Afghanistan: Country Profile

Osama bin Laden's death is only the latest confirmation of al-Qaeda's weakened relevance, and of terrorism's

Obama had no choice but to fire Stanley McChrystal. But that was a diversion from a war in Afghanistan that's gone from bad to worse. Obama still has no plan to fix that error.

Mujahideen insurgent Gulbuddin Hikmetyar, or Hekmatyar: a brief profile/biography of the Taliban-affiliated Afghan insurgent.

A review of Ahmed Rashid's "Taliban" (2000), still the best book on the origins, history and ideology of the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

What Afghanistan's rape law says and how women got stoned protesting it in Kabul.

Blasphemy after blasphemy of human rights, women's rights and civil rights show why Afghanistan is the wrong war. Yet Barack Obama persists in escalating American troops and staking his future on protecting Afghanistan. Why?

Analysis: Barack Obama's Afghanistan-Pakistan Strategy is a scaled-down, more narrowly focused version of the Bush version.

A definition and brief profile of Blackwater Worldwide, the private security contractor and trainer of police and mercenary personnel that gained notoriety from incidents involving abuse of power in the Iraq war.

The concentration camp on Guantanamo Bay, an illegal shame, should be an indictment of national drift from constitutional principles and international law.

Contrary to John McCain's and Sarah Palin's claims, there's no question that American and NATO forces are air-raiding civilians and causing heavy civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

A brief history of the magnificent Buddha statues that stood at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, for almost 1,500 years until the Taliban destroyed them in 2001.

In 1996, when the Taliban took over large portions of Afghanistan, it imposed strict and severe religious decrees and prohibitions on the population, women especially. Here is a list of those decrees and prohibitions.

A definiteion of Pashtun, or Pakhtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Definition of Loya Jirga, or "grand assembly," a century-old, consensus-building Afghan tradition.

The ouster of Afghanistan's brutal Taliban regime in 2001 was supposed to usher in freedom and democracy respectful of civil liberties and human rights. Reality is proving assumptions wrong.

Afghanistan has been retreating back into chaos and repression in 2006 and 2007. The decision to delay the release of 'The Kite Runner" illustrates to what extent the country's situation has become precarious.

A profile of Afghanistan, the structure of its government since 2001, the challenges of its weak economy and infrastructure, the burden of a history of fracture and foreign occupations.

A review of "The Kite Runner," the novel by Afghan-American writer Khaled Hosseini about love and betrayal through Afghanistan's thirty-year war.

How Foreign troops break down by numbers and responsibility in the Afghan theater of operations, and how Afghan troops measure up as the country rebuilds.

US Troops in Afghanistan have tripled on Obama's watch. The president set 2011 as the beginning of a US withdrawal. That's changing to 2014.