December 22nd, 2009 by Jason

Laura Rozen explores who will replace Kai Eide as the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. She reports rumors that Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura is the “top contender” for the position and is an American favorite. At the same time, there are reports that French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner has expressed interest in the job, but other sources explain Kouchner is looking to serve as an E.U. envoy equivalent to Richard Holbrooke. In a follow up post, Rozen discusses the idea to have a “dual-hatted U.N./NATO chief in Afghanistan.”  

Ann Friedman  observes the difference in opinion between Afghan and U.S.-based women’s rights groups. While Afghan-based groups tend to call for an American withdrawal, U.S.-based groups believe that military intervention can be used to promote women’s rights. But for Friedman, “it doesn’t matter whether U.S. military intervention can be a force for humanitarianism because, in Afghanistan, it never has been and won’t become one.”

Max Boot responds to a video from Guardian films that “presents a dire picture of the Afghan National Army.”  According to Boot, the video has been overblown because “we can’t expect many Third World militaries to meet the standards of the 21st century US. armed forces.” In short, “the Guardian clip presents a slice of reality, not all of reality. It should not be dismissed, nor should it be given the last word.”

M.J. Rosenberg of TPMCafe points to an Al Jazeera English video about the difficult choices U.S. soldiers face in delivering medical care to Afghan nationals. Finally, Doctors Without Borders lists Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen among its annual list of the year’s worst humanitarian crises.

Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Human Rights, Military, Taliban, US foreign policy, United Nations, Women |