Anand Gopal » Afghan Life

Likely Afghan Runoff Spurs Power-Sharing Talks

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Oct 17th, 2009

By Anand Gopal and Joe Lauria
KABUL — President Hamid Karzai failed to win a decisive majority in Afghanistan’s election, an official familiar with the ballot counting said, a development that has the two top candidates stepping up power-sharing talks to avoid a protracted runoff.
Results of an audit of suspect votes from the August polls are [...]

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Afghanistan Civilians Hit, Straining U.S. Alliance

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles, Military, Security on Sep 5th, 2009

By Anand Gopal and Yochi Dreazen
KABUL — An American airstrike on militants in northern Afghanistan killed an unknown number of local villagers, dealing a fresh blow to the U.S. campaign and adding fresh political pressure on NATO members struggling to defend an increasingly unpopular war.
The strike on a pair of hijacked fuel trucks in Kunduz [...]

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Taliban Punish Voters In Wake Of Afghan Elections

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles, Security on Aug 27th, 2009

KABUL — The Taliban are attempting to exact revenge on Afghan voters and disrupt the ballot count — part of a campaign to exploit the political uncertainty after last week’s presidential election and try to undermine the results.
Since the Aug. 20 election, Taliban fighters have launched nearly a dozen attacks. They have severed the fingers [...]

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Afghan Vote Threatened By Fraud Allegations

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Aug 24th, 2009

KABUL — Reports of fraud and intimidation from election-monitoring groups are mounting, undermining the legitimacy of Afghanistan’s presidential vote and posing a challenge for the U.S. and its Western allies, who initially declared the vote a success.
A linchpin of the international community’s strategy here, Thursday’s election was supposed to shore up the credibility of the [...]

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Attacks Shake up Afghan Balloting

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles, Security on Aug 21st, 2009

By Matthew Rosenberg, Anand Gopal and Yochi Dreazen
KABUL — Amid dozens of election-day Taliban attacks that claimed 26 lives, Afghans voted for president Thursday — but reports of low turnout and fraud made it unclear whether bombs or ballots would ultimately emerge the day’s victor.
Counting Ballots
Taliban militants had stepped up attacks for a week and [...]

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Young Candidates Spar in Mock Afghan Election

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Aug 15th, 2009

KABUL — Slipping by his rivals with a platform of security and reconstruction that resonated with war-weary voters, a new president of Afghanistan was elected this week: the baby-faced, 20-year-old Munir Farahmand.
Who?
That, at least, is how things unfolded on “The Candidate,” a reality TV show that pits young Afghans against each other in a mock [...]

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Karzai Befriends Rivals to Improve Polls Odds

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Aug 8th, 2009

The unpopular Afghan President’s talent for deal-making and conciliation are expected to pave way for another 5-year term.
By Matthew Rosenberg and Anand Gopal
KABUL — When the U.S. and its allies first anointed Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan’s president nearly eight years ago, he was seen at home and abroad as an adept politician uniquely suited to [...]

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Afghan Democracy Bares Rough Edges

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on Jul 23rd, 2009

by Peter Wonacott and Anand Gopal
KABUL — Afghanistan is expected to put its rough-edged new democracy on display in a televised debate between candidates vying to lead one of the world’s poorest, most turbulent countries.
But only three of the 41 presidential candidates were asked to appear for the event Thursday evening, and only one looked [...]

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Afghanistan’s Divided Opposition Boosts Karzai’s Election Bid

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles on May 5th, 2009

Though unpopular, the president has more national reach than the shrinking pool of contenders.
Kabul, Afghanistan - Afghanistan’s unpopular President Hamid Karzai just registered Monday for his reelection bid. But already, he looks poised to easily win the August polls, as leading contenders drop out of the race and others fail to form viable opposition tickets.
The [...]

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In remote Afghan valley, a rare peace sprouts with insurgents

Posted in Afghan Life, Articles, Security on Apr 27th, 2009

Promises of cash and jobs–rather than ideological pledges–help prompt fighters to lay down their arms. But questions remain about the program’s efficiency.
Alasay, Afghanistan - Deep in a mountain valley north of Kabul, Gulab Shah and his fellow insurgents were under siege. It was mid-March, and a French-led military offensive had been pounding their village night [...]

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