Imagine the city of Columbus losing cell phone connection due to an outside terrorist force for a week or "until further notice".. unimaginable, right? This is exactly what is happening in Helmand, Afghanistan. After a promise of security from President Hamid Karzai, the Taliban threatened death to company officials and the destruction of cellphone towers which negated all previous attempts by the President at creating a secure Helmand. This is not a completely foreign happening as the Taliban have shut down cellphone towers before due to paranoia of "spies" and the tracking of the Mujahadeen by foreigners who then bomb and raid the area causing mass numbers of civilian casualties. This time it is different as it is usually designated to the night but there is no knowing of when it will end. This has been detrimental to the economic pursuits and security of the people in this region.
Here is the link to this article: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/taliban-cuts-cellphone-service-in-helmand/#more-33451
Do you guys feel that the author of this blog is trying to convey a sense of continuing insecurity and an increasing threat of Taliban attacks? What language or phrases are used to express this or counters this idea?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it does have a sense of continued insecurity and increasing threat. According to the featured blog,the regional heads of all the major companies met about a week ago and decided to shut down their systems. It means they are compromising to Taliban which indicates Taliban still have the upper hand. On the other hand, i found the government has claimed to protect the towers and emploees of the cellphone companies while Taliban had burned two towers close to givernment and police office. From what i have mentioned, the contrast clearly points out the government is not capable of guarding the public services and companies. It fully shows the insecurity and the threat of Taliban attacks will still last for a long time.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you guys think of the interface of the blog? What do you think the links to the other war blogs imply? What is the effect of placing links to live videos with interviews on the blog page?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lin. It seems the Taliban's threats are being taken very seriously by the government officials in charge in the area being affected by the blackouts. Even though these threats show that the Taliban still have some strength in the area, this tactic isn't winning over the civilians. The article states that they do not want the Taliban to ever regain control.
ReplyDeleteThe article also discussed how one of the more recent attacks only occured 90 feet, roughly 30 yards, from a police outpost. This brings up the question of just how competent the Afganistan authorities are. If these attacks can happen in the back yard of a police station, what could the Taliban get away with in other parts of the country?
I also find it very ironic that Qari Mohammed Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, told reporters that the Taliban have ordered the shutdown of all cellphone companies until further notice to cut down on civilian casualties. This seems to be quite hypocritical when coming from the group that was credited with the September 11th terror attacks.
Billy Kuhlman
Well, as far as I am concerned, the dilemma of the carriers of cell phone is acceptable. Although the Afghan goverment promised to offer some reinforcement to protect the towers and somthing else, the threats of Taliban can definitely not be overlooked. The cariers are responsible to consider more about if their company and system can operate normally. Also, I think the author of this blog may want to imply that now the situation in Ahghan is very chaostic, because there are several force influencing the society and people. As for the interface of the blog, actually, I was just wondering if it means the connections among different contents. If it does, I think the author use some key words and several arguement to make the blog concentrative, which means all of this blog focus on words such as "further notice", and the action of goverment and carriers. Therefore, the author's changing in content may not seem rough.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points above. Taliban's force is still a big threat to the country not only that, their force had grown bigger. Now, they even taken control of the phone companies which means they had the control over the people’s ability to talk to the outside world. In the blog the author talk about how the situation is beyond the government’s power. The best example is mentioned at the end of the article that one of the phone towers was burned down only 90 feet from the police outpost. Under the watch of police, the Taliban were still able to take down the phone tower. This action showed the Taliban’s influence on the nation. And the image of country without cell phone communication and the phrase “until further notice” created the uncertainty and insecurity of people’s future.
ReplyDeleteThis blog and information just goes to show you that the country is nowhere near ready to be turned over to control on their own. The security of most areas is still far and few between. But things are getting better I believe. But it is these small keys to beat the Taliban's force in the area. The companies need to stay open and protected in order to do so. This way the people can gain confidence in their new government and its security.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is definitely trying to convey a sense of insecurity within Afghanistan. The government is telling these phone companies that they will be protected, but towers have still been torched. One of which right by a police station. The protection there is very inadequate. The Taliban was thought to not have much of a stronghold anymore, but this is showing that they are trying to make a comeback. I personally was never a big proponent of going to war in Afghanistan, but I pose this question. Is it realistic to leave Afghanistan when the Afghan government appears not to be able to hold itself up against the rising Taliban?
ReplyDeleteThe author uses several contrasts to point out that the government of Afghan is not capable of keeping the security for the cell phone companies. In the first paragraph, the author descibed the controversial fact happened in the Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand. The President Hamid Karzai proclaimed that the government would “take over security responsibilities from international forces” while the cell phone network in this province is controlled by Taliban. As the author mentioned this contrast at the beginning of the article, readers may have the negative impression of the government and when they read on the article, this impression would be kept or even reinforced. After the first comparison, the author quote the words of Ahmad Shah Lemar, the administer of the local office of the Afghan Wireless Communication Company, to prove that the government could not assure the security of mobile phone company from the threats of Taliban. This example also intensifies the negative feeling of government for the audiences. The next three paragraphs also emphasizes that “Taliban leadership had ordered all cellphone neat works in Helmand” and explained the reasons of the decision that shut down the network. This indicates the weakness of the government indirectly. Then the writer state that Lashkar Gah is the city that the President considered stable enough, but ironically, Taliban sustained influence this city by the cellphone disruption. The writer used the shopkeeper’s words to show the opinions of the public that they thought the government has the responsibility to assure the safety of employees of the cellphone company. The last contrast is that Taliban terrorist attack the cellphone tower which is only 30 meters from a police outpost. This controversial fact reinforces the weakness of the government again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mark, that this blog just sh9ows the country of Afghanistan is nowhere neat ready to stand on their own and support themselves. As well, i feel Xixiao Hu was right on point with her post above. The contrasts within the article illuminate the contradictory actions of the government (what they say, and what they actually do) which ultimately reveals the weakness of the government. As well, such cases, like the Taliban cutting cell phone service, reveals the Taliban's still lingering power, and how the Taliban is undermining and belittling the government. This just goes to show the Taliban is still a powerhouse in Afghanistan and the government has a long road to go to gain the support of the people and become the primary source of leadership for the country.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite a contrast when you compare the United States government to the government that withstands the country of Afghanistan. As mentioned earlier the threat level of the taliban still continues to remain a threat to the government in Afghanistan as well as many of the civilians. In your opinion how would you describe the tone of the author as he describes the events that take place in Afghanistan?
ReplyDelete