Feature

Who Are the Taliban?

by: Anand Gopal, TomDispatch.com

Resurgence of the Taliban near Kabul.
Just three years ago, the central government still controlled the provinces near Kabul. But years of mismanagement, rampant criminality, and mounting civilian casualties have led to a resurgence of the Taliban and other related groups. (Photo: uruknet)


    If there is an exact location marking the West's failures in Afghanistan, it is the modest police checkpoint that sits on the main highway 20 minutes south of Kabul. The post signals the edge of the capital, a city of spectacular tension, blast walls, and standstill traffic. Beyond this point, Kabul's gritty, low-slung buildings and narrow streets give way to a vast plain of serene farmland hemmed in by sandy mountains. In this valley in Logar province, the American-backed government of Afghanistan no longer exists. »

Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut.

Back on Capitol Hill, Auto Executives Still Find Skeptics

by: David M. Herszenhorn and David Stout, The New York Times

    Washington - As the Senate Banking Committee debated a potential rescue package for American automakers, the committee chairman, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, suggested that it would be difficult for lawmakers to approve a financial lifeline for the three companies.

    Mr. Dodd used his initial round of questioning to stress that the Bush administration or the Federal Reserve could act unilaterally to aid the auto industry. »

Barack Obama visits a hospital.

Obama Taps 1,000 Supporters to Push Health Reform

by: Ceci Connolly, The Washington Post

    Network of supporters tapped on health-care issues.

    Barack Obama's incoming administration has begun to draw on the high-tech organizational tools that helped get him elected to lay the groundwork for an attempt to restructure the U.S. health-care system.

    Former senator Thomas A. Daschle, Obama's point person on health care, launched an effort to create political momentum yesterday in a conference call with 1,000 invited supporters culled from 10,000 who had expressed interest in health issues, »

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