Word: foreign
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While President Obama is setting timetables for Afghanistan, hoping to start bringing U.S. troops home by 2011, Mackenzie's words note that the very concept of deadlines is largely foreign to Afghans. "Time is not seen as a valuable resource in Afghan society," he wrote. "Correspondingly, the use of calendars at all levels is virtually nonexistent...
...Stranded Fish," homeless, starving former freedom fighter Idulfitri wanders by lusty foreign-movie posters with "naked thighs" on Merdeka Square near the Presidential Palace and wonders, "Why aren't there any pictures showing how hunger twists and turns in my guts?" The rest of the story is a picture precisely of that, as Idulfitri engages in Godot-like banter with a fellow revolutionary turned rake while they scrounge for a meal. Eventually they sell a monitor-lizard-skin wallet to a hawker on South Gambir Street (now Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, home to banks and the U.S. embassy) for satay...
...There are currently more than 110,000 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, anchored by a 68,000-strong U.S. force. The other members of the 43-nation, NATO-led coalition provide some 42,000 troops. The Afghan army currently numbers about 94,000, but the government wants a force of 134,000 by October 2010, rising...
...officials will get to hear European concerns over the next few days in a series of key meetings on Afghanistan. Hillary Clinton will be in Brussels to secure commitments from governments at a meeting of Foreign Ministers on Thursday and Friday. Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan was in Brussels Wednesday to meet key E.U. officials. And military officers will also meet in the southern Belgian town of Mons on Dec. 7 to discuss the mission's resources. They should all lower expectations about how much Europe is willing to contribute...
...points out, a military surge should be used only after there is a government in place that is worth protecting. If Afghans are not committed to their government, if they don't believe its promises and if they don't see that it can deliver, the deployment of more foreign soldiers will be a waste of time, and lives. "One of the reasons that the Taliban are able to get a lot of assistance from the people is that the local authorities are corrupt," says Sabit. "Let's fight them first, then the Americans can come in and fight...