Word: talibans
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...Kabul A Vital, Violent Election A series of shootings and suicide attacks in Kabul during the run-up to Afghanistan's landmark Aug. 20 presidential election killed at least 15 people before the polls even opened. The violence, combined with the Taliban's threat to amputate the ink-marked fingers of anyone caught voting, was part of the militant group's effort to keep Afghans away from the polls, tainting the legitimacy of the election. If a runoff between the top two candidates is necessary, the final outcome may be delayed...
...phrase) or a "Central Asian Valhalla" (as Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it). The implication was that President Bush had become too distracted by secondary, nation-building goals, such as ensuring that Afghan girls went to school. Obama would focus on the main task: defeating al-Qaeda and the Taliban...
...struggle to achieve such stability will persist long after the election itself. Afghanistan's current President, Hamid Karzai, was once a darling of Washington but has proved feckless. His misrule has contributed greatly to the Taliban revival that the U.S. and its allies are now trying to quell. There's not much reason to hope that a re-elected Karzai will get significantly better. The White House's best bet will be to strengthen the instruments of governance so that they carry clout even in timorous hands. The good news is that Afghanistan's leaders, who desperately need American arms...
...wealthy Pakistanis can still easily escape the fear—and reality—of what Pakistan has become. The year-old democratic government is in shambles, suicide attacks are more frequent than ever, a nationwide energy crisis and a monetary crisis make international headlines, and both the encroaching Taliban and overbearing U.S. threaten to undermine Pakistan’s sovereignty—in short, the country is a mess. But at the Pearl Continental and other Western havens across the ailing state, it seems as if nothing is wrong...
...pictures of the battle against the Taliban...