I guess you've missed out on the news events in Western Afghanistan (Herat), & Northern Afghanistan in terms of the activities of the Taliban. The Taliban have a permanent presence inside most of the country, & control most of Afghanistan as well.
Poll: Afghan support for Taliban steadily declining
- Thread starter Sher Malang
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I guess you've missed out on the news events in Western Afghanistan (Herat), & Northern Afghanistan in terms of the activities of the Taliban. The Taliban have a permanent presence inside most of the country, & control most of Afghanistan as well.
Devil Soul
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Just few days back a NATO Sec Gen said they are moving in rite direction ....
No, but there is a difference between having a temporary presence, & permanent presence in a region. For example: the Taliban have a permanent presence in about 80% of Afghanistan. There is two stages in determining this: occupying it, & being able to hold onto a region. While the US/NATO troops have been successful in temporarily driving away insurgents, they have failed to hold onto the regions once it vacates. Whenever the troops vacate most regions, they get occupied by the Taliban again. In other words, they are unable to hold onto most regions in Afghanistan, as they fall right under the control of the Taliban. As a result, the Taliban has a permanent presence in 80% of Afghanistan. This is not the same situation inside Pakistan though (only in some parts of FATA in Pakistan maybe, but that is it), so the comparison is futile.
They are not controlling, it only says the level of their activity.
TaimiKhan
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Well you should belief what NATO has to say, but we can't trust NATO as the rising number of attacks, NATO/US forces leaving bases rather whole province in the hands of Taliban tell us something else. If NATO / US / ANA has secured a town in some district, while rest of the district has Taliban presence doesn't means that NATO is in control of the district, they just control the towns while rest of the country side is run by the Taliban. NATO forces giving protection money to not be attacked, local contractors / NGOs giving protection money shows the lie of NATO.
Zarvan
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Sir they have check posts there having courts and punishing people in public sir in short they are the leaders of most Afghanistan
why am i not surprised to see this from you.
Devil Soul
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Doubt cast over glowing Afghan survey
Poll finds 73 per cent of Afghans satisfied with government performance; critics call report "unreal" and "dangerous."
Mujib Mashal Last Modified: 15 Nov 2011 10:41
A US-funded survey in Afghanistan says that 73 three percent of the population is satisfied with the government's performance, a claim which leaders and analysts have disputed as being far from reality.
The survey, published by Asia Foundation, a US-based non-profit with more than a dozen offices across Asia, also said that nearly half of Afghans think their country is moving in the right direction. But the number of those who believe the country is moving in the wrong direction has risen to 35 per cent, its highest level since polling began in 2004.
Parliamentarians, officials, and analysts told Al Jazeera that the generally positive findings do not reflect realities on the ground.
Despite progress in certain areas, such as education and healthcare, President Hamid Karzais government continues to be marred by corruption and insecurity, among other problems. A messy dispute over a parliamentary election rife with fraud also continues to stall legislation, a year after the vote.
Even government officials were surprised by the survey's figures.
"This is bigger than a white lie," said Ramazan Bashardost, a member of parliament and former presidential candidate from Kabul. "Even Karzai himself is not happy with his government, and the poor guy often complains to the media about the problems."
"It [the survey] seems part of the illusion-weaving to get out of here, but reports like this are actually dangerous for us, and for the US security interests."
The survey was funded by a grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and has a large audience of policymakers in the Afghan government and the international community. It comes as Afghanistan prepares for a second round of security "handovers," in which Afghans take over responsibilities from foreign forces.
President Karzai is expected announce that 17 provinces will be transitioned. Seven areas completed the process in the first round, in July.
Shaharzad Akbar, a partner with Qara Constulting, an Afghan public relations firm, said the poll's high figures could be a result of who was picked for the interviews, and how the questions were framed. Her firm has worked extensively in gauging public opinion for government and non-government clients.
"If you are conducting surveys in mostly secure areas, it creates a national bias that needs to be factored into the final numbers, otherwise the accuracy is in question," she said.
But Dr Bruce Tolentino, the Asia Foundations country representative in Afghanistan, said the survey was held to rigorous standards of research. "The opinions of those living in highly insecure areas are likely to be underrepresented in survey findings," he said.
"In those provinces where security was a challenge, to obtain a representative sample, alternative sampling points were selected in the same provinces to adjust for insecurity and logistical difficulties."
But the survey's findings also seem at odds with an internal study recently conducted by the Afghan government over concerns that poor governance could be fuelling discontent and armed resistance.
"Corruption, violation of laws, and our governments inability in implementing the law across the country are all shortcomings that undoubtedly cause discontent," Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Karzais national security advisor, said in October after the study was completed.
Last week, a Gallup poll showed that the percentage of those "suffering" had increased to 30 per cent in Afghanistan, up by seven per cent from the previous year.
Government officials also expressed their surprise at the Asia Foundation's findings.
"In our desire for success, preferably, I would hope that the Asia foundation is correct," Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the deputy national security advisor, told Al Jazeera. "Often hearing more of setbacks than progress from such surveys, I was taken by surprise, though in a positive sense that there is so much optimistic view of people with regard to government performance."
Support for peace talks
The study also said there is strong public support, 82 per cent, for efforts to make peace with the Taliban; sympathy for the armed group was down to a record low of 29 per cent, from 40 per cent in 2010.
President Karzais efforts to talk to the Taliban have been stalled after a string of high profile attacks, most notably the assassination of his chief negotiator, former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Karzai has since said that talks with Taliban led nowhere, and that he is forced to negotiate with Pakistan instead, which has been accused by the US and Afghanistan of supporting the Taliban and allowing them to maintain sanctuaries.
"It is important to know how the questions were framed to the interviewees," Akbar said. "If you ask anyone in the country: do you support peace? Of course they will say yes. But if you approach the issue from many angles, and ask them about what is on the line in the current government peace plan and how it might affect his locality, you might get a different answer."
As patience with the 10-year war runs out in the US, critics say the survey is likely to feed into a narrative of transition: US lawmakers can use the findings it as evidence that it is time for them to leave Afghanistan.
"Like many such social scientific tools, the survey produces a clinical picture, with numbers supposedly capturing an objective reality," said Robert Crews, a professor of history at Stanford University who has written extensively on Afghanistan.
He said politicians can readily cite such statistics as concrete "evidence."
Abdul Waheed Wafa, executive director of the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University, disagreed that a glowing survey like this could help the Obama administration with its "Afghanistan problem" ahead of the US presidential elections.
"The picture that exists of Afghanistan in the US collective imagination is a dark one, of utter failure. A survey like this could be a positive, rallying element in the larger transition narrative. But I doubt things like this will help Obama change the US public perception of Afghanistan heading into the election."
Doubt cast over glowing Afghan survey - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English
Poll finds 73 per cent of Afghans satisfied with government performance; critics call report "unreal" and "dangerous."
Mujib Mashal Last Modified: 15 Nov 2011 10:41
A US-funded survey in Afghanistan says that 73 three percent of the population is satisfied with the government's performance, a claim which leaders and analysts have disputed as being far from reality.
The survey, published by Asia Foundation, a US-based non-profit with more than a dozen offices across Asia, also said that nearly half of Afghans think their country is moving in the right direction. But the number of those who believe the country is moving in the wrong direction has risen to 35 per cent, its highest level since polling began in 2004.
Parliamentarians, officials, and analysts told Al Jazeera that the generally positive findings do not reflect realities on the ground.
Despite progress in certain areas, such as education and healthcare, President Hamid Karzais government continues to be marred by corruption and insecurity, among other problems. A messy dispute over a parliamentary election rife with fraud also continues to stall legislation, a year after the vote.
Even government officials were surprised by the survey's figures.
"This is bigger than a white lie," said Ramazan Bashardost, a member of parliament and former presidential candidate from Kabul. "Even Karzai himself is not happy with his government, and the poor guy often complains to the media about the problems."
"It [the survey] seems part of the illusion-weaving to get out of here, but reports like this are actually dangerous for us, and for the US security interests."
The survey was funded by a grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and has a large audience of policymakers in the Afghan government and the international community. It comes as Afghanistan prepares for a second round of security "handovers," in which Afghans take over responsibilities from foreign forces.
President Karzai is expected announce that 17 provinces will be transitioned. Seven areas completed the process in the first round, in July.
Shaharzad Akbar, a partner with Qara Constulting, an Afghan public relations firm, said the poll's high figures could be a result of who was picked for the interviews, and how the questions were framed. Her firm has worked extensively in gauging public opinion for government and non-government clients.
"If you are conducting surveys in mostly secure areas, it creates a national bias that needs to be factored into the final numbers, otherwise the accuracy is in question," she said.
But Dr Bruce Tolentino, the Asia Foundations country representative in Afghanistan, said the survey was held to rigorous standards of research. "The opinions of those living in highly insecure areas are likely to be underrepresented in survey findings," he said.
"In those provinces where security was a challenge, to obtain a representative sample, alternative sampling points were selected in the same provinces to adjust for insecurity and logistical difficulties."
But the survey's findings also seem at odds with an internal study recently conducted by the Afghan government over concerns that poor governance could be fuelling discontent and armed resistance.
"Corruption, violation of laws, and our governments inability in implementing the law across the country are all shortcomings that undoubtedly cause discontent," Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Karzais national security advisor, said in October after the study was completed.
Last week, a Gallup poll showed that the percentage of those "suffering" had increased to 30 per cent in Afghanistan, up by seven per cent from the previous year.
Government officials also expressed their surprise at the Asia Foundation's findings.
"In our desire for success, preferably, I would hope that the Asia foundation is correct," Shaida Mohammad Abdali, the deputy national security advisor, told Al Jazeera. "Often hearing more of setbacks than progress from such surveys, I was taken by surprise, though in a positive sense that there is so much optimistic view of people with regard to government performance."
Support for peace talks
The study also said there is strong public support, 82 per cent, for efforts to make peace with the Taliban; sympathy for the armed group was down to a record low of 29 per cent, from 40 per cent in 2010.
President Karzais efforts to talk to the Taliban have been stalled after a string of high profile attacks, most notably the assassination of his chief negotiator, former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Karzai has since said that talks with Taliban led nowhere, and that he is forced to negotiate with Pakistan instead, which has been accused by the US and Afghanistan of supporting the Taliban and allowing them to maintain sanctuaries.
"It is important to know how the questions were framed to the interviewees," Akbar said. "If you ask anyone in the country: do you support peace? Of course they will say yes. But if you approach the issue from many angles, and ask them about what is on the line in the current government peace plan and how it might affect his locality, you might get a different answer."
As patience with the 10-year war runs out in the US, critics say the survey is likely to feed into a narrative of transition: US lawmakers can use the findings it as evidence that it is time for them to leave Afghanistan.
"Like many such social scientific tools, the survey produces a clinical picture, with numbers supposedly capturing an objective reality," said Robert Crews, a professor of history at Stanford University who has written extensively on Afghanistan.
He said politicians can readily cite such statistics as concrete "evidence."
Abdul Waheed Wafa, executive director of the Afghanistan Center at Kabul University, disagreed that a glowing survey like this could help the Obama administration with its "Afghanistan problem" ahead of the US presidential elections.
"The picture that exists of Afghanistan in the US collective imagination is a dark one, of utter failure. A survey like this could be a positive, rallying element in the larger transition narrative. But I doubt things like this will help Obama change the US public perception of Afghanistan heading into the election."
Doubt cast over glowing Afghan survey - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English
Devil Soul
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Asia Foundation Afghan poll reveals increased pessimism
More Afghans than at any time since 2004 believe their country is moving in the wrong direction, an annual poll by US group The Asia Foundation reveals.
While 46% think their country is moving in the right direction, 35% disagreed, an 8% jump compared with last year.
Growing insecurity was the main reason for increasing pessimism, the group found. It began Afghan polling in 2004.
The 2011 survey found more people satisfied with education, water and health provision than before.
Sympathy for armed militant groups such as the Taliban fell to 29% from 40% in 2010, the lowest level recorded by the Asia Foundation.
The survey also showed considerable public support for efforts to reach out and make peace with militant groups.
The findings come just months after a UN report said there had been a considerable rise in violent incidents in Afghanistan this year, particularly in the south and south-east.
The Asia Foundation survey appeared to reflect this, with residents of those areas expressing the highest degree of uncertainty.
The survey interviewed more than 6,300 Afghan citizens across all of the country's 34 provinces.
BBC News - Asia Foundation Afghan poll reveals increased pessimism
More Afghans than at any time since 2004 believe their country is moving in the wrong direction, an annual poll by US group The Asia Foundation reveals.
While 46% think their country is moving in the right direction, 35% disagreed, an 8% jump compared with last year.
Growing insecurity was the main reason for increasing pessimism, the group found. It began Afghan polling in 2004.
The 2011 survey found more people satisfied with education, water and health provision than before.
Sympathy for armed militant groups such as the Taliban fell to 29% from 40% in 2010, the lowest level recorded by the Asia Foundation.
The survey also showed considerable public support for efforts to reach out and make peace with militant groups.
The findings come just months after a UN report said there had been a considerable rise in violent incidents in Afghanistan this year, particularly in the south and south-east.
The Asia Foundation survey appeared to reflect this, with residents of those areas expressing the highest degree of uncertainty.
The survey interviewed more than 6,300 Afghan citizens across all of the country's 34 provinces.
BBC News - Asia Foundation Afghan poll reveals increased pessimism
Hussein
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Al Jazeera should say who said this. or maybe he was the one who lost the elections named in the article?
anyway i find strange to say in an article this easy sentence "analysts say" "leaders say".. but who?
page 7
Anyway instead of being sad talibans are not popular, is it not better people here support the Afghans?
And wish to them the better futur?
AND HELP THEM?
Chogy
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And their presence generally evaporates when an ISAF patrol comes through.
"Having a presence" and "controlling/defending land" are two very different things.
I have a presence in my home town. Doesn't mean I rule the town.
Sher Malang
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Mind your language kid! those are all my brothers and sisters.
This is the most unfortunate part regarding news about Afganistan...For an outsider like me who rely on news from ineternet to get the basic information it is really very difficult to understand the ground reality..
Now coming to this point,@ahmad we really need lot of more ground realities related information from you or people from Afganistan....The problem is that whenever there is any news comes up ...this is either from US media or Pakistani source who is party to this dispute..So it is really difficult to get the complete the information..
To be honest....I would really love to see the survey comes true...but again i have a lot of questions regarding the result of this survey to the ground reality..
- Can we deny the fact that Pastun control 80% of Afganistan?
- All Taliban may be pasthun but is it all pastun support talibans?
-Apart from tribe and ethnic level rivallary, is there any group of people in Afganistan who think that Afgan 1st and then their approach should be towards bringinging stability,peace or development in the region?
These are the critical questions that can be answered by an afganistan who is in the country in real time....
Now coming to this point,@ahmad we really need lot of more ground realities related information from you or people from Afganistan....The problem is that whenever there is any news comes up ...this is either from US media or Pakistani source who is party to this dispute..So it is really difficult to get the complete the information..
To be honest....I would really love to see the survey comes true...but again i have a lot of questions regarding the result of this survey to the ground reality..
- Can we deny the fact that Pastun control 80% of Afganistan?
- All Taliban may be pasthun but is it all pastun support talibans?
-Apart from tribe and ethnic level rivallary, is there any group of people in Afganistan who think that Afgan 1st and then their approach should be towards bringinging stability,peace or development in the region?
These are the critical questions that can be answered by an afganistan who is in the country in real time....
Sher Malang
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I don't know why Pakistanis hate, hate speech against Taliban? doesn't it sound like a hurt father after seeing his son in difficulties? Lol@ those who believes 80% of Afghanistan is controlled by Taliban! I mean com'on it's been 4 years they are controlling 80% why aren't they go for the rest of 20%? Taliban control is as low as 10-15% all over Afghanistan but being citizens of Afghanistan their presence is all over Afghanistan not only 80% but 100%!!
Taliban after killing thousands innocents have lost people's support, they lost territories which they controlled during 2006-2009, they are now very week to fight ANA/ANP/NATO forces face to face, they are now using their only chance of survival which is a propaganda war and trying to control people's mind with their propaganda. During past 20 days (including Eid days) I have visited family and friends in east and south east Afghanistan situation was very calm I saw many check posts of ANP and ANA. May the haters and enemies of Afghanistan die and burn in hell, Ameen.
Taliban after killing thousands innocents have lost people's support, they lost territories which they controlled during 2006-2009, they are now very week to fight ANA/ANP/NATO forces face to face, they are now using their only chance of survival which is a propaganda war and trying to control people's mind with their propaganda. During past 20 days (including Eid days) I have visited family and friends in east and south east Afghanistan situation was very calm I saw many check posts of ANP and ANA. May the haters and enemies of Afghanistan die and burn in hell, Ameen.
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