October 14, 2001

Why we fear Afghanistan and why we shouldn't by Michael Radu

Afghanistan--and Beyond  A long-term U.S. strategy for Central Asia.

Rebuilding What War Has Destroyed By JOSEPH KAHN

America Attacks Easy to Start, Hard to Finish

Bush rejects Taliban offer and plans new Afghan government
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Sunday angrily rejected the latest Taliban offer to hand over Islamic militant Osama bin Laden in exchange for evidence of his guilt

Afghan opposition says needs political solution
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Afghan opposition Northern Alliance said on Sunday that its forces would not advance against the ruling Taliban in the capital, Kabul, without a political solution in place.

Taliban may split, minister in Pakistan-UAE agency
DUBAI, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Taliban Foreign Minister Maulawi Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil arrived in Pakistan on Sunday, possibly indicating a division within the ruling Afghan movement

Taliban urges northern foes to switch sides
By Sayed Salahuddin and Zeeshan Haider
KABUL/JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Their air defences faltering at the start of a second week of U.S. strikes, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Sunday the raids had killed

No U.S. comment on reported miss on Taliban leader
WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Pentagon and CIA would not comment on Sunday on a report in The New Yorker magazine that an unmanned U.S. aircraft equipped with missiles

U.S. bombs Afghanistan as Bush spurns Taliban offer
By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin
Monday October 15, 7:38 AM
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - President George W. Bush rejected a new offer from the Taliban to hand Osama bin Laden to a neutral country as U.S. planes slammed Afghanistan on Sunday

Afghan orphans lie in hospital after U.S. raids
By Zeeshan Haider
Monday October 15, 5:49 AM
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Three tiny children lie alone in hospital cots. No relatives sit with them to comfort them, to help doctors change their dressings.

Iran carefully watching Afghan developments: Interior minister
Tehran, Oct 15, IRNA -- Iran's Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari said here Sunday that the Islamic Republic is carefully watching developments in neighboring Afghanistan

Afghan Opposition Forms Police Force
Sunday, October 14, 2001 9:57 AM EDT
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A general with the Afghan opposition alliance said Sunday it has set aside about 2,000 security officers as part of a plan to administer the capital, Kabul, if the ruling Taliban is pushed out.

US airstrikes enter second week but no sign of Taliban cracking
KABUL, Oct 14 (AFP) - US-led forces began bombing Afghanistan for a second week Sunday with no sign that the Taliban is ready to hand over alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden and reports

Afghan opposition general says preparing offensive
LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Senior Afghan opposition commander General Abdul Rashid Dostum said on Saturday anti-Taliban forces were preparing a "fierce offensive."

NA claims defection of 4,000 Taliban
Updated on 10/14/2001 11:46:28 AM
Frontier Post
TEHRAN (APP): A commander for Afghanistan’s opposition NA said in an Iranian newspaper that 4,000 Taliban joined his forces two days ago.

Afghan Taliban Invites Opposition Fighters to Join
Sunday October 14 10:42 AM ET
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - The intelligence chief of Afghanistan's Taliban rulers said Sunday his radical Islamic movement wanted opposition commanders to join them to fight U.S.-led attacks

U.S. missed chance to hit Taliban leader -report
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. military had Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in its sights on the first night of its bombing raids on Afghanistan but failed to kill him

Afghans sneak into Iran after dangerous trek evading Taliban
ZAHEDAN, Iran, Oct 14 (AFP) - Nineteen-year-old Gholam Reza Haydari decided to flee for Iran after several of his friends were forced at gunpoint by Taliban troops to fight the United States.

Death from above devastates simple Afghan village
By Zeeshan Haider
KHORUM, Afghanistan, Oct 14 (Reuters) - There aren't many witnesses to say what happened to Khorum village in eastern Afghanistan last Wednesday night.

Afghan ex-king appoints three-member body
ROME, Oct 13 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ex-king Mohammed Zahir Shah has appointed a three-member body to take charge of his affairs as more local dignitaries are set to arrive in the Italian capital

Air raid cuts Afghan capital telephone network
KABUL, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The latest U.S. air raids cut a major part of the Afghan capital's already limited communication links with the rest of the world, Taliban officials said on Sunday.

Bin Laden will never be captured, son tells British paper
LONDON, Oct 14 (AFP) - One of Osama bin Laden's sons has vowed that his father will never be captured by the West, the Sunday Mirror, a British tabloid, reported.

Bin Laden's Son: 'My Father Will Never Be Caught'
Sunday, October 14, 2001 7:26 AM EST
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper quoted the 18-year old son of Osama bin Laden as saying his father was hiding in a cave in the Afghan mountains with 300 commandos and would never be caught.

Afghan Opp claims three villages, Taliban defections
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan’s opposition alliance Saturday claimed fresh victories and Taliban defections, but the extent of their coordination with US-led airstrikes remained unclear.

Islamic coalition forces free three regions in Afghanistan:source
Mashhad, Oct 14, IRNA -- The military forces of the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, led by General Abdrurashid Dustom freed three regions in Sarpol Province of that country

UIF forces confront Taliban militants in Bamian: source
Mashhad, Oct 14, IRNA -- The United Islamic Front quoted one of its branches' leader as saying that his forces have got engaged in a heavy armed confrontation with the Taliban forces in Bamian

Taleban show bomb devastation
Sunday, 14 October, 2001, 12:08 GMT 13:08 UK BBC News
Afghanistan's ruling Taleban have taken a group of international journalists to a village in eastern Afghanistan where they say nearly 200 residents were killed by US bombing last week.

Millions at risk in Afghan crisis
Sunday, 14 October, 2001, 13:44 GMT 14:44 UK BBC News
Afghanistan's crisis could turn into a humanitarian disaster on the same scale as Rwanda's in the mid-1990s, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson has warned.

French seek Pakistan help over journalist
Saturday, 13 October, 2001, 15:47 GMT 16:47 UK BBC News
The French Government has asked Pakistan to help secure the release of a French journalist being held in Kabul on suspicion of spying.
Michel Peyrard

Pakistan to deport foreign reporters found near border
Sunday October 14, 8:52 AM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Saturday that it would deport any foreign reporter who tried to enter areas close to the border with Afghanistan.

Afghan Emigres Want a Role in Rebuilding
Planning: Coalition of 400 in California hopes to help form a Muslim democracy after the Taliban is overthrown.
By ERIC BAILEY and NITA LELYVELD
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 14 2001
FREMONT, Calif. -- A coalition of Afghan Americans in California is seeking to grab the Bush administration's attention in hopes of carving out a role in helping rebuild postwar Afghanistan.

Trial Resumes of Eight Aid Workers in Afghanistan
Sunday, October 14, 2001 4:24 AM EST
KABUL (Reuters) - The trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity in Afghanistan resumed on Sunday and their lawyer was set to present their defense after a one-day

Inside the Taliban
By Ahmed Rashid/ISLAMABAD - Far Eastern Economic Review, October 18, 2001
Defections from the Taliban should not be taken as a sign that the movement will crumble easily, even now that the U.S.-led war against it has begun.

A quick victory may wreck the long-term goal
BY ANATOL LIEVEN IN PESHAWAR
TIMES / SATURDAY OCTOBER 13 2001
A GRIM logic is now at work in Afghanistan, as it was previously in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia.
This logic dictates that if the US and its allies