# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (December 2006)



## GAP (2 Dec 2006)

* The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (December 2006) * 

*News only - commentary elsewhere, please.  Thanks for helping this "news only" thread system work!*

Canadian tanks deployed in Afghanistan combat
Updated Sat. Dec. 2 2006 12:39 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

PANJWAII, Afghanistan -- It's the reason they're called "rolling thunder.''

The throaty roar of engines announcing the approach of the squadron of Canadian Leopard tanks could be heard from kilometres away as they emerged from the mist and rain Saturday to back up ground troops in the war-torn Panjwaii district.

The 42-tonne monsters left Kandahar Airfield under the cover of darkness early Saturday morning in the first combat deployment of Canadian tanks since the Korean War.

Hours later they rolled down the streets of the village of Panjwaii in an impressive show of force on their way to the nearby forward operating base, or FOB.

Residents of Panjwaii, hearing the rumble of the metal tracks biting into the concrete, rushed from their homes to watch the biggest display of firepower since their war with the Soviets in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

It also caused excitement at the FOB. Battle weary troops, who have been fighting the Taliban on a regular basis, couldn't contain their glee.

"Merry Christmas to the Taliban,'' said one soldier.

"It's time to open a can of whuppass,'' said another.

The tank crews, members of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) armoured regiment based in Edmonton, were excited to be finally joining the fight.
More on link

Conflict takes toll on Canadian non-commissioned officers in Afghanistan
Bill Graveland Canadian Press Saturday, December 02, 2006
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Soldiers look up to senior non-commissioned officers as mentors and role models, the backbone of the army. When an "NCO" is killed, the loss is felt across the ranks. 

The conflict in Afghanistan is taking a serious toll on senior NCOs in the Canadian Forces. The death of Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Girouard, the regimental sergeant major, in a suicide attack on Monday is just the tip of the iceberg. Two warrant officers, six sergeants and two master corporals are among the Canadians killed in Afghanistan. 

"Of course it hurts us - as human beings, as men," said Maj. Todd Scharlach, "when you lose key personnel and professional soldiers like Mr. Girouard and all the other soldiers we've lost as well." 

"Senior NCO's are really the backbone of a professional army. Their experience is vast," said Scharlach, 38, an operations officer from Kitchener, Ont. 

"They're the ones that have risen from the rank of private right up to - in the case of Chief Warrant Officer Girouard - the regimental sergeant major." 

Non-commissioned officers play leadership roles but do not have formal commissions - unlike officers who have documents signed by the Queen commissioning them. Warrant officers are given a warrant, a lesser-grade commission. 

Scharlach said even officers initially learn from senior NCOs during officer training. 

Commissioned officers move in and out of military units all the time. It is the non-commissioned officers who remain, maintaining continuity, enforcing rules, professionalism and pride. 
More on link

Disembowelled and murdered for teaching girls  
Thursday November 30, 2006 By Kim Sengupta
Article Link

GHAZNI - The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy.

The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely.

But his life was over.

He was partly disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes. The remains were put on display as a warning to others against defying Taleban orders to stop educating girls.

Halim is one of four teachers killed in rapid succession by the Islamists at Ghazni, a strategic point on the routes from Kabul to the south and east which has become the scene of fierce clashes between the Taleban and United States and Afghan forces.

The day we arrived an Afghan policeman and eight insurgents died during an ambush in an outlying village. Rockets were found, primed to be fired into Ghazni city during a visit by the American ambassador a few days previously. But, as in the rest of Afghanistan, it is the civilians who are bearing the brunt of this murderous conflict.

At the village of Qara Bagh, Halim's family is distraught and terrified. His cousin, Ahmed Gul, shook his head. "They killed him like an animal. No, no. We do not kill animals like that. They took away a father and a husband, they had no pity. We are all very worried. Please go now, you see those men standing over there? They are watching. It is dangerous for you, and for us."

Fatima Mustaq, the director of education at Ghazni, has had repeated death threats, the notorious 'night letters'. Her gender, as well as her refusal to send girls home from school, has made her a hate figure for Islamist zealots. "I think they killed him that way to frighten us, otherwise why make a man suffer so much? Mohammed Halim and his family were good friends of ours and we are very, very upset by what has happened. He came to me when the threats first began and asked what he should do. I told him to move somewhere safe. I think he was trying to arrange that when they came and took him."
More on link

Helicopter missing in south Afghanistan
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - A search is under way for a civilian helicopter that went missing in bad weather on Saturday while ferrying supplies for foreign forces in southern Afghanistan.

The chartered helicopter was headed from the capital of Kandahar province, Kandahar city, to the neighbouring province of Uruzgan when it went missing, a NATO spokesman said in Kabul.

There were no NATO personnel on board.

No further details were immediately available, including the type of helicopter or the number of people on board.

Fourteen British defence force personnel died when their plane crashed in Kandahar during an anti-Taliban offensive in September.
More on link

Capps' Afghanistan trip leaves her a believer  
Sat, Dec. 02, 2006   By David Whitney dwhitney@thetribunenews.com
Article Link

WASHINGTON — Rep. Lois Capps favors U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. But when it comes to involvement in Afghanistan, the Santa Barbara Democrat thinks the U.S. should be sending more troops and money.

Capps recently was in Afghanistan meeting with President Hamid Karzai and members of the year-old parliament as part of a delegation from the obscure House Democracy Assistance Commission.

"My overall impression was just how challenging and difficult and essential our presence is," Capps said in an interview Thursday.

She said she didn’t realize how fragile the situation was in Afghanistan until she was whisked by armored car through the narrow, crowded streets of Kabul.

"There were bombs that went off while we were in the city," she said. "There were explosive devices."

Capps said she was especially awed by the difficulties faced by the 68 female members of parliament as they struggle against the cultural prejudices that permitted the mistreatment and repression of women by the resurging Taliban.

"Women have double or triple the hurdles to overcome," she said.

At a lunch with about half the women members, Capps said, she learned that several had been threatened when campaigning for office.

"One woman was shot and left for dead," Capps said. "She crawled to a place where she could get some help, and she continued to run.

"They don’t want their country to be unruly. They don’t want warlords to take over. They want freedom."
More on link

Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record
U.S.-Backed Efforts At Eradication Fail
By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 2, 2006; Page A01
Article Link

Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.

In addition to a 26 percent production increase over past year -- for a total of 5,644 metric tons -- the amount of land under cultivation in opium poppies grew by 61 percent. Cultivation in the two main production provinces, Helmand in the southwest and Oruzgan in central Afghanistan, was up by 132 percent.
More on link


Czech troops take command of Kabul airport in Afghanistan      
December 02, 2006 
Article Link

Czech troops have officially taken the command of Kabul's international airport as responsibility within the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), Jan Pejsek from the Defence Ministry's press department said on Friday. 

The NATO command at the Kabul airport is in charge of comprehensive air traffic operation to the benefit of the multinational forces, individual participants in the operation and civilian air traffic. 

The four-month task will be performed by 47 members of the Czech Army, who are led by Colonel Bohuslav Dvorak and include specialists on air control, air information service, flight security and logistics. 

It is the first command of the Czech military within the ISAF. Under the Czech command, there will be 500 soldiers and specialists from about 20 NATO members and Afghanistan. 

The new contingent, which arrived in Afghanistan on Nov. 25, includes four women, and over one-third of its members have experience in foreign missions. It is supposed to stay in Kabul till November 2007. 

At the Kabul airport, there are another 20 Czech troops operating in the meteorological and logistics services and as bomb disposal experts. 

There are about 32,000 soldiers in Afghanistan within the ISAF at present. The Czech Republic is contributing 150 soldiers. 
More on link

Police Training in Afghanistan  
Reporter: Alice Barr
Article Link

President Bush says our troops will stay in Iraq until the country can stand alone. A local former police officer is working to bring that day a little closer.
Waylon Weber says he'll miss his kids' soccer games, but that's just one thing in a long list. He leaves tomorrow to spend a year training Iraqi police officers in Afghanistan.
"Once we train enough of them to take over and control their nation, then we can start bringing back, well we can come back and then start bringing back the troops," Weber says.
He spent six years in the Marines. He didn't want to re-enlist and separate from his family for a long period. But he wasn't ready to stop serving.
He says, "If I can go over there for one year and give it 110 % and know that I made a difference or contributed to the cause, that's all that matters to me."
Weber had to resign from the South Beloit police to take this trip. He says that was like leaving another family, but nothing like saying goodbye to his kids.
His son Aaron say, "I was like what am I gonna do without my dad he's gonna miss a whole year of my life."
More on link

Afghanistan and Pakistan try to stop polio on border
Saturday, December 02, 2006 Staff Report
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan are to set up five check posts on their common border to screen children for polio and give them vaccine drops in the hope of eliminating one of the world’s last reservoirs of the disease, Federal Health Minister Muhammad Nasir Khan said on Friday. 

The announcement was made following a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Syed Muhammad Amin Fatmi at the Ministry of Health. “We already have two points and the new ones will help monitor all the migrating population,” he told a news conference. 

The existing posts are in Chaman and Torkhum. “The World Health Organization will lead the team to help identify the new points,” Nasir said. 

At the current points, over 84,000 children were covered by teams in Chaman and 70,000 at Torkhum in the first six months of 2006, officials pointed out. 
More on link

Afghan assembly condemns Kasuri assertions for coalition govt in Afghanistan  
Saturday December 02, 2006 (0140 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Afghan Parliament strongly condemned the assertions made by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri recently; suggesting the formation of coalition government in Afghanistan joined by Taliban and termed it as direct interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs. 
Earlier, the meeting of the Afghan Parliament was held under the chairmanship of its speaker, Mohammad Younis Qanooni in Kabul the other day, reports Radio Kabul. 

During the session, Afghan parliament members strongly condemned Pakistan's Foreign Minister statement about coalition government joined by Taliban in Afghanistan
More on link

Bodies of 2 soldiers killed in Afghanistan return home
Last Updated: Friday, December 1, 2006 The Canadian Press 
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan this week arrived home Friday evening in a solemn ceremony.

Flag-draped caskets containing the bodies of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, of Bathurst, N.B., and Cpl. Albert Storm, 36, of Fort Erie, Ont., were unloaded from a military plane at CFB Trenton.

Their remains were flown back to Canadian soil following a ramp ceremony at Kandahar Airfield on Thursday.

Girouard and Storm, both members of the Royal Canadian Regiment based in Petawawa, Ont., were in a Bison armoured personnel carrier when a suicide bomber in a car drove alongside and detonated his explosives. The Bison had left the Kandahar air base just minutes earlier.

It was the first deadly strike against Canadian troops in Afghanistan in six weeks, shattering a period of relative calm.
More on link

Afghanistan: a chance or a trap for NATO? 
18:48 | 01/ 12/ 2006 
Article Link   

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Alexander Bogatyrev) - Afghanistan is one country where Russia is ready to cooperate with NATO, as the latest meeting of the NATO-Russia Council showed. The bloc, however, needed time to mull the offer over. 

The first day of the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, which discussed Afghanistan, provided the answer. 

Afghanistan is a complicated and painful problem for the organization. Some say the country will decide its future. Five years after the beginning of the operation, NATO is coordinating the international effort in Afghanistan. This removes the ambiguity that prevailed when U.S. and NATO troops acted separately even though the Untied States is a NATO member. 

The operation in Afghanistan was expected to give NATO a second lease on life after the end of the Cold War. The Taliban seemed to be the answer to the question of the bloc's objectives and adversaries. 

But the meeting in Riga showed that Afghanistan is turning out to be an unbearably high price to pay for the preservation and expansion of the bloc. 

At present NATO has to ensure security both in the relatively calm northern provinces of the country and in the south and southeast, where the Taliban are the true masters. Their autumn offensive proved that they have reinforced their positions and are gradually changing their tactics, going over from a guerrilla war to well-organized offensive and defensive operations. Moreover, they are now more frequently attacking in large groups of 300-400. 
More on link

6 Taliban militants killed in S. Afghanistan 
 December 01, 2006          
Article Link

Afghan police killed six Taliban insurgents in Zabul province of southern Afghanistan, a local official told Xinhua on Friday. 

The police clashed with some Taliban militants in Share Safa district of the province on Thursday night, said Mohammad Rassoul, the district police chief. 

Six insurgents were killed and two others arrested, he said, adding there were no casualties of the police. 

Zabul has been a hotbed of Taliban insurgents, who clash with Afghan and NATO troops frequently. 

Due to rising Taliban-linked violence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed since the Taliban regime was toppled nearly five years ago. 

Over 3,800 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in this volatile country this year. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Royal Marines in Afghanistan misled by £3,000 rise blunder  
01 December 2006
Article Link

A Defence Minister accepted yesterday that Royal Marines serving in Afghanistan will have been left "disappointed and upset" after having been led to believe they were getting big increases in their allowances.
More than 4,000 marines were led to believe they were getting a £3,000 bonus. But the Ministry of Defence has since realised the error made by Royal Navy administrators and says the marines will not get the extra money.
Defence Minister Derek Twigg, helping to send off Christmas gift boxes to forces from Regent's Park Barracks in London, said: "A mistake was made but the Navy have done a good job in dealing with it.
"The error was spotted before the money was paid. I can understand that some of the Royal Marines expecting this will be 
disappointed and upset about it. 
I understand how they might 
feel.
"But it doesn't detract from the admiration we hold them in in terms of the job they are doing, which has been recognised by the operational bonuses which will be paid to them. 
They are a tremendous professional organisation and I believe they will continue to do a very difficult job in difficult circumstances."
The MoD said earlier that the change in the way the allowance was paid aimed to make it simpler to pay. 
It said: "The Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel will be paid under joint Personnel Agency arrangements from this month. Regrettably, the internal Royal Navy instruction was wrong and some personnel are disappointed that they will not receive this substantial uplift."
The marines were told they could receive up to £17 extra a day over six months.
More on link

Ten Taliban killed, two commanders seized in Afghanistan  
Article Link


KANDAHAR: NATO and Afghan troops killed 10 Taliban rebels and captured two suspected militant leaders in a raid on an alleged suicide bomb cell in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Friday.

One NATO soldier was lightly wounded in the operation carried out early Thursday in the troubled Sangin district of Helmand province, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. 

The identity of the suspected insurgent commanders captured in the raid was not revealed.

An ISAF statement said troops seized two suicide vests, several rocket propelled grenades and a cache of equipment and weapons "that were ready to be used in future attacks".

Warplanes and helicopters backed up the troops in the operation, it said, adding that there were no civilian casualties. 
End 

Feature: World Bank-UN Report Offers Grim Assessment of Afghanistan Opium Battle, Says Winning Will Take Decades, Not Years
Article Link

 Printer Friendly Version  Email this Articlefrom Drug War Chronicle, Issue #463, 12/1/06
The effort to wipe out opium production has achieved limited success at best, hurt the poorest Afghans, and riddled the government with corruption from top to bottom, according to a comprehensive report released Tuesday by the United Nations and the World Bank.

"Afghanistan's Opium Economy" says the counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan is failing and the presence of opium in the national economy is so great that it infiltrates not only the economy, but the Afghan state, politics, and society. Providing a real alternative will take decades, not years, the study warns.
More on link

Refocusing on Afghanistan
Lance Dickie / Seattle Times editorial columnistFriday, December 1, 2006 
Article Link  

The spoils of victory and the responsibilities of victory. Each is a manifestation of Democratic control of Congress, and Washington Sen. Patty Murray carries the expectations and weight of both.

First, let me say, she looks terrific in a hard hat.

Murray was in Seattle this week and she sported neither a stingy brim nor a stingy attitude. Along with her OSHA chapeau she brought U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and $750 million in glad tidings for Sound Transit's University Link extension.

Portland's light rail, the envy of Seattle, comes to mind. The system was launched and nurtured by Oregon's long-time Republican senator, Mark Hatfield, when he and the GOP ran things in the 1980s and 1990s. This is what it feels like.

The ghosts of Maggie and Scoop are looking over Murray's shoulder, and they are saying, "Good job." Washington's senior senator picked up an Appropriations Subcommittee gavel with the Democrats' big win last month, and she was elevated into Senate leadership, which sets the agenda.

Congress has a daunting to-do list, and I am starting to hate the word refocus, with its echo of costly sins of omission in public policy. Murray used the word in a conversation with The Seattle Times' editorial board. The question was about Afghanistan.

The United States has been focused on Iraq to our peril in Afghanistan, the senator said, and time has come to refocus on that volatile region.

NATO thinks the same thing. The topic dominated a summit meeting this week in Riga, Latvia. An informed observer, a retired American general and former supreme allied commander in Europe, described events in Afghanistan as "reaching a critical juncture." Read that to mean things are about to fall apart.

NATO has 32,000 troops in the country. Five years after the U.S.-led effort to subdue the Taliban and destroy safe havens for terrorists, the mission and enthusiasm have gotten fuzzy. So has the sense of shared burden.

Only the U.S., Britain, Canada and the Netherlands have combat troops in the south, where the attacks by resurgent Taliban are the most severe. Germany, France and other NATO elements are ensconced in the north and largely refuse to budge. Canada is making a righteous noise about the lopsided share of its troops killed in action, including 36 this year.

Why is there any civilian tolerance for the murder of the peacemakers — the peacekeepers, the bearers of humanitarian aid and advocates for a civil society — by a revived Taliban? These oppressive religious extremists were shoved aside by a relieved nation in 2001.

On one level, the U.S. cannot be matched for military might or good intentions. We can rally the most powerful forces on Earth, and they are organized and overseen by skilled, effective people.

Our leaders — and the indictment is broader than those now in the White House — have two problems overseas: They are culturally clueless and they are easily distracted. They have the attention span of a gnat. The Bush administration gave up on talking to parts of the world for years.

Sainted Tony Blair talks about political solutions, but the U.S. and kindred spirits have a knack for backing the wrong horse. The Taliban enjoy renewed authority because what passes for a central government is inept, corrupt and worse. A U.N. report talks about enabling the opium trade.

Why would Afghanis with a stake in a better future countenance the loathsome Taliban attacking NATO forces? Well, the Taliban might be SOBs, but they are not the foreign infidels who came to visit and never left. Cultural and religious sensibilities exist that we do not get.

I supported the charge into Afghanistan after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, something of a first for me. Usually, diplomacy is not allowed to work, but a hard military punch can have salutary effects; look at the NATO bombing in Kosovo. Punishing, liberating and rebuilding Afghanistan made sense. Five years later, we are still dying there.

I do not expect much out of those who control foreign policy — the Bush White House — but I want those refocused Democrats to explain why Afghanistan remains important to U.S. interests.

It falls to Sen. Murray to ask the questions and return with the answers. Along, of course, with those fat checks.
More on link

Czech army to send field hospital to Afghanistan - press
Article Link

Prague- The Defence Ministry wants to send its 6th field hospital with up to 80 military doctors to Afghanistan next year, the daily Pravo writes citing Defence Minister Jiri Sedivy. 
Czech President Vaclav Klaus promised at the NATO summit in Riga on Wednesday that the Czech participation in the military mission in Afghanistan would be strengthened. 

The army's present plan did not include sending a field hospital. Sedivy said that the army reacted to the request of the British commanders of NATO. 

"The hospital is likely to be deployed within the international airport in Kabul," the minister told Pravo. 

Sedivy said that the army is able to send the hospital already in February. The step has yet to be approved by the government and parliament. 

The Czech field hospital was deployed within missions in Albania, Iraq, and Turkey, and in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003. It can daily carry out 10 serious operations, treat 160 patients, and hospitalise 40 injured. 
More on link

A voice for Afghanistan
First female Afghan camerawoman speaks up for silenced women 
Emily Senger News Editor November 30, 2006
Article Link

The images of Afghan women presented in western media paint a picture of silent, ghostly beings, floating in shrouds of blue burqas, eyes hidden and faces closed to the world. But one brave woman's documentary is challenging these Western misconceptions to provide a face and a voice for the silent struggles of millions of Afghan women.

Twenty-four year-old filmmaker Mehria Azizi and Afganh radio-journalist Najeeba Ayubi came to the University of Calgary Thur., Nov. 23 to screen Azizi's documentary Afghanistan Unveiled. The film is the first made by Afghan camerawomen, and the pair used it as an opportunity to speak out about the importance of free press in a nation marred by five years of oppressive Taliban rule. 

"From my side, it's more important that Afghan women should come to other countries," said Azizi. "If you see this movie you will find that Afghan people, still they have difficulties in the world. They are under the pressure of the culture, under the pressure of economic problems, under the pressure of educational problems. The men and women, both of them, but especially women. I do this for the poor people in hopes the international community, the media, they should help Afghanistan because, still, we need them." 
More on link

EU completes 1 billion euro aid pledge to Afghanistan 
December 01, 2006          
Article Link

The European Commission committed 20.6 million euros' aid to Afghanistan on Thursday, completing its 1 billion pledge over five years to support the central Asian country. 

Among the final commitments, 10.6 million euros will be used to support Afghanistan's provincial governance and improve service delivery to the local population under the framework of Provincial Reconstruction Teams, while another 10 million euros will be spent on the Afghanistan Variety and Seed Industry Development Project. 

With these two decisions, the European Commission has fulfilled its pledge made in 2002 to provide 1 billion euros over five years to support the reconstruction and development process in Afghanistan. 

"In 2002 the European Commission promised to be a steadfast partner for Afghanistan. Today we have kept our promise in full, and ahead of schedule," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy. 

As of today, around 80 percent of the money committed is already paid out. 

The largest part worth 265 million euros is used to support public administration and security sector reform in Afghanistan, covering salaries of 266 thousand civil servants and 66 thousand police personnel. 
More on link


----------



## daftandbarmy (2 Dec 2006)

NY Times
Afghan District Makes Own Deal With the Taliban
By CARLOTTA GALL and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
Some critics warn that the peace deal with tribal elders
sets a dangerous precedent and represents a capitulation to
the Taliban.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/02/world/asia/02afghan.html?th&emc=th


----------



## GAP (3 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 3 December 2006*

Cdn tanks fire in battle for 1st time in 50 years
Updated Sun. Dec. 3 2006 5:33 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Artilcle Link

Canadian tanks were involved in battle on Sunday, for the first time in half a century. 

The newly-deployed Leopard Tanks fired their cannons in response to a Taliban rocket attack on the forward operating base near the village of Panjwaii, Afghanistan. 

The tank squadron arrived at the base just one day earlier. The convoy made an impressive show of force as it travelled through the village on Saturday, and Sunday's Taliban attack appeared to be a direct response to the display, said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from the base.

"Just before the sun went down two rockets were fired at the Canadian forward operating base in Ma'sum Ghar where we are currently," Chao told CTV Newsnet. 

"In response to the two rockets that were fired, the Canadian Leopard tanks returned fire. We could hear the echo through the mountains where we are and this marked the first time in more than 50 years that Canadian tanks have been involved in combat." 

Canada became the first NATO country to send tanks into combat in Afghanistan on Saturday. 

"They know we're here ... (and) we think they're somewhat nervous of us,'' Cpl. Andrew Baird, 23, of Parry Sound, Ont. told The Canadian Press. 

"I think it surprised them that we arrived and we're here now and we're here to stay.'' 
More on link



Three troops injured in Afghanistan* This is an update on the article below this one*
3.03, Sun Dec 3 2006
Article Link


Three Royal Marines have been injured in an attack on a convoy in Afghanistan.

A suicide car bomber launched the attack on a military convoy in the centre of Kandahar earlier, Nato said.

The MoD confirmed that the three British service personnel - from 45 Commando Royal Marines - had been injured.

One was described as "seriously ill", while the others are in a stable condition, a spokeswoman added.

She said: "The injured servicemen received first aid at the scene before being evacuated by UK helicopter.

"They are currently receiving medical treatment at an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) medical facility."

The MoD said that at least two Afghan civilians had been killed and a number of others injured when the attacker attempted to ram the British vehicles.
More on link

Suicide car bomber attacks NATO convoy
Story Highlights•Suicide car bomber tries to ram NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan
•Troops fire at several civilian vehicles after blast
•Bomb and shooting kill 3 Afghans, injure 19 people, including 3 NATO troops
•Taliban claims responsibility for car bomb
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide car bomb exploded next to a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan Sunday, and troops speeding away from the scene shot at several civilian cars.

Three Afghans were killed in the violence and 19 people were wounded, including three NATO soldiers, officials said.

The blast damaged an open-top NATO vehicle and scattered the pieces of the car bomb over a wide area in Kandahar city.

Three NATO soldiers were wounded, said Squadron Leader Jason Chalk, an alliance spokesman in Kandahar. He did not disclose their nationality.

The suicide bomber tried to ram the convoy as the troops drove through the city, said Razaq Khan, a police officer at the scene.

Two civilians were killed and 10 wounded in the blast, said Dr. Bashir Ahmed of the main Kandahar hospital. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the explosion, soldiers speeding from the scene fired at civilian vehicles and a man on a motorcycle about half a mile from the blast site.

Ahmed said six Afghans were wounded by the gunfire.

Zarar Ahmad Muqbal, Afghanistan's interior minister, told a news conference in Kabul that one civilian was killed and one was injured by the gunfire. He was apparently describing only one car that was hit.

Maj. Luke Knittig, the spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said as the patrol was driving away from the blast site it came across a suspicious car soldiers feared might be a second suicide bomber -- apparently the car Muqbal described.

Chalk said the patrol fired warning shots to keep people away and that some civilians may have been injured as a result.

Isah Mohammad, one of the Afghans injured by gunfire, said from his hospital bed that he was driving through Kandahar with his cousin when the convoy passed them.

"The convoy was coming and there was some gunfire, but I thought it was a wedding ceremony," said Mohammad, who is in his early 30s and was hit in the shoulder and the right leg. "When they got closer, they started shooting at us."

The blast was the fourth suicide attack in the Kandahar region in a week. Two Canadian soldiers were killed last Monday by a suicide car bomb just outside Kandahar.

The bombs typically target NATO and Afghan security forces but more often kill civilians. NATO figures as of last week showed that 227 Afghans and 17 international soldiers have been killed in about 105 suicide bombings this year.
More on link

Grave of soldier killed in Afghanistan will get Wiccan symbol
By Scott Sonner, The Associated Press 12/03/2006 
Article Link

RENO, Nev. - Friends and family of a Nevada soldier killed in Afghanistan more than a year ago plan to gather at a veterans cemetery Saturday to dedicate what they say is the first government-issued memorial plaque in the country to include a symbol of the Wiccan faith. 
The multicultural, interfaith service for Sgt. Patrick Stewart of Fernley will include blessings by American Indians, Jews, Christians and Wiccans, said the Rev. Selena Fox, one of the Wiccan organizers of the memorial. 

"There's quite a diversity of people who are going to be there," Fox said Friday before leaving her home in Wisconsin for the trip to northern Nevada. 

Stewart's plaque was installed last week on the Veterans Memorial Wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, about 30 miles east of Reno. 

The Nevada Army National Guardsmen and four others died Sept. 25, 2005, when their Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. 

Since then, Stewart's widow, Roberta, has been fighting to make the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recognize the Wiccan pentacle - a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle - for plaques and headstones at veterans' cemeteries. 

Citing its jurisdiction over maintenance
More on link

Clashes kill seven militants in Afghanistan  December 03, 2006          
Article Link

Seven militants were killed and four others injured as they clashed with police in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday. 

Six Taliban operatives were killed as police resisted their offensives in Darwishan area of Tirin Kot city, capital of the southern Uruzgan province on Friday night, the provincial police chief Mohammad Qasim told Xinhua. 

In the fire exchange lasted four three hours two police men were also wounded, he added. 

Also on Friday night, police killed one rebel and wounded four others in the central Wardak province, the provincial police chief Mahboub Amiri told Xinhua but declined to give more details. 

More than 3,800 people mostly the rebels, according to officials, have been killed in Afghanistan since January last. 

Source: Xinhua 
More on link

*Opposition German Greens Back German Troops In Afghanistan*
Article Link

A bid to return Germany's opposition Greens party to the pacifist camp failed Sunday at a national party conference in the western city of Cologne, with delegates instead backing a continued presence by German peacekeepers in Afghanistan. 

The party has its roots in the pacifist and environmentalist demonstrations that convulsed Germany a quarter of a century ago, but when the Greens were a junior government party from 1998 to 2005, they voted to send troops abroad. 

Resolutions passed by the conference called for unspecified adjustments to German policy in Afghanistan and opposed moving German troops to the south to fight the Taliban. But a resolution demanding a withdrawal from Afghanistan failed to win a majority. 

"We are responsible for the people of Afghanistan," said party co-leader Claudia Roth. 
More on link

Women veterans cope with emotional wounds
POSTED: 1853 GMT (0253 HKT), December 3, 2006 
Article Link

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- The nightmares didn't start until months after Alicia Flores returned home. The images were stark and disturbing: In one dream, a dying Iraqi man desperately grabbed her arm. In another, she was lost in a blinding sandstorm.

Sometimes, Flores awakened to discover her mouth was dust-dry -- as if she were really stumbling through the scorching, 120-degree desert.

The nightmares bring Flores back to Iraq, and her service in the Army's 92nd Chemical Company. She was just 19 when her unit arrived there. Now 23, she's left with memories of women and children being killed, of hauling bodies, of shooting a teenage Iraqi fighter. "It was him or me," she says.

"I'm fine with what I did over there ...," Flores says. "In my eyes, I did a good thing. It really doesn't bother me. The only thing that bothers me is I just want to sleep more."

Flores is one of a new generation of women who have returned from war to cope with emotional stress or physical wounds that linger long after the sounds of mortar and gunfire have faded. 

Studies of Vietnam and Gulf War veterans have documented post-traumatic stress in females -- with higher rates than men, in some cases.

But the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has seen a far larger deployment of women -- more than 155,000 -- with far more females exposed to ambushes, roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and other deadly hazards. And they have been left with an increased risk of combat-like stress.
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (4 Dec 2006)

*Canadian tanks fire first rounds in battle for first time since Korean War*
_(updated version of earlier CP story listed above)_
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via Macleans.ca, 3 Dec 06
Article Link

Canadian tanks fired their cannons in battle for the first time in half a century Sunday, replying to a Taliban rocket attack on their forward operating base.  The squadron of Leopard Tanks arrived at the base Saturday, rolling through the nearby village of Panjwaii with an impressive show of force for local citizens and the Taliban.  The Taliban obviously noticed. Two rebel rockets landed near the base at twilight Sunday, shattering the relative calm with a loud explosions. Canadian troops responded with two mortar bombs, the flash on the mountain top clearly visible from below in the fading light ....


*Tanks to take on Taliban*
Pak Tribune (PAK), 4 Dec 06
Article Link

Canadian troops in the war-torn Panjwaii district rolled out the 42-tonne Leopards in the first combat deployment of Canadian tanks since the Korean War.  Hours later they rolled down the streets of the village of Panjwaii in an impressive show of force on their way to the nearby forward operating base, or FOB.  Residents of the village of Panjwaii rushed from their homes to watch the biggest display of firepower since their war with the Soviets in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It also caused excitement at the FOB. Battle-weary troops couldn't contain their glee. "Merry Christmas to the Taliban," said one soldier ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*The Taliban Gets Closer to Kabul*
Der Spiegel, 4 Dec 06
Article Link

A report from the German military, the Bundeswehr, warns that the Taliban is approaching Kabul and that attacks on the capital city are likely to increase. Security in nearby districts is already deteriorating.  The regeneration of the Taliban -- which has retaken control of parts of southern Afghanistan -- is no longer fresh news to anyone. But are the insurgent forces preparing to launch a series of attacks on the capital city of Kabul, which is home to peacekeeping troops, the Afghan government and non-government organizations that are helping to rebuild the war-torn country?  The leadership of Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, fear that Taliban attacks on the Afganistan capital of Kabul will likely increase in the coming months. According to a classified report on the state of Afghanistan obtained by SPIEGEL, "militant opposition forces" have made it clear that they will focus fighting during the winter "on the country's largest cities." ....



*70 to 80 Taliban killed in Afghanistan*
Jason Staziuso, Associated Press, 4 Dec 06
Article Link

An estimated 70 to 80 Taliban militants were killed by NATO soldiers in fighting in southern        Afghanistan after police told military authorities where insurgents had gathered, an official said Monday.  NATO soldiers suffered no casualties in the fighting in Helmand province that lasted into early Sunday, said Maj. Luke Knittig, the spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.  The battle was in a remote location and there was no way to independently confirm NATO's casualty figures, provided by the commander on the ground ....


*Nato 'kills 80 Taliban fighters'*
Aljazeera.net, 4 Dec 06
Article Link

Nato has said its troops have killed up to 80 Taliban fighters in a battle in southern Afghanistan.  A reconnaissance patrol hunting Taliban forces engaged with a large group of fighters approximately 15km from the village of Musa Qala in Helmand Province, a Nato spokesman said on Monday.  No Nato casualties were reported after a four-hour fight supported by helicopters, but three soldiers from Nato's International Security Assistance Force were wounded during an earlier clash.  Fighting in Afghanistan this year is the worst since US-led forces fought the Taliban government in 2001 ....


----------



## GAP (4 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 4 December 2006*

*Afghans bomb, berate British troops *  
Crowds vent rage after Royal Marines strafe Kandahar while fleeing attack 
GRAEME SMITH From Monday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Angry crowds gathered at Kandahar's hospital and shouted epithets at foreign troops yesterday, saying soldiers had raced away from the scene of a bombing and shot at least seven civilians in their hurry to get through the city.

Three elite commandoes from the British Royal Marines were injured about 11 a.m. when a suicide bomber tried to ram his car into their jeep. The events that followed are now under investigation, the British military says, but witnesses describe a military convoy driving at high speed across the city, firing shots in three locations as they apparently tried to warn away other vehicles and pedestrians.

One of the bullets went through the window of a bus and into the forehead of the driver, Aqil Shah, 30, who later died in hospital.

His brother, who was travelling with him as they transported goods from Herat to Kandahar, said they didn't know about the suicide bombing on the other side of town when they encountered the British convoy on the city's western edge.
More on link

Afghanistan: A job half done  
By Lyse Doucet  BBC Afghanistan analyst  
Article Link

In December 2001, a new future for Afghanistan was mapped out at an international conference in Bonn, beginning with an interim government to replace the Taleban. This week we look at how much has changed since then. 
Five years ago, on a cold winter's day in Kabul, news broke that a new Afghan leader had been chosen thousands of miles away in the German city of Bonn. 

I reached for a satellite telephone to call Hamid Karzai, still battling against Taleban forces in their last redoubt in the south. 

"Am I the new Chairman?" he shouted on a crackling line. On a morning when he had come under fire from misguided American aircraft, Hamid Karzai still had not been told officially. 

"That's nice" was his unassuming reply. 

Afghans have, in some ways, made an impressive journey since a hastily assembled group of Afghans and foreign envoys forged what became known as the Bonn process. 
More on link

Afghan conflict: Reporter's diary  
The BBC's Alastair Leithead has spent nine days embedded with UK forces in southern Helmand province, where Royal Marines have been battling Taleban rebels. Here are his daily reports on life with the troops, with the most recent one at the top. 
FRIDAY 10 NOVEMBER 0630 (0300 GMT)  
Article Link

Small stones and fine sand were whipped up into our faces as the Chinook transporter helicopter landed in the desert to whisk us back to Camp Bastion. 

Our embedded trip with the Royal Marine Commandos in southern Helmand had come to an end and we loaded up our equipment alongside tyres, a large gun that was being replaced and a few people heading back like us. 

The final night had seen the Marine Commandos use two more rockets to kill, they say, a further three Taleban fighters in a bunker they had been monitoring for a number of days. 

We accompanied the Afghan National Army on a foot patrol around a village and it was interesting to see the British mentoring and training team's idea of meeting people to gather intelligence rubbing off. 

As I said on Thursday, it's the way forward to train up the army and police, but I remain to be convinced as to whether the language and cultural barrier is just too great to see major progress in the next few years. 

We left them moving into another village where they came under fire - it's still a dangerous place. 

Over the past few days our team of Fred Scott (cameraman), Peter Emmerson (producer) and I have had a unique insight into how the front-line forces operate. 

We were very impressed by the soldiers' professionalism, commitment and morale - they welcomed and protected us in a very dangerous environment. 

They are a specialist group of Commandos, at the sharp end of the continuing war against the Taleban - and incidentally Monday will mark five years since the coalition forced the Taleban out of Kabul. 
More on link

Travelling with the Taleban  
The BBC's David Loyn has had exclusive access to Taleban forces mobilised against the British army in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. 
Article Link

There is no army on earth as mobile as the Taleban. 
Taliban interview link
I remember it as their secret weapon when I travelled with them in the mid-1990s, as they swept aside rival mujahideen to take most of the country. 

Piled into the back of open Toyota trucks, their vehicle of choice, and carrying no possessions other than their weapons, they can move nimbly. 

The bare arid landscape of northern Helmand suits them well. 

After one hair-raising race across the desert last week, patrolling the large area where they can move at will, they screamed to a stop at a river bank. 

It was sunset, and time to pray before breaking the Ramadan fast they had kept since sunrise. 

Before praying, they washed in a dank-looking pool at the side of the almost-dry river bed. 

Afghanistan has been in the grip of a severe drought for several years, but the lack of clean water does not seem to concern these hardy men. 
More on link

Scandal with the Czech military delegation's transit from Afghanistan via Turkmenistan fomented a diplomatic conflict between Ashkhabad and Prague
04.12.2006 13:28 msk Fyodor Lukianov (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Article Link

The TU-154 with the Czech military delegation was returning from Afghanistan where several dozens servicemen of the Czech national army participate in the NATO peacekeeping mission. The plane needed a stopover in Ashkhabad, the capital of Turkmenistan, for refuelling. The Czechs even had a special permit from the local authorities.

What happened in Ashkhabad, however, was something nobody had expected. Claiming that the plane was carrying weapons (it did), the Turkmen authorities annulled the permit and all but arrested the Czech board, denying it the permit to takeoff. The passengers were even denied the permission to leave the plane.

The delegation in the meantime included some senior military and civilian officials of the Czech Republic - Chief of the General Staff Pavel Stefka, Jan Vidim of the parliamentary Defense and Security Committee, and others. Delay of the departure resulted in a bona fide struggle for the plane.

There is no saying how long the Czechs would have spent in the Turkmen captivity were it not for the Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov. The Czech Embassy in Moscow was informed that the plane was permitted to depart on the Turkmenbashi's personal order.
More on link

U.S. Report Finds Dismal Training of Afghan Police
Police Academy By Daniel Politi  Monday, Dec. 4, 2006, at 6:41 AM ET 
Article Link

The New York Times leads with a new report that reveals the police force in Afghanistan is in poor shape, and much of it is due to a lack of training and oversight. The joint report, which was carried out by the Pentagon and the State Department, says the local police force is incapable of performing day-to-day work, and managers can't even keep track of officers or equipment.
End

Afghanistan, Uzbekistan agree to increase cooperation  
Monday December 04, 2006 (1045 PST)
Article Link

 TASHKENT: Uzbek and Afghan Foreign Minister have agreed to further increase consultation and cooperation about regional peace and security. 
This was decided during the meeting of the Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta with his Uzbek Counterpart Vladimir Norufov in Tashkent, Radio Azadi reported on Sunday. 

The two leaders have also signed Memorandum of Understanding. Dr. Spanta is on three-day visit to Uzbekistan. 

It is said that basic objective of Dr. Spanta's tour is to convince Uzbek government to cooperate in Afghanistan's reconstruction. 

It may be noted that Uzbek government had announced last month to provide electricity to Afghanistan. Afghan Foreign Ministry sources said that Uzbekistan release 12 Afghan prisoners before Spanta's visit.
More on link

Report: U-S trained police in Afghanistan can't do their jobs  
Article Link


WASHINGTON Despite American training, police in Afghanistan are incapable of doing their jobs.

A report by the Pentagon and State Department blames ineffective training, too much reliance on private contractors and lost equipment.

The New York Times says the report found that managers of the (b) billion dollar training program cannot say how many officers are actually on duty or where thousands of trucks and other pieces of equipment can be found.

The report also says there is no effective field training.
End

TROOPS RETURN FROM AFGHANISTAN, BULGARIA'S DEFENCE MINISTER VISITS IRAQ
09:02 Mon 04 Dec 2006
Article Link

The first Bulgarian troops that took part in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan returned to Bulgaria.

Over the past four months 70 Bulgarian soldiers were responsible for the security of the Kabul international airport.

On December 3 Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov left for Iraq, where he is to meet other Bulgarian troops taking part in NATO peacekeeping operations.

More on link

Governor says Afghanistan, Iraq worlds apart  
War zones - Gov. Ted Kulongonski says progress is possible in Afghanistan; he also talks about his budget 
Monday, December 04, 2006 HARRY ESTEVE 
Article Link

Just back from a weeklong tour of Middle East war zones, Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he sees hope for Afghanistan but only further deterioration in Iraq. 

Closer to home, Kulongoski says Oregonians can expect a big boost in state spending on schools and health care during the next two years if he gets his way on the 2007-09 budget, which he is scheduled to unveil this morning. 

"The public sees this as a time of opportunity, and they want to invest more in education and health care," Kulongoski told The Oregonian on Sunday while waiting for a flight home from Dallas. "That's what you're going to see: a tremendous investment in education and skills training." 
More on link

Crossfire War - German Military Confidential Report on Afghanistan - Taliban
By Willard Payne
Article Link

Crossfire War - TEHRAN WATCH - Central Asia Theatre: Tehran - Kabul - Islamabad/Berlin - Brussels; Confidential Document on "Militant Opposition Forces" - Taliban to Concentrate Attacks on Major Afghan Cities During Winter
Night Watch: KABUL - Winter is normally a time for Islamic militant units to regroup in Afghanistan, as they did last year, before this year's spring offensive. But according to a confidential report of the German military in Afghanistan, published by the weekly Der Spiegel, "militant opposition forces" will be concentrating their attacks on major Afghan cities this winter including the capital Kabul. [IRNA] 

Berlin has several hundred troops in the capital but according to the report two of the capital districts are openly used by the Taliban as staging areas to prepare attacks. The security situation, in those two districts, has deteriorated to such an extent that the Afghan Army does not dare patrol there at night. All this year reports would mention that the Taliban had been instructed in the latest tactics and explosives Tehran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guards had been sending to Islamic militant and militia units in Iraq.
More on link

'I knew Afghanistan would be tough, but I didn't think it would be this tough'
Monday December 4, 2006 The Guardian 
Article Link

In the first of a two-part series on the Afghanistan war, Declan Walsh comes under fire while embedded with US troops in the Pech Valley 
Globs of rain spat from the slate sky as Echo Company trundled out of the base gates and into the Pech Valley. The supply convoy had dropped early Christmas mail and fresh artillery shells to troops at Camp Blessing, the American base at the end of the steep-walled valley. Now it was heading home.
Shopkeepers stared and children smiled as the six heavily armoured vehicles moved down the greasy road. But just after one village the crowds seemed to vanish. Then a violent rattle shook the air.

"Enemy contact!" yelled Sergeant Thomas Splett, 26, kicking his door open. More bullets cracked overhead as the convoy shuddered to a halt. Leaping out, the American soldiers hunkered behind their trucks and returned fire; soon the valley was echoing with thunderous gunfire.
More on link

US Helicopter Shot Down, 2 US Tanks Destroyed in Afghanistan
Publication time: 3 December 2006, 18:15 
Article Link

A US helicopter was  shot downed  yesterday in Kandahar by the Mujahideen of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. On Sunday, November 3, 2006, at noon,  a Mujahid of the Ialamic Emirate  Abdul Rahim, from same  province, performed a sacrificing attack on a convoy of  US troops in the Hazrat Jai Baba area near the Wool Factory  of the  Kandahar city . Two US  tanks were destroyed and all the Americans aboard were killed or wounded . 

After the attack, the Americans fired on civilians and a large number of civilians was martyred. 

On December 2, 2006, at 4:00pm, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate attacked a convoy of US invaders\' troops near the Manogay district of the Kunar province . A US military vehicle was destroyed but there no information is available about the US casualties 

Source: Voice of Jihad 
More on link

Arbroath-based Marines hurt in Afghanistan bomb attack
TOM COGHLAN IN KABUL 
Article Link

Three Royal Marines injured in suicide car bomb attack 
One critical, while two others are stable in hospital 
Firefight with suspected insurgents leaves eight wounded 

Story in full
THREE Scottish-based Royal Marines were injured yesterday when suicide car bombers attacked a military convoy in Afghanistan. 

Witnesses claimed last night that British forces speeding away from the scene in the busy centre of Kandahar opened fire on a number of vehicles, killing at least five civilians. The Ministry of Defence confirmed that an investigation had been launched into the shootings - which were called "not acceptable" by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. 

The British victims were from Arbroath-based 45 Commando Royal Marines. One of them was described as "seriously ill". The others were in stable condition. 

At least one of the wounded is understood to be Scottish, while three Afghans were also killed in the bombing at around 11am. Medical authorities in Kandahar reported that eight people brought to the city's main hospital had gunshot wounds. 

A spokeswoman for the MoD said shots were fired when the Marines were followed by vehicles after leaving the area of the attack, including one which "weaved in front of them in an attempt to block their progress". Lieutenant-Colonel Andy Price, a military spokesman, said the bomb was detonated alongside an unarmoured British jeep. 
More on link

EURASIA INSIGHT 
AFGHANISTAN: NATO SUMMIT STRESSES ’PROGRESS’  
Ahto Lobjakas 12/03/06 
Article Link

A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL 
NATO members gathered for a summit in Riga have sent an upbeat message on progress being made in Afghanistan, the alliance’s first-ever mission outside Europe. A number of leaders reportedly agreed to relax restrictions on the use of their troops in Afghanistan by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

In his summary, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer described "real progress" in Afghanistan as the main highlight of the summit. He counseled against visions of "doom and gloom," saying that five years after the defeat of the hard-line Taliban regime, Afghanistan is a democratic society that is "no longer a threat to the world."

The situation in Afghanistan was the exclusive focus of the NATO leaders’ dinner on November 28.

De Hoop Scheffer said alliance leaders believe defeating the insurgency in Afghanistan is a matter of time
More on link

5 US, 3 Puppet Troops Wiped Out in Afghanistan
Publication time: 3 December 2006, 21:34 
Article Link

Mujahideen of the Islamic State of Afghanistan attacked a US invaders\' convoy in Tararea  area of Manogay district in the Kunar province on Sunday, December 3, 2006, at 9 am local time. Three US military  vehicles  were destroyed and 5 US soldiers  were killed. One Mujahid was also wounded in the attack. 

Mujahideen of the Islamic State of Afghanistan  have blown up two pickup vehicles of mercenary soldiers in the Dosarka area of Ismail Khil district of the Host  province on Sunday morning, December 3, 2006.  Three mercenary soldiers were killed and a large numbers of them were wounded, including a tribal chief. No further details on the casualties were available. 

Saturday night (December 2, 2006), US invaders\' troops bombed the Landay Nawa area of the Musa Kalla district in the Helmand province after the Mujahideen of Emarat Islami had beaten off  an attack of foreign troops. The invaders moved to this Mujahideen-controlled area from the neighboring Nozad district .  In a sudden attack the  Mujahideen defeated the enemy
More on link

Afghanistan Sugar Plant re-operates  
December 04, 2006          
Article Link

Afghanistan's only sugar plant has began production after rehabilitation, a press release of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the Untied Nations (FAO) said Monday. 

After 15 years of non-operation, the New Baghlan Sugar Company, recommenced sugar production recently, it said. 

To keep on running the plant, the FAO assists the farmers to provide high quality sugar beet in some 2,500 hectares of land. 

Presently 120 people are working in the plant, which has the capacity of processing 600 to 800 tones of sugar beet a day. 

One of this project's most important aspect is the production of sugar is the first step towards self-sufficiency in Afghanistan, the press release said. 

Afghanistan needs 830,000 tones of sugar in one year and the newly rehabilitated sugar factory covers only 1.3 percent of the country's need. 

Like many other Afghan factories, the Baghlan sugar plant was badly damaged during the past decades of war. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Islamic Emirate Taliban Report Multiple Attacks In Afghanistan; Vow To Continue Jihad
Dec 04, 2006  By Ubaidah Al-Saif, JUS | Translation Copyright © Jihad Unspun 2006
Article Link

The Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan has reported several operations while one of its Commanders has scoffed at NATO's pledge to increase the size of its occupation forces in Afghanistan, saying that after five years of fighting the occupiers, the Taliban have become a mighty military force capable of defeating any occupier.

Commander Mullah Ubaid Ullah said that increasing the number of NATO forces in Afghanistan or its further deployment into the country was not a source of worry for the Taliban Mujahideen, saying that the Taliban can easily continue the fight for 20 years without difficulty if necessary. Ullah added, "After five years of continuous fighting against foreign forces, the Taliban have become a mighty military force and are capable of fighting the strongest force in the world and defeating it". Commander Ullah also reiterated the previous statements from the Taliban that they will increase the number of martyrdom operations against the occupation forces in Afghanistan, a tactic that has proven to be a powerful weapon for the Mujahideen in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

NATO forces leaders have repeatedly asked for additional forces to fight the Taliban due to their inability to quell Taliban efforts to reclaim Afghanistan. A small increase in forces was agreed to at NATO conference in Raga, Latvia and some restrictions to better deploy existing forces were also removed
More on link

EU, NATO consider closer cooperation in Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: December 4, 2006
Article Link

BRUSSELS, Belgium: NATO, seeking civilian back-up to its military action in Afghanistan, on Monday welcomed the possibility that the European Union may launch an operation there to train and fund local police and judiciary.

"It is very valid that the EU and NATO have as much cooperation as possible," said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer after talks at EU headquarters.

The EU sent a fact finding team to Afghanistan 10 days ago after calls from de Hoop Scheffer for the 25-nation bloc to take a greater role in building an effective police force and courts in the country.

EU officials said the mission was expected to report back next week and it would then decide whether to launch a combined mission to supplement existing police training operations run by individual European governments. It was unclear if the EU would be ready to take a decision by Dec. 14-15, when the Union's leaders hold their year-end summit.
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (4 Dec 2006)

Sikh soldier returns
_Edmonton Sun_, Dec. 4
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2006/12/04/2621093-sun.html



> Taliban fighters aren't the only ones clad in turbans in Afghanistan.
> 
> Maj. Harjit Sajjan, who finished a nine-month tour of duty in September and received his Canadian Forces service medal at Rexall Place yesterday, says he never doffed his turban in the Middle East.
> 
> ...



Nato ambush kills 80 Taliban militants
Fred Attewill and agencies, December 4, Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1963670,00.html



> Up to 80 Taliban fighters have been killed by Nato forces in a four-hour firefight in southern Afghanistan.
> 
> A tip-off from local police allowed up to 150 Danish troops to join Afghan forces in an ambush on the militants in Helmand province early yesterday morning.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## daftandbarmy (4 Dec 2006)

Beautiful.... don't you just love this kind of stuff?

Concern after Nimrod 'teapot fix'  
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/6206738.stm 

Safety concerns have been raised since the Afghanistan crash 
New claims about the safety of Nimrod aircraft based at RAF Kinloss are to be raised in the House of Commons. 
It has emerged that the crew of a Nimrod used a teapot to block a hatch gap in their plane after a mid-air mechanical fault. 

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokeswoman said safety had not been compromised. 

Moray MP and Scottish National Party defence spokesman Angus Robertson told BBC Scotland he wanted reassurances about the safety of the fleet. 

There have been concerns about safety since 12 RAF Kinloss personnel, a Royal Marine and a soldier died when a Nimrod crashed on 2 September in Afghanistan after a suspected technical fault. 

  
 This new wave of revelations is not going to instil the crews or families with confidence 

Angus Robertson
SNP defence spokesman 

In the latest incident, the Nimrod was on an operational flight from Cornwall to Kinloss. 

An RAF Kinloss spokeswoman said there was a malfunction with a hatch from which sonar buoys are thrown during search and rescue missions. 

The spokeswoman said: "There was a minor malfunction with the hatch cover and the teapot would have been used to make it more comfortable for the crew. 

"At no time was air crew safety compromised." 

Mr Robertson said: "Family members of service personnel who died have had concerns about maintenance and safety. 

"This new wave of revelations is not going to instil the crews or families with confidence. 

"I really hope the MoD will be doing everything possible so that there are no repetitions of these technical problems and maintain safety." 

The MoD has promised that concerns about the safety of the RAF Nimrod fleet would be fully investigated following the September crash.


----------



## GAP (5 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 5 December 2006*

More than 100 soldiers from CFB Valcartier leave for Afghanistan
Martin Ouellet, The Canadian Press Published: Monday, December 04, 2006 
Article Link

QUEBEC -- A contingent of 120 soldiers from the fabled Royal 22nd Regiment left Canadian Forces Base Valcartier Monday to fight the Taliban but also bring humanitarian aid to war-torn Afghanistan.

The soldiers from the regiment, which is better known as the Van Doos, will join their colleagues in Kandahar, in the south of the country, for a nine-month mission.

A military spokesman said 100 of the solders will join the provincial reconstruction team, which has been in place in southern Afghanistan for more than a year.

They will focus on rebuilding community centres and schools and will help supply drinking water to the region.

The remaining 20 soldiers, who have been trained as paramedics, will help provide medical aid.

“It’s a dangerous mission, there are risks,” said Capt. Eric Chamberland, a Canadian Forces spokesman.

“The reconstruction teams are attacked regularly.”

Combat operations overshadowed the reconstruction portion of the Canadian mission this year as the security situation deteriorated. More Afghans and Canadians have died in fighting and bombings in 2006 than at any time since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. 
More on link



*Two Canadians slightly injured in suicide attack*
Updated Tue. Dec. 5 2006 7:22 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Two Canadian soldiers were slightly injured in Kandahar Tuesday after a suicide bomber attacked their convoy -- which included CTV's Steve Chao. 

"I was two vehicles back from the vehicle that was hit," said Chao. "As we dismounted and got out of the vehicle I could see that the truck that was hit by the suicide bomber had pieces of shrapnel all littered across the front and the windshield was smashed." 

The bomber, driving a minivan, detonated his load between a Nyala RG 31 armoured vehicle and a transport truck. 

"All of a sudden the soldiers noticed a white vehicle on the side of the road that looked suspicious and seconds later a huge explosion," said Chao. 

Two soldiers received minor injuries in the attack, said Chao. 

"Fortunately the two Canadian soldiers received only minor cuts and bruises," he said. "We spoke to them afterwards they said they were very fortunate and very happy to be alive after what happened today." 

Six Afghan civilians were also hurt in the attack. 
More on link

Afghanistan investigates kidnap of German reporter
05 Dec 2006 13:56:13 GMT Source: Reuters
Article Link

 KABUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Afghanistan is investigating reports a German journalist has been kidnapped from a taxi on one of the country's most dangerous roads, the government said on Tuesday.

"The Ministry of the Interior is deeply investigating the case," ministry spokesman Zamari Bahiri said.

Earlier, an agency coordinating security for aid groups, ANSO, said a German journalist had been taken by gunmen from his taxi while driving from Kandahar city to Uruzgan in the lawless south, the heartland of the Taliban.

No further information was immediately available.

Italian photojournalist Gabriele Torsello, 34, was kidnapped by gunmen while on a public bus on the way from from Helmand, Afghanistan's opium centre, to Kandahar in October.
More on link


Afghan reconstruction a frustrating process
Updated Mon. Nov. 20 2006 11:12 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan's Kandahar province is using a strategy that gives local Afghans input in the rebuilding process.

But the program faces a mounting list of difficulties. 

In one case, the soldiers bring Afghan doctors from the city to the remote region of Al Bach in Kandahar province to deliver medical care.

But minutes in, angry elders from a nearby village arrive demanding to know why they've been left out. "Where's our treatment, where's our gifts?" one man shouted. 

The Canadian troops are now caught up in a tribal dispute with only one group getting most of the aid. 

"I'm not about to get into village squabbles, I'm telling you right now," said Sgt. Nichola Bascon. "It's extremely frustrating."

Corruption is another frustration for the PRT, which is responsible for more than $100 million donated annually by Canada for the rebuilding process. 

In February, Canada's military celebrated the groundbreaking for a new police station. But, nine months later, little has been built. The local engineer was fired for mismanagement. 

"It's these kinds of missteps that have led many international aid groups to suggest Canada's military has no business being involved in reconstruction," said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Afghanistan. "But the reality is that in this dangerous region there are few alternatives." 

The head of Kandahar's department for women understands the danger - the Taliban assassinated her predecessor. 

"We haven't seen much from Canada's military," says Rona Trena. "But there are so few aid groups left here, so we hope Canadian soldiers can help." 

The military insists that its approach of designating responsibility to local villages, letting them determine how to rebuild, is working.

"It's a start and it's a very, very slow progress," said Bascon. "But I'm sure if we stick with it, it will be very rewarding in the long run." 
More on link

Kasuri may suggest Waziristan-type peace deal in Afghanistan   
Article Link

Islamabad, Dec 04: Hinting that Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri may propose a national reconciliation plan to accommodate Taliban during his visit to Kabul this week, Pakistan today said it wants the leadership there to adopt a deal on the lines of its agreement with tribal elders in the areas bordering Afghanistan. 

Kasuri will visit Afghanistan from December 7 to 9 to give final shape to the proposed peace Jirga (convention) of tribal elders from both sides of the border, aimed at finding a viable solution to militancy in the region. 

The Foreign Minister was not going to Kabul to dispel any suspicions of Pakistan's backing for Taliban, foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told a media briefing here. 

"He's not going there to dispel those suspicions," she said to a question whether Kasuri during his visit would dispel the impression that joint Jirgas were aimed at legitimising Taliban. 
More on link

AFGHANISTAN: Snowstorms kill five in northern Parwan province
05 Dec 2006 07:29:48 GMT Source: IRIN
Article Link

KABUL, 4 December (IRIN) - Five people died and two others were injured on Monday in snowstorms and avalanches in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan's northern Parwan province, local officials said.

"Three passengers were killed and two others injured when an avalanche hit their vehicle on Salang highway at around 12.00am [local time]," Parwan province police chief Abdul Rahman Saidkhail said from the provincial capital Parwan.

"At around 2.00pm [local time] today, two other passengers were also killed in another snowstorm when their vehicle slipped down into a nearby stream in Jabal Seraj area of Parwan province," Saidkhail added.

The Salang tunnel, which links the capital Kabul to the north of the country, has been closed due to the heavy snowfall, officials said. 

"Some eight vehicles carrying passengers have been trapped under the snow," Saidkhail said, adding that rescue teams had evacuated passengers from the eight trapped vehicles. 

Heavy snowfall has also closed many roads in the central Bamyan province, among them the Hajigag pass linking Kabul with the area. Traffic between Bamyan and its Yakawlang district stopped on Monday due to the heavy snowfall on the road. 

The relatively early start to harsh winter conditions this year has raised concern about more than 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in poor conditions across the country and around 2.5 million Afghans currently facing a looming food crisis due to this year's harsh drought.
More on link


U.S. report faults readiness of Afghanistan's police force
Originally published December 5, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan // Afghanistan's police, who are often paid less than the Taliban militants they are fighting, frequently force those in custody to buy their freedom, a "bribe and release" arrangement undermining the government's legitimacy, a new U.S. report finds. 
Police, who earn about $70 a month, routinely are paid less, because senior officers skim from subordinates' salaries, the joint report by the inspectors general of the State and Defense departments found. 

The report calls the U.S.-funded program to train and equip the Afghan police "generally well conceived and well executed" but concludes that the police force's readiness to carry out law enforcement duties is "far from adequate." 

Among obstacles facing the $1.1 billion training program: illiterate police recruits, a history of low pay and pervasive corruption, and inadequate accountability for equipment after it is turned over to the Afghans, the report said. 
More on link

BULGARIA DISBANDS TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN
12:08 Tue 05 Dec 2006
Article Link

Bulgaria's aviation troops in Afghanistan will be disbanded during an official ceremony in Sofia on December 5 2006.

Bulgarian troops were responsible for the management, flights, cargo and passengers control of the Kabul international airport.

The troops consisted of 70 soldiers. Bulgaria's mission to Afghanistan lasted four months, as a part of NATO's peacekeeping operation in the country.

Bulgaria's soldiers returned from their mission to Afghanistan on the night of December 2 2006.

Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov, Army Chief of General Staff Zlatan Stoykov and air force representatives would be present at the ceremony, BNR said.
More on link


U.S. report on police in Afghanistan cites 'bribe/release' set-up  
the associated press Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.05.2006
Article Link

advertisementKABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's police, who are often paid less than the Taliban militants they are fighting, frequently force those in custody to buy their freedom, a "bribe and release" set-up that undermines the government's legitimacy, a new U.S. report finds. 
Police, who earn about $70 a month, routinely are paid less because senior officers skim from subordinates' salaries, the joint report by the inspector generals of the State and Defense departments found. 
More on link

NATO needs new strategy in Afghanistan —Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Article Link


 Afghanistan has also become divided along ethnic lines, and may face the same fate as Iraq if the US and NATO forces fail in their avowed mission of nation and state building

The year 2006 has not been good for Afghanistan, its people or the coalition states fighting a counterinsurgency war against the Taliban. By all accounts, the year witnessed a remarkable come back by the Taliban, or whatever appellation one might want to give the insurgents currently operating in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Two emerging trends in the Afghan war are noteworthy: First is the coming on the scene of the suicide-bomber, blowing himself up in crowed places or very close to the Afghan and NATO forces in the region. Hitherto, it was thought that suicide bombing was a problem unique to the Middle East. That is no longer the case. The suicide-bomber has become the most dangerous weapon of our time, and he is now present in Afghanistan as well.
More on link

A Precarious Shelter in Afghanistan
New Refuges for Women Face Permanent Danger of Attack

By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, December 5, 2006; Page A01
Article Link

KABUL -- The room was carpeted and cozy, warm from the wood stove and filled with the chatter of children. But the tales their mothers and older sisters told recently, speaking hesitantly even in the safety of a guarded private shelter, were bone-chilling.

Sahara, an angelic-looking young woman, said she was forcibly married at 11, widowed at 12 and kept as a virtual slave by her in-laws for the next eight years. Unable to endure more beatings, she slipped away early one morning, walked for two days and nights and finally ventured into a police station to ask for help.
More on link


U.S. government blames pilot error for 2004 crash in Afghanistan that killed 6
The Associated PressPublished: December 4, 2006
Article Link

WASHINGTON: Pilot error was to blame for the 2004 crash of a U.S. military contractor's plane in Afghanistan's snow-covered Hindu Kush mountains that killed six Americans, federal investigators said Monday.

The National Transportation Safety Board report said the pilot made the fatal error of flying a nonstandard route and failing to maintain adequate clearance over the rugged terrain.

Still, the agency said, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Defense Department could do better by providing oversight in faraway lands, including additional use of en route inspections, the NTSB said in urging improved safety practices.

"The board concludes that there is a strong probability that, had the FAA or the DoD conducted direct, in-country oversight of the DoD contract operations, the FAA or the DoD would have detected the deficiencies," the report stated. DoD is the Department of Defense.
More on link


"Pak for comprehensive strategy for restoration of peace in Afghanistan": FO  
Tuesday December 05, 2006 (0502 PST)
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has stressed the need for devising a comprehensive strategy for restoration of peace in Afghanistan. 
In her weekly press briefing on Monday, the Foreign Office spokesperson, Tasnim Aslam said that a comprehensive strategy was needed for maintaining tranquility in Afghanistan adding that durable peace could not be restored through military operations. 

She underlined the need for exploring other ways to bring durable peace, harmony and political consensus in Afghanistan. 

The foreign office spokesperson ruled out change in Pakistan policy on Afghanistan or Taliban saying her statement was published out of context. She said, "We are looking forward what strategy the NATO adopts in Afghanistan". "Pakistan does not propose any solution of the Afghanistan problems; however, it wants stability there," she asserted. 
More on link


Afghanistan’s Precipice
Article Link

It gets kind of tiresome to constantly churn out bad news about Afghanistan, but the complete lack of focus on the area is appalling. In yet another series of violent clashes with the NATO forces in Helmand, “dozens” of Taliban were killed. But what do these skirmishes accomplish? They certainly haven’t driven back the Taliban, as the Bundeswehr, the German command in-country, believe that major attacks on previously-stable Kabul are now imminent. The snark in me wonders if this nervousness is caused by the “dirty hands” such an engagement would necessitate from the Germans, but it really isn’t a cause for mockery: Kabul should be the success story, but instead the situation in districts just 10km south of the city has deteriorated so badly that troops don’t patrol at night.
But it’s gratifying to see previously strident defenders of Bush’s campaigns come around, even if it is also surely bittersweet—aside from mouth-droppers like the budget of the police trainers (which, at $1.1 billion, is approximately 1 week of the Iraq occupation), seeing those of us who really do want the Afghanistan campaign succeed utterly demoralized by the laziness and incompetence of this administration is depressing.
More on link


Unknown militants attack Chinese construction camp in Afghanistan   
www.chinaview.cn 2006-12-05 02:49:53  
Article Link

    KABUL, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Unknown gunmen attacked a remote camp of a Chinese construction company Saturday in northwestern Afghanistan, causing no casualties, an official of the company told Xinhua Monday. 

    Chinese workers in the attacked camp of China Railway Shisiju Group Corporation had safely withdrawn to a major base 40 km away, said the official, who refused to be named. 

    According to the official, the militants launched a fierce attack against the walled camp in Duabi area of Badghis province at 9:23 p.m. local time on Saturday and Afghan policemen guarding the camp fought back. 

    After a fire exchange lasting about one and a half hours, the two sides stopped firing, but the gunmen refused to retreat. 

    At around 11:20 p.m., the militants were forced to flee as more policemen from a nearby police station arrived at the site. 

    When the clash occurred, there were 30 Chinese workers, who were building a local road, stationed in the camp, which was surrounded by thorny wire netting and entrenchment. 

    It is still unclear who were behind the attack and what was the motivation. 
More on link


Musharraf suggests Pakistan willing to give up Kashmir claim
Associated Press
Article Link

NEW DELHI — Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to Kashmir if India agrees to a far-reaching self-governance plan for the Himalayan region, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf suggested Tuesday.

While New Delhi and Islamabad have made scant public progress on settling their dispute over Kashmir, officials on both sides privately say advances have been made in so-called “back channel” negotiations, most of them between retired officials from both sides.

Gen. Musharraf's remarks on Tuesday provided a snapshot of what an eventual solution could look like.

He told the independent New Delhi Television that Pakistan would agree to greater autonomy or self-governance for Kashmir with New Delhi and Islamabad jointly supervising the region. Both India and Pakistan claim all of predominantly Muslim Kashmir.
More on link


----------



## GAP (6 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 6 December 2006*

Canadians target of suicide blast, witnesses say
Updated Wed. Dec. 6 2006 9:40 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Canadian soldiers may have been the intended target of a suicide bomber who killed seven when he blew himself up outside a compound in Kandahar on Wednesday, CTV News has learned.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing outside the office of the Houston-based U.S. Protection and Investigations (USPI) in Kandahar city. 

The blast killed two Americans and five Afghans outside the Kandahar compound of the security company. Three others were wounded. 

CTV's Steve Chao told Newsnet the assault occurred just opposite the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar.

"What witnesses are telling us is that the suicide bomber was walking on foot in and around the area of the compound," Chao reported from Kandahar.

"This compound is located directly across from the base housing Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Team and according to witnesses it seemed that this suicide bomber was in fact trying to hit a convoy that was potentially going to be leaving from the Provincial Reconstruction Team's base."
More on link

Dion to push for Afghan Marshall Plan  
CAMPBELL CLARK AND BRIAN LAGHI  From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

OTTAWA — New Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said Tuesday he'll have little patience for the rising death toll of Canadian troops in Afghanistan unless there is progress in making that country more secure.

Mr. Dion said Canada must push its allies to build a Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of the strife-torn country, because the current strategy of focusing on combat against the Taliban is not achieving results.

“I cannot give a deadline, but I will not have a lot of patience if I see that we are risking the lives of our soldiers and civilians without any result for the security of the people of Afghanistan,” Mr. Dion said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

“It's an assessment I will do day after day, but I want a result.”
More on link


DAVID COMMON: AFGHANISTAN DIARY
Spring in Afghanistan: an ugly horizon
Updated Dec. 5, 2006
Article Link

Thirty-seven nations have soldiers in Afghanistan, yet 90 per cent of the casualties have been suffered by four of those nations. A Canadian soldier is killed five times more often than the average of all the NATO countries in Afghanistan. Proportionately, those Canadian soldiers stand a greater chance of dying than an American soldier in Iraq.

Though Canada is not amongst the top three troop-contributing nations to the NATO mission, clearly it is shouldering more than its share of both the burden and the risk. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said as much, repeating again at the NATO summit in Riga that the effort in southern Afghanistan "continues to be undermanned" and that Canada is already doing enough.

At that same summit, Harper lobbied other nations to free up their soldiers and contribute more. Even before the summit, most of the founding NATO nations were saying no. The summit changed little in terms of German or French participation. A few offers for a little more, but, on the whole, not what Canada and the NATO leadership were looking for.

So now what?
Winter in Afghanistan is a traditional pause — a hiatus in the many wars and battles that have plagued the nation over too many centuries. NATO and Canada are using the relative calm to strategize, and be assured the Taliban are as well.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, who probably knows more about the Taliban than anyone outside that organization, quotes tribal leaders along the mountainous, lawless border separating Afghanistan with Pakistan as saying the group is recruiting, training and arming thousands of fighters for a full-scale, multi-pronged offensive in the spring. 

Canadian soldiers got a glimpse of this in September 
More on link

British marine killed in Afghanistan
Article Link

A British Royal Marine has died in Afghanistan following an operation aimed at preventing Taliban insurgents from launching attacks from a village in the country's volatile south, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced. 

A second marine was injured as members of the UK Task Force sought to dislodge Taliban fighters from Garmsir in southern Helmand province. 

Both men were airlifted to Camp Bastion to be treated for their injuries but the one marine died from his wounds. 

The dead marine's next of kin have been notified and the second man is said to be in a stable condition after surgery. 

Brigadier Jerry Thomas, commander of the UK Task Force in Afghanistan, paid tribute to the dead marine, who is expected to be named tomorrow. 

'The thoughts and prayers of all the servicemen and women here in the UK Task Force are with the family and friends of the Royal Marine who lost his life today,' he said. 
More on link

Contract insecurity
Article Link

What was America's return on investment in Afghanistan?

Congressional oversight committees should determine why there is so little basic security in Afghanistan, despite a billion-dollar American investment in police training.

The inspector generals of the Pentagon and State Department recently reported that the Taliban is reasserting power, opium production is up 60 percent and some political appointees are corrupt. Furthermore, militias could form, as they did in Iraq, if security is not provided by law enforcement agencies, experts have told The New York Times.

Stability seemed possible in Afghanistan five years ago, when U.S. military forces largely defeated Taliban guerrillas. But the Afghans then needed a law enforcement network to provide security. Two years later, no systematic training program existed outside the capital city of Kabul. Then, in 2004, the Virginia-based DynCorp was awarded a federal contract to train Afghan police. But, the inspectors reported, the U.S. failed to adequately oversee DynCorp's efforts. Federal agencies couldn't even find a copy of the contract requested by the auditors.
More on link


Afghan 'suicide bombing kills 7'
POSTED: 0847 GMT (1647 HKT), December 6, 2006 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Seven people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a security contractor's office in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, a U.N. spokesman said .

According to eyewitnesses, five Afghans and two Americans died in the attack on the USPI security company in Kandahar.

The attack happened opposite the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team inside Kandahar, according to Associated Press reports. The blast was the sixth suicide attack in Kandahar province in the last nine days. 

Afghanistan this year has plunged into the bloodiest period of violence since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban's radical Islamic government in 2001. A growing insurgency, especially in the country's south and east, has left close to 4,000 people dead, according to the AP.
More on link

 Support for Afghanistan wanes as father ponders son’s future  
By Ricky Blue December 6 2006 
Article Link

Afghanistan is a long way away. Back in the hippie era there was ‘black Afghani hash.’ I remember being dismayed when I heard that the words hashish and assassin had the same root because Afghani fighters would eat it just before they went out to slaughter their enemies. Being a peace-and-love hippie myself, I thought it was a peaceful drug and if everyone smoked it, there would be, like, no more wars, man. Of course I don’t think that any more. 

I supported Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan. It is a United Nations approved, NATO-backed coalition of forces dedicated to rebuilding the country and giving the battered Afghan people a chance to enjoy the fruits of the modern world, like democracy, literacy and sanitation. Secondly, to let it slide back into its Taliban past — think Middle Ages — is to risk it becoming a training ground for hordes of religious psychopaths once again. 
More on link

*3 NATO Tanks Destroyed, 20 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan*
Publication time: Today at 15:48 Djokhar time 
Article Link


A  Mujahid of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Taliban, named  M. Daud, performed a sacrificing attack inside a building of a foreign NGO in the 5th district of the city of Kandahar near Sharkat Meewa today on Wednesday , December 6, 2006 ,at 7 am local time, when puppet Afghani soldiers and foreign troops  gathered there. The action resulted in killing of all  Afghani and 10 foreign soldiers. 

The Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Taliban beat off an attack and defeated NATO troops in the Ahshet Droop area of the Garmseer district in the Helmand province on Tuesday, December 5, 2006,  when foreign troops intended to penetrate into the Muhahideen-controlled area. 

The firefight continued for 10 hours. 10 NATO soldiers killed and 3 NATO tanks were destroyed. The destroyed tanks could be seen in the area.Two Mujahideen were also martyred and 4 others were wounded in the firefight. 

The Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Taliban armed  with  heavy and small  weapons  attacked an Afghani mercenary soldiers\'s post in the Pashi Khor area of the Pattan district in the Paktia province late Tuesday, December 5, 2006,burning a quarter of the building.  Eyewitnesses said 2 puppet soldiers had been killed and 3 others had been wounded in the action. The Mujahideen suffered  no casualties, Alemarah reported. 
More on link

Seven killed in Afghanistan bombing
Fred Attewill and agencies Wednesday December 6, 2006 Guardian Unlimited 
Article Link

Two Americans and five Afghans have been killed in a suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan, it was reported today.
The bomber blew himself up as the men walked out of the US Protection and Investigations security company compound in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

Three other people were wounded in the attack, which was the sixth suicide bombing in Kandahar province in the last nine days.

It is believed the Americans had been working as security contractors. The provincial police chief, Asmatullah Alizai, said four of the Afghan victims were policemen and the other a translator.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who claimed to be a spokesman for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, said the attack had been carried out by the militant group.

Kandahar is one of the most lawless areas of Afghanistan, with the central government wielding very little authority there.
More on link



Afghanistan security workers killed    
Six suicide attacks have been carried out in Kandahar in the past nine days 
Article Link

An attack on a compound for security workers in southern Afghanistan has left at least seven people dead.

Two Americans were among those killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the compound on Wednesday, witnesses said.

Three others were wounded, an official said.

The bomber attacked as the men came out of the compound of a US security company in Kandahar, Rohullah Khan, a company official, said.

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said the bomber set off his explosives among a crowd of people standing outside the office waiting to go in to work.

Akhtar Mohammad, an employee of the company, said among those killed was the head of the company's Kandahar office, who he identified as Mr Jack, AIP reported.
More on link

Former Commander Calls for Debate on Afghanistan Mission  
Josh Pringle Tuesday, December 5, 2006 
Article Link

The former commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan says the story Canadians are receiving about the mission in Afghanistan "is like an iceberg. They're only seeing one-third of it." 

Brig.-Gen David Fraser suggests the debate over Canada's role in Afghanistan has been ill-informed and bereft of facts 

Fraser added "it would be nice to have a debate with all of the facts on the table." 

Fraser is blaming the media for focusing on the casualty count, rather than the more nuanced narratives of nation-building. 
More on link

Taliban resist British assault in south Afghanistan  
06 December 2006  
Article Link

GARMSER: British Marines attacked a Taliban-held valley in southern Afghanistan but pulled back after a ferocious counterattack that triggered air strikes and artillery fire, witnesses said. 

One Royal Marine was killed and a second wounded during the battle, the UK Helmand Task Force (UKTF) said. 

Scores of soldiers ran across a bridge over the Helmand River under a full moon shortly before daybreak and began sweeping south through wheat fields in the south of the province, the opium centre of the world's major producer. 

A Reuters cameraman said the Marines initially faced only sporadic resistance but when they advanced, Taliban fighters launched a ferocious, organised riposte with heavy weapons and tried to outflank the British troops. 

The fierce resistance illustrated the challenges facing the Nato troops in Afghanistan where they are trying to subdue well-armed Taliban and other militants bolstered by profits from a record opium crop, according to Afghan and foreign officials. 
More on link



Afghanistan urged to accept Durand Line
By Our Correspondent
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Dec 5: The US and its key allies should urge Afghanistan to recognise the Durand Line of 1893 as the border with Pakistan, say two prominent US scholars.

In a joint article published on Tuesday in the Baltimore Sun, Dennis Kux and Karl Inderfurth urge Kabul to override the decision of the 1949 loya jirga, which, “contrary to international law,” declared Afghan agreements with the British not binding after the formation of Pakistan.

Mr Inderfurth is a former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs and Mr Kux is a former US ambassador and a South Asia expert.

Although Mr Karzai does not publicly dispute the border, his government has been reluctant to accept it officially, lest this causes internal political trouble.
More on link

Bulgaria to send additional contingent to Afghanistan  
December 06, 2006         
Article Link

Bulgaria was to send an additional military contingent to Afghanistan no later than the beginning of next summer, Bulgarian Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov said on Tuesday. 

A 70-member Bulgarian Air Force Contingent, which had handled the overall management of Kabul Afghanistan International Airport (KAIA) from Aug. 1 to Dec. 1, 2006, had already been dismissed. 

Negotiations on the period and the location of the deployment as well as the strength of the contingent were underway, Bliznakov added. 

He said if parliament passed a resolution, an additional contingent would be deployed in Afghanistan not earlier than next spring and not later than the beginning of next summer. 

Intensive preparations for the deployment are taking place, including the supplying of combat materiel, which is increasing costs. 

Meanwhile, the minister underlined that "for the time being, there is no option for participating in the dangerous southern or southeastern parts (of Afghanistan)." 

The Bulgarian contingent in Afghanistan has successfully completed its mission within the ISAD operation in the country. The mission was the first time Bulgarian peace-keeping troops had commanded independently abroad. 
End

Afghanistan border area of concern: US
By Anwar Iqbal
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Dec 5: The White House has said that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is “an area of concern”, which needs to be addressed.

Commenting on media reports that Taliban insurgents are moving across the border to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan, White House spokesman Tony Snow said that the

Bush administration continued to watch the events in Afghanistan.

He said that when President George W. Bush hosted a dinner for President Musharraf and President Karzai at the White House in September, there were “considerable conversations” about border security.

In that meeting, the Pakistani and Afghan leaders agreed to work on this problem, he said. “It is an area of concern, and it does need to be addressed,” the spokesman said.
More on link

Local realtors prepare care packages for troops in Afghanistan
Paul Forsyth Dec 6, 2006 
Article Link

While Niagara residents spend Christmas Day snuggled up in heated homes, enjoying the company of loved ones, feasting on turkey with all the trimmings and exchanging gifts, Canada's soldiers in Afghanistan will spend the day half a world away from their families in the lonely fight against terrorism. 
But while they won't be enjoying all the luxuries of home, our troops will spend the day knowing folks back in Canada appreciate their sacrifices. 

That's in no small part due to the efforts of local realtors who spearheaded a drive to prepare care packages for the soldiers stationed in the deeply troubled country. 

Realtors with Royal LePage Niagara Real Estate Centre said they've been overwhelmed by the response to their drive to assemble the packages, containing everything from toiletries and magazines to books and drink mixes. 
More on link

6 killed in Afghan bombing  
The Associated PressPublished: December 5, 2006
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber on foot blew himself up outside a compound for security contractors in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two Americans and five Afghans, officials and witnesses said.

The bomber struck as the men came out of the Kandahar compound of the U.S. Protection and Investigations security company, said Rohullah Khan, an official with the company. Three others were wounded, he said.

The area where the attack happened is located opposite the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team inside Kandahar city. The blast was the sixth suicide attack in Kandahar province in the last nine days.

Provincial police chief Asmatullah Alizai said two foreigners, four Afghan policemen and a translator were killed.
More on link

Afghanistan Counters Criticism Of U.S.-Trained Police Force
 5 December 2006 
Article Link

A spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Zemeri Bashary, said on December 4 that his ministry is satisfied with the police-training program despite a U.S. government report that concluded the Afghan National Police have trouble carrying out even routine law-enforcement duties, AP reported. The report, by the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon, points to illiteracy, corruption, and low pay as contributors to the failings of the $1.1 billion U.S.-sponsored training program. Bashary conceded that Afghan police would perform better if they were provided with better equipment and weapons. Joanna Nathan of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit analytical organization, said the training and quality of Afghanistan's police force has been one of the international community's greatest failings. RR
More on link

Saving Afghanistan
Barnett R. Rubin From Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007
Article Link

Summary:  With the Taliban resurgent, reconstruction faltering, and opium poppy cultivation at an all-time high, Afghanistan is at risk of collapsing into chaos. If Washington wants to save the international effort there, it must increase its commitment to the area and rethink its strategy -- especially its approach to Pakistan, which continues to give sanctuary to insurgents on its tribal frontier.

  Barnett R. Rubin is Director of Studies and a Senior Fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation and the author of The Fragmentation of Afghanistan. He served as an adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the UN Talks on Afghanistan in Bonn in 2001.

TALIBAN RESURGENT

Afghanistan has stepped back from a tipping point. At the cost of taking and inflicting more casualties than in any year since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 (and four times as many as in 2005), NATO troops turned back a frontal offensive by the Taliban last summer. The insurgents aimed to capture a district west of Kandahar, hoping to take that key city and precipitate a crisis in Kabul, the capital. Despite this setback, however, the Taliban-led insurgency is still active on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border, and the frontier region has once again become a refuge for what President George W. Bush once called the main threat to the United States -- "terrorist groups of global reach." Insurgents in both Afghanistan and Pakistan have imported suicide bombing, improvised explosive technology, and global communications strategies from Iraq; in the south, attacks have closed 35 percent of the schools. Even with opium production at record levels, slowing economic growth is failing to satisfy the population's most basic needs, and many community leaders accuse the government itself of being the main source of abuse and insecurity. Unless the shaky Afghan government receives both the resources and the leadership required to deliver tangible benefits in areas cleared of insurgents, the international presence in Afghanistan will come to resemble a foreign occupation -- an occupation that Afghans will ultimately reject.
More on link

Dead Afghanistan soldier's widow wins long battle over Wiccan grave symbol
By Robert Marus Published December 5, 2006
Article Link

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- The widow of an American soldier killed in Afghanistan has finally gotten what she said her husband would have wanted: A pagan religious symbol placed on his government-issued gravestone.

Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, saw the grave marker dedicated Dec. 2 in a ceremony at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley. She had been engaged in a year-long battle with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to have a symbol of the Wiccan faith placed on her late husband's headstone.

Patrick Stewart and four others were killed Sept. 25, 2005, when their helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan. Stewart was one of a few hundred practitioners of Wicca in the armed forces. The neo-pagan faith incorporates elements of ancient European religions and Earth worship.

According to the Defense Department, there are around 1,800 practitioners of Wicca in the armed forces. While the department accommodates them with Wiccan chaplains, VA officials had not yet approved the Wiccan pentacle -- also known as a pentagram -- for use on headstones in military burial grounds. The symbol is a five-pointed star within a circle.

The VA already has approved more than 30 other symbols for use on graves. Most of them are variations on the Christian cross, but they also include the Jewish Star of David, the Islamic star-and-crescent symbol and a whirl that symbolizes atheism.
More on link

Gates concerned that some allies shunning dangerous areas in Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: December 5, 2006
Article Link

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary-designate Robert Gates said Tuesday he was concerned about the continuing refusal of some NATO allies to take part in high-risk operations in Afghanistan.

Testifying before his Senate confirmation hearing, Gates said the administration should give "first priority" to encourage these countries to eliminate restrictions.

After the "astonishing success" in defeating the Taliban in 2001, "I think it would be a tragedy for us to let that victory slip through our grasp by later neglect," Gates said.

He said easing restrictions may be difficult for countries, especially those which have legal barriers to participation in dangerous operations.
More on link



Afghanistan investigates kidnap of German reporter
05 Dec 2006 13:56:13 GMT Source: Reuters
Article Link

 KABUL, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Afghanistan is investigating reports a German journalist has been kidnapped from a taxi on one of the country's most dangerous roads, the government said on Tuesday.

"The Ministry of the Interior is deeply investigating the case," ministry spokesman Zamari Bahiri said.

Earlier, an agency coordinating security for aid groups, ANSO, said a German journalist had been taken by gunmen from his taxi while driving from Kandahar city to Uruzgan in the lawless south, the heartland of the Taliban.

No further information was immediately available.

Italian photojournalist Gabriele Torsello, 34, was kidnapped by gunmen while on a public bus on the way from from Helmand, Afghanistan's opium centre, to Kandahar in October.
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (6 Dec 2006)

Iraq Study Group Report: Executive Summary
National Public Radio, Dec. 6
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6586565



> ...
> As the United States develops its approach toward Iraq and the Middle East, the United States should provide additional political, economic, and military support for Afghanistan, including resources that might become available as combat forces are moved out of Iraq....



DoD News Briefing with LTG Eikenberry and Minister of Defense Wardak at the Pentagon (Nov. 21)
http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3816



> LTG Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Army, Commander, Combined Forces Command-Afhanistan...
> 
> ...the United States government is considering improving the capabilities and increasing the rate of development and size of the Afghan National Army and the police...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## daftandbarmy (6 Dec 2006)

Canadian's assess the Canadian media and its coverage of the Afghanistan mission 
    The Canadian Journalism Foundation hosts panel discussion on this topic

    TORONTO, Dec. 6 /CNW/ - A majority of Canadians believe that when they
think of what they have seen, read or heard, overall in the Canadian media on
Canada's role and mission in Afghanistan they think that the Canadian media
are neither against nor in favour of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and
are reporting the mission in a fair and balanced way that reflects what's
really going on there according to a new Ipsos Reid survey (attached here)
conducted for and released today by the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF).
The Foundation is hosting an event in Toronto to further discuss the media's
coverage of Afghanistan.
    Findings also state that one-third of Canadians who believe the Canadian
media is Against Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and as a result tilt
their coverage in a negative way towards the mission and the governments
position and 14% who believe the Canadian media is in favour of Canada's
involvement in Afghanistan and as a result tilt their coverage in a positive
way towards the mission and the governments position.
    But while 44% of Canadians say that they are seeing more coverage about
the combat element in Afghanistan, including the deaths of Canadian soldiers,
and not as much about the humanitarian rebuilding efforts because that
reflects what's actually happening over there, a majority (56%) believe that
they are seeing more coverage about the combat element in Afghanistan because
the media are more interested in reporting on combat and deliberately ignoring
the rebuilding efforts because they're not as exciting.
    The Canadian Journalism Foundation event taking place tomorrow night will
begin at 6:30pm at the Robert Gill Theatre, University of Toronto, followed by
a reception. Panelists include L.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, Chief of Land Staff and
Commander Land Forces Command of the Canadian Forces, Lisa LaFlamme, National
Affairs Correspondent with CTV, John Wright, Senior Vice-President with
Ipsos-Reid and moderator Paul Knox, Chair of Ryerson University School of
Journalism. This event is free of charge and open to the public. For more
information and to register, please visit our website at
http://www.cjf-fjc.ca/programs.htm.

    The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is a not-for-profit organization
that exists to contribute to the achievement of excellence in Canadian
journalism. Through leadership seminars, panel discussions and other
activities the Foundation builds bridges and fosters open, informed dialogue
and debate between leading public and private organizations and the media.


    <<
                                 Attachment
    >>

    These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll fielded from November 3-6th,
2006. For this survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1613 adult
Canadians was interviewed via an online survey. With a sample of this size,
the aggregate results are considered accurate to within +/-2.9 percentage
points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult
Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within
each sub-grouping of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure
the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual
Canadian population according to Census data.

    Majority of Canadians (54%) Believe Canadian Media Reporting of
    Afghanistan Mission is "Fair and Balanced"...But One Third (33%) Say
    Media Negatively Tilts Their Coverage Because They're Against the Mission
    While 14% Say Media Tilts Coverage Positive Because They're in Favour of
    The Mission... ...

    A majority of Canadians (54%) believe that when they think of what they
have seen, read or heard, overall in the Canadian media on Canada's role and
mission in Afghanistan they think that the Canadian media are neither against
nor in favour of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and are reporting the
mission in a fair and balanced way that reflects what's really going on there
    This compares with one-third (33%) of Canadians who believe the Canadian
media is against Canada's involvement in Afghanistan and as a result tilt
their coverage in a negative way towards the mission and the governments
position, versus 14% who believe the Canadian media is in favour of Canada's
involvement in Afghanistan and as a result tilt their coverage in a positive
way towards the mission and the governments position.
    Younger Canadians age 18-34 are the most likely to think that the media
negatively skews their coverage of Canada's mission in Afghanistan (37% vs.
32% among those age 35 and older).

    <<
    -   Women are more likely than men to think the media has portrayed the
        Afghanistan mission in a fair and balanced way (58% vs. 49%).
    -   Residents of Quebec (41%) are the most likely to think the media
        skews coverage in a negative way, followed distantly by those in
        Ontario (32%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (30%) and Atlantic Canada (29%).
    -   Residents of Atlantic Canada (62%) and British Columbia (61%) are the
        most likely to feel the media coverage is unbiased and objective.
    >>

    But 56% Of Canadians Say The Media Are More Interested in Reporting on
    Combat and Deliberately Ignore the Less Exciting Rebuilding Efforts...

    A majority (56%) of Canadians believe that they are seeing more coverage
about the combat element in Afghanistan because the media are more interested
in reporting on combat and deliberately ignoring the rebuilding efforts
because they're "not as exciting". This compares with 44% of Canadians who say
that they are just seeing more of the coverage about the combat element in
Afghanistan, including the deaths of Canadian soldiers, and not as much about
the humanitarian rebuilding efforts because that "pretty much reflects what's
actually happening over there-that there's more combat than rebuilding that's
taking place at this time.

    <<
    -   There are no demographic variations.
    >>




For further information: Jody Jacobson, Canadian Journalism Foundation,
(416) 955-0394; John Wright, Senior Vice President, Ipsos Reid, (416)
324-2900; for full tabular results, please visit
http://www.cjf-fjc.ca/programs.htm or www.ipsos.ca


----------



## GAP (7 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 7 December 2006*

*Soldiers and equipment, doing the job*  
Article Link

Hard news: five Canadian soldiers received minor injuries in an IED strike around 10:15 a.m. local time, as they were making their way through the Panjwai District near Ma’Sum Ghar. While they were choppered away from the scene for further assessment at KAF medical facilities, four of them have since been released and one is being held overnight for observation. Next of kind for the soldier who will be staying overnight have already been notified.

The LAVIII they were travelling in was only lightly damaged. It has already been recovered from the scene and should be back in service PDQ.

Update: Wow. Not a single story in the MSM that I could see. As a friend mentioned to me this morning: "no bleed, no lede."
posted by Babbling Brooks at 1:23 PM   
End

15 civilians killed or badly wounded in Afghan blast
Associated Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A suicide car bomber attacked a NATO convoy Thursday in southern Afghanistan, leaving 15 civilians killed or wounded, police said.

No NATO troops were hurt in the blast in Kandahar, said Squadron Leader Jason Chalk, a spokesman for the alliance.

The civilians were killed or wounded near the blast site, said Razaq Khan, a police official at the scene. There was no immediate breakdown of the dead and wounded
End

Three Terrorists Captured; 26 Detainees Released
American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2006 – Three terrorists were captured in Afghanistan yesterday, and 26 detainees were released from a Bagram facility. Earlier this week, U.S. troops provided humanitarian assistance in eastern Afghanistan. 
During an operation near the village of Qasemaul Kalay, in Khowst province, Afghan and coalition forces captured three terrorists who posed a serious threat to peace and stability in Afghanistan, military officials said. No Afghan or coalition forces or Afghan civilians within the compound were harmed during the operation. 

Elsewhere in Afghanistan yesterday, 26 detainees were released from the Bagram Theater Internment Facility. Officials determined the detainees no longer posed a threat to the government of Afghanistan and were turned over to Afghan government officials. 

The detainees were transferred into the “Takhim-E Solh” program, also known as “Peace through Strength.” Under the Takhim-E Solh program, individuals pledge their allegiance to the Afghan government and promise not to take up arms against their nation. 

While in the detention facility, all detainees received three meals a day, worship opportunities and comprehensive medical care, officials said. Coalition forces routinely evaluate each detainee’s status and, in coordination with the Afghan government, release selected detainees. 

A day earlier, troops from the U.S. provincial reconstruction team at Mehtar Lam responded to three separate requests for humanitarian assistance in Laghman province, in eastern Afghanistan. 

They distributed tarps, blankets, rice, beans, cooking oil, salt and tea. 
 More on link

The Taliban's rules
POSTED: 0006 GMT (0806 HKT), December 6, 2006 By Henry Schuster CNN
Article Link

Editor's note: Henry Schuster, a senior producer in CNN's investigative unit and author of "Hunting Eric Rudolph," has been covering terrorism for more than a decade. Each week in "Tracking Terror," he reports on people and organizations driving international and domestic terrorism, and efforts to combat them. 

(CNN) -- This is the time of year that fighting traditionally tapers off in Afghanistan as winter sets in, so it's probably not too surprising that the Taliban's latest offensive is on the propaganda front.

First there were videos, including one obtained by CNN that shows multiple beheadings as well as preparations for attacks and recruitment of suicide bombers.

Now, the Taliban has put out a code of conduct for its commanders and fighters -- including when to kill teachers and how to prevent sexual abuse.

According to Pakistani journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, who obtained a copy of the 30-point plan and provided it to CNN, the instructions have been issued to district level commanders in Afghanistan in a small handbook.

The document, which says it was approved by the elusive Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, was apparently first given to members of the insurgent group's Shura council during a secret meeting in late September or October.

(Coalition military officials say they have not seen the document but have no reason to dispute its authenticity.)

An invitation to all Afghans
The Taliban sent more men to the battlefield this summer than in any of the five years since the group was toppled from power by the Northern Alliance and U.S.-led coalition, but rule one makes it clear that recruitment remains a priority:

"A Taliban commander is permitted to extend an invitation to all Afghans who support infidels so that they may convert to the true Islam."
More on link


General accuses Reid over Afghanistan
Deborah Summers, politics editor Thursday December 7, 2006 Guardian Unlimited 
Article Link

The former chief of the army continued his verbal assault on the government today, accusing the home secretary, John Reid, of failing to give "the full picture" when he said he would be happy if UK forces did not have to fire a single shot during their mission to southern Afghanistan.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, General Sir Mike Jackson said it had come as no surprise to him that the army in fact faced fierce resistance from the Taliban.

Gen Jackson's comment came after he used a lecture last night to launch an outspoken attack on the government, warning that strategic failings and "inadequate" funding were putting troops at risk.
More on link


In the heartland of a mysterious enemy, US troops battle to survive
Tuesday December 5, 2006 The Guardian 
Article Link

In the final part of our series, Declan Walsh visits Korengal Valley, an al-Qaida hotspot and insurgents' stronghold 

If Afghanistan had a tourist industry, the postcard-pretty Korengal Valley would be a star attraction. Majestic mountains soar to the heavens. Sunlight spills over terraced fields. Gleaming snow dusts the jagged peaks.
But for the American soldiers stationed there, Korengal is IED Valley, a perilous, exhausting battlefield and the heart of the US war against al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

The sole route into the valley is a roller-coaster mud track that dips and curves through a high-walled canyon lined with hostile villagers and battle-hungry insurgents. Ambushes are frequent but the soldiers' greatest terror is the improvised explosive device (IED) - a hidden roadside bomb that can rip through a Humvee or tip it over a cliff. Last October Lieutenant Richard Baranski narrowly survived a bombing that seriously wounded three others. It was the fifth time Americans had been hit at exactly the same place, he said.

"We've shot missiles into their houses. We've fired mark-19 [grenades] into their houses. And still they are there," he said, pulling on his seatbelt at the start of another journey up the valley. "God, I hate this road."
More on link


US sees Afghanistan as test of NATO role
At this week's summit, the alliance's success against Taliban insurgents was seen as key to its long-term relevance.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 
Article Link

RIGA, LATVIA – The question looming over NATO's summit in this Baltic country this week was essentially this: What are friends for? 
With the focus on the NATO-commanded counterinsurgency operation in Afghanistan, leaders from President George Bush to Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper wanted to know if just a few NATO countries would continue to carry the weight and face the worst of the danger. Or, would more of NATO's 26 members help out their partners with more troops - and fewer restrictions on how their troops can be used? 
More on link


Abroad, Bush tests his persuasive powers
His trip this week addresses sensitive security issues in two countries – Afghanistan and Iraq.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 
Article Link

RIGA, LATVIA – What was sketched into the presidential agenda as a transatlantic foray to address the North Atlantic Alliance's future has instead become one of the more consequential foreign-policy trips of the Bush presidency - and one of the tougher tests of his international leadership. 
From the NATO summit he attends in this Baltic capital Tuesday and Wednesday, to the sit-down with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that he has added to his agenda, this has become the trip of the George W. Bush wars. 
More on link


AFGHANISTAN: PAKISTAN MINISTER ARRIVES FOR JIRGA TALKS
Article Link

Islamabad, 7 Dec. (AKI/DAWN) - Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri is leading a seven-member delegation to Kabul on Thursday afternoon aboard a special aircraft. He will be accompanied by senior officials of the foreign ministry, a representative of the interior ministry and two senior officials from Balochistan and the NWFP provinces have also been included in the delegation. During the two-day visit, Kasuri will meet the top Afghan leadership to discuss the challenges of peace and security in the border areas and the modalities for the proposed jirgas on both sides of the Durand Line. 

The foreign minister will hold wide-ranging talks with his Afghan counterpart Rangin Dadfar Spanta and is also expected to meet President Hamid Karzai, besides other key Afghan leaders.

"We will have detailed discussions on the purpose, scope and composition of jirgas and how to move forward," a member of the delegation told Dawn.

It is learnt that the proposed jirgas would neither be national nor joint.

They will be held separately at the local level, basically relevant to trouble areas.

The delegation will return on Friday evening, a foreign ministry official said.
End


AFGHANISTAN: Violence fuels disillusionment and threatens reconstruction - UN
07 Dec 2006 10:35:56 GMT Source: IRIN 
Article Link

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

 KABUL, 7 December (IRIN) - Growing insurgency, impunity for criminals and corrupt officials are factors causing signs of despondency and disillusionment among Afghans, according to a report by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) mission to Afghanistan, released in New York on Wednesday.

The report warns these problems, along with weak governance and the growing drug trade constitute "a grave threat to reconstruction and nation-building" and that Afghanistan's state institutions are too fragile to fully meet the challenges.

"Afghanistan needs additional and sustained support from the international community both for quick gains and for sustained progress over the long term," the report said. 

However, the 13-page document says the partnership between the international community and Afghanistan that began with the 2002 Bonn Agreement is still "largely on track" and the commitment of the international community is unwavering.

Recommendations of the UNSC report cover 11 areas, including calls for improved governance, more attention to human rights and the protection of civilians, closer regional cooperation and strengthened efforts to counter poppy cultivation and drug trafficking. 
More on link

American game plan in Afghanistan  
Thursday December 07, 2006 (1529 PST) Muhammad Ahsan Yatu ahsanyatu@gmail.com 
Article Link


Before 9/11, Americans were talking about a war between India and a Talibanised Afghanistan that would be fought after 15 years. It was a convincing forecast. Not only India, but also Russia, China, Iran, Central Asian States and even some European nations would have fought this war jointly, and much earlier. The rise, spread and strength of the Taliban were the reasons behind the emergence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Interestingly, before the birth of SCO, the US was supporting the Taliban as openly as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and UAE did. 


The US also tried for the Taliban’s entry into the UN. Not only that, when Russia, enraged by the Taliban militancy, threatened to air raid Kabul, the US and Britain sided with the Taliban. The US, despite the sanctions, continued to help the Taliban regime financially. Only God knows what happened that turned the Taliban against the US. Perhaps they were in a hurry to accomplish the task of Arabisation of the region and wanted to oust the American factor at all costs. The US tried its best to effect reconciliation. In the year 2001, the opinion pages of Pakistani newspapers were full of praise for the Taliban who had brought peace to 90 percent of Afghanistan. Not only that, eminent Pakistani social scientists living in the US suggested the Islamic way of life as the best option for Pakistanis and reconciliation with the extremist religious organisations as the need of the time. These and other US efforts did not bend the Taliban attitude and ultimately 9/11 happened.
More on link


NATO will need more troops next year in Afghanistan: ISAF commander
07 December 2006
Article Link

LONDON - Coalition forces in Afghanistan will need more troops next year if they are to exploit successes achieved this year, the force's commander David Richards told the BBC in an interview aired Wednesday.
Richards, the British commander of the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), also said that he will know that the NATO-led force will have succeeded when it persuaded the "vast majority of Afghans to stay the course."
Asked whether the 32,000-odd troops under his command were sufficient for the campaign in Afghanistan, Richards told the broadcaster: "I've got enough this winter to do what we need to do, to hand over to my successor in February." 
"I would worry if my successor had the same number of troops next year, not because we will be necessarily more threatened, but I know he will wish to exploit the success I think we've achieved this year, and he will need more troops, but they're being offered."
Richards also said that success would have been achieved in Afghanistan when the ISAF force had managed to "persuade the vast majority of Afghans to stay the course, to see the visible improvement that we are offering, but have been slow sometimes in delivering."
"Once we're certain that we've got them excited, that we're there with them, we will deliver, then I think the writing is on the wall for the Taliban," he said.
More on link

'Don't cut and run from Iraq and Afghanistan'
By Deborah Haynes
Article Link

London - Britain's former top soldier has accused the government of failing to give its troops, many of whom are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, the right resources and support.

General Sir Mike Jackson, speaking late on Wednesday, also warned against cutting and running from the two conflict zones.

Jackson, who led the army during the March 2003 invasion of Iraq but retired earlier this year, said the Ministry of Defence had difficulty adjusting plans for what it thought was needed before an operation to the reality on the ground.
More on link


Suicide Bomber Strikes at American Firm in Southern Afghanistan  
By CARLOTTA GALL Published: December 7, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 6 — A suicide bomber blew himself up on Wednesday outside the offices of an American security firm in the southern city of Kandahar, killing two American security officers and nine Afghan members of the staff, other employees at the scene said.

There was some confusion about the number of deaths. 

A United States Embassy spokesman confirmed the deaths of two Americans, but police officials said they could confirm the deaths of only five Afghans, instead of the nine reported by people at the scene. A statement from President Hamid Karzai condemning the attack put the total at six, including the two Americans.

The explosion was just yards from a NATO military compound, where a Canadian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team handles reconstruction and development work for the province. 

The bomb attack, the fifth in Kandahar in 10 days, seems to fulfill Western military and diplomatic warnings that insurgents would turn to bombings in urban areas now that winter conditions have made fighting in the mountains more difficult. Afghanistan has had more than 100 suicide bombings this year, killing close to 250 people, most of them civilians.
More on link

Extra £600m earmarked for Iraq and Afghanistan
Richard Norton-Taylor Thursday December 7, 2006 The Guardian 
Article Link

The cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is increasing, the chancellor indicated in his statement yesterday.
He said the Ministry of Defence had been allocated an additional £600m for operations in the two countries next year and for what he called "other international obligations". This is more than the pre-budget amounts over the past three years.

However, in this year's March budget Gordon Brown significantly increased the previous pre-budget figure and said an extra £800m would be spent this year in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yesterday's statement means that, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, British military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost £7bn.
More on link

 Editorial Blog Iraq, Afghanistan and Oregon
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Article Link

Here is an updated draft of Thursday's editorial. Please send your comments about this editorial or other editorial topics to the Statesman Journal Editorial Board at salemed@StatesmanJournal.com or in care of Editorial Page Editor Dick Hughes at dhughes@StatesmanJournal.com.

***
Iraq, Afghanistan and Oregon are worlds apart — and inextricably linked. It is fitting that Ted Kulongoski was one of four governors making a quick, semi-secret trip last week to visit troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a governor, Kulongoski has no role in U.S. foreign policy. But it is his, and our, Oregon National Guard that is training Afghan soldiers and helping build up that impoverished nation. It is his constituents, and our neighbors and family members, who are among the thousands of U.S. troops serving in Iraq.

These Oregon troops are handling difficult but different assignments.

Iraq is a mess. A bipartisan U.S. commission on Wednesday declared the situation was “grave and deteriorating.” Kulongoski said Iraq was just as news accounts had described it: very, very dangerous. “It is a civil war,” he said after returning to Oregon this week.
More on link

Dead marine in Afghanistan named   
Article Link

Jonathan Wigley died as a result of attempts to dislodge Taleban forces  
A marine who died in Afghanistan after a battle with Taleban fighters has been named as Jonathan Wigley, of Zulu Company 45 Commando Royal Marines. 
He died following the battle in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. 

Marine Wigley, 21, was from Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire. Another serviceman was injured in the battle. 

The fighting came during an operation aimed at dislodging Taleban forces responsible for attacks on the village of Garmsir. 

He was wounded and airlifted to the UK military hospital at Camp Bastion, but died of his injuries. 

Marine Wigley's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Dewar, described him as an "outstanding" Royal Marine who died doing the job he loved. 
More on link

10th Mountain troops in Afghanistan begin heading home
Updated: 12/7/2006 6:12 AM By: Amy Ohler
Article Link    
   
10th Mountain Division soldiers in Afghanistan have begun deploying back to Fort Drum after a one year tour of duty. This week the 91st Military Police Battalion is on its way home.

In a video teleconference from Afghanistan, Commander Major General Benjamin Freakley said the soldiers are ready to come home but they'll remain focused on their mission until then.

Members of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and division have about two months left in the deployment.

"We're so thankful to the military families that stand so firmly behind their soldiers. We wouldn't have had the re-enlistment we had without the families. We wouldn't have has the mission success we had both here and in Iraq if the families didn't stand so firmly behind their soldiers," said Major General Benjamin Freakley
More on link

Abundance of youth populates troops serving in Afghanistan mission
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press Published: Thursday, December 07, 2006 
Article Link

MAS'UM GHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - With his clean-cut, boyish looks, Matt Blakewood seems barely old enough to shave, let alone serve as a corporal in the Canadian Forces. 

"Actually I haven't shaved for a week," admits Blakewood sheepishly, rubbing what little stubble there is on his chin. Blakewood, 21, from North York, Ont., has heard every joke in the book about his youthful appearance. "The lieutenant is on me all the time, and says, 'One day when you're old enough to join the army, you'll know,' " he chuckles. 

Blakewood has been in the reserves since he was 17. 

"I would have joined when I was 16 if I could, but because of the co-op program at school you had to be in Grade 11 at the time, so I did it when I was 17," says Blakewood, now working with the Psy Ops (psychological operations) unit of the Canadian Battle Group. 

How does one decide to pursue a military career while in high school? It started earlier than that, Blakewood says. 

"I just thought it would be something noble to do. When I have kids, they can say, 'My dad's in the military' and they can look at me and respect me . . . hopefully," says Blakewood. 

"And I think it was like a childhood thing. I used to watch those black-and-white army movies with my dad and it just seemed like a cool thing to do at the time." 

Blakewood drives an RG-31 light armoured vehicle as part of his duties and has been under fire. He eventually hopes to go into a career in law enforcement and has started going to college to obtain his diploma. 
More on link


MN Air National Guard Members to Go to Iraq, Afghanistan in 2007   
Article Link

DULUTH, MN (AP) -- More members of the Minnesota Air National Guard are heading to Iraq and Afghanistan next year.

The Guard announced today that more than 600 members of Minnesota Air National Guard units based in Duluth and St. Paul will deploy in early 2007.

About 450 of the Air Guard members will deploy from the Duluth-based 148th Fighter Wing, which will fly missions over Iraq. The unit provides close air combat support with its F-16C fighter jets.

Meanwhile, 160 members from the 133rd Airlift Wing in St. Paul are being deployed to support and fly cargo missions in Afghanistan.

Before the latest deployment, there were about 77-hundred Minnesota National Guard soldiers deployed in southwest Asia. That includes about three-thousand from the Air Guard and 47-hundred from the Army National Guard.
End

Afghanistan: UN study paints generally positive picture of refugee returns
Article Link

Keeping bees in Nangarhar 
6 December 2006 – A majority of the 4.7 million Afghan refugees who have returned home since the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime in 2001 feel optimistic about the future even as they believe they are worse off economically than their neighbours, according to a United Nations-commissioned study which cites concerns over future absorption capacity.

“While there have been difficulties for some, the majority of returnees have responded successfully and resiliently to the same challenges and opportunities faced by all Afghans,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) country representative Jacques Mouchet said of the study, which painted a generally positive picture of the integration of returnees into the labour market. 

The European Commission-funded report, commissioned by UNHCR and the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) and conducted by Kabul-based Altai Consulting, studied more than 600 rural and urban households – about 4,200 people – and 100 enterprises in the provinces of Kabul, Herat in the west and Nangarhar in the east. 

Some 40 per cent of the returnees live in these provinces, which have performed well compared to others. 
More on link

Canuck soldier died 'fighting evil'
December 6, 2006 
Article Link

Military pallbearers carry the casket of Warrant Officer Robert Girouard during a military funeral ceremony at Beechwood Military Cemetery in Ottawa, Wednesday December 6, 2006. Girouard was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan last week.(CP PHOTO/Fred Chartrand) 
PETAWAWA, Ont. (CP) - Comrades of slain soldier Robert Girouard hailed him Wednesday as a "quiet, confident" leader who was the most respected man in his operations group. 

Family, friends and comrades gathered for a funeral at CFB Petawawa to bid farewell to the chief warrant officer killed in Afghanistan last week. "Bobby died a soldier's death, watching his commanding officer's back," said Col. Dennis Thompson, Girouard's brigade commander. 

"He had the courage of his convictions and died fighting evil thousands of miles from here so that the people of Afghanistan might one day live without fear, and enjoy the freedom we blithely take for granted here in Canada. 

"In (wife) Jackie's own words: 'Bobby was what a man should be."' 

Girouard, the top non-commissioned officer in 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, died when a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle next to his armoured personnel carrier near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. 

Cpl. Albert Storm, a decorated soldier from Fort Erie, Ont., was also killed in the attack. 

Girouard, who was also regimental sergeant major, acted as mentor and liaison between senior officers and the enlisted ranks. 
More on link

Pakistan, Afghanistan to talk on Taliban rebellion
Wed 6 Dec 2006 8:36 AM ETKABUL, Dec 6 (Reuters) - 
Article Link

Pakistan's foreign minister arrives in Kabul on Thursday for talks on tribal councils aimed at stemming the growing Taliban insurgency and putting an end to the worst fighting since the strict Islamists were ousted in 2001.

Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri's visit comes amid accusations from senior Afghan intelligence officials Islamabad still supports the Taliban and warnings from Kabul's western allies that the rebels are being bolstered by the ability to shelter in Pakistan.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed on tribal councils, or jirgas, of community leaders from each country to find a solution to the violence.

Afghan and Pakistani tribes were split by British civil servants in the same way as Pakistan and India were divided.

"We hope that the real representatives from across Pakistan will take part in the (Afghan) jirga," spokesman for President Hamid Karzai Karim Rahimi said.

Afghanistan wants all tribes to take part in the councils, not just the Pashtuns from the main Pakistani border areas.

"But still there is a big gap on positions of the two governments on jirgas and other issues," Rahimullah Yusufzai, a newspaper editor and expert on Afghan affairs said.
More on link

Afghanistan hero sells his medal to buy home
Lucy Bannerman December 06, 2006 
Article Link

A war hero who became the youngest ever non-officer to be awarded the Military Cross is auctioning his medal because he cannot afford a house. 
Liam Armstrong was just 23 when he received the award, Britain’s second-highest military honour, from the Queen. 

However, Mr Armstrong, now 27, is selling the medal, which he won in an act of “almost reckless bravery”, so he can set up home with his long-term partner Charlene Reynolds, 24, and 2-year-old daughter Lydia. 

Mr Armstrong, of Carlisle, who now works as a trackman with a local railway company, said he has struggled financially since leaving the Royal Marines last year, and he was left with no other option but to sell the cross. 

He said: “I want to make sure my daughter has everything she needs. I am not a rich man and the sale will ensure our future as a family. 

“The only way for us to get a start in life is by selling it. It’s not ideal but I’m doing it for my daughter. She’s the most important thing in my life. When I thought of it like that it wasn’t a difficult decision.” 
More on link


NTSB: Pilot error caused Blackwater plane crash in Afghanistan
December 6, 2006
Article Link

A Connecticut man and four others were killed. A sixth who survived the impact but died while awaiting rescue might have been saved if the company had followed proper procedures, the report released Tuesday said.

The CASA 212 twin-engine turboprop was owned by Presidential Airways, a Florida company doing business as Blackwater Aviation, and was flying under a contract with the U.S. Air Force when it crashed on Nov. 27, 2004.

RALEIGH, N.C. --Pilot error caused the crash of an airplane owned by a sister company of Moyock-based Blackwater USA in central Afghanistan two years ago, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.

The aircraft carried three crew members, three Army passengers and military freight when it took off from Bagram, headed for Farah. Its wreckage was located a day later, 25 miles north of the expected route, but bad weather prevented rescuers from reaching the site for two more days.

The report blamed Presidential for "failure to require its flight crews to file and fly a defined route," and for not providing oversight to make sure its crews followed company policies and Pentagon and FAA safety regulations.

The chief operating officer and general counsel for Prince Group, the parent company of Blackwater and Presidential, said Tuesday that the report was erroneous and politically motivated.

Joseph E. Schmitz said the report was intended to cover for the military's failures, though he declined to describe those failures. He said Presidential would ask the NTSB to reconsider.
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (8 Dec 2006)

Military wants "large as possible’ slice of flying time
_TheChronicleHerald.ca_,  CHRIS LAMBIE, Dec. 8
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/545974.html



> Military planners want as much flying time as they can get from the Aurora long-range patrol aircraft if they are to be used to conduct surveillance flights over Afghanistan.
> 
> Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show Canada’s Auroras, most of which are based at 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia, are wanted for use in the war-torn country.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (9 Dec 2006)

*Fallen soldier's 11-year-old daughter becomes youngest memorial cross recipient *  
Gregory Bonnelle, Canadian Press, 8 Dec 06
Article Link

Eleven-year-old Danika Storm was bestowed a tragic yet historic honour at her father's funeral Friday when military brass informed her she had become the youngest-ever recipient of the Memorial Cross.  Cpl. Albert Storm, one of two soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan last week, lost his own mother years earlier and was divorced from the mother of his two children.   The Memorial Cross, a military memento previously granted only to mothers and widows, fell to Danika at a private ceremony held just hours before Storm - "Stormy" to his friends - received a full military funeral in this southern Ontario town.   The blonde-haired youngster broke down in tears as one of her father's colleagues eulogized the 36-year-old soldier, telling Danika and her brother Joshua, 13, to "be proud of your daddy, a hero." ....



*A gift of remembrance*
Metro Transit workers create Christmas tree memorial to fallen soldiers
Brent Butcher, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 9 Dec 06
Article Link

Three Metro Transit employees have created a unique memorial to Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.  It’s a Christmas tree and its ornaments are the photos of the 44 soldiers who have died.  The tree is at Metro Transit’s headquarters in Dartmouth.  Jeff Campbell, a bus driver, came up with the idea one day when other employees were decorating company headquarters for Christmas ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban says might join Afghan tribal peace talks*
Saeed Ali Achakzai, Reuters, 9 Sept 06
Article Link

Taliban insurgents said on Saturday they might join proposed tribal councils aimed at ending mounting violence in Afghanistan, if they were asked.  Afghanistan and Pakistan plan separate and joint councils, or jirgas, in both countries in a bid to stem an insurgency that has triggered the worst fighting since the Taliban's strict Islamist government was ousted from Kabul in 2001.  But they have not agreed on who will take part, and where or when the jirgas will be.  Key government and political leaders on both sides say at least moderate elements of the resurgent Taliban must be included in any talks to end the fighting ....



*'Pakistan using delaying tactics in convening Jirga' *  
Pahjwok Afghan News, 8 Dec 06
Article Link

Political experts have termed lack of interest and struggle to delay peace Jirga a realpoliticking of Pakistan that wants to exploits every opportunity.  It has been decided that the Jirga would hold two sessions. Presidents of both the countries and other representatives will attend its two meetings of the Jirga. First meeting of the Jirga will be held in Kabul while its second meeting will be held in Pakistan. Addressing a press conference, Minister for the Parliamentary Affairs Dr Farooq Wardak Wednesday said Pakistan had made no serious efforts for constituting peace Jirga and had always tried to create hurdles for its formation.  Dr Farooq, who is also head of the Secretariat of the Commission for the preparation of the Jirga, said high-ranking officials, administrative delegations of both the houses of the parliament, chiefs of provincial councils, two influential people of every province and representatives of the refugees would attend the Jirga.  He said Pakistan had not formed any mechanism that they might take the issue of date, nature and participants of the Jirga with them. To a question, he said: "Unfortunately, it seemed to us that there was not enough knowledge about the Jirga in Pakistan, may be they are struggling to delay the meeting." ....



*To stop Taliban, Afghans need Pakistan's cooperation*
Dennis Kux and Karl F. Inderfurth, San Jose Mercury News, 8 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghanistan topped the agenda at the recent NATO summit in Latvia. President Hamid Karzai faces many major challenges: weak governmental institutions, rampant corruption, lagging economic reconstruction, a booming drug trade, too many warlords and a resurgent Taliban. Over time, with sufficient and sustained international support, and Afghanistan's own efforts, all these difficulties can be addressed -- except for the Taliban.  The Taliban poses a different type of threat. It can lose every firefight with superior NATO, U.S. and Afghan National Army forces and still turn southern and eastern Afghanistan into a ``no development'' zone and stir insecurity in Kabul and elsewhere. As long as the Taliban has a haven in Pakistan, its members can continue their insurgency indefinitely, making it virtually impossible for Afghanistan to become a country at peace with itself and its neighbors.



*Key Taliban commander arrested in Afghanistan*
China View (CNH), 9 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghan security forces captured a key Taliban commander in Ghazni province of central Afghanistan on Saturday, provincial governor Mirajudin Patan said.  The forces arrested Mullah Mohammad Usman, commander of Taliban militants in the province, Patan told Xinhua.  He said six Pakistanis were also detained in Ghazni province on Saturday, but he did not say if they were connected with the Taliban.  Operations against insurgents in Ghazni province were continuing, Patan added ....



*Ex-commanders get jobs in reconstruction projects*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 8 Dec 06
Article Link

Over 150 former jihadi commanders, who had surrendered arms under the disarmament programmes like DDR and DIAG, have been employed in the Salma power dam project in the western Herat province.  Salma Dam is one of the biggest power projects, which is being reconstructed at the cost of $80 million assistance provided by the Indian government. Work on the project was launched in the beginning of this year.  Fazil Ahmad Zakiri, head of agriculture and irrigation department in Herat, told Pajhwok Afghan News the 150 former jihadi commanders had joined the government during different phases of the disarmament, de-mobilisation and re-integration (DDR) and disarmament of irresponsible armed groups (DIAG) programmes.  Zakiri said work on the project had restarted after 30 years, which would be accomplished in the coming two years. He added they were trying to employ more people, who had surrendered arms and were eager to take part in reconstruction of the country ....


----------



## GAP (9 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 9 December, 2006*

11-year-old awarded tragic yet historic honour  
GREGORY BONNELL Canadian Press
Article Link

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — Eleven-year-old Danika Storm was bestowed a tragic yet historic honour at her father's funeral Friday when military brass informed her she had become the youngest-ever recipient of the Memorial Cross.

Cpl. Albert Storm, one of two soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan last week, lost his own mother years earlier and was divorced from the mother of his two children.

The Memorial Cross, a military memento previously granted only to mothers and widows, fell to Danika at a private ceremony held just hours before Cpl. Storm — “Stormy” to his friends — received a full military funeral in this southern Ontario town.

The blonde-haired youngster broke down in tears as one of her father's colleagues eulogized the 36-year-old soldier, telling Danika and her brother Joshua, 13, to “be proud of your daddy, a hero.”
More on link

Who's got the story on Afghanistan?  
Friday, December 08, 2006
Article Link

Last night, I attended a panel discussion entitled "The Media, the Military and the Pollsters: Who's got the story on Afghanistan?" at the University of Toronto, presented by The Canadian Journalism Foundation. Thanks to milnewstbay for the heads-up. The moderator was Paul Knox, chair of the Ryerson University School of Journalism. Joining him on stage were panelists LGen Andrew Leslie, Chief of the Land Staff, Lisa LaFlamme, CTV television journalist, and John Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos-Reid.

Reporting on such a complex situation as Afghanistan has always reminded me of the story of the five blind men who bump into an elephant and wonder what it is. The one who grasps the trunk says it's a snake, the one poked by a tusk declares it a spear, the one feeling along the ribs believes it's a wall, the one that ends up wrapped around a leg calls it a tree, and the one at the back has no idea what it is, but complains to the rest of them that whatever it is, it smells like crap. Each one sees only a part, and so misses the whole. The lesson, of course, is that only from a composite of all the points of view can some sort of accurate picture be drawn - in this case by a combination of military expertise, journalistic inquisitiveness, and pollster data.

In short, I was hoping for a thoughful and on-point discussion of what is a truly important topic. Well, the panelists were certainly thoughtful enough, although not always on-point. The audience, which one of the presenters was careful to point out included John Raulston Saul and numbered about fifty, was less than useful on either count.
More on link

Afghans say life is better since fall of Taliban
By Sally Peck and agencies  08/12/2006
Article Link

Jackson: too much is asked of Forces
Despite fears of rising violence, three quarters of Afghans believe their quality of life has improved since the fall of the Taliban, according to a new poll.

Violence continues to play a prominent role in the daily lives of Afghans, with four in 10 reporting experiencing insurgent attacks, including bombings, arson, and killings, in their areas.
More on link

Same Survey, different Take on it
Optimism fades in Afghanistan
Associated Press Published: Thursday, December 07, 2006 
Amid growing violence, Taliban resurgence
Article Link

 WASHINGTON -- Optimism is starting to fade among the people of Afghanistan five years after the fall of the Taliban and amid rising violence in the country, a poll found.

The number of people who think the country is on the right track has dropped 22 points - to 55 per cent - in the last year, according to a poll done in Afghanistan by ABC News and BBC World Service.

The reasons cited most often for the pessimism were a bad economy and the resurgent power of the Taliban militia, whose fundamentalist Islamic rule came to an end with the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The poll of 1,036 adults was conducted in 31 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces and excluded some of the most violent regions in the country. It was said to have a margin of margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The Taliban was increasingly seen as posing the greatest danger to Afghanistan, with 57 per cent naming the militia, up from 41 per cent a year ago.

Acceptance of growing opium poppies had grown in the last year, however, with 40 per cent saying it was acceptable if a grower had no other way to earn a living. That was up from 26 per cent who felt that way a year ago.

Optimism had declined on a variety of fronts compared with a year earlier. Among them:
- A 17-point drop, to 58 per cent, in the belief that security has improved since the Taliban was in charge.

- A 13-point drop, to 54 per cent, in the belief that life in Afghanistan will get better in the next year.
More on link

Five Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan
Article Link


Kabul, Dec. 9 (Xinhua): Five Taliban insurgents were killed and two others injured as they fought security forces in Helmand province in south Afghanistan, the provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil said on Saturday. 

"Some Taliban militants attacked Afghan police and NATO forces in Nawzad district on Friday. The security forces returned fire, killing five militants and injuring two others," Mullahkhil told Xinhua. 

There were no casualties on Afghan and NATO forces, he added. 

Meanwhile, Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi confirmed the clash. 
More on link

Inquiry into death of marine in Afghanistan
Richard Norton-Taylor Saturday December 9, 2006 The Guardian 
Article Link


An investigation has been launched into the death of a Royal Marine in Afghanistan amid reports that he was killed by friendly fire. Jonathan Wigley, 21, was fatally wounded this week during fierce fighting against the Taliban in the south of the country. Another marine, who has not been named, was seriously injured.
A British soldier was reported yesterday as saying: "I saw it. It was the A-10. I was 5ft away. We called in a strike on the next trench. Then I saw it swooping toward us. I will never forget that noise. It was horrible."

Low-flying American A-10 aircraft were engaged in fatal friendly-fire incidents involving British troops during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and in the first Gulf war in 1991.
More on link

Pakistan wants refugee camps relocated to Afghanistan
By Our Correspondent
Article Link

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 8: Pakistan on Thursday proposed that the Afghan refugee camps should be relocated on the Afghan side and a Marshal Plan-like programme be implemented in south and southeast Afghanistan to control the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

"The international community should seriously consider this proposal which, under the prevailing circumstances, can provide a realistic chance of bringing durable peace and development to Afghanistan," Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram told a meeting of the UN Security Council convened to discuss the report submitted by the Security Council Mission on Afghanistan.

He lamented that the international community had avoided addressing seriously the issue of Afghan refugees, and pointed out that some "three million of them are still in Pakistan without any appreciable international assistance."

Many complaints regarding illegal border crossing would end if these refugees could be repatriated to Afghanistan, he said.

“Pakistan has proposed that the Afghan refugee camps on the border should be relocated on the Afghan side, and we are planning the return of all refugees within three years to Afghanistan. That should put an end to allegations of cross-border movement. But it is surprising that the issue of refugees does not figure in the report of the Security Council Mission," he noted.
More on link


1,130 Arizona troops bound for Afghanistan   
By Art Martori, Tribune December 9, 2006 
Article Link

Roughly 1,130 Arizona National Guard troops will leave next month to prepare for duty in Afghanistan, representing the state’s two largest deployments since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 
  
They will make up the bulk of Arizona National Guard and reserve troops on active duty both domestically and overseas, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. 

“Since 9/11, this is the biggest group to go out,” said Maj. Paul Aguirre, an Arizona Guard spokesman. He added that many of the troops already had served in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

Aguirre said the deployments were planned more than a year ago, and that they had nothing to do with recent speculation in Washington, D.C., about a temporary increase in troop levels in the region. 
More on link



Gunmen kill 5 family members in Afghanistan; investigation opened into civilian shooting
The Associated PressPublished: December 9, 2006
Article Link

GHWANDO, Afghanistan: Following up on a death threat, Taliban militants broke into a house where two teachers lived and shot dead five family members in eastern Afghanistan, bringing to 20 the number of educators killed in attacks this year, officials and a relative said Saturday.

A NATO spokesman, meanwhile, said an investigation was launched into allegations that British forces opened fire on civilians, killing one and wounding six, after a suicide attack earlier this month.

The five family members were killed overnight in the eastern province of Kunar after gunmen climbed over the home's high outer wall using a ladder they had brought with them, said Dr. Ghaleb, a family relative who goes by one name.

A grandmother, a mother and two daughters, who were teachers, were killed, Ghaleb said. A 20-year-old grandson was also killed and a younger grandson injured in the attack in a village in Narang district.
More on link

Mum’s joy at message from Afghanistan  
08 December 2006 
Article Link

The mother of a Dundee-born Royal Navy Lieutenant leading the fight in the care of wounded British soldiers in Afghanistan, today spoke of her joy after reading an “exclusive message” from her son through the Evening Telegraph. 
Local alcohol abuse campaigner Frankie Claridge heard from her son, Sandy, for the first time in a week in her copy of yesterday’s Tele.
He is based in Camp Bastion in the Helmand province and spoke to our reporter in the region.

Sandy is second in command of the hospital operating theatre for the camp.

He will not return from his tour of duty until January, so he sent his mum, gran and friends special Christmas wishes during his interview.

“I saw the Tele and it was brilliant. I was absolutely amazed,” said Ms Claridge. 

“It was just like an exclusive message to me. What a pleasant surprise.
More on link


Afghanistan's Opium Trade Undermines Pakistan's Efforts To Control Domestic Spread of HIV, Health Minister Says
Dec 08, 2006
Article Link

      Afghanistan's opium trade is undermining Pakistan's efforts to control the spread of HIV in the country, particularly among injection drug users, Pakistan's Health Minister Mohammad Naseer Khan said Wednesday, Reuters reports. Pakistan has confirmed 3,556 HIV cases in the country -- more than 300 of whom have developed AIDS -- but officials say the numbers likely are higher. According to Khan, Pakistan has been committed to fighting the spread of the virus, but the country must increase efforts to tackle Afghanistan's opium production, the raw material for heroin, to successfully reduce the virus' spread. "We are committed for a strong program to combat HIV/AIDS, especially the [injection drug] users," Khan said. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crimes said recently that Afghanistan's opium harvest reached a record high this year, and production is 50% higher than in 2005. "Today, in Afghanistan you have the highest production of opium to date. Ten years ago it nearly reached zero," Khan, who attended a U.N. meeting on injection drug use and HIV/AIDS on Wednesday, said, adding, "So that's a huge concern for Pakistan. More has to be done by the government of Afghanistan and also all the donor agencies and coalition forces to stop that production." Khan also said that increasing HIV/AIDS awareness among people living in Pakistan is essential to fighting the spread of the virus. "We don't have to be pornographic about HIV/AIDS, but we must tell our children what it is and how to stay away from it," he said (Reuters, 12/6). 
End

Afghanistan 'losing patience' with Pakistan  
Agencies 08/12/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)
Article Link

Kabul: President Hamid Karzai told Pakistan's foreign minister that the Afghan public were growing impatient over insurgent attacks reportedly launched from Pakistan, and warned that instability in Afghanistan would affect Pakistan. 

Karzai met with Khursheed Kasuri on Thursday after he arrived for talks on issues including border security. 

Karzai said, "The Afghan people are suffering from terrorist violence on a daily basis, and the patience of our people to continue to bear this situation is running thin," adding that both countries needed to work to stop the violence. 

He said, "In the same way that Afghans cannot imagine a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan without a peaceful and stable Pakistan, it is also impossible for Pakistan to have peace and stability without a peaceful and stable Afghanistan." 

Kasuri responded by saying that by blaming each other the two countries cannot solve their problems. 
More on link

Afghanistan faces grave threat in reconstruction: UN report  
December 08, 2006          
Article Link


Afghanistan is facing "a grave threat" in reconstruction, which is mainly caused by insurgency, narcotics and corruption, said a UN report released on Thursday here. 

"The spread of insurgency .. linked with the illegal drug trade, coupled with corruption and failures of governance and the rule of law, collectively pose a grave threat to reconstruction and nation-building in Afghanistan," said the report written by a UN Security Council mission to Afghanistan. 

The mission paid a fact-finding visit to Afghanistan from Nov. 11 to 16, during which they met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, senior NATO commanders, civilian societies and other representatives. 

Progress in Afghanistan's reconstruction in 2006 "has not been as rapid as had been hoped," the report said, adding "The confidence of the Afghan public in its new institutions and processes was being tested." 

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgency, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed this year since the Taliban regime was toppled down five years ago. 

Violence has killed about 3,900 people this year in this volatile country, which is four times greater than last year. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan produced 6,100 tons of opium this year, witnessing a sharp rise of 49 percent from last year and accounting for 92 percent of the world's total supply. 
More on link




NATO air support may have killed Brit in Afghanistan
Friday, December 8, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
Article Link

A British Marine killed during a 10-hour battle with Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan this week may have been killed by friendly aircraft firing in support, the military said Thursday.

British troops are battling the Taliban in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province as part of NATO's ISAF force. "Friendly fire" deaths are not unusual in Afghanistan. Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces have previously lost men because of misguided fire.

On Thursday, a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of foreign troops in the center of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing two civilians and wounding 11 more, police and witnesses said.
More on link



U.S. anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan to be bolstered
Accused of a reluctance to aid DEA agents, the Pentagon vows to help.
By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer December 8, 2006 
Article Link

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon, which has resisted appeals to play a bigger role in the campaign to curb Afghanistan's opium trade, is pledging more support for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's counter-narcotics efforts.

Although the $2.3-billion profit from opium trafficking has helped to arm the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents, the Pentagon has said drug interdiction is primarily a law enforcement responsibility that rests with Afghan authorities and British troops in the NATO force in Afghanistan.
More on link


26 Afghans released from U.S. military prison in Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: December 7, 2006
Article Link


KABUL, Afghanistan: The U.S. military has released 26 Afghans who were incarcerated at its detention facility, a statement said.

The men were turned over to the Afghan authorities after it was determined that they do not pose a threat anymore to the government of President Hamid Karzai, a U.S. military statement said Thursday.

Hundreds of Afghans are still held at the detention facility in Bagram, the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan. The U.S. plans to turn over the Afghan nationals in its custody to the Afghan government by next summer.

While in detention, all detainees received three meals a day, worship opportunities and comprehensive medical care, the statement said.
More on link


US told to engage Pakistan and Iran on Afghanistan  
Friday, December 08, 2006
Article Link


WASHINGTON: The United States was urged by experts on Wednesday to engage Pakistan and Iran in active diplomacy to prevent deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan from sliding towards a new crisis. 

Addressing a forum on Afghanistan organised by the US Institute of Peace, Barry Rubin, a former adviser to the former United Nations representative to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, said that the administration of George W Bush had to achieve a consensus on Afghanistan with both Pakistan and Iran if it hoped to stabilise the country and rein in a growing Taliban insurgency. 

US involvement with Iran, he noted, could help pressure Islamabad to suppress Pakistan-based militants blamed for plunging Afghanistan into its bloodiest period of violence since American-led forces overthrew the Taliban regime in 2001. “At the moment we don’t have an active diplomacy on that, probably because we’re not talking to certain people,” Rubin said, referring to Washington’s severed relations with Tehran. 
More on link


]Article Link

More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (11 Dec 2006)

*A country where blood is everything*
Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry died in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. The main suspect walked free.
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 11 Dec 06
Article Link - Permalink

When an explosion shook the city of Kandahar in the early afternoon of Jan. 15, Afghan police hurried to the scene to find Canadian troops pulling comrades out of ruined military vehicles. The suicide blast injured three soldiers and killed Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry, the 59-year-old political director of the local reconstruction team.  As a helicopter roared away with the injured, criminal investigators from the Afghan National Police kept their eyes on the ground, picking their way through the twisted metal and charred flesh. They wrote down identification numbers from the engine block and chassis of the bomber's minivan, a silver Toyota Town Ace. They also noted the license plate number, 312.  The last known owner of plate 312, a man named Pir Mohammed, was arrested as the main suspect in Mr. Berry's death. Police say they grew more suspicious after they raided his home, finding a cache of weapons, documents in Arabic, and a photo of a reputed Taliban leader.  But after less than two days in custody, Mr. Mohammed walked out the front door of the investigators' office and disappeared. Why? ....



*Afghan rebuild stopped dead*
Terrorism and corruption leave nation in pieces and population without hope
Doug Beazley, Calgary Sun, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

Marjdin lives in the shadows of Afghanistan's shattered history.  His home is a half-wrecked bunker in an abandoned army base outside Kabul -- a relic of the Russian occupation so many years ago.  On the snowy hill behind him stands what's left of the old royal palace, shelled half to rubble in the factional wars that followed King Mohammad Zahir Shah's deposal by coup in 1973, the Soviet invasion of 1979 and the Taliban takeover in 1996.  Across the road is a sign marking the site of the former Camp Julien, abandoned when the Canadians moved south to Kandahar last year ....



*Troops tough to rattle*
Rockets fired on base no big deal
Doug Beazley, Calgary Sun, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

Leave it to the Taliban to screw up a good time.  Minutes after soldiers at Kandahar Airfield massed for a special live show featuring standup comic Shaun Majumder Saturday night, two volleys of insurgent rockets whistled over the camp, forcing everyone to take cover.  "Saturday night! Well hello, Taliban!" Majumder shouted to the crowd after the show started again.  No one was hurt -- the rockets, apparently, hit without detonating. And while the double shot was the most intense rocket attack to hit the base in weeks, no one showed any signs of anxiety ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban regrouping in Pakistan, says think tank*
US military reports upsurge in attacks
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

Peace deals between Islamic militants and Pakistan's government have created a virtual Taliban mini-state near Afghanistan, giving militants a "free hand" to recruit, train and arm for cross-border attacks, a think tank reported Monday.  The International Crisis Group accused Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government of resorting to "appeasement" of pro-Taliban fighters after poorly planned military operations in North and South Waziristan failed and only fueled more militancy.  The government denied the allegation, but a U.S. military official in Afghanistan confirmed that cross-border attacks had surged this summer and fall, amid the bloodiest violence since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001 for hosting al-Qaida ....


*Pakistan’s Tribal Areas: Appeasing the Militants*
International Crisis Group, Asia Report N°125, 11 Dec 2006 
News release - Report (.pdf)

Taliban and other foreign militants, including al-Qaeda sympathisers, have sheltered since 2001 in Pakistan’s Pashtun-majority Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), seven administrative districts bordering on south eastern Afghanistan. Using the region to regroup, reorganise and rearm, they are launching increasingly severe cross-border attacks on Afghan and international military personnel, with the support and active involvement of Pakistani militants. The Musharraf government’s ambivalent approach and failure to take effective action is destabilising Afghanistan; Kabul’s allies, particularly the U.S. and NATO, which is now responsible for security in the bordering areas, should apply greater pressure on it to clamp down on the pro-Taliban militants. But the international community, too, bears responsibility by failing to support democratic governance in Pakistan, including within its troubled tribal belt ....


----------



## GAP (11 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 11 December, 2006*

NATO destroys huge weapon cache in E. Afghanistan 
December 11, 2006          
Article Link

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has discovered a huge weapon cache and destroyed it in Afghanistan's eastern Nooristan province, a statement of the multinational force received Monday said. 

A patrol found a weapon cache in the Nurgaram district of Nooristan province and destroyed at an ISAF camp on Saturday, the statement said. 

The weapons and ammunition seized consists of 63 rockets, 137 mortar rounds, 157 rifle rounds, 92 rocket fuses, 63 mortar fuses, 10 RPG launchers and rockets, 48 pieces of 82mm rounds, six pieces of 75mm rounds and three anti-tank mines, according to the statement. 

Six more weapon caches have been discovered in Khost province also in east Afghanistan over the past four days, the statement stressed but not disclosed the number and quantity of the ordnances recovered from. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


Editorial: Problems in Afghanistan may find their way to U.S. streets
Editorial, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE Monday, December 11, 2006
Article Link

Here's more discouraging news from the war zone — but this time the war zone is Afghanistan, where the inspector generals from the State Department and Pentagon report that a billion-dollar U.S. effort to train a police force has accomplished just about nothing. 

The officers it has trained have difficulty performing rudimentary policing duties; the contractor hired to perform the work is unable to verify how many officers are working, or where, or doing what. 
More on link

Nato air strike kills four civilians in Afghanistan  
Web posted at: 12/11/2006 8:50:6 Source ::: Agencies 
Article Link

KABUL • At least four Afghan civilians were killed and one was wounded in a Nato-led air strike against Taleban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, a police commander said yesterday. 

The civilians were killed on Saturday in an airstrike that was part of a “mid-scale” operation launched this week against militants in Laghman province just east of Kabul, local police chief, Abdul Karim Omeryar said. 

“Yes, a house was bombed by Nato planes. I know four people were killed and one was injured — they were civilians,” the police chief said. 

He said intelligence reports indicated Taleban fighters were hiding in the house targeted by International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) warplanes in the province’s Alishing district. 

“But only civilians were in that house. The casualties were also civilians,” he said. 

The interior ministry in Kabul confirmed the operation, codenamed “Western Hammer” but said it was investigating the civilian deaths. 

Isaf also confirmed the raid. 
More on link

13 foreign nationals arrested in S. Afghanistan  
December 11, 2006          
Article Link

Afghan forces have arrested 13 foreign nationals on charge of being involved in conducting terrorist activities in the southern Kandahar province, Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said Sunday. 

"Afghanistan National Army captured 13 terrorists from Spin Boldak of Kandahar province on Friday and recovered a number of evidence including explosive devices, wireless set and satellite telephones," Azimi told newsmen at a press briefing. 

However, he did not disclose the nationalities of the detained men but added all of them had been handed over to the U.S.-led coalition forces. 

Three more persons on charge of having links with Taliban and al-Qaida network were arrested from eastern Khost province days ago. 

Spin Boldak, a border town linking Afghanistan with Pakistan, has been the witness of militants' attacks as a suicide bomb attack left over a dozen dead and injured a few months ago. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Mine explosion wounds 2 NATO soldiers in S. Afghanistan 
December 11, 2006          
Article Link

Two NATO soldiers were injured when a mine struck their convoy in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province on Sunday, a spokesman of NATO troops said. 

The mine, which was planted by militants and remotely controlled, damaged four vehicles and wounded two soldiers in Mizan district, Andre Salloum told reporters in Kandahar. 

He did not comment if there were any casualties on the insurgents. 

Meantime, a purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said the Taliban had carried out the attack and two Taliban fighters were killed in a conflict after the explosion. 

More than 3,900 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in Afghanistan this year. 

Source: Xinhua 
More on link


Afghanistan's opium poppies will be sprayed, says US drugs tsar
Declan Walsh in Kandahar Monday December 11, 2006 The Guardian 
Article Link

· Calls for herbicide use follow record harvest 
· Fears sensitive move will boost support for Taliban 

Afghanistan has agreed to poppy-spraying measures in a desperate bid to deflate the soaring drugs trade, America's anti-narcotics tsar announced at the weekend.
The move was urgently needed to prevent Afghanistan becoming a narco-state, said John Waters, the head of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. "We cannot fail in this mission."

But the prospect of herbicide use aroused criticism from other western officials, who are sceptical of its benefits and fear it will push farmers into the arms of the Taliban. "Nobody in the international community is loving this," said one.

Crop spraying is highly sensitive in Afghanistan. Government officials traditionally reject aerial spraying, saying low-flying planes dispersing clouds of herbicide could destroy licit crops and arouse painful memories of Soviet-era carpet bombing. Reports of limited aerial spraying, in which the US denied involvement, sparked health scare stories among villagers in Nangarhar and Uruzgan province
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (11 Dec 2006)

Taliban and Allies Tighten Grip in North of Pakistan
_NY Times_, Dec. 11, By CARLOTTA GALL and ISMAIL KHAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/world/asia/11pakistan.html?ref=todayspaper



> PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, vastly expanding their training of suicide bombers and other recruits and fortifying alliances with Al Qaeda and foreign fighters, diplomats and intelligence officials from several nations say. The result, they say, is virtually a Taliban mini-state.
> 
> The militants, the officials say, are openly flouting the terms of the September accord in North Waziristan, under which they agreed to end cross-border help for the Taliban insurgency that revived in Afghanistan with new force this year.
> 
> ...



Germans for the South?
_Der Spiegel_, Dec. 11
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,453663,00.html



> The ISAF security mission in Afghanistan may be led by NATO forces, but over one-third of German troops in the country fall entirely under national command, limiting NATO's ability to deploy them. With tensions still simmering over Berlin's refusal to send troops to the dangerous south, the Bundeswehr is considering placing more troops at NATO's disposal.
> 
> Following the heated debate at NATO over the deployment of German troops in dangerous southern Afghanistan, Berlin appears poised to shift its position. Top brass in the German military, the Bundeswehr, are considering putting more troops under the command of British General David Richards -- soldiers who could also be deployed to the south, where the Taliban are engaged in heavy fighting with NATO troops.
> 
> ...



All on their shoulders
For the soldiers of C Company, joking about the war is often the best they can do
Brian Hutchinson,_ National Post_, December 11 (from p.2)
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=0712cdee-0af2-4ec1-9099-c0cfdb039fa5&k=85704&p=2



> The men had no time to reflect on what had just happened. They moved across the Arghandab once again. The second advance succeeded, and C Company continued north.
> 
> The fighting continued for another five days. On Sept. 6, Cpl. Young found himself in a vicious firefight. "It was hell on Earth," he recalls. Crouched behind a mud wall, the enemy just on the other side, he said a prayer. "All I could think is, 'I'm dead -- I'm dead if they come over the wall.' "
> 
> ...



Afghan equation: NATO out, Al Qaeda in
The world would be more vulnerable than ever if the Taliban opens its arms to the jihadists
Rosie DiManno, _Toronto Star_, Dec. 11
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1165792209556&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home



> ...
> They must be licking their chops these days, the original coven of Al Qaeda principals, plus whatever terrorist alliances have been forged since 9/11.
> 
> So many opportunities to re-establish the operational ground that was lost with the invasion of Afghanistan five years ago: Iraq, Somalia, Sudan. And Afghanistan once again, if a handful of NATO nations — those doing all the heavy lifting — bug out under the pressure of domestic politics.
> ...



Military spending far exceeds civilian aid
By SCOTT TAYLOR, _ChronicleHerald.ca_, Dec. 11
http://www.herald.ns.ca/Opinion/546606.html



> ...
> Brig.-Gen. Fraser himself became virtually a household name as a result of the abundant coverage.
> 
> Emulating Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier, Fraser won over reporters with his macho demeanour.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (11 Dec 2006)

NATO allies need to ‘get real' about Taliban threat, Britain says
Canadian Press, Dec. 11
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061211.wafghan1211/BNStory/National/home



> Britain's Foreign Office minister says reluctant NATO allies need to “get real” about the threat posed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
> 
> Kim Howells told a diplomatic audience at Canada's Foreign Affairs building in Ottawa that Britons are just as frustrated as Canadians about bearing the brunt of heavy fighting in the country's south.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (11 Dec 2006)

*Government survival in play over Afghanistan*
Randall Palmer, Reuters, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

The opposition Bloc Quebecois party raised the possibility on Monday of trying to topple the minority Conservative government early next year over Canada's mission in Afghanistan.  The Bloc, the third largest party in Parliament, said it might try to get the House of Commons to declare non-confidence in the government unless it puts more emphasis on reconstruction in Afghanistan and less on security.  "Maybe if the government refuses to change its mind on that, it is possible that the Bloc will use a confidence motion against the government," Michel Gauthier, the Bloc's House leader, told reporters.




*UN Security Council Team Says ISAF Needed, Wanted in Afghanistan*
Activity Up in Pakistan Border Areas, ISAF May End Up Protecting Opium Spraying Ops
Tony Prudori, MILNEWS.ca, 10 Dec 06
Article Link

A report from a United Nations Security Council team says there is "overwhelming support for the presence of international security forces inside Afghanistan."  The report, "Report of the Security Council Mission to Afghanistan" was compiled by a team of 10 Security Council representatives who visited Afghanistan 11-16 Nov 06.  In addition to meeting with United Nations, NGO and Afghan government officials, the Security Council team met with ISAF Commander General David Richards on 12 Nov for a 45 minute briefing (as well as supper hosted by the General). The team visited, and was briefed by ISAF Regional Command South staff, Kandahar airfield on 14 Nov. From there, they flew the same day to the US-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Qalat in nearby Zabul Province. The 4 Dec 06 report says the team didn't visit Kandahar City becase of security concerns ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban won’t join talks in foreigners’ presence*
Daily Times (PAK), 12 Dec 06
Article Link

The Taliban on Monday backed away from comments they might join tribal jirgas aimed at ending growing violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Senior spokesman Sayed Tayeb Agha said the rebels would never join such talks as long as foreign soldiers remained in Afghanistan.  “Such jirgas are aimed at protecting American interests only. Such jirgas are neither independent nor do they make independent decisions,” he told Reuters from a secret location.  “The Taliban will not take part in any jirga in the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan because such jirgas have no significance.” ....



*A Taliban ministate arises in Pakistan*
Carlotta Gall and Ismail Khan, International Herald Tribune, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistan: Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, vastly expanding their training of suicide bombers and other recruits and fortifying alliances with Al Qaeda and foreign fighters, diplomats and intelligence officials from several nations say. The result, they say, is virtually a Taliban ministate.  The militants, the officials say, are openly flouting the terms of the September accord in North Waziristan, under which they agreed to end cross- border help for the Taliban insurgency that revived in Afghanistan with new force this year.  The area is becoming a magnet for an influx of foreign fighters, who not only challenge government authority in the area, but are even wresting control from local tribes and spreading their influence to neighboring areas, according to several American and NATO officials, as well as Pakistani and Afghan intelligence officials ....



*Pakistan pact with tribesmen falling apart*
The Penninsula Online (Qatar), 12 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistani pacts with pro-Taleban militants on the Afghan border have facilitated attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan and allowed the militants to expand influence in Pakistan, a think-tank said.  Instead of appeasing militants, Pakistan must impose the rule of law in its semi-autonomous tribal lands on the border, where Taleban and Al Qaeda sympathisers have sheltered since 2001, disarm the militants and shut their training camps, the International Crisis Group said.  “Despite Pakistani denials, the tribal belt, particularly agencies such as the Waziristans, remains a Taleban sanctuary and a hub for attacks on the US-led coalition and Nato forces and the Afghan government,” the Brussels-based group said in a report to be released yesterday.  Pakistan’s seven tribal agencies, including North and South Waziristan, have never been brought under the writ of any government, including British colonialists who saw the mountainous region as a buffer on the northwestern border of their Indian empire ....



*'Jihad equipment is not for personal use': Taliban rules*
Declan Walsh, Guardian Online (UK), 11 Dec 06
Article Link

A solid set of rules is the bedrock of a successful organisation, as any manager will testify. Afghanistan's Taliban are no different.  Most of the 30 new rules for recruits to jihad, or holy war, are predictably concerned with the finer points of killing and destruction. But others will sound familiar to those in more conventional lines of work - such as directives about using office equipment at home.  "Taliban may not use jihad equipment or property for personal ends," declares rule number nine - perhaps referring to recreational use of AK-47 guns or RPG-7 rocket launchers ....


*No smoking - but killing teachers is fine, says new Taleban rulebook*
Tim Albone, The Scotsman, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

KILLING a teacher is no problem as long as they have received a warning and a solid beating, but taking a beardless boy into your private quarters or spending money without your commander's permission is likely to cause big trouble.  These are just three of the 30 rules the Taleban ruling council have insisted their fighters follow in Afghanistan.  The rules have been approved by "the highest leader of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan", Taleban-speak for Mullah Omar, the one-eyed reclusive leader of the regime who has a £5 million bounty on his head ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (12 Dec 2006)

*Deadly Afghan road project in crucial final phase*
Civilian contractors prepare to pave 4.5-kilometre stretch of Route Summit   
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

Route Summit is a road construction project unlike any other -- with a toll already paid in blood and human lives.  Surveyed and shaped by Canadian combat engineers, and aggressively defended by Canadian troops, this 4.5-kilometre strip of dirt and mud must rank as one of the most dangerous infrastructure initiatives on the planet.  Route Summit is 30 kilometres west of Kandahar city, right on the edge of Taliban country. It forms a discernible front line in the battle for southern Afghanistan.  Hidden inside a maze of walled grape and marijuana fields sit an indeterminate number of insurgents.  To the east are Canadian-led coalition forces, trying to help establish stability in the region.  For weeks, due to security concerns, work on Route Summit had stopped.  Now it's being ramped up again for a last push that will see civilian contractors lay gravel and then pave the road ....



*Dig In, Stay Alive*
Sixty days between a rock and a hard place
Doug Beazley, Toronto Sun, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

Warrant Officer Dominic Chenard has been 60 days between a rock and a hard place. Stationed in Sperwan Gar, about two hours south of Kandahar Airfield by road, his mission was a simple one.  On the one side, the mountain - and a coalition surveillance post.  Everywhere else - the Taliban. The mission: dig in, protect the mountain, stay alive.  In the field, he's recovered the bodies of 21 coalition soldiers. He's seen and done things he can't talk about - not to anyone outside the body of men he commands. Not even to the people who love him best.  "I go home in a few days for Christmas," he said, wincing in the bright afternoon sunlight. "I told my wife, 'We won't talk about it. I'll talk about the funny things, the good times, but I can't talk about the other stuff. Not yet.'" ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Military barber takes on role of den mother, confidante for Canadian troops*  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

Linda Sylvester has cut thousands of heads of hair during her career as a barber. Working for the military since 1988, she has also seen the bodies of 27 Canadian soldiers sent home after ramp ceremonies from Kandahar Airfield and provided a soft shoulder to cry on for countless young recruits.  "This is real. It's different. It's scary, but the troops here are making a difference," said Sylvester, a native of Sydney, N.S., who normally works at CFB Gagetown, N.B.  Sylvester's son-in-law is stationed at the forward operating base at Mas'um Ghar in Afghanistan's Panjwaii district. Her daughter is a leading seaman and cook in Shiloh, Man., and her son is a captain also back in Canada ....



*Karzai, World Leaders Meet Local Officials Amid Violence *  
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Kandahar today with a large delegation of Afghan and international officials for security talks with local leaders from the country's volatile south.  Tribal elders and religious leaders attending the security conference are from the provinces of Zabol, Oruzgan, Kandahar, and Helmand -- areas where Afghan and foreign troops have seen a resurgence of Taliban violence during the past year.  Karzai's delegation includes his defense and interior ministers as well as members of parliament. The top NATO commander and senior UN representative in Afghanistan also are attending, along with ambassadors from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, and Britain ....



*Canadian ambassador says Afghanistan peace plan is a 'key step'*
Canadian Press, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

In a country rife with human rights abuses, the Afghan government's adoption of a new action plan is an important step forward, said Canada's ambassador in the war-torn country.  "A task force will establish how to apply accountability mechanisms to bring those to justice who have committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and gross human rights violations," said Canadian ambassador David Sproule in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from Kabul.  While there is stability in the northern half of Afghanistan, the strength of the Taliban in the southern half of the country, primarily Kandahar province, has made the region a dangerous place. Members of the Taliban still instil fear in this part of the country with the use of "night letters" warning of reprisal and the release of DVD's showing the beheadings of Afghans who co-operate with NATO forces ....



*Afghanistan: Justice for War Criminals Essential to Peace*
Karzai Must Hold Officials Accountable for Past Crimes
Human Rights Watch news release, 12 Dec 06
News release link

President Hamid Karzai should immediately enforce a program to provide truth, reconciliation and accountability for war crimes and major human rights abuses over the past 30 years in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said today. The Afghan government should establish a special court to try those responsible, some of whom hold high office, as soon as possible, Human Rights Watch said.  The Afghan government approved the Action Plan on Peace, Reconciliation and Justice on December 12, 2005, but delayed implementing it in part because Kabul and its international backers feared that calling for justice would further weaken Afghanistan’s precarious security situation ....


----------



## GAP (12 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 12 December, 2006*


Canadian ambassador says Afghanistan peace plan is a 'key step'
BILL GRAVELAND  Canadian Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — In a country rife with human rights abuses, the Afghan government's adoption of a new action plan is an important step forward, said Canada's ambassador in the war-torn country.

"A task force will establish how to apply accountability mechanisms to bring those to justice who have committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and gross human rights violations," said Canadian ambassador David Sproule in a phone interview with The Canadian Press from Kabul.

While there is stability in the northern half of Afghanistan, the strength of the Taliban in the southern half of the country, primarily Kandahar province, has made the region a dangerous place. Members of the Taliban still instil fear in this part of the country with the use of "night letters" warning of reprisal and the release of DVD's showing the beheadings of Afghans who co-operate with NATO forces.

"It is a very key step the government has undertaken and reinforces a commitment to the universal values of human rights," said Mr. Sproule.
More on link

NATO CONTENT WITH PERFORMANCE OF BULGARIAN TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN  
13:56 Tue 12 Dec 2006
Article Link

NATO was satisfied with Bulgarian troops participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation in Afghanistan, commander of the combined forces in Afghanistan Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry told President Georgi Purvanov.

Eikenberry arrived in Bulgaria unexpectedly on December 11 2006 and already met Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev.

Purvanov and Eikenberry discussed the situation in Afghanistan and its stabilisation.

Purvanov said that he was worried by the increase in drug production and tension escalation in Afghanistan. Establishment of Afghan state system was among the key goals of NATO, he said.

Eikenberry said that NATO mission in Afghanistan was the most ambitious project of the alliance in the past decades.

The mission was a school for operative compatibility of NATO members' armies and would help the transformation and modernisation of the armies of each alliance member
More on  link

AFGHANISTAN: Action plan for justice launched
12 Dec 2006 07:25:35 GMT Source: IRIN
Article Link

 KABUL, 11 December (IRIN) - In an effort to bring justice to tens of thousands of victims of decades of civil war and internal strife in post-Taliban Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai launched a three-year action plan on Sunday.

The project, known as the "Action Plan on Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in Afghanistan" contains five key elements: acknowledgment of the suffering of the Afghan people; strengthening state institutions; finding out the truth about the country's bloody past; promoting reconciliation; and establishing a proper accountability mechanism. 

President Karzai believes rights are still not being respected in Afghanistan. "Regrettably, the rights of our innocent people are still being trampled on."

An estimated 1.5 million Afghans died and some 5 million forced to leave the country due to foreign invasion and civil war in Afghanistan since 1979, officials say.
More on link

'Terrorists' die in Afghanistan   
Article Link
  
Four suspected terrorists have been killed during a raid by Afghan and US-led troops in eastern Afghanistan, coalition forces said. 
A 13-year-old girl was also killed in the raid in Khost province early on Tuesday, a coalition statement said. 

However, another report says the dead men had opened fire because they thought the troops were thieves breaking into the house. 

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the fall of the Taleban in 2001. 


An eight-year-old girl was also wounded during the raid, the coalition said. 

The US-led coalition statement described the dead men as "suspected terrorists" who refused to comply with "verbal warnings" to surrender and fired upon the troops. 

The incident happened when the security forces raided a house at Darnami village and requested the people to surrender peacefully, the statement said. 
More on link



US-led coalition kills 12 rebels in Afghanistan  
Web posted at: 12/12/2006 3:28:4 Source ::: Agencies HERAT, Afghanistan 
Article Link

 US-led troops and warplanes attacked a Taleban hideout in western Afghanistan, killing at least nine rebel fighters including a regional commander, police said yesterday. 

Police also killed three Taleban fighters after the insurgents stormed their checkpost in the south of the volatile country, a police commander said. 

Coalition troops, acting on intelligence reports, launched the operation in the Balabuluk district of western Farah province Sunday night, provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb said. 

“We knew for a while that these Taleban had entered this district with an evil aim to sabotage the highway” linking the western city of Herat to the insurgency-hit southern province of Helmand, Saqeb said. 

Nine Taleban guerrillas were killed in fighting lasting for several hours, including Mullah Abdul Samad, a regional Taleban commander, he said. The 10,000-strong US-led coalition could not immediately provide details. 
More on link

Why Success in Afghanistan is Slow in Coming  
By Richard Weitz 12 Dec 2006  
Article Link

NATO's problems in Afghanistan dominated much of the discussion at its recent summit in Riga. During the past year, the Taliban has launched increasingly effective operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan. The fighting this year, the heaviest since 2001, has already killed over 3,000 people, including 150 foreign soldiers. At present, the Taliban insurgency may encompass as many as 10,000 combatants and an extensive civilian support base whose members provide supplies, shelter, and intelligence.

Although the 40,000-man Afghan National Army (ANA) has become more effective, its units still cannot defeat major Taliban attacks without direct Western assistance. At present, two groups provide this support. The first group—the 8,000 troops under the U.S. Combined Forces Command, which falls under exclusive American control—is mainly charged with conducting antiterrorism missions. The formal mission of the second—the 32,000 troops deployed under the NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which includes a large U.S. military contingent of 12,000 soldiers—is to help maintain security, support the development of national institutions, and assist with economic reconstruction. Other countries contributing large numbers of troops to ISAF include Britain (6,000 soldiers), Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, and France.
More on link

Harsh reality of dangers in Afghanistan 
By Ralph Barnett
Article Link

THE STARK reality of the daily dangers facing military personnel—and civilians—operating in the troubled Helmand province area of Afghanistan was brought home to me and the group of regional journalists I had travelled there with as we prepared to bid farewell to the country.

I had accepted an invitation to visit the country to see how the men of Arbroath-based 45 Commando were coping with their tour of duty in the area and, as we disembarked at Kandahar from the first military passenger flight into the city’s airport for several years, the omens were not good.

Only hours before, three members of 45 Commando were injured in a suicide bomb attack as they escorted a NATO convoy in Kandahar and, as our week travelling around Afghanistan went on, word trickled back to us of further bad news.

Due to the way these things are controlled, the outside world knew before we did about the tragic death of 45 Commando Marine Jonathan Wigley at Garmsir, although the military grapevine had informed us that coalition casualties had been suffered during a prolonged battle against un- expectedly strong Taliban resistance in the area
More on link

Taliban on consolidating position in Afghanistan, NWFP
Article Link
Islamabad, Dec.11 (ANI): The Taliban and its affiliates appears to be intent on consolidating its position in both Afghanistan and in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province by expanding the reach of its training modules and by fortifying alliances with the Al Qaeda and other foreign mercenary outfits.

A virtual Taliban mini-state is in the offing, says the New York Times, basing its premise on the fact that the terms of the September North Waziristan accord are being flouted wantonly .

The area is reportedly becoming a magnet for an influx of foreign fighters, who have not only challenged government authority in the area, but are even wresting control from local tribes and spreading their influence to neighboring areas.
More on link

Canada govt survival in play over Afghanistan
Mon Dec 11, 2006 
Article Link

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The opposition Bloc Quebecois party raised the possibility on Monday of trying to topple the minority Conservative government early next year over Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

The Bloc, the third largest party in Parliament, said it might try to get the House of Commons to declare non-confidence in the government unless it puts more emphasis on reconstruction in Afghanistan and less on security.

"Maybe if the government refuses to change its mind on that, it is possible that the Bloc will use a confidence motion against the government," Michel Gauthier, the Bloc's House leader, told reporters. 
More on link

Pakistan denies Jirga differences with Afghanistan Islamabad,
Dec 11, IRNA  Pakistan-Afghan Jirga 
Article Link

Pakistan said on Monday that it has no differences with neighbouring Afghanistan on the formation of proposed Jirga or council of elders, that will discuss ways to end violence in Afghanistan. 

The Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri in his last week visit to Kabul gave comprehensive proposals regarding formation of Jirga, Foreign Office Spokesperson Ms. Tasneem Aslam said in her weekly briefing in Islamabad. 

Pakistan understands that the Afghan side will be handing over its proposals today to our Ambassador in Kabul. 

To a question regarding the visit of the Foreign Minister to Afghanistan, Ms. Tasneem Aslam said he has discussed whole gamete of bilateral relations with his Afghan counterpart including overall relations, prisoners exchange, education scholarships and trade and other aspects of our ties. 

She said it was in the context of quarterly meetings agreed between the two Foreign Ministers and the next meeting will be held in the next quarter in Islamabad. 

She said that the Foreign Minister held detailed, candid and open discussions on all issues and talked about perceptions on both sides on various issues besides ways and means to bring down violence. 

Regarding President Hamid Karzai's speech on Afghan television that he can not stop infiltration from Pakistan, the spokesperson said terrorism is a problem in the region and due to Afghan problem Pakistan has also been suffering from this phenomenon since long time. 
More on link

2004 Afghanistan crash blamed on pilots
By Michelle Tan Staff writer
Article Link

“Inappropriate” decisions made by the flight crew of a Florida-based civilian contractor were the primary causes of a 2004 plane crash in Afghanistan that killed six people, including three soldiers, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The fatal flight, which crashed into the mountains of Bamian Valley on Nov. 27, 2004, was operated by Florida-based Presidential Airways. The company shares a parent company with Blackwater USA, a prominent military contractor that counts among its employees former military personnel.

Lt. Col. Michael McMahon, 41, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Travis Grogan, 31, died in the crash. Spc. Harley Miller, 21, survived the crash but died of his injuries before rescuers reached the crash site.

Also killed were the crew members, pilot Noel English, 37, first officer Loren Hammer, 35, and flight mechanic Melvin Rowe, 43.

English and Hammer had been in Afghanistan only two weeks
More on link

EU Urges Afghanistan And Pakistan To Cooperate On Border Controls
 December 11th 2006
Article Link


The European Union on Monday was expected to call on Afghanistan and Pakistan for tougher action to curb the cross-border infiltration of insurgents and urge Pakistan to prevent the Taliban from using its territory. 

A statement to be issued by EU foreign ministers was also set to press Afghanistan "to pursue substantive reform and bring about major improvements in governance, at both central and local levels." 

Urgent action was needed to improve security and curb drug production in the war-torn country, the statement said. 

More efforts must also be made in the areas of human rights, rule of law, governance, justice, anti-corruption and economic development, it added. 

The EU would continue to help Afghan leaders tackling these "serious challenges," ministers said, adding that the bloc was ready to help improve the rule of law in the country, including police and justice sector reform efforts. 
More on link

Killed for teaching in Afghanistan
Article Link

The Taliban have shot dead five family members in eastern Afghanistan.

Militants broke into a house where two teachers lived and killed them both along with their mother, grandmother and a male relative in the Narang district.

Provincial education director Gulam Ullah Wekar said the two sisters had been warned in a letter from the Taliban to quit teaching.

He claimed the letter warned them it was against Islam for them to teach.

The teachers' relative Dr Ghaleb Massoud said: "They were killed only because they were school teachers and were teaching the children. Whoever killed them, the opposition (Taliban) or any one else, killed them because they were teachers."

The attack brings the number of educators killed in attacks this year to 20.

The Taliban opposes non-religious education and any education for females.
More on link

Latest news from Afghanistan is also troubling
McClatchy-Tribune News Service Dec. 11, 2006
Article Link

The following editorial appeared in the Dallas Morning News on Friday, Dec. 8:

Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan has been "the good war," a conflict that was and is a just one by any rational standard. And yet, as the American public remains preoccupied with Iraq, the U.S. also is allowing Afghanistan to slip through its fingers.

A new report by the State Department and Pentagon inspector general says the $1.1 billion and countless training hours our government has invested to build up and train the Afghan police has accomplished precious little.

Recruits are largely illiterate, ill paid and corrupt - and not only are they mediocre, but there are too few of them to effectively battle Taliban insurgents. DynCorp, the private company responsible for the training, can't account for the whereabouts of many trainees or their equipment.

The lack of credible, effective internal security helps explain the Taliban's comeback. Fighting this year between the Taliban and U.S. and NATO forces has been the worst since the 2001 ouster of the Islamic extremist government. Villagers and rural peasants say they're sick of the Taliban, but they're also sick of NATO soldiers and NATO bombs, sick of criminal gangs preying on them and sick of corrupt officials from the Karzai government helping themselves instead of helping the people.
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (12 Dec 2006)

Like no other war: Soldiers adjust to the grim reality of Afghanistan
_Ottawa Sun_, DOUG BEAZLEY, Dec. 12
http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/12/12/2753233-sun.html



> KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Some day, Warrant Officer Daniel Parenteau, 38, is going to have stories to tell his kids that'll curl their hair. But they'll have to wait until they're older.
> 
> The army has taken Parenteau all over the planet, from Somalia to Bosnia to Croatia. But he's never seen anything like Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



'We're here for the people'
_Calgary Sun_, DOUG BEAZLEY, Dec. 12
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2006/12/12/2752999-sun.html



> KANDAHAR -- In the past few weeks, Cpl. Phil Howie's job has gotten a lot more complicated.
> 
> He's with Force Protection, which is army talk for "riding point." When the supply convoys go out to advance posts and stations such as Kandahar City, he's the one driving the lead vehicle, keeping an eye out for the dead-eyed men in the Toyota Corollas looking for a fast route to martyrdom.
> 
> ...



One War We Can Still Win
_NY Times_, Dec. 13, by ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/opinion/13cordesman.1.html



> NO one can return from visiting the front in Afghanistan without realizing there is a very real risk that the United States and NATO will lose their war with Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the other Islamist movements fighting the Afghan government...
> 
> Indeed, a great many unhappy trends have picked up speed lately: United States intelligence experts in Afghanistan report that suicide attacks rose from 18 in the first 11 months of 2005 to 116 in the first 11 months of 2006. Direct fire attacks went up from 1,347 to 3,824 during the same period, improvised explosive devices from 530 to 1,297 and other attacks from 269 to 479. The number of attacks on Afghan forces increased from 713 to 2,892, attacks on coalition forces from 919 to 2,496 and attacks on Afghan government officials are 2.5 times what they were...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (12 Dec 2006)

*Harper slams Bloc threat to bring down government over Afghan mission*
Alexander Panetta, Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is accusing the Bloc Quebecois of using the country's soldiers as political pawns in the debate over Canada's role in Afghanistan.  Harper said the Bloc's threat to introduce a non-confidence motion sometime in the new year over his handling of the Afghan mission is careless and hypocritical.  "Our soldiers in Afghanistan . . . are participating in the economic development of the country and they are providing humanitarian assistance, but the situation is very dangerous," Harper told the House of Commons on Tuesday.  "The only problem here is the political opportunism of the leader of the Bloc Quebecois . . . He's just playing political games on the backs of our soldiers." 



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*CANADA, AFGHANISTAN AND THE BLAME GAME*
Sean Maloney, Policy Options, Dec 06-Jan 07
Article Link (.pdf)

While Canadian troops are deployed in Afghanistan’s dangerous province of Kandahar, the re-defined nature of the mission — from patrolling the capital to taking it to the Taliban in the wild south — has left Canadians deeply dvided about the mission. Royal Military College historian Sean Maloney, who has been on the ground four times in Afghanistan since 2003, points out that Canada is engaged in war, not peacekeeping, against an unrelenting foe and rigid ideology — radical Islamism. “The al-Qaeda movement’s belief system, its ideology,” he writes, “is in no way compatible with ours.  We cannot negotiate with it. We have to keep it as far away as possible and aggressively challenge it. That is what we are doing in Afghanistan.”....



*AFGHANISTAN, FAMOUSLY INHOSPITABLE TO FOREIGNERS*
Desmond Morton, Policy Options, Dec 06-Jan 07
Article Link (.pdf)

Afghanistan has historically been an unfriendly country to foreigners, from the British in one century, to the Soviets in the next. Now, in the 21st century, Canada is part of a dangerous NATO mission in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, home of the Taliban. As the Taliban insurgency intensified over the summer of 2006, Canadian casualties mounted. McGill University’s Desmond Morton, one of Canada’s most distinguished historians, looks back at the history of foreign occupations in Afghanistan and finds them rather ominous portents for the UN approved NATO mission ....



*NATO’S CHOICE IN AFGHANISTAN:  GO BIG OR GO HOME*
Roland Paris, Policy Options, Dec 06-Jan 07
Article Link (.pdf)

Recent trends in Afghanistan are discouraging. The neo-Taliban insurgency is growing in size and sophistication, and ordinary Afghans are becoming disaffected with their government’s inability to provide security and basic public services. If these trends continue, NATO’s efforts to stabilize the country will fail. A new strategy is needed to reverse the slow slide. First, additional NATO troops are required to provide security for reconstruction. Second, efforts to build an Afghan army should be accelerated and expanded. Third, the problem of corruption in the Afghan government, especially in the police, needs to be tackled. Fourth, Afghan and international officials should stop destroying opium crops, a policy that plays into the
hands of the insurgents. Fifth, more reconstruction aid is needed. Sixth, the flow of insurgent fighters from Pakistan must be contained. If NATO is unwilling to commit the necessary resources for the mission to succeed, the alliance should withdraw ....



*PAKISTAN:  PROBLEM OR PARTNER IN AFGHANISTAN*
Hugh Segal, Policy Options, Dec 06-Jan 07
Article Link (.pdf)

Any discussion about containing the Taliban insurgency in Kandahar province inevitably leads to a debate on Pakistan, and the safe haven it provides for terrorists, presumably including Osama bin Laden himself. Reinforcements for al-Qaeda and the Taliban are trained in Pakistan, where Islamist religious schools are a breeding ground for terror. Is the government of Pervez Musharraf a real, or simply a nominal, ally in the war on terror? Does Pakistan have its own interests in play in Afghanistan? Is Pakistan a problem or a partner, or both, in the nation-building effort across the porous border in Afghanistan? Former IRPP president Hugh Segal, now chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, confronts these complex questions ....



*AFGHANISTAN COMES HOME*
Jeremy Kinsman, Policy Options, Dec 06-Jan 07
Article Link (.pdf)

While the Taliban insurgency has made the United Nations mission in Afghanistan a difficult one, “the big picture goals for Afghanistan remain as valid as ever” to the international community, writes one of Canada’s most experienced top diplomats. “The picture today reveals major points of success,” writes Jeremy Kinsman. “Elections produced a parliament that is a force for democracy. A quarter
of its seats were won by women. Schools have re-opened for 5 million boys and girls. The economy has grown at an average of 17 percent per year since 2002, not counting the lucrative poppy trade. Refugees have returned from around the world, including vitally needed professionals.” Still, the Taliban insurgency, supported by some local warlords, has intensified, and the security situation in several provinces has worsened. The challenge is to provide security and a better way of life, so that Afghans themselves will be invested in the success of the international presence there ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (13 Dec 2006)

*NATO: Canadian troops accidentally kill Afghan civilian in Kandahar City *  
Canadian Press, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

An Afghan citizen was accidentally killed Tuesday by Canadian troops in Kandahar City.  NATO says a motorcyclist travelling at a high speed approached a security cordon near where Afghan President Hamid Karzai was meeting with senior Canadian officials, including Canadian ambassador David Sproule. The motorcyclist refused to stop despite verbal warnings. Troops fired a warning shot into the ground, which ricocheted and hit the man.  Afghan National Police officers were on the scene immediately to transport the casualty to the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.  NATO said the loss of life was regrettable and it wasn't known why the motorcyclist refused to stop.  A full investigation is underway. 


*Civilian motorist killed by NATO troops in Afghanistan*
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

NATO troops shot and killed a motorcyclist traveling at a high speed as his vehicle approached a security cordon in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Wednesday.  Troops in Kandahar city gave the motorcyclist verbal warnings to stop Tuesday but he didn't, NATO said in a statement.  NATO "forces fired a warning shot in a safe direction, which ricocheted and hit the civilian," the statement said. The civilian was pronounced dead at a hospital ....


*Canadian soldier to be questioned after Afghan killed*
Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service, 12 Dec 06
Article Link

A motorcyclist killed here Tuesday by a Canadian soldier had veered too close to the site of a security conference chaired by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.  Travelling at what a military spokesman called "a high rate of speed," the motorcyclist careened through a security cordon established near the Governor of Kandahar's official palace in downtown Kandahar city, where the security meeting was being held. The incident took place just after noon.  According to Canadian Lt.-Cmdr Kris Phillips, the motorcyclist continued another 100 metres towards a second, inner cordon, moving closer to the palace.  A Canadian soldier providing security outside the palace fired a single "warning shot" in the direction of the speeding motorcyclist, said Phillips. The bullet hit the pavement, ricocheted, and struck the driver, who was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.  There were no other casualties ....



*His Excellency M. Ehsan Zia thanks the people of Canada for their support in Afghanistan during a trip to North America*
Government of Afghanistan, via Reliefweb.int, 10 Dec 06
Article Link
_(NOTE:  Zia is the Afghan Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development)_

Over the past 10 days I have had the privilege of traveling across this great nation in order to thank Canadians for their security and development contributions to lasting peace and democracy in Afghanistan. I have met with academics, government officials, students, business leaders and other Canadians, to explain the difference Canada is making, specifically to my Ministry, through which most Canadian development assistance is directed ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*PM slams Bloc threat*
Duceppe reiterates support for Afghan mission, disputes Tories’ handling of file
Alexander Panetta, Canadian Press, via Halifax Chronicle Herald, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is accusing the Bloc Quebecois of using the country’s soldiers as political pawns in the debate over Canada’s role in Afghanistan.  Harper said the Bloc’s threat to introduce a non-confidence motion sometime in the new year over his handling of the Afghan mission is careless and hypocritical.  "Our soldiers in Afghanistan . . . are participating in the economic development of the country and they are providing humanitarian assistance, but the situation is very dangerous," Harper told the House of Commons on Tuesday.  "The only problem here is the political opportunism of the leader of the Bloc Quebecois. . . . He’s just playing political games on the backs of our soldiers."  Duceppe retorted that he continues to support Canadian troops being in Afghanistan — but that he’s challenging Harper’s leadership on the file. He said the government is too obsessed with fighting terrorists and not enough on rebuilding Afghanistan ....



*Letter:  Betrayal of our allies and troops*
Brian LeBlanc, Toronto Star, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

....  The Bloc and NDP position that diplomacy and negotiation alone will bring about peace is shockingly naive. Threatening to topple the government for maintaining military pressure in the midst of combat operations against these beasts is a disgusting betrayal of our allies, our troops and our fallen.



*Taliban commander among 12 killed in Afghan battles - police *  
AFX News Service, 11 Dec 06
Article Link

US-led troops and warplanes attacked a Taliban hideout in western Afghanistan, killing at least nine rebel fighters including a regional commander, police said.  Police also killed three Taliban fighters after the insurgents stormed their checkpost in the south of the volatile country, a police commander said.  Coalition troops, acting on intelligence reports, launched the operation in the Balabuluk district of western Farah province Sunday night, provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb said.  "We knew for a while that these Taliban had entered this district with an evil aim to sabotage the highway," linking the western city of Herat to the insurgency-hit southern province of Helmand, Saqeb told AFP.  Nine Taliban guerrillas were killed in fighting lasting for several hours, including Mullah Abdul Samad, a regional Taliban commander,he said ....



*Suicide Bomber Kills 6 In Afghanistan*
Associated Press, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the governor's compound in southern Helmand province on Tuesday, killing eight people, including two civilians, officials said.  Gov. Mohammed Daud was not at his office at the time of the blast, which also damaged two vehicles parked inside the compound in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, said his spokesman, Ghulam Muhiddin. The bomber was on foot.  Six policemen and two civilian men were killed and eight police were wounded, said Ahmadullah Khan, a doctor at Lashkar Gah's hospital.  A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the blast in a phone call to The Associated Press. He said the bomber was an Afghan by the name of Mullah Famiullah ....


----------



## MarkOttawa (13 Dec 2006)

Here comes trouble!
DOUG BEAZLEY, SUN MEDIA, Dec. 13
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/12/13/2770331-sun.html



> In the Force Protection unit at Kandahar Airfield, Sgt. Abdoul Guindo has an unrivalled reputation as a little one-man island of bad karma.
> 
> He's been here since August, leading convoys to and from the far-flung coalition outposts dotting the landscape around Kandahar City. He's been bombed, strafed and mortared at least 12 times ... maybe more. He lost count a couple of weeks ago.
> 
> ...



Keeping the faith
DOUG BEAZLEY, SUN MEDIA, Dec. 13
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/12/13/2770332-sun.html



> l. Ayman Abedi carries three levels of protection into battle: his body armour, a glass pendant his anxious Muslim mom in Toronto sent him to ward off the "evil eye," and a St. Christopher's medal.
> 
> When you're fighting a war in a region with multiple gods, it pays to cover the bases.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (13 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 13 December 2006*

*Forget the fighting - drop the puck! * 
By DOUG BEAZLEY
[
url=http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/12/13/pf-2770333.html]Article Link[/url]

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Someone slaps a stick on the concrete, the ball shoots off the boards and lands in the goalie's glove. The players assemble. 

They've got the rink, the equipment and the will to win. All they need is ice, a beer concession - and maybe a visit from Don Cherry. 

It's Hockey Night in Kandahar. Don't these people know there's a war on? 

Credit the Engineering Support Unit out of Petawawa for bringing a vital piece of Canadiana to the middle of the Central Asian desert. 

"We built this back in September, October," said ESU Sgt. Joel Sawler. 

"We were using the concrete pad over at the American gym, but you can't get a real game going without the boards." 

The Canadians at Kandahar started with a 13-team league back in September. 

One team was dropped from competition for unnecessary roughness, believe it or not. 

There are just two American teams. They're tied for last place. 
]Article Link

More on link
Germany sends 100 more armored vehicles to troops in Afghanistan 
December 13, 2006       
Article Link  

The German Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that it will send 100 more Dingo armored vehicles to its troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. 

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the delivery of new military equipment was aimed at dealing with the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. 

The 4.4-ton Dingo with space for seven people was similar to the U.S.-made Humvee. Previously, Berlin had planned to send 33 Dingo vehicles to German troops. 

Germany had about 2,800 solders serving among the 32,000-strong ISAF troops in Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Pakistan, Afghanistan ‘can jointly knock out polio’: minister  
By our correspondent
Article Link

LANDI KOTAL: Federal Minister for Health Naseer Mohammad Khan said on Tuesday that due to tiring efforts of the health department and the World Health Organisation, the cases of polio in Afghanistan and Pakistan have dropped to 23 from 40,000 before the aggressive vaccination campaign against the incurable disease.

He was talking to tribal elders on the occasion of his brief tour to Torkham to inaugurate a polio vaccination centre. He said polio was a great challenge to Pakistan and Afghanistan against which both the neighbouring countries would strive collectively to eradicate it from the region completely.

The minister said for complete eradication of polio from the region, the federal government has decided to open polio vaccination centres along the Pak-Afghan border right from Chitral to South Waziristan Agency.

The first centre of the series was opened in Torkhum Tuesday, where four teams consisting of eight technicians would deliver services round the clock. He said in Khyber tribal agency at least 0.2 million children have been vaccinated against polio so far.

Regarding Pak-Afghan ties, the federal minister said that during the 30-year long war in Afghanistan, the Pakistani people treated the three million Afghan refugees as brothers. He said peace in Afghanistan was actually in the interest of Pakistan.
More on link

Foreign Minister received new ambassadors of Russia, Italy, Afghanistan  
Article Link 

ASTANA. Kassymzhomart Tokayev, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, received newly assigned ambassadors of Russia, Italy, Afghanistan Mikhail Bocharnikov, Bruno Pasquino, and Aziz Arianfar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan has informed Kazakhstan Today. 

The FM congratulated the ambassadors on their assignments and discussed the bilateral relationships with them. 

Mr. Tokayev discussed the fuel and energy co-operation and mutual space activities with the Russian ambassador. They also regarded interaction between Kazakhstan and Russia in the integrating processes in the CIS and international organisations. 

Development of closer mutually beneficial co-operation in energy, agriculture, industry, high technologies, and services was discussed in a conversation with the Italian ambassador. 

Intensification of the bilateral co-operation was addressed at a meeting with the Afghan ambassador. 
More on link

]Article Link

More on link

Taliban kill marine in Afghanistan
Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:14 PM GMT
Article Link

LONDON (Reuters) - Taliban forces killed a British Royal Marine in fighting in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence said.

It said the marines were patrolling in a district in the southern province of Helmand, when they came under attack. The marine died from small arms fire. The death brings to 43 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since the war to oust the Taliban in 2001.
More on link

Western Balkans, Black Sea, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Africa are Priorities for Reconnaissance   13 December 2006 | 09:27 | FOCUS News Agency 
Article Link
  
Sofia. “The priorities of Military Information Service are the regions of Western Balkans, Black Sea, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Africa”, General Plamen Studenkov, director of Military Information Service at the Defense Ministry announced in an exclusive interview for FOCUS Agency and Trud daily.
“These regions were not chosen by accident – there are Bulgarian military contingents there, there are NATO and EU forces, joint interests of our country and its alliaes”, General Studenkov pointed out. 
He added that the priority of the service come from the state policy in the sphere of security and defense and the engagements to our NATO allies. As a chief task he defined the fight against the international terrorism and the other asymmetric threats. 
“This is not just an espionage game but really risky operations against higly motivated, armed and fanatic opponents”, he added 
More on link

Afghanistan Must Prosecute War Crimes, Human Rights Watch Says  
By Ed Johnson
Article Link

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai must set up a court to prosecute war crimes and human rights abuses carried out during almost 30 years of conflict in the south Asian nation, Human Rights Watch said. 

Failure to act against warlords and drug traffickers is undermining support for the government as it tackles a Taliban- led insurgency, the New York-based group said in a report. 

``Justice is vital for long-term stability,'' Human Rights Watch said. ``Afghans need to know the government can tackle the warlords and provide basic security, despite Taliban claims to the contrary.'' 

Afghanistan, a country of 31 million people, has experienced almost 30 years of conflict since the Soviet invasion in 1979. Supporters of the ousted Taliban regime are waging a guerrilla war against international and Afghan troops and are trying to destabilize Karzai's government.
More on link

Karzai says Pakistan wants to enslave Afghanistan   
Article Link
 Kandahar, Dec 13: Afghanistan`s President today accused the Pakistani government of trying to turn his countrymen into "slaves", in his strongest words yet blaming Islamabad for a wave of violence. 

Hamid Karzai said he was the only person able to prevent Afghans angered by an insurgency which has claimed nearly 4,000 lives this year from "coming after" Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. 

Pakistan hit back by saying the roots of the problem were in Afghanistan and that Islamabad was doing all it could to counter militancy, but stopped short of an outright rebuttal. 

"Pakistan still hasn`t given up the hope of making us slaves. But they cannot," Karzai said in a speech at a boys` high school in the southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban. 

"This tyranny against our people is not by the nation of Pakistan, it is by the government of Pakistan," he added to cheers from a crowd of around 500 students, teachers and local dignitaries. 
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (13 Dec 2006)

*Canadian soldier to be questioned after Afghan killed  *  
Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

A motorcyclist was killed here Tuesday by a Canadian soldier after veering too close to the site of a security conference chaired by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and attended by senior Canadian officials.  Travelling at what a military spokesman called "a high rate of speed," the motorcyclist careened through a security cordon established near the Governor of Kandahar's official palace in downtown Kandahar city, where the security meeting was being held.  CanWest News Service has learned David Sproule, Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, and *Kevin Lynch, clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the cabinet, were in attendance.*  According to Canadian Lt.-Cmdr Kris Phillips, the motorcyclist continued another 100 metres towards a second inner cordon, moving closer to the palace.  A Canadian soldier providing security outside the palace fired a single "warning shot" in the direction of the speeding motorcyclist, said Phillips. The bullet hit the pavement, ricocheted, and struck the driver _ who was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.  It is not known if the motorcyclist was attempting to launch a suicide attack, nor is it known if any weapons were found on his body ....



*Convoys a gamble for Canadian troops in Afghanistan*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via Canoe.ca, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

In a country where everything is in short supply, the cargo carried by Canadian convoys is worth its weight in gold.  "If the guys out at the front lines don't have the gear, they can't do their job, right?" says Master Cpl. Rich McLeod. "If they don't have their ammo, they don't have their food, they can't do what they gotta do."   McLeod, 35, who was born in Germany but grew up in Edmonton, is crew commander in a Bison -an armoured personnel carrier that accompanies the convoys - and is involved in loading the trucks and getting the supplies out to the forward operating posts. He is the CSS (Combat Service Support) commander on each convoy.   The soldiers, truckers and force protection personnel accompanying these convoys are every bit as much in the line of fire as troops battling the Taliban on the front line ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*2,000 killed in Afghanistan since Sept. *  
Jason Straziuso, Associated Press, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

Almost 2,100 militants have been killed in Afghanistan since Sept. 1 in operations involving coalition special forces soldiers, a U.S. Army spokesman said.  That means more than half of the country's insurgency-related deaths this year have come in the last three months.  About 900 of the 2,077 deaths came during Operation Medusa, a major offensive in September in the southern province of Kandahar. Special forces soldiers worked alongside conventional forces from Canada during the fight.  The two primary missions for the U.S. special forces soldiers in Afghanistan are conducting counterterrorism operations and supporting NATO troops, Master Sgt. Clifford Richardson said in an interview this week at Bagram, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan ....



*Too few British troops with too little equipment in Iraq, Afghanistan: report*
Agence France Presse, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

There are too few British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they do not have all the equipment they need, increasing the risk they may fail in their missions there, a parliamentary committee report due out Wednesday will warn, The Guardian said.  The House of Commons defence committee will also question the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) claims that it is achieving its objectives in both countries.  "Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are at vital stages and success in either operation is not assured ... the current level of deployments poses a significant risk to the MoD achieving success in its military objectives," the report reads, according to The Guardian.  The report adds that British troops there are "operating in challenging conditions in insufficient numbers and without all the equipment they need." ....



*Pakistan proposes four-point formula for peace in Afghanistan*
Daily Times (PAK), 14 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistan proposed a four-point formula on Wednesday for political reconciliation in Afghanistan, responding to Norway’s initiative to bring peace and stability in the war-torn country.  Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, briefed visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store on the steps Pakistan had taken to bring peace in Afghanistan, and proposed the four-point formula to settle the issue.  The formula proposed that Karzai broaden his base instead of confining his government to Kabul, all Pashtuns not be considered Taliban, dialogue be held with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar if not with Mulla Omer, and eight countries – Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, the US and Russia – be involved in dialogue to reach a peaceful solution to problems in Afghanistan.  Mushahid told the Norwegian foreign minister that Washington, London and Kabul were pursuing “wrong” policies in Afghanistan, and Pakistan should not be blamed for the situation there. He said the Afghan government should stop blaming Pakistan for the unrest, and called for dialogue to resolve the issue ....


*Pakistani FM: Pakistan Will Do Whatever it Takes to Stabilize Afghanistan *  
Voice of America, 13 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri says Pakistan will do whatever it takes to bring stability in Afghanistan.  Kasuri was responding to a question about fresh accusations by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Pakistan's government is directly supporting Taleban insurgents in Afghanistan. Pakistan has repeatedly denied the charge.  Mr. Karzai spoke Tuesday during a rare visit to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a former Taleban stronghold. He was there for talks with NATO commanders on avoiding Afghan civilian casualties during military operations.  He said Afghanistan's problem is not with the Taleban, but with Pakistan. Mr. Karzai accused Pakistani "state elements" of creating and sustaining the Taleban movement ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (14 Dec 2006)

- edited 130936EST Dec 06 to add Air Force piece - 

*Victim was visiting Afghan leader*
Elderly man shot by Canadian taught Karzai in grade school  
Brian Hutchinson, Ottawa Citizen, 14 Dec 06
Article Link - Permalink

An elderly motorcyclist killed by a Canadian soldier was a beloved local celebrity with close personal ties to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.  Believed to be at least 90 years of age - making him one of Afghanistan's oldest citizens - Abdul Rahman was the president's former primary school teacher.  He was the oldest member of Kandahar's provincial assembly and a noted political scientist.  Rahman enjoyed paying the president impromptu visits, according to his brother-in-law, who spoke to CanWest News Service outside a crowded mosque where the dead man was being mourned yesterday.  Rahman was famous for riding around Kandahar city on his battered motorcycle, despite his advanced age.  He was apparently trying to drop in, unannounced, as Karzai directed a summit on security issues at the governor's palace when he was shot Tuesday afternoon ....



*Keeping the faith*
Canadian Muslim soldier helps comrades adjust  
Doug Beazley, Sun Media, 14 Dec 06
Article Link

Cpl. Ayman Abedi carries three levels of protection into battle: his body armour, a glass pendant his anxious Muslim mom in Toronto sent him to ward off the "evil eye," and a St. Christopher's medal.  When you're fighting a war in a region with multiple gods, it pays to cover the bases.  "Don't tell my parents, but I'm not really praying every day," he said, buckling on his vest and harness before climbing into his armoured vehicle for another dangerous convoy run to Kandahar City.  "I pray before I leave the wire. Just silently, to myself. I'm not really observant, but I don't leave camp without a prayer." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Canadian Air Force officer returns from helping Afghans rebuild*
Mike Cope & Kristina Davis, Canadian Air Force News, Dec 2006
Article Link

"We are there solely to help the people of Afghanistan develop the capability to do it on their own."  This plain and simple statement sums up the recent visit to Afghanistan by Major Heather DeChamplain as part of Operation Argus. Since September 2005 the Canadian Forces has, on a bi-lateral basis, provided a small team of strategic military planners to support Afghanistan in its efforts to rebuild.  Maj DeChamplain, an Aerospace Engineer (AERE) currently assigned to the Chief of the Air Staff at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, recently visit the country and described her experiences during a recent address to the Defence Women's Advisory Organization last month.  "As a woman I truly wondered how I would be accepted – would I be listened to and respected. Amazingly, there were no problems with any of the people I worked with – I felt truly welcomed and my help was constantly sought."  Just over a year ago the Maj DeChamplain and the rest of the team (known as Canadian Strategic Advisory Team – Afghanistan (CSAT-A) deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan under the direction of General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, and at the request of President Hamid Karzai.  Originally consisting of 13 and now 15 military members, one civilian defence analyst and an employee of the Canadian International Development Agency, the team is tasked to bring two main areas of expertise to the Government of Afghanistan: strategic planning and capacity building ....



*Soldier's public service hides private pain*
Christie Blatchford, Globe & Mail, 14 Dec 06 
Article Link

Corporal Sean Patton grinned his beautiful, bitter grin yesterday and said, "Small world, isn't it?"  On this, his last full day of work at the Kandahar Air Field, the intense 30-year-old was reflecting upon the ironies peculiar and personal to his Afghanistan tour.  A reservist with the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment -- the famous Hasty Ps -- Cpl. Patton arrived in the country that produces the majority of the planet's opium on June 17 and by July 24 was back in Canada on compassionate leave for his heroin-addicted brother's funeral.  Forty-year-old James Patton -- who served briefly in the Canadian Forces and thrived, but for whom "the army wasn't enough," as Cpl. Patton said -- hanged himself in his garage in Smith's Falls in Eastern Ontario after years of using the processed product of what in this country is simply called "poppy." Afghanistan produces more than 90 per cent of the world's opium, which is why Cpl. Patton is likely quite right when he says the drug that dominated much of his brother's life probably got its start in these fields, which come spring are bursting with poppies ....



*Polish Military intelligence ready for Afghanistan mission *  
Xinhua, via Chinaview.cn, 14 Dec 06
Article Link

Polish military intelligence and counter- intelligence services are almost ready for Poland's forthcoming Afghanistan mission with only a few minor details to wind up, Polish military counter-intelligence head Antoni Macierewicz said Wednesday.  Both services are nearly ready for Afghanistan, the only remaining task being to ensure information flow in parts of the country where Polish troops will be stationed, Macierewicz was cited by the PAP news agency as saying.  He added that the operation was a major challenge for the services, both of which were formed only recently.  This is a difficult moment as both services are still in their organization phase, and simultaneously must get ready for one of the biggest operations in years, Macierewicz said ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (14 Dec 2006)

*Maclean's reveals the newsmakers of 2006 *
The Canadian soldier as newsmaker of the year, as well as highlights from the year that was - the winners, losers, deal-makers, home wreckers, heroes and rats of 2006. In the issue hitting newsstands starting today.
Maclean's news release, 14 Dec 06
Article Link

Every day for the past year, Canadian soldiers have been on the front lines of Afghanistan, bearing the brunt of Canada's war on terror, with courage and anonymity, no less. Right now, dozens of allied countries have troops operating in the former Taliban stronghold, but in 2006, none did more heavy lifting - or endured heavier losses - than Canada.  Consider this: between 2002 and 2005, eight Canadian soldiers flew home
in silver, flag-draped caskets. This year alone, the number is 36 and counting. The enemy is dying, too. Hundreds of them. "There was a time, even after 9/11, when the Canadian Forces were afraid to admit that their troops might actually shoot people. Not anymore," Maclean's senior writer Michael Friscolanti reports. Over the past 12 months, Canadians have endured bouts of terrifying combat not seen by this country in two generations.  "The mission has its detractors - the latest public opinion poll says 61 per cent of Canadians oppose sending soldiers to Afghanistan - but the grunts themselves have never been more popular," writes Friscolanti.  Every person in uniform, from sniper to recruiter to medic, will tell you the same thing: I can't walk into a Tim Hortons without somebody saying thanks. Indeed, 2006 belonged to the Canadian soldier ....



*Canada's PM rejects call to change Afghan mission*
Reuters (UK), 14 Dec 06
Article Link

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday rejected calls from an opposition party to change the focus of the country's mission in Afghanistan, a move that could increase the chances of an early election.  An opposition party, the Bloc Quebecois, has threatened to introduce a motion of nonconfidence in the minority Conservative government early next year unless the government ensures Canada's 2,500 troops in the war-torn country focus more on rebuilding and less on combat.  "I don't plan to call an election on Afghanistan. I certainly don't plan, once we've sent troops into a dangerous area ... (to) call into question what they're doing," Harper told a news conference .... "We've made a commitment to our allies, our troops are working hard, they're in a dangerous situation -- our government's not going to stand back here and play political games ... we have a moral obligation to stand behind these people," Harper said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*NATO attacks command post in Panjwaii district*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via CTV.ca, 14 Dec 06
Article Link

A number of Taliban rebels, including at least one commander, were believed killed in a late-night NATO air strike on a rebel stronghold in the Panjwaii district, NATO officials said Thursday.  The attack Wednesday evening targeted a known Taliban command post at Siah Choy, an isolated area of Panjwaii about 80 kilometres west of Kandahar City.  The district is one of the few remaining Taliban strongholds, and it's where Canadian troops have been battling for the past several months.  "We're not going to get into a discussion of numbers, but there were a number of Taliban commandos involved and we are pretty confident the target was completely destroyed," said Squadron Leader Jason Chalk ....



*Honours for southern Afghan troops*
Daily Mail (UK), 15 Dec 06
Article Link

The intensity of fighting in southern Afghanistan is graphically illustrated in the latest list of honours for Britain's armed forces.  Of more than 130 Army, Navy and Air Force personnel honoured, almost 80 are for service in Afghanistan.  The last such list contained only a handful for the country.  Fighting in Helmand Province this year has been described as some of the most intense combat since the Korean War for British forces.  The list includes the first posthumous Victoria Cross for a quarter of a century.  It was announced on Thursday that Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was to receive the country's highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy.  Cpl Budd died after single-handedly rushing a Taliban position in southern Afghanistan under heavy gunfire in August.  


*Highest honours for Afghan heroes*
SHÂN ROSS, The Scotsman, 15 Dec 06
Article Link

A SCOTTISH soldier killed in Afghanistan trying to save the life of a wounded comrade injured in a mine explosion is to be posthumously awarded the George Cross for bravery.  Corporal Mark Wright, 27, from Edinburgh, who served in the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, was killed on 6 September when a routine patrol encountered an unmarked minefield in the region of Kajaki in Helmand province.  The announcement yesterday came as it was also revealed Corporal Bryan Budd, 29, from Ripon, North Yorkshire, also of the Parachute Regiment, was to be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, Britain's highest gallantry medal.  Cpl Budd's award was for two separate acts of bravery in Helmand province. On 27 July, while his section was on patrol, they became caught up in a fight with two enemy gunmen on the roof of a building. Cpl Budd led an assault into the heart of the gunfire, allowing a wounded colleague to be evacuated for life-saving treatment.  On 20 August, his section was again caught up in heavy fighting, with fierce gunfire pinning them down and injuring two of his comrades. It was then Cpl Budd rushed the Taleban position, firing continuously, inspiring the rest of his platoon to push forward to safety.  Cpl Budd's body was later found surrounded by those of three Taleban fighters. It will be the first time a posthumous Victoria Cross has been awarded since the Falklands conflict, nearly 25 years ago ....


----------



## GAP (15 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 15 December 2006*


NATO troops begin major operation in Afghan south
Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:24am ET
Article Link

It is the first time such a large British-led force has been dispatched from Helmand to Kandahar, the Taliban heartland where several Canadian soldiers have been killed in some of the fiercest fighting of the year.

The NATO troops pushed into in southern Afghanistan this year as part of their takeover of security for the country from a U.S.-led coalition. NATO has about 32,000 soldiers in its mission and the U.S. about another 8,000 under a separate command.

The British Marines seemed excited by their mission.

"All right, let's party," said Marine Taff Blower as members of Lima Company, 42 Commando, set out in their Viking armored personnel carriers overnight. 
More on link

EU leaders agree to intensify support to Afghanistan
The Associated PressPublished: December 15, 2006
Article Link

BRUSSELS, Belgium: European Union leaders on Friday committed to stepping up support for Afghanistan but urged President Hamid Karzai's government to speed up the reforms needed to bring law and order to the country.

EU leaders said they were open to the possibility of sending a European police mission to Afghanistan to help expand the rule of law and train the local police and judiciary.

"The EU stands ready to intensify its efforts," said a draft statement drawn up at an EU summit.

The EU is awaiting a report from a fact-finding mission that returned from Kabul on Wednesday before making any decision on the scale and scope of an EU police mission.

The bloc has been under pressure from NATO commanders to take on an increased civilian role, helping law enforcement in Afghanistan to back the 32,000-strong allied military mission that moved into the volatile southern and eastern parts of the country in recent months
More on link

Step up aid to Afghanistan
The goal: Stop the resurgent Taliban
December 15, 2006
Article Link

In Afghanistan, the United States and its NATO allies are in danger of losing their fight against a resurgent Taliban and an emboldened al-Qaida. Unless NATO makes a serious commitment to building up its combat forces, delivers much more aid and reconstruction money and comes to an accommodation with powerful drug lords, Kabul's fragile democracy will fail. 

Then Afghanistan could once again come under the control of an extremist Islamic theocracy, which would again provide haven for global terrorism. That must not be allowed to happen.
More on link


REBUILDING AFGHANISTAN: THE DIASPORA’S DEBT OF SERVICE
DEC 15, 2006 - 1:54AM PDT Posted by M. Ashraf Haidari 
Article Link

Do we Afghans ever think about our debt of service to Afghanistan and actually doing something about it? I think we hardly do so. But let us begin with the basic fact that the land we call home is diversely populated, geographically landlocked, politically and economically least developed, and unfortunately located in a predatory neighborhood where at least one of our neighbors sees its raison d'être partly dependent on instability in Afghanistan. Meantime, we understand that other state and non-state actors -- such as extremists, terrorists, and drug-traffickers -- have exploited our country's vulnerabilities to their advantage, and they will continue to do so alone or together in common self-interest.

If we are keenly aware of who stands to gain the most from our weak state institutions, from polarization of our ethnic diversity, from our abject poverty and dependency on foreign aid. If we actually talk about these vulnerabilities in almost every public forum, in every conference, in every family or friends gathering, then I wonder why Afghans choose the path of self-destructive inaction over the path of united action to help rebuild our homeland and secure the future of our nation.
More on link

Stone confirms film on Afghanistan war
By Indo Asian News Service
Article Link

London, Dec 15 (IANS) Controversial director Oliver Stone has confirmed that he is planning to make a movie about the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

The news was reported by Roger Freidman on the website foxnews.com. Stone announced at a private dinner for the DVD release of his latest movie 'World Trade Center' that a film on the Afghanistan war is one of the five projects he is considering, reports contactmusic.com 

Stone said: 'No one has ever told the real story.'
More on link


Suicide bomber kills five in Afghanistan
Article Link

KANDAHAR: A suicide car attack killed at least five people in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, police and a hospital doctor said. 

The blast occurred soon after a convoy of presidential security guards passed through Qalat, the provincial capital of southern Zabul province, on their way back to Kabul from a visit to the south by President Hamid Karzai. Residents said they believed the guards were the intended target. 

The bomber’s car hit the vehicle of a provincial police officer who was some distance from the convoy, a policeman said. 

The officer and 14 other people were wounded. Most of the victims were civilians, including children, a doctor said. 

Also on Thursday, hundreds of tribesmen protested in the southeastern province of Khost demanding the punishment of foreign troops who killed at least four people, including a teenage girl, in a raid in the province on Tuesday. Villagers say those killed were civilians and two were government employees, but the US military said it killed four suspected militants. 

Separately, NATO warplanes bombed a compound serving as a Taliban command post in volatile southern Afghanistan, killing a number of insurgents, the NATO-led force said on Thursday. The airstrike targeted the hideout in Kandahar province’s troubled Panjwayi district late on Wednesday “destroying it completely”, a statement from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. agencies
More on link

What is it we are doing in Afghanistan?
 By Chris Corrigan The Hamilton Spectator (Dec 15, 2006) 
Article Link

After writing last month on why Canada is in Afghanistan, now I'd like to write about what it is we are doing there.

The short answer to why we're there -- in the spirit of Canada's legacy of conflict interventions for altruistic reasons -- is to create a safe and secure environment, restore law and order, develop good governance and assist the Afghan people in rebuilding their state.

Conflict has devolved to the point that classical peacekeeping is no longer applicable, that classical keeping-the-peace operations have morphed into combat operations to make peace as a necessary adjunct to nation-building and reconstruction.

In Afghanistan, the situation is such that non-governmental organizations such as CARE, the International Red Cross, UNHCR and other aid and humanitarian agencies are not present and the humanitarian work by necessity has to be done by the military.
More on link

Taliban Issue Fresh Report On Attacks In Afghanistan; Martyrdom Attacks Reported
Dec 14, 2006 By Umm Saad, JUS | Translation Copyright © Jihad Unspun 2006
Article Link

The Islamic Emirate Taliban continue hot and heavy, racking up over a dozens operations in the past 48 hours as their Mujahideen brave the bitter Afghan cold, keeping heavy pressure on the foreign forces to leave the Islamic Emirate.

Here are the latest news reports in from the Media Committee for the Islamic Emirate Taliban, published here uncut and uncensored, as translated by JUS.

We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this statement are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of JUS, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff
More on link

Pakistan Says Afghanistan's Instability Is an Internal Issue  
By Paul Tighe Dec. 15 (Bloomberg
Article Link

 Pakistan's government rejected allegations that Taliban fighters are using Pakistani territory as a base for their insurgency in Afghanistan and said the country's instability must be dealt with by Afghans. 

A ``stable, independent and more peaceful'' Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interests, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Tasnim Aslam, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, as saying late yesterday. Afghans must create stronger governance and control the drugs trade, she said. 

Pakistan is taking military action and has introduced a political strategy to minimize terrorism and reduce support for the Taliban in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, Aslam said. 

Afghanistan has criticized Pakistan for failing to control the mountainous 2,430-kilometer (1,510-mile) border they share. Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week accused elements in Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and considering Afghans as ``slaves,'' the British Broadcasting Corp. reported. 

The Taliban, the militia ousted from power in the U.S.-led war against terrorism in 2001, have this year doubled attacks, including suicide bombings, in response to international and Afghan forces expanding into southern Afghanistan. 

Pakistani security forces recently carried out 97 checks in the Waziristan region to monitor activities of groups suspected of supporting the Taliban, APP cited Aslam as telling Pakistani television, PTV. There are also proposals for a tribal council, or jirga, to be held on improving security, she said. 

Law and Order  

Afghanistan needs the support of the international community to tackle law and order, improve education and other areas of governance, Aslam said. The Afghan government must also meet its responsibilities for creating stability. 

``There are more than 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and we want to send them back to Afghanistan to resettle there, but there is no response from Afghanistan,'' she said. 
More on link

EU mulls police training mission in Afghanistan  
December 15, 2006         
Article Link

The European Union (EU) will send a police-training mission in Afghanistan and it will study the details next week, EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana said here on Thursday. 

Speaking to a press conference at the interval of the EU summit, which started here on Thursday evening, Solana said a fact-finding mission sent by the EU returned to Brussels on Thursday and the EU will study what "precisely" the EU can do on the matter early next week. 

However, the EU foreign policy chief refused to confirm when the 25-member bloc would sent the police-training mission. 

"We can do something (on police training in Afghanistan), and we will do something," Solana said. 

He added that Canada and Norway had expressed willingness to join the EU's police-training mission. 

Since 2002, EU member state Germany has conducted a police-training mission in Afghanistan and the mission has so far trained 17,000 Afghan police. 

This year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has repeatedly urged the EU to start the police-training mission in Afghanistan. 
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (15 Dec 2006)

Canada at War: Afghanistan
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/War_Terror/

This excellent Sun Media site gives a round-up of stories by Sun reporters and wire services, reporter blog, plus video, photos, send a message to troops, and reader comments.

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (15 Dec 2006)

*Operation Baaz Tsuka will send a strong message to Taliban from Afghan people*
ISAF news release # 2006-365, 15 Dec 06  
Article Link

Kandahar, Afghanistan (15 December) – Starting today, Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF will commence Operation Baaz Tsuka (Falcon’s Summit). 

“The main aim of Operation Baaz Tsuka is to work together with tribal elders and district leaders to provide vital assistance and targeted development directly to the people of Zahre and Panjwayi districts”, said Major General Ton Van Loon, Commander of ISAF Regional Command-South. 

Tribal elders and district leaders have been extensively consulted in the build up to this operation, and planned for jointly by Afghan security forces and ISAF personnel.

Operation Baaz Tsuka builds on the success of Operation Medusa and aims to establish an enduring and stable environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and development initiatives for the people of Zahre/Panjwayi.

Afghan security forces, along with their ISAF partners, are assembling a major force in the Zahre/Panjwayi district as a show of unity and strength over the upcoming days and are prepared to once again demonstrate their ability to combat and defeat the Taliban. 

“Operation Baaz Tsuka will send a very strong and direct message to the Taliban that the people of Afghanistan want them to leave.  Those people contemplating joining the Taliban should listen to their tribal elders and choose the way of peace, not destruction”, added General van Loon.


*NATO taking aim at Taliban commanders and bomb-makers: Hillier*
Canadian Press, 15 Dec 06
Article Link

Canada's chief of defence staff says NATO hopes to "neutralize" a number of Taliban commanders and bomb-makers as part of its latest offensive.  Gen. Rick Hillier, in an interview with The Canadian Press, says detecting improvised explosive devices is perhaps one of the toughest challenges faced by all nations operating in Afghanistan.  In dealing with the Taliban, he says the approach of the army has been to "go after all parts of the chain" since Canadians were deployed to Kandahar last February.  But Hillier says hopes for the latest mission include the desire to "take out" insurgent leaders, who plan, facilitate, finance and get the vehicles for suicide bombers ....


*NATO troops launch new offensive against Taliban in south Afghanistan *  
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 15 Dec 06
Article Link

NATO and Afghan forces were massing Friday for a major new offensive against the Taliban in the volatile Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, NATO announced.  The offensive, entitled Operation Falcon's Summit - or Baaz Tsuka in the Afghan language - was billed in a NATO news release as a show of strength and a demonstration of the coalition's ability to combat and defeat the Taliban.  "Operation Baaz Tsuka will send a very strong and direct message to the Taliban that the people of Afghanistan want them to leave," Maj.-Gen. Ton Van Loon, head of Regional Command South for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said in a news release.  A major combat unit made up of both NATO and Afghan security forces was assembling Friday in the Zahre-Panjwaii district, NATO said.  "Our forces are prepared to once again demonstrate their ability to combat and defeat the Taliban," said NATO Squadron Leader Dave Marsh.  A significant number of Canadian troops are based in the Panjwaii district, but Canadian military officials at Kandahar Airfield had no immediate comment on the mission ....


*NATO operation commences in southern Afghanistan*
Deutsche press agentur (DEU), 15 Dec 06
Article Link

NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops and Afghan security forces began Friday a new operation against the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.  The ISAF and the Afghan security forces are assembling a 'major force' in two districts 'as a show of unity and strength' and the soldiers 'are prepared to once again demonstrate their ability to combat and defeat the Taliban,' said Major General Ton Van Loon, Commander of ISAF Regional Command-South.  'The main aim of Operation Baaz Tsuka (Falcon) is to work together with tribal elders and district leaders to provide vital assistance and targeted development directly to the people of Zahre and Panjwayi districts,' he said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*A holiday break from Afghanistan*
CBC Online, 15 Dec 06
Article Link

A Charlottetown police officer is home for the holidays from Afghanistan, where he's been training Afghan police recruits.  Davies, who's most of the way through a one-year assignment, is looking forward to a quiet Christmas and enjoying the freedom of being able to go places without a military escort.  "It feels great to be home, and it was great to see the snow," said Davies.  As part of the provincial reconstruction teams, the humanitarian arm of Canada's military commitment in Afghanistan, Davies is one of 200 police, foreign-affairs and development workers in the volatile Kandahar region ....



*EU leaders agree to intensify support to Afghanistan * 
European Union accuses Iran of destabilising Middle East
Daily Times (PAK), 16 Dec 06
Article Link

European Union leaders vowed on Friday to do more to help Afghanistan stamp out a stubborn insurgency and get back on its feet, citing plans to help in sectors from health to justice and policing.  The bloc, which Washington wants to play a greater role in the country, said it had given some 4 billion euros ($5 billion) in aid since the US-led invasion ousted its Taliban rulers in 2001 and was about to publish plans setting out further help in the period up to 2013. “The EU stands ready to intensify its efforts,” EU leaders, some of whom have troops in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said in a draft of the declaration from the two-day summit. “Security and development in Afghanistan are mutually dependent,” they stated, adding the bloc wanted to ensure development help reached all parts of the impoverished country ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (16 Dec 2006)

*Canadian general: Reinforcements in Afghanistan would shorten conflict*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 15 Dec 06
Article Link

Canadian troops will make do with the resources at hand in Afghanistan even though reinforcements to the war-torn southern region would shorten the conflict, said the man in charge of all overseas Canadian Forces operations.  "I and we are not going to dwell on this at the tip of the sphere here in Afghanistan. The commanders don't sit here wringing their hands, saying, 'I need more troops,' " Lt.-Gen. Mike Gauthier, commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command, said in an interview with The Canadian Press.  "They do what they can with what they have and they do it extremely well," said Gauthier, 50, of Longueuil, Que., who was on one of his frequent trips visiting the troops Friday ....



*Rebuilding Afghanistan, one project at a time*
Christie Blatchford, Globe & Mail, 16 Dec 06
Article Link - Permalink

The other day, a 34-year-old Canadian reservist named Corporal Shawn Denty got to deliver the medical supplies his friends and colleagues in Oakville, Ont., had collected after reading an e-mail about his distressing visit to Mirwais Hospital, the lone civilian hospital in Kandahar city.  “I was shocked,” Cpl. Denty wrote home. “The dirt, the dust... it was a shambles. There I was, standing in the middle of a Third World country.”  Like many of those who came before him, and surely many of those who will follow, all he wanted was to do something for the poor and suffering of this battle-scarred nation.  Back in Canada, in Manitouwadge, Ont., his fiancée, family and co-workers at Xerox Business Supplies beat the bushes, and came up with about 20 boxes of supplies that are like gold in Kandahar: an EKG heart monitor, green surgical gowns and towels, bed sheets, diapers, syringes, and intravenous cannulas ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Facing the fight of his life*
Soldier has faced triumphs, tragedies in battle to recover from axe attack
Mitch Potter, Toronto Star, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

A month ago, he was barely able to whisper. Today, there is a hint of timbre in the voice, evidence that ever so slowly he is getting his wind back. He remembers places and faces, names and dates. He knows who he is, where he has been, where he is going.  Trevor Greene is on the mend again. And this time his recovery, riddled for many months by an agonizing series of setbacks including pneumonia so severe it would have ended lesser men, appears to be on track.  One morning last week, when Debbie Lepore, the Canadian Forces captain's fiancée, strode into the neurological ward at Vancouver General Hospital to resume her daily bedside vigil, she was delighted by his capacity to show he is there — in mind as well as body. Despite the lifetime of complications that began when he was cut down by an axe-wielding Afghan teen in March, Greene glanced up at Lepore and announced the deeper significance of the day. "It's the anniversary of Pearl Harbor," he told her ....



*RCMP to boost Afghan aid*
`Eager' to expand efforts to improve local police force
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

The RCMP is boosting its assistance to help improve the rudimentary Afghan National Police force and says it's "eager" to participate in a new European Union initiative to bolster policing in the troubled country.  At an EU summit in Brussels yesterday, European leaders — under pressure from NATO to do more in Afghanistan — endorsed the idea of dispatching a police mission to train local officers and the judiciary.  "The EU stands ready to intensify its efforts," said a draft statement drawn up at the summit.  An EU fact-finding mission is just back from Kabul and Kandahar, where they talked to Canadian police officers already on the ground, RCMP Supt. Wayne Martin said yesterday.  "We are eager to contribute. We see this as a great addition to the police development team..." he said.  "As to any numbers that we may contribute to the EU mission ... I don't know at this time," he said in an interview.  In the meantime though, the RCMP is moving ahead with its own efforts to expand Canada's program to help train the fledgling police force ....


----------



## GAP (16 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 16 December 2006*

*NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan blast*
Saturday Dec16 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A roadside blast killed one NATO soldier and wounded two others in eastern Afghanistan, a statement from the alliance said Saturday.
The explosion occurred in Mehtar Lam district of the eastern Laghman province on Friday while the troops were conducting an operation, the statement said.

The wounded soldiers were evacuated to a NATO hospital for treatment.

The statement did not identify the nationalities of the dead and wounded soldiers. Most of NATO troops in the country's east are American.
End


Survivor's story
Soldier defied death during Taliban ambush -- now, he hopes he'll walk again with the help of a radical new treatment 
Sat Dec 16 2006 By Jen Skerritt
Article Link 

WHEN 24-year-old CFB Shilo-based Cpl. Chris Klodt awoke in a German hospital, he couldn't eat, couldn't talk and was paralyzed from the neck down. 
Klodt was shot in the neck July 7 during a Taliban ambush outside Kandahar -- only four weeks before he was set to return home to plan his wedding and witness the birth of his first child. 

Instead, Klodt had been struck by a half-inch bullet that was lodged in his spinal cord, turning two of his vertebrae into mere dust. 

Now, the soldier is hoping to embark on a groundbreaking surgery he hopes will give him the chance to walk again. Klodt and his fiancee, Deena Schreyer, are meeting with a Hamilton-based neurosurgeon Dr. Michel Rathbone next month to see what new treatment options are available that could repair Koldt's nerve damage. 

"If there's a chance of me walking again, I will," he said, lightly brushing the pink scar on his neck with his stiff, bent fingers. "Walk or don't walk. I think it's pretty common sense." 

Recent studies have shown stem cell injections in rodents can help repair nerve and spinal cord damage, as well as ease symptoms of chronic illnesses like muscular dystrophy.   
However, Rathbone said clinical trials in humans have shown that stem cell injections don't work and can actually do more harm than good since they introduce foreign cells into the body
More on link


Rebuilding Afghanistan, one project at a time
Christie Blatchford, Globe & Mail, 16 Dec 06
Article Link- Permalink

The other day, a 34-year-old Canadian reservist named Corporal Shawn Denty got to deliver the medical supplies his friends and colleagues in Oakville, Ont., had collected after reading an e-mail about his distressing visit to Mirwais Hospital, the lone civilian hospital in Kandahar city.

“I was shocked,” Cpl. Denty wrote home. “The dirt, the dust... it was a shambles. There I was, standing in the middle of a Third World country.”

Like many of those who came before him, and surely many of those who will follow, all he wanted was to do something for the poor and suffering of this battle-scarred nation.

Back in Canada, in Manitouwadge, Ont., his fiancée, family and co-workers at Xerox Business Supplies beat the bushes, and came up with about 20 boxes of supplies that are like gold in Kandahar: an EKG heart monitor, green surgical gowns and towels, bed sheets, diapers, syringes, and intravenous cannulas.

Everyone involved, but particularly Cpl. Denty, who had seen the gaping need at the hospital while escorting VIPs on a tour, dreamed of helping Afghans and especially children.Instead, what happened was that his treasure trove was given over to a tiny Afghan National Army medical clinic just outside the giant NATO base at Kandahar Air Field, journalists were invited to bear witness to his soldierly good works, and in the end much of the valuable booty was taken to a warehouse, where despite the locks on the doors it may yet disappear to the black market.

Therein lies the lesson of aid, reconstruction and development in this most battered part of Afghanistan: Good intentions are never enough.

Arguably, nowhere has it been better learned than at the Canadian Provincial Reconstruction Team headquarters on the fringes of Kandahar city, the second-largest in Afghanistan, and birthplace of the Taliban.

By the time the PRT crew from the Royal Canadian Regiment arrived last August, weary Afghans here had been promised the moon by the soldiers, aid agencies and various levels of government that collectively make up what's known as “the international community,” and by their own leaders, and yet had very little to show for it.

And, as in broad strokes the international effort here has been much criticized — most harshly in a recent Senlis Council report which announced that the Taliban was winning the “hearts and minds” campaign because of the world's failure to make the lives of the Afghan people even marginally better — so the Canadian PRT, as it was operated under the auspices of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, came in for its share.

That in turn prompted concerns on the Canadian home front that the supposedly three-pronged nature of Canada's role here had turned into a purely combat operation.
More on link

Troops bear brunt of 'misguided' Afghan aid policies: report
Last Updated: Thursday, December 14, 2006 | 2:30 PM ET CBC News 
Article Link

International agencies, including the Canadian International Development Agency, have failed to tackle the food emergency in southern Afghanistan, and NATO soldiers in the region are paying the price, a new report says.

The paper, released Thursday by the Senlis Council, an international think tank, says "misguided" policies by agencies such as CIDA and the British Department for International Development have left the local population hungry and angry towards the international community
More on link



Government agrees to reimburse wounded soldiers for lost danger pay  
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) - Canadian soldiers wounded in combat will no longer suffer the insult and financial injury of having their danger pay prematurely cut off. 

The Conservative government announced Friday it will reimburse the operational allowances soldiers lose when they're forced prematurely out of combat zones by injury or illness. 

"The new structure means that the brave men and women serving in a theatre of operations will receive financial compensation if their involvement ceases before the end of their rotation period," Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said in a release. 

The decision is retroactive to the start of the Canadian military deployment in Kandahar, Afghanistan, at the start of this year. 

Under the current military rules, when wounded troops are removed from a combat zone, they lose tax-free operational allowances of more than $1,900 a month. They also forgo the income tax-free status on more than $6,000 in regular pay they enjoy while deployed. 

With Afghan casualties mounting, the inequity came to light in October and appeared to catch military brass and the government off guard. 

O'Connor and Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, both expressed concern after the family of one wounded soldier publicly told the story of their son being informed while still in hospital in Germany that his pay was being cut. 
More on link

Misunderstanding Afghanistan
By By Craig Charney and Gary Langer Sunday, December 17, 2006; Page B07
Article Link

There is a note of panic in American views of Afghanistan today. "All the indicators for Afghanistan have headed south," the Los Angeles Times editorialized. Outside Kabul, "much of the rest of Afghanistan appears to be failing again," Newsweek reports. Sen. John Kerry warns: We are "losing Afghanistan."

These views reflect the belief that Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government is hemorrhaging support as the Taliban makes a comeback. Karzai is called the "mayor of Kabul," his government lacking authority outside the capital and plagued by corruption. Western troops backing him are said to face widespread hostility.
More on link



McCain: More US troops would be sent to Afghanistan if needed
The Associated PressPublished: December 16, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan: Washington will send more troops to Afghanistan "if it's necessary," U.S. Senator John McCain said Saturday, while urging European allies to send their troops to the country's restive south.

McCain praised Afghan, U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch forces for bearing "a great deal of the combat responsibilities in recent months," but pushed for more from other key allies of the United States.

Other NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan should remove their "national caveats," which make it "extremely difficult for our NATO commanders to call on them for assistance when needed in combat zones, particularly in the southern part of the country," McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, said during a two-day visit in Afghanistan with three other U.S. Congress members.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain said last month at the NATO summit that they would not send troops to fight regularly on the front lines of battles with the resurgent Taliban in the restive south and east.

McCain, who has called for the deployment of more U.S. troops to Iraq, said that more troops could also be sent to Afghanistan.
More on link


Canadian general says reinforcements in Afghanistan would shorten conflict
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press Published: Saturday, December 16, 2006 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Canadian troops will make do with the resources at hand in Afghanistan even though reinforcements to the war-torn southern region would shorten the conflict, said the man in charge of all overseas Canadian Forces operations. 

"I and we are not going to dwell on this at the tip of the sphere here in Afghanistan. The commanders don't sit here wringing their hands, saying, 'I need more troops,' " Lt.-Gen. Mike Gauthier, commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command, said in an interview with The Canadian Press. 

"They do what they can with what they have and they do it extremely well," said Gauthier, 50, of Longueuil, Que., who was on one of his frequent trips visiting the troops Friday. 

Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan will see a handful of fresh reinforcements and can count on its long-standing allies for help only under emergency circumstances, NATO leaders decided last month. Several European countries intend to remove their so-called national caveats - restrictions that prevent them from fighting Taliban militants. 

But the fact remains that NATO forces could use the extra troops to good purpose, said Gauthier
More on link

UK probing Afghanistan shootings  
Press Association Saturday December 16, 2006 4:38 AM
Article Link

The military is investigating the shooting of civilians by British troops as they sped away from a suicide bomb attack in southern Afghanistan that injured three soldiers and killed three Afghans.

Witnesses to the December 3 incident in which a suicide bomber in a minibus rammed the military convoy in Kandahar, said residents fled in fear of their lives.

It is one of seven incidents in the last month in which Nato forces shot Afghan citizens. Seven people have been killed and 11 injured, eroding public support for the battle against a resurgent Taliban.

Nato said the soldiers had acted in self-defence in all the shootings.

After the Kandahar bombing, Said Ahmed, a 30-year-old bakery worker, said he ran into his shop when he saw British soldiers coming down the street shouting and firing their guns.

"I saw one motorbike driver get shot, and he fell down on to the ground," Ahmed said. "It was a very scary moment."

Foreign troop convoys are coming under increasing attack. Taliban militants exploded more than 100 suicide bombs in the country this year, a more than fivefold increase from 2005, often targeting Nato forces in armoured personnel carriers and Jeeps
More on link

Pakistan not to allow soil to be used against Afghanistan Islamabad
Dec 16, IRNA Pakistan-Musharraf 
Article Link

President General Pervez Musharraf Friday told Europe's envoy on Afghanistan that Pakistan was determined not to allow its territory to be used by militants and had done all within its means to deal with this issue. 

He was talking to Special Representative of the EU in Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell, who called on him, the Foreign Office said. 

The president also emphasized the need for the international community to do more to facilitate repatriation of Afghan refugees back to their homeland, a Foreign Office statement said. 

During the meeting, the parties held in depth discussions on matters related to regional stability and security, it said. 

Views were exchanged extensively on the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan-Afghanistan relations and the government's strategy in the tribal areas. 

Vendrell was informed about the absolute necessity for all parties to understand the prevailing environment, recognize that border security was a collective responsibility of Pakistan, Afghanistan and ISAF/NATO and that the militancy problem was essentially an Afghan problem, the statement said. 

Vendrell expressed understanding of Pakistan's position, stating that the western world was very much supportive of what the president was doing to stabilize the situation in the region. 

He conveyed the EU's interest in facilitating better coordination between Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
More on link


1 NATO soldier killed, 2 wounded in eastern Afghanistan blast
The Associated PressPublished: December 16, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan: A roadside blast killed one NATO soldier and wounded two others in eastern Afghanistan, a statement from the alliance said Saturday.

The explosion occurred in Mehtar Lam district of the eastern Laghman province on Friday while the troops were conducting an operation, the statement said.

The wounded soldiers were evacuated to a NATO hospital for treatment.

The statement did not identify the nationalities of the dead and wounded soldiers. Most of NATO troops in the country's east are American.
end

US-Led-NATO: What's Going On In Afghanistan?  
By Ali Al-Hail Al-Jazeerah, December 16, 2006 
Article Link

On October 7, 2001, the Bush administration launched its war on Afghanistan-Taliban. Anon, the administration had declared Taliban defeated, and dislodged. Only, the U.S. corporate media frantically, began brainwashing American taxpayers about the statuesque finesse.
Shortly, Taliban reemerged observably, stronger than they ever have been. Apparently, they tactically, withdrew 63 months ago before the might of U.S.-led coalition bombing ferocity.

As this coalition, and the new U.S.-EISAF-led force conceivably, collapsed last year, U.S,-led-British, and Canadian force had tried their luck. They too, were severely, beaten by, according to the BBC the most organized mobilizing group of resistance in the World.
As the situation worse as it has been, came U.S.-led-Nato force, mid this year to have an ago. As Nato forces started receiving bloody bruises, they had urged more support from Nato states.

The response was since cold. Last month the Nato secretary-General announced that, its forces have been facing the toughest fighting in its history. He meant to say Nato is collapsing in Afghanistan. More or less, in the same way both U.S.-led-coalition, U.S.-led EISAF, U.S.-led-British-Canadian, have all, been dramatically, crushed by Taliban. The Nato Secretary-General was given by U.S.-led Nato within that margin to express Nato's frustration caused by Taliban in Afghanistan. One presume, as do many had he authorized, he would have said more. However, he was similarly, told by the U.S.-led-Nato, which is quite typical of 'arrogant' West in dealing with non-Westerners stated that, still "mission is possible". 
More on link


Risks high for Canada's air force in Afghanistan
Updated Fri. Dec. 15 2006 9:46 AM ET Murray Oliver, CTV News
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Many Canadian and Coalition troops on the ground in southern Afghanistan are enduring regular attacks from Taliban fighters. At the same time, the soldiers are also battling Afghanistan's ferocious climate. Some units are virtually snow-bound. Re-supply convoys risk nearly impassable roads that are ideal for ambushes.

And so, in the sky, the men and women of Canada's air force frequently wage their own battles to keep the combat troops supplied with food and ammunition. On this frosty December morning, their frontline is a massive grey Hercules C130 H aircraft commanded by Captain Blair McArthur of Alberta. 

Somewhere in the mountains is an isolated unit of American soldiers. Captain McArthur is no-nonsense as he preps his seven-person crew for the upcoming flight. "These guys [the Americans] aren't quite down to their last bean and last bullet," McArthur says, "but almost." 

The mission seems straightforward: Fly over the American position and air-drop vital supplies to the troops below. But the weather is bad, the area covered by dense cloud. In the surrounding hills are Taliban fighters carrying small arms and -- possibly -- portable anti-aircraft missiles.

The plane is fully loaded, the enormous pallets jammed into the hold are strapped down. To avoid enemy fire, the crew will be doing "tactical flying": as an indication of the violent maneuvers ahead, the crew chief hands one passenger a stack of air-sickness bags. Taped to the roof of the cockpit is a detailed document entitled, "crash-landing checklist." 
More on link

Fighting is expected to break out in Afghanistan: US official   
Article Link

Washington, Dec 15: Warning that fighting is expected to break out in Afghanistan next spring, a top US intelligence official has said Pakistan will have to soon decide what it is going to do with the tribal elders who are permitting the Taliban to move freely despite a recent deal. 

"Sooner or later the government will have to reckon with it," John Negroponte, the Director of National Intelligence has said in a meeting with the reporters and editors of the Washington Post. 

The post said Negroponte has also made the point that with the Pakistan elections due next year the United States understands that President Pervez Musharraf "has a domestic political balancing act to perform". 

This September, Islamabad and the tribal leaders of northern Waziristan entered into an agreement that said among other things that border crossings will not be permitted "for any kind of militancy". 

Negroponte has told the post that the "tribal authorities are not living up to the deal," and that travel back and forth by Taliban members and others "causes serious problems." 
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (16 Dec 2006)

McCain seeks Afghan help from Europe
Reuters, Dec. 16
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061216/ts_nm/afghan_usa_dc



> KABUL (Reuters) - Senior U.S. senator John McCain on Saturday urged European nations to shoulder more of the burden in Afghanistan, by doing more to fight the booming illegal opium trade and easing fighting restrictions on their soldiers.
> 
> McCain, a Republican from Arizona who sits on the Senate armed services committee, also called on Afghanistan and Pakistan end their war of words and to ratchet up their cooperation to fight a resurgent Taliban.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (16 Dec 2006)

*ISAF soldier injured by anti-personnel mine*
ISAF news release # 2006-368, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – This morning, one ISAF soldier was injured while conducting a foot patrol with Afghan National Security Forces in the Pashmul area, approximately 25 kilometres west of Kandahar City.  The ISAF soldier stepped on an anti-personnel mine and was immediately evacuated to a nearby ISAF medical facility. There are no reports of any other ISAF or ANSF casualties.  The soldier was part of a joint Afghan-ISAF patrol traveling along Route Summit to coordinate a Shura with tribal elders from a local village.


*Canadian soldier injured by Afghanistan landmine*
CTV.ca, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

A Canadian soldier is in serious but stable condition after stepping on a landmine in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan on Saturday.  The injury occurred on the same day a Canadian commander strongly hinted his troops will be involved in a major anti-Taliban offensive.  Private Frederic Couture was rushed for treatment in Kandahar after the incident. Couture is with the Quebec-based Van Doos regiment, but his age and hometown have not yet been released.  He was on a foot patrol with Afghan forces west of Kandahar, and was on the way to meet with village elders to talk about humanitarian assistance when the landmine was triggered ....



*Canadian government analysis suggests rebuilding Afghanistan a tough slog*
Jeff Esau, Canadian Press, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) - Afghanistan's financial infrastructure is "primitive" and its recent economic growth "will be difficult to sustain," says a blunt assessment of the country's future by senior Canadian government officials.  Afghanistan is "seriously hampered" by security problems, endemic corruption, skilled labour shortages, limited access to finances, land tenure problems, the strain of returning refugees and "the generally weak rule of law," says the Sept. 5 analysis prepared by the Privy Council Office.  The office, the co-ordinating body for cabinet and the prime minister's office, released the seven-page document after a request under the Access to Information Act.  Its bleak forecast, delivered almost two weeks before a visit to Canada by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, appears at odds with recent claims by other Canadian officials that progress has been significant and steady.  The heavily censored report, The Future of Afghanistan: The Next Five Years, was written by PCO's intelligence assessment co-ordinating committee and widely distributed within government ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*NATO Orders Taliban To Leave Afghan Districts*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

NATO-led forces in Afghanistan have ordered Taliban fighters to leave two southern districts or be forced out.  NATO spokesman Major Dominic Whyte said today that the orders, printed on leaflets, were dropped by air on the guerrillas' positions in the Panjwayi and Zahre districts of southern Kandahar Province on December 15.  The move was part of a major new anti-Taliban offensive launched on December 14 in the two heavily Taliban-dominated districts.  Hundreds of troops with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, helped by Afghan forces, kicked off the operation on December 14 to clear the way for much-needed reconstruction work in the war-torn areas, which have seen heavy Taliban fighting this year ....


*Britain leads major Afghan operation*
Peter Graff, Reuters (UK), 15 Dec 06
Article Link

British-led armoured columns of NATO troops swept into southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Friday, launching one of the biggest operations in months.  Hundreds of British, Estonian and Danish troops, backed by scores of armoured vehicles, crossed through the night from their base in neighbouring Helmand province and set up a desert camp north of the Arghindab River valley, which commanders say is a haven for Taliban guerrillas.  "We're here on an intelligence-led mission against the Taliban," said operation commander Lieutenant-Colonel Matt Holmes. "You can tell by the size of our presence that we mean business."  The offensive is one of the largest by NATO forces since the Canadian-led Operation Medusa in another part of Kandahar province in September, and the largest by British troops since heavy fighting in northern Helmand in the summer.  Royal Marines from Britain's 42 Commando were digging holes to sleep in at their new forward operating base in muddy desert, after camping under ponchos in rainstorms that hit the area as they moved east through the night ....



*Remove 'caveats' on troops in Afghanistan: McCain*
Associated Press, via CTV.ca, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

Washington will send more troops to Afghanistan if need be, Senator John McCain said Saturday, while urging European allies to send their troops to the country's restive south.  McCain praised Afghan, U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch forces for bearing "a great deal of the combat responsibilities in recent months," but pushed for more from other key allies of the United States.  Other NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan should remove their "national caveats," which make it "extremely difficult for our NATO commanders to call on them for assistance when needed in combat zones, particularly in the southern part of the country," McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, said during a two-day visit in Afghanistan with three other Congress members ....



*We’re living on Afghans’ support, not Pakistan’s: Taliban*
Daily Times (PAK), 17 Dec 06
Article Link

The Taliban on Saturday denied accusations by Afghan leaders the group was being sponsored by Pakistan, an issue souring relations between the two nations.  A senior rebel commander, Hayat Khan, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai was trying to hide his own failure and the Taliban movement lived only on the support of ordinary people. “Karzai’s allegations are baseless. We neither have any links with Pakistan nor is the country helping the Taliban,” Khan told Reuters by satellite phone from a secret location.  “The Taliban movement is continuing only with the support of the Afghan people.  Instead of shedding crocodile tears, Hamid Karzai should resign and join the Taliban ranks for jihad against the infidel occupiers to liberate Afghanistan,” he added, referring to Karzai crying during a speech about civilian deaths this week ....


----------



## GAP (17 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 17 December 2006*

'We must convince our people that the Taliban are no longer a threat'  
By Gethin Chamberlain in Masum Gar, Kandahar, Sunday Telegraph 17/12/2006
Article Link

Five years after the fall of the Taliban, the Afghan army is embroiled in a fight to the death with the supporters of the deposed regime.

In the hills to the west of Kandahar city, soldiers are building a network of gun emplacements, observation posts and strong points in an attempt to prevent the resurgent Taliban from regaining control of an area that remains its heartland.

In recent weeks, with the help of Canadian troops and special forces, they have been fighting a series of skirmishes against the hundreds of Taliban fighters pouring back into Kandahar.

The Afghan National Army has been growing in strength since it was established in 2002. Initially trained by US special forces, recruits are now sent to Kabul for training before being formed into kandaks (battalions) of about 600 men – of which there are now 57, serving around the country. Most of the men come from the Kabul area or from the north, the base of the Northern Alliance which helped topple the Taliban regime. At the rocky outcrop of Masum Gar, there are meant to be about 300 Afghan troops, though their numbers are regularly depleted as soldiers go on leave, are seconded to other missions or simply go absent without leave.
More on link

7 Guantanamo prisoners go home to Afghanistan
By Rahim Faiez Associated Press December 17, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Seven Afghan men arrived in their home country Saturday -- weary, angry and proclaiming their innocence -- after years of imprisonment in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

With long, unkempt beards, the men appeared at a news conference beside Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, head of Afghanistan's reconciliation commission, which assists with the release of U.S.-held detainees.
All seven men said they were wrongly arrested, but that they were not beaten or mistreated in any way while imprisoned.
One claimed he was forced to join the Taliban, while another said he was arrested merely for being Muslim.
"We had to go with the Taliban. If we didn't go with them, they wanted money from us," said Abdul Rahman, 46, from Helmand province.
"I didn't have money to pay the Taliban, so I was forced to join them. I didn't want to."
More on link


Afghanistan's Pres. Sends Condolences to Utah Soldier's Family
December 16th, 2006 @ 5:20pm
Article Link

DRAPER, Utah (AP) -- The family of a Utah National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan last month has received a letter of condolence from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. 

Second Leiutenant Scott Lundell of West Valley City died November 25th when his artillery patrol was engaged by enemy forces. He was 35. 

Lundell's wife, Jeanine Lundell, issued a statement of thanks today. 

It says: My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone for their love, support and prayers in behalf of my family at the passing of my husband Scott. ... The outpouring of kindness from family, friends, neighbors, the community, the people of the state of Utah and people all over the world has been absolutely incredible." 
End


UK Medics and Engineers in Deadly Combat  
17 December 2006
Article Link

The following from The Daily Mail is a must read for a number of reasons:

1. The combat described has got to be some of the most lopsided and risky to emerge in the Afghan campaign.

2. The fight was taken to the Taliban by a small group of soldiers who would normally not be in this role.

3. The tenacity and daring of the UK troops involved and some of their Afghan allies is exemplary of how highly motivated and trained soldiers can out-punch a numerically superior force.

4. The battle graphically demonstrates that we will not lose the Afghan conflict militarily; if we lose, it will be a political failure on the home front.

5. Those who wax on about how the Russians couldn’t hold Afghanistan need to stuff their pie-holes with some reality; NATO forces are far superior to the rag-tag bunch of draftees that fought for Russia … there is no comparison historically, militarily, or factually.

The Tale:

When a key strategic town in Afghanistan's Helmand Province fell to the Taliban, British commanders ordered that it must be retaken as a top priority. But with the UK's main fighting units locked in bloody battles further north, it was left to a ragtag band of 12 British soldiers, including TA reservists and medics, to lead a force of barely-trained Afghan soldiers and police across Taliban-held the desert. They hoped to retake the town of Garmisir within 24 hours. In fact they faced an astonishing 14 day close-quarter battle - isolated, heavily outnumbered and fighting for their lives in an action reminiscent of Rorke's Drift.

After a summer of intense fighting by British troops in Northern Helmand, attention was focussed on 16 Air Assault Brigade's epic defence of the besieged 'platoon house' garrisons in Sangin, Musa Qala and Nowzad.

But hundreds of miles to the south and largely ignored, the frontier town of Garmisir was also under siege and had already fallen once to the Taliban - for whom it is a key transport hub for fighters crossing the nearby border from Pakistan.

Helmand's provincial governor, an Afghan trusted by the British, was warning that if Garmisir fell again he would have to resign.
More on link

France To Withdraw Special Unit From Eastern Afghanistan
December 17th 2006 by News Staff
Article Link

France is to withdraw a special 200-strong military unit from Afghanistan in the coming weeks, French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie announced Sunday. "We'll pull our Special Forces out of Afghanistan in the coming weeks," Alliot-Marie told reporters in Kabul, but without commenting on the reasons for the withdrawal. 

France currently has more than 200 Special Forces deployed in mainly eastern Afghanistan to hunt down Taliban and al-Qaeda militants as part of the US-led coalition force. 

There are also about 2,000 French troops are deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The proposed French withdrawal comes as ISAF face an ongoing Taliban insurgency. 

During a visit to troops in Afghanistan Saturday, senior US senator, John McCain called on European countries to lift caveats and send troops to the volatile south of the country. 

"Our European friends must understand that we all share a difficult burden and national caveats make it very difficult to work together as a team," McCain told reporters Saturday at a US military camp in Kabul. 
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (17 Dec 2006)

*Landmine victim * 
Canadian soldier seriously injured while training Afghan troops 
Doug Beazley, Edmonton Sun, 17 Dec 06
Article Link

A Canadian soldier was seriously injured in a landmine explosion outside a military base here in Panjwayi District yesterday.  Around 11:45 a.m. local time, according to officials at Kandahar Airfield, the soldier was walking with Afghan troops near the town of Pashmul, outside the Canadian forward operating base Ma'sum Ghar, 25 km west of Kandahar City, when he stepped on a buried anti-personnel mine.   The soldier, identified as Pte. Frederic Couture of the Royal 22nd (Van Doos) regiment based in Val Cartier, Que., was airlifted to the Canadian-run hospital at Kandahar Airfield.  After surgery, he was said to be in serious but stable condition. His age and hometown in Canada were not immediately available.  Couture was working with the Operational Mentoring Liaison Team, the unit training the Afghan army to fight alongside coalition soldiers.  He was moving on foot with Afghan soldiers to a village east of Route Summit, a road being built by Canadians near Pashmul.  Couture was going to plan a shura (council meeting) with village elders to discuss the delivery of coalition supplies to villagers ....


*Canadian soldier injured by Afghanistan landmine*
CTV.ca, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

A Canadian soldier is in serious but stable condition after stepping on a landmine in the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan.  Pte. Frederic Couture was rushed for treatment in Kandahar after the incident, which occurred about noon local time on Saturday. Couture is with the 2nd Van Doos regiment of Valcartier, Que., but his age and hometown have not yet been released.  "At the time they were with the Afghan National Army; they were actually going to a shura (a meeting of village elders) in order to provide humanitarian assistance to that village," Lt. Sue Stefko told reporters.  She said Couture is in serious but stable condition. There is no word yet on whether he will be transferred to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany for further treatment ....



*Don't change Afghan mission's focus: Hillier*
Canadian Press, via CTV.ca, 17 Dec 06
Article Link

Changing the focus of Canada's Afghan mission to stress reconstruction over combat, as demanded by Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe, would be folly, says the country's top soldier.  Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, says the fighting aspects of the mission are vital to the redevelopment of the country.  "We're doing the security operations not because we want to do them, but because they are absolutely essential to do," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.  Duceppe has said he may try to topple the minority Conservative government with a non-confidence motion unless the Afghan operation is "rapidly and profoundly"' retooled to focus more heavily on reconstruction instead of fighting ....



*Air war costs NATO Afghan supporters * 
An increase in air strikes has led to more innocent deaths as Taliban fighters use civilians as human shields. 
Rachel Morarjee, Christian Science Monitor, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

....  NATO has no unified approach to compensating civilians killed during fighting, instead placing the financial burden on the individual nations engaged in the fiercest fighting in the south: Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, and Romania.  By providing much-needed financial aid for the families of victims killed by airstrikes, the Taliban has been able to garner support in the southern provinces, says Sarah Holewinski of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), a Washington-based human rights group.  "If NATO doesn't find a way to win the trust and support of the Afghan people, the Taliban will," she says. "In fact they already are."  Fighting against Taliban insurgents who are dressed in civilian clothes and hidden among the civilian population is a difficult task. But the sharp escalation in violence has many southern Afghans asking whether NATO troops are making their lives safer or, ultimately, more dangerous ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Operation Baaz Tsuka making progress throughout Kandahar province*
ISAF news release # 2006-370,  17 Dec 06  
Article Link

As Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and ISAF continue their movement in and around Zahre, Panjwaii and westerly districts of Kandahar province.  During the operations, ANSF and ISAF have discovered large weapons caches, including mortars, dynamite and anti-personnel mines. These caches will be destroyed.  Local village tribal elders have been receptive to ANSF and ISAF taking up positions in the westerly districts of Kandahar Province and have encountered little to no resistance from insurgents ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (18 Dec 2006)

*Canada set for new push against Taliban*
Operation Baaz Tsuka seeks to neutralize leaders
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via Toronto Star, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

The invitations have been sent and preparations completed as Canadian troops and NATO forces get ready for a major offensive against the Taliban.   This forward operating post in Panjwaii district was a beehive of activity yesterday with troops stocking up on ammunition and mechanics doing last-minute tune-ups on light armoured vehicles and tanks.   The preparation work for Operation Baaz Tsuka (Afghan for Falcon's Summit) was completed with a series of bombs being dropped on suspected Taliban locations.  Later, as the soldiers began moving forward, large weapons caches were discovered, including mortars, dynamite and anti-personnel mines. The caches will be destroyed, according to NATO officials. One armoured vehicle was reported damaged by a roadside bomb, which also caused minor injuries to three soldiers. Their nationalities were not immediately released.  On Saturday, leaflets were dropped over a wide area of Panjwaii district. The message was simple: a picture of a dead Taliban member with an X through it.  Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie, the commander of the Battle Group, said he hopes the mission works out with few casualties. "Soft knock by preference — a hard knock as needed," he said ....



*A new approach for defeating the Taliban  *  
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

Negotiating with hardened Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan to end their uprising is simply not an option for NATO and western forces, said Washington's top diplomat on Asian issues.  However, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said an Afghan government amnesty program is a valuable way of integrating less militant Taliban members back into the country's western-backed democracy.  "There needs to be an opportunity for people to come in from the Taliban, come in from the cold. Certainly people who haven't been major violators might have a role," Boucher told the Ottawa Citizen.  Boucher made clear he is not advocating full-scale negotiations with Taliban insurgents, but simply leaving open the door for less hardened elements of the movement to leave.  "There are many in that group that are hard core, that are just out to kill people. They've spent years killing Afghan citizens and want their chance to kill farmers and Afghans again," Boucher said.  "We're going to have to fight those people," he added. "I don't see any opportunity or need to negotiate." Boucher's arrival in Ottawa, for meetings with Foreign Affairs, Defence Department and Privy Council Office officials coincided with the start of the new NATO anti-Taliban offensive, Operation Falcon's Summit.  Canadian Col. Mike Kamper, chief of staff of NATO's southern Afghanistan operations told reporters in Kandahar Sunday that the new mission would be focused on discouraging locals from joining the Taliban and persuading committed members to lay down their arms ....



*Dead Afghan man's family wants an apology*
CTV.ca, 17 Dec 06
Article Link

The family of Haji Abdul Rahman, a respected Afghan man killed by Canadian troops, want an apology from this country.  "Everyone knew him here. Nobody could shoot him. This is very terrible," one in-law told CTV News on Sunday.  The 92-year-old was riding his motorcycle towards a Canadian checkpoint on Tuesday.  Afghan security officials had allowed him through an outer security cordon designed to protect Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai. He had been meeting with Canada's Ambassador David Sproule.  Canadian officials say he ignored warnings to stop. A warning shot was fired, but Canadian officials say it ricocheted and struck Rahman in the chest, killing him ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*France to allow troop redeployment in Afghanistan*
Reuters (UK), 18 Dec 06
Article Link


France, which is pulling its special forces soldiers out of Afghanistan, said on Monday it would temporarily redeploy its remaining troops anywhere in the country for emergencies.  The United States, Canada and Britain, whose troops have borne the brunt of fighting in the bloodiest year since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, have pressed their allies to lift limits on their forces to allow more flexibility in combating a resurgent Taliban.  "We also foresee that our forces currently stationed in Kabul will be relocated to other regions according to the needs of our allies, to help in those situations where their presence will be necessary," French Defense Ministry Michele Alliot-Marie said during a visit to Kabul.  But she added any such deployment would be temporary.  NATO leaders agreed last month to redeploy their forces anywhere in the country in an emergency after complaints that some, including France, were largely avoiding the more dangerous areas ....



*NATO troops face huge challenges after taking command across Afghanistan *  
Yu Zhixiao & Zhang Haibo, Xinhua (CHN), via Reliefweb.net, 16 Dec 06
Article Link

NATO forces took command throughout Afghanistan in 2006, which analysts say has thrown the military alliance into the most challenging combat mission in its 57-year history.  The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) assumed command in southern Afghanistan in July and took over the eastern region in October, thus completed its ambitious battle mission across this country.  However, after its expansion throughout Afghanistan, the 32,000- strong ISAF has suffered many new challenges like much higher fatalities, shortage of personnel and logistics, and inflexible movement of troops from some major countries.   "Certainly, the war on terror (in Afghanistan) has reached a much more difficult stage at the present, and it seems that NATO forces are feeling more hazards and perils," local Outlook newspaper observed in a recent article.  As hotbeds of Taliban militants, southern and eastern Afghanistan is much more perilous than other regions.  For example, about 40 British soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion late 2001, while 36 of them were killed since Britain's deployment to the volatile southern Helmand province as part of ISAF in July this year.   Canadian troops, which are stationed in the southern Kandahar province, suffered as high as about 30 fatalities since July, which has made more Canadian voters call for the forces' withdrawal ....



*Taliban fought in vain on hill*
Kevin Maurer, Fayetteville Observer, 17 Dec 06
Article Link

Maybe history will record it as the battle for Sperwan Ghar.  Or maybe, like much of the continuing fight for Afghanistan, it will be little noted or remembered, except by the Fort Bragg Special Forces soldiers and other coalition forces who fought in it.  They know it as one of the biggest battles of the war, part of a monthlong clash with a resurgent Taliban in September.  About 900 Taliban fighters died in the month, during what was dubbed Operation Medusa. Soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group, the Canadian army and Afghan forces battled insurgents, who decided to stand and fight. Bigger clashes have become more common — U.S. Army spokesman Clifford Richardson said that more than 2,000 Taliban deaths have been confirmed in just the last four months.  Fort Bragg Special Forces soldiers, who talked about the battle on condition that their names not be used for security reasons, said growing violence demonstrates that the Taliban still has the will and the ability to mount a fight ....



*Bricks and blankets as good as bullets in Afghan conflict*
Nick Allen, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

Zerok, eastern Afghanistan - While the Afghan town of Naka is still heavily influenced by its former Taliban masters, neighbouring Zerok is cited as an example of positive change as international forces strive toward reconstruction as well as military success.  In the last year, US soldiers built a school in this small mountain community in the eastern province of Paktika, and funds donated by the US government, USAID and NGOs enabled the resurrection of its hospital, installation of street lights and reinforcement of an Afghan police compound.   By 2012, a new 100-million-dollar paved road is due to pass nearby, linking Afghanistan's main north-south highway with the Pakistani seaport of Karachi and boosting trade and the quality of life for a region that until recently was virtually trapped in the Middle Ages.   All of this unfolds under the protection of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) stationed in Paktika to prevent the resurgence of the ousted Taliban. No one expects it to be an easy process ....


----------



## GAP (18 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 18 December 2006*


Blast hits NATO convoy in Afghanistan
Reuters Monday, December 18, 2006; 7:56 AM
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - An explosion struck a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan on Monday, wounding two soldiers, witnesses and a NATO official said.

The blast occurred in a district of Kandahar province, a bastion of support for the Taliban when the group emerged in the 1990s and the focus of militant attacks since they were driven from power in 2001.

Initial reports indicated two NATO soldiers were wounded and one vehicle was damaged in the blast, an alliance spokesman said.

Police at the scene said the attack was carried out by a suicide car bomber. A Taliban commander, Mulla Hayat Khan, said the insurgents carried out the attack
More on link

Senators meet with Canadian troops in Afghanistan   
Meagan Fitzpatrick Canadian Press Monday, December 18, 2006
Article Link

OTTAWA - A group of senators are in Afghanistan this week checking up on Canadian troops and hoping to spread some Christmas cheer.

“Meeting the troops at this time of year is one of the things we wanted to concentrate on and every Canadian should be terribly proud of what they’re doing,” Senator Michael Meighen told CTV’s Canada AM on Monday morning.

The senators arrived on Saturday and have so far spent their time meeting with troops on the base in Kandahar. They have also travelled outside the perimeter of the base to visit soldiers who work on the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).

The security situation has prevented them from visiting any of the actual reconstruction projects, the Conservative senator said. 

“Without a moment’s hesitation I can tell all Canadians that their morale is absolutely first class, they are doing a superb job by everybody’s account including people we’ve talked to from other nations,” Meighen said. “They’re happy, they’re busy and they are convinced, and I think they have reason to be convinced, that they are making progress in bringing an improved quality of life to this very troubled part of Afghanistan.”

Meighen sits on the Senate committee on national security and defence. In September, he and other members of the committee tried to visit Afghanistan while they were on a trip to England, the Netherlands and Dubai but they ended up stuck in Dubai for six days racking up a $30,000 hotel bill. 

That angered Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton, who blasted the senators for not cancelling the trip after being told by defence officials, including Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of the defence staff, that they couldn’t enter Afghanistan because of military operations. The entire trip cost $150,000.

The current visit comes at the start of a major new offensive aimed at defeating the Taliban in the Panjwaii and Zhari district in the south of Afghanistan.
End


Four suspected insurgents killed, 3 coalition troops wounded in Afghanistan
Canadian Press Monday, December 18, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S.-led coalition troops clashed with suspected militants in southern Afghanistan, leaving four insurgents dead and three soldiers wounded, a statement said Monday. 

The troops, operating alongside the Afghan army, called in airstrikes during Sunday's clash in Kandahar province's Sperwan Ghar district. They also seized weapons caches containing mines and explosives, the statement said. 

The confrontation occurred as Canadian troops and NATO forces prepared for a major offensive against the Taliban in the Panjwaii district, also in southern Afghanistan. The forward operating base in Panjwaii was a beehive of activity Sunday with troops stocking up on ammunition and mechanics doing last minute tuneups before the light armoured vehicles and tanks began rolling. 

In the east of the country, U.S.-led and Afghan troops early Monday detained 10 suspected insurgents, including "a known transporter of weapons and explosives" with links to movements of foreign fighters in the region, a coalition statement said. It did not identify any of the suspects. 
More on link

Active Apaches in Afghanistan
December 18, 2006
Article Link

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Philip Learn, and his co-pilot, Captain Brian Hummel, were recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroics a year ago in Afghanistan. But there's a lot more to it than that.  

The two were flying an AH-64 Apache gunship at the time, escorting two CH-47 transport helicopters near Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. One of the CH-47's took some ground fire, was damaged, but managed to land. Then the 34 troops on the CH-47 found themselves under fire from a large group of Taliban gunmen in the area. So Learn and Hummel took their AH-64 in low and basically shot it out with the Taliban, killing and wounding many, and forcing the rest to leave the area. At times, the AH-64 was exchanging fire with over a dozen Taliban, who were armed with assault rifles, machine-guns and PRGs. 
More on link



US and allies are losing the war in Afghanistan 
By Patrick Seale, Special to Gulf News
Article Link

A few days ago, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan wept openly on national television. His tears were for Afghan children killed in America's war against the Taliban and for his inability to protect them. The mounting civilian death toll is rapidly eroding his popular support. 

Karzai puts the blame squarely on neighbouring Pakistan, which he accuses of supporting the Taliban. "Pakistan wants to make slaves of us," he declared, "but we will not surrender!"

Clearly, the reconciliation between Karzai and Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf, which President George W. Bush tried to bring about at a White House dinner last September, is now a thing of the past.

Western intelligence agencies confirm that Pakistan continues to provide sanctuary for Taliban fighters in the tribal agencies flanking the Afghan border. Pakistan's military intelligence service, the ISI, is said to funnel money to the Taliban and to the tribal agencies to keep them under a semblance of control. Pakistan has also not been particularly active against Al Qaida.
More on link

Rural soldiers more likely to die in Iraq, Afghanistan
Associated Press WICHITA, Kan.
Article Link

Christopher Wasser was like a lot of soldiers from rural areas.

The Ottawa native saw the military as a way to pay for college, said his mother, Candy Wasser.

Wasser joined the Marine Corps in 2001 and was among the first to invade Iraq two years later.

On a second deployment there in April 2004, he gained another common characteristic for rural soldiers. He was killed, dying from shrapnel wounds in Anbar Province.

According to a study released last month by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, the death rate per million population aged 18 to 54 was 60 percent higher for soldiers from rural areas compared with those from urban areas or the suburbs.

In Kansas, 29 of the 42 soldiers who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan hailed from rural communities.

Researchers said the higher death rate is linked to higher enlistment because of smaller job opportunities in rural areas. That means combat deaths are felt more keenly in rural parts of the country.

"For a lot of small towns and rural communities, the war's not abstract," said Dee Davis, president of the Kentucky-based Center for Rural Strategies. "In rural America, people know who's actually fighting."

Davis said his group did a survey before the election that showed three-fourths of rural respondents said they knew someone fighting overseas
More on link

Newfoundland comic Mary Walsh takes her dark comedy to Afghanistan
December 18, 2006 - 16:58
Article Link

TORONTO (CP) - Newfoundland comic Mary Walsh is heading to Kandahar to entertain the troops.

The sharp-tongued comedienne is taking her film "Young Triffie" to Afghanistan for a special holiday screening with the Canadian Forces. The dark comedy is set in 1947 Newfoundland and stars Fred Ewanuick, Andrea Martin, Colin Mochrie and Remy Girard. Walsh and fellow Newfoundland comics Andy Jones and Cathy Jones also star

More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (18 Dec 2006)

Dutch troops involved in NATO operation in Kandahar
Radio Netherlands, Dec. 18
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/#5118457



> The Socialist Party and the Green Left party want Defence Minister Henk Kamp to clarify the Dutch involvement in a large-scale NATO operation in southern Afghanistan. Since Friday, hundreds of NATO soldiers in the province of Kandahar have been engaged in a major operation to push back the Taliban. The Dutch troops, who are stationed in the neighbouring province of Uruzgan, have been providing both air and ground support.
> 
> The two left-wing parties say this points to a further change to the original mission of the Dutch contingent, which was to focus fully on reconstruction work. The governing coalition parties, the Christian Democrats and the conservative VVD, say it is only natural that Dutch troops should come to the assistance of their allies in Afghanistan."



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (18 Dec 2006)

*Operation Baaz Tsuka moves into next phase  *  
Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

Canadian battle-group commander Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie declared on Monday it’s time to "get back to business" and again confront the Taliban.  With 150 soldiers from Charles Company, Royal Canadian Regiment gathered in a tight circle around him, Lavoie spelled out terms of their involvement in Operation Baaz Tsuka — the NATO mission underway in this traditional Taliban stronghold, 30-kilometres west of Kandahar city.  The new campaign follows Operation Medusa, a brutal, two-week offensive that unfolded here in September.  Operation Baaz Tsuka is intended to chase away the most committed insurgents, the so-called "Tier-One" Taliban, and to persuade local "Tier-Two" mercenaries to join the Afghan National Auxiliary Police (ANAP), a new regional security force, or to put down their weapons and pick up shovels ....


*Battle group commander rallies troops about to join offensive against Taliban  * 
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

Canadian troops poised to join a new offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan were told by their commander Monday that they've had success in the past and will again in the current operation.  In a speech to troops at Forward Operating Base Zettlemeyer, Battle Group commander Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie told members of Charles Company that the current offensive in Kandahar province would attempt what he called a soft approach.  But Lavoie said the combined NATO and Afghan National Army forces mounting Operation Baaz Tsuka (Falcon Summit in the Afghan language) will do what is necessary to succeed.  "As we move into this next operation, again, we're hoping to do it less kinetic than we did in Medusa," Lavoie said of last September's offensive in the Panjwaii area.  ". . . We're going to go in as soft as possible but hard as necessary if they want to make it hard on us," Lavoie told about 170 soldiers gathered for a promotion ceremony.  "Keep it up and I look forward to seeing you out there," Lavoie said.  Four members of Charles Company were promoted in the short ceremony held a site Lavoie called appropriate.  "On ground 4 1/2 months ago the Taliban thought they owned . . . Charles Company proved they maybe were renting it for a little while and they got evicted the hard way," Lavoie said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*‘Mulla Omar in Kandahar’*
Khalid Hasan, Daily Times (PAK), 19 Dec 06
Article Link

A Pakistan embassy spokesman has refuted the claim that the Taliban have a “command and control structure operating on Pakistan territory, in and around the city of Quetta”.  In a letter to Baltimore Sun, embassy press minister M Akram Shaheedi writes: “This is not true because Mulla Muhammed Omar and his Taliban commanders are in Kandahar, their home district and the base of the Taliban. They command considerable support from the local population there. They could not hide in Quetta because Pakistan’s intelligence and security network is very effective. The presence of the Taliban leadership could not go unnoticed there. It should also be mentioned here that a UN Security Council report released in August clearly states that the centre of gravity of the Taliban movement is in Afghanistan. According to the United Nations: ‘The insurgency is being conducted mostly by Afghans operating inside Afghanistan’s borders.’”



*Senators meet with Canadian troops in Afghanistan*
Meagan Fitzpatrick, CanWest News Service, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

A group of senators are in Afghanistan this week checking up on Canadian troops and hoping to spread some Christmas cheer.  “Meeting the troops at this time of year is one of the things we wanted to concentrate on and every Canadian should be terribly proud of what they’re doing,” Senator Michael Meighen told CTV’s Canada AM on Monday morning.  The senators arrived on Saturday and have so far spent their time meeting with troops on the base in Kandahar. They have also travelled outside the perimeter of the base to visit soldiers who work on the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT).  The security situation has prevented them from visiting any of the actual reconstruction projects, the Conservative senator said.  “Without a moment’s hesitation I can tell all Canadians that their morale is absolutely first class, they are doing a superb job by everybody’s account including people we’ve talked to from other nations,” Meighen said. “They’re happy, they’re busy and they are convinced, and I think they have reason to be convinced, that they are making progress in bringing an improved quality of life to this very troubled part of Afghanistan.” ....



*Taliban Plans 'Takeover' by 2010 *  
The Media Line, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

The Taliban organization has set the year 2010 as its deadline for the complete takeover of Afghanistan, an intelligence source revealed, according to the Pakistani daily The Nation.  The organization is launching an average of 600 attacks against NATO and Afghani troops every month, the paper estimated.  Over 50,000 Taliban and Al-Qa'ida fighters are spread around the southern regions of Afghanistan, intelligence officers told The Nation. Thousands of Taliban fighters, who went underground following the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, have now resurfaced, the sources said.  "They now have 2010 in their minds as the deadline to reoccupy the Afghan lands that they lost after the United States attacked Afghanistan in pursuit of Al-Qa'ida," the sources explained.  The Taliban are successful in recruiting more people to their ranks, who see President Hamid Karazai's regime as corrupt and too slow in bringing security to the remote areas of the country, the sources added ....



*Kabul arrests army general for spying *  
Agence France Presse, via The Penninsula, 19 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghan intelligence agents have arrested an army general on charges of spying for Pakistan, officials said yesterday, fuelling a row over Islamabad’s alleged attempts to destabilise its western neighbour.  General Khair Mohammad was detained within the past week after he was found to be selling information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the press office of the Afghan national intelligence agency said.  “We’ve arrested Khair Mohammad over an act of treason against his country and working for Pakistan’s ISI,” an intelligence agency spokesman said on condition of anonymity.  “Mohammad has confessed to working for ISI and has met ISI officers in Peshawar three times,” the official added, referring to Pakistan’s main northwestern city near the Afghan border ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (19 Dec 2006)

*Taliban execute 26 male Afghans *  
Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service, 19 Dec 06
Article Link

Coalition sources tell CanWest News Service 26 male Afghans were executed by Taliban in Panjwaii District on Monday, and their headless bodies hanged for public display in an effort dissuade local people from cooperating with NATO soldiers.  The executions occurred in and around the village of Talukan, south of the Arghandab River. Four bodies were hanged beside a religious shrine. Another 22 corpses were scattered around the area.  Warning notes were pinned to the headless corpses, advising any Afghan who assists coalition forces now mounting a major military campaign in Panjwaii District will meet the same fate ....



*Senators visiting troops in Afghanistan*
CBC.ca, 18 Dec 06
Article Link

Members of a Canadian Senate committee who came under heavy criticism following an aborted trip to Afghanistan last September have arrived in the country on a fact-finding mission.  Members of the Senate defence committee said the trip is the only way to appreciate the challenges and difficulties of the mission and to hear from villagers about what's actually going on.  The committee's attempted trip last September sparked controversy and accusations of misspending.  Five senators from the committee were set to travel to Afghanistan on a fact-finding mission after stops in London, Rotterdam and Dubai. However, they were stranded in a Dubai hotel after military commanders told them it was too dangerous to continue ....



*Medicine Woman*
'What matters is how you deal with the fear,' medic says of life in war zone
Doug Beazley, Sun Media, 19 Dec 06
Article Link

After weeks of working the medical station at Kandahar Airfield, screening flu cases and sore throats, what Cpl. Veronica Jobin wanted most was to be in the field, "in the action."  She got her wish. Her superiors threw her in the deep end of the ocean when, during the last two weeks of September, she was transferred to Canadian Patrol Base Wilson, 4 km north of the Arghandab River -- smack in the middle of Operation Medusa, the largest military operation in NATO history.  "I remember one soldier, he had an open leg fracture. That means the bones were shattered and sticking through the skin," said Jobin, her face blanching slightly at the memory.  "He was conscious, which is always good. Unconscious means he might swallow his tongue and stop breathing. This guy was breathing, all right -- he wouldn't stop screaming.  "But he was really, really brave. Everyone is scared, you know. What matters is how you deal with the fear, how you push through." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban suicide attack and UK ISAF firing upon Afghan civilians, 03 December 2006, Kandahar*
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) news release, 18 Dec 06
Article Link (.pdf)

 .... UNAMA verification of the suicide attack and subsequent shooting of Afghan civilians in Kandahar city has found significant grounds for concern. UNAMA welcomes the UK ISAF investigation and sharing of their findings. However the impact of the suicide attack and ISAF’s reaction on 03 December raises some key issues, namely:
- Violation of the principles of international humanitarian law committed by the suicide attacker(s);
- Community perception of a lack of restraint and care demonstrated by ISAF through this incident; and deterioration of NATO/ISAF’s ‘popularity’ following the killing of civilians in this and other incidents and the possible fuelling of anti-international community sentiment by agitators;
- Discrepancy between the NATO/ISAF explanation and other information received by UNAMA regarding the number of fatalities and wounded caused by UK ISAF;
- The slow pace of investigation by the Afghan government into this and previous suicide attacks;
- Increased risk to civilians due to frequent insurgent attacks with disregard for the civilian population.
- Increasing number of incidents in which NATO/ISAF has fired at civilians who have strayed too close to traveling convoys ....



*Peace Jirga may bring calm to region: Afghan experts *  
Pajhwok News (AFG), 17 Dec 06
Article Link

Experts Sunday believed the peace Jirga between Afghanistan and Pakistan would be beneficial to peace and stability in the region.  A number of observers discussed in a meeting here different dimensions, benefits and effects of the peace Jirga. Some of the experts said the Pakistan readiness for holding talks with Afghanistan showed Islamabad had its realised wrong policy towards Afghanistan.  Sediqullah Chakari, a participant of the meeting, said: "If the Jirga is succeeded or failed, Afghans will be victorious in both cases, because Pakistan's readiness for talks shows it has admitted its meddling in Afghanistan internal issues."   Esmat Elahi, a teacher of Journalism Department at Kabul University, said holding such a meeting would be important for defusing the current Pak-Afghan tension.   "In the past, Afghanistan was ignored in everything, but now the world community pays great attention to Afghan problems, and the Jirga could be a key solution to the crisis," Esmat added ....



*High-level meeting discusses poppy eradication*
Pajhwok News (AFG), 17 Dec 06
Article Link

Governors from 11 poppy growing provinces gathered here on Sunday to discuss plans for eradication of poppies in their respective provinces with officials of the ministries of Interior and Counter-Narcotics.  They included governors from Balkh, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Farah, Ghor, Uruzgan, Zabul, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul, and Helmand provinces.  The governors informed the Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbil and Minister for Counter-Narcotics Habibullah Qadiri about the fresh situation in their respective areas and presented strategies to eradicate the banned crop.  Speaking on the occasion, the Interior Minister said the government was expanding its efforts to eradicate poppies and destroy the opium industry which is harming the country.  During the meeting, the governors were informed that eradication of opium poppies was mainly their responsibility while the central government would provide them support and guidance.  They were told that any official found involved in corruption or taking bribery, would be dismissed from service and would be liable to legal action, said a press release issued here.  The meeting was told that no compensation would be paid to farmers for eradication. Poppy cultivation is illegal under the law and farmers whose farms had been destroyed by the law-enforcement officials would get no compensation, said the ministers ....



*Bollywood black comedy muses on role of Taliban *  
Krittivas Mukherjee, Reuters, 19 Dec 06
Article Link

From the blood-thirsty to the philosophical, the militant Taliban movement is cast in many roles in a new Bollywood film about war-ravaged Afghanistan.  The makers of "Kabul Express," which charts a 48-hour journey of three journalists, stress the film does not preach politics, but its satirical narrative often takes the United States and the Taliban to task for the miseries of ordinary Afghans.  The film opened to mixed reviews last week, with some calling it a muddled political documentary while others welcomed its insights into post-Taliban Afghan society.  "Kabul Express is not a documentary at all. It's a proper film -- a thriller to be precise -- that dares to tackle a difficult and different theme," leading Bollywood critic Taran Adarsh told Reuters ....


----------



## GAP (19 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 19 December 2006*

Construction more Deadly than Combat  
19 December 2006
Article Link

It sometimes takes time to expose falacious arguements. In the combat versus reconstruction (construction) debate, it has taken a bit of time to expose the truth, but we finally have some very compelling evidence that the Jack Layton/progressive mantra of "construct don't destruct" has a sinister side.

In a John Turley-ewart op-ed for the National Post, it becomes clear that "construction" is more deadly than combat. I've argued long and hard that the touchie-feely approach puts our troops at greatest risk because they are forced into a passive possition ... sitting ducks as it were. Turley-ewart has put statistics to my premise:

Of our 44 fallen soldiers, five died in friendly fire incidents, five in accidents, 12 in combat and, 22 were felled by terrorists when on patrols providing security in support of reconstruction efforts. Put another way, only 27% of Canadian fatalities in Afghanistan are the result of combat with enemy insurgents.
More on link

Afghanistan 'holds Pakistani spy'   
Article Link

Afghanistan blames Pakistan for Taleban attacks 
Afghanistan says it has arrested a Pakistani intelligence agent who acted as a key link with al-Qaeda leaders. 
Presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi said the agent had been detained in eastern Kunar province carrying documents which proved his guilt. 

The news came a day after intelligence officials said an Afghan general had been arrested for spying for Pakistan. 

Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for cross-border attacks by the Taleban. Islamabad denies the charges. 

'Bin Laden escort' 

Mr Karimi named the man arrested as Sayed Akbar, who he said worked for Pakistan's controversial Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. 
More on link

Laughter, outrage and a call to battle
Canadians find their way amid the noise of what may be the craziest little battleground on the planet, 
 CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

PANJWAI, AFGHANISTAN — It is perhaps the craziest little battleground on the planet.

In one corner of it yesterday, Canadian Sergeant Nathan Ronaldson sat cross-legged on a carpet for almost three hours with about 15 grape-growers engaged in the insane negotiations that are the norm in this country -- all theatre, with the actors variously feigning outrage and storming out of the joint, then making jokes and roaring with laughter.

At one point in the series of such meetings, which have stretched over at least a month and show no sign of coming to a halt, Sgt. Ronaldson, a dimpled reservist with the 48th Highlanders in Toronto, actually had his Afghan interpreter carefully translate "greedy prick" into Pashto.

Yesterday, Sgt. Ronaldson was content merely to tell the farmers, who are seeking (and getting, though not as much as they want) compensation from the Canadians for grape vines that were destroyed during the building of a security road, "You let your wallets control your heads." Haji Agha Lalai, a local leader, acidly replied with a brief harangue on the importance of land to Afghans such that there is an ironic saying here that the man who sells his property "has sold his father's bones."

"If you asked me if that was a success," Sgt. Ronaldson, an emergency room nurse by training, said with a wry grin afterward, "I'd say yes. If you asked me what happened, I'd say absolutely nothing."

In another corner, just one small hill and less than a dusty kilometre away, the soldiers of 1st Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, were "getting ready to launch back on operations and back to do the business," as Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie put it at a promotion ceremony, and join other NATO forces in Operation Baaz Tsuka -- in English, Falcon's Summit.

That operation, still somewhat cloaked in secrecy, started last weekend with a leaflet drop aimed at persuading part-time Taliban to lay down their bombs and arms and is optimistically intended to be what the military calls a "less kinetic" mission -- that is, with less fighting.

Thus far, to judge both by the minimal information released yesterday by NATO and by unconfirmed reports from a local source considered reliable, the operation appears to be heading in the right direction.

The source said that NATO and Afghan National Army forces moved almost 10 kilometres southwest yesterday, as far as Kosh Tak, and that women and children were seen leaving the tiny villages in cars and on motorcycles -- the usual indicator of the Taliban preparing to do battle, and that although there was some fighting, the bulk of the insurgents instead made a tactical retreat to a nearby stronghold.

In addition, the source said, nine Taliban commanders meeting two nights ago in a keshmeshkhanu, or grape-drying hut, were killed in a NATO air strike. The report, which couldn't be confirmed, said that four of the Taliban leaders were senior commanders.

Thus, in one corner of the battleground, reports of actual warfare; in another, meetings alternately jovial and tense but with all the principals knowing their roles and playing them as diligently as actors; in yet another, the soldiers of the infantry purring in the warm winter sun and waiting, with that mix of dread and anticipation which only the combat-hardened know, the call to battle -- or as Private Daniel Rosati, a 27-year-old Light Armoured Vehicle gunner from Woodbridge, Ont., who has seen plenty of action, put it, "Part of you wants it, part of you doesn't."

And over this one small slice of the volatile south that is Canada's area of operations, up and down the gorgeous Arghandab River valley and in the small mud-walled villages dotted throughout it, were the clashing noises that make up the soundtrack of modern Afghanistan -- choppers circling in the air over forward operating bases as the muezzin attempts to call the faithful to prayer, the groans of construction vehicles involved in the building of the new road vying with the occasional boom of test fires or flares that briefly light up the black night skies, the roar of planes over the omnipresent crunch of boots on the gravel that covers the ground of the makeshift bases.

Playing what could be a vital role in Operation Baaz Tsuka is the newest, smallest and least well known of Afghan security forces, the fledgling Afghan National Auxiliary Police, or ANAP.

The brainchild of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and thus grounded in hard-nosed local pragmatism, the ANAP is the honey in what NATO hopes is its trap -- a practical way of legitimizing and taking advantage of the violent Afghan culture, recently honed to a sharp edge in more than three decades of war, insurgency and occupation but centuries old for all that, of being armed to the teeth and protecting what's yours.

The ANAP, as Canadian Brigadier-General Tim Grant told reporters yesterday, is part of NATO's effort to persuade local elders to "take responsibility for their own security." Ideally, what these young men, armed as they likely would be in any case but trained to a veneer of professionalism by Canadian Military Police for two weeks, will do is help villagers give hard-line Taliban the boot and keep them at bay.

"Canada is very intimately involved in training them," Brig.-Gen. Grant said. "We're trying to encourage village elders to have their sons enroll in the ANAP." The hope is that the young auxiliary policemen could be involved in protecting their villages, and would be less susceptible to recruitment from the Taliban.

Mr. Karzai spoke to 100 Panjwai elders last week, Brig.-Gen. Grant said, encouraging them to encourage their young men to join the ANAP. The elders were receptive, he said, if for no other reason than the people of the area are weary of fighting and tired of bunking in with friends and relatives or at the displaced persons camps that have recently sprung up during the fighting that has gone on here since July. The first ANAP classes graduated just last month.

But if all is relatively calm thus far, as Brig.-Gen. Grant reminded his listeners yesterday, "Only time will tell. The enemy has a vote in all of this."

And the enemy is smart and vicious: The Globe and Mail's local source reported that the Taliban yesterday hanged an alleged spy from a tree. As Master Corporal Max Smith, the RCR's own unofficial soldier poet, wrote in Fallen Comrades, "In the face of an enemy that is more like a ghost. But in this place, they are the host."

cblatchford@globeandmail.com
End


----------



## GAP (20 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 20 December 2006*

*Harper says it would be “completely irresponsible” to reduce Afghan mission*  
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to members of regional chambers of commerce in Saguenay, Que., Monday. 
Mark Kennedy, CanWest News Service Published: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 
Article Link


OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he could not live with himself if he reduced Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan to further his own political self-interest and that he’s even prepared to lose the next election if it means standing by the military.

Harper made the comments Tuesday in a candid year-end interview, conducted with CanWest News Service in his Parliament Hill office. 

His remarks stand out as his strongest defence for his government’s military policy since he came to office nearly a year ago.

Since then, dozens of soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan, and the opposition parties have insisted the government put less emphasis on the military’s combat mission in that country - with even the Bloc Quebecois hinting it might try to topple the government over the issue in Parliament this winter.

But Harper told CanWest News Service this political pressure will have no influence on his decisions.

“I don’t feel pressure by threats from the Liberals or NDP or Bloc to bring me down,” he said.

“If ultimately I were brought down on that, and even defeated on that, I can live with myself. I could not live with myself making a decision on Canada’s role in the world and our strategic and defence interests if I knew I had done that for political reasons that were the wrong reasons. That I could not live with.”
More on link

*How a bad day turned so much worse  * 
The weary members of Charles Company won't soon forget the events of Oct. 14 near Kandahar. CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD explains why 
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

PANJWAI, AFGHANISTAN — To the harrowing book the soldiers of Charles Company, 1st Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, are writing in southern Afghanistan comes another chapter, as terrible and as stirring as the others, but not yet told.

It is Charles Company that saw death and injury cut its numbers by a third in the battles that have raged off and on in the volatile district of Panjwai.

The company lost four men Sept. 3 and, with soldiers still reeling, was accidentally strafed the next day at Masum Ghar in a friendly-fire incident that saw Private Mark Graham killed and 38 others injured, including Major Matthew Sprague, the officer commanding, and much of the senior leadership.

No sooner had Charles arrived in Afghanistan in August, in other words, than they were in tatters.
More on link

Gung-ho soldiers heading for Afghanistan Chris Morris, Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, December 20, 2006  CFB GAGETOWN 
Article Link

 Some of Canada's politicians may be having second thoughts, but soldiers preparing for the next deployment to Afghanistan say they're not only ready to go, they're gung-ho.

Intensive training of about 2,200 fresh troops, many of them from Atlantic Canada, is virtually complete and the soldiers will be spending a lengthy Christmas break with their families before heading to Afghanistan early in the new year.

They will be replacing soldiers who have endured a gruelling and grim tour of duty as the Taliban-led insurgency has intensified its attacks against the NATO mission to restore peace and order in the central Asian country.

Nearly 4,000 people were killed in Afghan violence in 2006, including 37 Canadians. It was the bloodiest period since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001. 

Despite the bloodshed, soldiers at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in southern New Brunswick say they are prepared and confident about facing the danger.

"In my opinion, I think we are the best prepared battle group that Canada has sent into Afghanistan thus far," says Lt.-Col. Robert Walker, who will assume command of the 1,100-strong Second Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment battle group in Kandahar province.

"A lot of it is because of the hard work that has been done by the battle groups that have gone before us."

Walker says that each battle group builds on the experiences of those who have gone before, and the knowledge gained from the most recent rotation has been considerable.

"We have a lessons-learned process," he says. "Anytime there is an incident we look at what was done and we make refinements as to how we train and respond to certain situations."

Training at Gagetown and at CFB Wainwright, Alta., included live-fire exercises, role-playing involving actors pretending to be insurgents and Afghan-Canadians who spoke only in their native languages. 

As well, attention was paid to dealing with the threat of booby traps, or improvised explosive devices, which play havoc with vehicles and soldiers on foot. 

"It's going to be a challenge," admits Master Cpl. Marcel Hebert, 43, of Bathurst, N.B. 
"But we're prepared for it. We've got the equipment, we've got the people."

Commanders at CFB Gagetown say the troops feel they have broad support from Canadians for their efforts in Afghanistan.

Col. Ryan Jestin, the base commander, says the political debate over Canadian involvement in Afghanistan does not distract or discourage the soldiers. 

"We're soldiers and everyone of us has a job to do and we do what we're asked to do," Jestin says. 

"The government has told us we have a mission to do over there. We have taken that mission, we have taken the equipment we need and the training we need to get the guys ready. The soldiers feel very comfortable that they are making a significant difference."

The federal Conservatives are feeling political heat about staying the course in Afghanistan. 

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe has threatened to topple the minority Conservative government unless the Afghan mission is redefined. 

The NDP has called for a flat withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, while the Liberals, who originally dispatched the troops there, have been divided about the mission.

Despite the uncertainties in Ottawa, soldiers in the field say they are ready and willing to carry on. 

"Our goal is to go help the legally recognized government," says Cpl. Mackenzie Landry, who is based at Gagetown.

"It's a just cause to be able to go out and stabilize the country. We're really looking forward to it." 

About 2,500 Canadian troops are currently serving in southern Kandahar province, the site of a massive new anti-Taliban offensive called Operation Baaz Tsuka. 

Forty-four Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

Task Force Afghanistan III, built around the Royal Canadian Regiment battle group from Gagetown, consists of approximately 2,200 soldiers from units across Atlantic Canada, CFB Petawawa in Ontario, and CFB Edmonton. 

The deployment will begin in late January.
End

Canada's bloody year in Afghanistan reshapes military and the country's image
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press Wednesday, December 20, 2006 OTTAWA (CP)
Article Link

Time was not so very long ago that Canada's military contribution to the international community was uncharitably compared to a restaurant dine and dash. 

The country's malaise was neatly captured a few years ago by John Manley, former Liberal foreign affairs minister: "You can't sit at the G8 table, and go to the washroom when the cheque comes." 

Rightly or wrongly, there was a perception that the country did not pull its weight, either in defence dollars spent - or lives laid on the line. 

If anything, 2006 will be remembered both at home and overseas as a year when Canada picked up the tab, paying its bill with the blood and sweat of its soldiers, and often with the tears of their families. 

Since deploying in February to southern Afghanistan, 2,500 Canadian troops have for the first time since the Korean War been engaged in almost continuous combat operations. 

The often desperate desert battles and the country's willingness to sustain casualties has had a cleansing effect on the psyche of the Canadian military and the country as a whole after nearly two decades of neglect, said a noted historian. 

Standing firm in Kandahar, the last redoubt of the brutal, former Taliban regime, has "re-established that this is a country that has teeth," said Jack Granatstein. 

"We really were freeloaders for a long time. The rest of the world was more than a little fed up with us." 
More on link

NATO forces kill 50 militants in Afghanistan  
Article Link 

KABUL: NATO-led and Afghan forces have killed around 50 Taliban insurgents in a fresh anti-militant sweep in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Wednesday.

Operation "Baaz Tsuka" (Falcon's Summit) was launched last Friday by hundreds of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan troops in the Panjwayi and Zhare districts of Kandahar province. 

"We have cleared one large and two small villages of Taliban. We have killed about 50 Taliban," NATO spokesman Brigadier Richard Nugee told a press conference in Kabul. 

The spokesman said there had been no Afghan army or NATO casualties during the operation 
End

Afghanistan frees 10 Pakistanis arrested for illegal entry
The Associated PressPublished: December 20, 2006
Article Link

QUETTA, Pakistan: Afghan authorities released 10 Pakistanis on Wednesday, a day after detaining them for crossing into Afghanistan by mistake, officials said.

Pakistani tribal elders and government officials received the 10 men from Afghan officials at Badini, a border crossing along the Afghan-Pakistan border, said Ahsanullah Baluch, a government official.

The 10 men were arrested late Tuesday in a mountainous region where the two countries' border is not demarcated, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Quetta, said Abdul Raziq Bugti, spokesman for the government of Baluchistan province of which Quetta is the capital.

Five of the Pakistanis were off-duty border guards while the other five were civilians from Pakistan's Tarkha area. The men crossed into Afghanistan while cutting fire wood in a mountain forest, Bugti said.

Baluchistan, Pakistan's southwestern province, has a long porous border with Afghanistan that straddles rugged mountains and desert regions.
More on link

The Afghanistan Study Group
DECEMBER 20, 2006 BY TED RALL
Article Link


We still need you, James Baker III!

NEW YORK--It took a blue-ribbon commission of boldfaced white people with zero expertise to convince us that our war against Iraq was unwinnable. "When we act, we create our own reality," a Bush aide said in '04. Thank God the truth is out: reality creates itself. 

OK, so we're half a million lives and half a trillion dollars short, and pointing to the midterm elections as proof that the system works would go way too far, but let's take a collective national bow. We get it. 

Finally, the U.S. is of one mind about Iraq. In the new reality-based reality, the difference between anti-war radicals and rabid neocon warmongers is that the latter would rather wait 18 months--as opposed to, say, an hour from now--before getting the hell out. Only 9 percent of the public still thinks we can pound the resistance into submission, but who cares? Anyone that dumb is likely to die in some Darwin Award-nominated accident before he gets a chance to express another opinion. Now that we know what works, let's stop deluding ourselves about the other unwinnable war. That's right--it's time to create an Afghanistan Study Group. 

"Popular support for the central government is faltering, and Western military allies are deeply divided over how best to combat the [Afghan] insurgency," reports The Los Angeles Times. As in Iraq, the brutal and incompetent American occupation has unleashed and fed a violent and increasingly popular Islamist insurgency in Afghanistan. "On the other side of the fight, the Taliban has regained the strength to dominate large swaths of Afghanistan; government control is tenuous at best in at least 20 percent of the country." 
More on link

Small positive change dawns in Afghanistan  
Posted by admin on 2006/12/20 0:40:27  
Article Link

Zerok (Afghanistan), Dec 20 (DPA) While the Afghan town of Naka is still heavily influenced by its former Taliban masters, neighbouring Zerok is cited as an example of positive change as international forces strive toward reconstruction as well as military success.

Last year, US soldiers built a school in the eastern province of Paktika, and funds donated by the US government, USAID and NGOs enabled the resurrection of its hospital, installation of streetlights and reinforcement of an Afghan police compound.

By 2012, a new $100 million paved road is due to pass nearby, linking Afghanistan's main north-south highway with the Pakistani seaport of Karachi and boosting trade and the quality of life for a region that until recently was virtually trapped in the Middle Ages.

All of this unfolds under the protection of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) stationed in Paktika to prevent the resurgence of the ousted Taliban. No one expects it to be an easy process.

"The region has been locked in war for decades. It's relatively secluded from other parts of the country and has very little or no infrastructure, so we are basically starting from square one," said Captain Scott Sinclair of the US 10th Mountain Division, which currently patrols the area.
More on link

Chief of Afghanistan`s top opium province fired  
Wednesday December 20, 2006 (0246 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: The Afghan government has fired the governor of its biggest drug-producing province, a center of Taliban resistance that has seen some of the country`s heaviest fighting this year, officials said. 

Gov. Mohammad Daud of Helmand, the province that grows more than a third of the world`s opium, was replaced over the weekend. His successor is Asadullah Wafa, who previously served as the governor of Paktia and Kunar provinces, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. 

Opium production in Afghanistan rose 49 percent to 6,700 tons this year, enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. Helmand accounts for 42 percent of Afghanistan`s poppy crop, according to U.N. figures. 

Bashary said the appointment of Wafa would help increase security in Helmand, but Bashary insisted the increase in poppy cultivation had nothing to do with the change. 

A Western official in Kabul said Daud, who had been governor for about a year, was a "high-integrity guy" and said media reports claiming the United States wanted him replaced were false. The official asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
End

NATO falls short in Afghanistan: Nelson
Email Print Normal font Large font December 20, 2006 
Article Link

More NATO countries need to get their hands dirty in southern Afghanistan if the mission is to succeed, Australia and its allies say.

The eight coalition countries fighting in the south - Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, Romania, Denmark and Estonia - have met in London, setting up a joint group that will pressure more reticent nations to do more.

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said too many NATO countries had fallen short in their military commitment to Afghanistan.

Too many conditions were put on fighting the Taliban in the restive south and they were preferring to work in the north of the country where conditions are calmer.

The meeting in London was called by UK Defence Minister Des Browne for the purpose of making sure the eight countries combined in their lobbying efforts.
More on link

Outside View: Afghanistan needs help
By Obaid Younossi Dec 19, 2006, 
Article Link

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- The people of Afghanistan received good news recently when the leaders of the 26 nations in NATO issued a joint statement at their summit meeting that said: 'Contributing to peace and stability in Afghanistan is NATO`s key priority.' Unfortunately, those words alone won`t solve the myriad problems of Afghanistan. They must be followed by action.

In Afghanistan today, security is deteriorating as the Taliban step up attacks, the opium harvest is at all-time high, corruption permeates national and local governments, and reconstruction progress is slow in some places and non-existent in the others. Afghans are on the edge and sense of hope is beginning to fade.

The Taliban, flush with heroin money and foreign and local support, are using their radical ideology and cash to recruit disillusioned young men for suicide attacks and the murder of civilians. The Taliban promise the terrorists paradise and a wad of money for the families they leave behind. 

The majority of Afghans live in grinding poverty. Makeshift tent cities of recently returned refugees are erected around major cities. Only a few hours of electricity per week are available for the average Kabul resident.
More on link

Kamp denies 'dirty war' in Afghanistan  
19 December 2006
Article Link

AMSTERDAM — Defence Minister Henk Kamp angrily rounded on Tuesday on Socialist SP MP Harry Bommel who accused the Liberal VVD minister of involving the Netherlands in the "dirty war" in Afghanistan.

"This is impolite to the armed forces and the Cabinet. You should be ashamed. Who is dirty here if roadside bombs are laid that hit the population?" Kamp said.
  
Kamp was questioned by the SP and green-left GroenLinks over the military operation against the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, in which Dutch troops are involved.

Van Bommel said the Dutch mission in Afghanistan was sold as reconstruction, but claimed that war was now being waged.

Kamp said the operation involved incidental support from Dutch troops and that this was part of the agreement.
More on link


Canadians open fire, join NATO offensive against Taliban in Afghanistan
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press  Wednesday, December 20, 2006 
Article Link

 PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) - A half-hour barrage from Canadian artillery and armoured vehicles signalled Canada's entry Tuesday into the latest offensive against Taliban rebels in southern Afghanistan. 

A platoon of Light Armoured Vehicles and a troop of tanks rumbled out of one forward operating base in the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar city early in the afternoon. Fifteen minutes later, the sound of exploding artillery and tanks shells resounded through the air, mixed with the rat-a-tat of 50-calibre machine-gun fire. 

In the distance, plumes of smoke and clouds of dust reached into the sky against a backdrop of rugged mountains along a fertile river valley. 

NATO launched Operation Baaz Tsuka - Falcon Summit in the locally spoken Pashto language - late last week with the aim of driving Taliban fighters away from the Panjwaii and Zhari districts. The Canadians, who have been battling the Taliban in Panjwaii for months, were joining British, U.S. and Dutch troops in the new offensive. 

Morale among the Canadians was high. 

"It's a little sobering because they (the troops) understand what they can get into," Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant said after chatting with some soldiers. 

"But at the same time there's a steely determination in all of their eyes. If they have to go and become involved in close combat with the Taliban, they're more than willing to do that." 

While troops ready for battle in a number of Canadian forward operating bases in Panjwaii, members of the Civilian Military Co-operation group delivered medical supplies to people in the village of Bazar-e-Panjwaii
More on link

Painting lauds Air Guard heroics in Afghanistan
December 19, 2006 The Associated Press
Article Link

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The heroics of a Kentucky Air National Guardsman who helped save seven lives during a 17-hour firefight in Afghanistan won’t soon be forgotten.

A painting that features the bloody fight — including a depiction of Kentucky Air National Guard Master Sgt. Keary J. Miller helping a wounded comrade in battle — was unveiled Tuesday at the State Capitol.

Seven American soldiers lost their lives during the 2002 battle on a ridge on Afghanistan’s Takur Ghar mountain. “The Battle of Takur Ghar” painting that honors Miller will be displayed in Kentucky before heading to its permanent home at the Pentagon.
More on link


----------



## GAP (21 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 21 December 2006*

*Army's 'soft knock' greeted by eerie calm*
By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD  Thursday, December 21, 2006 
Article Link

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD recounts a strange day for Canadian and Afghan troops

HOWZ-E-MADAD, AFGHANISTAN -- It is early days yet, but Omer Lavoie may just get his wish.

The commanding officer of the Canadian battle group here wanted a "soft knock" out of NATO's Operation Baaz Tsuka (Falcon's Summit) and that's just the way it began here yesterday.

A massive convoy of hundreds of Canadian, Afghan National Army soldiers and Afghan National Police in armoured vehicles and tanks rolled into the village of Howz-e-Madad early yesterday without a shot being fired, and reports from other countries involved in the operation paint a broad picture of the Taliban offering very little resistance anywhere, although there are some unconfirmed reports that a group has holed up in the nearby village of Sangasar, just four kilometres to the southeast.

It may have been the weirdest "soft knock" ever.

Throughout the day, there were jarring moments -- virtually surrounded by tanks, Light Armoured Vehicles and heavily armed soldiers, two camels carrying dried marijuana plants crossed the valley; a man arrived with a corpse in his car looking for the village graveyard; some Howz-e-Madad residents turned up with fresh bread for the soldiers but adamantly refused to accept any money for it. Others posed for pictures and then giggled when photographers showed them the images, while still others glared at the foreigners, their anger evident.

For the Canadian combat team here, who have been fighting insurgents in southern Afghanistan since arriving last August, the calm that greeted them was almost unprecedented and even spooky.

Taking up secure positions on the wide Arghandab River plain, the Canadians swiftly walked up to meet the local ANP chief, whose men set up a bypass to divert regular traffic away from the area, and began preparing the ground to build a new vehicle checkpoint for the ANP.

Another contingent of Canucks, the CIMIC (for Civilian-Military Co-operation) from the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team office and headed by Chief Warrant Officer Frank Grattan, went in search of village elders for the ritualistic shura (consultation) that is a fixture of all Afghan governance.

A third group, combat engineers, soon moved into place waiting for the signal to start tearing down a small motorcycle repair shop and build a ramp for the checkpoint.

They were joined, as the sun was setting, by a British convoy of engineers, who worked through the night building the vehicle checkpoint and new dormitories for the ANP.

All of this calm, however short-lived, was days if not weeks in the co-ordination, with CIMIC officers and Major Matthew Sprague, the officer commanding for Charles Company, 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, spending hours beforehand making the necessary local contacts and sitting in endless shuras, without which almost nothing happens in Afghanistan.

At first, it seemed there might be no local elders to be found, but the village was not deserted, as Canadians have found so many other times and have learned to read as a signal that women and children have fled and the battle is on.

CWO Grattan beat the bushes a little, as did the local police, and soon enough a leader -- or a man identifying himself as one -- showed up, and promised to round up representatives of 60 families.

Astonishingly, although that fellow never reappeared, about 20 others, some wrapped in blankets against the chill, arrived at the appointed hour and CWO Grattan had his shura. Later, to a growing crowd, the CIMIC team delivered two shipping containers of what's called "material aid" to the elders -- shovels, picks, seeds, blankets, generators, fuel and other essentials. CWO Grattan gave the elders the keys to the containers, and his team left.

Major Sprague was delighted, but leery. "Forgive my cynicism," he said at one point. "But I've figured out, if it doesn't kill you, and something makes sense, it's probably from another country."

Wounded in the Sept. 4 friendly fire strafing that reduced much of his company to ruins, he has learned the hard way that in Afghanistan, what appears to be benign is often not, and that at the least, nothing is as it seems.

Telling friend from foe is the greatest challenge for the Canadians and their NATO partners: There simply are no guarantees, and as Major Sprague said, the common refrain that greeted the first Canadians to arrive here was that "there are no Taliban."

Even those who were displaced, such as Nama Tullah, the 25-year-old mechanic whose small mud, thatched-roof motorcycle repair store -- located right where the ANP district chief decided he wanted the checkpoint -- was eventually reduced to rubble by the engineers, seemed content. CWO Grattan led the negotiations with Mr. Tullah, promising Canadians would compensate him for the loss of his store -- about $1,000 was the figure Mr. Tullah was hoping for -- and he was given time to remove his simple tools and stock. He said through an interpreter that he hopes to open another store, perhaps in Kandahar, about 40 kilometres away.

As dusk fell, with the shocking speed that it does here, the Canadians were dug in to protected positions for the night.

This morning, they are planning to raise a glass -- a careful mix of dark rum, sugar and water -- in the traditional "Ortona" toast, named after one of the RCR's bloodiest battles of the Second World War, to celebrate their storied regiment's 123rd birthday.

So quiet was it yesterday that when Lt.-Col. Lavoie and Colonel John Vance, Commander of the 1st Canadian Brigade, arrived for a quick visit, and Lt.-Col. Lavoie asked whether the rum ration had been pushed forward yet, and was told it had not, he was able to grin and reply, "The . . . rum ration is the main effort now."

cblatchford@globeandmail.com 
End


Small positive change dawns in Afghanistan  
Thursday December 21, 2006 (0401 PST)
Article Link

Zerok: While the Afghan town of Naka is still heavily influenced by its former Taliban masters, neighbouring Zerok is cited as an example of positive change as international forces strive toward reconstruction as well as military success. 
Last year, US soldiers built a school in the eastern province of Paktika, and funds donated by the US government, USAID and NGOs enabled the resurrection of its hospital, installation of streetlights and reinforcement of an Afghan police compound. 

By 2012, a new $100 million paved road is due to pass nearby, linking Afghanistan's main north-south highway with the Pakistani seaport of Karachi and boosting trade and the quality of life for a region that until recently was virtually trapped in the Middle Ages. 

All of this unfolds under the protection of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) stationed in Paktika to prevent the resurgence of the ousted Taliban. No one expects it to be an easy process. 

"The region has been locked in war for decades. It's relatively secluded from other parts of the country and has very little or no infrastructure, so we are basically starting from square one," said Captain Scott Sinclair of the US 10th Mountain Division, which currently patrols the area. 

Unit commanders also monitor civilian projects and relay needs of communities up the chain of command so that funds get raised. This year around $25 million from US and NGO sources were invested in Paktika. 

This is just one region in a country that is still recovering from immense suffering and turmoil. Reconstruction and development in many areas has been slow and corrupt and has fed disillusionment of Afghans in their government
More on link



From Baghdad to Kabul  
Tuesday December 19, 2006 (1026 PST) a.stag@shaw.ca 
Article Link

There is now talk of de-escalation and slowly wrapping up US military operations in Baghdad as more and more of body bags keep on coming from Baghdad. The situation in Iraq has reached no win and no loss impasse with enough strain to call for guarded yet slow way out of non-conclusive war. 


There has been talk of moving the US troops from Iraq to Afghanistan with the assumption that it may be easier and safer for America to stay in Afghanistan and the US casualties may not be as big in Afghanistan as they are in Iraq. An other reason may be that Nato may be bolstered and there will be about a quarter million troops next door to Pakistan in Afghanistan.. 

For America, the presence in the region becomes more imperative as the main politico-military developments and energy related tug of wars are going to take place around Pakistan. America may want to keep eye on Shanghai accord as Russia and China appear to be pressing challenge to US super power status first time since the end of cold war. They have successfully taken out Iran related bites and are signing mega energy related contracts with Iran and between Russia and China. 

Iran is going to be pivotal to China for its reason to be future super power and its strategic functioning for preventing further tearing apart of whatever is left of Soviet Union. But Russia has bounced back somewhat and its vast gas and oil reserves and income from its energy sales has brought much revenues to prompt America say that Russia is a transitional power before China becomes super power. 
More on link

Separate roadside Afghan bomb attacks leave 7 dead, including 3 police
The Associated PressPublished: December 21, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan: Two roadside bombs exploded almost simultaneously Thursday in two separate parts of Afghanistan, killing three police officers and four civilians, officials said.

One of the bombs went off near a convoy of NATO troops and Afghan police in southern Khost province, killing three police officers and wounding two others, said Qasem Khan, a spokesman for the Khost provincial governor.

Khan said no NATO forces were wounded in the attack. NATO officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Another remote-controlled bomb in western Herat province killed four civilians — all men who were riding bicycles or walking in the area — and wounded six people, including border police commander Mohammad Ayub and his bodyguard, Herat police spokesman Noor Khan Nikzad said.

The bomb exploded near Herat airport just as Ayub's convoy was passing by, Nikzad said.
More on link



Pentagon seeks $99.7B for Iraq, Afghanistan
December 21, 2006 By Andrew Taylor Associated Press
Article Link

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon wants the White House to seek an additional $99.7 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to information provided to The Associated Press.
   
The military's request, if embraced by President Bush and approved by Congress, would boost this year's budget for those wars to about $170 billion.
Overall, the war in Iraq has cost about $350 billion. Combined with the conflict in Afghanistan and anti-terrorism efforts elsewhere, the cost has topped $500 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
The additional funds, if approved, would push this year's cost of the war in Iraq to about $50 billion over last year's record. In September, Congress approved an initial $70 billion for the current budget year, which began Oct. 1.
A description of the Pentagon request was provided by a person familiar with the proposal who asked for anonymity because the person was not authorized to release the information.
More on link

Ottawa to give $8.5 million in humanitarian support to Afghanistan
December 20, 2006 
Article Link

QUEBEC (CP) - Ottawa will give $8.5 million in humanitarian support to the poorest families in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan. 

International Co-operation Minister Josee Verner says the federal money will go to about 30,000 families. A total of $4.5 million will be given to UNICEF and $4 million to the United Nations' World Food Program. 

The UNICEF money will be used for tents, blankets and warm clothing, along with medical supplies and food for pregnant women and children. 

The food money will augment offerings to 31,000 families touched by the conflict and drought. 

The federal money is part of $1 billion over 10 years included in the Conservative budget for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. 
End

SDSU awarded contract to teaching English in Afghanistan  
By: North County Times wire services 
Article Link

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State University has been awarded a $2 million World Bank-funded contract to establish an English instruction and technology program in Afghanistan, officials announced today.

The contract, awarded through Afghanistan's Ministry of Higher Education, will be used to fund a three-year project at Nangarhar University in Jalalabad, according to SDSU.

SDSU will help train faculty in English language instruction, develop a four-year English language program, create an International Learning Center and expand information technology resources.

SDSU and Nangarhar University established a partnership in 2004 through the help of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club.

Private donations generated through the affiliation have helped build a computer lab, guest house and fund the creation of the International Learning Center at the Afghan university.
End

Afghanistan Experiences Worst Year Since Taliban Ouster
 December 21st 2006 by Editorial Staff
Article Link

As NATO took over the security of the whole of Afghanistan, the year 2006 was the bloodiest for the war-shattered country, with the greatest death toll since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. 

Over 3,900 people, including over 1,000 civilians, were killed in the militancy in 2006, four times the death toll of 2005. 

The US-led coalition forces invaded Afghanistan after Osama bin Laden was accused of masterminding the attacks on US cities on September 11, 2001. 

After a month of air operations, the Taliban government was toppled and the US stationed about 20,000 soldiers in the country to track down the remnants of the Taliban and their allies in the al- Qaeda network. 

Al-Qaeda's leaders Mullah Mohammad Omar and bin Laden are widely believed to be hiding in the tribal areas that lie between Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

March saw the first visit of US President George W Bush who said in Kabul that, five years down the line, he was still confident that bin Laden "will be brought to justice." 
More on link

Afghanistan frees 10 Pakistanis
By Our Correspondent
Article Link

QUETTA, Dec 20: Afghan authorities released 10 Pakistanis, including five levies men, on Wednesday, a day after detaining them for crossing into Afghanistan by mistake. Qila Saifullah district administration sources said Afghan officials in Badini border area had responded positively to Pakistani officials’ request for the men’s release as they had mistakenly crossed the border.

AP adds: Tribal elders and government officials received the men from Afghan officials at Badini border crossing, said an official.

The men were arrested late on Tuesday in a mountainous region where the border was not demarcated, said Abdul Raziq Bugti, spokesman for the Balochistan government.
End

No quick fix for Afghanistan amid stubborn insurgency, complex social rift
 Bill Graveland Canadian Press Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Afghanistan is surprisingly fragile for a country that seems so harsh and unforgiving. 

It is home to tough warriors who have fought against invading empires and among themselves for decades, if not centuries. From conflicts past and present, the nation has become a reservoir of battlefield smarts and deadly weapons both modern and archaic - leftovers from previous wars that are still quite capable of killing and maiming. 

Afghanistan is a country of extremes. 

The terrain ranges from rugged snow-covered mountains to deserts seared by blistering heat. Temperatures range from 60 degrees Celsius in the summer to minus 7 in the winter. 

*The country was once a cultural mecca astride the Middle East and Asia; a place of learning, a centre of art. * 

But now it faces decades of rebuilding
More on link

Pakistan wants end to criticism from Afghanistan
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri on Wednesday called for an end to criticism of the country from Afghanistan, and urged greater cooperation, coordination and intelligence sharing between Pakistan and Afghanistan to end illegal cross-border movement. 

In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel, Kasuri said, “We admit that the situation is difficult in Afghanistan and on the Pak-Afghan border, but this calls for greater cooperation, coordination and trust, not public insults and accusations,” he said. 

“It is essential that we maintain a level of trust and do not trade allegations publicly because that is a very important ingredient in trust building ... it is very simple if somebody attacks verbally – a response is very easy – all we have to do is wag our tongues, but it causes damage. Pakistan attaches too much importance to its relations with Afghanistan to indulge in verbal vitriol,” he added. Kasuri said Pakistan had maintained its cool, and “I don’t think any purpose will be served by our retaliating in a similar manner. The Pakistani government has shown a lot of patience.” 

The foreign minister also reiterated his government’s proposal to fence, mine and monitor the Pak-Afghan border. “Ironically, we face resistance to our suggestion of strengthening checks on cross-border movement,” he said. 

He said Pakistan had 97 check posts along the Pak-Afghan border, while there were only 23 or 24 posts on the other side. The foreign minister called for an increase in the number of posts on the other side. 
More on link



Pakistanis 'held in Afghanistan'   
Article Link

Afghan security forces briefly detained 10 Pakistanis who strayed across the border on Tuesday, Pakistan says. 
The 10 men, five of them soldiers, were gathering firewood, officials said. They returned to Balochistan province on Wednesday, the authorities said. 

There has been a sharp deterioration in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Kabul accusing Islamabad of supporting the Taleban. 

On Tuesday, Afghanistan said it had arrested a Pakistani "spy". 
End

*Afghanistan challenge*
Harper ready to stake job on Afghan commitment; As new operation against Taliban starts, Canada asked to stay the course
BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH AND TONDA MACCHARLES
Article Link

OTTAWA (Dec 20, 2006)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he won't be pressured into changing Canada's Afghanistan mission -- criticized as unbalanced -- even if it means the defeat of his government.

Faced with opposition parties demanding changes to the mission and a divided public, Harper was steadfast yesterday as he talked about Canadian troops who are making headway but still face "difficult" days and months ahead.

And he says it's the families of the slain troops -- 36 soldiers have been killed since he took office in February -- who have urged him to stay the course.

"I talk to virtually every family that's lost loved ones," Harper said yesterday.
More on link

Satire:  ;D *Bin Laden takes credit for Crocodile Hunter's death*
POSTED: 0312 GMT (1112 HKT), December 20, 2006 
Article Link

Millions worldwide were stunned by the September death of Steve Irwin, TV's Crocodile Hunter, and were further shocked by the release of a videotaped message from Osama bin Laden, in which the al-Qaeda leader took responsibility for the Australian wildlife enthusiast's death. 

"We have no compassion for those who exploit Allah's creation for their own gain and glory, and we will continue to strike with righteous barbs into the oppressors' hearts," bin Laden said. The videotape was released to the Australian Animal Planet channel on September 9, five days after Irwin's death. "Praise be to Allah, who permitted the wronged to retaliate against the oppressor in kind!" 

While Irwin's family has not commented on the statement, Australian Prime Minister John Howard denounced the act shortly after Irwin's funeral. 

"Our nation has lost a wonderful man and a colorful native son," Howard told a grieving crowd of thousands in Sydney. "I urge President Bush to resume the hunt for this deranged madman bin Laden." 

To prevent possible additional terrorist attacks on other daytime cable TV personalities, heavy security details have been placed around What Not To Wear's Stacy London, the Food Network's Paula Deen, the American Chopper guys, and Dog the Bounty Hunter.
More on link

Germany to deploy reconnaissance aircraft in Afghanistan  
December 21, 2006          
Article Link

Germany plans to deploy reconnaissance aircraft in Afghanistan in response to NATO's request to expand its operation in the country, German media reported on Thursday. 

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung would order the deployment of five or six Tornado reconnaissance aircraft to Afghanistan as part of Germany's peace-keeping force in the war-torn country, the German news agency DPA reported. 

The report quoted a local newspaper, the Passauer Neuen Presse, as saying that the aircraft would be deployed in the "whole of Afghanistan" including the embattled south. 

Germany currently has about 3,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 

The German government has repeatedly said the German troops would be on duty only in the north-east of Afghanistan and refused to send them to the south to join the battle against remnants of the deposed Taliban. 

The Passauer Neuen Presse reported that Germany would send 250 military personnel on the reconnaissance operation, but still keep the troop level at 3,000. 

On Wednesday, a defense ministry spokesman said that the German authorities were studying a request from NATO to send reconnaissance airplanes to Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


----------



## GAP (22 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 22 December 2007*

Troops raise Ortona Toast for first time since 1942  
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD From Friday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

Canadians in Afghanistan celebrate their regiment while honouring their brothers lost in battle, CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD reports

HOWZ-E-MADAD, AFGHANISTAN — With the sun rising rosy on the shortest day of the year, the soldiers of The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group raised their glasses yesterday in their unit's official "Ortona Toast."

It was a rare quiet and proud moment in a four-month-long campaign in southern Afghanistan that has seen 19 Canadian soldiers killed and more than 100 injured, some grievously, in a succession of battles as hard, if not as bloody, as the one in 1942, in Ortona, Italy, that gave the drink its name.

The concoction -- composed of equal parts dark rum, warm water and brown sugar -- is supposed to be served in white china cups, just as it was to the officers who drank it on the RCR's birthday that long-ago day during the Second World War.

The unit quartermaster even managed to secure a handful of the appropriate white cups -- and get them pushed forward for the officers and senior non-commissioned officers to the middle of the Arghandab River valley, where the soldiers are stationed for a few days now. The ranks drank theirs from plastic coffee cups.

"I can't tell you how proud and excited and honoured I am to be with you," Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie told hundreds of soldiers gathered around their Light Armoured Vehicles.

Lt.-Col. Lavoie said the peaceful "soft knock" kickoff to the NATO Operation Baaz Tsuka envisioned by multinational commander Dutch Major-General Ton van Loon has gone "flawlessly," and reminded the soldiers that their months of hard fighting in the Panjwai valley, where vineyards and mud compounds dominate the landscape, were not so different from the environment their predecessors faced in Italy 64 years before.

"It's safe to say that this group of soldiers is history-making," Lt.-Col. Lavoie said, "the first to celebrate the Ortona Toast in the field, conducting combat operations" since 1942.

Colonel John Vance, commander of the First Canadian Brigade, made the official toast, saying, "Friends, in honour of all present and all those who have passed, and 123 years of service to country, charge your glasses." The RCR's motto is the simple Latin Pro patria, meaning "For country."

Afterward, as soldiers stood talking quietly, a few smoking cigars, Col. Vance reflected on the nature of the losses the unit has suffered here.

Canada's is a small army, he said, and after 25 years in, as he and Lt.-Col. Lavoie have had, you know everyone, and subordinates are more like brothers in a tightly knit family. "It makes the losses that much more difficult," Col. Vance said, his eyes glistening, "but serving with them is a very comforting thing."

Joining in the toast was the RCR's new Regimental Sergeant-Major, Chief Warrant Officer Mark Miller, who flew into Kandahar on Monday and was on the ground, at Lt.-Col. Lavoie's side, two days later.

CWO Miller replaces RSM Robert (Bobby) Girouard, who with Corporal Albert (Stormy) Storm was killed in action last month when their Bison armoured personnel carrier was hit by a suicide bomber just outside Kandahar.

For the 46-year-old from Minto, N.B., the appointment -- RSM is a title, not a rank -- was particularly poignant, as he and RSM Girouard were great friends, and he knows the Girouard family. Two Girouard sons are in the military -- Michael is an officer cadet at the Royal Canadian Military College, while Robert is a private with the regiment.

"It's an honour to be here as this organization's RSM," he said. The 1st Battalion RCR is his home unit, where he first served after finishing basic training, and, he said, "I know them well."

Given the close relationship that is common between a CO and his RSM, with the officer relying on the RSM to care for the troops and also provide him a sympathetic ear, CWO Miller's arrival here was particular good news for Lt.-Col. Lavoie, who has been working alone since CWO Girouard was killed.

For soldiers who have been involved in hard combat so frequently, the current assignment, to make secure Howz-e-Madad while other soldiers engage in relationship building and the delivery of aid, comes as a reprieve.

Yesterday, the battle group handed over a brand-new vehicle checkpoint to the Afghan National Police at Howz-e-Madad. Constructed overnight by engineers from the British 28th Engineer Regiment, the checkpoint now allows the ANP to actually divert suspicious cars or trucks to a secure area for a search. It was welcomed by ANP District Police Chief Aka Abullamrasol, who immediately asked for another such checkpoint at Zhari, a few kilometres away.

The checkpoint should make the village safer and villagers less vulnerable to the intimidation tactics of the Taliban, Charles Company Commanding Officer Major Matthew Sprague said yesterday, but the real question is whether the ANP, a force rife with corruption, will use it and use it properly.

"At least we can say we tried," Major Sprague said with a shrug. Interpreters had already told him that the reason the police like the checkpoint is that it will make it easier for them to extort bribes from passing motorists.

Thus far in Operation Baaz Tsuka (Falcon's Summit), North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops have encountered little resistance from the Taliban, who are rumoured to have made a strategic retreat to a village about four kilometres south, where, unconfirmed reports say, fighters have been told to "get ready to die."
End


Duceppe has humiliated himself on Afghanistan
The Gazette Published: Friday, December 22, 2006 
Article Link

For the second time this fall, Gilles Duceppe has been too clever for his own good. Now on the Afghanistan issue, as earlier on the question of Quebec as a nation, the Bloc Quebecois leader has stumbled over his own little tripwires. In the process, he has appeared to be a man interested in polls rather than principles.

In Quebec City 10 days ago, Duceppe abruptly flipped his party's longtime position, announcing he might try to topple the minority Conservative government in January unless it changed the mission from one of combat to a reconstruction effort.

But Pierre Paquette, the Bloc's finance critic, quickly backtracked, denying that Duceppe had ever issued the threat "for the short term." He added next spring's federal "budget will come first."

Then, Bloc MP Claude Bachand reiterated Duceppe's original version to La Presse, repeating that the non-confidence motion could come first. Duceppe's face-saving parting shot this week was that he would not force an early vote unless "provoked."

Sovereignist leaders love to discover cases in which Quebec is "humiliated" by Ottawa. But in this case Duceppe has humiliated himself, in the process lending credibility to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's contention that Duceppe and the Bloc are "playing political games on the backs of our soldiers."

It's meaningless to rebuild a school or hospital when terrorists are just around the corner waiting for you to finish so they can bomb it - again. For that reason, the military campaign in Afghanistan is inseparable from the reconstruction drive. Duceppe also knows Harper's government set aside $1 billion over 10 years in its last budget to help rebuild Afghanistan, not a negligible sum.

In any event, Duceppe's threat proved to be empty. Not only has he backed away from it, but Liberal leader Stephane Dion rebuffed the idea of toppling the Conservatives over the issue. The Liberals want no part of this touchy issue, if only because on Afghanistan their caucus is the most divided in the House.

Dion argues the mission is failing to accomplish its objective of improving Afghans' lot. But he can hardly rattle a sabre about it, considering it was his party that boosted the Canadian contingent from 850 peacekeepers in Kabul to 2,500 combat troops in Taliban-riddled Kandahar last year. Dion also complains that Harper ramrodded an extension of the mission through Parliament, a complaint that is true enough but that lacks sting, since the Liberals never gave MPs a vote on the combat role in the first place.
More on link

Canada to send more high-tech guns to Afghanistan in new year
at 22:05 on December 21, 2006, EST.
Article Link

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada is buying more high-tech artillery pieces to use in southern Afghanistan in the new year, The Canadian Press has learned. 

The Defence Department has agreed to buy six more 155-mm howitzers from British-based BAE Systems Inc. Most of the new guns will shipped overseas and are expected to join a battery from the 2nd battalion, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery from Petawawa, Ont., now deployed in the Kandahar region. 

"After a few months in operation, the task force in Afghanistan identified an additional requirement for M-777s to allow a better flexibility and to support adequately the current operations," said Elizabeth Hodges, a Defence Department spokeswoman. 

Defence industry sources said the agreement also gives Canada the option of purchasing another 12 guns in the future. 

The Canadian army currently has four of the highly accurate, digitally sighted M-777 howitzers deployed in Afghanistan. 

A year ago, the Canadian army turned to the U.S. Marine Corps to buy six of the lightweight, powerful artillery pieces after its existing stock of 105mm howitzers was found to lack the range and accuracy needed for fighting in Afghanistan. 

At the time, the biggest fear of military planners was that the old weapons were so outdated they might cause unacceptable civilian casualties. 

The new pieces have the ability to hit targets up to 20 kilometres away using conventional shells. 

The purchase price for the latest batch of guns was not disclosed, but the initial order of six howitzers and ammunition cost roughly $42 million
More on link


Canada's reservists to be eligible for pension
Updated Thu. Dec. 21 2006 11:06 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced today that Canada's reservists will be able to contribute to and receive pension plan benefits starting in the new year.

As many as 8,500 reservists may now qualify to be included in the Canada Pension Plan and establishing reservist pensions has been an issue many of them have been fighting for. 

"This is the CPP (Canada Pension Plan) that every worker in Canada pays into and, as a result, is able to collect upon retirement," CTV's David Akin, who was first to report the news, told Newsnet from Ottawa. 

In a news release, O'Connor is quoted as saying that the government made this change "because we believe that all Reservists should be able to collect a pension that will allow them to build for retirement and provide their families with basic financial protection."

"Canada's New Government is proud of the brave men and women who serve our country daily and this amendment is another example of our commitment to support them."
More on link

Germany Split Over Plane Deployment to Afghanistan  
Article Link

Germany's government is split over whether the decision to send spy planes to Afghanistan, which could see German troops deployed in the volatile south, needs parliamentary approval.

The foreign policy spokesperson for the ruling Christian Democratic Party's parliamentary group, Eckart von Klaeden, said the deployment of the Tornado reconnaissance planes in Afghanistan was covered by the current mandate, and no new approval was necessary. 

"It is not a political decision; it should be decided at the military level," von Klaeden told the Friday edition of the daily Neue Presse in Hanover. 

 But the junior state secretary for defense, Thomas Kossendy -- who is also a conservative member -- was quoted by Friday's Nordwest-Zeitung as saying that "such decisions shouldn't be made without parliament."

NATO wants reinforcements in the south

NATO has asked Germany to send five or six Tornado reconnaissance planes for use across the whole of Afghanistan. This means the additional 250 German troops which would be sent with the planes could find themselves deployed in the south of the country where fighting against the Taliban is fiercest. 

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  German troops could be deployed in other areas of Afghanistan
Under the existing mandate, which parliament renewed for one year in September, Germany's 2,700 soldiers are based in the relatively stable north of Afghanistan.  
More on link

Afghanistan a continuing concern: US   
Article Link

 Washington, Dec 22: Stressing that it is a difficult subject along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Bush administration has said that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is keenly aware of the issue and that the operations in that part of the world is a "tough" problem. 

"It's a continuing concern, clearly. We saw the Taliban go after the progress that had been made in southern Afghanistan and we saw some pretty tough military engagements in which NATO forces, including those from Canada, engaged," State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack said. 

"But NATO is not going to shrink from that fight and we have been working with Musharraf as well as Afghan President Hameed Karzai to try to get at that issue that you referred to of not allowing safe havens along that Afghan-Pakistan border. 

"It's a tough problem. Some of those tribal areas haven't really formally been governed by Pakistan or any government for quite some time. So it's a tough issue to get at," he added. 
More on link

Suicide Bomber Injures 8 in Afghanistan
Associated Press 12.22.06, 2:53 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

A suicide bomber exploded himself outside a lawmaker's home Friday, missing the parliamentarian but injuring eight others, police said.

The bomber apparently thought lawmaker Bacha Khan Zadran was in a car pulling out of his compound, said district police chief Mohammad Khan Katawzi. The blast near the vehicle injured three people inside and five people on the street.

The attack appeared to be the first suicide bomb in Kabul since mid-October. Taliban militants have exploded more than 115 suicide bombs in Afghanistan this year in the country's bloodiest year of violence since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001.
End

For US soldiers, Afghanistan is forgotten war  
Posted by admin on 2006/12/22 0:07:21  
Article Link

Bermel (Afghanistan), Dec 22 (DPA) As winter grips Afghanistan's mountainous border with Pakistan, US troops and Taliban and other insurgents are winding down after a year of fierce but inconclusive fighting in a barren swathe of Central Asia where everything has still to be won.

The first December snow brought a lull in the constant skirmishes, roadside bomb and suicide attacks and rocket strikes against the Bermel base by the border with Pakistan, where soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division will ship out next month after a gruelling 12-month tour.

"It's been tough," said Sergeant Chris Cowan, whose company fought numerous engagements since deploying last February as part of a 1,000-troop contingent at five bases in the eastern province of Paktika. "We try to do our job, do the right thing and get all the guys out alive."

More than two dozen soldiers suffered wounds and they are uniformly amazed that they lost only one man, Corporal Jeremiah Cole, who died in a landmine blast in August.

"In my platoon of 36 men we have five men who were shot in the head and they all survived, it's crazy," said Lt Sean Parnell. 
More on link

War on two fronts in Afghanistan  
By Con Coughlin Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 22/12/2006
Article Link

Just when it seemed matters could not get any worse in Afghanistan, along comes an altogether more alarming threat to Nato's attempts to restore order to that strife-torn region — in the form of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Ever since the US-led coalition overthrew the Taliban and their al-Qa'eda allies in late 2001, it has been assumed that the biggest threat to the successful restoration of Afghanistan as a functioning state was posed by the surviving remnants of the former regime and their sponsors in Pakistan.

Indeed, the main thrust of last summer's Nato offensive was concentrated along the Pakistani border, where a hard core of about 1,000 Taliban fighters have been attempting to re-establish a power base that could be used for an attempt to seize Kabul
More on link

Canada doesn't see safer Afghanistan in next year
21 Dec 2006 17:38:55 GMT Source: Reuters  By Randall Palmer
Article Link

OTTAWA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Afghanistan is unlikely to get safer in 2007, but if the world abandons the fight against the Taliban it will only find itself sucked back in to combat terrorism later, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an interview released on Thursday.

Parliament backed a motion from Harper in May to keep Canadian troops in the country at least until February 2009 but he is under pressure now from the opposition either to pull out or to put less emphasis on war and more on aid.

Harper told Global television his goal was to make progress over the next couple years in securing southern Afghanistan, the dangerous part of the country where 2,500 Canadian troops are fighting a Taliban insurgency.

"Obviously we'd like the security situation to improve," he said, adding he expected progress. "Frankly, I don't think it will improve in the next 12 months."

But he said the alternative of an early withdrawal -- demanded by the New Democratic Party, the smallest of three opposition parties in Parliament -- is unthinkable.

"If we pull out today, if Canada, and those that are carrying the freight -- and there's seven or eight countries in the south that are doing most of the heavy lifting -- if we all leave, my prediction is we'll be back there in less than a decade," he said.

"The Taliban represents not just a tyrannical force in Afghanistan but one that has made it clear it intends to spread violence and hatred throughout the world and has shown a capacity to do so in the past. I think if we leave, it will only come back to haunt us."

Canada's other two opposition parties, the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois, are asking Harper to change the Afghan mission to one involving more reconstruction.

"Do you think if the government could put more of our emphasis on reconstruction and aid that that's not what we would be doing?" Harper asked
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (23 Dec 2006)

*Operation Baaz Tsuka provides continued security*
ISAF news release # 2006-383, 21 Dec 06
Article Link

Nearly a week into Operation Baaz Tsuka, commanders from Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and ISAF are reporting progress on securing areas in Regional Command-South.  Today’s efforts focused on meeting with the local population, conducting security and clearance patrols, and removing improvised explosive devices discovered along several traffic routes.  Engineers have also started constructing ANSF security check points as part of the long term goal of providing sustained security within the Panjwai and Zahre districts.  “The security required in order to sustain long term stability within Panjwai and Zahre districts is progressing,” said Squadron Leader Dave Marsh, spokesperson for Regional Command-South. “The key to success is the collective consultation between the Government of Afghanistan, the ANSF, ISAF and most importantly, the tribal elders.”



*Reconstruction proceeds in Afghan district amid show of force by Canadians*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 23 Dec 06
Article Link

There are troops and firepower at the ready but so far it's the soft approach that appears to be doing the trick in Operation Baaz Tsuka.  The Canadian Forces joined the NATO offensive against the Taliban on Wednesday with an impressive array of troops, tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery. They rolled into the town of Howz-e Madad without firing a shot and since then most of the work has been on providing humanitarian aid and meeting village elders.  "The overall operation has been unfolding exactly as per the plan," Lt.-Col. Omer Lavoie, commander of the Canadian Battle Group, said Friday.  "As far as the Canadians are concerned it was considered to be, as much as possible, a non-kinetic operation," he said. "In other words, we were not going in hard in a way characterized by combat operations, but certainly characterized by a lot of combat power if we needed it." ....



*Canada's New Government partners with UNICEF and the World Food Programme to assist families in Afghanistan*
Canadian International Development Agency news release, 20 Dec 06
Article Link

The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, today announced that Canada will contribute $4.5 million to UNICEF and $4 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to assist vulnerable families in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province.  "Canada is committed to supporting Afghanistan in its efforts to address the basic needs of its most vulnerable citizens," said Minister Verner. "Today's contributions to UNICEF and the World Food Programme will improve the lives of tens of thousands of people living in Kandahar, primarily women and children, by providing food aid, improving health and nutrition, access to clean water and basic shelter."  UNICEF will provide some 20,000 families with non-food items such as tents, blankets and warm jackets which are very much needed with winter's arrival. With Canada's support, UNICEF will also provide health and medical supplies to hospitals and clinics, as well as micronutrients for children and pregnant women. Through UNICEF, support will be given to the Public Health Department's measles vaccination campaign to immunize as many as 189,000 children. In addition, UNICEF, through the Afghan Department of Education, will procure and distribute education materials for about 40,000 students who are now going to school in temporary centres ....


*Ottawa to give $8.5 million in humanitarian support to Afghanistan*
Canadian Press, 20 Dec 06
Article Link

Ottawa will give $8.5 million in humanitarian support to the poorest families in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan.  International Co-operation Minister Josee Verner says the federal money will go to about 30,000 families. A total of $4.5 million will be given to UNICEF and $4 million to the United Nations' World Food Program.  The UNICEF money will be used for tents, blankets and warm clothing, along with medical supplies and food for pregnant women and children.  The food money will augment offerings to 31,000 families touched by the conflict and drought.  The federal money is part of $1 billion over 10 years included in the Conservative budget for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.



*More News on CAN in AFG *here




*Afghanistan: Fighting in the south sets off new displacement*
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) report, 22 Dec 06 
Article Link (244KB .pdf) - News Release

Fierce fighting between NATO troops and insurgents in southern Afghanistan has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing from their homes in a new wave of displacement. Although numbers are unverified, the government said that more than 20,000 families had been displaced due to the fighting in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan as of November 2006.  In addition to this new wave of displacement, some 132,000 people – most of them displaced since 2001-2002, remained in relief camps as of September 2006. Most are Kuchi nomads who were forced to leave their home areas due to drought, but appear to be prevented from return by a combination of factors, including protection concerns in return areas. During 2006, thousands of Pashtuns who were previously displaced from the north and west of the country after the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001 were able to return home. Although accurate figures are not available due to limited access to the south, the total number of displaced in Afghanistan is estimated at around 270,000, as of November 2006 ....



*FAST Update Afghanistan: Semi-Annual Risk Assessment May - Nov 2006*
Swiss Peace Foundation report, 22 Dec 06 
Article Link (200KB .pdf)

.... The Taliban are testing the strength of the ISAF forces and try to drive one ISAF nation out of Afghanistan in order to win an information victory they can capitalize on in the perception of the population.  Their strong push towards Kandahar fits into this strategy  ....


----------



## GAP (23 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 23 December 2006*


Kandahar Letters
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Article Link


Canadian soldiers based in Afghanistan reflect on their mission and share their thoughts about home at Christmas.

SERGEANT CHRIS VAN HAMME: 'It can get rather emotional'

Here I sit once again amidst a mountain of paperwork. I sometimes ask myself: Where on Earth does it all come from? Well, it is all part of my job as Chief Clerk, Headquarters Joint Task Force -- Afghanistan.

My crew of four (well three-and-a-half, actually, as one of my staff isn't a trained clerk) are working very hard to administer the soldiers at headquarters. The sheer volume of work is quite a challenge and some of the issues are complex. 

Unfortunately, we are also responsible for issuing the casualty messages back to Ottawa and there have been far too many of those. Casualty administration is the most difficult part of our work here -- and it can get rather emotional.

One thing I brought with me to remind me of home was a blue album with all my photos of Figgy (my cat) and my adventures on the Bruce Trail. It has provided a happy reminder of home and the things that I enjoy and now miss. Something to look forward to, I suppose. It has also provided much amusement at headquarters.

Whenever someone dares to step foot into my office, I make them look at a few pages before I allow them to escape. I have even had some compliments on a few of my shots, but the number of my visitors has decreased.

I was surprised and thrilled to meet a calico cat named Sophie at clothing stores yesterday. She was perched high on a pile of laundry bags washing her paws and looking quite at home. At home is a bit of an understatement of course; we are talking about a cat, here. It was quite evident that she was running the place! Too bad I couldn't have brought Figgy with me.
More on link

*Gen. Rick Hillier to spend Christmas with troops*
Updated Fri. Dec. 22 2006 8:05 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

OTTAWA -- Gen. Rick Hillier celebrated Christmas with his family a week ago so he could spend the real holiday with soldiers, sailors and air personnel in and around Afghanistan. 

The chief of the defence staff flew aboard the patrol frigate HMCS Ottawa in the Persian Gulf on Friday to start a whirlwind holiday tour.

He flies into Afghanistan on Christmas Eve after a day aboard the warship.

"I'm going to spend some time with our troops both inside and outside the wire at Kandahar and the provincial reconstruction team and a few hours in Kabul because we've got probably got 75 Canadians in Kabul,'' he said in a telephone interview from the ship, minutes after his helicopter landed in the darkness.

Hillier has brought some entertainment for the troops, including comedians Rick Mercer and Mary Walsh and the Montreal rock band Jonas.

Jonas released its self-titled first album in 2004 and has just released another called Suite Life.

Hillier said the band members, Jonas Tomalty, Corey Diabo, Ange E. Curcio and Domenic Romanelli are keen to get on the ground with the soldiers.

"They're pretty excited to be able to come out and show their support,'' he said.
More on link

Fallen soldier's parents keep his memory alive
Updated Fri. Dec. 22 2006 11:10 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

For the families of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, the holiday season can be a difficult time. 

But many families find comfort in each other, and some say it has eased their burden to bury their loved ones alongside comrades at Canada's National Military Cemetery. 

For Debby and Gerry Warren, visiting their son's grave around Christmas is hard because it reminds them even more of what they've lost. 

"Jason was home for Christmas last year," Debby told CTV's Roger Smith. "It was his favorite time of year so it's tough." 

Cpl. Jason Warren, a 29-year-old reservist, was killed in July by a suicide bomb. 

While many Canadian casualties have been buried in their hometowns, Jason's parents and sister, a soldier too, chose to bury him in the National Military Cemetery. 

It was opened five years ago, mainly for veterans of past wars, but it's taken on greater prominence with the interment of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. 
More on link

HEL'S KITCHEN
Gordon Ramsay gives our troops in Helmand Province, Afghanistan a Christmas they'll never forget..
Exclusive by Chris Hughes, Security Correspondent, In Afghanistan 23 December 2006
Article Link

SUPERCHEF Gordon Ramsay prepared a slap-up Christmas feast for 800 British troops yesterday - and the Mirror picked up the tab.

We flew the star of Hell's Kitchen and the F-Word into war-torn Helmand Province in Afghanistan to give our brave fighting men and women a festive treat they will never forget.

Gordon, 40 - and two of his top culinary aides Angela Hartnett and Jason Atherton from London - rustled up a sumptuous turkey dinner in a field kitchen using only basic army equipment.

The Michelin-starred celebrity said: "This is by far the most difficult cooking challenge I have ever faced. But it was well worth it to see the look on the guys' faces when they came into the dining tent. It was absolutely brilliant."

Gordon's efforts got a big thumbs-up. Royal Marine Lee Oliver, from 42 Commando, based in Bickleigh, Devon, said: "The food was absolutely delicious.
More on link

U.S. military says airstrike killed senior Taliban leader
The Associated PressPublished: December 23, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan: A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday. A Taliban spokesman denied the claim.

Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike while traveling by vehicle in a deserted area in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said. Two associates also were killed, it said.

There was no immediate confirmation from Afghan officials or visual proof offered to support the claim. A U.S. spokesman said "various sources" were used to confirm Osmani's identity.

Osmani, regarded as one of three top associates of Omar, is the highest-ranking Taliban leader the coalition has claimed to have killed or captured since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime in late 2001 for hosting bin Laden.

U.S. military spokesman Col. Tom Collins described Osmani's death as a "big loss" for the ultraconservative militia.
More on link

Secrets case suspect was club-owning teacher
Saturday, 23rd December 2006
Article Link

AN aide to the British commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan accused of passing secrets to Iran is a former nightclub owner of Iranian descent.

Corporal Daniel James, 44, reported to be an interpreter for General David Richards, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday accused of divulging secret information to `the enemy'.

But details of his identity were not revealed during the hearing, much of which was held in camera because of, according to the judge, a `possible prejudice to national security'.
More on link

French troops had bin Laden in sight twice”  
12/22/2006 2:00:00 PM GMT 
Article Link


(ocolly.okstate.edu) French forces had bin Laden in their sights twice

French special forces in Afghanistan had al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in their sights twice about three years ago, but their U.S. superiors never ordered them to fire, according to a French documentary. 

The documentary, titled 'Bin Laden, the failings of a manhunt', asserts that the French troops had al-Qaeda leader in their rifle scopes in 2003 and then again six months later in 2004. 

Four French soldiers assigned to a 200-strong special forces unit operating under U.S. military command near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan confirmed that they could have killed bin Laden “at different times and in different places" but that they didn’t receive an order to shoot, the filmed report states. 

“In 2003 and 2004 we had bin Laden in our sights. The sniper said 'I have bin Laden'," one of the French soldiers is quoted as saying.

The documentary is by journalists Emmanuel Razavi and Eric de Lavarene, who have worked for several major French media outlets in Afghanistan. It is due to be aired on a French cable television channel in March.

"We have the original voice recordings of the soldiers," Razavi told AFP. "But their anonymity has to be guaranteed."

Razavi said the soldiers told them it took roughly two hours for the shooting request to reach the U.S. officers who could authorize it but they noted that “there was a hesitation in command."

The French army, however, said the story was “pure fabrication.” 
More on link


Bombings kill 6; lawmaker targeted
Items compiled from Tribune news services
Published December 23, 2006 KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN 
Article Link

A roadside bomb exploded next to a police patrol in southern Afghanistan on Friday, killing five policemen, an official said.

The bomb exploded about 10 miles north of Tirin Kot, the provincial capital of Uruzgan province, said Qayum Qayumi, the governor's spokesman
In Kabul, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a lawmaker's home, missing the parliamentarian but killing one person and wounding seven, officials said.

The bomber apparently thought lawmaker Bacha Khan Zadran was in a car pulling out of his compound, and the blast near the vehicle injured three people inside and five on the street, said district police chief Mohammad Khan Katawzi. One of the wounded on the street later died.
More on link

Afghanistan urged to stop blame game  
Article Link 
  
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao advised the Afghan authorities to stop blaming Pakistan for unrest in their country or provide solid proof if they have any to substantiate their allegations. 

Talking to the media here on Friday after inaugurating the computerisation of a vehicle registration project, he reiterated that a stable Afghanistan is in the vital interest of Pakistan and the region as a whole. 

“We are doing our best for stability and peace in Afghanistan and the government is contributing a lot towards rehabilitation and reconstruction in the neighbouring country,” Sherpao said. 

Replying to a question, the minister said Pakistan had avoided indulging in accusations as Islamabad wants to have good relations with Kabul. 

Replying to a question about holding of anti-government rallies by political elements, Sherpao said no one would be allowed disturb peace and order in the country. “Such protests would achieve nothing as people understand the politics of the Opposition parties and know that they do not have any agenda to put before the nation,” he said. 

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the project earlier, he said the computerised vehicle registration (CVR) would provide foolproof security system and help in eliminating fake registration of motor vehicles. Computerising all departments in the capital, including the records of revenue, police and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration is also under way, Sherpao said. 

He informed that the government is working to install security cameras in the capital, while efforts are also being made to further improve the infrastructure. “A record amount of Rs 1.2 billion has been allocated for uplift of the rural areas of Islamabad,” he mentioned. 

The minister directed the ICT administration to maintain strict check on prices of the items of daily use on the eve of Eidul Azha. 

Earlier, Chief Commissioner ICT Administration Khalid Pervaiz said in his inaugural address that the Excise and Taxation (E&T) Department has registered 250,000 vehicles since 1980 and is registering 200 vehicles daily at present.
End

AFGHANISTAN: Communist era mass grave discovered hightlights need for post-war justice
22 Dec 2006 12:28:19 GMT Source: IRIN
Article Link


KABUL, 22 December (IRIN) - Some 2,000 bodies are believed to have been dumped in a recently unearthed communist-era mass grave in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, officials said on Thursday.

The mass grave was unearthed one day earlier close to the communist era's most notorious prison Poli Charkhi on the eastern outskirts of the capital by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said Dr Mohammad Halim Tanwir, director of the international press centre at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture (MIC).

MIC officials believe that the massacre took place between 1978 and 1986 when the Moscow-backed communist presidents, Noor Mohammad Tarakai, Hafizullah Amin and Babrak Karmal were in power. 

Human skulls with bullet wounds, broken bones, pieces of clothing and shoes were seen in the several metre-long grave. 

"More than 50,000 of our innocent people - who were mainly jailed in Poli Charkhi prison, were executed at that time," Tanwir asserted. "The recovered bodies show that many of them had been shot in the head and then buried."

Tens of thousands of Afghans and their family members were imprisoned and killed by the security services of the communist regimes during 1978-1992 for their alleged links with the Mujahideen groups who were waging stiff resistance against the Russian invasion and its communist regime in Afghanistan, officials say.

"The soldiers surrounded our house at night and then handcuffed my father and took him in a Russian jeep during the regime of Noor Mohammad Tarakai [the Afghan president from 1978 to 1979]," 38-year old Ehsanullah of Alingar district of Laghman province told IRIN. "He was in Poli Charkhi prison for some time and then disappeared. I am sure he might have been killed by communists," Ehsanullah claimed. 

In January this year, a former Afghan intelligence chief, Assadullah 
More on link

]Article Link
US encourages the Talibanization of Afghanistan
By Abid Mustafa 12-22-06, 8:56 am 

Lately, relations between Kabul and Islamabad have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of spurring the Taliban to carry out attacks against his fledgling government and the NATO troops that defend it. He is not alone in holding Pakistan responsible for the re-emergence of the Taliban. NATO commanders, the New York Times and the International Crisis Group (ISG) have all pointed the finger at Pakistan for fomenting the Pushtoon resistance that shows no sign of abating. 

On its part, the Musharraf government vehemently denies such accusations and continues to blame Karzai’s government for its failure to include the Taliban and other militants as part of the national reconciliation drive. It must be stressed here—Pakistan is almost isolated on its present stance—evidence to the contrary shows that Islamabad has actively nurtured Taliban fighters to reassert their authority on towns and villages ceded to US led forces in the aftermath Taliban’s collapse during the winter of 2001. 

Oddly enough, the White House instead of holding Islamabad to account has thrown its weight behind the Pakistani government and has suggested that a more collaborative approach between Islamabad and Kabul would stymie the rising militancy in Afghanistan. Washington’s ambivalent attitude raises the question; is America encouraging the emergence of Taliban as a way of extricating itself from Afghanistan? 
More on link


----------



## GAP (24 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 24 December 2006*

Battery (E) included in Christmas gifts
December 24, 2006 Oakland Ross Staff reporter
Article Link


BRAVE FRONT | Soldiers' nonchalance fades at sight of treasures from loved ones back home

PATROL BASE WILSON, Afghanistan–Sudden as a desert sunrise, Christmas came calling for the stouthearted men of Battery E.

One moment, they were firing 5.56-mm automatic-rifle rounds on a practice range adjoining their base here in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. The next thing they knew, Santa Claus had come and gone – several days early and a long, long way from home.

"Well, I'll be darned" – or words to that effect – said Bombardier Josh Erling, 24, of Ottawa, as he stared wide-eyed at the stacks of elaborately wrapped boxes heaped upon his camp cot in the tent he shares with the other members of his small artillery unit. "I don't know where to start."

He wasn't alone.

The other cots in the tent were all in a similar state, buried beneath mounds of Christmas bounty, when only an hour or so earlier they were merely army-issue camp cots, plain and simple, burdened with nothing more remarkable than army-issue sleeping bags.

But, on their return from rifle practice on the 35-metre firing range set up behind this Canadian-run forward-operating base in southern Afghanistan, the artillerymen of Battery E suddenly found themselves confronted by something that looked an awful lot like Christmas. Presents – lots and lots of presents, all packed and sealed and dispatched to Afghanistan by family and friends back home in Canada.

"This is awesome," exulted Bombardier Ed Hoszko, 23, also from Ottawa.

Like the others, he hovered near the tent's low entrance, peering inside as if it contained the world's largest and most brightly illuminated Christmas trees, surrounded by heaps of the planet's largest conglomeration of gifts.

And then, for a short while, these youngsters on the cusp of manhood seemed to remember themselves.

For a brief time, they tried to be nonchalant, tried to act as if this were no big deal, as if they were a group of typically jaded, world-weary adults, for whom the prospect of tearing open bundles and boxes containing treasures from loved ones back home were just another mindless chore in a long list of mindless daily chores, something that could wait for, oh, some other day – such as, let us say, tomorrow.

But they weren't fooling anybody, much less themselves. Pretty soon the Canadian troops in this particular tent had reverted to a rambunctious state any impartial observer would immediately identify as "boyhood."

Making straight for their respective cots, they proceeded to burrow through these surprise stashes of Christmas loot, even though the big day had yet to formally arrive.

"I'm gonna have to do one package a day," said Erling, in what might have been a fit of conscience.

But he was kidding himself.

Like the others in Battery E – like any youngster anywhere in the world faced with such an overwhelming temptation – he just dove straight in and kept right on going, all the while keeping up a running commentary on his progress through this unexpected abundance. 

"It's a scarf!" he announced at one point, and later: "Truffles!"
More on link

Operation Baaz Tsuka steamrolls the Taliban
Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service  Saturday, December 23, 2006 PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan 
Article Link

The commander of Canada's battle group in Afghanistan says the latest campaign to roust the Taliban from Kandahar province is proceeding almost flawlessly, adding that insurgents have offered little resistance to what he calls "very robust combat power."

Speaking to reporters in Panjwaii District on Saturday evening, Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie said the only way things might have gone better in the week-old campaign is if "Taliban commanders had come out waving a white flag and all converted to our side."

That hasn't happened, obviously, but most of the estimated 700 to 900 Taliban fighters in an area near the village of Howz-e Madad have not engaged with NATO and Afghan forces. Instead, many have "capitulated" and moved elsewhere, according to Lt.-Col. Lavoie.

Coalition forces have suffered no casualties in the current campaign.

But Taliban deaths and injuries have been significant, he said, particularly in an area about 10 kilometres south of Howz-e Madad, where American and British forces are advancing forward.

"Even in the Canadian [area of responsibility] we had minor engagements where we picked up [the Taliban], engaged them, and in most cases destroyed them, but on a fairly small level."

Lt.-Col. Lavoie said the Taliban likely "learned a lesson" from Operation Medusa, the violent predecessor to the current campaign.

"In typical insurgent [fashion], for static targets they're willing to take pokes at you and retreat quickly," he said. "But…they can't take on a conventional force head to head. They tried in Medusa and were beaten pretty badly."

Lt.-Col. Lavoie estimated that the large Canadian combat force positioned in and around the village of Howz-e Madad was recently reduced by two-thirds.
More on link


Canadian-born RAF pilot to receive top honours  
Matthew Sekeres, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen Saturday, December 23, 2006 
Article Link

OTTAWA -- As thousands of rounds of Taliban ammunition filled the air near Sangin, Afghanistan last July many of them directed at his Chinook helicopter Royal Air Force Flying Officer Christopher Hasler said he felt no fear.

Instead, fear will set in at a Buckingham Palace ceremony this April, when the Canadian flyboy turned British war hero receives the Distinguished Flying Cross from Queen Elizabeth. The military decoration is awarded for "acts of valour, courage and devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy."

"I'm so scared," a home-for-the-holidays Hasler said Friday at his parents' Ottawa house. "That's 10-fold more scary than actually going into Sangin. It's daunting, but an honour."

The 26-year-old helicopter captain was born in Jasper, Alta., and raised in Halifax. These days, he has the spit-and-polish appearance of a British serviceman, complete with an English accent.

Military service runs on both sides of the family, and you could almost feel the pride swelling from parents Mike and Mary-Margaret and sister Olivia Friday as Hasler conducted interviews and posed for photographs in advance of his first Christmas on Canadian soil since 2004.

"They pick individuals to receive this award, but with Chinooks, especially because it is such a crew environment, everyone has a part of it," said Hasler, who belongs to the 18(B) Squadron based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, England.

The citation lauded him for "great courage and composure in the most demanding, high risk environment," according to the RAF website. It said he displayed "the highest standards of gallantry and professionalism and outstanding capability as a helicopter captain."

All of it begs the question of why the Canadian Forces rejected him when he applied out of high school?
More on link

Flower Shops Bring Christmas to Kabul
By RAHIM FAIEZ The Associated Press Sunday, December 24, 2006
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In devoutly Muslim Afghanistan, Christmas is like any other day _ people go to work, there are no blinking lights lining the streets and pine trees remain unadorned _ except on Flower Street, where local tree vendors are making an extra buck from the foreigners' holiday.

Located in the heart of Kabul, Flower Street is different at Christmas from any other time of year, transformed into a festive place full of trees decked with multicolored tinsel garlands and lights.

"After the Taliban, we started to make Christmas trees because lots of foreigners are around, and they are asking for them," said Eidy Mohammad as he decorated a tree at his shop, the Morsal Flower Store. "Business is growing _ we had only the wedding season before, but now we have Christmas as well."

Unlike many non-Christian countries in Asia, Afghanistan does not recognize or celebrate Christmas. But thousands of foreigners who live in Kabul working with the United Nations, non-governmental organizations or international military forces, celebrate the holiday quietly in restaurants and behind military barracks.
More on link

Queen's message for the forces
7.32, Sun Dec 24 2006
Article Link

The Queen has recorded a special Christmas message for British troops.

Her Majesty praises their bravery and also pays tribute to the families of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She said: "Our country asks a lot of you and your families.

"In Iraq and Afghanistan you continue to make an enormous contribution in helping to rebuild those countries and in other operational theatres you undertake essential duties with a professionalism which is so highly regarded the world over."

It is the second time in recent years that the Queen has recorded a separate message for troops in addition to her annual December 25 broadcast.
End

Capt. Michael Roddey U.S. Army stationed in Afghanistan
Dánica Coto: dcoto@charlotteobserver.com
Article Link

Roddey, 39, oversees 110 airborne combat engineers. His parents live in Charlotte.

HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S? One soldier's aunt bought ornaments and a 6-foot Christmas tree. She spent close to $500 to ship it. We will not take much time off for Christmas. Every day is a work day here, but we will slow the pace a bit .

WHERE ARE YOU FINDING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT? I think soldiers embody this spirit daily through their selfless sacrifice and good will to others. I hope I don't sound glib, but it's never hard for us to find the holiday spirit.

HAVE YOU RECEIVED GIFTS ALREADY? I was home for R&R leave in October. My parents had the tree set up and gifts for me. It was a small affair but very special for what it represented. I enjoyed the closeness of my family. That was the gift. My mother's office did the kindest thing for me and my soldiers. Each office member was given a small box to fill with goodies as they saw fit. Some filled the box with candies, others with staples (Ramen noodles, etc.), while others filled them with toiletries. By the time I arrived "home" from leave, the boxes had arrived and I had several soldiers open them in front of the assembled company.

HAVE YOU BOUGHT ANY GIFTS? I haven't. I've asked my wife if she will forgive me for this. She is a great military spouse and understands my situation over here. Of course, as the day draws near, I will send something, even if only flowers to say I love and miss her. We bought my 14-year-old son a leather coat. Since I wanted him to pick the style he liked and have the jacket early in the season, we made it an early Christmas gift.

POSTCARDS FROM THE TROOPS
End

Afghan women, girls risk death for education
Updated Sat. Dec. 23 2006 10:11 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

While soldiering and policing are dangerous occupations in Afghanistan, teachers educating girls also run the risk of intimidation and death from the Taliban.

The Taliban believe educating girls is a violation of Islam. When in power, the repressive regime banned young women from attending school.

After NATO forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001, educating women became an important priority in rebuilding the country. However, the schools are far from safe.

The Taliban has turned to using terror, intimidation and even murder to keep girls at home.
More on link


Kalispell police chief retires so he can help in Afghanistan
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
Article Link

KALISPELL - Somewhere in Afghanistan, there's a family with children a lot like Frank Garner's.

He can imagine that family, can imagine what life must be like for them, what they must think of their future, and what they must think of Americans.

Which explains why the Kalispell chief of police is retiring at age 44, leaving his wife and three teenagers for a year to travel to the war-ravaged country.


His official job will be to train local Afghan police, but “if someone over there realizes that someone over here truly cares about their future, then it will be a success,” he said of his civilian mission. “And if that contributes to their kids not growing up to want to blow up my kids, then I would think that's a pretty good day at the office.”

If there's such a thing as an average small-town cop, Garner's probably not it.

He's a practical guy, a nuts-and-bolts problem solver, but he also comes with a big-picture curiosity and a decidedly philosophical view of the world.

That he can imagine an unknown Afghan family when he looks at his own is a measure of Garner's sense of sympathy. That he will leave his own children to help that Afghan family is a measure of his sense of duty.

“I come from a military family,” Garner said. “Service is something that's expected.”

His father was a military man. So were his three brothers. After high school graduation next spring, his oldest son will follow the tradition
More on link

Decking The Halls In Afghanistan
Article Link

(AP) In devoutly Muslim Afghanistan, Christmas is like any other day — people go to work, there are no blinking lights lining the streets and pine trees remain unadorned—except on Flower Street, where local tree vendors are making an extra buck from the foreigners' holiday. 

Located in the heart of Kabul, Flower Street is different at Christmas from any other time of year, transformed into a festive place full of trees decked with multicolored tinsel garlands and lights. 

"After the Taliban, we started to make Christmas trees because lots of foreigners are around, and they are asking for them," said Eidy Mohammad as he decorated a tree at his shop, the Morsal Flower Store. "Business is growing — we had only the wedding season before, but now we have Christmas as well." 

Unlike many non-Christian countries in Asia, Afghanistan does not recognize or celebrate Christmas. But thousands of foreigners who live in Kabul working with the United Nations, non-governmental organizations or international military forces, celebrate the holiday quietly in restaurants and behind military barracks. 

Many shop at Flower Street for their holiday trees. 

"Christmas is a good season for flower stores in Kabul," Mohammad said, adding that during the Taliban's rule, nobody was allowed to make Christmas trees in Kabul. 

He has sold about a dozen Christmas trees, earning anywhere from $20 to $200 — a hefty sum for Afghans, many of whom make only about $50 a month. The trees are from across Afghanistan and are adorned with Chinese-made artificial materials. 
More on link

Pakistani city a hub for Taliban, many say
Dec. 24, 2006, 12:25AM By LAURA KING Los Angeles Times 
Article Link

Quetta is known as a 'safe haven' where militants can regroup, train

QUETTA, PAKISTAN — At a time when the Taliban are making their strongest push in years to regain influence and territory across the border in Afghanistan, this mountain-ringed provincial capital has become an increasingly brazen hub of activity by the Islamist militia.

Quetta serves as a place of rest and refuge for Taliban fighters between battles, a funneling point for cash and armaments, a fertile recruiting ground and a sometime meeting point for the group's fugitive leaders, say aid workers, local officials, diplomats, doctors and Pakistani journalists.

"Everybody is here," said Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a Quetta-based member of Pakistan's National Assembly. Quetta is the capital of the Pakistani province of Baluchistan.

The apparent ease of Taliban movement in and out of Quetta comes against a backdrop of increasingly bitter squabbling by authorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan over who bears the responsibility for the militia's use of tribal areas in Pakistan as a staging ground for attacks that have killed at least 180 NATO and allied troops this year.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier this month blamed Pakistan for orchestrating Taliban activity.

Pakistan, a key ally in President Bush's war on terrorism, in turn accused Karzai of seeking a scapegoat for his own failures.

Pakistani authorities in Quetta insist they keep a tight lid on Taliban activity — a claim derided by many residents of this city of about 1.5 million people, and one backed by little evidence.

Residents described nerve-racking random encounters with Taliban convoys bristling with weaponry, and volleys of automatic-weapons fire echoing from within some walled-off madrasahs. Taliban recruitment videos sell briskly.

"For the Taliban, this is considered to be a safe haven," said Syed Ali Shah, a journalist. "They come here, they regroup and retrain."

At a local madrasa, or Islamic seminary, black-turbaned young men gathered around a makeshift fountain on a recent day, making ablutions before noon prayers
More on link

PSO seeks govt approval for exporting jet fuel to Afghanistan
By Fida Hussain
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: The PSO has sought the government approval for exporting jet fuels to Afghanistan. The company is also seeking rebate on such exports to neighbouring country in future, sources told Daily Times on Saturday.

The PSO, which claims to be the largest Oil Marketing Company (OMC) of the country, has sought clearance to the move, which will enable the country to provide JP4 and other jet fuels, as the consumption of jet fuel is expected to rise in Afghanistan and currently no other company in Pakistan is properly concentrating on the supply of this fuel.

According to the sources, the company has sent a formal proposal to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, and Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and other concerned authorities for their consideration.

The PSO has expertise in handling the largest infrastructure of storage facilities in Pakistan and due to the emerging challenges in the market, the company needs to expand its network in Afghanistan.

The PSO must be allowed to operate in the war-torn and civil-strife stricken neighbouring country as the international community is likely to increase its presence in Afghanistan. The flights movements to and from Afghanistan are also expected to increase in the coming days. The Attock Refinery Limited (ARL) claims to be the pioneer in crude oil refining in the country with its operations dating back to the early nineteen hundreds. Backed by a rich experience of more than 80 years of successful operations, ARL’s plants have been gradually upgraded/replaced with state-of-the-art hardware to remain competitive and meet new challenges and requirements.

Located at Rawalpindi, ARL’s configuration/processing allows it to process the lightest to the heaviest (23-65 API) crude oils to produce a complete range of petroleum products from LPG to Asphalt including specialty products such as Jet Fuels (Jet A 1, JP-4, and JP-8) Cutback Asphalts, Polymer Modified Asphalt, Mineral Turpentine Oil, Solvent Oil, etc.
More on link

Army saves by topping up tanks with chip oil
Chris Gourlay December 24, 2006 
Article Link
  
OUT of the frying pan into the firefight. British troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other military bases around the world are to be told to recycle used cooking oil as fuel for military vehicles. 
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was planning the move on environmental grounds. However, others have pointed out that the MoD is trying to cut costs wherever possible to fund Britain’s two conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The new plan may enable precious diesel to be bulked out with cleaned-up chip oil and other waste. 

In addition, the recycled material could be sold on the domestic heating market. 

British army bases produce huge volumes of oil from frying food and under the proposals announced last week in a Commons written answer, this would no longer be poured away. 

Instead, it would be siphoned off, filtered and re-used, possibly fuelling vehicles such as armoured Land Rovers and Warriors. 

Derek Twigg, a junior defence minister, said the MoD hoped to recycle used oils from mess kitchens for use in biodiesel, which is usually combined with ordinary fuel before being used in engines. 

John “Lofty” Wiseman, a former soldier in the SAS and author of the bestselling SAS Urban Survival Handbook, welcomed the proposals. 

“These days everyone wants to be green so it doesn’t surprise me that they are planning this,” he said. 

“The thing is, the MoD has to pay for disposing of oils wherever it goes. It costs a lot, so it makes sense to recycle it. I think it’s a great idea. The lads won’t mind doing it — we’re used to recycling stuff in the army.” 

Trials for the scheme are under way. 

The move to bulk out fuel with waste oils comes as the MoD is trying to cut costs. 
More on link

Tokens From the Home Front
Article Link

It's Christmas Eve, and people in the Washington area are abustle with their tinsel and toys, sugarplums and fruitcake, prayers and candlelit services. Far away are the Americans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Far away, but not far from thought. Many people extended their hearts across the ocean this holiday season.
Sunday, December 24, 2006; Page C01


When students at Hollywood Elementary School in St. Mary's County made holiday cards for Marines in Iraq last month, they didn't expect any response from 6,000 miles away, much less the one they got.

A Marine, a St. Mary's native, called their principal. He was returning to the United States in December, he said, and he wanted to come thank the children in person.
More on link

Queen Elizabeth Praises British Troops
Associated Press 12.23.06, 11:12 PM ET
Article Link

Queen Elizabeth II sent a special Christmas message to British troops overseas on Sunday, praising their courage in a year of mounting losses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Our country asks a lot of you and your families," she said in a prerecorded Christmas Eve radio broadcast to Britain's military.

In only her second Christmas broadcast to military personnel in recent years, the Queen says her thoughts and prayers are with the families of military personnel who were killed.

The country has around 7,000 soldiers stationed in southern Iraq, mainly based around the city of Basra. There are around 6,000 troops based in Afghanistan, the majority in the volatile southern province of Helmand where more than 30 soldiers have been killed since June in an escalation of violence.

"In Iraq and Afghanistan you continue to make an enormous contribution in helping to rebuild those countries and in other operational theaters you undertake essential duties with a professionalism which is so highly regarded the world over," the monarch said.

"Your courage and loyalty are not lightly taken. It is a pledge which calls for sacrifice and devotion to duty.
More on link

Heroin UK
Mark Townsend, Anushka Asthana and Denis Campbell
Sunday December 24, 2006 The Observer 
Article Link

The murders of five women in Suffolk, all of them addicts, have served to highlight Britain's growing heroin problem. Opiates have moved from being the preserve of the few to the drug of choice in towns across the UK 

They were offering Christmas specials on the south coast last week. Two wraps of heroin for the price of one. Buy a gram, get a hit of crack for free. Mike was unable to resist. Another year would soon pass with the 48-year-old from Hastings, Sussex, still enslaved to the 'brown'.
Heroin has never been as cheap or as easily available in the 30 years Mike has been injecting opiates into his skinny, mottled arms. 'These days it is easier to score than cannabis. I could go into any town in Britain and score within a day. Try the social security building, look for street drinkers or people using drugs support centres and you'll soon find it,' he said. His eyes were glassy. He looked dog-tired. He had just injected half a gram of heroin.
More on link

On the trail of the Taliban's support
More signs suggest Pakistan plays a role in aiding the Afghan insurgency.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer December 24, 2006 
Article Link

LIZHA, AFGHANISTAN — The guerrillas followed a dirt road from the Pakistan border through a valley surrounded by low, grassy mountains to their target: an Afghan police post. 

Not long after sunset, they opened fire from several sides. For almost four hours, scores of suspected Taliban fighters outgunned the lightly armed Afghan border police, and almost overran their camp.

Then, as quickly as it started, the fight ended. The militants picked up their dead and wounded and fled back into sanctuaries, three miles away, in one of the loosely governed tribal areas of Pakistan.

"A hundred armed Taliban men passed through the Pakistani border with their equipment, and with their rocket-propelled grenade launchers," said Qasim Khail, commander of the Afghan border police's 2nd Brigade, which guards the post here. "And they retreated the same way. There are only two escape routes out of here, and both of them end at a Pakistani border post."

Confidential documents obtained by The Times show that for at least two years, U.S. military intelligence agencies have warned American commanders that Taliban militants were arming and training in Pakistan, then slipping into Afghanistan with the help of Pakistani border control officers.
More on link

Italy pledges $9 m aid to Afghanistan  
Sunday December 24, 2006 (0159 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Italy's aid to the Afghanistan's Reconstruction Trust Fund will reach about $9 millions by the end of 2007. 
A statement issued by the Italian embassy said the decision by the Italian government would help Afghanistan to pay a portion of expenses of the ongoing reconstruction process. 

Quoting the Italian ambassador to Afghanistan Ettor Francesco Sequi, the statement said Italy would remain committed to help Afghanistan and the increase in aid mark the trust and confidence of that country over Afghan officials. 

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, first secretary at the Italian embassy Sara Rezoagli said the Italian aid to the trust fund would start pouring in mid-2007. 

The amount from Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund is used for payment of salaries of teachers, health workers, ministerial and provincial workers, administrative purposes, capacity building and repatriation programmes
End

Elders support Karzai`s stance  
Sunday December 24, 2006 (0159 PST)
Article Link

 KHOST CITY: Hundreds of Pashtun tribal elders from Khost and Pakistan`s border area of Kuram Agency have supported President Hamid Karzai`s last week stance against Pakistan. 

In a meeting held here, tribal elders from both sides of the border said Pakistan was trying to enslave Afghans, as arrest of the two Pakistanis proved this. 

Deputy head of the Tribal Solidarity Council (TSC), Mir Zaman Sabari, told Pajhwok Afghan News the desires of Pakistan regarding enslaving Afghans would never be fulfilled. 

He also condemned remarks by the Pakistani president Gen Pervez Musharraf, who said that Taliban had roots in Pashtun. Sabari said: "In his remarks, Muhsarraf has revealed his animosity towards Pashtuns." 

Governor of Khost Arsala Jamal urged the elders from Kuram Agency to help in restoring security to the region. 

He also asked them not to provide shelter or training to their children for suicide attacks. Malak Akbar Khan, head of the delegation from Kuram Agency, promised they would not allow militants to use their area for launching attacks on Afghanistan. After the meeting, the participants issued a resolution, expressing their support to President Hamid Karzai`s policy against Pakistan. 

The resolution also called on the Taliban to end violence and take part in reconstruction process of their country. They demanded of foreign forces to take maximum caution not to harm civilians during their military operations.
End

*Merry Christmas to All*


----------



## GAP (24 Dec 2006)

*More Articles found 24 December 2006*


Not home for the holidays
Christmas greetings lift troops' spirits during lonely battle against Taliban
Brian Hutchinson, National Post Sunday, December 24, 2006 
Article Link

MAS'UM GHAR, Afghanistan - Slouched inside a sandbagged bunker at the top of an alpine military placement, Pte. James Arnal slurps down instant noodles from a Styrofoam cup. He does not seem infused with Yuletide joy.

Who could blame him? In this lonely spot, inside a country so distant and foreign from his own, and in the midst of an interminable war, Pte. Arnal feels adrift. Were it not for a few decorations and greeting cards that hang from a piece of string in his bunker, one would hardly know that it's Christmas time at all.

"I've never been away from home at Christmas before," says the 23-year-old Winnipeg native, nibbling at the last of his noodles.

Manning an observation post in dusty Kandahar province is not the first place he'd choose to spend the season, but so it is.

"I'll be calling in the reindeer," he said.

Otherwise, he plans to spend tomorrow the same way he spends every day here: Gazing out at the arid landscape, looking for Taliban fighters.

Chances are slim that he'll see any.

Pte. Arnal is stationed at Mas'um Ghar, a key Canadian forward operating base about 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city. The Taliban were chased from the immediate vicinity four months ago.

Pte. Arnal helped remove them.

On Aug.19, he and his mates from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry met the Taliban head on, in a gruesome battle that unfolded not 50 metres from where he now stands.

"They came right over the top of this mountain," he says. "We killed 72 of them. We didn't have one casualty. It wasn't even close."

That's now a distant memory. Pte. Arnal has since survived Operation Medusa, and a friendly fire incident that occurred just a short distance from his current position and killed Pte. Mark Graham.

Now it is Christmas, in Kandahar. Pte. Arnal misses his family, his girlfriend, and his buddies back home. He sends them messages when he can, and places a phone call now and then. It's not the same.

But something happened recently that lifted his spirits. He received a letter from a Canadian teenager grateful for his efforts.

Actually, the letter wasn't addressed to him. "It was 'To Any Canadian Soldier,' Pte. Arnal recalls. "I opened it and read the letter. It was really nice. It was from someone in Quebec named Tristynn Duheme."

Tristynn, it turns out, is a 15-year-old Grade 10 student who lives in St. Anicet, about 80 kilometres west of Montreal. She wrote the letter as part of a class project. Pte. Arnal took the time to reply and express his thanks for the thoughtful gesture.

Yesterday, he received another mailing from Tristynn. This one included a cheery Christmas card, and a care package containing an assortment of goodies: potato chips, candy, chocolate, and best of all, several boxes of Kraft Dinner, a Canadian staple
More on link

Into the Taliban heartland
December 23, 2006  Oakland Ross Staff reporter
Article Link

PATROL BASE WILSON, Afghanistan–This is the way that Afghanistan's war is being waged – with much din, an ample supply of arms, the slender prospect of peace, and no small component of fear.

Consider Lieut. Michel Tousignant.

With a wife at home in Quebec City – his high-school sweetheart, the only girlfriend he's ever known – and with two small children, plus a third on the way, Tousignant is feeling the pressure of this ghostly war, a conflict in which anyone, positively anyone, could turn in a flash from an innocent bystander to a deadly foe.

Tousignant served on a Canadian peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in the 1990s, but things are different here. Now 33, he is a leader of men, commanding half a platoon of motorized infantry aboard two armoured vehicles. He is responsible for lives apart from his own.

"My main goal is to bring all my men home alive at the end of our mission," he confided, before climbing into his LAV-3 armoured personnel carrier at the start of yet another dangerous assignment here in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, a territory haunted by war. "I think about it every day."
More on link

Afghan MP escapes assassination    
Article Link

One person was killed after a bomb 
exploded close to Zadran's car [AFP] 

One person has been killed and seven injured in the Afghan capital Kabul after a suicide bomb attack close to the home of an anti-Taliban politician, police said.

An explosives-laden vehicle was detonated on Friday near a car belonging to Padshah Khan Zadran, an outspoken parliamentarian, about 50 metres from his residence in eastern Kabul.

"The suicide attacker rammed his bomb-filled vehicle into Zadran's car as his car left the house but fortunately he was not in the vehicle," said Ali Shah Paktiawal, a police criminal investigation chief.

The attack is the first suicide bomb attack in Kabul since October.

Critical condition

"One wounded civilian died on the way to hospital. Four other civilians and three of bodyguards are wounded," said Zemarai Bashari, an interior ministry spokesman.

Police said all the wounded were in critical condition.

Zadran, the leader of an ethnic Pashtun tribe and a former anti-Soviet fighter, is an MP for Paktia province in southeast Afghanistan.

He has often criticised the Taliban and has accused neighbouring Pakistan of aiding them.

Speaking to James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent, in Kabul shortly after the attempt on his life, Zadran was blunt. "These people are the enemies of Afghanistan and the world," he said.

"We call them al-Qaeda. Pakistan and ISI, its intelligence agency, trained them there and sent them here."

Bays reported quoting an Afghan police officer that security for Zadran had been tightened recently based on increased threat perception.
More on link

NATO campaign still moving forward peacefully
Updated Sat. Dec. 23 2006 11:32 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

MAS'UM GHAR, Afghanistan -- NATO forces have rolled into another village in the Panjwaii and Zhare districts of Afghanistan -- once again with no shots being fired. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie (luh-Voy'), commander of the Canadian Battle Group, says Operation Baaz Tsuka (Falcon's Summit) is moving into its third and final phase. 

Earlier this week, and under NATO direction, Canadian forces rolled into the village of Howz-e Madad week with a full contingent of tanks, armoured vehicles and infantry. 

Things have gone well enough for the Canadian contingent that Lavoie has moved about two-thirds of his substantial military force to other, undisclosed areas. 

Operation Baaz Tsuka is aimed at removing hardline Taliban leadership from the area south of Howz-e Madad. 

The region was not part of the highly successful Operation Medusa led by Canadian troops earlier this year. 

It's believed that three or four hundred Taliban members are in the region but so far there have been no battles of any kind. 
More on link

Afghan women, girls risk death for education
Updated Sat. Dec. 23 2006 10:11 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

While soldiering and policing are dangerous occupations in Afghanistan, teachers educating girls also run the risk of intimidation and death from the Taliban.

The Taliban believe educating girls is a violation of Islam. When in power, the repressive regime banned young women from attending school.

After NATO forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001, educating women became an important priority in rebuilding the country. However, the schools are far from safe.

The Taliban has turned to using terror, intimidation and even murder to keep girls at home.

Najuala Safida, a teacher at a girls' school in Kandahar, leaves for work every morning knowing she is risking her life.

"Last year, armed men from the Taliban came to my door at night," Safida said. "They told my husband, 'Your wife, the teacher, we are going to kill her'."

Despite the intimidation tactics, the number of young women attending classes continues to grow.
More on link


A little reminder about how hard the Reconstruction of Afghanistan is

Afghan reconstruction a frustrating process
Updated Mon. Nov. 20 2006 11:12 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan's Kandahar province is using a strategy that gives local Afghans input in the rebuilding process.

But the program faces a mounting list of difficulties. 

In one case, the soldiers bring Afghan doctors from the city to the remote region of Al Bach in Kandahar province to deliver medical care.

But minutes in, angry elders from a nearby village arrive demanding to know why they've been left out. "Where's our treatment, where's our gifts?" one man shouted. 

The Canadian troops are now caught up in a tribal dispute with only one group getting most of the aid. 

"I'm not about to get into village squabbles, I'm telling you right now," said Sgt. Nichola Bascon. "It's extremely frustrating."

Corruption is another frustration for the PRT, which is responsible for more than $100 million donated annually by Canada for the rebuilding process. 

In February, Canada's military celebrated the groundbreaking for a new police station. But, nine months later, little has been built. The local engineer was fired for mismanagement. 

"It's these kinds of missteps that have led many international aid groups to suggest Canada's military has no business being involved in reconstruction," said CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Afghanistan. "But the reality is that in this dangerous region there are few alternatives." 

The head of Kandahar's department for women understands the danger - the Taliban assassinated her predecessor. 
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (24 Dec 2006)

'The blast left the soldier on his back, staring at the mess of his leg'  
_Sunday Telegraph_, Dec. 24 (video and pictures)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/24/wafg24.xml



> Struggling to sit up, Frederic Couture surveyed his torn trouser leg and the bloodied strips of flesh which were all that remained of his foot. A landmine had exploded, blowing the rest of it away. "I'm 21-years-old and I've lost my foot," he cried. "What am I going to do now?"
> 
> "You'll be fine," his comrades tried to reassure him, pulling hard on the tourniquet they had tied just above the ragged wound. "You'll be fine." But it was not true – not really.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (25 Dec 2006)

*General Hillier serves up Christmas*
Inside former Taliban fortress
Brian Hutchinson, CanWest News Service, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

In a scene that bordered on the surreal, Canadian troops gathered inside a former Taliban stronghold yesterday to enjoy a traditional Christmas feast, served up by an eclectic delegation of visitors flown in for the occasion -- including Chief of Defense Staff Rick Hillier and comedian Rick Mercer.  Standing within a maze ancient fortress-like walls that until recently protected a hive of Taliban insurgents, and surrounded by a heavily armed Special Forces militia, General Hillier first delivered to the troops a speech that touched on hockey, off-beat soldier haircuts, and the task still ahead ....



*Video shows aftermath of Taliban landmine blast*
CTV.ca, 24 Dec 06
Article Link

Pte. Frederic Couture is recovering this Christmas season. He lost a foot to a Taliban landmine earlier this month.  However, what happened in the immediate aftermath of that horrible incident is a story of ordinary soldiers showing uncommon courage.  Couture -- a soldier in the Royal 22nd Regiment, or Vandoos of Quebec -- is nicknamed "Chest" by his comrades in arms.  They were all heading out for a meeting with village elders in Panjwaii District, where Canadians have fought some of their bloodiest battles since the Korean War.  This patrol on Dec. 16 helped kick off Operation Falcon Summit, the latest effort to keep the pressure on the Taliban in Panjwaii ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*No Christmas break for troops in Afghanistan*
Agence France Presse, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

Tens of thousands of NATO and US-led troops celebrated Christmas in insurgency-hit Afghanistan as the bloodiest year since the fall of the Taliban drew near a close.  Military officials from the 30,000-strong International Security Assistance Force said the holiday offered them no pause in their hunt for Taliban militants.  "We're still operational. We'll have a Christmas meal and we'll have Christmas celebrations today with some music and and other entertainments," ISAF spokesman Captain Andre Salloum said on Monday ....


*Troops celebrate white Afghan Christmas*
Jason Straziuso, Associated Press, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

U.S. and NATO soldiers at bases in Bagram and Kabul woke up to a white Christmas as more than 6 nches of snow fell in central Afghanistan by midday Monday.  Soldiers wearing red Santa hats and even a couple dressed as elves walked around Camp Eggers — the main U.S. base in Kabul — entertaining troops, some of whom were packing fresh snowballs and launching them at each other.  "The white Christmas definitely makes me feel at home, actually," said Navy Master Chief Ozzie Nelson, who now lives in San Diego with his wife and five kids but spent winters growing up in the Rochester, N.Y., area.  More than 50 soldiers attended a Christmas-day church service at Eggers, where they sang traditional Christmas hymns ....




*Identity of slain Taliban leader confirmed by forensics, U.S. military says*
Alisa Tang, Associated Press, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

Forensic analysis and other information enabled the U.S. military to verify that a key associate of Taliban chief Mullah Omar was killed in an air strike in southern Afghanistan last week, a spokesman said Sunday.  The military is "very sure" it killed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani although it can't provide visual proof as his body was "obliterated" in Tuesday's attack on a vehicle traveling through Helmand province, said military spokesman Col. Tom Collins.  A Taliban spokesman has disputed that Osmani died in the attack, and identified another militant it claimed was killed ....


*The Broadening Border War*
Strategy Page, 28 Apr 06
Article Link

_*Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Osmani, a close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, has been cited by Afghan President Karzai as one of the four most dangerous Taliban leaders still in the country. He is apparently in command of Taliban forces in Kandahar (Qandahār) province. *_The province, which has 880,000 people, is a rugged area in the southern part of Afghanistan, against the Pakistani border. The Taliban has remained relatively stronger in Kandahar than in many other areas as a result of infiltration across the mountains from Pakistan, and tribal connections among the largely Pushtun inhabitants.



*U.S. urges Pakistan to launch fresh military operations in tribal areas: report*
People's Daily Online (CHN), 25 Dec 06
Article Link

The United States has asked Pakistan to launch fresh military operations in Waziristan tribal areas on the Pakistani-Afghan border against the suspected al- Qaeda and Taliban militants, the newspaper the Nation reported Monday, quoting diplomatic sources.  Washington has provided satellite images and other intelligence evidence to Pakistan about alleged hideouts of foreign and local militants in South and North Waziristans, two tribal agencies belonging to Pakistan's Federally Administrated Tribal Areas on the border, sources was quoted as saying by the Nation.  Accordingly, Pakistan's security officials were examining the information provided by the United States ....



*Governor launches uplift projects in Helmand*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 23 Dec 06
Article Link

New Governor of Helmand Asadullah Wafa Saturday launched several uplift projects as alternative livelihood for abandoning poppy cultivation in the southern Helmand province.  On recommendations by the Interior Ministry President Hamid Karzai has appointed Asadullah Wafa as new governor of Helmand. Wafa has also remained governor of Paktika, Kunar provinces and is currently also working as advisor to the President Hamid Karzai.  He was introduced to provincial officials during a ceremony held here. Administrative chief Abdul Malik Sidique, former governor of Helmand Engineer Daud, tribal elders and other government officials attended the ceremony.  Addressing a ceremony, Wafa said if the growers promised them of abandoning poppy cultivation and destroying the poisonous crops, he would launch some big projects in the province ....



*German-led PRT provides free treatment to patients*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 23 Dec 06
Article Link

German doctors have provided treatment to over 2,200 patients in Bagh-i-Shirkat area of the northern Kunduz province.  Lt Col Dr Safar, in charge of German-led PRT health branch, said 60 to 70 patients were treated and provided with free medicines once in a week. He said over 40% of the patients were children, who were mostly suffering from cough, cold and headache.  Safar said they shifted two to three serious patients to provincial PRT hospital. The patients were provided intensive medical care and were then discharged after one or two weeks, he added. He said they had treated 60 patients suffering from cardiac or orthopedic patients in PRT hospital ....



*Insecurity halts learning in Zabul*
Pak Tribune (PAK), 25 Dec 06
Article Link

Due to insecurity, round about 148 schools were closed in the southern Zabul province. According to officials, 22,000 students were deprived of the education in the region.  Mohammad Nabi Khushal, head of the Education Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News that only 33 out of the 181 schools were operative in the province. He said that remaining 148 schools were closed sine die due to different security reasons. Khushal said: "Early in the year, we have 40,000 students, that reduced to 18,000 at the end of the year." ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (26 Dec 2006)

*Wind and lightning mark the arrival of Christmas in Afghanistan*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

Lightning flashed, coyotes howled and a cold wind whistled through the observation post at forward operating base Mas'um Ghar. Christmas 2006 had arrived in Afghanistan.  Down below in the village of Bazar-e Panjwaii, a handful of lights remained on with the silhouette of the local mountain range looming in the darkness.  Christmas isn't forgotten here in Afghanistan, it is simply set aside until the troops here go home.  "I make it six days and 25 minutes," said Cpl. Dave Taylor of Owen Sound, Ont. checking his watch and who along with Pte. Ryan Argente, 30, of Edmonton are counting the days, minutes, and seconds until they head off on leave.  To mark the arrival of Christmas, soldiers in other military posts throughout the Panjwaii district sent up a number of flares into the pitch black sky, lighting up the landscape and turning the Arghandab River, which runs through the verdant landscape in the region, into a ribbon of silver ....



*Canadian troops prepare to meet Taliban 'head-on'*
Insurgents reportedly executed 26 residents of a village last week
Brian Hutchinson, Can West News Service, 26 Dec 06
Article Link - Permalink

Having savoured a warm holiday feast and a short break from their duties, Canadian soldiers are now preparing for the next phase of Operation Baaz Tsuka, the latest NATO-led campaign in the war against the Taliban.  While senior military officers have revealed little about what the next phase in the campaign will involve, they indicate that Canadian troops will confront the enemy head-on after avoiding "kinetic" contact over the first 10 days of the campaign.  Earlier, NATO announced that the village of Talukan, one of several Taliban strongholds in Panjwaii District, is "now secure," as are the villages of Howz-e Madad and Zangabad.  Talukan is the village where up to 26 residents were beheaded and hanged by Taliban fighters last week. While NATO has not confirmed the scale of the slaughter, first reported by Can West New Service, Canadian officers have received intelligence reports that describe the carnage and count the number killed at 26 ....



*Taliban vows to continue jihad despite success of Operation Baaz Tsuka*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

The jihad against NATO forces will continue despite the apparent success of Operation Baaz Tsuka a spokesman for the Taliban said Tuesday.  "The Jihad will be going on until we kick them out of Afghanistan," said Qari Yousaf Ahmadi in an interview with The Canadian Press by satellite phone.  "The non-Muslims came and occupied our country."  NATO forces launched Operation Baaz Tsuka with the goal of eliminating what it calls "tier-one Taliban" from the Panjwaii and Zhare districts. It is believed roughly three-quarters of Taliban fighters, still located in the area, are only in it for the money - and could be convinced to put down their weapons and return to their villages.  A number of villages in the Panjwaii and Zhare districts have been secured by Canadian and NATO forces with few fireworks so far. A number of U.S.-led air strikes has taken its toll on the Taliban with a number of commanders being killed ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Opinion:  War's fatalities trigger anxiety*
Robert Howard, Hamilton Spectator, 26 Dec 06
Article Link

 .... Every death is one too many. There is nothing that makes up for the loss of a child, a spouse or a parent. But we can ensure the sacrifices so far -- and those to come -- are not in vain. We can see the job of defending and rebuilding Afghanistan to the end, and finish the work they began on our behalf.



*Column:  Offer troops genuine thanks, not cheesy poems*
Scott Taylor, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 25 Dec 06
Article Link

THIS CHRISTMAS season the Canadian military has certainly been at the forefront of public festivities and the media coverage of these events. With 2,600 personnel on active service in the volatile Kandahar region, Canadians have launched a number of nationwide initiatives to show the troops they care about them — and their families at home ....



*US endorses the Talibanisation of Afghanistan*
Abid Mustafa, Global Politician, 26 Dec 06 
Article Link

Lately, relations between Kabul and Islamabad have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of spurring the Taliban to carry out attacks against his fledgling government and the NATO troops that defend it. He is not alone in holding Pakistan responsible for the re-emergence of the Taliban. NATO commanders, the New York Times and the International Crisis Group (ISG) have all pointed the finger at Pakistan for fomenting the Pushtoon resistance that shows no sign of abating.  On its part, the Musharraf government vehemently denies such accusations and continues to blame Karzai's government for its failure to include the Taliban and other militants as part of the national reconciliation drive. It must be stressed here-Pakistan is almost isolated on its present stance-evidence to the contrary shows that Islamabad has actively nurtured Taliban fighters to reassert their authority on towns and villages ceded to US led forces in the aftermath Taliban's collapse during the winter of 2001 ....



*Pakistan to mine and fence Afghan border*
Masroor Gilani, Agence France Presse, 26 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistan has said it will fence and mine parts of its frontier with Afghanistan, amid allegations of militant infiltration across the border.  "(The) Pakistan army has been tasked to work out modalities of selectively fencing and mining the border," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan told a news conference Tuesday.  "These measures will supplement the measures which are already enforced to prevent militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan," Khan said.  He said fencing and mining would be "one of the measures which will help prevent militants from crossing into Afghanistan" ....


*Pakistan plans to secure Afghan border*
Sadaqat Jan, Associated Press, 26 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistan will fence and land mine parts of its border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border militancy, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.  The announcement comes amid growing international criticism of Pakistan over alleged infiltration of Taliban and al-Qaida militants from the country's border regions into Afghanistan.  "In keeping with our policy to prevent any militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan, the Pakistan army has been tasked to work out modalities for selectively fencing and mining the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told a news conference.  Islamabad also will deploy additional paramilitary troops at the frontier, Khan said ....


*Pakistan to fence, mine Afghan border*
Kamran Haider, Reuters, 26 Dec 06
Article Link

Pakistan said on Tuesday it would fence and mine parts of its border with Afghanistan to try to stop Taliban rebels crossing to wage their growing rebellion.  Afghanistan, increasingly critical of Pakistan for not doing enough to stop cross-border incursions, immediately rejected the plan as neither helpful nor practical.  "It will be done selectively ... the armed forces have been asked, they have been tasked, to work out the modalities," Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan told a news conference in Islamabad.  "This is a part of our established policy. We are taking measures to prevent any militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan." ....


----------



## GAP (26 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 26 December 2006*


*Dark humour on a grim holiday*
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD Globe and Mail Update
No Article Link

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ZETTELMEYER, AFGHANISTAN — The rain began late on Christmas Eve.

It was our midnight mass — that and the sound of flares and the occasional burp of machine-gun fire and the claps of thunder and the roar of light armoured vehicles and the crunch of machine and boots on gravel, all of it melding into the low ominous rumble that forms the elevator music of this spooky place.

The soldiers of Charles Company Combat Team, 1st Battalion Tthe sic Royal Canadian Regiment, got some extra shut-eye, with reveille at 8 on Christmas morning not the usual 5:45 or 6. And then they were up for the normal standing-around period, or one of them, which make up the grunt's life when all is quiet.

Next thing, a couple of vehicles went the few kilometres up to Ma'sum Ghar, the next little Canadian base south of here and just down the Panjwai Valley, to fetch the Christmas meals.

Sergeant-Major John Barnes gathered the boys around then, in the centre of the gravel that, with a row of HESCO bunkers and a few Sea Can trailers and some tents, is this little base, nothing more.

"Make sure you know where your kit [flak jacket and helmet] is," he said, "in case we start taking incoming rounds."

The 40-year-old Officer Commanding of Charles Company, Major Matthew Sprague, had a few words. He's not one for speeches, but managed to be profound and revealing despite himself, as often he is.

"I ******* hate Christmas," Major Sprague said. "But I can think of no better spot for Charles Company to have Christmas than here, right on the ground where this thing all started about four months ago. This place I think will always have special meaning, for a lot of reasons, not necessarily all good reasons.

"No group of people in the entire ******* Canadian Forces more deserves this than you do.

"When you guys look in the mirror, be proud of what you've done, of what you've become. You're the ******* best, and that's the way it is.

"Padre, grace."

From profane to sacred in an instant is the soldier's way, and without missing a beat, Padre Guy Chapdelaine said a few words, and the grub — turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies and all the chips and cookies a soldier could want — was on.

This is ground zero for Charles Company, where their hairy, shoot-'em-up tour of southern Afghanistan began, and where their fallen fell. Virtually every place that is hallowed to them — the notorious so-called White School; the dun-coloured fields that in summer were green and lush with marijuana plants three metres tall and that they crossed as they closed in on the school; the big ditch where one LAV got stuck and the men inside found themselves surrounded by Taliban; the place where the Zettelmeyer, an armoured version of a bulldozer, was attacked and is now buried beneath the ground — are all here, or within a few hundred meters.

The company was barely on the ground in Afghanistan late last August when, leaving Patrol Base Wilson about five kilometres north, a convoy made the sharp left turn onto the highway and into a rocket propelled grenade that signalled the start of an ambush that lasted five full kilometres and 45 minutes.

"It was terrifying," Sgt.-Major Barnes, who was in the back of the OC's LAV, says. "It really was. You had no control. I felt things hitting the vehicle, but even more importantly hitting the road, and you felt the vehicle rock, and you were waiting for that one that went through the LAV."

Sept. 3, about 6 a.m., Charles Company crossed the Arghandab River, toward the White School, and found themselves in a fierce gun battle that lasted a good five hours, taking two casualties — the first, Warrant Officer Rick Nolan, up at the front in a G-Wagon, the second Sergeant Shane Stachnik of the 2nd Combat Engineer Regiment at Petawawa, Ont., killed when his LAV was hit by an .82 mm recoilless rifle.

Sgt.-Major Barnes was the one to pull Sgt. Stachnik's body out of the vehicle to safety. "It wasn't real at first," he says. "It didn't really affect me at first. Then a minute or two later, I walked around the vehicle and threw up."

It was the crew of Master-Corporal Sean Neifer's LAV who got WO Nolan into their vehicle, but as they headed for the breach that would buy them a measure of safety, the LAV ended up in a ditch instead, stuck, its wheels spinning. They could hear, see, smell Taliban all around them; the vehicle was hit twice by RPGs already and they knew it was just a matter of time before something would penetrate the hull, and they would all die. The order to abandon boat came then, breaking Corporal Drew Berthiaume's heart because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving WO Nolan behind, whom he would have followed anywhere, even for a minute.

They were trying to lower the rear ramp on the LAV when the third RPG struck it squarely; because of the vehicle's position in the ditch, the ramp would open only 15 centimetres, saving them all.

They left through the small emergency door in the ramp, rolling into the ditch, then running 100 metres on open ground under fire to a makeshift casualty collection point, then finally to another, set up between a mound of earth and the Zettelmeyer that was parked there — or rather, right here, where now the Christmas dinner was being served.

They were all there, breathing hard, starting to shake the way you do after, when another .82 mm. round came in, killing Warrant Officer Frank Mellish, who had come over when he heard his friend WO Nolan had been killed, and Private Will Cushley, a dear gangly boy of 21 from Port Lambton, Ont.

M-Cpl. Neifer, 28, was standing between them, unscathed, when they fell.

The next day, Sept. 4, they were getting ready to head back to the White School for round two, standing around all sleepy, when an American A-10 airplane mistakenly strafed the company, killing Private Mark Graham and wounding 38 others.

By October, Charles was patched up, Sgt.-Major Barnes and the OC, both of whom had been wounded — Major Sprague seriously and healing in Canada for about seven weeks — back at the helm. They were based then at Strong Point Centre, a reinforced position, and heading across the road to Strong Point West for almost daily gun battles.

Sgt.-Major Barnes would no sooner suggest an early lunch when, as if on cue, the fighting would start. The A-10s would be overhead, bullets and RPGs filling the air, and the Sergeant-Major would be on the radio, reading aloud from a pornographic magazine to keep the boys amused.

This is Charles Company's world — death, loss, pain, black humour to get them through it.

So this was Christmas, 2006: They ate their dinner under tarps in a cold rain, lined up to call or e-mail home, played video games and cards, said prayers and swore, watched the mists roll in and hide the mountains.

As Major Sprague says, "I don't think anyone really feels anything about anything to be honest. Walls are up, everywhere, emotional barriers are up." Perhaps in the spring, when Charles Company is home, they will fall. 
 End

Christmas storms into Afghanistan  
By CP
Article Link

MAS'UM GHAR, Afghanistan -- Lightning flashed, coyotes howled and a cold wind whistled through the observation post at forward operating base Mas'um Ghar. Christmas 2006 had arrived in Afghanistan. 

Christmas isn't forgotten here in Afghanistan, it is simply set aside until the troops here go home. 

"I make it six days and 25 minutes," said Cpl. Dave Taylor of Owen Sound, Ont., checking his watch and who along with Pte. Ryan Argente, 30, of Edmonton are counting the days until they head off on leave. 

To mark the arrival of Christmas, soldiers in other military posts throughout the Panjwaii district sent up a number of flares into the night sky, lighting up the landscape. 

"Things like Christmas, it gets put on hold. We're out here, it's Christmas time, we're handing around presents and Santa came to visit," said Argente, who now calls Vancouver home. 

"Everyone knows it's Christmas, but even when we get home months afterward, that's going to be the real Christmas time when we're home with our families," he added. 
More on link


Afghanistan Rejects Pakistan's Plan to Fence, Land Mine Border to Stem Militancy
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  —  Pakistan will fence and land mine parts of its border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border militancy, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Afghanistan quickly rejected the plan.

Pakistan will also deploy additional paramilitary troops at the frontier, Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told a news conference.

"Rather than beating around the bush, we must confront terrorists in a real manner," said Khaleeq Ahmed, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "Fencing or mining the border is neither helpful or practical. That's why we are against it. The border is not where the problem lies.
End


]Article Link
Christmas in Afghanistan: Mr. Harper's on the phone
CP
Article Link

Ottawa -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper placed phone calls over Christmas to Canadians serving in Afghanistan, a statement from his office said yesterday.

Mr. Harper made two separate calls coinciding with Christmas celebrations in Afghanistan, the statement said.

The first was on Christmas Eve to Canadian Forces personnel, development workers, police and diplomats who are members of Canada's provincial reconstruction team.

He made the second call Christmas morning to Canadian Forces personnel at Kandahar Air Field. CP
More on link

Recruits don't want combat jobs
Air force, support roles interest those considering Forces careers
David ******** The Ottawa Citizen Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Article Link

Comedian Rick Mercer speaks to Canadian troops at Strong Point West in Panjwaii district, Afghanistan on Sunday. (CP/Bill Graveland) 

Canadians considering joining the military want to go into either support jobs or the air force, according to a newly released survey commissioned by the Defence Department.

And the vast majority -- 72 per cent -- say they would join the reserve forces, rather than committing to a full-time military career.

The report, which was produced in September, presented the results of a public opinion survey of almost 2,000 people conducted to determine the level of interest in joining the Canadian Forces.

The last such survey conducted by the Defence Department was done in 2000.

"Respondents with any interest in joining show the greatest preference for the support occupations, followed by the Air Force occupations, and then the Army, with the Navy occupations being of least interest," according to the report obtained by the Citizen.

One in five surveyed said they are at least somewhat interested in joining the Canadian Forces, down slightly from 2000, the report pointed out. About 13 per cent said they may visit a recruiting centre in the next year.

What effect the data might have on the Canadian Forces recruiting process and advertising is not certain at this point since the information is still in draft form, military officials said.
More on link

Canadian Soldiers In Afghanistan Break For Christmas
December 26, 2006 7:26 a.m. EST
Article Link

Danielle Godard - All Headline News Staff Writer
Kandahar, Afghanistan (AHN) - A momentary respite from fighting was greeted with stormy weather in Kandahar this Christmas, as Canadian service men and women celebrated the holiday, worlds away from their families. 

Though the day was effectively a typical workday, bagpipe music, turkey dinner, a beer allowance and the General's visit that also saw him serving Privates their meals, set the mood for a festive Christmas celebration at the soggy Afghan airstrip. 

Conservative MPs from Alberta and BC flew in to join the party and were joined by comedians Rick Mercer, Mary Walsh and many more Canadian icons who were grateful for the soldiers' effort. 

General Rick Hiller served the festive meal in the mess tent on the base, and was thrilled with the morale of the fighting men and women he met. 

"I've met 1,500 people so far," said General Hiller. 

"I've been inspired by their devotion to their jobs." 

The Canadian troops also held the opening ceremony of "Canada House" on Monday, which serves as a recreational centre for off-duty soldiers. 
More on link

Year of bloody terror
Clive Williams December 26, 2006 11:00pm
Article Link

THIS past year has been one of the bloodiest on record for terrorism, largely due to the ongoing carnage in Iraq. As many as 655,000 Iraqis have been killed during this war since 2003, a Johns Hopkins University study claims.

I define terrorism as "politically (including socially and religiously) motivated violence, mainly directed against non-combatants, intended to shock and terrify, to achieve a strategic outcome". 
Terrorism may be perpetrated by individuals, groups or states.

Historically, states have been far more efficient at killing civilians than individuals or groups.

In 2006, the war in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel accounted for 1183 Lebanese and 163 Israeli deaths. Ethnic cleansing in Darfur, Sudan, has resulted in at least 300,000 deaths since 2003.

The multi-faceted Afghanistan conflict accounted for at least 4000 Afghan deaths in 2006, while NATO/US forces there suffered nearly 200 deaths during the year.

The tit-for-tat terrorism, since September 2000, between the Palestinians and Israelis in Gaza and the West Bank has resulted in about 4400 Palestinian deaths and 1100 Israeli deaths. This year, the ratio of Palestinian deaths to Israeli deaths moved closer to 10 to one, notwithstanding the recent Hamas versus Fatah violence.

Numbers do not, of course, tell the full story. Terrorists and insurgents play for time and encourage their adversaries to kill civilians as it suits their purpose.

Every civilian that an "occupation" force kills in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine or Chechnya makes them more enemies.

Time will always beat capability. It is a truism that military forces and politicians don't yet seem ready to acknowledge, despite all the evidence.

In terms of operations by terrorist groups in the West, they are having less success against better prepared security services
More on link

Afghan women suffer daily violence  
Article Link

Five years ago, after the fall of the Taleban, Afghanistan's new government pledged swift action to improve the lives of women. 

But a recent report by the international women's organisation Womankind Worldwide said millions of Afghan women and girls continue to face discrimination and violence in their day-to-day lives. 

The BBC's Afghan service has been talking to Afghan women about their lives. 

Afghan women's rights groups acknowledge that women now have a variety of rights which they didn't have under Taleban rule.
More on link

Clashes leave 2 militants dead, 7 wounded in E. Afghanistan 
 December 26, 2006          
Article Link

Clashes between Afghan police and anti-government militants left two rebels dead and seven others wounded in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province, provincial governor Akram Khapalwak said Monday. 

The incidents took place in the districts of Barmal and Gomal along the border with Pakistan, he added. 

"Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints in Bermal and Gomal districts Sunday night and police encountered. As a result two rebels were killed and seven others were wounded," Khapalwak told Xinhua. 

Two policemen also sustained injuries during the fire exchange which lasted for about one hour, he added. 

Meantime, a statement released by the U.S.-led coalition forces here said that the personnel of Afghan army and police backed by the coalition's air power defeated Taliban fighters in Bermal district Monday. 

However, it did not give more details on whether there were any casualties on militants side. 

Nearly 4,000 people, mostly militants, have been killed in Taliban-linked insurgency so far this year in Afghanistan, according to officials. 

Source: Xinhua
End


White Christmas falls on Afghanistan  
December 26, 2006          
Article Link

Foreign troops in Afghanistan woke up to a white Christmas and snowball fights yesterday. 

More than 15 centimetres of snow fell overnight on some American and NATO bases in central Afghanistan. Soldiers wearing red Santa hats and even a couple dressed as elves walked around Camp Eggers, the main US base in Kabul, as others hurled snowballs. 

"The white Christmas definitely makes me feel at home," said Navy Master Chief Ozzie Nelson, who grew up with cold winters in New York State. 

Shoppers, meanwhile, packed malls awash with tinsel, plastic pine trees and special promotions in mostly Buddhist Japan and predominantly Hindu India, reflecting the ever-growing commercialization of the season worldwide. 

But for the most part Christians, who represent a minority in most Asian nations, celebrated the birth of Jesus with services and family feasts. In the Philippines, where those practicing the faith are in the majority, a flurry of mobile phone text greetings swamped networks. 

Those wishing to celebrate in Sri Lanka, where the resurgence of a civil war has resulted in spiralling inflation, complained that with the price of eggs and butter six times higher than usual there would be no cake this year. 

Residents in Australia's drought-affected southeast danced in the streets as summer rains drenched wildfires that have burned out of control for the past three weeks, enabling around 800 volunteer firefighters to go home to their families for Christmas. 

"It rained all last night and this morning," said Kirrily Pay, a hotel manager in Woods Point, Victoria, which has been under threat from the blazes. "We had the biggest party, we were absolutely ecstatic, we can't believe we're still here." 

Source: China Daily
End

A global search for truth
Dec. 26, 2006, 7:36AM
Article Link

From Dr. Phil to Afghanistan, polygraph expert puts a wide range of subjects to test
By BRIAN ROGERS Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle 

A Houston polygraph operator who uses his skills to keep convicted felons in line will make his nationwide television debut next month on the Dr. Phil talk show, using his machine to help the TV psychologist settle a long-standing dispute.

However, John Swartz probably will miss seeing the show because he will be halfway around the world giving lie-detector tests to Afghan police who have been recruited to fight the re-emerging opium trade in that region.

These are the latest chapters of a busy career that has taken Swartz around the world for the past 35 years.

Swartz, 54, has been asking the questions and watching the needles bounce in Houston since 1995. Before that, he spent 24 years with the Justice Department, including a long stint administering lie-detector tests for the Drug Enforcement Administration in South America.

Now in the private sector, Swartz makes his living keeping convicted criminals on the straight and narrow.

While the results of his tests are not admissible in court, they can be used to send probationers and parolees back to jail, Swartz said.

The lie detector is a tool courts are finding especially useful, particularly when it comes to sexual predators, he said.

State District Judge Denise Collins agrees. In 1996, she hired Swartz to interview convicted sexual offenders to get a complete sexual history as a condition of probation. The practice has spread to the other courts during the past 10 years, Swartz said.

By giving a full sexual history there is a record of everything the offender did.

These interviews, Swartz said, can be eye-opening in the depth and breadth of information, including disclosure of previously unidentified victims and incidents.
More on link

Afghani official: Afghanistan wants rapprochement between West and Iran Kabul
Dec 25, IRNA 
Article Link

Afghanistan-Iran-West 
Afghanistan Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sultan Ahmad Behin told private TV station "Toloo'" on Monday that Afghanistan wants improvement of relations between Iran and the West. 

He added, "We have historical ties with Iran and the level of relations will never decrease." 
Concerning official stance of Afghanistan government on the UN Security Council resolution for Iran, the spokesman added, a third country will not affect bilateral relations between the two neighbors. 

He also expressed hope that his country will try to improve ties between Iran and the west. 

The TV channel quoted Iran's president as saying that "Iran is not worried about the UN Security Council resolution." 
It added, President Ahmadinejad has called the measure unjust and illegal. 

Quoting some remarks of Iran's president, Toloo network continued, "I am sorry for you, because you lost the opportunity of Iranian friendship while you are not able to harm Iranians." 
More on link

Soldier leads special ops in Afghanistan
CHRIS GRAY, cgray@newsreview.info December 24, 2006
Article Link

Sutherlin man delivers holiday cheer to fellow troops in the form of hot meals

Loading the chopper up with turkey, ham, salad and cold drinks, Command Sgt. Major Jeff McClure had a special mission in mind Nov. 23 in Afghanistan.

The Sutherlin resident of the Oregon Army National Guard delivered hot Thanksgiving dinners to troops who were far away from their southern Afghanistan base in Qalat, which is in a state bordering Pakistan.

Many of these troops hadn’t had anything better than a packaged meal for months.

“To see the look on their face, I know they appreciate it,” McClure told Scott Kesterson, a video blogger for KGW.com in Portland and The Huffington Post, an online newspaper. “It hits you right in the heart.”

Kesterson’s coverage of the Thanksgiving meal deliveries depicted McClure and other soldiers flying many of the meals into remote locales by helicopter.

McClure’s parents, Loren and Judy McClure of Sutherlin, said their son was hoping to repeat the mission as Operation Candy Cane for Christmas Day, which in Afghanistan begins at 11:30 a.m. PST today. Afghanistan is 12 1/2 hours ahead of Oregon.

“All I know is he’s requested air support,” said Judy McClure.

“He’s a very personable guy,” Loren McClure said. “He takes care of his troops.”

Jeff McClure has been in Afghanistan since February. His ex-wife and three daughters, Nikki, Megan and Rachel, live in Green.

As a command sergeant major, McClure is the highest-ranked enlisted man. He was out in the field and could not be reached by e-mail before press time Saturday night.

McClure volunteered to serve a tour in Afghanistan as a soldier in the active National Guard
More on link

ADB backing energy cooperation between Afghanistan and Tajikistan  
Article Link

KABUL: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is backing a project to tap Tajikistan’s power surplus to meet shortfalls in neighboring Afghanistan through loans to the two countries totaling US$56.5 million. 

Tajikistan’s annual generated capacity is 4,405 MW, most of which comes from hydropower. An annual surplus of about 1,500 gigawatt-hours is available for export, but only for about half a year during the spring-summer period. Part of the surplus is already exported through Uzbekistan via its southern grid while the rest is not utilized. 

Afghanistan, on the other hand, faces serious power supply shortages, which are expected to become more acute as demand grows. Its power generation, transmission and distribution systems have been severely damaged by years of conflict. All around the country, including the capital Kabul, power is available for just a few hours a day. 

To meet the needs of both countries, the project will construct a 220 kilovolt double circuit transmission line that will link the hydropower stations on Tajikistan’s Vakhsh River to the border town of Sherkan Bandar, then to Kunduz, Baglad, Pul-e-Khumri and, ultimately, Kabul in Afghanistan. 

The project will also include new investments and upgrading in Tajikistan that will help reduce the winter power deficit by boosting the available level of generation and decreasing technical losses in the south of the country resulting in an additional 320 gigawatt-hours annually. 

"The project offers a win-win situation for both Afghanistan and Tajikistan," says Xavier Humbert, an ADB Energy Specialist. "It will restore power supply and reduce costs for consumers in the former while allowing Tajikistan to export 300 megawatts." 

The total net economic benefits of regional cooperation of the project are estimated to be US$114 million, split fairly evenly between the two countries. 

ADB’s loans - US$35 million to Afghanistan and US$21.5 to Tajikistan - come from its concessional Asian Development Fund and carry a 32 year term, including a grace period of 8 years. Interest on each is charged at 1% per annum during the grace period and 1.5% during the rest of the term. 

Other financiers of the project, which will cost an estimated US$109.5 million, are the OPEC Fund for International Development, Islamic Development Bank, Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, and the Afghanistan and Tajikistan governments. 
More on link

ANALYSIS:Incredible line on Afghanistan
Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Article Link

 Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan is strategically too important for stability and peace within Pakistan and in the region to be left to the private groups or be subject to any ambiguity or ambivalence on Pakistan’s part

The world around Pakistan and beyond has changed during the past five years, and the pace of change is likely to quicken further in the coming years. What has changed is too obvious even to an ordinary observer. But let’s recap.

Afghanistan continues to remain troubled and uncertainty about its future hangs thick. This will have serious security repercussions for Pakistan. Under the American guns and thunder, Iraq is now a failed state and on the verge of disintegration along ethnic and sectarian lines. What should concern Pakistan and other Muslims states is the destructive sectarian civil war that has sucked in Iran and is likely to draw Arab states into this conflict. The issue of Islam, ethnicity and the contest over political power in the emerging Central Asian states will also have vibrations in all directions.

Located at the crossroads of ethnic and religious polarisations, Pakistan is caught in deadly crossfire. One the one side are the United States-led western countries trying to win two wars and shaping the security of these regions according to their vision of peace and stability. On the other hand are theocratic Iran and Islamists with a different agenda of political change and national security. It may not necessarily be the infamous clash of cultures, but a bipolar worldview on what is good for the Muslims societies and who has the right and responsibility to define that good has definitely emerged. 

This is not a simple question; it involves larger issues of state sovereignty, regional autonomy and self-determination of peoples, communities and nations. The Southwest region and Afghanistan have reached a new boiling point and it is unclear if our policymakers have the vision, depth and the sense of history to grasp the political and security trends and realise the dangers ahead.

Instead of relying on the robustness of institutions and the depth of collective thinking on national security issues, we lack clarity, remain ambivalent and rely heavily on ‘great men’ to give us direction. It should be obvious that relations with Afghanistan constitute the most important regional relationship for Pakistan in terms of the latter’s security. Consider the elements that impinge on Pakistan’s national security: common ethnicity, porous borders, migration, refugees and movement of non-state actors, to list a few and it should be clear that the insecurity and instability of Afghanistan will have great impact on our own stability and security. 
More on link

Truck driver sends Christmas trees to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan
The Associated Press  Sunday, December 24, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Article Link

WESTMINSTER, Md. — A truck driver has sent 75 Christmas trees festooned with battery-operated lights and shiny ornaments to homesick troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jim Ward of Westminster got the idea after his daughter, Army Spec. Luisa Gonzalez, was deployed two months ago to a base north of Baghdad.

When Ward thought of her alone on Christmas, he decided that the best way to give her some holiday cheer was to send a Christmas tree.

“These soldiers are risking their lives over there and can’t even spend Christmas with their families,” said Ward, 33, who delivers trees for a nursery. “Don’t they at least deserve a Christmas tree to remind them of home while they’re stuck there?”

To get a tree to Iraq, he had to think small. His solution: Charlie Browns, 2-foot-high trees named after the classic Christmas cartoon special in which one was featured.

The trees were short enough to be easily shipped inside a box. And at just $7.98 each, Ward could afford to send them to dozens of other Americans fighting overseas.

He ended up shipping 35 trees to his daughter’s company and the rest to Marines from Fort Detrick in Frederick and his brother-in-law’s unit in Afghanistan.

The live potted trees arrived in a box emblazoned with the logo Operation Christmas Tree, along with lights and ornaments.

“Everyone was just in shock. Here we are in the middle of Iraq, and suddenly it smells like Christmas,” said Gonzalez. The 22-year-old medic was randomly assigned a two-week leave and is back home for Christmas.
More on link

Afghanistan to suspend diplomatic missions in 3 countries  
December 25, 2006         
Article Link

Afghanistan has decided to suspend its diplomatic missions in one African and two Asian states, spokesman of the country's foreign ministry Sultan Ahmad Baheen said Monday. 

"For the time being the foreign ministry would suspend its embassies in Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Syria," Baheen told Xinhua. 

The decision would come into effect from beginning 2007, he stressed. 

Counting financial problems for taking such step, he added that the aim of the decision was to save money. 

"In order to prevent unnecessary expenditure and support some other diplomatic missions, the foreign ministry has taken this step," the spokesman further said. 

He also hinted at suspending more Afghan diplomatic missions by saying more embassies could be suspended in the future, but he did not give more details. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


----------



## GAP (26 Dec 2006)

*More Articles found 26 December 2006*

*Canadian Soldier chosen CP Newsmaker of 2006  * 
Updated Mon. Dec. 25 2006 11:42 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

MAS'UM GHAR, Afghanistan -- Standing at an observation post in the heart of Taliban country, Pte. Conrad Craig of Edmonton was in a reflective mood on what it means to be a Canadian soldier. 

The 23-year-old member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is keenly aware of the changing status for the Canadian soldier in the eyes of Canadians and the world. Their mission in Afghanistan and the sacrifices they have endured have put Canadian troops at the forefront of public attention.

"I've always been proud to be a Canadian soldier,'' said Craig, looking through binoculars for possible threats among the lush-green grape orchards in the restive district west of Kandahar city. "Always will be and even if I ever do get out, I'll always be a Canadian soldier.''

The men and women of the Canadian Forces have dominated news coverage in 2006 and as such, editors and broadcasters across the country have chosen the Canadian Soldier as Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in the annual poll by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News.

"The issue of Canada's involvement in Afghanistan has been on the lips, and in the hearts, of Canadians all year,'' said Gary MacDougall, managing editor of the Charlottetown Guardian, in explaining his newsmaker choice.

"The sight of flag-draped caskets bearing the bodies of brave, young Canadian men and women is not one Canadians are accustomed to. On the one hand Canadians are proud of the actions of their military, and on the other hand confused at how we suddenly become embroiled in such a violent conflict.''

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier was pleased when informed about the choice for Newsmaker of the Year.

"The mere fact that anybody would even consider . . . the Canadian soldier, and I use the soldier in the most generic term -- air, land and sea -- because they're all there in Afghanistan, reflects the fact that Canadians have really realized the importance of the Canadian Forces, the role that it plays in our society, how it helps protect Canadian interests, at home, around the continent and internationally.

"I think it's an incredible compliment to Canadian soldiers.''

It's only the second time in the 60-year history of the CP-BN Newsmaker of the Year survey that the nation's newsrooms have made a symbolic selection over a specific person. In 1992, the voters chose the constitutional referendum on the Meech Lake accord.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the runner-up in the 2006 survey, garnering 52 votes to the 73 cast for the Canadian soldier. Maher Arar, the Syrian-born Canadian who was deported to his native country and tortured as a result of faulty information passed on from the RCMP to U.S. officials, came in third with 29 votes.

Many of those who picked this year's Newsmaker of the Year said they did so because of the changing image of the Canadian soldier as a result of the conflict in Afghanistan.

"For the first time in a generation Canadian soldiers are being recruited, trained and sent to a war zone,'' said Jim Poling, managing editor of the Hamilton Spectator. "This story is a new chapter in Canadian history and the implications are broad and dramatic. It is a cross-generational story.''

Added Bill Scriven, managing editor of the Sentinel Review in Woodstock, Ont.: "Canadians have made it clear that while they do not support the war in Afghanistan, they proudly support the efforts of the Canadian troops.''

Just a few years ago, supporters of Canada's military felt they were in an uphill battle for public recognition.

The fighting force that distinguished itself with bravery and tenacity in the Second World War and in Korea had in subsequent decades taken on the role of an international peacekeeper. But the Canadian Forces has had to struggle to remain effective in the face of multimillion-dollar budget cuts from a succession of governments.

That began to change on Sept. 11, 2001.

The stunning attacks on the United States by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization prompted a military response. Within months, Canadian troops were in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led coalition which toppled the Taliban government that had offered sanctuary to al-Qaida terror training camps.

Vote totals
Results of poll in the 2006 Canadian Press, Broadcast News poll to determine Canada's Newsmaker of the Year:


Canadian Soldier, 73


Stephen Harper, 52


Maher Arar, 29


Stephane Dion, 7


Cindy Klassen, 7


Kimveer Gill, 4


Belinda Stronach, 2


Giuliano Zaccardelli, 1

---Canadian PressBut Taliban insurgents held areas where their influence is deep-rooted -- such as Kandahar province, where most of Canada's 2,500 troops are deployed. Canada found itself taking on more of a leadership role, and its military slowly started building its new reputation.

Over the past year, Canadian troops have led the battle against the Taliban, spearheading Operation Medusa on the insurgents' home turf. The fighting resulted in the largest number of Canadian battlefield casualties since the Korean War, keeping Canadians riveted to developments in Afghanistan.

Forty-four Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2002, but 36 of those deaths came in the last year. The sudden increase in deaths has changed the image of Canadian troops from those of traditional peacekeeping to a combat army.

Canadians battling Taliban insurgents are reluctant to brag about their accomplishments. They show pride only when talking about fellow soldiers or about their jobs.

"I adore it. There's nothing I would rather do than be in the Canadian army,'' said Sgt. Abdul Guindo of Quebec City, who has encountered more than a dozen attacks by the Taliban and suicide bombers while on convoy duty.

He said it's time Canadians get over their obsession with peacekeeping and accept that Canadian troops are now at war.

"We've been recognized as a fighting force, which we've always been, but we got out of the peacekeeper mentality,'' Guindo said. "Yes, we are peacekeepers but we are soldiers first. And at times you have to soldier on and then be a peacekeeper.''

Soldiers say fighting the Taliban is a badge of honour, combined with the attempts to help with the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

"No one in their right mind wants to actually get into a firefight, but you do what you have to do and everything works out,'' Pte. Craig said.

"This is what we do. I would like us to be able to keep doing what we've been doing. Humanitarian aid and getting the people on our side,'' he said.

"It's absolutely worth it. If nobody's helping it's all going to go downhill from here,'' chipped in Master Cpl. Jon Weiss, 32, of Winnipeg.

Recognition of the Canadian soldier has captured the imagination of people at home.

Remembrance Day ceremonies have been crowded with both veterans and the younger generation, who are experiencing the loss of war through news reports and ramp ceremonies that send fallen soldiers home.

There is a move afoot to have Canadians adopt "Red Fridays,'' which began at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, Ont., where people wear the colour red to recognize Canadian troops. Curlers at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts have been asked to wear red to honour Canadian troops at the national women's curling championship in Lethbridge, Alta., in February.

Watching the valour of his troops on the battlefield is the head of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Lt.-Gen. Mike Gauthier.

"Afghanistan has been an illuminating point. This is unlike anything a Canadian soldier has experienced since Korea,'' Gauthier said on a visit to Kandahar.

"The mission here is about rebuilding a nation,'' Gauthier said.

"This is history in the making and it's not just Afghan history. It's Canadian history that is being written. These are historic times for Canadian soldiers -- historic times for Canada.'' 
End

Merry Christmas ... from Afghanistan  
By Amy V. Talit, The Bristol Press 12/25/2006
Article Link

Email to a friend
Christmas is a time for families to be together, but for those families with a loved one serving overseas in the military, "home for the holidays" is not a reality. 

In Connecticut, and the rest of the country, lights strung up around houses and trees give off a warm glow reminding people that it is the time of year to be thankful, joyous and giving. 
Overseas, the only thing strung up around the soldiers' "homes" is the concertina wire surrounding their base protecting them from the enemy. Instead of battling the crowded malls in an attempt to buy the perfect holiday gift, "a parade of [military] vehicles, weapons bristling, leave the wire on dangerous patrol missions out into the villages and countryside."
"There are no holidays here except for what is carried in one's own heart and the love, encouragement and food sent by loved ones at home," wrote Sgt. 1st Class David Carello, a Bristol police officer serving in Eastern Afghanistan with the Army National Guard HHC First Battalion 102nd Infantry, in an e-mail. 
"There are brothers here, mothers and fathers, sisters too," Carello wrote, "and no soldier goes without, that another soldier gladly shares the last of what he has with him."
Though Carello is usually assigned to a unit based at Camp Rell in Niantic, the New Haven-based unit needed soldiers with his particular rank for its tour of duty.
Carello, who has never been deployed during the holidays, left home last January and has been in Afghanistan since April, training Afghan forces in the use of the AK-47 rifle, as well as several other military and police tactics and techniques.
Carello's wife of almost 10 years, Joanne, said, "Emotionally it's kind of draining, but I just keep on trucking."
"I'm not in as a bad a position as most because I don't have little kids around," she said
Carello has two sons, Cristopher, 32, and Matthew, 28, from his 16-year marriage to his first wife, Debbie, whom he shares a close relationship, and who Joanne considers a best friend.
Though David Carello is thousands of miles away in a foreign country, where around every corner the possibility that the enemy is waiting, he is able to communicate by e-mail with his family and friends in Bristol.
"God bless modern technology," said Joanne Carello.
Christopher said though his father's e-mails frequently detail the lack of animation on the country's horizon, he marvels about the brilliance of the night sky. "He's never seen so many stars in the sky." 
Matthew Carello said, "Everyone thinks of the soldiers, but no one really thinks of what their families are going through at home."
Every Christmas, according to Joanne, both her and her husband's families come over on Christmas Eve for a large holiday gathering, but Christmas Day is reserved for "the immediate family, just Dave, me, Debbie, Matt and Chris."
This year's gathering is "going to be a bit more subdued," said Christopher, calling his father "kind of like a linchpin for the family."
"He's the party, the celebration," said the older Carello son Saturday, noting a certain irony in his father's deployment. "I've been out of state for the past 10, almost 15 years [away at college earning his doctorate and only able to return home annually for Christmas]. I'm back and now he's gone. As for what Christmas will be like, I'm not sure. I don't think I'll know until [today]."
"Christmas Eve is [always] like a war zone here, no pun intended," Joanne Carello said, "but Christmas Day is just for us."
More on link

Afghanistan's forgotten drought
POSTED: 1305 GMT (2105 HKT), December 25, 2006 From Anjali Kwatra for CNN
Article Link

Away from the frontlines of the war against the Taliban, thousands of Afghans in the grip of a drought face a fight their lives. Anjali Kwatra, a journalist with Christian Aid, contributed this story for CNN.com from the affected area. 

SYA KAMARAK, Afghanistan -- While the eyes of the world are focused on the international military coalition's continuing struggle with the Taliban, Afghan children are dying because of a little reported drought which has hit huge areas of the country.

The U.N. says 1.9 million people are at risk because of the drought and along with the Afghan government has appealed for $76 million for food aid.

In one village, Sya Kamarak in western Afghanistan, three children died recently on the same day from malnutrition.

The father of one of them, Attalullah, said he was angry that millions of dollars were coming into his country in aid, but he did not have enough to feed his two-year-old daughter Uzra.

"We had very little milk or food to give my daughter. She was always hungry and crying," he said, sitting by the small pile of stones that marks the grave of his daughter.

"Lots of money is coming into our country but here we do not see any of it."

The villagers say 50 children have died so far this year -- a far higher number than usual -- because of the drought.

Almost all the 300 families in Sya Kamarak, which is a day's drive along bumpy tracks from the nearest city Herat, live off the land and most lost all their wheat harvest when the rains failed in April and May.

A Christian Aid assessment of the drought in five northern and western provinces showed that farmers lost between 80 and 100 percent of their crops in the worst affected areas and water sources in many villages had dried up.

Jan Bibi, 40, whose three-month-old daughter Nazia also died, said she had been feeding her with boiled water and sugar because she had nothing else.

Her surviving twin daughter Merzia is the size of a newborn rather than a three-month old and cries continually for food.
More on link

Kandahar Letters
Globe and Mail Update
Article Link

Canadian soldiers based in Afghanistan reflect on their mission and share their thoughts about home at Christmas.


CAPTAIN JESSICA JONES: 'Found outside of Kandahar': a rescued leaf, an act of kindness and a reminder of home 

As the days become shorter and the weather cooler, I am reminded that one of the things I miss most about home is the changing of the seasons.

In anticipation of a long deployment in Afghanistan, I brought a number of personal mementos with me, including family photos, a dream catcher and some of my favourite novels. What I didn't foresee, however, was the void created by the absence of fall colours.

Since my arrival in Afghanistan in July, the temperature in Kandahar has dropped significantly from the blistering, dry heat we first experienced. In Canada, this change in the weather would trigger the trees to start displaying their glorious fall colours. In Afghanistan, however, the onset of fall brings the rainy season, and the limited vegetation that does manage to survive on the Kandahar Air Field is still the dusty green it has always been, albeit a little healthier looking for the dose of rain that followed a seven-year dry spell.

A while ago, I came into work to find that someone had posted a pressed, red-hued maple leaf on the notice board in our office building. The note posted along with it provided the explanation that the leaf was "Found outside of Kandahar."

How this leaf managed to make its way to Afghanistan is not beyond imagining. It probably arrived in a package sent from loved ones back in Canada, who knew it would be a fitting reminder of home and the beauty of the season. It was probably put on display in some vehicle as it was heading "out the wire," destined for a home in one of the many forward operating bases, its owner trying to keep this small heartfelt reminder close.

He must have been disappointed to discover that it had disappeared during the trip, left wondering where it would find its next home. How fitting that the leaf was rescued by fellow Canadians who saw it fit to put on display for others. Just one small reminder that although we are half a world away, we are all touched by the same acts of kindness and the small reminders that we live in one of the greatest, most beautiful countries in the world.

Personnel file

Age: 28

Years of service: 10

Hometown: Dryden, Ont.

Current home: Hamilton, Ont.

Family status: In a relationship with John Donachie, a police constable and reserve soldier.

First thing you will do when you get home: Go hiking on the Bruce Trail.

John Donachie on his partner, Jessica: "We both knew going into our jobs, especially both of us in the military -- I'm still in the reserve -- it's just a given that if I had to go over or she had to go over, there would not be any rumblings . . . "



CORPORAL JOHN FOLEY: "Doing the right thing builds a feeling of trust"

This is my third tour to Afghanistan, and the thing that surprises me still is the culture. I don't understand why anyone would want to cover and hide women. Why did they also accept a government that forced people into the streets to beg and that killed their own people if they did not listen and follow the rules? The evil of the former Taliban government is still fresh in the minds of the people here.

I recently came to realize that even though these people are very strong-willed, and even though at times it is hellish over here, the people really do need our help. We are doing the right thing.

I think it is kind of neat to see the progress in the country over the past 3½ years, like the number of schools that have been opened, both to boys and girls of all ages; or the number of women who have gone from having to wear full burkas to now showing their faces in public when they go out. Before Operation Medusa, I could have counted on the fingers of one hand how many women I had seen without burkas. When we redeployed to our base after the operation and we had to travel through Kandahar city, I saw more women exposing their faces and men wearing Western-style clothes than I had ever seen before.
More on link


----------



## GAP (27 Dec 2006)

*Article found 27 December 2006*

The slow hunt for the Taliban
By BILL GRAVELAND
Article Link

HOWZ-E MADAD, Afghanistan (CP) - The Taliban is proving an elusive enemy in the current NATO-led offensive in southern Afghanistan. 

More than a week after Canadian troops entered this tiny village without a shot being fired, the Canadians have yet to engage the insurgents in their part of Operation Baaz Tsuka, which means Falcon Summit in the local Pasto language. 

The offensive, involving British, Dutch, Canadian and Afghan forces began in mid-December and is aimed at driving hardcore Taliban fighters from the region and putting Afghan security forces in control, while delivering humanitarian assistance to the local population. 

Military official believe there are Taliban hiding nearby, but finding them has proven to be extremely difficult. 

"This is a huge area of operations . . . so there are very likely areas of my area of operations I won't get to in my six month tour here," Maj. Mike Wright, 35, of Oakville, Ont., who is in command of this operation, said in an interview Tuesday. 

"You're always looking for any combat indicators as we go - an absence of women and children, a whole lot of fighting age males," he said.  
  

But the insurgents easily blend in with the local population and there are virtually hundreds of hiding places for them in this bleak, desert region. 

As patrols drive Highway 1 and then across country, they come across dozens of mud compounds, each like a small fortress dotting the landscape. After hundreds of years of living a nomadic existence, Afghans built these self-contained mud forts with high walls and small connected houses. 

As troops set up camp for the night, two of the mini-fortresses had to be checked for security purposes. 
More on link

‘Until we kick them out’
Taliban vows to continue jihad despite success of NATO Operation
By BILL GRAVELAND The Associated Press
More on link

MAS’UM GHAR, Afghanistan — The jihad against NATO forces will continue despite the apparent success of Operation Baaz Tsuka, a spokesman for the Taliban said Tuesday.

"The Jihad will be going on until we kick them out of Afghanistan," said Qari Yousaf Ahmadi in an interview with The Canadian Press by satellite phone. "The non-Muslims came and occupied our country."

NATO forces launched Operation Baaz Tsuka with the goal of eliminating what it calls "tier-one Taliban" from the Panjwaii and Zhare districts. It is believed roughly three-quarters of Taliban fighters, still located in the area, are only in it for the money, and could be convinced to put down their weapons and return to their villages.

A number of villages in the Panjwaii and Zhare districts have been secured by Canadian and NATO forces with few fireworks so far. A number of U.S.-led air strikes has taken its toll on the Taliban with a number of commanders being killed.

Their deaths will not deter the Taliban from the ultimate goal of ridding Afghanistan of coalition forces, said Ahmadi. "Several of our members are killed in the jihad and it happens in this kind of war," he said.

Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant said the strikes against the Taliban leadership have been heartening but the long-term success of Operation Baaz Tsuka comes down to letting Afghan people provide the security in these villages.
]Article Link

German soldiers in Afghanistan come under small arms fire
Dec 27, 2006, 13:48 GMT 
Artlcle Link

Berlin - German soldiers serving with NATO forces in Afghanistan came under small arms fire but suffered no injuries, a defence ministry spokesman said Wednesday. 

The incident took place Tuesday near the northern Afghan town of Faiserbad, the spokesman said in Berlin. 

Six soldiers travelling in two armoured vehicles came under attack and returned fire. None of the unidentified attackers were injured. 

A civilian was slightly hurt by one of the German army trucks after the driver briefly lost control of the vehicle. The injuries were not serious and the man was treated by German medical staff. 

German has about 2,700 soldiers serving as part of NATO's 32,000-member stabilisation force in Afghanistan. 
End

*Hillier serves Christmas lunch with lashings of thanks*
BILL GRAVELAND Canadian Press
Article Link

STRONG POINT WEST, Afghanistan — The collection of mud dwellings and grape drying huts seemed an unlikely locale for Christmas dinner but General Rick Hillier arrived here with an entourage on Sunday to spend time with the troops.

Gen. Hillier, the chief of defence staff, brought along comedian Rick Mercer, treasury board president John Baird and MP's Jay Hill and Laurie Hawn.

“I'm delighted to be here and spend some time with you and to simply say Merry Christmas. I know it's hard to think about Christmas Eve when you're in this kind of environment,” said Gen. Hillier to about 120 troops from Bravo Company.

“There are millions of wishes passed on from Canada. You've got incredible support back in Canada for what you do — absolutely incredible support,” he said inside the compound made up of thick mud walls and huts which in some ways resembled a fortress.
More on link


Sharing a toast in Afghanistan
Soldiers in Kandahar raise paper cups to honour Royal Canadian Regiment
December 22, 2006 Oakland Ross Staff reporter
Article Link

PATROL BASE WILSON, Afghanistan–Canadian soldiers fighting in this beleaguered Central Asian land are officially on a dry mission – in other words, no alcohol allowed – but yesterday was a rare and evidently welcome exception.

"Happy birthday," said Warrant Officer Steve Konynenberg for the umpteenth time, as he served up yet another rum-based concoction known as the Ortona Toast, in celebration of yesterday's 123rd anniversary of the Royal Canadian Regiment, now based in Petawawa, Ont.

The RCR currently dominates the 1,200-strong combat arm of the nearly 2,500 Canadian military personnel stationed in Afghanistan, part of a NATO coalition battling Taliban insurgents.

Known as One RCR Battle Group, the battalion also includes members of at least two other regiments, the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), based in Edmonton, and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Man.

Yesterday, they were all honorary members of the Ontario regiment, whose soldiers have seen action down through the years in a long list of international conflicts dating back to the Boer War
More on link

Afghan dangers will continue: Harper
Canada's troops are making progress and mission should go beyond 2009, PM adds
December 22, 2006  Les Whittington ottawa bureau
Article Link

OTTAWA–The dangerous situation in Afghanistan that has led to the deaths of dozens of Canadian troops is unlikely to improve in the next year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.

In fact, Harper said in a year-end interview that he would like the Canadian military to prolong its Afghan mission beyond the current commitment, which now calls for troops to return home in early 2009.

"I would hope that we are making progress in two years and I quite frankly hope that we could stay to make more progress," Harper said.

Even though Canada and its allies are making progress in Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgency in the southern region where Canadian soldiers operate has created a difficult mission, Harper has said in his year-end interviews.

"Obviously, we'd like to see the security situation improve. I can tell your viewers, frankly, I don't think it will improve in the next 12 months," he told Global TV.

Harper, who has said he would rather lose power than abandon the Afghan mission as demanded by some opposition MPs, said it's in Canada's long-term security interest to stay.

"If we pull out today, if Canada, and those that are carrying the freight – and there's seven or eight countries in the south that are doing most of the heavy lifting – if we all leave, my prediction is we'll be back there in less than a decade."

The remarks came in a series of year-end TV interviews to be broadcast over the holiday period. They were screened for reporters in Ottawa yesterday.

In an interview with OMNI Television, Harper denied that he had a pro-Israel bias in Middle East affairs. He said it was not possible for Canada to be neutral in the struggle in July and August between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite militant group, Hezbollah. Nor can Canada deal with Hamas, the Palestinian group that will not recognize Israel's right to exist.

"I do not believe Canada can be neutral in a conflict between a democratic state and a terrorist organization bent on its destruction. I don't make any secret of that," the Prime Minister said.
More on link

Refuelers keep mission going Christmas Day over Afghanistan
by Master Sgt. Mitch Gettle 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
Article Link

12/26/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- 'Tis the season for giving and receiving. In the skies over Afghanistan, every day of the year could pass as Christmas Day. 

Refueling aircraft give up their fuel to the receiving aircraft which carry out the mission of air supremacy and ground support for Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Christmas Day 2006 will be remembered fondly by a KC-135 Stratotanker crew from the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, which provided 39,000 pounds of fuel to a B-1 Lancer so it could carry on with its mission. 

"This is the third year of my four-year career that I have flown a refueling mission on Christmas Day," said Senior Airman Chelsey Johnson, a 22nd EARS boom operator. "I am very proud of what I do and it makes a difference to the warfighter." 

At a time when most people in the U.S. are gathering with family and friends, Airmen around the globe, like this crew, perform the Air Force's mission regardless of the day's significance. 

"It doesn't matter if it's Christmas Day, New Year's Day or the third Monday of the month," said Capt. Mike Englehardt, 22nd EARS aircraft commander. "Every day of the year we support our receivers and our guys on the ground. The enemy doesn't care what day it is, we have to keep doing our part, too." 

"(Us being here) tells the enemy we have complete resolve and we believe in what we are doing and we're going to be here regardless of Christmas or not," said 1st Lt. Tyler West, 22nd EARS pilot. "It also means our friends and families back home are enjoying this time of year because we're out here securing their peace and liberties."  
More on link

Afghanistan arrests Pakistani `suicide bomb supplier'  
Article Link

Khost (Afghanistan), Dec 26: Afghan authorities on Tuesday said that they had arrested a Pakistani national who had allegedly been providing suicide bombers to the Taliban in eastern Paktika province. 

The man, whose name was not revealed, was "in charge of recruiting suicide bombers and equipping them," provincial governor, Mohammad Akram Khpolwak said. 

He was arrested from Bermal district in the bordering Paktika province yesterday, the governor said. 

He gave no further details saying that the case was under investigation. 

Afghan government officials frequently blame Pakistan for a surge in Taliban-led violence including the increase in suicide bombings in Afghanistan. 

Pakistan firmly denies helping the Taliban and points to the fact that it has 80,000 troops along the border with Afghanistan, hundreds of whom have died fighting pro-Taliban militants. 

The Governor also said that police raided a suspected Taliban compound in the same district and seized a bomb-fitted motorbike. However the owner of the motorcycle fled before the raid, he added. 

Some 4,000 people, including 1,000 civilians, have died this year in insurgent violence that has made 2006 Afghanistan's bloodiest year since the fall of the Taliban five years ago. 

Bureau Report 
More on link

No more troops for Afghanistan, says Belgian minister  
Wednesday December 27, 2006 (0027 PST)
Article Link


KUNDUZ CITY: Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut has said his country will not send more troops to Afghanistan. 

Flahau said this during a visit to the northern Kunduz province to meet his country`s troops stationed under the command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 

The minister said Belgium was eager to play its role in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan but could not send more troops to that country due to its limited resources. 

Flahaut said Belgium was a small country, but it had contributed troops to improve security and help in reconstruction in Afghanistan. "In addition to our help to enhance the capacity of Afghan police and army, we will continue to assist in improving lives of people living in remote areas of Afghanistan," he added. 

The visiting dignitary said 300 Belgian soldiers were performing duty at the Kabul International Airport, 18 soldiers in Kunduz and 10 more were stationed in the northern provinces of Balkh and Badakhshan. 

Seven European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Romania and Hungary, have deployed 500 troops in Kunduz and the neighbouring Takhar province in the north to maintain security and continue reconstruction.
End.

Iran in Afghanistan: Paving with good intentions?
By David Rohde Published: December 26, 2006
Article Link

ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan: Two years ago, foreign engineers built a new highway through the desert of western Afghanistan, past this ancient trading post and on to the outside world. Nearby, they strung a high-voltage power line and laid a fiber-optic cable, marked with red posts, that provides telephone and Internet access to the region.

The modernization comes with a message. Every 8 to 16 kilometers, or 5 to 10 miles, road signs offer quotations from the Koran. "Forgive us, God," declares one. "God is clear to everyone," says another. A graceful mosque rises roadside, with a green glass dome and Koranic inscriptions in blue tile. The style is unmistakably Iranian.

All of this is fruit of Iran's drive to become a bigger player in Afghanistan, as it exploits new opportunities to spread its influence and ideas farther across the Middle East.

The rise of Hezbollah, with Iran's support, has demonstrated the extent of Tehran's sway in Lebanon, and the American toppling of Saddam Hussein has allowed it to expand its influence in Iraq. Iran has been making inroads into Afghanistan, as well.

During the tumultuous 1980s and 1990s, Iran shipped money and arms to groups fighting first the Soviet occupation and later the Taliban government. But since the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban in 2001, Iran has taken advantage of the central government's weakness to pursue a more nuanced strategy: part reconstruction, part education and part propaganda.
More on link

Pakistan, Afghanistan in border row
 Wednesday, December 27, 2006 
Article Link

A new source of conflict has arisen in South Asia that could derail the war on terror. It involves the troubled Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Pakistan says it will 'mine and fence' a part of its troubled border with Afghanistan while the latter has dubbed it an act of 'beating around the bush' in response to charges that Islamabad is fuelling a Taliban resurgence.

An I-care-a-damn Islamabad says it does not require Kabul's permission.

But Kabul has reacted angrily to the decision by Pakistan and demanded that it fight 'terrorists in a real manner'.

'Rather than beating around the bush, we must confront terrorists in a real manner,' said Khaliq Ahmad, a presidential spokesperson.

'Fencing or mining the border is neither helpful nor practical,' he said. 'We are against it. The border is not where the problem lies.'

Pakistan has said it will build a fence and lay mines at 'selected places' on its side of the border with Afghanistan to restrict cross-border movement, Foreign Secretary Riaz Muhammad Khan said Tuesday.

'This is a part of our established policy. We are taking measures to prevent any militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan,' Khan said.

The Pakistan Army has been tasked to work out the modalities of the project. The 2,400-km Pakistan-Afghan border has 700 crossing points.

However, Khan did not give any time frame for the completion of the project, nor mentioned the specific areas to be fenced or mined.

Afghanistan has been battling, with virtually no success, cross-border movement by Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters who use Pakistan's tribal area as a safe haven and source of arms and money.

The growing Taliban and Al Qaeda campaign inside the Afghan territory has been a constant source of border skirmishes and verbal exchanges at the level of the two presidents, Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf.

Mediation efforts by US President George W. Bush, who invited the two to dinner in October, and tripartite US-Afghan-Pakistan mechanism for border management have been of little use
More on link

Iran making inroads into Afghanistan
Press Trust of India New York, December 27, 2006
Article Link

Iran, which has increased its influence in Lebanon by supporting Hezbollah and in Iraq after toppling of Saddam Hussein, has also been making inroads into Afghanistan, a media report said on Wednesday.

Since the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban in 2001, Iran has taken advantage of the central government's weakness to pursue a more nuanced strategy: part reconstruction, part education and part propaganda, the New York Times reported.

Iran has distributed more than 200 million dollars in the country. It has set up border posts against the heroin trade, and next year will begin work on new road and construction projects and a rail line linking the countries.

In Kabul, its projects include a new medical center and a water testing laboratory.
More on link

POSTCARDS FROM THE TROOPS
Sgt. Nicholas R. Fitzpatric u.s. army stationed in afghanistan Dánica Coto: dcoto@charlotteobserver.com
Article Link

Fitzpatric, 28, (shown with wife Aimee) is stationed in Deh Dahdi, Afghanistan. He is a special operations combat medic. His brother-in-law lives in Charlotte.

HOW ARE YOU PREPARING FOR NEW YEAR'S? Mostly we prepare for a more important arrival -- that is, winter -- outfitting our living and sleeping areas appropriately for freezing temperatures. We also have "snow shovels" from the local economy we have purchased. They consist of a flat piece of plastic connected to the end of a carved handle .

WHERE ARE YOU FINDING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT? ...Wherever we can. Some of the guys get very disenchanted during this period of time because they are away from home. There are a few of us with more cheer then the others, and we try to spread it around.

HAVE YOU BOUGHT ANY GIFTS? I am sending my father an American flag that is being flown here at the firebase on Christmas Day.
More on link

Afghanistan: NATO Commander urges political focus  
 Tuesday, December 26, 2006 
Article Link

Former NATO commander said establishing the country as a self-sustaining democracy can be only be done by strengthening its civil institutions and eradicating the huge trade in opium   
  
 A former supreme commander of NATO said today that pacifying Afghanistan can best be done by shifting the focus away from a military solution and toward a political one.

U.S. Marine General James Jones, who led NATO forces from 2003 until earlier this year, told journalists in Washington on December 21 that the alliance's troops are still needed in Afghanistan, but establishing the country as a self-sustaining democracy can be only be done by strengthening its civil institutions and eradicating the huge trade in opium.

The Problem Is Drugs

Jones said it's time for NATO countries to focus their attention on reconstruction and development in Afghanistan.

In his view, it's still necessary for NATO forces to help the government of President Hamid Karzai to fight the Taliban insurgency. But he said the real problem in Afghanistan is the drug trade and the money it generates.

"I think the Achilles heel of Afghanistan is the narcotics problem," Jones said. "I think the uncontrolled rise of the spread of narcotics, the business that it brings in, the money that it generates is being used to fund the insurgency, the criminal elements -- anything to bring chaos and disorder."

Jones said that without funds from the opium trade, the Taliban wouldn't be able to afford to continue its insurgency
More on link

Troops wake to a white Christmas
JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. and NATO soldiers at bases in Bagram and Kabul woke up to a white Christmas as more than 15 centimetres of snow fell in central Afghanistan by midday Monday.

Soldiers wearing red Santa hats and even a couple dressed as elves walked around Camp Eggers — the main U.S. base in Kabul — entertaining troops, some of whom were packing fresh snowballs and launching them at each other.

“The white Christmas definitely makes me feel at home, actually,” said Navy Master Chief Ozzie Nelson, who now lives in San Diego with his wife and five kids but spent winters growing up in the Rochester, N.Y., area.

More than 50 soldiers attended a Christmas-day church service at Eggers, where they sang traditional Christmas hymns.
More on link
]Article Link


----------



## The Bread Guy (28 Dec 2006)

*Canadians Take more Taliban Turf*
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, 28 Dec 06
Article Link

With one pump of his fist and a menacing glare, a burly soldier from Alpha Company, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, exhorted his mates this week to put on their game face and confront the Taliban.  "Let's get it on, boys," the soldier yelled, seconds before jumping into his LAV-III, a light armoured vehicle now ubiquitous in Kandahar province.  The rest of his Shilo, Man.- based company needed no encouragement. The soldiers from A Company are no strangers to close combat. They engaged the Taliban within days of arriving here in August, and a month later played a key operational role during Operation Medusa, the violent, two-week-long campaign that saw Canadian troops strike deep into Taliban country and secure a front line 30 kilometres west of Kandahar city ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*British soldier dies in Afghan blast*
View London web page, 28 Dec 06
Article Link

A British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan and three other troops have been injured, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.  An MoD spokesman confirmed that the soldier died when the vehicle he was travelling in was blown up near Garmser in Helmand province yesterday.  The incident occurred during a reconnaissance mission in the south of the country and there were no Taliban in the area at the time, the spokesman added.  "One soldier was also seriously injured and two suffered minor injuries," the spokesman said, adding that it was too early to tell what caused the explosion ....



*Afghan air strike irks U.S. soldiers*
Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, 28 Dec 06
Article Link

Special-operations soldiers say that if the command in Afghanistan had listened to them four years ago, there would have been no need this month for a U.S. air strike that killed senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Osmani.  He already would have been locked up.  As reported in 2002 by The Washington Times, an Army Green Beret "A Team" said it captured Osmani in a village near Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace ....



*Tragic incident between ISAF troops and Afghan civilian*
ISAF news release # 2006-395, 27 Dec 06
Article Link

This morning, an ISAF security patrol was involved in a tragic incident resulting in the death of a young Afghan civilian.  A vehicle approaching the patrol failed to head warnings to stop. The patrol fired upon the vehicle, unfortunately killing one Afghan civilian.  The incident occurred 2.5 kilometres outside of Kandahar Airfield on Highway 4. ISAF deeply regrets this loss of life.  Afghan National Police and ISAF are conducting an investigation. 


*Afghan civilian killed by NATO forces' warning shots*
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 28 Dec 06
Article Link

A young Afghan civilian was killed when NATO forces fired warning shots after he failed to stop a vehicle that was approaching a NATO patrol convoy in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.  The incident took place Wednesday near the provincial airport in Kandahar province, the ISAF said in a statement ....



*Taliban command structure in Fata ‘alarms’ US*
Anwar Iqbal, Dawn.com (PAK), 28 Dec 06
Article Link

The Taliban have established a command and control structure in the tribal areas and are using their “sanctuary” for regrouping, said a senior US official on Tuesday.  Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, however, acknowledged at a briefing in Ottawa, Canada, that Pakistan was aware of the problem and was making concerted efforts to deal with it.  Mr Boucher, who looks after South and Central Asian affairs at the State Department, said the presence of Taliban forces in the tribal region was “one of the key items” on the US agenda.  A text of the statement, issued by the State Department on Wednesday, quoted him as saying that “the Taliban have been able to use these areas for sanctuary and for command and control and for regrouping and supply.” The United States, he said, was not only alarmed by this development but had also conveyed its concerns to Pakistan ....


----------



## GAP (28 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 28 December 2006*


Christmas in flak jackets
From a showbiz perspective, General Hillier is a tough act to follow, says RICK MERCER 
RICK MERCER From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

A few months ago, General Rick Hillier promised me a Christmas I would never forget; turns out he is a man of his word.

This year, on Christmas morning, I was in Sperwan Ghar in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan sitting around a single-burner Coleman stove with a dozen Canadian soldiers. Rush was on the stereo and we were watching a pot of Tetley tea bags threaten to boil. Outside it was wet and muddy, but inside the sandbag bunker where these Royal Canadian Dragoons ate and slept it was warm and as comfortable as one could expect under the circumstances. Corporal Frank Farrell was in charge of the pot and there was no top on it this morning -- this was not to be rushed.

Gen. Hillier is a very persuasive man. He is also a Newfoundlander. And while he is the chief of the Canadian Forces it has been suggested that he might think he is the chief of all Newfoundlanders. He'll call you up and suggest to you that on Dec. 25 there is only one place you should be and it's so special that by agreeing to go there you render your life insurance null and void. You aren't asked so much as you are told.

This was my third trip to Afghanistan but my first at Christmas. Gen. Hillier was on a personal mission to shake hands with every man and woman wearing a Canadian uniform in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf and I was along for the ride. The way he described it was simple: "It's Christmas" he said, "and all we are going to do is pop in and say hello to a few folks." In Canada "popping in to say hello" at Christmas is just a matter of arranging for a designated driver or making sure you have cab fare in your pocket. This was a little more complicated.
More on link

*How to win the war*

Canadian efforts in Afghanistan shift into reconstruction mode
JOHN GEDDES January 01, 2007
Article Link

In the fight for attention back home, Canada's provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar is losing badly -- and it's not hard to see why. The PRT, which is struggling to help rebuild the economy in the violent southern Afghanistan province, is up against the war itself. When it comes to vying for TV time and front-page treatment, what chance does digging irrigation ditches and paving roads have against the latest bloody suicide bombing or pitched battle? Yet in 2007, the political debate about Canada's entanglement in Afghanistan could turn on the federal government's success or failure in shifting at least some of the focus from destruction to development. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper braces for a possible spring election, he needs voters to see a glimmer of hope behind reports of carnage from Canada's biggest gamble on the world stage.

More than anyone else, Lt.-Col. Simon Hetherington bears the burden of delivering those signs of progress from embattled Kandahar city. As the PRT leader there, he oversees the work of 330 Canadian Forces personnel and a handful of officials from Foreign Affairs, the Canadian International Development Agency and the RCMP. The idea behind the PRT is to closely link troops to development experts, allowing aid work to press ahead even in areas where there's still fighting. So far, criticism of the team's impact has outweighed praise. Opposition politicians slam the government for underemphasizing it -- making combat, not reconstruction, the real mission in Kandahar. Beyond the Canadian debate, some international observers contend the PRTs -- there are 24 in Afghanistan run by 12 countries -- have generally failed to live up to expectations in the face of the Taliban insurgency. But in an interview with Maclean's, Hetherington painted a picture of how 2007 might provide a far more upbeat story. 
More on link

Afghanistan slams Pak's decision to fence border
28 Dec, 2006 
Article Link

KABUL: The Hamid Karzai-led Afghan government has strongly protested Pakistan's plan to fence and mine parts of the border between the two countries. 

Expressing hope that Pakistan would reconsider its decision, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said that "if it failed to do so, Kabul will call on the international community to pressurise Islamabad and to destroy terrorist centres inside Pakistan." 

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan had said that it would build a fence and plant land mines on parts of its 2,430 km frontier with Afghanistan. 

Retaliating to Islamabad's stand that an agreement with Afghanistan was not needed on the border issue since Pakistan was fencing and mining its own side of the borer, Baheen said: "It is only the Afghan Loya Jirga (the Afghan assembly of people) and representatives of people on the Pakistani side of the Durrand Line who are entitled to take a crucial decision of this nature." 

Pashtoon tribes and clans live on both sides of the border and were artificially divided by the Durrand Line in the British days. Delineated in 1893 by the British by arm-twisting a weak Afghan ruler, the Durrand Line has never been sought to be fenced before. 
More on link

German government considers deploying air force in Afghanistan  
Thursday December 28, 2006 
Article Link

BERLIN: The German coalition government is currently preparing a major expansion of its military commitment to the war in Afghanistan. To this point the government has claimed that the only role of the German army in that country would be to help with reconstruction and assure the security of the Hamid Karzai puppet regime. 
To this end the German government limited the operations of its forces to the nation's capital and the relatively calm northern part of the country. The recent decision to send six Tornado aircraft to Afghanistan would thrust German forces into the violent fighting taking place in the south. 

The request from NATO arrived in Berlin on December 11, but was only made public ten days later. No official decision has yet been announced. The S?sche Zeitung assumes, however, that "Chancellor [Angela] Merkel, Foreign Minster [Frank-Walter] Steinmeier and Defense Minister [Franz Josef] Jung have already decided that they cannot reject the request by NATO." Official requests of this kind, the paper says are "only made when a positive answer has been given at a working level." 

The request calls for the deployment of so-called Recce Tornado airplanes, which conduct reconnaissance and can identify small objects from the air. The maintenance of the highly complicated and expensive machines requires approximately 250 soldiers, who are likely to be stationed in the south of the country. 

Even if the German Tornadoes were merely sent on reconnaissance missions and did not drop bombs, their use nevertheless constitutes a combat mission. They would identify targets for the American and British NATO units, which are carrying out a bloody war against rebels in the south of Afghanistan in a war that has claimed the lives of many innocent civilians. The S?sche Zeitung commented, "Whoever conducts reconnaissance is assisting towards successful bombardment with all the consequences-up to and including the ominous collateral damage, which one experienced in the Kosovo war." Spiegel Online noted, "The Germans are allowing themselves to get deeper and deeper involved in the Afghanistan conflict, and there is no end in sight." 
More on link

Special visitors spread cheer to Airmen in Afghanistan
 by Master Sgt. Chuck Roberts U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs
Article Link

12/27/2006 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- The U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander visited Airmen deployed to Afghanistan to thank them for what they do. He also brought along the USAFE popular music band Direct Hit to spread holiday cheer. 

The high-quality blend of rock, pop, and rhythm and blues delivered right on target, but Gen. Tom Hobbins was pleased to discover from numerous conversations that while the music was hugely appreciated, deployed Airmen said the reward of their mission more than sustains their spirits. 

"The Airmen I met downrange are just totally dedicated to the mission they're doing," General Hobbins said after concluding a Dec. 18-20 visit to Kabul and Kandahar. "Even though they're away from home and missing family members and loved ones, they all said they are glad to be a part of this joint team." 

General Hobbins said Airmen were in good spirits because they know "their Air Force family is always there for them and they feel a sense of pride in what they are doing in Afghanistan. 
More on link

Death toll of female troops 'troubling'
By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES December 26, 2006 
Article Link

The number of military service women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached 70, more than the total from the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm wars. 
    "Some have argued that the women who have died are no different than the men," according to a report noting the 70 casualties from the Center for Military Readiness, which opposes women in combat. "But deliberate exposure of women to combat violence in war is tantamount to acceptance of violence against women in general." 
    The reasons for the historical high casualty rate are multiple. Women now make up more than 14 percent of the volunteer force, performing a long list of military occupational specialties they did not do 50 years ago. Women in earlier wars were mostly confined to medical teams. Today, they fly combat aircraft, drive trucks to resupply fighting units, go on patrol as military police (MPs) and repair equipment. 
    What's more, the Afghan and Iraq conflicts are lasting longer than the relatively brief Desert Storm, which featured the first large contribution of American women in a war zone. 
    But the real difference in Afghanistan and Iraq is the battlefield. It is virtually every road, neighborhood and rural village. Insurgents do not just attack front-line combat troops. Suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) strike at any time, meaning that women in support units can be just as vulnerable as men in ground combat. 
    "What it means is, it's just unprecedented," said Elaine Donnelly, who heads the Center for Military Readiness. "It is something that people are not aware of, for the most part. Some of these stories are incredibly sad." 
    Her report lists names, ranks and cause of death of eight women killed in Afghanistan and 62 killed in Iraq. The vast majority are enlisted women killed by IEDs or other ambush. 
    This month, two female officers died in Iraq, including Maj. Megan McClung, 34, a Marine Corps public-affairs specialist. Illustrating there are no firm battle lines, the death happened when Maj. McClung was escorting journalists near Ramadi. Her truck was hit by an IED. 
More on link

Pakistani driver killed in rocket attack in Afghanistan  
Article Link

KABUL: A Pakistani driver died in a rebel attack on a convoy of oil tankers in Kandahar, officials said Wednesday. 

The insurgents fired rockets at oil tankers carrying fuel for a US military base in southern Afghanistan, killing a Pakistani driver and wounding three others, district governor Habibullah Khan told media. 

Four fuel tankers came under automatic weapons fire in the Takhtapul district of Taliban-infested Kandahar province on the highway linking Kandahar city with the Pakistani border, Khan said. 

"One driver of a fuel tanker truck was killed and three others were wounded in the Taliban attack," Khan said, adding the tankers did not catch fire. 
End

British aide sent for trial, but denies Iran spying claims  
ROBIN MILLARD Globe and Mail Update
Article Link

Agence France Presse — An aide to the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan was sent Wednesday for trial at London's central criminal court, accused of passing secrets to “the enemy” -- believed to be Iran.

Corporal Daniel James, an interpreter to Lieutenant General David Richards, proclaimed his innocence even as he was ordered to face the Old Bailey charged under the Official Secrets Act with "prejudicing the safety of the state".

“He's innocent of the charge against him,” said the soldier's solicitor David Martin outside court.

“He's looking forward to presenting his case in court and answering the allegation made and clearing his name, as he's absolutely confident he will do,” he added.
More on link

U.N. criticizes Pakistan plan to plant land mines on border
ALISA TANG Associated Press
Article Link


KABUL, Afghanistan — A top U.N. human rights officer said Wednesday that Pakistan's plan to mine parts of its border with Afghanistan would only add to civilian casualties in a region already littered with unexploded ordnance. Pakistan said Tuesday it would plant land mines and build a fence on parts of its 1,500-mile frontier with Afghanistan to fend off criticism it does too little to stop Taliban and al-Qaida guerrillas from crossing the border. "From a human rights perspective, we would be concerned about any mining, including this," said Richard Bennett, the U.N.'s chief human rights officer in Afghanistan. "Human rights advocates are solidly opposed globally to the use of land mines. The U.N. is opposed to the use of mines." Afghanistan is one of the world's most mine-affected countries, with thousands of civilian deaths and maimings in the past 25 years of war. The frontier region is inhabited on both sides by Pashtun tribespeople who travel freely across the border. Taliban-led insurgents have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan over the past year, triggering the worst violence since U.S.-led forces ousted the hardline regime five years ago and threatening the shaky rule of Hamid Karzai, the nation's first popularly elected president. Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the U.N. assistance mission to Afghanistan, there needs to be better coordination between Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight the insurgency. "It's difficult to see what value laying fresh mines could bring to the people of either country," he said. Relations have been souring between the neighbors, which are key U.S. allies in its fight against terrorism. Afghan and Western officials contend militants operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan, but Islamabad insists it does all it can to stop them. A spokesman for the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan said the Pakistani mining plan should be discussed by Afghan, Pakistani and NATO commanders. "We obviously applaud any statement about further efforts to improve border security, but the methodology should be discussed in the tripartite council," said Mark Laity, senior civil representative spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force. Afghanistan quickly objected to the idea of a fence along the rugged border, whose demarcation is disputed by the two nations. But Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan said his country would be acting on its own territory and did not need Afghan consent. Khan told reporters Pakistan also will send unspecified military reinforcements to the frontier, joining about 80,000 soldiers already in the country's northwestern tribal regions. He did not say when the mining and fence work would start. 
More on link

Iran Moves Into Afghanistan
Article Link

It seems I wasn’t entirely off my rocker in seeing Iran advance into Afghanistan over the next 15 years:
The rise of Hezbollah, with Iran’s support, has demonstrated the extent of Tehran’s sway in Lebanon, and the American toppling of Saddam Hussein has allowed it to expand its influence in Iraq. Iran has been making inroads into Afghanistan, as well. During the tumultuous 1980s and ’90s, Iran shipped money and arms to groups fighting first the Soviet occupation and later the Taliban government. But since the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban in 2001, Iran has taken advantage of the central government’s weakness to pursue a more nuanced strategy: part reconstruction, part education and part propaganda. 
Iran has distributed its largess, more than $200 million in all, mostly here in the west but also in the capital, Kabul. It has set up border posts against the heroin trade, and next year will begin work on new road and construction projects and a rail line linking the countries. In Kabul, its projects include a new medical center and a water testing laboratory.
Ambassador Bahrami is correct in saying Iran has a legitimate security concern in making sure Afghanistan is stable… to say nothing of their probable nervousness at beefed up U.S. military forces on either side should things get too bad in both countries.
It would appear Iran is finally feeling in a position to flex its muscles as the returning regional power, given its activities in both Iraq and Afghanistan—a side effect of being a nuclear nuisance. Those activities include making things as difficult as possible for the American troops. This is unfortunate, as Iran and the U.S. actually cooperated in the initial campaign against the Taliban in late 2001. After Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech, the Iranians backed off from their general offer of support and focused instead on securing their position within Herat province.
It has other implications as well. Rather than applying to work somewhere like Europe or the U.S., hundreds of thousands of Afghani citizens are applying for work visas in Iran each year. Despite the probable security concerns five years down the line, Iran certainly seems to have an easier time of PR than the U.S. does, which bodes poorly for the future of our efforts there. For the moment, the U.S. and NATO have a narrow margin in good vibes; this is unlikely to last, however, with Musharraf’s reckless border campaigns and continued low levels of “nation building” personnel
End


----------



## MarkOttawa (28 Dec 2006)

A soldier's life is one of extremes; even the lulls are tension-filled
space
_Globe and Mail_, By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD, December 28
http://www.rbcinvest.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/LAC/20061228/AFGHANBLATCH28/Columnists/columnists/columnistsNational/1/1/2/



> As Elmore Leonard wrote in Tishomingo Blues, a novel whose climatic scene occurs in the midst of one of those American Civil War re-enactments with thousands of folks dressed up in period gear and carrying swords and pistols, "What they said about being in the army all hurry up and wait? It was even true pretending being in the army."
> 
> This is, sort of, what Globe and Mail photographer Kevin Van Paassen and I are doing here in the Panjwai valley of southern Afghanistan with Charles Company, 1st Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (29 Dec 2006)

I have only been able to find an excerpt from a story Dec. 29 by The _National Post’s_ Brian Hutchinson at _Norman's Spectator_: 
http://www.members.shaw.ca/nspector4/MIND.htm



> Speaking to reporters later, Lt.-Col. Lavoie suggested his troops will engage with the Taliban early next week, after the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Among others, soldiers from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and a squadron of tanks will be involved.
> 
> The new battle procedure is "a bit of a mopping-up phase, into areas where there are still remnants of Taliban strongholds," he said. "I can't get into the specifics of where those places are. I'm re-posturing forces now."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (29 Dec 2006)

*Troops digging In Until After Muslim holiday*
Insurgents Still Close
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, 29 Dec 06
Permalink

Canadian troops defending key positions west of Kandahar city poured into this strategic strongpoint yesterday and made final preparations for a much-anticipated clash with the Taliban.  The day ended with a forceful reminder that insurgents remain active and are nearby. At about 7:15 p.m. local time, the Taliban launched a volley of rocket and mortar fire just east of Mas'um Ghar.  It is believed the attack was aimed at Afghan National Army soldiers conducting patrols with Canadian troops in the area.  After two loud explosions, return machine-gun fire was heard. All personnel at Mas'um Ghar were ordered to "stand to" and don protective gear before moving inside concrete bunkers or climbing into armoured vehicles. There were no reports of any Canadian or ANA casualties.  The activity came less than an hour after the Canadian battle group commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie, had described to reporters plans for the next phase of Operation Baaz Tsuka, a NATO and Afghan security forces campaign aimed at removing remaining insurgents from the area while delivering material aid and relief to war-weary Afghan farmers and their families ....



*No proof soldier deserted comrades in Afghanistan: DND*
CBC Online, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

The Department of National Defence is denying a newspaper report alleging that an Ontario-based soldier deserted his comrades during a fierce battle in Afghanistan.  "There's no proof of those allegations," DND spokesman Maj. Mike Audette told CBC News in a phone interview Friday.  Frontline soldiers are quoted in a Globe and Mail report Friday saying that a veteran non-commissioned officer in Charles Company of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment refused to assist his comrades during a battle in September. The Royal Canadian Regiment is based in Petawawa, Ont., northwest of Ottawa ....


*Canadian officer's desertion unproven: military*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

It was a dark day for Canadian troops: the beginning of Operation Medusa and a day when four Canadian soldiers died in a bloody battle with the Taliban.  Now there are allegations that a non-commissioned officer deserted his men when they were pinned down by the Taliban during the battle in September.  A published report in the Globe and Mail on Friday quoted members of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment's Charles Company, who accuse a sergeant of abandoning them in the heat of battle. The sergeant has not been publicly identified.  Maj. Matthew Sprague, who commands Charles Company, wouldn't discuss the soldier on Thursday except to say tersely that he is now out of the army and that the alleged incident that led to his leaving is "in the past, as far as I'm concerned." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Canadian presence in Afghanistan prominent in Harper, Jean new year messages*
Terry Pedwell, Canadian Press, via Macleans.ca, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

Canada's military presence in Afghanistan figures prominently in end-of-year messages from the prime minister and the Governor General.  One of the most important things he did this year, says Stephen Harper, was visit soldiers and other Canadians working in Afghanistan. "For me, the highlight of 2006 was visiting our troops, diplomats and aide workers in Afghanistan," Harper said in a recorded message to Canadians ....


*New Year's Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, 
Governor General of Canada, January 1, 2007*
Governor General of Canada's web page, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

“Let me start by looking back at 2006, beginning with the year’s most recent events. I have just returned from my first State visit as governor general of Canada. I crossed the African continent from Algeria, Mali and Ghana to South Africa and back north to Morocco.  Each and every moment of the trip was unique and reinforced my belief that we have far too few opportunities to witness Africa’s bright, hopeful side. Throughout the trip, I set out to shed new light on the continent— showcasing untold perspectives and time-honoured traditions and cultures. I feel it is important to share with my fellow Canadians the vision of an Africa that is full of promise—a continent that is  committed to finding its own solutions to the enormous challenges of the day—an Africa that is working towards stability, security, prosperity and freedom. It is this image of Africa that struck me so deeply.  And it is this new Africa that Canada has long supported. An Africa whose remarkable, often unseen, efforts we now celebrate together so that it may take its rightful place in the world community.  I will never forget the faces of women, men and children who have chosen hope over pessimism, action over a sense of hopelessness. They are people who are changing an entire continent, one step at a time. I paid tribute to them, on behalf of all Canadians, sharing our admiration and friendship. It is this same spirit of togetherness that, in many ways, has been the hallmark of the past year.

I was deeply touched by the kind words and trust that I shared with so many Canadians. Your stories and experiences for bettering the lives of your fellow citizens are truly remarkable.  This important work, often done out of the spotlight, makes all the difference. I look forward to pursuing my discussions with Canadians who bring hope to their communities in each province and territory, every city and town.

Certainly, we must all celebrate and salute the community spirit and actions of our fellow citizens. I also know that this has been a difficult year for many families. My thoughts are especially with our soldiers in Afghanistan and their loved ones—who have endured great hardship. Indeed, they are making great sacrifices.  Let me share with you that everywhere I have been—everywhere—I have been moved by the courage, energy, generosity and openness of the Canadian people.

For me, that openness is living proof of our success as a country. That openness is also our greatest message of hope for humanity.  As we embark on a new year, dear friends, let us not forget this important message that we, as Canadians, can bring to the world. And let us strengthen our resolve to spread this message far and wide.  My husband Jean-Daniel Lafond, my daughter Marie-Éden and the Rideau Hall team join me in wishing you all peace, health, happiness and serenity.”



*Taliban chief pledges to drive out foreign forces, as 12 of his fighters killed*
Alisa Tang, Associated Press, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

Fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Omar pledged to drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan in a statement released Friday, as NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 12 of his fighters in the volatile south.  The purported message from Omar, the authenticity of which could not be immediately confirmed, urged the Taliban to "sacrifice" their lives and "never submit or accept defeat."  "I am confident that blood of innocent people and mujahedeen will yield results," said the statement, timed for the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Adha. "The enemy will have to quit the region with humiliati on and disgrace."  "Afghans have a history of expelling their enemies as no enemy and invader has quit Afghanistan willingly," it said.  The message, sent in Pashto language with an accompanying English translation, was received by The Associated Press in Pakistan in an e-mail from Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif ....


*Taleban Leader Vows to Drive Foreign Troops From Afghanistan*
Voice of America News, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

Fugitive Taleban leader Mullah Omar says he is confident his followers will drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan.  The message was sent to news agencies Friday. In it, he says Afghanistan has a history of expelling its enemies by force and that no aggressive force has left the country willingly.  Omar also dismissed a proposal by Afghan and Pakistani officials to hold tribal councils on both sides of their border to end the violence. He said the councils are a "trap" created by aggressors and puppets ....

*AFGHANISTAN: FOREIGN TROOPS WILL BE FORCED TO LEAVE SAYS MULLAH OMAR*
Syed Saleem Shahzad, ADNKronos International (ITA), 29 Dec 06
Article Link

Foreign troops will be forced to leave Afghanistan by the Taliban, the hardline Islamist group's fugitive leader said in a rare, signed statement to the press on Friday."They came to Afghanistan readily but will be fleeing against their will... It is the history of Afghanistan that all foreign invaders are eventually defeated with much humiliation," Mullah Mohammad Omar allegedly said in the message.  The signed missive issued to the press by the Taliban’s spokesperson Mohammed Hanif to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha is a political statement on the Taliban's upcoming strategy which opposes any political mediation and is solely aimed at forcing foreign troops out of the country and ousting from power the Western-backed administration of president Hamid Karzai.  The statement coincides with the intensification of fighting in the volatile southern Helmand province after a brief lull during the winter season. Fighting could reach Kandahar as part of a Taliban strategy to conquer the city before they start what they hope will be an armed uprising across Afghanistan in the spring of 2007 ....



*Afghanistan-Iran sign MoU on economic cooperation*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 28 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghanistan and Iran Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bolster bilateral cooperation in fields of economic relations and trade in a year.  The MoU was signed by the Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta and his Iranian counterpart visiting Kabul Manochehr Muttaki in their second meeting.  Spanta told reporters after the meeting that in addition to of economic cooperation they also discussed issues of cultural exchange and security situation. He said aim of the MoU was to boost up economic ties between the two countries.  He said Iran was a historical friend of Afghanistan and that its strained relations with US, a strategic ally of the latter, will not cast any effects on friendship of the two neighbors. "Iran is a good ally of Afghanistan in war on terrorism and drugs and its nuclear activities pose no threat to us," said Spanta.  Muttaki, for his part, termed signing of the MoU as an important document for doubling commercial and economic cooperation between the two countries.  He said Iran was committed to take active part in reconstruction of its war-ravaged neighbour because stability and prosperity in Afghanistan was beneficial for Iran and the whole world.  On the issue of presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, Muttaki said the international forces were in Afghanistan for keeping security. He said the foreign forces would withdraw when the Afghan forces became able to shoulder the security ....



*Pakistan border plan is 'psychological warfare'*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 28 Dec 06
Article Link

The Defence Ministry said it would use diplomatic means and would put pressure on Pakistan through tripartite military commission to abandon its fencing and mining plan of the joint border with Afghanistan.  Spokesman for the defence ministry Zahir Azimi told reporters on Thursday that Pakistan decision on fencing and mining the Durand Line was a psychological warfare.  He said enhancing border security was needed sincere efforts by Pakistan.  Azimi said the solution to the problem would never be separation of people of the same community living on both sides of the border. Azimi said process of formation of the Afghan National Army (ANA) was still continued with heavy funding from the international allies ....


----------



## GAP (30 Dec 2006)

*Articles found 30 December, 2006*

Taliban: Execution will intensify jihad
POSTED: 0736 GMT (1536 HKT), December 30, 2006 
Article Link

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- A top commander of Afghanistan's Taliban said on Saturday that the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would galvanize Muslim opposition to the United States.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former Taliban defense minister and top insurgent commander, also said Saddam's execution on the Eid al-Adha Muslim festival -- marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca -- was a provocation.

"Saddam's hanging on the day of Eid is a challenge to Muslims," Obaidullah told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"His death will boost the morale of Muslims. The jihad in Iraq will be intensified and attacks on invader forces will increase," he said. "Thousands of people will rise up with hatred for America."

The Taliban intensified their war against the Afghan government and the U.S., British and other Western troops supporting it this year.

That brought the most intense violence since U.S.-led troops ousted the hardline Islamists in 2001, and the Taliban have vowed to step up their campaign in the coming spring.

Obaidullah said U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were fighting Muslims, and that is why Saddam was executed.

"Bush and Blair have launched a crusade against Muslims. Saddam was hanged because he was a Muslim, while slaves like Jalal Talabani in Iraq and Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan have been given power," he said.

"Muslims should not expect any good from these people," he said, referring to the Iraqi and Afghan presidents.

"Muslims should unite against the infidels, join the jihad and support the mujahideen because jihad has become an obligation for Muslims all over the world."

"God willing, both Afghanistan and Iraq will prove to be another Vietnam for America ... God willing, the invader forces in Afghanistan and Iraq will soon face defeat."

In Kabul, Karzai declined to comment on Saddam's execution, saying it was a matter for the government of Iraq and would have no impact on Afghanistan
More on link

PRODI: CONTINUE AFGHANISTAN MISSION
Article Link

(AGI) - Rome, Dec 28 - Italy will not withdraw from Afghanistan, Italian PM Romano Prodi promised during the end-of-year conference, admitting that he is not worried about the re-financing of missions abroad; the vote is expected in Parliament by February. "The commitment in Afghanistan was made with a broad consensus. We have decided to continue the mission and will do so, though quite aware of the difficult Afghan situation," which "public awareness has too often underestimated". Among the problems of Afghanistan, Prodi listed the fragmentation of the country, the expansion of the opium market and the weakness of the central government. All these issues, the Prime Minister warned, "must guide us to finding a political solution. It is a rationale which must be promoted, because the problem requires it, but I'm not worried about any particular difficulties in the decision to be made." 
More on link

SASSARI BRIGADE: PARISI, IN FEBRUARY WILL GO TO AFGHANISTAN
Article Link

(AGI) - Sassari, Dec 28 - Next February the Sassari Brigade will go to Heart, in Afghanistan, for the international peace-keeping mission in which the Italian army is involved too. This was confirmed this evening by Defence Minister Arturo paris, in Mores, near Sassari, to celebrate the 107 years of Giovanni Antonio Carta, the last soldier of the Brigade which fought at Carso during the First World War. In reply to journalists, Parisi repeated that no Italian soldier will depart for Iraq, where the FA Ministry expects to launch a humanitarian mission in Baghdad and in the province of Dhi Qar, in which the Sassari people operated. (AGI) -
More on link

Soldier in Afghanistan seeks aid for locals
By Paula Vogler Thursday, December 28, 2006 - Updated: 02:39 PM EST
Article Link

Captain Benjamin Tupper is spending Christmas in Afghanistan and conditions there rival winters in New England in terms of harshness, debilitating cold and bleak outlooks. 
Tupper’s National Guard unit, embedded in Afghan “kandaks” or battalions, is training, mentoring and leading Afghan soldiers to handle their own country’s security issues. However, as dangerous as that may be at times, it is the plight of some of the locals that has Tupper’s attention.

While Tupper and his men go out on missions in four to six layers of clothing including high tech Goretex and Thinsulate, he sees children still in summer clothes of thin cotton shirts and pants, many barefoot walking in the snow.

“I inevitably end up a shivering mass of flesh and body armor,” said Tupper in a posting on his blog on the Internet. “Trekking through snow and ice, these children go about their daily business apparently oblivious to the cold. But we all know they are not oblivious to it; they are suffering through it.”

Tupper is asking for people to send him gloves, hats, coats, socks, scarves and warm clothing so that he can pass those items along to the children he comes in contact with.

“Just within 3 miles of our base there are literally hundreds of children who have absolutely no cold weather clothing,” said Tupper.

 Teddy bears and beanie babies are also appreciated.

“Afghan children live a toy free existence and the smiles on the faces of the little boys and girls we give these out to are priceless,” Tupper said.
More on link

Carlos Guerra: Will Iraq and Afghanistan wars produce a thorny new dilemma?  
Web Posted: 12/29/2006 10:40 PM CST San Antonio Express-News 
Article Link

If the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have turned into seemingly interminable quagmires, brace yourself for the policy and moral dilemmas we may soon face. 
National Guardsmen and reservists are already serving multiple tours, and active-duty terms are being extended. But even so, our military is seriously strained, and sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq will only worsen the situation. 

Young men must still register for the draft, but opposition to its revival is so widespread that it isn't likely to happen soon. 

Defense Department officials insist that they are having no problems maintaining troop levels or meeting recruitment goals. 

But recruitment and re-enlistment incentives have been raised to five- and even six-digit levels, and the Pentagon has also lowered standards for recruits and raised the maximum age for enlistment. 

The all-volunteer military that once turned away high-school dropouts now offers programs like Army Plus, which gives potential recruits crash GED courses. 

Now, another little-discussed element that has helped keep troop levels up is being discussed as a way to boost future recruitment of better-qualified enlistees. 

Changes in the law have made it easier and quicker for documented immigrants to become citizens by volunteering and serving. Last year, at least 30,000 noncitizens were wearing U.S. military uniforms and almost 5,000 became citizens. About 100 of these soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

But as our military entanglements drag on — and officials look for ways to avoid a new draft — some policy wonks are openly encouraging the Pentagon to recruit foreigners, here and abroad. 
More on link

Mullah Dadullah- America’s new Frankenstein in Afghanistan   
Article Link

 Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the ruthless Taliban leader in charge of the militia’s campaign against NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern and eastern Afghanistan is fast becoming what Abu Musaib al Zarqawi had become for US forces in Iraq. 

He shares many traits with Zarqawi, though unlike the slain al Qaeda Iraq chief, he is disabled, having lost one of his legs after stepping on a landmine in Herat in eastern Afghanistan in 1994 while battling the Ahmad Shah Masood led Northern Alliance. 

He has a fondness for beheading his captives, and is feared by both his opponents and followers. He is also known to behead his followers who disobey him, but is still respected as a leader who can deal a crushing blow to his adversaries. 

Deriving sadistic pleasure – by beheading captives – is not the only trait Mullah Dadullah shares with Zarqawi. 
More on link

Local student brings hope to Afghanistan
Hayward resident helps country's children find shelter, education
By Kristofer Noceda, STAFF WRITER  Article Last Updated: 12/30/2006 02:39:04 AM PST
Article Link

HAYWARD — Deeba Haider takes restoring war-torn Afghanistan personally. 
Never mind that her father sought refuge from his homeland because of death threats while working with the United Nations, bringing his family to Fremont five years ago. 

Or the fact that her mother was under house arrest and lost many family members during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. 

Her main reason comes from a passage in the Quran that calls for Muslims to help those in need. 

"My parents have both gone through some hardships while in Afghanistan and I want to fix that so nobody experiences what they went through," she said. "But I want to do it through the power of education." 

Haider, 21, and a senior at California State University, East Bay, has dedicated most of her spare time and efforts to the Children of Afghanistan Hope Project, a nonprofit she co-founded three years ago. 

Through fundraisers held on campus and in Fremont, where a large Afghan population resides, CAHP has been able to open two schools exclusively for Afghan orphans and girls. 

Haider says girls in Afghanistan weren't allowed to attend schools under the Taliban rule, and she wanted to do something about it. 

So she opened Kampani Girls Literacy and Vocational Training School, located in the Kabul province of Afghanistan, earlier this year. The school currently has 84 girls enrolled, learning to read and write. Students also receive vocational training in sewing and textiles from two
More on link

Idaho National Guard members plan to watch Monday's Fiesta Bowl — complete with a barbecue
By Heath Druzin Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 12/30/06
Article Link

The "BSU" sign is a reminder of home. The 30 mm high explosive rounds that spell it out are a reminder of their mission.
The sign is from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan, where members of the Idaho National Guard's 1-183rd Aviation Battalion have been serving since February. The soldiers are excited about Monday's Fiesta Bowl, which pits Boise State against Oklahoma, and aren't letting a 6 a.m. start time stop them from having a barbecue and watching the football game.

"There's a lot of guys here that are huge BSU fans — that are borderline fanatics," Chief Warrant Officer Shane McKenna told the Idaho Statesman by phone from Kandahar.

Two of those fans are Sgts. Jeremy and Jason Hopkins, brothers who followed the Broncos throughout their undefeated season via streaming audio on the Internet, Armed Forces Network broadcasts and Web articles. Both are eagerly awaiting the game, which airs around sunrise because of the 11›-hour time difference between Arizona and Kandahar.

"It's a big morale booster for us," Jeremy Hopkins said.

The soldiers in Kandahar are some of the 250 Idahoans serving a yearlong mission throughout Afghanistan with the 183rd on helicopter crews. New Year's for the soldiers in Kandahar will be much like it is for many fans in Boise: a big-screen television, barbecued meat and lots of blue and orange. The game will be piped in via satellite.

McKenna, a 1995 graduate of Centennial High who played defensive line for the Broncos in 1995 and 1996, said the soldiers are going to try to make the base as much like home as possible for the game. They are planning a barbecue, despite what likely will be a frosty morning in the midst of the long, cold Afghan winter.

"It kind of transports you back there in a way," McKenna said.
More on link

Afghanistan Again: Somalia Falling to Al Qaeda
by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross A Pajamas Media Exclusive
Article Link

Al Qaeda’s allies in Somalia are on the verge of seizing the secular government’s last stronghold - opening the possibility of a “new Afghanistan” to shelter America’s enemies.

Somalia is at a critical juncture. In the coming days, the world will learn whether the transitional federal government is strong enough to fend off the terrorists’ assault. If it fails, al-Qaeda will win its first countrywide safe haven since 9/11.

The radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a Taliban-like group linked to Osama bin Laden, seized the Somali capital of Mogadishu in June and has steadily gained control of strategic cities throughout the country since then. Its main rival, the secular transitional federal government, is now confined to the south-central Somali city of Baidoa.

Baidoa is heavily fortified and protected by a large contingent of Ethiopian troops but its defenses will not hold, intelligence sources tell Pajamas Media. Ethiopia has allied itself with Somalia’s embattled transitional federal government.

Reached by Pajamas Media, Dahir Jibreel, the transitional government’s permanent secretary in charge of international cooperation, confirmed that a massive offensive is underway. Jibreel said that the ICU launched an “offensive on the seat of the government from three directions: Burkhakabo, Idale and Dinsor.”

Jibreel is guardedly optimistic, noting that the Islamic radicals “sustained heavy losses.” 

“They will overrun Baidoa,” a military intelligence officer told Pajamas Media. “It’s only a question of when.”

Prior to this attack, the ICU fought against Ethiopian forces three times in open battle. Standing armies generally defeat irregular forces in such situations, but the ICU won all three encounters. The radical group may have won a fourth victory over the Ethiopians yesterday by capturing the town of Idale, about seventy kilometers south of Baidoa. Jibreel, however, contends that the transitional government actually maintains control of that town.

These repeated ICU victories over the Ethiopian army provide reason to believe that the Ethiopians will be unable to save Baidoa.
More on link

Somalia: President says Somalia will not be like Afghanistan and Iraq
Fri. December 29, 2006 01:36 pm.
Article Link

(SomaliNet) Somalia’s interim president Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed said on Friday Somalia will not be like Afghanistan and Iraq – his government won in the fighting with Islamist movement with the help of Ethiopian forces. 

In news conference held in Baidoa city, the base of the transitional federal government, shortly after meeting with the Ethiopian foreign minister Siyoum Mesfin in Biadoa, president Yusuf said that his government could now handle the situation in Somalia, if needed it will ask for African troops to help the government establish the security. 

Siyoum Mesfin, the Ethiopian foreign minister met with President Abdulahi Yusuf over the political issues between Somalia and Ethiopia and best ways to promote peace in the region in prevent of any terrorist actions in horn of Africa. 

Mr. Yusuf thanked Ethiopian government for the help it offered interim government in order to stand on its feet and control whole Somalia. 

“My government in collaboration with its neighbor (Ethiopian government) won to oust the so-called Islamic Courts and its terrorist groups from the capital and now my government is with its people working together how to restore peace and security,” Yusuf said. 

President Yusuf also said that he had raised with the Ethiopian foreign minister over issues relating to how to bring peace and stability in the region and disarm the militias and then promote relations between Somalia and Ethiopia. 
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (31 Dec 2006)

*Taking the pulse of Kandahar*
Opinion polls:  'It's pretty clear we have an insurgency here, but what really matters is what people think,' Canadian officer says about a fresh approach to gathering intelligence
Oakland Ross, Toronto Star, 31 Dec 06
Article Link

Here's a novel idea: armies don't need to be great big killing machines.  They can also conduct public-opinion polls.  This, it seems, is the modern way.  "It's not pure war-fighting any more," says Lt.-Cmdr. Wynn Polnicky, part of the 2,500-strong Canadian military contingent currently waging war in southern Afghanistan against a shadowy force of fundamentalist Islamic rebels known as the Taliban.  "It's pretty clear we have an insurgency here, but what really matters is what people think. So, just ask them. It's not an earth-shaking idea."  Or maybe, in a way, it is ....



*Prime Minister Wishes Canadians a Happy New Year*
Prime Minister's web page, 31 Dec 06
Article Link

The arrival of the New Year is a time to reflect on the year that was and chart a course for the one to come.

Without a doubt, 2006 was a great year for Canada.

Our economy has been strong.

Our country united.

And Canada took a lead role on the world stage.

As Canadians, we were drawn together...

By the Winter Olympics, when our athletes made us all so proud …

By Canada Day, when we celebrated all that we’ve achieved in this great country …

And by Remembrance Day, when we honoured our veterans and remembered their sacrifices.

For me, the highlight of 2006 was visiting our troops, diplomats and aid workers in Afghanistan.

We should be very proud of them.

Of their courage and commitment.

And their skill and professionalism.

Through their selfless acts, these brave men and women are protecting our security interests, and making a real difference in the lives of the long-suffering Afghan people.

As Canadians, we are very fortunate.

Ours isn’t just a great country.

It’s the greatest in the world. 

But make no mistake …

Canada’s best days are still ahead …

Happy New Year Canada...

And may God keep our Land glorious and free.



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Commentary:  Casualty of War*
Afghanis would suffer most if Canadian mission ended early
Doug Beazley, Sun Media, 31 Dec 06
Article Link

We were sitting in a restaurant in Kabul, Fauzia Assifi and I, drinking coffee. In the street outside, concrete barriers marked the spot where a bomber blew himself to paradise two months previous, along with 10 Afghan bystanders.  Assifi's a product of the great Afghan diaspora of the early 1980s -- in her '50s, educated, opinionated, devout enough to cover her hair in public but brave enough to call President Hamid Karzai a weak-kneed kleptocrat in public. She works with Afghan orphans, who number somewhere over a million -- children of a war that never seems to end.  She loathes her government, distrusts the Americans and fears whatever plans Iran and Pakistan have for her country if its current government collapses. But Canadians? What would happen, I asked her, if the Canadians left Afghanistan tomorrow?  "Devastation," she said, setting down her cup and looking me straight in the eyes. "Complete and total. Like nothing you can imagine ....



*CENTAF releases airpower summary for Dec. 30*
USAF News, 29 Dec 06
Article Link

U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Dec. 30.  In Afghanistan Dec. 29, Royal Air Force GR-7s and U.S. Navy F/A-18Es provided close-air support for International Security Assistance Force troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Now Zad. The GR-7s expended general-purpose 500-pound bombs on enemy positions.  Navy F/A-18Cs and F/A-18Fs provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Lashkar Gah.  A B-1B Lancer and Navy F/A-18Es provided close-air support for ISAF troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Kandahar. The B-1B expended a guided bomb unit-38 on an enemy position.  In total, 53 close-air support missions were flown in support of ISAF and Afghan troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols ....


----------



## The Bread Guy (31 Dec 2006)

*Soldiers resolve to 'make it home safe'*
New Year's Eve festivities in Afghanistan
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 31 Dec 06
Article  Link

There was one overwhelming New Year's resolution as Canadian soldiers said goodbye to 2006 
here at a festive party in Canada House at Kandahar Airfield.  It had nothing to do with losing 
weight, quitting smoking or doing charity work. The message was much closer to home.  "I want 
to make it home safe," said Cpl. Jason Barss, 24, of Ottawa. "It was basically my first year of 
marriage. I missed my first anniversary and I've got that to look forward to this year. I've got more 
than enough time to make up for it when I get back."  Cpl. David Parker, of Barrie, Ont. echoed 
the sentiment. In a country where one misstep triggering a landmine can change a life, good health 
is a lofty goal ....



*Afghans celebrate peaceful Eid*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 30 Dec 06
Article Link

Afghans across the country started celebrating the Islamic festival of Eid-ul-Adha on Saturday with 
putting on new cloths, offering prayers and visiting relatives.  December 30 was marked in most of 
the Muslim countries as the first day of Eid-ul-Adha one of the two holiest the religious festivals of 
the year.  An important part of the festival is sacrificing of some animals by rich and well-to-do 
Muslims. In Kabul, after crowds of people returned from mosques where they offered Eid Prayer 
in the morning, it was the turn of slaughtering sheep, goats or cows as a holy sacrifice to Allah.  It 
was a similar festive environment across the country ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Pak tells US ‘no military operation in Waziristan’*
Zee News (IND), 1 Jan 07
Article Link

Pakistan has told the US government that it will hold another round of peace talks with tribal 
elders and ulema in Waziristan to overcome militancy in the region, rather than launch an 
immediate military operation.  The US had earlier demanded military operations in North 
and South Waziristan against suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.  US Assistant Secretary 
of State Richard Boucher had said that the banned militia had asserted itself in the tribal agency 
and established a command and control structure in the region.  ....



*Medical assistance in Kariz e Mir*
ISAF News release # 2006-415, 31 Dec 06
Article Link

On 29 December, ISAF's Regional Command Capital (RC-C) French medical team, in 
co-operation with the local doctor, held a clinic for the people of Kariz e Mir village, Kabul 
province.  As the medical team held their clinic, the French Civil-Military Co-operation 
(CIMIC) team delivered medicine to the village. The team also donated a sewing machine, 
bulks of cloth and material to support the village sewing business. This sewing machine was 
given in addition to the four machines delivered a few weeks ago.  The Mallek (village chief) 
said that ISAF CIMIC troops visit on a regular basis and he appreciates the support they 
bring to his village.



*More IEDs discovered in Methar Lam*
ISAF News release # 2006-416, 31 Dec 06
Article Link

Yesterday in Methar Lam, Laghman province, the Afghan National Police (ANP) and ISAF 
forces safely removed a string of 10 improvised explosive devices (IED) buried in the road 
and wired together.  The IEDs were discovered by ANP just a few kilometers away from 
where they had confiscated a 30-pound container of ammonium nitrate, a common material 
for building explosive, last week.  “This chain of IEDs could have been devastating with a high 
likelihood of death or injury to innocent civilians,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Regional 
Command East spokesman. “Once again, Laghman ANP did an excellent job finding these 
IEDs, preventing insurgents from attacking Afghan civilians, ANP or ISAF security forces. 
ANP and ISAF are credited for saving many lives today.



*U.S., Afghan NCOs Exchange Ideas, Strengthen Ties With Pakistani Troops*
Tech Sgt. Christopher DeWitt, American Forces Press Service, via Blackanthem.com, 30 Dec 06
Article Link

U.S. and Afghan noncommissioned officers toured the Pakistan Army's Junior Leader Academy
in Shinkiari, Pakistan, Dec. 28 during the second day of an exchange program tour.  Pakistan 
officers and NCOs briefed the team on training procedures and processes in an effort to strengthen 
the ties between the Afghan National Army and the Pakistan military.  "We came to learn," said Sgt. 
Maj. Mahmodi Shamsudine, the command sergeant major of the ANA's 201st Corps, after asking 
several questions about the training curriculum and format.  He was one of three Afghan senior NCOs 
who traveled to Pakistan hoping to take back information that will help them develop their four-year-old 
army ....



*Expectations go unfulfilled in Helmand*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 24 Dec 06
Article Link

Residents of Helmand have said that NATO-led British forces have not honoured their vows on
reconstruction process in this southern province.  They said the NATO forces pledged as they 
arrived in the province that they would launch reconstruction process here. After passing few 
months, they said the forces had initiated no constructive work in the region.  Shah Jehan, a 
resident of Nawzad district, said: "With arrival of the NATO-led British forces, events went 
on against expectations, we hoped the foreign troops will help us, but we saw no assistance 
from them, instead their arrival harmed the local people, as civilians received great casualties 
in their airstrikes."  A resident of Helmand Toor Jan, who has also grievances against the 
NATO-led British forces, said: "If there were no NATO-led British forces, there might be 
no bombing, we demanded of the reconstruction process, but instead of rebuilding they 
initiated re-destruction process in the region."  Gul Ahmad, a resident of Sapiano area of the 
Lashkargah, said the locals did not want to cooperate with the NATO-led British forces as 
they were fed up of the foreign troops. He told this news agency: "With arrival of the NATO
in the region, civilians were killed, people were displaced, and Taliban were further 
strengthened in presence of the foreign forces." ....



*French Spec-Ops going home; fear of "nasty guerilla warfare"?*
Carl Robichaud, Afghanistan Watch, 21 Dec 06
Article Link

It may only be 200 troops,  but the move is symbolically huge. The alliance was already 
having a hard time increasing it forces to the size the commanders say they need. Then the 
Australians announce a draw-down of 200 special forces in September, the French are out,
and nobody has ponied up for the 1,000 + rapid reaction forces that are seen as especially 
critical.  Why is France shipping its best troops home? There is, of course, the predictable 
claims that they are no longer appropriate for the task at hand or are needed elsewhere 
(like Lebanon or Africa) but Francois_gere220 the underlying reason is Paris's skepticism 
about ISAF's new role as peacemaker rather than peacekeeper. As François Géré of the 
French Institute of Strategic Analysis notes: "There is strong skepticism about the relevance 
of NATO in Afghanistan if it is not for stabilization and rebuilding of the country...If it is for 
waging nasty guerrilla warfare, there is no appetite in France and, I think, most European 
countries." ....



*Afgha Plus: Afghanistan: The Gulf between Report and Reality*
John Jennings, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

Earlier this month, Afghanistan's 502-delegate loya jirga approved the draft of a new 
constitution that concentrates power in the hands of a directly-elected president, with no 
prime minister as an alternate source of executive authority and only limited legislative 
oversight. In light of the country's multi-ethnic makeup and long history of tyranny, such 
weak checks on the presidency would appear to be utterly inappropriate. On January 20, 
however, the New York Times editorialized: "Debates about . . . the division of powers 
between the central and provincial governments seem secondary when people are afraid 
to sow their fields or transport their crops to market."[1]  That the New York Times 
editorial desk should so readily dismiss concerns about civil and political rights is odd. 
But even more striking, the sentence's final clause is demonstrably false. Afghanistan's 
largely agricultural economy could not have grown by 30% during the last year, as the 
IMF recently reported, if most farmers were afraid to sow their fields or transport their 
crops to market.[2] ....



*Child Kidnap Case Highlights Afghan Warlord Power*
Kunduz residents say human rights count for little after a young girl was allegedly kidnapped for the prize of a fighting dog.
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, Afghan Recovery Report, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, ARR No. 238, 20 Dec 06
Article Link

“The girl who was exchanged for a dog” has become a sensation around the world, 
sparking outrage in human rights circles. But the canine connection is a minor part of 
the story, a curiosity that served as a hook to bring the case to public attention.  It 
appears that 11-year-old Sanubar and her mother may have been the victims of a 
tradition where females are regarded as chattels, and of a climate of instability and 
weak central government in which armed men behave like local sovereigns, immune 
to punishment.  The case has been muddled by mutual accusations and denials. What 
is clear is that Sanubar disappeared after being taken from her home by force in 
August.  “Armed men broke into my house at midnight and took my daughter,” 
said Sanubar’s mother, Gulshah, 50. “They cut me with a knife. I have filed 
complaints with the attorney general and with the governor, but nobody is 
helping me.” .....


----------



## MarkOttawa (31 Dec 2006)

Nato will be fighting the Taliban for years
_Sunday Telegraph_, Dec. 31
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/31/wterror131.xml



> Nato forces will have to remain in Afghanistan for years if they are to defeat the Taliban, one of the coalition's top generals in the country has warned.
> 
> *Brig Gen Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan* [emphasis added], said that it would take time to win over the people living in the Taliban's former heartlands in the south of the country.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


----------



## cplcaldwell (2 Jan 2007)

What the 'Afghan Street' thinks, shared under the Fair Dealings Provisions of the Copyright Act RSC.
My emboldening added for emphasis.
Ellipses indicate abridgement.



*ABC NEWS/BBC WORLD SERVICE POLL - AFGHANISTAN: WHERE THINGS STAND*

EMBARGOED FOR *RELEASE AFTER 7 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006*

*Strife Erodes Afghan Optimism*
Five Years After the Taliban’s Fall

Link to Article

Five years after the fall of the Taliban, public optimism has declined sharply across Afghanistan, pushed by a host of fresh difficulties: Worsening security, rising concerns about a resurgent Taliban, troubled development efforts, widespread perceptions of corruption and reduced faith in the government’s effectiveness in facing these challenges.

The *U.S.-led invasion * remains highly *popular*, the *Taliban* intensely *unpopular*, and the current *Afghan government * retains *broad support*. Yet this extensive ABC News/BBC World Service survey makes clear the country’s profound problems – including renewed Taliban activities five years after the fall of their last redoubt, Kandahar, on Dec. 7, 2001:

• More than four in 10 Afghans report Taliban violence in their own local area ....

• One in six Afghans say people in their area provide Taliban fighters with food or money – and that jumps to more than a third in the Northwest, nearly half in the country’s Southwest provinces overall, and two-thirds specifically in Helmand and Kandahar.

• Most Afghans, 57 percent, now call the Taliban the single greatest danger to their country, up 16 points from the first ABC News poll in Afghanistan a year ago. Only in the eastern provinces does the Taliban have a rival threat, drug traffickers.


.....

Compared with a year ago, this poll finds deterioration in a range of public perceptions about the country’s condition: a *22-point drop* in views that it’s *headed in the right direction*, a *17-point drop * in the belief *security has improved * since the Taliban was in control and a *13-point drop * in personal optimism for the *year ahead*. Trust in parliament is down by 18 points; approval of President Hamid Karzai, down 15 points.

_*Some of these ratings, to be fair, have fallen from probably unsustainable levels.*_ *Sixty-eight percent approve of Karzai’s work – down from 83 percent last year, but still a level most national leaders would envy. Fifty-nine percent think the parliament is working for the benefit of the Afghan people – down from 77 percent, but still far better than Americans’ ratings of the U.S. Congress.*

Others are lower: Positive ratings of the performance of the United States in Afghanistan are down by 11 points, to 57 percent. Provincial governments are rated positively by 52 percent.

Perhaps most troubling in terms of governance, *78 percent of Afghans call official corruption a problem * in the area where they live – and 55 percent call it a big problem. One in four report that they or someone they know has had to pay a bribe to receive proper service from the government – and that jumps to four in 10 in the country’s Northwest, where corruption is particularly severe.

Positives remain. *Most Afghans say the government and local police alike have a strong presence in their area – few say so of the Taliban – and trust the current authorities, at least somewhat, to provide security*. Again likely reflecting the Taliban’s broad unpopularity, big majorities continue to call the U.S.-led invasion a good thing for their country (*88 percent*), to *express a favorable opinion of the United States (74 percent)* and to *prefer the current Afghan government * to Taliban rule (*88 percent*).

Indeed eight in 10 Afghans support the presence of U.S., British and other international forces on their soil; that compares with five percent support for Taliban fighters and 11 percent for jihadi fighters from other countries. In the South, however, just three in 10 say international forces have a strong presence. And while just a quarter overall say U.S. forces should leave within a year, that is up from 14 percent a year ago.

*Fifty-five percent of Afghans still say the country’s going in the right direction, but that’s down sharply from 77 percent last year. Fifty-four percent remain optimistic rather than pessimistic about their future, but that’s down from 67 percent. Hopes for a better future can provide an important element of social stability; their decline is cause for concern.*

.....


----------



## cplcaldwell (2 Jan 2007)

Shared under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act, RSC.
My emboldening added for emphasis



*Latest offensive in southern Afghanistan disrupting Taliban: Canadian general  *  
*Tue Jan 2, 11:13 AM*

Link to Article

By Bill Graveland

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The latest and much heralded offensive in southern Afghanistan known as Operation Baaz Tuska has met its main goals despite NATO's inability to engage the Taliban in major combat, a top Canadian general said Tuesday. 

Launched amid a great hue and cry more than two weeks ago, the offensive sent a powerful combat team of Canadian troops, tanks and armoured vehicles into the Panjwaii district near the village of Howz-e Madad. 

*Despite intelligence suggesting there were hundreds of Taliban in the area, there has been little contact with insurgent forces and no significant combat. * 

Still, *Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant*, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said Tuesday that things were going well. 

"*Although Canadians have not been involved in close combat, at the end of the day, I'm very happy the objectives of Baaz Tsuka have been reached, that is we have disrupted the Taliban," * Grant said. 

*"We have seen significant evidence that low-level Taliban have simply put down their weapons and run away,"* he said. 

*One of the goals of the offensive has been to convince so-called Tier-two Taliban - those that NATO claims fight simply for the relatively good pay being offered by the rebels - to disarm and go back to their villages. That would leave the ideologically committed hardliners, known as Tier-one, on their own. * 

Grant suggested that the number of hardliners was "in the dozens as opposed to the hundreds," and explained the lack of contact by saying many may have returned to Pakistan. 

However, he quickly quashed any notion that the offensive was over or that the Taliban had been defeated. 

*"There are still hardliners out there,"* Grant said. *"There is no doubt and the operation is not yet over. We will continue to root them out and either capture or kill them." * 

Grant claimed NATO air strikes had killed a number of senior Taliban commanders, but refused to be pinned down on how many. 

"We are not into body counts. In my mind the *success is* not the number of Taliban that have been killed but * the effect we've had on separating the Tier-one from the Tier-two and disrupting the command and control of the Taliban in this part of the province,"* Grant said. 

NATO forces have been securing areas since the launch of the offensive and then installing either Afghan National Police or Afghan National Auxiliary Police. 

Eight hundred of the auxiliary officers have now been deployed in Kandahar province said a NATO spokesman. 

"At the end of the day there will be 1,300 but so far 800 have been trained," said Maj. Rob Duda, 42, of Windsor, Ont., who is overseeing the training and deployment of the officers. 

"The intent for Baaz Tsuka is to transition to a more stable environment," Duda said. "To establish . . . security and allow . . . development to start happening." 

"Our soldiers, . . . have gone out and done that clearing out of the Taliban. As they continue to do that, there is certainly going to be more fighting," he said. 

An additional 85 members of the auxiliary police have just graduated after receiving two weeks of training and were being deployed in the Panjwaii district, he said. 

"They learn some of the stuff you would expect policemen to get, training on the Afghan constitution and the rules of law," Duda said. 

"There's also some stuff we wouldn't expect policemen back home to get - basically survival training - very basic military skills training like tactical movement," he added. 

The installation of ANAP forces is already working said Grant, who noted many women and children are returning to villages secured by NATO troops. 

"Many of the lower-level Taliban realize that NATO is here and that we have really convinced them through our operation that this is not a wise lifestyle they've chosen," Grant said. 

"If they have put down their weapons and become part of Afghan society that's a good thing." 

Even with Afghan forces providing security and receiving the powerful backing of coalition troops, Grant said he realizes that the Taliban are not going to go away. 

"The Taliban have not given up and they will continue to use this area, which has been their traditional home, to continue to conduct operations both here and (in) other parts of the province," he said. 

"But their ability to do so has been reduced dramatically," he said.


----------

