UN withdraws half its foreign staff from Kabul

[clear eye]

Source: The Guardian

Employees moved to secure locations in Afghanistan or elsewhere for at least three weeks after killing of five workers

Jon Boone in Kabul and Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 November 2009 16.34 GMT

The UN is to evacuate half its international staff from Kabul for safety reasons after the killing of five workers last week.

In the latest blow to the US-led war against the Taliban, the UN said 600 of its 1,200 international staff in Afghanistan would be moved to secure locations outside the country, or to safer parts of Afghanistan, for at least three weeks.

The move follows the death of five UN workers in a pre-dawn attack on a guesthouse in Kabul on 28 October – the most direct attack on its employees in decades of work in the country.

...The UN insists it remains committed to Afghanistan. But announcing the temporary pullout, Kai Eide, the head of the UN mission, said the international community was now at a "critical juncture" in its relationship with Afghanistan.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/05/un-evacuate-afghanistan-staff-attack

[No Elephants]

1. What war against the Taliban? Are the Taliban terrorizing anyone but Afghani women?

We have no war declaration for that. If we were to go to war against every country that treated women badly, we'd be very, very busy. Maybe we'd even have to start with the US, for presiding over the enshrining of sharia law in the Iraqi Constituion while were in charge of Iraq.

Seems as though 50% of the media are dumb as posts and 100% are shills.

[clear eye]

2. Huh?

The Taliban, along w/ every local warlord is terrorizing everyone in their purview who doesn't give them absolute allegiance. The Taliban chopped off fingers from people who voted, b/c they put out the word not to vote.

There are lots of good reasons for the U.S. to get out of there, but an absence of terrorism isn't one of them.

The UN partially withdrew, according to the article, b/c they said there isn't enough consensus among Afghanis supporting the UN presence rather than one faction or another. Basically they said, if a large majority doesn't want peace, we're outta here.

[kpete]

3. UN pulls out half its Afghanistan staff and threatens total withdrawal

Source: TIMES UK


UN pulls out half its Afghanistan staff and threatens total withdrawal

The United Nations today temporarily pulled half its international staff out of Afghanistan and threatened that a complete and permanent withdrawal could follow.

Amid an atmosphere of increasing gloom in Afghanistan, the UN Special Representative in Kabul, Kai Eide delivered a pointed warning to the government of Hamid Karzai.

“There is a belief among some, that the international community (presence) will continue whatever happens because of the strategic importance of Afghanistan,” he told a press conference this morning. “I would like to emphasise that that’s not true.”

He added that the Afghan government must demonstrate a willingness to reform and address corruption and the power of warlords.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6904098.ece

[avaistheone1]

4. Is this our clue to waste more money and lives there?

[MetaTrope]

5. Couldn't happen soon enough for the Pentagon

They're probably putting in the requisitions for more water buckets and car batteries now.

[saigon68]

6. A Corrupt Bankrupt Country

Run by a Cabal of Thugs, Hoodlums and Nut-Job Religious Criminals.

[mikelewis]

9. Sounds like the Bush Years. nt

[EFerrari]

10. It sure does. The Taliban has nothing on BushCo.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. Will they be missed?

Fair question under the circumstances.

[Solly Mack]

8. The UN also pulled staff from Iraq after attacks on the UN in Baghdad