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Afghanistan Pakistan The Tribal Areas Advice for the Next President

Afghanistan

How We Lost the War We Won
In this recent Rolling Stone feature, Nir Rosen describes his travels with members of the Taliban in Afghanistan. He concludes, "it is too late for Bush's 'quiet surge' -- or even for Barack Obama's plan for a more robust enforcement." (Oct. 30, 2008)

U.S. Study is Said to Warn of Crisis in Afghanistan
"A draft report by American intelligence agencies concludes that Afghanistan is in a 'downward spiral' and casts serious doubt on the ability of the Afghan government to stem the rise in the Taliban's influence there." (The New York Times, Oct. 8, 2008)

Battle Company is Out There
The New York Times' Elizabeth Rubin reports from the Korengal Valley and in Kunar province. The story was hailed by counterinsurgency expert Lt. Col. John Nagl as "the best reporting I've seen on Afghanistan, ever." Also take a look at Lynsey Addario's accompanying photo essay. (Feb. 24, 2008)

Into the Valley of Death
Sebastian Junger chronicles the Second Platoon, Battle Company in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. Also view photographer Tim Hetherington's soldier portraits and additional photographs from the region. (January 2008)

Who Are the Taliban?
This FRONTLINE/World Web feature from Afghanistan: The Other War details basic information about the Taliban: What are their roots and ideologies? Where are they getting their support? And why are they back? Also included is a timeline of their activities from 1994 to 2007.

America at War -- Afghanistan
A comprehensive collection of articles and features from The Washington Post.

Afghanistan and Pakistan's Embattled Frontier
A five-part series from NPR on the conflicts in tribal regions and their implications for the next president. (Oct. 13, 2008)

E-Mail From Afghanistan
"An infantry officer contemplates the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, and his recently completed third combat tour." (The Atlantic, Oct. 21, 2008)

Hamid Karzai
A roundup of articles and resources on Karzai from The New York Times.

Thwarting Afghanistan's Insurgency: A Pragmatic Approach Toward Peace and Reconciliation
This report by Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, adviser to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, lays out barriers to, and possible routes for, reconciliation in Afghanistan. Included are graphics detailing trends in violence, economics and opium cultivation. (United States Institute of Peace, September 2008)

Pakistan

Pakistan: State of Emergency
In February 2008, FRONTLINE/World covered the rise of the Pakistani Taliban. Included is an interactive map, a video and overview of the tribal region between Afghanistan and Pakistan and a timeline of Pakistani political dynasties.

Interview: Benazir Bhutto
Not long after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, FRONTLINE conducted this interview with the former Pakistan prime minister. She talks about why Islamist militants have grown so strong in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and in particular, the reasons extremism is spreading within her own society, including the long and tangled ties between Pakistan and the Taliban. [Note: Ms. Bhutto's interview was one of many conducted for FRONTLINE's 2001 report, Saudi Time Bomb? and was published following her assassination on Dec. 27, 2007.]

Time Bomb
The New Yorker's Steve Coll reports on "the death of Benazir Bhutto and the unraveling of Pakistan." He focuses on both Bhutto and the "mysterious" and "vexing" relationship between Pakistan and the Taliban. (Jan. 28, 2008)

Militants Escape Control of Pakistan, Officials Say
Also after Bhutto's death, The New York Times detailed Pakistani intelligence officials' concerns that they had lost control of the militants they had nurtured since the 1980s. (Jan. 15, 2008)

Right at the Edge
New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins traveled inside Pakistan's tribal areas during the summer of 2008 and reported on some astonishing clashes in the region -- leading him to ask which side of the war on terror Pakistan is really on. (Sept. 5, 2008)

Confronting the Pakistan Problem
This 2006 interview with South Asia expert Christine Fair, also from Return of the Taliban, serves as a good primer outlining Pakistan's complex internal and geopolitical situation and the implications for U.S. policy.

Baitullah Mehsud
A bio and roundup of articles from The New York Times on Waziristan's Taliban commander.

Profile: Baitullah Mehsud
Mehsud granted an exclusive phone interview to the BBC in 2007. Also view photographs of his "tribal stronghold in South Waziristan." (Dec. 28, 2007)

The Tribal Areas

Inside the Tribal Areas
From FRONTLINE's 2006 report, Return of the Taliban -- exclusive video of the rarely seen region, a map, excerpts from Winston Churchill's 1897 dispatches from the region and analysis of the Pakistani government's efforts to cut deals with tribal militants.

Next-Gen Taliban
In the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Nicholas Schmidle reported on the Pakistani Taliban. (The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2008)

In the Land of the Taliban
Elizabeth Rubin travels to Afghanistan and Pakistan "to understand how and why the Taliban were making a comeback five years after American and Afghan forces drove them from power." (The New York Times, Oct. 22, 2006)

In the Hiding Zone
Eliza Griswold wrote this detailed portrait of life in Waziristan for The New Yorker. Although Westerners are typically banned from this part of Pakistan, she gains access with the accompaniment of a tribal chief whose family she had befriended on an earlier visit. She travels to several villages, speaks to local tribesmen and finds that improving their way of life could be the key to ending the influence of the Taliban, but the local madrassas seem always to be one step ahead. (July 26, 2004)

The Lawless Frontier
The Atlantic published this story on the tribal areas and the Taliban a year before the Sept. 11 attacks. Robert D. Kaplan describes his journey through the border region and explains how the Taliban gained power with the help of the Pakistani government. (September 2000)

Advice for the Next President

Tea With the Taliban?
"The question policymakers are pondering, in fact, isn't whether to negotiate with the Taliban but when," writes David Ignatius. (The Washington Post, Oct. 26, 2008)

Next President Faces Growing Crisis In Afghanistan
The conclusion of NPR's five-part series on Afghanistan and Pakistan puts into context the challenges McCain or Obama will face in this region.

The Good War?
TX Hammes advises the future U.S. president, "Before we rush more troops into Afghanistan, we must answer basic questions about our strategy for the region and how our efforts in Afghanistan support that strategy." (Small Wars Journal, Sept. 15, 2008)

From Great Game to Grand Bargain
Barnett Rubin and Ahmed Rashid argue: "The crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan is beyond the point where more troops will help. U.S. strategy must be to seek compromise with insurgents while addressing regional rivalries and insecurities." (Foreign Affairs, November/December 2008)

Council on Foreign Relations - Campaign 2008
The Council on Foreign Relations tracks the U.S. presidential candidates' foreign policy positions on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Veteran Compares Iraq, Afghan Wars
Nathaniel C. Fick, a former Marine and fellow at the Center for a New American Security, argues lessons from Iraq cannot be applied blindly in Afghanistan. (NPR, July 17, 2008)