Mar 1, 2011
[Editors' note: As part of Sojourners campaign to end the war in Afghanistan, we will run a weekly Afghanistan news digest to educate our readers about the latest news and developments related to the war, the U.S. military's strategy, and the people impacted by our decisions. Read more about our campaign at www.sojo.net/afghanistan.]
- Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators: An article in Rolling Stone magazine details how the "U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in 'psychological operations' to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war."
- Midlevel Taliban Admit to a Rift With Top Leaders: "Recent defeats and general weariness after nine years of war are creating fissures between the Taliban's top leadership based in Pakistan and midlevel field commanders, who have borne the brunt of the fighting and are reluctant to return to some battle zones, Taliban members said in interviews."
- Afghan girls' education backsliding as donors shift focus to withdrawal "A new report is warning that hard-won progress in girls' education in Afghanistan, heralded as one of few success stories of the last nine years, is increasingly under threat as international interest in reconstruction efforts ebbs away."
- Check out photojournalist, Kate Holt's, audio slide show of Boost hospital in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. She gives us insight into the work done at the hospital run by the Ministry of Public Heath in Afghanistan and aided by Doctors Without Borders. (Photographs taken in January/February 2011)
- Can mobile banking take off in Afghanistan? A new mobile banking service tries to navigate the geography and politics of Afghanistan.
Hannah Lythe is policy and outreach associate at Sojourners.
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