Word: talibanize
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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President Barack Obama prioritized the conflict in Afghanistan soon after taking office, but he made it clear that the U.S. would scale down its ambitions there. The objective of the mission would be to defeat al-Qaeda and its supporters in the Taliban, rather than trying to turn Afghanistan into a modern, well-governed state. "We are not going to be able to rebuild Afghanistan into a Jeffersonian democracy," the new President said. (Read "The Taliban Threat to Disrupt the Afghan Election...
...resurgence of extremism and to allow American and NATO troops to someday head home. "Democracy and development have to be part of any exit strategy," says the Rand Corp.'s James Dobbins, who was President Bush's first envoy to Kabul. (Read "Afghanistan Exit Strategy: Buying Off the Taliban...
...fight against al-Qaeda. The benefits of nation-building programs are often indirect, and hard to measure. (Ultimately, the hope is that access to banking will make farmers less reliant on loans from drug smugglers, and so less likely to grow opium, which helps finance al-Qaeda and the Taliban.) (Read "Is the Taliban Stockpiling Opium...
...people could be legitimately worried. Few would dispute that the Taliban is making inroads into its original stronghold. Militant radio stations in the region are broadcasting anti-election threats, echoed in local mosques, about not going into town. And black turbans, the telltale accessory of the Taliban, roam freely in the suburbs, say locals. On his return to Kandahar over the weekend, Mohammed Amir, a 26-year-old truck driver, says he saw about 20 Taliban setting up a roadside bomb. "They were not scared," he says. "They were not even in a hurry...
...that while several surrounding districts are "hostile," security is "assured" for a peaceful election in the city as a whole. The Afghan intelligence chief has confirmed reports that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's half-brother and head of the Kandahar provincial council, has brokered deals with some influential Taliban commanders and warlords for a temporary cease-fire in some of the country's most violent areas. (Read about a proposal to buy off the Taliban to achieve victory...