Word: afghanization
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...good in the first major offensive of President Barack Obama's war in Afghanistan. For the past four days, 4,000 U.S. Marines and 650 Afghan soldiers have been fighting their way into the southern reaches of Afghanistan's Helmand River valley, hoping to clear out insurgents there. But other than in one limited area of fierce resistance, the fighting has generally been restricted to small-scale skirmishes in which few Taliban have been killed because most of the insurgents appear to have slipped away - as guerrillas tend to do when confronted by overwhelming firepower. More important to U.S. goals...
...Germany's Afghan mission is governed by a parliamentary mandate that limits most troops to peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts in the relatively peaceful north of Afghanistan. Even so, at least 35 German soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since early 2002, most recently on Tuesday, when three died near the northern town of Kunduz after their patrol came under fire. The mission is very unpopular back home, but Germany has been feeling pressure from its NATO allies to pull more of its weight and send troops to the south, the scene of fierce battles with Taliban insurgents...
...loathing of Mehsud, Zainuddin was scarcely the model of a local hero rising up against a tyrant. In recent interviews, he pledged fealty to Mullah Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, declared his fondness for al-Qaeda, and waged 'jihad' against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A key element of his quarrel with Mehsud was a difference in militant priorities: While Mehsud and his allies in the Swat Valley were principally fighting against the Pakistani military and attacking Pakistani territory, Zainuddin believed that it was wrong to attack fellow Muslims and wanted to focus their fire on Western...
...danger does not only come from drug lords and the Taliban. Afghan journalists say their government is not making reporting any easier. Islamic hard liners, former warlords and corrupt officials, they explain, are behind an increasingly harsh assault on press freedom - one of the country's key post-Taliban achievements - that has spawned an increasing amount of self-censorship. A recent report by the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association said that over the past year, 25 journalists were arrested, 24 were beaten or intimidated by public officials, 22 received death threats and four outlets were forced to close. Rahimullah Samandar, head...
Meanwhile, as dramatic as Rohde's escape was, the story is not yet complete. The young Afghan driver, Asadullah Mangal, who drove Rohde and Ludin to the unlucky assignment, was apparently too afraid to make a break. Now he is alone. If local journalists have little market value for the Taliban, how much will the group value a driver...