Afghan Commentary Post

Published on Huffington Post Blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wahab-raofi/a-sword-hangs-over-afghan_b_9307792.html     Summary: The seeds of revolution are sprouting in Afghanistan, but President Ashraf Ghani can escape the Sword of Damocles by changing his trajectory and giving the provinces more freedom to self-govern.   By Wahab Raofi   A former university professor named Ashraf Ghani wrote a book in 2009 entitled “Fixing Failed States,” and now than he is President of Afghanistan, Ghani must be wondering if his book needs a complete rewrite – as he finds himself presiding over a state teetering on the brink of collapse. Ghani and co-author Clare Lockhart subtitled their book “A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World,” which seems something of an embarrassment now as we see, after a year-and-half under Ghani’s reign, Afghanistan itself remains fractured. And the prospects for 2016 appear grim. In January, the Special Inspector Gen...

How to Submit an Article The Afghan Commentary Post accepts opinion articles on Afghanistan topics. All submissions must be original, and exclusive to Afghan Commentary Post. I am the creator of afghancommentarypost.blogspot.com , and welcome your submissions in the commentary/Op-Ed vein. My aim is to make this blog a source of diverse views on Afghan affairs.   I am a graduate of Kabul Law School, worked at the Afghanistan Ministry of Justice in various positions and have been writing about Afghan affairs since 1986. My articles have appeared in major U.S. newspapers and media outlets, including the Washington Times, San Diego Union Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Examiner, Stars and Stripes, Global Post, the Orange County Register, and Huffington Post Blog. Email to: wahabraofi @yahoo.com

Published on Huffington Post Blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wahab-raofi/a-solution-to-the-afghanistan_b_9202196.html   Summary: Peace between Afghanistan and the Taliban remains unlikely unless Pakistan ceases its support of the terrorist organization, but an alternative path toward peace may lie in a solution to Afghanistan’s Durand-Line border issue, as long as India’s influence in the area can be reined in.   By Wahab Raofi   Every time a suicide bomber blows up Afghan civilians – as in the January attack that killed seven and injured 26 staffers of the TOLO-TV news team in Kabul –Afghans wonder: Why does Pakistan continue to support the Taliban, which brazenly claimed responsibility for this and other deadly attacks on innocent civilians? Pakistan doesn’t necessarily hold a deep love for the Pashtun-dominated Taliban; it bombs them in Waziristan, north of Pakistan, while at the same time asking the Afghan government to enter into negotiati...

A Possible Solution to the Afghanistan-Taliban Conflict?   Summary: Peace between Afghanistan and the Taliban remains unlikely unless Pakistan ceases its support of the terrorist organization, but an alternative path toward peace may lie in a solution to Afghanistan’s Durand-Line border issue, as long as India’s influence in the area can be reined in.   By Wahab Raofi   Every time a suicide bomber blows up Afghan civilians – as in the January attack that killed seven and injured 26 staffers of the TOLO-TV news team in Kabul –Afghans wonder: Why does Pakistan continue to support the Taliban, which brazenly claimed responsibility for this and other deadly attacks on innocent civilians? Pakistan doesn’t necessarily hold a deep love for the Pashtun-dominated Taliban; it bombs them in Waziristan, north of Pakistan, while at the same time asking the Afghan government to enter into negotiations with them. Pakistan knows that a nationalist Taliban stro...