Tag Archive for Afghanistan

ISAF Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) Profile

Primary Route: Turn left at the main gate. Turn left on to the road parallel to the ISAF Southern Wall. Turn right on the intersection with the road that runs parallel with the ISAF’s East wall with the rear gate on it. Move South following the road until you get on to “Indigo” to the roundabout with route “Violet”. At this roundabout go straight (180º), cross Kabul river. After the Olympic Stadium turm left, proceed to the next intersection (5-way) and turn halfright (45º). Follow the street for about 300m. ACCI gate will appear ahead.

ISAF Afghanistan Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI) Profile

Primary Route: Turn left from the main gate. Pass CFC-A on the south side. At the roundabout go left (270º). Follow route ‘indigo’. First roundabout go straight ahead (180º), after 200m at the crossing turn left. Again after 200m turn right on route ‘green’/ ‘Highway 1’. Follow this road for 2.7km (pass the Kabul zoo (left-hand side)) to the roundabout. Turn left at this roundabout (270º). You are still on route Green. After approximately 1.6km MoCI is on your right-hand side (turn right app 20m before the SIEMENS sign).

(U//FOUO) Kabul Children’s Hospital Atmospheric Assessment

(U//FOUO) BLUF: This facility is in dire need of assistance. Daily there are hundreds of children in admittance to this hospital suffering from the following ailments: malnutrition, burns, blast trauma, and the need for urgent surgical intervention. There are very few medical supplies available (few families of the patients can afford the medicine), minimal food (limited to one meal a day), and no consumable medical materials available to adequately treat these patients. The inevitability of death for many of these patients becomes a reality.

(U//FOUO) Afghanistan Atmospheric Report: No Unified Reason to Fight, No Way to Peace

(U//FOUO) ATMOSPHERIC VALUE: Negative: The local people of Zabul Province do not believe that there can be peace made with the Taliban by giving in to some of their demands because there are so many different Taliban leaders fighting for different reasons and goals it would be hard to satisfy all of their demands.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ministry of Finance Strategic Plan 2008-2013

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has a clearly defined role serving the government and people of Afghanistan, in terms of mobilizing revenue and managing government finances. To efficiently undertake these functions, the Ministry prepared a five year strategic plan in 1384 and much progress has been made in the past three years towards establishment of an effective and transparent public financial management system as well as in tax reforms and increase of the domestic revenues. MoF developed the MTFF and MTBF (Annex B), which has been approved by the cabinet and parliament. As part of the MTBF, budget ceilings for the operating and development budget as well as revenue targets are set for the next five years 1387-1391, moving towards fiscal sustainability.

Human Terrain System Afghan Saffron Report

Saffron, referred to by some as “red gold,” has been in demand for centuries. The Latin name for the plant which bears the delicate spice is Crocus sativus L. Saffron growing has been promoted in Afghanistan in recent years in response to a call from the Afghan government to investigate economically viable licit alternatives to poppy. Due to the significant labor costs inherent to saffron production, saffron is the world’s most expensive spice. Not only are saffron profits competitive with opium, in relation to other licit crops, but saffron needs little water during growth, requires minimal refinement, and has a low volume and weight, making it easily transportable.

Human Terrain System Report: Salafist and Wahhabist Influence in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is in many ways an unlikely home for radical Islamic ideologies. Afghan religious life until the 1950s was, and in many places still is, traditional, conservative, rural, and mystical. Just as Afghanistan was politically and ethnically highly fragmented, religious life has also varied tremendously depending on region, ethno-linguistic group, and degree of urbanization.

U.S. Army Mechanisms of Afghan Insurgent Control and Local Governance

(U) Many students of insurgency and counterinsurgency attest to the importance of popular support to each side’s quest to achieve its objectives. Key aspects of popular support, including type (passive or active) and scope (limited or significant), are inarguably important in analyzing an insurgency. However, focusing solely or immediately on these aspects risks glossing over insurgent efforts to set conditions necessary to mobilize such support in the first place. Most notably, these conditions include the generation of compliance and the establishment and institutionalization of control.

(U//FOUO) Stability Operations Information Center (SOIC) Kandahar Analysis

(U) Recent Civilian Casualties Have Damaged ISAF. Stories of civilian casualties in Uruzgan and Helmand in February 2010 had a clear and widespread negative impact on Kandahar residents’ attitudes toward international forces. Though the casualties occurred in other provinces, the effects felt by patrolling ISAF troops in Kandahar City included having rocks thrown at them by residents and, in a couple of cases, being spit upon. The negative feelings were not limited to Afghan civilians. Afghan National Police officials in Kandahar City repeatedly brought up the civilian casualties in the Uruzgan air strike with their American police mentors. For more on this subject, see p. 13.

UNODC Afghanistan Opium Survey 2010

The majority of the 20 Afghan provinces that were poppy-free in 2009 will remain so this year. Yet, three provinces (Baghlan, Faryab and Sari Pul, all in the north) risk showing the beginning of a trend reversal, with a minimal increase in cultivation in the districts with higher insecurity. Five other provinces (Kunar, Nangarhar, Kabul, Laghman and Badakhshan), not poppy-free so far, are also expected to have negligible amounts of poppies.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Detailed Governance Information

Afghanistan’s government structure is designed around a strong, democratic national government. At the national level, the three branches (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) form the foundation of the government, but other entities, such as ministries, the Afghan National Security Forces (military and police), and commissions also carry out government obligations. Below the national level, the public sector consists of provincial-level governments, municipalities, and finally district-level government. However, unlike the U.S. government, each of the 34 provinces does not operate independently of the national government. Kabul, the capital, is the seat of power. Each province answers to the national government.