P. S. My apologies, on Farah. Although, says the C...

2006-09-16T01:31:00.000-07:00

P. S. My apologies, on Farah.

Although, says the CBC, "Just 1,600 NATO-led troops operate in western Afghanistan's desert plains and mountainous provinces like Farah. The region has long been spared the kind of violence witnessed in southern and eastern provinces" I see that "Up to 200 Taliban fighters in dozens of pickup trucks poured into the Farah town of Bakwa early Thursday, surrounding a police compound and firing rocket-propelled grenades at policemen, said Maj.-Gen. Sayed Agha Saqeb, the provincial police chief.

"The raid came a day after Taliban insurgents ambushed a police patrol in Farah. Four police officers and four militants were killed. Several days earlier, a roadside bombing there wounded four Italian soldiers."

Since you mention Malalai Joya, you may know that ...

2006-09-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Since you mention Malalai Joya, you may know that she is about to leave for Quebec City, Canada, where she is to speak to the biannual federal convention of our social democratic party on September 8 or 9.

"Farah is deep in Taliban land"? Unlike the four southeast provinces, didn't it have a good voter turnout last September, and a good turnout of women voters? I read somewhere that it had Taliban only in the mountains on the border of Helmand.

Matthew Shugart notes you are there to work on Afghanistan's electoral system, which needs some work. While reading up on Malalai Joya, I tripped over the sad case of Afghanistan's youngest politician, Salima Sharifi, an 18-year-old schoolgirl who won 2,114 votes, enough for the last of four reserved women's seats on Helmand's provincial council, and a place in history, of sorts. Helmand has about a million inhabitants, of whom (thanks to the Taliban boycott) only 194,742 voted, only 187,344 cast valid votes scattered between 117 candidates, the last name on the ballot got the most votes (10,698) -- shades of Belgium, where the last spot is the best place from which to break the slate -- so, with only 2,114 votes in a province with a million voters, she complains she was elected to a powerless council. No wonder? Luckily, Helmand is far from typical.

Comments on Chapel Hill Treehouse: Trailhead report - Afghanistan

P. S. My apologies, on Farah. Although, says the C...

Since you mention Malalai Joya, you may know that ...