Under an odd headline, "UN Blames Taliban for Afghan Toll," and buried a couple of paragraphs down, the NY Times reports that a new United Nations survey (pdf) notes a 28 percent reduction in civilian deaths caused by U.S.-led forces -- striking to say the least.
In her post below, Alanna notes the critical role played by the International Committee of the Red Cross in facilitating the delivery of polio vaccines to Afghan children in Taliban controlled territory. As Alanna says this underscores the unique role played by the ICRC in Afghanistan. Most aid agencies--and the UN itself--have had to scale back their humanitarian operations in Afghanistan because the Taliban consider them to be legitimate targets for attack.
The Wall Street Journal recently published a fascinating article on polio vaccinations in Afghanistan. The WHO and the International Committee of the Red Cross have made allies of the Taliban in bringing polio vaccines to Afghan children. Vaccinators in Afghanistan now carry a letter from Mullah Omar, the supreme leader of the Taliban, supporting the vaccination campaign.
The head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) briefed the Security Council yesterday. Neil MacFarquhar suggests that Eide may have been implicitely critical of the U.S. military surge in his remarks, which stressed the need for Afghan civilian capacity building. This is a snippet of what Eide told the Council. (Full remarks here.)
A new UN report shows that he number of returning Afghan refugees fell significantly in 2009 compared to 2008. The UN Refugee Agency says the drop is attributable to insecurity and limited economic opportunities for returning refugees. From the UN News Center:
GlobalPost reported recently on a new Office of the Inspector General review of Afghanistan. USAID takes heavy criticism in the document for poor management of large contracts, and GlobalPost brings in a range of Afghanistan and aid experts to comment on the report.
During his speech last night, President Obama said, "we will work with our partners, the UN, and the Afghan people to pursue a more effective civilian strategy, so that the government can take advantage of improved security."
Foreign Affairs ran a recent essay describing Tajikistan as a model for ending the war in Afghanistan. George Gavrilis recommends the pragmatic strategy that ended the Tajik civil war be duplicated for Afghanistan. On its face, it’s a compelling argument - two neighboring countries, both Muslim, mountainous, plagued by drug trafficking and warlords. Both faced civil war. Tajikistan’s civil war ended twelve years ago, while Afghanistan fights on. Why not use Tajikistan as a model?