Motorcycle Blast Kills 15 in Afghanistan

Afghan police say a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle has blown himself up in southwestern Afghanistan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens more.

The bomb exploded Friday in a busy area of Farah city, the capital of Farah province. The provincial governor told reporters the blast occurred not far from his compound.

Police officials say at least one of the dead was a police officer and many others were civilians. Officials say the death toll may rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition.

Karzai si insedia per il suo secondo mandato

By Lynne O’Donnell (AFP)

KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to combat corruption and invited his chief rival to join the government after he was sworn in for a second term on Thursday, facing Western pressure to restore legitimacy as a US-led war stretches into a ninth year.

Karzai took the oath of office with a Taliban insurgency killing record numbers of Western troops and Afghans and limiting government control in growing parts of the country after his fraud-tainted re-election.

Soviet lessons from Afghanistan

Andrew North – BBC News – 18 November 2009

All the most senior ministers were at the Afghan strategy meeting.

They knew things were not going well, but from their leader there was a whiff of panic.

“We just need to be sure that the final result does not look like a humiliating defeat: to have lost so many men and now abandoned it all… in short, we have to get out of there.”

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev – the speaker of those words – was understandably alarmed.

Gazprom Nation su Il Caffè Geopolitico

Su “Il Caffè Geopolitico” intervista a Stefano Grazioli in due parti.
Qui la Parte I: uno sguardo verso la Russia, che cerca di riproporsi come potenza geopolitica, grazie soprattutto alla sua immensa dotazione di gas naturale Ecco, nella prima parte dell’intervista al giornalista Stefano Grazioli, le implicazioni di questo fenomeno.

Qui la Parte II: in evidenza c’è il ruolo geopolitico della Russia, la cui rinnovata potenza trae le basi dalla grande ricchezza in termini di risorse energetiche.

 

Afghan Enclave Offers Model to Rebuild, and Rebuff Taliban

New York Times – 13 November – By SABRINA TAVERNISE

JURM, Afghanistan — Small grants given directly to villagers have brought about modest but important changes in this corner of Afghanistan, offering a model in a country where official corruption and a Taliban insurgency have frustrated many large-scale development efforts.

Since arriving in Afghanistan in 2001, the United States and its Western allies have spent billions of dollars on development projects, but to less effect and popular support than many had hoped for.