paints a picture of a crisis-stricken world