News of the Day for Sunday, March 16, 2014

Nine Afghan army officers are arrested for dereliction of duty or collusion with the Taliban in connection with the February attack in Kunar province that left 21 soldiers dead. The Khamaa news article is not clear about who is charged with what, but does say that 4 soldiers provided the Taliban with a map of the base, and that the commander was warned but ignored the information. (This is hardly the only indication we have had that the loyalty and competence of Afghan soldiers cannot be assumed.)

Presidential candidate Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak withdraws. He is a former Defense Minister and senior advisor to Hamid Karzai.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch says that Talban violence threatens to undermine the upcoming election.

Either 4 or 5 insurgents are arrested in Kandahar province. The headline says 4, the story says 5. Whatever.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, 15 people are killed in bombings in Baghdad on Saturday, 2 soldiers are killed in Mosul, 5 police and a civilian are killed in Ramadi, houses of 2 police officers are bombed near Fallujah, gunfight leaves 4 insurgents dead in Fallujah, and a Sahwa fighter and a civilian are killed in Maqdadiya. Oh yeah, proposed legislation, which appears to have the support of PM al-Maliki, would legalize marriage of girls as young as 8, forbid women to leave the house without their husbands’ permission, allow polygamy –it was drafted by the Justice Ministry and has been approved by the cabinet. That regime change sure was a great idea.