# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread October 2010



## GAP (30 Sep 2010)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread October 2010 *               

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


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## The Bread Guy (1 Oct 2010)

Canada gaining momentum in Kandahar: general
Canadian Press, 1 Oct 10


> SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan - Canada's senior commander in Afghanistan says a recent series of operations in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar has given troops momentum in their fight against the Taliban.
> 
> The Canadian manoeuvres were timed to coincide with the U.S.-led Operation Dragon Strike, which got underway in the Arghandab and Zhari districts of Kandahar last week.
> 
> ...




Canadian fatality rate drops in Afghanistan 
Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News October 1, 2010


> KANDAHAR -- While NATO has already suffered its worst year for deaths in Afghanistan, Canada's fatality rate has dropped more than 40%, according to calculations by Postmedia News.
> 
> An analysis derived from statistics kept by iCasualties.org and other sources shows 14 Canadians have died so far this year, compared to 25 during the first nine months of last year, with the rate of decline accelerating throughout the so-called summer fighting season.
> 
> ...




Canadian Helicopters Income Fund Awarded Additional Work in Afghanistan by the United States Transportation Command


> MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2010) - Canadian Helicopters Income Fund (TSX:CHL.UN) (the "Fund"), the largest helicopter transportation services company operating in Canada, is pleased to announce that it has been advised it has been awarded additional work in Afghanistan by the United States Transportation Command ("USTRANSCOM"). This new contract, similar to previous awards, entails the movement of supplies and passengers to military forward operating locations, and involves the provision of two crewed and supported Sikorsky S61 heavy category and four Bell 212 medium category helicopters. One of the aircraft will be provided from the existing fleet of Canadian Helicopters,  and five will be acquired ....




NATO trucks set on fire in Pakistan
Faisal Aziz, Reuters October 1, 2010 7:55 AM


> Suspected militants in Pakistan set fire to more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan on Friday, officials said, a day after three soldiers were killed in a cross-border NATO air strike.
> 
> Angered by repeated incursions by NATO helicopters over the past week, Pakistan has blocked a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



_More on links_


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## Dog Walker (1 Oct 2010)

Turnout of Afghan elders at Canadian meeting spurs hope
 By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News October 1, 2010 3:20 PM
 http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/Turnout+Afghan+elders+Canadian+meeting+spurs+hope/3610754/story.html

SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian and Afghan officials say that an unusually well-attended gathering with tribal elders this week is an indication that a crucial turning point in the long, bloody war for Panjwaii may be at hand.
About 100 elders from the district packed several tents on a very hot day Thursday to hear half a dozen senior Canadian and Afghan officials discuss an upcoming offensive against one of last major Taliban redoubts and voice their concerns about the war and economic development. Four previous attempts by Canada to hold shuras this year produced three total no-shows and one event at which four locals appeared.
"The issue is that they were scared before the NATO surge, and they are no longer scared," said Haji Baran, the Panjwaii district leader, citing greatly improved security in the area, which has long been a Taliban hot spot.
The Canadian reaction was slightly more guarded, but upbeat.
"It is almost a turning tide," Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner, the task force commander, said when the meeting ended. "They are sensing it is time to support their government."
It was a rare chance for Milner and Afghan officials to talk with a group of men whose numbers undoubtedly included many who were at least somewhat sympathetic to the Taliban cause. What motivated the turbaned elders, with their craggy, inscrutable faces, to turn out in force for this shura and not for others was hard to divine. Except when the route of a new road was mentioned, the men never betrayed any emotion throughout the proceedings, although they appeared to pay close attention.
"We were scared of the insurgents," one man said later in explaining why he had stayed home before, then matter-of-factly added: "We are still scared of them today, but we came."
Some of his kinsmen said that what they most of all wanted from the shura was to make sure that the new road did not cut across their farmland but was built "to curve at the right place."
Other concerns included that tribal leaders were not asked to investigate who shot at Afghan or NATO forces before there were counter-attacks that sometimes destroyed the homes of bystanders in the process, and frustration with the Afghan army because it did not hold and interrogate detainees but handed them over to the National Security Directorate, which many Afghans regard as a law on to itself.
Before voicing their concerns, the elders listened to often emotional speeches from several Afghan officials. Each in turn let them know, as Milner did, of an imminent offensive that is designed to try to finally rout the Taliban from its spiritual homeland in Panjwaii.
"You can't sit on the fence. The government needs your support," implored Col. Habibula, chief of operations for the Afghan army brigade in Kandahar.
"The army needs civilians to stand beside them. Even just praying for us would be a plus."
Comparing Panjwaii, where only one school is open, with other parts of the country that are at peace and where schools operate freely, the colonel asked the audience: "Why do you have to take your women to Quetta to be seen by female doctors but you won't let them be seen by doctors here because you don't let your females study to be doctors?"
The officer told the elders that: "the Canadians have come here to help. They don't need to be here. They would be much more comfortable at home."
Habibula, who like many Afghans goes by only one name, added: "If there is peace here, do you think NATO will stay? No. It will be just our people.
"Anyone in our country who respects the government will have no problem. They will live freely. I know that there are a lot of difficulties, but we should put the effort. God has given us a chance. Let's not miss it."
The sounds of war were never far away during the two-hour shura. The thwack of artillery and bombs in the distance competed with the clatter of helicopters, whine of Predator and Reaper armed drones and roar of fighter jets.
"Those bombs you hear in the background are dropping on the heads of the Taliban," Milner told the gathering.
After warning them to expect "operations in the Horn of Panjwaii and central Panjwaii in the coming weeks," he said: "It is an excellent time to rise up and help us."
If the Taliban were driven from the area, Milner promised, "the international community and Canadians are poised with lots of money to build schools because your children need to be in school."
Again, it was difficult to know what the elders thought of Milner's messages.
"Who is winning?" one elder asked before tucking into a feast of rice and lamb prepared by the Afghan army.
"We will know when the operation is over. The insurgents attack and then they are gone. They are mobile."
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News


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## MarkOttawa (3 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 3

Embedded In Afghanistan: Day Two 
_Unambiguously Ambidextrous_, Oct. 2, by Adrian MacNair
http://unambig.com/embedded-in-afghanistan-day-two/



> I actually filed the bottom story to the National Post, but I don’t think they had room or time to run it. It’s written news style for publishing, but I didn’t bother modifying it for the blog.
> 
> I also rode in a Cougar to forward operating base Camp Nathan Smith today to see Canadian police mentor Afghans, as well as Sarposa prison in Kandahar City. Scroll to the bottom for those pictures...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (4 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 4, 2010*

 Afghanistan Wartime Women April 2010
Article Link

Picture tribute....

More on link

Chopper shootdown still puzzles military
  Article Link 
By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News October 4, 2010

Canadian investigators continue to be mystified about how the Taliban brought down a CH-47D Chinook transport helicopter this summer, causing it to burn up after making a hard landing.

"What we can't find out is exactly what happened," Col. Paul Prevost, the Canadian wing commander, said Saturday, adding the accident report had been endorsed by those in the field and sent to Ottawa.

The bus-like, khaki green aircraft "got hit by enemy action and the pilots did an emergency landing," the wing commander said. But he acknowledged that much had been known the day the helicopter was hit.

"The facts are the same," the F-18 pilot said. "We knew from the get-go that it was brought down by enemy action. . . . There was a bang. Every testimony was the same."

Eight of the 21 crew and passengers aboard the aircraft sustained minor injuries in the hard landing, according to reports at the time.
More on link

 Afghanistan begins disbanding private security firms 
Article Link
Sun Oct 3, 5:34 PM

By Sayed Salahuddin
ADVERTISEMENT

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan has begun disbanding private security companies operating in the country, shutting down eight firms and seizing over 400 weapons, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

The move is part of President Hamid Karzai's ambitious plan to take over all Afghan security responsibilities from foreign troops by 2014.

Since Karzai's decree in August, a plan has been drawn up for the process which is expected to be complete by the end of the year, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said. The United Nations and NATO-led International Security Assistance force had given it their support, he added.

"The interior ministry is implementing this plan with seriousness and decisiveness," he told a regular briefing.
More on link

The cost of ignoring the ongoing war and alleged wrongdoing in Afghanistan
By Robert Weller  l Published: Sunday, October 03 2010 18:41
Article Link

admmikemullen1Before examining the U.S. predicament in Afghanistan, a review of history is essential, but not just Vietnam. Go all the way back to Rome.

If the Roman army had a problem with a group of soldiers, such as those who now stand accused of disobeying the rules of engagement and killing Afghans for sport, their "generals" or consuls employed unit decimation. The soldiers involved would draw lots and the loser would be stoned to death, as would the commander.
An indecisive chain of command, coupled with a mission of dubious merit, has the U.S. Army virtually decimating itself. What is a soldier to think when the secretary of defense admits the public doesn't accept the casus belli for war in Iraq.

Retired Canadian Army Maj. Karl Gotthardt, who served in the bloody Balkans, was the Officer Commanding the Canadian Airborne School, and trained with Americans and Germans, said a clear chain of command and mission are missing in Afganistan.

Objectives should be:

"1. Secure all of Aghanistan.
2: Train a specified number of Afghan troops by a certain date.
3. Train a specified number of Afghan police by a certain date.
4. Provide security for both the UN and NGO entities to improve the life of Afghans.
5. Provide security for diplomats and assist in governance.
The latter is a must if NGOs and the diplomatic corps want to do their work throughout the country. It also behooves the other NATO countries to take over certain sectors in the country all pulling on the same rope."

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the media and the public have given the military the kind of slack commanders would have loved to have had in Vietnam. But a rising number of suicides, murders at home by solders, and alleged war crimes, is a warning sign that is ignored at one's peril. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, has warned the number of suicides will rise.

Speaking to reporters last week, he noted there had been five suicides during the previous weekend. "I think we're going to see a significant increase in the challenges that we have in terms of troops and our families. Things that have been pent up, or packed in, or basically suppressed or sucked up -- whatever term you want to use -- we're going to start to see that as well."
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (4 Oct 2010)

Embedded in Afghanistan: Day Five
_Unambiguously Ambidextrous_, Oct. 4, by Adrian MacNair
http://unambig.com/embedded-in-afghanistan-day-five/



> _An Afghan mentor teaches ANA soldiers from all over the country in a classroom about topography. Oct 4, 2010. Photo: Adrian MacNair._
> 
> KABUL – Under the guidance and assistance of Canadian military mentors, the Junior Officer Command and Staff training program in Kabul [JOCSC] is expected to be able to produce over 200 senior officers per year by 2011.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (5 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 5

Afghan offensive fails to reassure residents
As NATO steps up its operation around Kandahar city, vowing that the Taliban will have nowhere to hide, residents remain fearful, saying militants simply bide their time and return.
_LA Times_, Oct. 5
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-kandahar-20101005,0,3453950.story



> Reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan
> Advertisement
> 
> On a recent bell-clear autumn afternoon a few miles outside Afghanistan's second-largest city, villagers listened courteously as a U.S. military officer, speaking through an interpreter whose grasp of the local language seemed shaky, exhorted them to let Afghan police or American soldiers know if the Taliban came to town.
> ...



Afghan, U.S. forces face growing insecurity in key province
McClatchy Newspapers, Oct. 4
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/10/04/101581/afghan-us-forces-face-growing.html



> PUL-I-KHUMRI, Afghanistan — Abdul Rehman Rahimi, the police chief of Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan, was just saying that the Taliban threat was under control when his counter-terrorism chief walked in, smirking with self-satisfaction and holding up a homemade detonator and a tangle of charred electrical wire tipped by a blasting cap.
> 
> "They tried to set this off as I was digging it up," Col. Ahmad Jan said. "The wire began burning — see, it still smells — but I cut it in time."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (5 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 5, 2010*

 No pattern of abuse in Afghan prisons: General
By Laura Payton, Parliamentary Bureau Last Updated: October 4, 2010
Article Link

The man who stopped and then restarted detainee transfers in Afghanistan says there was no pattern of abuse in the country's prison system.

Maj. Gen. Guy Laroche, who commanded the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan from Aug. 2007 to May 2008, called off the transfers after a Canadian observer reported a case of torture to a Canadian-transferred detainee. That report stopped transfers for about four months, starting in Nov. 2007, when Laroche let them resume.

But he told the Military Police Complaints Commission Monday there was no evidence of systemic abuse in Afghan prisons.

“There was no reason then to think someone would be abused,” Laroche said, arguing it wasn't possible to see a systemic pattern of abuse, and that it was up to foreign affairs officials to investigate allegations.

Laroche says there were several changes that satisfied him the risk of abuse had gone down before he restarted the transfers, including one of the abusers moving from the National Directorate of Security prison in Kandahar to a facility in Kabul, the promise of more regular visits by foreign affairs officials, video cameras in the prison and training for NDS officials.

Amnesty International lawyer Paul Champ said of the interviews conducted by Canadian officials, about one in five yielded allegations of torture. But Laroche said it's easier in hindsight to see the risk.

“The fact there were allegations doesn't mean they were confirmed,” he said. “With all the information you have now, three years later, with everything that's happened, it's easy to come to a conclusion ... In that moment in the field, we didn't have that luxury. We couldn't look at all the minute details then, sitting in our office.” 
More on link

 Supply route may decide outcome of Afghan war
Article Link
 Olivia Ward  Foreign Affairs Reporter

If countries were rated on how tough it is to fight wars on their soil, Afghanistan would come close to the top of the list.

Landlocked, with an extreme climate and paralyzing dust storms, it’s also bordered by dizzying mountains and safe highways are sparse.

That’s why escalating militant attacks on NATO fuel trucks heading from Pakistan to Afghanistan — the most recent on Monday — are a sign that the war against the Taliban is limping badly, if not hobbled. And they show the scarcity of supply line options may be a decisive factor in how and when the conflict concludes.

“The U.S. has tried to develop the northern distribution system, but the heavy duty supplies still have to go through Pakistan,” says Shuja Nawaz, director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center in Washington. “Given the short timetable the coalition is operating on, the chances of finding an alternative are dim.”

Between 75 and 80 per cent of NATO supplies are trucked from the Pakistani port of Karachi through the forbidding Khyber Pass and into Afghanistan. The most crucial is fuel. But they include vital items from water to weapons.

The pass has been shut down several times, and after a helicopter fired on and killed three Pakistani frontier troops last week Pakistan blocked the supply lines. It had complained earlier of similar cross-border attacks.

For NATO, the route has been dogged by years of mayhem and uncertainty.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (6 Oct 2010)

AfPak complications
_Unambiguously Ambidextrous_, Oct. 6
http://unambig.com/afpak-complications/



> The US and how it gets along–or rather does not–with the Paks...[plus Kabul negotiating at high level with the Taliban]



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (6 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 6, 2010*

 Taliban, Afghan government in talks to end war: report
Washington The Associated Press Published Wednesday, Oct. 06, 2010 
Article Link

Secret talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan have begun between representatives of the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the Washington Post reported on its website Tuesday night.

Afghan and Arab sources cited by the Post said they believe for the first time that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and its leader, Mohammad Omar, according to the newspaper. The sources requested anonymity to discuss the development. 
More on link

Afghans getting an eyeful of election fraud
CAMBPELL CLARK KABUL— From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Tuesday, Oct. 05,
Article Link

Afghanistan’s fast-paced Tolo TV has a scoop handed to it almost daily, receiving frequent new mobile-phone videos of election fraud in last month’s parliamentary elections.

Though the Sept. 18 parliamentary election has attracted little attention in the West, it has been Tolo TV’s hottest running news story for a month.

The final results are still not in, and Afghanistan’s Independent Elections Commission pushed back its own Oct. 9 deadline for announcing preliminary results from across the country to Oct. 17, a month after the vote. Many expect it to delay the final results, due Oct. 30.

In the meantime, Afghans are getting a televised eyeful of fraud perpetrators seemingly caught red-handed on mobile-phone videos: 10- and 11-year-old boys displaying their voting cards and inked fingers to show they voted; ballot-box stuffing; people ticking off stacks of ballots; and elections officials sitting on a carpet laughing with other people as they prepare tally sheets and put them into the blue boxes that will be shipped to vote counters in Kabul.
More on link

 Logistics Facility turned over to the Afghan Police
Article Link

he Afghan National Police took full ownership of a key supply center during a ceremony Oct. 2 in Kabul.

With the transfer of all ownership at the Interim Logistics Facility, the ANP is now in charge of managing more than $100 million worth of equipment, 800 conexes and four warehouses.

“It is very important because the turnover is over $100 million for the materials and we will take very good care of it,” said Afghan Col. Mohammed Karim, Chief of Logistics at ILF.

The ILF is the ANP national supply depot for all equipment other than weapons, ammo and vehicles. Previously, the ANP owned one-third of the facility, with the U.S. in control of the other two-thirds. The U.S. section supplied all Regional Logistic Centers and more than 97,000 ANP and Afghan National Civil Order Police throughout Afghanistan. The Afghan section filled all other ANP requests.

In preparation of the transfer of ownership, the U.S. and ANP personnel at the facility conducted a joint inventory of all equipment. After the inventory was complete, the equipment was signed over to the ANP. The ANP now runs all sections of the ILF as a single body. Rather than the U.S. pushing out a majority of the supply orders, a self-reliant ANP pushes the orders, with U.S. personnel taking a back seat to monitor and observe the process.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (7 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 7

Despite rising doubts at home, troops in one corner of Afghanistan see signs of progress
_Washington Post_, Oct. 7
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/06/AR2010100607331.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead



> SARKARI BAGH, AFGHANISTAN - One recent night, a buried bomb sliced through a hulking military vehicle near here, killing two U.S. soldiers. Last month, the Taliban murdered an Afghan man, stuffed his nose with cash, placed a Koran in his hands and hung his body from a tree. Almost every day, insurgents fire on American troops stationed in this rural village.
> 
> Even so, their company commander, Capt. Mikel Resnick, says: "We're winning the war up here."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (8 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 8, 2010*

 Target Pakistan
Article Link
Posted by Matt Gurney on Oct 8th, 2010 

In diplomacy, it is important to be armed with carrots as well as sticks. In recent days, the United States has been using both in its attempts to get its relationship with Pakistan back on track. The uneasy but vital alliance was rocked by the recent deaths of three Pakistani soldiers, killed by friendly fire from American helicopters that had invaded Pakistan’s territory to engage Taliban forces operating there. The Pakistani troops, stationed at a border monitoring  station, witnessed the battle between the American Apache helicopters and the militants (who were wiped out) and when the helicopters approached their position, the Pakistani soldiers unwisely fired warning shots. The American gunships, mistaking the warning shots for hostile fire, engaged with missiles. The resulting deaths have placed a serious strain on an already frightfully complex relationship.

~~~~

The friendly fire incident that set off this latest crisis, while an unusually serious event, did not happen in isolation. President Obama, who has gone far out on a political limb by taking ownership of the war in Afghanistan, has ramped up the pressure on enemy forces seeking refuge in the largely lawless northern PakistanI tribal areas, including an ever-growing number of missile attacks by unmanned Predator drones on terrorists inside Pakistan. These attacks were deeply troubling to Pakistan, and embarrassing to its military. An actual invasion by manned aircraft, resulting in the deaths of Pakistani soldiers, was too much for it to take, and last week, Pakistan shut down a vital overland crossing from its territory into Afghanistan. This route is key for NATO’s efforts to resupply its combat forces currently waging war against the Taliban in the American and Canadian operational areas to the south of Kandahar City.
More on link

Amid growing grassroots resistance to Taliban, Canada mulls training villagers
Article Link
By: Jonathan Montpetit, The Canadian Press Posted: 8/10/2010 

The Canadian military is considering taking part in a controversial program to help Afghan villagers defend themselves against the Taliban amid reports that a growing number of locals are standing up to insurgents in the incendiary Panjwaii district — often with violent results.

In recent weeks, Canadian soldiers operating in Panjwaii, the district southwest of Kandahar city where the bulk of Canada's fighting force is based, have recorded several incidents where locals have independently confronted members of the Taliban.

It is viewed as a positive sign — not just for Canadian troops, but for NATO as a whole, which has been seeking to organize grassroots resistance to the Taliban in the more remote regions of the country.

Earlier this year, NATO officials secured a deal with the Afghan government to establish a program to train local defence forces. The program is already underway in parts of northern Kandahar, helping to stabilize areas where the coalition has deployed fewer troops.

Until recently, the Canadian contingent has been leery about getting involved in such programs, which have been criticized by some as little more than fostering the growth of organized militias.

But with troops scheduled to begin leaving Afghanistan next year, that reluctance appears to be easing.

"This is something that's been discussed, this is something that they're looking at in (Panjwaii)," Brig. Gen. Dean Milner, the commander of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, said during a recent tour of the district.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (8 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 8

General tells Camp Pendleton group that Marines are 'winning the fight' in Afghanistan
_LA Times_, Oct. 7
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/general-tells-camp-pendleton-group-that-marines-are-winning-the-war-in-afghanistan.html



> The top Marine in Afghanistan, speaking at Camp Pendleton on Thursday, gave an upbeat assessment of the Marines' progress in Helmand province, long a Taliban stronghold.
> 
> "They're paying a price but they're winning the fight," Maj. Gen. Richard Mills  said at a ceremony in which he relinquished command of the 1st Marine Division.  "They're hurting the enemy,” he said.  The enemy “is backpedaling, he's desperate.”
> 
> ...



Marines in Marjah face full-blown insurgency
AP, Oct. 8
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i3G--XI8g0ik1qMgC4nmNuC9ZCyQD9INCTDG0?docId=D9INCTDG0



> MARJAH, Afghanistan — The young Marine had a simple question for the farmer with the white beard: Have you seen any Taliban today?
> 
> The answer came within seconds — from insurgents hiding nearby who ended the conversation with bursts of automatic rifle fire that sent deadly rounds cracking overhead.
> 
> ...



The White House's report on Af-Pak: Hold the optimism
_Washington Post_, Oct. 8, by David Ignatius
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705482.html



> What’s notable about the new White House report on Afghanistan and Pakistan  sent to Congress this week is its bleak assessment of the security picture. You could almost read President Obama between the lines warning the military: This strategy isn’t working the way we hoped. Don’t ask me for more troops…
> 
> You can sense in this report the tension that lies ahead between Obama and his commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus. The military didn’t write this assessment (one top military leader hadn’t even read it before it was leaked to the Wall Street Journal)…
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (8 Oct 2010)

"There is no military solution..."
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up, Oct. 8
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1286561460/0#0

‘Hope Is Not a Strategy’
Outgoing Security Advisor Jones Voices Concern on Pakistan
_Spiegel Online_, Oct. 8
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,722139,00.html



> ...
> SPIEGEL ONLINE: Should your cooperation with the Pakistani army fail, is there a possibility that Pakistan would become the next military target of the US?
> 
> Jones: I am going to take the optimistic view that rational people do rational things and that -- with the help of friends and allies and common goals -- Pakistan will avoid, or hopefully avoid, that unfortunate eventuality. But hope is not a strategy, so we have to be cognizant of the fact that there are things which could happen that could alter the relationship if we are not careful...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (8 Oct 2010)

Afghans Linked to the Taliban Guard U.S. Bases
Article Link

WASHINGTON — Afghan private security forces with ties to the Taliban, criminal networks and Iranian intelligence have been hired to guard American military bases in Afghanistan, exposing United States soldiers to surprise attack and confounding the fight against insurgents, according to a Senate investigation. 

The Pentagon’s oversight of the Afghan guards is virtually nonexistent, allowing local security deals among American military commanders, Western contracting companies and Afghan warlords who are closely connected to the violent insurgency, according to the report by investigators on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The United States military has almost no independent information on the Afghans guarding the bases, who are employees of Afghan groups hired as subcontractors by Western firms awarded security contracts by the Pentagon. At one large American airbase in western Afghanistan, military personnel did not even know the names of the leaders of the Afghan groups providing base security, the investigators found. So they used the nicknames that the contractor was using — Mr. White and Mr. Pink from “Reservoir Dogs,” the 1992 gangster movie by Quentin Tarantino. Mr. Pink was later determined to be a “known Taliban” figure, they reported.

In another incident, the United States military bombed a house where it was believed that a Taliban leader was holding a meeting, only to discover later that the house was owned by an Afghan security contractor to the American military, who was meeting with his nephew — the Taliban leader.

Some Afghans hired by EOD Technology, which was awarded a United States Army contract to provide security at a training center for Afghan police officers in Adraskan, near Shindand, were also providing information to Iran, the report asserted. The Senate committee said it received intelligence from the Defense Intelligence Agency about Afghans working for EOD, and that the reporting found that some of them “have been involved in activities at odds with U.S. interests in the region.” 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (9 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 9

Assignment Kandahar: Afghanistan’s ﬁery, fragile future
_National Post_, Oct. 8, by Brian Hutchinson
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/10/08/assignment-kandahar-afghanistan%E2%80%99s-%EF%AC%81ery-fragile-future/



> The war that Canadian soldiers are helping wage in Afghanistan is not being lost. Having spent nearly six months in the country since 2006, most of that time embedded with our troops, I’ve just come home again, convinced of it.
> 
> But the war isn’t being won, either; the conflict, with sporadic fighting and death by remote control, just continues.
> 
> ...



Afghan governor killed in rising violence in north
AP, Oct. 8
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD9INMB700?docId=D9INMB700



> A powerful bomb killed an outspoken Afghan governor and 19 other worshippers in a crowded mosque Friday in northern Afghanistan, where insurgents are trying to expand their influence beyond the embattled south.
> 
> A wounded survivor said he believed a suicide bomber praying to the right of the governor carried out the attack, which wounded 35 people and took place in Taluqan, the capital of Takhar province.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## George Wallace (10 Oct 2010)

Here reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act:


Convoy attacks expose Achilles' heel of Afghan war

CTV News 


LINK

*The imminent reopening of a crucial border crossing in the Khyber Pass has laid bare one of the vulnerabilities NATO forces are grappling with in prosecuting the war in Afghanistan -- the uneasy, love-hate relationship between Pakistan and the United States.
*

After nearly two weeks, the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad issued a statement Saturday stating that it will soon reopen the Torkham border post, which lies on a busy supply route to Kabul. 

The Pakistani government shuttered the border crossing on Sept. 30, after three of its soldiers were mistakenly killed in an attack by a U.S. helicopter. 

The American ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, apologized for the incident. But the closure has sparked fresh tensions between Washington and Islamabad, partly due to the indispensable role Pakistan plays in supplying the 142,000 coalition troops stationed in Afghanistan, most of whom are American. 

The bulk of NATO's fuel and other non-lethal material crosses Pakistan overland from the port of Karachi. Three-quarters of those goods enter Afghanistan via the Khyber Pass, making the Torkham border crossing logistically vital. 

"Afghanistan is a very hard place to fight a war because of its physical geographic location," said Sunil Ram, a security expert and professor of land warfare at American Military University. "This is one of the strategic bottlenecks." 

*Taliban attacks* 

Aggravating the situation, groups of armed men have attacked tankers laden with NATO fuel on Pakistani soil. The militants are believed to have torched more than 100 tankers in a string of assaults since Oct. 1. 

They have targeted fuel trucks that were backed up waiting to cross the Khyber Pass, as well as those making their way to Pakistan's second border crossing to Afghanistan, near the city of Quetta farther south. 

The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for at least two of the assaults. A spokesperson for the group, Azam Tariq, told CNN the fuel trucks were "logistic support for the NATO forces who killed our innocent sisters and brothers in Afghanistan." 

However, Ram said  private contractors, who are tasked with transporting the fuel, may have spurred the attacks by failing to keep up on payments to the Taliban after the Torkham border post closed. 

"The bottom line is, it's about the payoffs," he said, citing sources in military intelligence on both sides of the border. "In the background, the Taliban are saying, ‘Let's get our payoffs back in place and we'll stop blowing your stuff up.'" 

The issue of private contractors paying militants has been well documented in Afghanistan. In the latest reported instance, private security forces linked to the Taliban were hired to guard a U.S. base, according to an investigation by the U.S. Senate. 

Kamran Bokhari, South Asia director with the global intelligence firm STRATFOR, described the fuel tankers as "a target of opportunity." 

"The supply line is just so long, and it runs through several areas where militants are active, that it's not hard for them to hit these trucks," he said. "All you need is a bunch of guys and the ability to torch stuff." 

*Uneasy allies* 

The wayward helicopter attack, the subsequent border-crossing closure and fuel tanker attacks have strained already troubled relations between Islamabad and Washington. 

Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, said Friday that U.S. authorities were acting on "internal political dynamics" relating to the upcoming midterm elections when they issued a travel alert about militants in Pakistan planning to attack European cities. 

On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad criticized the U.S. for what it believes is an increase in the frequency of drone attacks. The Pakistani government has also forbidden cross-border raids by foreign forces, seeing them as violations of the country's sovereignty. 

For its part, Washington has accused Islamabad of failing to take action against elements of the Taliban who are keen to fight in Afghanistan but are not hostile to the Pakistani state. 

Earlier in the week, a White House report to the Congress warned that Pakistan's military had made a "political choice" to "avoid military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or al Qaeda forces in North Waziristan," according to an unclassified version of the report obtained by Agence France-Presse. 

Some officials in Washington suspect the recent fuel tanker attacks were encouraged by elements within Pakistan's intelligence service "to put pressure on the United States not to make incursions into Pakistan," Bokhari said. 

He called the current state of U.S.-Pakistan relations "the most tense period between the two sides since this war began." 

"But that doesn't mean there will be a breach," he added. "It's kind of like a love-hate relationship." 

Pakistan depends on the $2 billion in aid money that flows into its economy from Washington every year. The U.S., in addition to relying on ground supply routes in Pakistan to fuel the NATO war effort, has become increasingly focused on crushing Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas. 

At the heart of the problem, the two governments have failed to agree on "which Taliban groups can be accommodated and which have to be militarily dealt with," Bokhari said. 

"That's the clash," he added. "They need to find a middle path, but so far that's not happening."

=========================================================================


----------



## MarkOttawa (10 Oct 2010)

Supply route for NATO convoys opened in Pakistan
CNN, Oct. 10
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/10/pakistan.supply.route/?hpt=T1



> The Torkham border crossing in Pakistan was opened for NATO supply convoy traffic Sunday morning, authorities told CNN.
> 
> Trucks are free to pass once they have cleared customs, said Amjad Ali, a constable for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
> 
> ...



The real question about Pakistan's border closure
_Foreign Policy_, "AfPak Channel", Oct. 8
http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/08/the_real_question_about_pakistans_border_closure



> ...
> Within hours of last Thursday's helicopter strikes, the Pakistani government retaliated by shutting down the Torkham border crossing, which lies north of Peshawar on the Grant Trunk Road. Torkham is the crossing through which a majority of non-lethal NATO supplies pass into Afghanistan from Pakistan, once they are offloaded from ships based in Pakistan's port city of Karachi. The other main crossing into Afghanistan, at Chaman linking Baluchistan and Kandahar, has remained open...
> 
> While the anxiety surrounding the road closures that attract attacks is understandable, the real puzzle is not how to prevent these outcomes generally or even why this one happened in particular. The real question is why doesn't this happen more often and with greater consequence? Even garden variety pilferage of the supply line is minimal according to U.S. officials and this current episode has been a nuisance but not a strategic threat. The 120 or more trucks that have been destroyed comprise less than one percent of the total traffic in any given month, according to U.S. Department of Defense officials.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## George Wallace (11 Oct 2010)

Here reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act:


Secret base to be shuttered over failed airline talks: source
10/10/2010 9:33:15 PM
CTV News 


LINK

*The Canadian Forces may be getting the boot from a semi-secret Middle East base, as the United Arab Emirates warns Ottawa's refusal of its repeated requests will "undoubtedly" affect relations between the two countries.*

Established in late 2001 as a hub for Canadian operations in nearby Afghanistan, Camp Mirage's existence and location has been an open secret. 

Now, sources in Dubai tell CTV News Canada has less than one month to get out. 

Steve Staples of the Rideau Institute says the ouster isn't unexpected. 

"This is always one of the dangers when you set up secret military bases around the world, and the host country turns around to try to get something gained out of you in some other area." 

The "something" in question is commercial landing rights for UAE's two commercial airlines. 

A 1999 agreement allows Emirates Airlines and Ethiad Airways to fly into Canada as many as six times a week. But the UAE government says that with 27,000 Canadians living in that country, and a significant trade relationship -- the UAE is Canada's largest trade partner in the Middle East and North Africa -- six flights per week are not enough. 

The UAE has demanded that Ottawa allow daily direct flights to several major Canadian cities including Calgary and Vancouver. In response, Air Canada cried foul and Ottawa refused reportedly telling the UAE it would rather give up the base than give in to unacceptable demands. 

That led to the UAE playing its trump card. 

"The UAE entered negotiations in good faith on the understanding that a solution would be reached and that constructive ideas would be brought to the negotiating table. The fact that this has not come about undoubtedly affects the bilateral relationship," UAE ambassador to Canada Mohammed Abdullah Al-Ghafli said in a statement issued Sunday. 

"The Emirates knew we were leaving in a year's time. So they had a period of time where they could apply pressure on Canada and hope to get concessions," Col. Alain-Michel Pellerin  of the Conference of Defence Associations explained. 

On Thursday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay conceded Foreign Affairs was in discussions with UAE, even as he refused to comment on "operational matters." 

But it appears those discussions failed to produce a result. 

NDP MP Paul Dewar  says the Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon is guilty of bad diplomacy. 

"Why did Minister Cannon basically not return phone calls, not meet with the ambassador?" Dewar told CTV. "I think this was the final straw, they've decided to pull the plug." 

The question now is: where will Canadian troops set up next? Analysts say Cypress, Turkey or Germany are likely candidates. 

The Canadian military has already deployed supply missions from an air base in Cyprus to Kandahar. Officials have also asked Pakistan to use its air bases when Canada withdraws forces from Afghanistan next year. 

With files from CTV Ottawa's Richard Madan and The Canadian Press


----------



## The Bread Guy (12 Oct 2010)

Next on the ramp preparing to depart - 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




:


> Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister said its 3,400 troops will have left the country by 2014.
> 
> The Italian decision follows the withdrawal of Dutch troops earlier this year and the Canadian decision to leave next year, as commanders struggle to sure up an alliance which is still short of troops.
> 
> ...


More here.


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## MarkOttawa (12 Oct 2010)

Taliban border haven in U.S. sights
Some officials urge military action on Pakistani soil to curb the flow of fighters and bomb-making materials into southern Afghanistan.
_LA Times_, Oct. 11
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/11/world/la-fg-afghan-assess-20101012



> Reporting from Washington — U.S. military officials racing to make progress in Afghanistan are pressing new tactics to choke off the flow of Taliban fighters and bomb-making materials from Pakistan into key battlefields of the south, with some even advocating cross-border attacks, according to several U.S. civilian and military officials.
> 
> Two senior officers from the staff of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. general who commands NATO forces in Afghanistan, are scheduled to meet with Pakistani counterparts this week, a senior NATO official said, in part to present intelligence about *Taliban operations in Baluchistan* [emphasis added], a Pakistani province along Afghanistan's southern border.
> 
> ...



In Afghanistan, the first hints of success
_Washington Post_, Oct. 12, by Michael Gerson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/11/AR2010101104272.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead



> Success in Afghanistan is beginning to come in the first muddy trickles after a long drought.
> 
> Small groups of Taliban fighters -- sometimes a dozen with a leader -- are approaching local Afghan government officials, asking what kind of deal they might get. "First, they want to be taken off any list, so they are not targeted," explains a NATO official in Afghanistan. "Second, they want protection from the insurgency. Third, some kind of economic opportunity."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (13 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 13, 2010*

Insurgent grenade causes NATO chopper blast
1 dead, 8 hurt aboard Chinook; Taliban claim responsibility
updated 10/12/2010
Article Link

A rocket-propelled grenade caused an explosion aboard a NATO helicopter that killed one and wounded eight shortly after the aircraft landed in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

The CH-47 Chinook helicopter "had just landed and was off-loading through the rear ramp when an insurgent RPG was fired into the cargo bay," ISAF said in a statement.

The blast, at an outpost in Kunar province, killed one Afghan interpreter and wounded seven ISAF troops and one Afghan Border Police officer. Twenty-six people had been on board the chopper.

NBC News reported that the Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident. The claim could not immediately be verified but the Taliban often say they are behind incidents which they have not caused. 
More on link

 UAE allows Canada to resume use of base
Article Link

Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News · Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The United Arab Emirates is once again permitting Canadian Forces flights to and from Afghanistan to use an air base in Dubai, military sources in Kandahar and Ottawa confirmed yesterday.

"It looks like it was just a 'one off,' " a senior military officer in Ottawa said, a day after Monday's forced diversion of a C-17 flight carrying Defence Minister Peter Mac-Kay, Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn and General Walter Natynczyk, the chief of defence staff.

But barring a last-minute deal regarding the use of Camp Mirage -- which looks far less likely after Monday's refusal to allow top defence brass to land there -- Canada must still have all its military personnel and kit out of the base in Dubai by Nov. 2.

To meet that deadline, the Canadian military will probably move tonnes of military gear from Mirage to Kandahar by air for repatriation to Canada later, another senior officer in Ottawa said. A formal contingency plan regarding that and what else will be done if the November deadline holds, is expected to be ready for approval within the next 48 hours.

"There will be a significant dollar figure to do this business differently, but if we have to, we will move some of the [logistics] tail to Kandahar," the second officer said.
More on link

Italy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan
By Ben Farmer in Kabul,
Published: 6:17PM BST 12 Oct 2010
Article Link

ranco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister said its 3,400 troops will have left the country by 2014.

The Italian decision follows the withdrawal of Dutch troops earlier this year and the Canadian decision to leave next year, as commanders struggle to sure up an alliance which is still short of troops. 

Nato commanders have found it increasingly difficult to persuade members to stay in Afghanistan in the face of mounting death tolls and domestic opposition.

Mr Frattini spoke as Italy mourned four Italian soldiers killed at the weekend when their convoy was blown up in western Afghanistan.

He said: "To the families of our soldiers who died a heroic death I want to confirm that there's a political plan for Afghanistan, that their loved ones have not been sent to certain defeat in an impossible mission." 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (13 Oct 2010)

The Battle of Shahabuddin
Under Fire in Afghanistan's Baghlan Province
_Spiegel Online_, Oct. 13
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,722605,00.html#ref=nlint



> One German officer fights the Taliban alongside Afghan soldiers he can't always count on, risking his life for a peace few Germans believe is possible. Germans have seen the largest battles since World War II in Baghlan Province, and their leader is more optimistic than most about the war.
> 
> When Michael Andritzky talks about the battle of Shahabuddin, his voice is calm and unwavering. His most salient memory is of a moment of silence. After a B-1 bomber dropped its payload, he says, there was a loud explosion and the earth shook. Then it was quiet. Andritzky looked around, searching for the enemy between fruit trees and submerged rice fields. There was only a plume of smoke where a row of trees had been. "The enemy was destroyed," Andritzky thought.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (14 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 14

French General Mixes Formula for a Bit of Afghan Calm
_NY Times_, Oct. 13
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/world/asia/14general.html?ref=todayspaper



> FORWARD OPERATING BASE TORA, Afghanistan — Just east of Kabul lies a stark mountain moonscape that for centuries was home to gunmen who preyed on travelers and harassed invaders in the narrow mountain passes. As recently as last year, ambushes of NATO troops were not uncommon.
> 
> Now, the French soldiers responsible for the area say they believe that the situation has calmed so much that by next summer or even earlier, they would be comfortable handing primary responsibility for this district, Sarobi, in eastern Kabul Province, to Afghan troops.
> 
> ...



Brigade linked to Afghan civilian deaths had aggressive, divergent war strategy
_Washington Post_, Oct. 14
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101306280.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead



> When the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade arrived in Afghanistan, its leader, Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV, openly sneered at the U.S. military's counterinsurgency strategy. The old-school commander barred his officers from even mentioning the term and told shocked U.S. and NATO officials that he was uninterested in winning the trust of the Afghan people.
> 
> Instead, he said, his soldiers would simply hunt and kill as many Taliban fighters as possible, as dictated by the brigade's motto, "Strike and Destroy."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (15 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 15, 2010*

 Logistics and time the enemy in Canada's Afghan pullout
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN—Sending Canadian troops to war in Afghanistan was a cinch compared to what it will take to bring the last ones home.

Canada’s military pullout isn’t set to begin until next summer, but a small team started planning the complex operation in July.

Working against a tight deadline to have the last Canadian forces, their weapons and other equipment out of Afghanistan by the end of 2011, the military’s movers have already started shipping out some items that aren’t essential to the war effort.

Soldiers know it as ‘asset optimization.’ In plain language, it’s use it or lose it.
More on link

 Pak receptive to Canadian request for base
Akhtar Jamal
Article Link

Islamabad—Pakistan is receptive to a Canadian Government request for an air base to be used for phased-withdrawal of Canadian troops and military hardware from Afghanistan. In the past Pakistan had offered its airspace and airports to a number of Western states for emergency landing and logistic support.

According to reliable sources Canada made the request last month at the highest level and Pakistan was conditionally sympathetic to the request but a final accord has not yet been reached.

Canadian request was made following warning by the leaders of the United Arab Emirates to closed down a military base known as “Camp Mirage” by first week of November.

Canadian media reports claimed that the Canadian military was being evicted from its logistical base in Dubai following a dispute with the United Arab Emirates over landing rights for UAE airlines.

“Camp Mirage” was established some time back apparently to play a key transit point for conclusive operation in Afghanistan. Canada which has played a key role in at least one Afghan province now plans to wind up its military engagements there and plan a phased withdrawal from Afghanistan as of July 2011.

A senior Pakistani official speaking on condition of not being named said that “Pakistan was ready to consider the request but with certain conditions so that national security is not compromised.” Informed sources also say that Canada has not yet close the UAE Base issue and that negotiations for an extension of “Camp Mirage” accord was still on. 
More on link

 Seven Nato soldiers die in separate Afghanistan attacks
Article Link
  14 October 2010 Last updated at 11:00 ET

Isaf soldier in Afghanistan Isaf did not give details of the nationalities of those killed

At least seven Nato soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in separate attacks, a day after six coalition troops died in a number of attacks.

Four soldiers were killed in attacks in south and east Afghanistan, while three others were killed in the west.

The killings mean the last two days have been among the bloodiest for international forces in recent months.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has denied it has had unofficial contacts with the Afghan government.

In the latest incident on Thursday, two soldiers were killed in a "insurgent attack" in the south.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has not given details of the nationalities of the dead soldiers.

In the east, it is mainly the US soldiers while US, British, Danish, Australian and Canadian troops are based in the south.
More on link

 Calls for greater transparency in Afghan aid expenditure
Article Link
By Alexandra Kirk Posted 8 hours 46 minutes ago

Aid agencies want the Federal Government to apply much more scrutiny to Australia's aid to Afghanistan.

The parliamentary debate on the war in Afghanistan is a legacy of the Greens' deal to support a Labor minority government.

In the lead up to next week's debate, the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) has written to all MP's and senators calling for greater transparency and accountability of Australia's civilian and military assistance.

Afghanistan's combined aid budget is worth about $1.2 billion a year and the peak body for non-government aid groups says it wants to ensure that the money is being spent where it is most needed.

ACFID is also calling on the Government to commit to a 10-year humanitarian and development program, as well as a Senate inquiry into Australia's future role in the country.
More on link

 Canada starts planning for Afghanistan withdrawl
Article Link

The colossal logistical operation to return tens of thousands of tonnes of Canadian gear and war material from Afghanistan has already begun.

The first “baby steps” to meet an end-of-2011 deadline for everything Canadian to be gone from Kandahar has started with the repatriation of badly broken or damaged vehicles that would have proved too costly or taken too much time to repair in-theatre before the end of the combat mission next July.

The military, which employs jargon or acronyms for almost everything, calls this process “asset optimization.”

“That kind of, colloquially, ‘thinning out’ should be ongoing all the time,” said Lt.-Col. Steve Moritsugu of Richmond Hill, Ont.

The signals officer, who holds three graduate degrees, heads the small advance team for the pullout that is preceding a much larger advance team. The larger team is expected to arrive next April to begin final preparations for what will be Canada’s biggest logistical operation in a war zone since the Korean conflict.

“The purpose of our team is to be the eyes and ears of the people back in Canada who are making the plans, to make sure the policies and procedures they are drafting make sense here on the ground,” said the colonel, who is one-third of the way through a nine-month tour.
More on link

 Helping Afghan women
Barry McDivitt, CHBC News: Thursday, October 14, 2010
Article Link

Public support for Canada’s presence in Afghanistan has been steadily decreasing for years, but organizers of a workshop held in Kelowna on Thursday want to send the message that Canadians should not lose hope in the mission.

International aid workers and members of the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, an organization dedicated to improving educational opportunities for Afghan women, held the workshop for grade 6 students to teach them how they can help improve educational opportunities for girls in the war-torn country.

Under the rule of the Taliban, girls were not allowed to attend school.

However, tens of thousands of Afghan girls are now getting an education.

Mohammad Isaq Faizi, a human rights activist from Afghanistan, says the number of girls in school has increased thanks to people who have helped and support education in the country.

Many students at the workshop have been involved in raising funds for Afghan schools.
More on link

 Woman on a mission to build Afghan classrooms
Article Link
By JASMINE FRANKLIN, Edmonton Sun  October 14, 2010 

What started as inspiration from a book has led a 23-year-old Lacombe-area woman on a nationwide mission to get everyone involved in the construction of 100 Afghanistan classrooms.

“I was really inspired by the idea that there’s this need that could be filled now,” said Azalea Lehndorff, A Better World project development co-ordinator. “Strong leaders will emerge from that country if we give them the opportunity.”

So far, the former student of Canadian University College (CUC) in Lacombe has raised $97,000 in partner with A Better World (ABW) — a Central Alberta-based international development organization — to help build classrooms that will educate women in the Taliban-ridden Afghanistan.

“Because of the Taliban era, women have been very marginalized and 90% of them are illiterate,” said Lehndorff, 23. “Education is the first step to fight extremism and inequality.”

Lehndorff and ABW have already started two schools in Afghanistan since fundraising began in May. She traveled to Afghanistan last summer with ABW and CUC students to ensure her dreams were reasonable.

“It’s people, us and the government working together who, for their future, want education in their country,” said Lehndorff. “Book and teachers’ pay is all funded by their government.”

One of the school’s the team has opened educates 2,000 girls and the other consists of students who study outside on blankets until classrooms can be built.

But the goal is all the same — to educate not only women in the poverty-stricken country but also to those in Canada about the situation.

“I met a girl in Afghanistan who studied throughout the Taliban era. Her teacher agreed to teach her out of her home which could have gotten both of them and their families killed,” she said. “She graduated high school and went to university and now wants to come to Canada to study law and go back to Afghanistan to educate.

“It’s people like that, that you see rising out of the country itself.”
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (15 Oct 2010)

Afstan: Talkin’ to the Talibs/Dutch military return?
_Unambiguously Ambidextous_, Oct. 15
http://unambig.com/afstan-talkin-to-the-talibsdutch-military-return/

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## old medic (17 Oct 2010)

Translation below 

Svensk soldat dödad i Afghanistan
Publicerad: 17 oktober 2010, 01.10. Senast ändrad: 17 oktober 2010, 01.13
http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/svensk-soldat-dodad-i-afghanistan_5521289.svd



> En 22-årig soldat från Stockholmsområdet dödades på lördagen i Afghanistan. Soldatens pansarterrängfordon sprängdes av en hemmagjord bomb.
> 
> Två svenska soldater skadades.
> 
> Attacken inträffade vid 16-tiden svensk tid. Det svenska förbandet befann sig i området väster om Mazar-i-Sharif i norra Afghanistan.



Swedish Soldier killed in Afghanistan. 
17 October 2010 - 0110 CET. last updated 0113 CET

A 22-year-old soldier from the Stockholm area was killed on Saturday in Afghanistan. The soldier's armoured all-terrain vehicle was blown up by an IED.

Two Swedish soldiers were injured.

The attack occurred at 16 o'clock Swedish time. The Swedish unit was in the area west of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.


----------



## The Bread Guy (17 Oct 2010)

In Afghan South, U.S. Faces Frustrated Residents
Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 17 Oct 10
Article link


> As American troops mount a critical operation this weekend in the campaign to regain control in Kandahar, they face not only the Taliban but also a frustrated and disillusioned population whose land has been devastated by five years of fighting.
> 
> While most villagers have fled the area, those who remain complain that they are trapped between insurgents and the foreign forces, often suffering damages for which they remain uncompensated.
> 
> ...


----------



## MarkOttawa (17 Oct 2010)

Top U.S. military, civilian officials assert gains in Afghan war
_Washington Post_, Oct. 17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/16/AR2010101603171.html



> KABUL - With a year-end report card coming due, top U.S. military and civilian officials in Afghanistan have begun to assert that they see concrete progress in the war against the Taliban, a sharp departure from earlier assessments that the insurgency had the momentum.
> 
> Despite growing numbers of Taliban attacks and American casualties, U.S. officials are building their case for why they are on the right track, ahead of the December war review ordered by President Obama. They describe an aggressive campaign that has killed or captured hundreds of Taliban leaders and more than 3,000 fighters around the country in recent months, and has pressured insurgents into exploring talks with the Afghan government. At the same time, they say, the Afghan army is bigger and better-trained than it has ever been.
> 
> ...



Opinions vary wildly on whether Kandahar is safer
CP, Oct. 16
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20101016/kandahar-safer-101016/



> KANDAHAR — Security in Kandahar is definitely improving, unless it is obviously getting worse.
> 
> Perhaps like at no other time in this nine-year war, there are wildly contradicting opinions, studies and statistics about just which way security is trending in the southern province, the area of operations for Canada's 2,800-soldier strong NATO force.
> 
> ...


  

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (18 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 18

Canadians work to corral Taliban as major operation begins
U.S., Afghan forces launch air assault in Horn of Panjwaii stronghold
Postmedia News, Oct. 18 by Matthew Fisher
http://www.globalnews.ca/world/story.html?id=3686216



> The Royal Canadian Regiment battle group established blocking screens to try to trap the Taliban this weekend as U.S. and Afghan forces swooped down on the Horn of Panjwaii, which has been one of insurgents' last strongholds in Kandahar.
> 
> The long-anticipated air assault to clear the Horn, where many Canadians have lost their lives in recent years, is part of a much larger operation that has been evolving for weeks. The crucial part of the campaign in western Panjwaii was declared to have officially begun Saturday, with about 800 Afghan troops supported by a much smaller number of Americans, the New York Times
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/16/MN5T1FTPVU.DTL
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (18 Oct 2010)

*Articles found September 18, 2010*

Afghan election panel disqualifies 10 percent of ballots
Article Link

About 10 percent of votes cast in last month's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan have been disqualified due to suspected fraud, a spokesman for the Independent Election Commission said Monday.

Ballots from 571 polling centers have been tossed and another 1,177 polling stations are under scrutiny, said spokesman Noor Ahmad Noor.

Noor said 242 of the total 5,442 polling centers had not yet completed counting and entered results into the system.

The commission again delayed its announcement of preliminary results until Wednesday. They were supposed to have been released at the beginning of October and were then postponed to Sunday.

Many Afghans were denied the right to vote in parliamentary elections because the country is too dangerous and because of logistical failures, an independent election watchdog has said.

The Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan said millions of Afghans cast ballots bravely "against the backdrop of a violent campaign season. In some areas, gunmen disrupted voting and seized ballot boxes, and observers themselves were threatened.
More on link

 8 private security guards die in Afghan clash
From Matiullah Mati, CNN October 18, 2010
Article Link

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight guards of a private security company were killed and three wounded in a clash between insurgents and the private security company Sunday night, officials said.

The clash took place in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, said Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the province's governor.

The company was providing security for a private firm that is working on the Kandahar-Herat highway, Ahmadi said.

President Hamid Karzai's administration has called for the dissolution of all private security firms operating in the country, a process that was already under way.

On Sunday, the Afghan government clarified the exceptions to the ban, stating that those firms offering protection to embassies and foreign diplomats will be allowed to continue to operate.

Karzai's office said that other private security companies not engaged in this work "are a strong threat for the national security and national sovereignty of the country," and that their dissolution will continue as planned.
More on link

 Canada seeking replacement for UAE military base: MacKay
  Article Link
 By Jen Gerson, Calgary Herald October 18, 2010

T he Canadian government is negotiating with several countries to find a new base for Canadian troops heading into Afghanistan.

The military has been given one month to leave the Dubai-based Camp Mirage after a row between the United Arab Emirates and the government escalated over Canadian commercial air rights.

The base has been a major hub for the military since the onset of the Afghan war.

"There are negotiations happening right now between planners and my department, as well as Foreign Affairs, to secure an alternate locations," said Defence Minister Peter MacKay during a funding announcement in Calgary on Sunday.
More on link

 NATO pushes into troubled Afghan region, but can they keep it?
Article Link

PANJWAI DISRTICT, AFGHANISTAN—For too long, the horn of Panjwai has stabbed at allied troops fighting to take the Taliban’s southern strongholds away from the insurgents.

The strip of land, some 30 kilometres long and 10 kilometres deep, tapers to a point where the Arghandab and Dori Rivers converge on the edge of a vast desert. Shaped like a rhino horn, it has been one of the insurgents’ most lethal weapons.

Canadian soldiers pulled out of forward operating bases in the horn around two years ago, leaving insurgents largely unchallenged in their main base of operations against Kandahar city, which NATO sees as “the centre of gravity” in the conflict.

As the virtual government in western Panjwai, the Taliban were free to regroup, plot and train for attacks. They killed any elders who got in the way. The fortunate got the message and left before they could be assassinated. 
More on link


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## GAP (20 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 20, 2010*

 The Leopards Went Over The Mountain
October 19, 2010
Article Link

 Canadian use of Leopard 2 tanks in Afghanistan convinced the brass that these Cold War era vehicles are valuable weapons for irregular warfare. Immune to most enemy weapons and possessing enormous firepower, the heavy tanks were very useful. In light of this experience with the Leopard 2s in Afghanistan, Canada has bought 100 Leopard 2A6s from the Netherlands and another 20 2A4s from Germany. The last twenty were modified for operations in Afghanistan (better protection against mines and roadside bombs).

It was three years ago that Canada bought the hundred second hand Leopard 2 tanks from the Netherlands, to provide their troops in Afghanistan with some additional combat power. First, they leased 20 German Leopard 2s and sent them to Afghanistan to replace the older Leopard 1s. Initially, crews for the Leopard 2s trained on the elderly Leopard 1s in Canada, before going Afghanistan. There, they have to quickly familiarize themselves with the slightly different Leopard 2s. But now there are sufficient Leopard 2s in Canada for training.

It was four years ago that Canada sent 17 of its Leopard 1 tanks to Afghanistan, to give Canadian troops there some extra firepower against the Taliban. But during the Spring and Summer, the lack of air conditioning became a major problem for the crews. The age of the tanks was a factor as well, so Canada has made arrangements with Germany, the manufacturer of the Leopard, to lease twenty of the most modern version of the tank, the Leopard 2A6M (which had enough room inside to install air conditioning).
More on link

Canada must protect Afghan women post-combat: report
   Article Link
By Juliet O'Neill, Postmedia News October 20, 2010

In an effort to kick-start public debate on Canada's post-combat mission in Afghanistan, CARE Canada recommends the government become an international champion for Afghan women.

Canada should focus on preserving and enhancing gains made by Afghan women, among the poorest and least powerful in the world, after troops withdraw by the end of next year, the non-government aid agency says in a report released Wednesday.

"With the reconciliation and reintegration process underway and donor nations in addition to Canada planning for the end of their own military missions in Afghanistan, the situation for Afghan women has reached a critical crossroads," CARE says.

"Major gains have been made over the last decade which stand precariously close to being lost."
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (20 Oct 2010)

Focus of CARE Canada report referenced above (attached):


> .... Key recommendations for developing leadership in the donor community, creating coherence, and supporting the work here at home include:
> • Plan, implement, and measure Canada’s overall engagement in Afghanistan through the lens
> of its contribution to improved human rights – and women’s rights in particular ....


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## MarkOttawa (21 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 21

Coalition Forces Routing Taliban in Key Afghan Region
_NY Times_, Oct. 20, by Carlotta Gall
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/world/asia/21kandahar.html?_r=1



> ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan — American and Afghan forces have been routing the Taliban in much of Kandahar Province in recent weeks, forcing many hardened fighters, faced with the buildup of American forces, to flee strongholds they have held for years, NATO commanders, local Afghan officials and residents of the region said.
> 
> A series of civilian and military operations around the strategic southern province, made possible after a force of 12,000 American and NATO troops reached full strength here in the late summer, has persuaded Afghan and Western officials that the Taliban will have a hard time returning to areas they had controlled in the province that was their base.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (21 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 21, 2010*

All assault reports are investigated
  Article Link
 By Col. Tim Grubb, Times Colonist October 21, 2010

Re: "Honour Goddard with rape investigation," Oct. 14.

While Janet Bagnall states that the statistics provided by the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal regarding the number of sexual assaults investigations are "implausible," as head of an independent policing agency that operates at arm's length from the military chain of command, the statistics stand for themselves.

The fact remains that to date, five allegations of sexual assault have been reported to the military police serving in Afghanistan since 2004. It must be remembered, however, that Canada is not alone in its efforts in Afghanistan, and that Kandahar Airfield is home to tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians from many nations.
More on link

 Russia ready to help us leave Afghanistan
Article Link
John Ivison, National Post · Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

The decision by the government of the United Arab Emirates to kick Canada out of its Camp Mirage air base near Dubai has led to speculation about how this country's military will bring soldiers and cargo in and out of Afghanistan when we withdraw in 2011.

One option being negotiated currently, according to diplomatic and military sources, is to ship "sensitive" equipment such as tanks through bases in Russia, likely using rented Russian and Ukrainian cargo planes.

This is a somewhat surprising development, given the overheated rhetoric we have heard of late from Canadian politicians such as Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who boasted about how Russian bombers on training missions in the Arctic would be met by CF-18 fighter jets "every time." That rhetoric is likely to be toned down in future by the hard reality that Canada may need Russia's help with the mammoth logistical operation of repatriating equipment and troops from Afghanistan after the 2011 deadline.

Recent reports have suggested a German airbase in Uzbekistan or an American base in Kyrgyzstan could be used as a short-term fix for the loss of Mirage, but those suggestions have been downplayed by people familiar with the situation. Much more likely, Afghan-bound soldiers will fly through a existing base in Cyprus, while cargo will be routed via the U.S. base at Sprangdahlem in southern Germany after Camp Mirage closes next month.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (21 Oct 2010)

Canadian cordon around restive Panjwaii 
CP, Oct. 20
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/101020/national/afghan_cda_panjwaii



> NAKHONAY, Afghanistan - Canadian troops are tightening their grip on eastern Panjwaii as coalition allies move against insurgents in the western edge of the strategically important district near Kandahar city.
> 
> U.S. and Afghan forces have begun long-awaited operations in what’s known as the Horn of Panjwaii, where the Taliban have had free reign in recent years.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (22 Oct 2010)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 22

The _Globe and Mail’s_ different Afghan world/Good _Star_ reporting *Update*
_Unambiguously Ambidextrous_, Oct. 22
http://unambig.com/the-globe-and-mails-different-afghan-world/

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (23 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 23, 2010*

 Salvaging the Afghan mission
  Article Link 
By Susan Riley, The Ottawa Citizen October 23, 2010 7:08 AM

One of the government's favourite, and most compelling, arguments for going to war in Afghanistan was to advance the rights of Afghan girls and women. Nine years later, those fragile gains are "perilously close to being lost" in the search for a political compromise that will end the fighting.

In a detailed report this week, CARE Canada -- a major player with 50 years of experience in Afghanistan -- is calling on Canada to lead an international effort to make sure tenuous progress isn't undone in President Hamid Karzai's effort to bring violent warlords and Taliban hard-liners into the peace process.

Canada, it argues, already a leading champion of women in Afghanistan, is ideally placed to lead a renewed (perhaps last-ditch) campaign for gender equality -- a campaign that could, incidentally, help the Harper government win friends among women voters, otherwise ambivalent about the war.
More on link

 Afghanistan: Where success can bring failure
Article Link

A medical clinic stands abandoned in a village on the edge of town, desert wind blowing dust through gaps in bricked up windows and empty doorways, the doctor too afraid to come anywhere near.

Taliban threats scared him off months ago. The Afghan government won’t send a replacement unless local elders make security guarantees. They refuse.

The Canadian military has made repeated offers of aid to repair the place, to repaint the two-room building’s peeling, whitewashed walls, to install doors and window panes, maybe even provide electricity and lights.

If the Canadians reopened the clinic, it would provide health care to more than 4,000 Afghans, mostly the desperately poor families of landless tenant farmers.

But their elders’ reply to overtures from Capt. Robert Goldstein, a Toronto reservist, is always the same: They change the subject.

They’ve shrugged off projects to channel raw sewage away from their streets, to dig wells for clean drinking water and almost anything else Goldstein and his team propose.

Saying yes to foreign help to save lives could get them killed by insurgents who survive on deprivation and the instability it breeds. 
More on link

 NATO, UN urged to stand up to U.A.E. eviction notice
  Article Link
 By Juliet O'Neill, Postmedia News October 22, 2010

The NATO military alliance and the United Nations should step in and pressure the United Arab Emirates to back down from evicting Canada from a military supply base near Dubai for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, says defence management expert Douglas Bland.

Far from being a mere commercial row over airline access or a mere inconvenience to the military, Bland said the Gulf emirate's action against Camp Mirage is an affront to the efforts of Canadian and tens of thousands of troops from dozens of other countries — including about 15 from the U.A.E. itself — fighting in Afghanistan in a NATO-led, UN-sanctioned war.

Camp Mirage is the Canadian military code name for the staging operations near Dubai, a hub for supplies and troops for many years. Only Canada has been told to leave the facility, that is reportedly also used by forces from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

"It dismays me that a nation in that part of the world that is implicitly at least gaining security from our operations against al-Qaida and the Taliban and other terrorists would throw a roadblock in front of those efforts," Bland said in an interview. "It's incomprehensible that they would let a commercial deal between two airlines get in the way of such an important thing . . . One is a transport contract and one is a war."
More on link


 Canadian soldiers prepared to escort Taliban to peace talks
Article Link

If asked, Canadian troops stand ready to assist Afghanistan’s fledgling peace process by providing safe passage for Taliban leaders who wish to meet with Afghan officials, says the leader of Task Force Kandahar.

“This is an excellent initiative,” Brig.-Gen. Dean Milner said Friday of preliminary discussions that are said to have recently begun, not-so-secretly, in Kabul.

“If we were tasked by our chain of command, absolutely” Canadian troops would help to facilitate such talks, the general said, “but it has not gone that far yet.”

The remarks come as Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged on Friday Canada’s continuing support for the peace negotiations.

Speaking to reporters in Switzerland on Friday, Mr. Harper said Canada has always supported “attempts at political reconciliation.”
More on link


 New York Times photographer seriously injured by mine in southern Afghanistan
Article Link
By: The Associated Press  23/10/2010

A photographer for The New York Times has been seriously injured in southern Afghanistan where international forces are pushing into Taliban strongholds to try to turn the tide of the war.

The newspaper said in a statement that 44-year-old Joao Silva sustained leg injuries Saturday when he stepped on a mine while accompanying American soldiers on a patrol in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province. Silva was evacuated to Kandahar Air Field where he is receiving treatment.

No U.S. soldiers were wounded in the explosion.
More on link


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## GAP (24 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 24, 2010*

 Bombers dressed in burkas hit U.N. base in Afghanistan
By Sharafuddin Sharafyar, Reuters 
Article Link

HERAT, Afghanistan - Four Taliban suicide bombers dressed as police and women attacked the main United Nations compound in western Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, but there were no casualties among U.N. staff.

The attack with rockets, machine guns and bombers hit the U.N. compound in Herat, a commercial hub and the largest city in the country's west where Taliban and other Islamist insurgents are usually less active than in other areas.

Afghan forces and U.N. security guards at the compound repelled the insurgents. Two attackers, including a car bomber, blew themselves up at the entrance and another detonated his bomb just inside, while a fourth was shot and killed, police, government and U.N. officials said.

It was the highest profile attack on the United Nations since last year and will raise questions about security in a city that NATO officials believe could be among the first to see Afghan forces take responsibility for security from NATO troops. 
More on link

 A Tour Of Kandahar Airfield: Part I
October 23, 2010 — Adrian MacNair
Article Link

As readers are no doubt aware, I’ve been too busy to write lately because of journalism school. I haven’t even had time to put together some thoughts about my whirlwind tour of Afghanistan from September 27 to October 8. What I’ve decided to do instead is use this opportunity to share my photo album, accompanied by what I think is the relevant explanation of the scene. I’m relatively new to photoshop, so if some of the photos seem overly manipulated it’s because I’ve been experimenting with the settings.
More on link


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## GAP (25 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 25, 2010*

 Loophole for security firms on offer in Afghanistan 
Article Link
Mon Oct 25, 12:03 AM

KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai signalled his willingness to backtrack on a blanket ban on all private security firms, asking the foreign community for a list of projects needing protection.

His order that all private security companies be disbanded by the end of the year has caused widespread concern that aid and development projects would be unable to continue without adequate protection in the war-torn country.

The Afghan government had already partially rolled back the ban, allowing private protection to continue for diplomats and foreign military bases.

Private security firms in Afghanistan are employed by US and NATO forces, the Pentagon, the United Nations, aid and non-governmental organisations, embassies and foreign media.

They employ about 26,000 registered personnel, though experts say the real number could be as high as 40,000.

Karzai has been under intense pressure to extend the January 1 deadline to enable foreign organisations to find an alternative, with many aid organisations and foreign companies prepared to leave the country otherwise.

In a meeting with representatives of the foreign community -- including the UN's representative Staffan de Mistura, NATO's civilian representative Mark Sedwill and commander of foreign forces US General David Petraeus -- Karzai appears to have offered a compromise.
More on link

 Heeding the call: Medevac crews in Afghanistan
Article Link
Crews carry out a vital mission, often under enemy fire
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 25, 2010 8:47:24 EDT

Kandahar, Afghanistan — As a Black Hawk helicopter bearing a red cross lands, medics, pilots and crew members surge forward to glimpse a shard of shrapnel sparkling in the sun near a tiny puddle of blood.

“What happened?” yells a pilot as soon as the blades stop spinning.

Spc. Charles Williams, cheeks gray with a sheen of dust and sweat, grins from the back of the bird.

Adrenaline makes Williams’ hands shake as he starts to tell his story. It was his first hot landing zone on his second day on the job, and telling the story was his first lesson in putting the pieces in order in his mind so they wouldn’t come back to haunt him.

It’s that moment — culled from hundreds of other moments playing cards, training and honing a morbid sense of humor — that defines everything for a medevac crew.
More on link

Canada Helps Turn Deserted Taliban Outpost into Agricultural Site
Article Link
 Monday, October 25, 2010

Deserted Taliban post re-established as agricultural development site

ISAF Joint Command  10.23.2010 KABUL, Afghanistan - The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, in cooperation with the Canadian International Development Agency, is creating the Kandahar Regional Agriculture and Rural Development Institute at Tarnak Farms, located in Dand District in southern Afghanistan.

Tarnak Farms, a deserted al Qaeda training outpost just outside Kandahar Airfield,
 is scheduled to become the hub of agricultural development for Kandahar province.

The project, as requested by the local community and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, will focus on a wide range of activities to include the development of agriculture and infrastructure.

The Kandahar Regional Agriculture & Rural Development Institute is being created under the Integrated Alternative Livelihood Program - a $12 million program focused on helping create new livelihood opportunities for Afghans.
end

 Military investigates farmer's damage claims
  Article Link

Panjwaii man says he hasn't received compensation for Canadian forces bulldozing his land to protect base
 By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News October 25, 2010

The Canadian military has launched an investigation into claims by an Afghan farmer that troops "totally destroyed" as many as 10 mud-walled homes three years ago in a hamlet in the Horn of Panjwaii in order to protect a small firebase.

In a recent article, the New York Times said that when Canadians "immediately came under fire from insurgents," after establishing the base, in Lora in western Panjwaii, "they bulldozed much of the hamlet, flattening houses, water pumps and surrounding orchards."

Canadian officials, while admitting there may have been some damage in the area, questioned the extent that was described in the report.

"It is possible that some damage to property did occur while preparing various sites in Panjwaii for a series of four police substations in 2007," the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM) said in a written response to questions.

"However, we were unable to account for an incident that mirrors the extent of damage discussed in the New York Times article." CEFCOM added that "after further investigation, it may be possible that in order to enhance the force protection of one of the police substations ... land may have been cleared and some buildings may have been damaged."

The allegations were made to the Times last week by Abdul Hamid. Hamid said the Canadians had accepted his compensation claim through the district governor's office for the losses he had suffered, but that the money never reached him.
More on link

Karzai confirms report of cash payments from Iran
Article Link
 25 October 2010 Last updated at 07:51 ET

Mr Karzai said the cash was used to maintain the presidential palace and run his office

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged that his office has received cash from Iran, but insists it was part of a "transparent" process.

Mr Karzai was responding to a report in the New York Times that Tehran had been passing bags stuffed full of cash to Mr Karzai's aides.

The cash was intended to promote Iran's interests in Kabul, the report said.

However, Mr Karzai said the money was not for an individual but to help run the president's office.

Speaking at a news conference, he said many countries had given money to Afghanistan in this way, including the US.

"The government of Iran has been assisting us with five or six or seven hundred thousand euros once or twice every year, that is an official aid," he told reporters, according to the AFP agency.

He said his chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, "is receiving the money on my instructions".
More on link

Game show offers relief to Afghans
By Patrick Markey, Reuters
Article Link

KABUL - His country might be at war, but Afghan gameshow host Rahim Mirzad reckons his daily helping of fun and laughs is just the relief his audience needs - and the chance to become a millionaire doesn't hurt.

In a rundown warehouse studio on Kabul's dusty outskirts, Mirzad presents the "Treasure" - "Ganjina" in Afghanistan's Dari language - gameshow, where prize money of up to one million afghanis ($21,000) is on offer, a fortune in one of the world's poorest countries.

"In Afghanistan after 30 years of war, we had no gameshows, no big television programs like this. This is fun," said Mirzad, a former journalist. "When they see how emotional people are and how they react, it lets them forget everything."

Producers say the show is popular but risque for Afghanistan, where conservative Muslim clerics have in the past sought to ban foreign soap operas seen as a corrupting influence running against Islamic principles.

Just like a similar Western gameshow, Ganjina contestants choose one of 20 boxes representing an amount of cash from one to one million afghanis. Contestants eliminate boxes one by one and take home the amount in the last box.

The program came back on air on local TOLO TV two weeks ago after it was banned briefly by the government because of complaints it depicted gambling.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (25 Oct 2010)

Talking w/the Taliban - smoke or substance?
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up, Oct. 25
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1288035889/0#0

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (26 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 26, 2010*


Canadian military using private Afghan security despite pending ban

Article Link
Published On Mon Oct 25 2010 Jonathan Montpetit The Canadian Press

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—As the Afghan government insists on pushing forward with a plan to ban private security companies, the Canadian military has acknowledged it recently made use of an unlicensed firm to protect one of its bases.

Canada’s military command in Kandahar undertook a review of its contracts with private security companies following President Hamid Karzai’s decree this summer requiring those without a licence to end operations by Dec. 17.

The review found that of the four firms used by the Canadian military, one had failed to register with the Afghan government, marking it for closure.

“We reviewed all of the contracts as the Afghan government had asked,” said Lt.-Col. Tim Marcella, the commanding officer of Canada’s National Support Element, which oversees private contracts.

“Three of them are now registered contractors with the Afghan government. (As for) the fourth, we are in the process of assisting that company to register itself.”

The military refuses to provide the names of the companies it uses or describe where they provide their services, citing security concerns.
More on link

 Australian medics making a difference in Afghanistan
Article Link
26 October 2010
Sergeant Bernadette Rogash waits to move a coalition soldier wounded by an Improvised Explosive Devise into the Role 3 Trauma Room in Kandahar.

At Kandahar Air Field a NATO hospital is providing a critical service for the coalition troops currently deployed on ISAF operations in the Zabul, Uruzgan and Kandahar regions of Afghanistan.

As one of the busiest medical facilities in Afghanistan the hospital has 270 clinical professionals working there with an average of 80 surgeries a week. In addition, each week there are another 400 medical cases; 1000 inpatients scripts to be filled at the pharmacy; over 5000 lab tests and over 1000 x-rays and digital scans.

Being the first NATO hospital in Afghanistan the Role 3 Multi-National Medical Facility is the most advanced hospital in Regional Command (South) and supports all operations in the region.

Canadian Lieutenant Colonel Doug Fromery, the facility's Executive Officer, has been involved with the hospital since its inception and said the role undertaken by the Australian medics at the hospital is second to none.

"Since the hospital opened in 2006, we've had Australians just turning up wanting to help out. They've been part of the team here since, despite them not being an official part of the organisation," he explained. 
More on link


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## GAP (27 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 27, 2010*

Afghanistan: Russia steps in to help Nato
Article Link
By Kim Sengupta in Brussels Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Russia has agreed to return to the war in Afghanistan at the request of the Western states which helped the mujahedin to drive its forces out of the country 21 years ago.

The Independent has learnt that Moscow is engaged in training the Afghan army and counter-narcotics troops and has agreed in principle to supply Nato with several dozen helicopters for use in Afghanistan.

A number of aircraft have already been sold to Poland, a member of the US-led coalition, for use in the conflict. Now Nato is in talks with the Russians over direct supplies of more helicopters, training the pilots, and allowing arms and ammunition to be transported through Russian territory as an alternative to a Pakistani route which has come under repeated Taliban attack
More on link

Mikhail Gorbachev: victory in Afghanistan is 'impossible'
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, has warned that Afghanistan risks turning into another Vietnam, telling Nato that victory is impossible.
  Article Link
Published: 10:42AM BST 27 Oct 2010

Mr Gorbachev, who pulled Russian troops out of Afghanistan in 1989 after a 10-year war, said the US had no alternative but to withdraw troops.

"Victory is impossible in Afghanistan. [Barack] Obama is right to pull the troops out. No matter how difficult it will be," he told the BBC. 

Mr Gorbachev added that as the Soviets prepared to withdraw from Afghanistan, the US was training militants, "the same ones who today are terrorising Afghanistan and more and more of Pakistan".

He said that because of this, withdrawal would be more difficult.

"But what's the alternative - another Vietnam? Sending in half-a-million troops? That wouldn't work."

His comments came amid news that Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, will attend a Nato summit next month, to discuss plans for Russian forces to return to Afghanistan.

Nato officials said Russia had agreed to sell helicopters to Afghanistan and provide training. 
More on link

 Inside Afghanistan: Captain Abi Bradley on patrol
  Article Link and Video
Jane Mingay (camera) and Roland Hancock (edit) Published: 10:00AM BST 09 Aug 2010

In the first of an intimate set of portraits, Captain Abi Bradley of the Gurkha Rifles describes the particular challenges facing female soldiers operating in one of the world's deadliest environments, the Helmand Province.

The Telegraph joins Captain Abi Bradley (above) on patrol with the men of the Gurkha Rifles and talks to Sergeant Carly Lambert about how she copes being away from her daughter in the UK.

Lance Corporal Laura Roberts describes what life is like for a single girl surrounded by hundreds of young men while Lance Corporal Sophie Wright recounts how she recreates her home comforts.

And Lance Corporal Ashton Mulligan, who joined up at 16, explains why she now has ambivalent feelings towards 'home'.

Each one of these remarkable women casts a different perspective on a long Afghan war. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (27 Oct 2010)

U.S. military campaign to topple resilient Taliban hasn't succeeded
_Washington Post_, Oct. 27
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/26/AR2010102606571.html



> An intense military campaign aimed at crippling the Taliban has so far failed to inflict more than fleeting setbacks on the insurgency or put meaningful pressure on its leaders to seek peace, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials citing the latest assessments of the war in Afghanistan.
> 
> Escalated airstrikes and special operations raids have disrupted Taliban movements and damaged local cells. But officials said that insurgents have been adept at absorbing the blows and that they appear confident that they can outlast an American troop buildup set to subside beginning next July.
> 
> ...



Kandahar diary: Watching conventional forces conduct a successful COIN campaign
_Best Defense_, Oct. 27
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/27/kandahar_diary_watching_conventional_forces_conduct_a_successful_coin_campaign



> By Paula Broadwell
> Best Defense Kandahar bureau chief
> 
> “We don’t know if what we’re seeing is the start of a trend or an anomaly,” one Counterinsurgency Advise and Assist Team (CAAT) senior advisor admitted when discussing ground operations in Kandahar, Afghanistan. “We just don’t know. It’s like the blind men with the elephant.”
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (28 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 28, 2010*

 Canadian Forces stop using Dubai for transit flights
  Article Link
 By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News October 27, 2010

The Canadian military has stopped flying troops to and through its base in Dubai.

The end of a practice that involved the movement of tens of thousands of Canadian troops and millions of tonnes of gear to and from Afghanistan over the past few years is directly related to a diplomatic fracas between the United Arab Emirates and Ottawa that led the U.A.E. to demand earlier this month that Canada quit the base by the first week of November.

That decision by the U.A.E. was made after Canada refused a demand by the wealthy Gulf sheikdom to allow more flights to and from Canada by its two national carriers, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways.
More on link

 No Public Packages for Military Overseas: CF
Article Link
Josh Pringle Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Canadian Military says Santa can't deliver care packages or gifts from the public to Canadian troops overseas.

With the holiday season approaching, the Department of National Defence says that while the military appreciates the public support it receives, getting gifts and packages to deployed troops overseas is difficult.

Canadians can show their support through email messages on the Canadian Forces website or by sending postcards and letters without enclosures.

The Canadian Forces says special measures have been taken to ensure all deployed members receive a Christmas gift package through Operation Santa Claus.

Canada Post will be providing free regular-parcel service to January 7th to family and friends of deployed military personnel.
end

 Missing Afghan Teen May Have Defected To Canada
Teen Staying In Ohio Last Seen At FFA Convention
Article Link
POSTED: 5:55 pm EDT October 27, 2010

INDIANAPOLIS -- A missing 15-year-old foreign exchange student from Afghanistan may have defected to Canada, police said.

Mohammed Karim Azizi, from Kabul, was with a group of students from his exchange high school in Ohio who were visiting Indianapolis for the National FFA Convention when he was last seen Thursday night on Monument Circle.

Indianapolis missing persons detectives told 6News' Jack Rinehart that World Links, the group that arranged Azizi exchange program, said they believe Azizi has defected to Canada.
More on link

Afghan women fear the worst amidst possible peace talks
Article Link
Posted by Amy Watson on October 27, 2010

The Province reports that in the face of rumours that ‘high-level’ Taliban leaders are interested in a dialogue with the Afghan government, Afghan women fear the worst for their human rights.

Canada is scheduled to withdraw troops next summer, and the US next year – the Afghan army and police are currently unable to hold insurgents at bay by themselves. As such, negotiations with the Taliban are seen to hold promise for ending the nine year Afghan war.

But Lauryn Oates, a senior adviser to the Canada Afghanistan Solidarity Committee, has said: “The Taliban have no intention of lessening their stance on the status of women. Their discriminatory policies and misogynistic beliefs are part of the core of their ideology. It’s not something I think they will be willing to negotiate on.”

Furthermore, Mark Sedra, a global security expert at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario, has said that Afghan women are right to be scared, and that he does not see a great willingness on the part of the Taliban to make serious compromises. Sedra does add, however, that the Afghan government and western backers could secure a deal which would require the Taliban to abide by the Afghan constitution, which guarantees women’s rights.

Whether this would translate into enforceable and policeable practice remains to be seen.

Murwaid Ziayee, Afghanistan director for Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, has said “our government always compromises human rights and women’s rights, and they will do it again.”
end


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## GAP (29 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 29, 2010*

Russia and US collaborate in Afghanistan drug raid
Article Link
 29 October 2010 Last updated at 06:45 ET

Russian and US agents have taken part in a joint operation to destroy drug laboratories in Afghanistan, the head of Russia's drug control agency says.

More than a tonne of heroin and opium was seized during the raids, which took place on Thursday close to the border with Pakistan, Viktor Ivanov announced.

Mr Ivanov said the haul had a street value of $250m (£157m) and was believed to have been destined for Central Asia.

Correspondents say it is the first time there has been such a joint operation.

Russian officials have in the past accused coalition forces in Afghanistan of doing "next to nothing" to tackle drug production, and thereby helping to sustain the estimated 2.5 million heroin addicts in Russia alone.

Much of the heroin enters the territory of the former Soviet Union through Afghanistan's northern borders with Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

It then travels westwards across Kazakhstan, before entering the central and Ural regions of Russia, where there are large numbers of addicts
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New well illustrates difficult choices Afghans must face
Article Link

Descended from a saint, Haji Malange Agha is a soft-spoken old man with a healing touch, a love of expensive horses and a troubling dilemma.

The village he leads lies in an insurgent corridor, where Taliban fighters expect to find sanctuary from Canadian and allied forces hunting them down.

But God, or the vagaries of geology, made the sand on which Regay stands rich in salt and alkaline. Their well water is too brackish to drink, and despite years of effort by the United Nations and other agencies, they don’t have fresh water.

So Agha, guardian of the Haji Babak shrine, saviour of the sick and disabled, needs to be on the good side of Canadian soldiers to get a well. But he can’t risk ending up on the wrong side of the insurgents, who would just as soon destroy it.
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 Canadian soldiers resume mentoring Afghan National Army after turbulent spring
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By: Jonathan Montpetit, The Canadian Press Posted: 28/10/2010 

HAJI BABA, Afghanistan - It was shaping up to be a boring summer for Capt. Pete Reintjes and his small team of mentors for the Afghan National Army.

That was back in the spring.

A lot of things have changed since then, and they were in the thick of the action by August around Nakhonay, a town now infamous as a killing zone.

During this period, their unit _ the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team _ underwent a series of radical changes that reflected the shifting priorities of NATO.

Those changes have emerged as a costly confirmation of the cliche: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

After months of training in Canada, the U.S. and Germany, the OMLT suddenly stopped mentoring Afghan army troops on the ground this spring. Only senior-level officers would get that benefit.

Since it was first assembled in 2005, the OMLT has earned accolades for having fashioned a reputable fighting force from the 1st Brigade of the ANA's 205th Corps.

It did so by applying a time-honored Special Forces technique — embedding small teams within a host army — on a large scale.

Yet when Reintjes and his team arrived in Afghanistan, most were given clerical and administrative tasks. They had little interaction with the Afghan soldiers they had prepared so long to train.

"We were bored out of our minds," Reintjes said. "There was nothing for us to do."

That seems a long time ago now. U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal was still in charge of all NATO forces in Afghanistan, and Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard was commanding the Canadian contingent at the time.
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## GAP (30 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 30, 2010*

Nato troops repel insurgent attack in Afghanistan
Article Link
 30 October 2010 Last updated at 04:35 ET

Nato says its forces in Afghanistan have killed at least 30 Taliban fighters who tried to storm a combat outpost under cover of darkness.

The attack happened at a base in Paktika province, bordering Pakistan.

The militants are reported to have attacked from all directions, using rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Five coalition soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which was so fierce that soldiers at the camp had to call in air attacks to repel the assault.
Continue reading the main story

A statement from the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) said that none of its troops were killed. Most of the soldiers in the area are from the US. 
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Canadian target Taliban supply lines in Panjwaii, prompting counter-attack
Article Link
By: The Canadian Press Posted: 30/10/2010 

ADAMZAI, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers have wrapped up a two-day operation aimed at cutting off insurgent supply lines in Kandahar's Panjwaii district.

The operation was focused around the village of Adamzai, which is considered a logistical node for insurgents in east Panjwaii.

Military engineers blew craters in several small roads used by insurgents to access other strongholds, including Nakhonay, where as many as six Canadians have been killed in recent months.

Taliban fighters responded by attacking a compound where Canadians were resting up after their operation.

But Canadian troops drove off the insurgents with machine-gun fire and shoulder-held rocket launchers, and no casualties were reported.
end

 Pakistan flood funding dries up
  Article Link
Oxfam warns financial aid still needed
 By Nasir Jaffry, Agence France-Presse October 30, 2010 5:07 AM

International aid agency Oxfam warned Friday that, three months into Pakistan's unprecedented flood crisis, funds were drying up, putting millions at risk with huge swathes of farmland still under water.

The warning came as the United Nations refugee agency said thousands of people displaced by the floods were likely to spend the winter in camps.

The UN issued a record $2-billion appeal for funds to cope with Pakistan's worst humanitarian disaster, which ravaged an area roughly the size of England and affected 21 million people.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have estimated the damage at $9.7 billion, almost twice that of Pakistan's 2005 earthquake which killed more than 73,000 people.
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 U.S. takeover of Kandahar PRT base harbinger of Canada's withdrawal
  Article Link 
By Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News October 29, 2010

KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan — The troop surge ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama that has swept southern Afghanistan this year has led to dramatic changes at what until recently was an entirely Canadian base in Kandahar's provincial capital.

While Camp Nathan Smith's population has more than tripled recently, Canada's numbers have dwindled to the point where there are now only about 175 Canadian soldiers and civilians left. Every one of the other 1,300 people now shoe-horned into every nook and cranny of the tiny base is American — a visible sign that after eight years Canada's mission is on its way out of Afghanistan.

Canadians used to be responsible for the city's quick reaction force, making safe homemade bombs and manning guard towers at the camp. These days they have a small group of construction engineers working on civil affairs projects, an even smaller number of signallers and an infantry platoon that still runs several convoys every day to escort civilians such as Corrections Canada officers to places such as Sarpoza Prison.

"Our principal role is to transport Canadians, but we help the Americans and they help us," said. Maj. Mark Anthony, the senior Canadian soldier. "The relationship is so good that we have our barbecues together."
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 It’s all about people, Hillier tells leaders
Published On Fri Oct 29 2010
Article Link
Lisa Wright Business Reporter

The inside jacket of his new book starts simply with one of his famous quotes and well-used philosophies: “Lead, Follow or Get Run Over.”

After a successful 36-year career in the Canadian Forces, retired Gen. Rick Hillier has never been one to mince words, or to get run over.

The renowned straight talker has just followed up his memoir A Soldier First with a second book since leaving the army in 2008 entitled Leadership: 50 Points of Wisdom For Today’s Leaders (published Saturday by HarperCollins Canada).

His views on leadership were formed over nearly four decades as a soldier, first by watching many of his superiors make what he considered bad decisions, then by learning first-hand as the head of emergency rescue operations in Canada and international task forces in eastern Europe and Afghanistan.

When Hillier hung up his uniform just over two years ago, he had completed a three-year stint as Chief of Defence Staff – the highest position in the Canadian Forces. So it’s fair to say he knows what he’s talking about on the leadership front.

It all boils down to people, he says, noting you have to win over the folks you need to work with in order to be a successful leader anywhere, be it the battlefield or the boardroom.
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## GAP (31 Oct 2010)

*Articles found October 31, 2010*

 Canadians target Taliban supply lines, prompting counterattack
Published On Sat Oct 30 2010
Article Link

ADAMZAI, AFGHANISTAN—The noose has been tightened around one of the lingering insurgent strongholds where Canadian soldiers operate in Kandahar’s Panjwaii district.

But a two-day operation aimed at cutting insurgent supply lines into the volatile town of Nakhonay also angered locals and prompted a retaliatory attack by the Taliban.

Teams of Canadian engineers and infantry troops were dropped by helicopter earlier this week on the southern edge of Khenjakak, a village southwest of Kandahar city.

They charged out of Chinook helicopters as daylight broke Wednesday morning, prepared for contact. As they moved north through the town, however, they only found traces of the shadowlike insurgency. In a grape hut, a patrol came across an extensive cache of medical supplies.

“It’s probably a stopover for injured insurgents,” said Warrant Officer Todd Weber.

NATO has had little presence in this area until now, allowing the insurgents to use it as a staging area for attacks further north.

It is considered the main Taliban supply route — “rat-line” in military parlance — for Nakhonay, a fiercely contested town that has been the site of the deaths of at least six Canadian soldiers in recent months, not to mention several other severe injuries.
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 Negotiating with Taliban will crush Afghan women
  Article Link
 For The Calgary Herald October 30, 2010

Reading his Oct. 23 New York Times column from Kabul, I was appalled at journalist Nicholas Kristof's naivete when it comes to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Kristof, author of Half the Sky and often identified as a proponent for women's empowerment, argues for a reduction of American troops in Afghanistan and for a peace deal with the Taliban.

In seeking to convince himself that this turn of events will not be harmful to Afghan women, he optimistically provides some astoundingly slim anecdotal evidence to convince us that the Taliban are really not so bad.

Kristof feels uncomfortable with what he terms the U.S. "occupation"-- though I know few Afghans who refer to the U.S. or international presence here that way -- and so waves away his own discomfort over the spectre of a new Taliban government in Afghanistan by essentially saying, don't worry, the Taliban might let girls have some schools, in some mosques, in some cases. This is hardly a reassuring argument to girls and women -- who have gained the most since the fall of the Taliban -- and conversely, have the most to lose from a Taliban return.
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 ANALYSIS-Why the military plays down vital Afghan battle
31 Oct 2010 08:18:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
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By Emma Graham-Harrison

KABUL, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The battle for Kandahar, its importance played down even before it began, has been eclipsed in the media and in Washington by a focus on corruption and peace talks, but its outcome is crucial to the wider Afghan war.

Operation Dragon Strike is the first major attempt since 2001 to regain control of a city that is the Taliban's spiritual home. This autumn may be the last time that the NATO-led alliance has sufficient boots on the ground to try the push.

Victory would give NATO and the Afghan government more leverage in potential peace negotiations, as acceptance grows in Kabul and abroad that a political solution may be the most likely end to a war now in its tenth year.

If winter arrives and insurgents are still capable of mounting major attacks and intimidating the local population, it could further chill Western governments' already diminishing appetite for a long-term presence in Afghanistan.

"To strike at the heart of the insurgency, strike at the historical and spiritual home of the Taliban movement sends a very clear message -- with the resources we have, we are on the offensive," said Dakota Wood, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
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Afghan President Karzai criticises US-Russia drugs raid
Article Link
 31 October 2010 Last updated at 01:21 ET

Hamid Karzai (25 October 2010) Mr Karzai said Afghanistan's relationship with Russia had to be based on mutual consent

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has criticised the first joint operation by Russian and US agents to destroy drug laboratories in his country.

Mr Karzai said he had not been informed of Russia's participation - a sensitive issue in Afghanistan ever since the Soviet occupation ended 21 years ago.

He called it a violation of Afghan sovereignty and international law.

Russia said more than a tonne of heroin and opium, with a street value of $250m (£157m), was destroyed in the raid.

Officials in Moscow have in the past accused coalition forces in Afghanistan of doing little to tackle drugs, and thereby helping to sustain the estimated 2.5 million heroin addicts in Russia.
'No authorisation'

On Friday, the head of Russia's drug control agency said its agents had taken part in an operation on Thursday to destroy a "major hub" of drug production about 5km (three miles) from the Pakistani border, near the city of Jalalabad.
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