The Punishment of Virtue

I have (finally!) finished reading “The Punishment of Virtue; Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban,” by Sarah Chayes. It took as lot longer than I thought it would to finish it. I am both sorry and glad it is over.
This is an intriguing and complex look at warlordism in Afghanistan. It is at times [...]

World Refugee Day (ii)

June 20 is World Refugee Day. What do you know about the world’s refugee problem? Did you know there are more than 40 MILLION refugees in the world today? And that rather than shrinking, that number is growing? Between 2005 and 2006, the number of refugees increased 14% to a total of 9.9 million!
The largest [...]

Just Who are the Bombers?

A few days ago I read a very disturbing article about the Taliban’s recruitment of people with disabilities. After yesterday’s suicide bombing in Kabul, I thought I would share it. The image that haunts me is of a man with obvious mental disabilities who had been recruited by the Taliban to be a suicide bomber. [...]

Development Radio Goes to Afghanistan

(A special thanks to Jayne in Kabul for bringing this to my attention)
A new radio program has hit the airwaves in Afghanistan. “Let’s Build Our Village” is a soap opera that helps Afghans from Kabul to the rural regions learn about such development issues as democracy and women’s issues. The full article is from US [...]