# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (September 2006)



## The Bread Guy (31 Aug 2006)

Again, this thread is for posting news ONLY - commentary welcome on OTHER threads, please.  Thanks for your help!

*U.S., NATO want more military aid from Norway*
People's Daily Online, 1 Sept 06
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/01/eng20060901_298623.html

Some of Norway's closest allies are unhappy with the country's contribution to NATO-led operations, and think Norway should increase its military participation overseas, according to reports from Oslo on Thursday. Newspaper Aftenposten reported Thursday that generals and politicians in Washington, along with NATO's secretary general, have been putting pressure on Norway . . . .


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## The Bread Guy (1 Sep 2006)

*British soldier killed in Afghanistan*
Ministry of Defence (UK) statement, 1 Sept 06
http://tinyurl.com/j86ku

It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of a British soldier in Afghanistan today, Friday 1 September 2006.  The soldier was killed during an attack by insurgents in Northern Helmand, Afghanistan, at 1600 local time.  A further soldier was seriously injured in the attack, and has been evacuated to a medical facility for treatment.  We are currently in the process of informing next of kin.  No further details about the incident or the identity of the soldier will be released until that process is complete. 

###

*UK soldier killed in Afghanistan *  
BBC News Online, 1 Sept 06
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5306892.stm

A British soldier has been killed by insurgents in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has announced. 
A further UK soldier is being treated for serious injuries after the attack by insurgents in northern Helmand, an MoD spokesman said.  No further details will be released until the dead soldier's next-of-kin have been informed.  The death takes the total number of UK troops killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 22 . . . . 


*British soldier killed by Afghan insurgents *  
James Sturcke, Guardian Unlimited, 1 Sept 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1863222,00.html

The Ministry of Defence confirmed today that another British soldier has been killed in action in Afghanistan, the 15th since June.  The soldier, who has not yet been named, was killed during a raid by insurgents at 4pm (1230 BST) in the volatile Helmand province. A second soldier was seriously injured.  "It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of a British soldier in Afghanistan today," the ministry said in a statement . . . . 


*UK soldier killed in Afghanistan*
Times Online (UK), 1 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2338975,00.html

A British soldier was killed and another seriously wounded today in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.  The soldier, whose name was not released, is the seventh British soldier killed in fighting in Helmand province since the beginning of August and the 22nd since the ouster of the Taleban in 2001 . . . .


*UK soldier killed in Afghanistan*
Reuters, 1 Sept 06

One British soldier was killed and another badly wounded in an attack by guerrillas in southern Afghanistan on Friday, the defence ministry said.  The soldier, whose name was not released, is the seventh British soldier killed in fighting in Helmand province since the beginning of August.  Britain has faced unexpectedly fierce resistance from Taliban fighters since sending the first large foreign force to Helmand this year as part of an expanding NATO peacekeeping mission . . . .


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## The Bread Guy (1 Sep 2006)

*Nato sets deadline to beat Taliban*
Rachel Morarjee & Daniel Dombey, Financial Times, 1 Sept 06
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c62d7102-39e1-11db-90bb-0000779e2340.html

The general in charge of the international force in Afghanistan has given his soldiers six months to establish a clear advantage against the bitter Taliban-led insurgency in the south of the country.  “We have to show in the next six months that the government is on the winning side,” said Lieutenant General David Richards, commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, in an interview with the Financial Times . . . .



*Truces fueling resurgence of Taliban, critics say*
Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers, 1 Sept 06

The Pakistani military is striking truces with Islamic separatists along the country's border with Afghanistan, freeing Pakistani militants and al-Qaida fighters to join Taliban insurgents battling U.S.-led troops and government forces in Afghanistan. Western and Afghan officials said the new infiltration came as the United States, its NATO allies and the Afghan government were struggling to stem a resurgence of the Taliban across large swaths of southern and eastern Afghanistan . . . . 



Karzai Asks For Probe Into Drug Claims
United Press Int'l, 1 Sept 06
http://www.playfuls.com/news_00000002773_Karzai_Asks_For_Probe_Into_Drug_Claims.html
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060831-105832-4268r

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan to investigate whether his younger brother is involved in the drug trade.  Citing intelligence reports, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that Ahmed Wali Karzai -- head of the provincial council in Kandahar -- also heads an organization that provides protection for drug traffickers in southern Afghanistan . . . . 

Wikipedia Bio of Ahmed Wali Karzai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Wali_Karzai


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## GAP (2 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 2 Sept 2006*

Cdn. troops launch offensive into Taliban hotbed
Updated Sat. Sep. 2 2006 10:34 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/cdn_offensive_060902/20060902?hub=TopStories

Canadian soldiers swept into the Panjwaii district of Afghanistan on Saturday in an effort to reclaim an area that has been a Taliban stronghold and hotbed of insurgent activity. 

Canadian combat units, along with other NATO and Afghan forces, moved into the area about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar. 

"It's in an area where Canadian troops have taken casualties," said CTV's Matt McClure on Saturday from Kandahar, ". . . and where they've also been involved in heavy battles trying to take this territory early this year." 

No casualties have been reported so far in the mission, dubbed Operation Medusa. 

"They met small resistance. Apparently there was some exchanges of gunfire and some ambushes," said McClure. 

"What they're doing now is calling in artillery, calling in bombs, trying to soften up the enemy and preparing to move across the (Arghandab) River into Pashmul area -- the heart of the Taliban stronghold." 

The commander of the Canadian contingent said fierce fighting is expected with Taliban guerrillas in this latest mission. 

I think we're talking in the neighbourhood of hundreds" of fighters, said Col. Fred Lewis. "Certainly not thousands, not tens. Might they just fade away? If they're smart, they will." 

The area has seen at least six Canadians dead and 32 wounded in dozens of bomb attacks, ambushes and pitched battles, according to reports compiled by The Canadian Press. 

The area was the scene of another major operation known as the Battle of Panjwaii at the start of the summer. Commanders then claimed to have broken the back of the insurgency there, but coalition troops withdrew and the Taliban took over again. 

"This time, the Brigadier General David Fraser said it's going to be different, and that they're going to hold this area," said McClure.
More on link

14 die in NATO plane crash in Afghanistan  
September 2, 2006  BY NOOR KHAN ASSOCIATED PRESS Chicago Sun Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/nato02.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan-- A NATO plane crashed Saturday, killing 14 Britons in the worst loss of life for the alliance since it took control of the fight against insurgents in south Afghanistan a month ago, but officials said there was no indication hostile fire was involved.

The crash came a day after fighting across the volatile south killed nine Afghan policemen, at least 13 suspected Taliban and a British soldier.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed guerrillas shot the plane down in Kandahar province with a Stinger missile, but British Defense Secretary Des Browne said the crash appeared to be "a terrible accident."

Abdul Manan, a witness in Chalaghor village, said the plane crashed about 100 yards from his home, and pieces of wreckage landed nearby. He reported seeing a small fire at the back of the plane before it hit the ground with a huge explosion that "shook the whole village."

Afghan and NATO troops are conducting a major operation against insurgents in Panjwayi district, where Chalaghor is located, but Manan said the fighting was centered about six miles from the village.

The "aircraft was supporting a NATO mission. It went off the radar and crashed in an open area" about 12 miles west of Kandahar city, said Maj. Scott Lundy, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
More on link

NATO aircraft crashes in southern Afghanistan
Associated Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060902.wafghan-plan0902/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

Kandahar — A NATO plane crashed Saturday in southern Afghanistan, but there was no immediate word about casualties, a spokesman said.

The "aircraft was supporting a NATO mission. It went off the radar and crashed in an open area in Kandahar," said Maj. Scott Lundy, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force.

Lundy would not say how many people were aboard, but said "there was no indication of an enemy attack."

The crash happened about 15 kilometres west of Kandahar city, he said.

Lundy gave no other details, but ISAF in a statement said the plane had declared technical problem before being went down.

"Enemy action has been discounted at this stage," the ISAF statement said.

Meanwhile, Haji Eisamuddin, a local tribal elder, told The Associated Press by phone that the wreckage of the plane was burning in an open field, and that coalition forces were at the scene.

"I can see three, [or] four helicopters in the sky, and coalition forces are also arriving in the area," he said.
More on link

Additonal links to this incident

NATO helicopter crashes in southern Afghanistan
POSTED: 10:46 a.m. EDT, September 2, 2006 CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/02/afghan.plane.ap/index.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties, a spokesman said. Clashes across the volatile south killed nine Afghan policemen and at least 13 suspected Taliban



‘We must do something about Pakistan'
GRAEME SMITH From Saturday's Globe and Mail 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060902.wxpakistan02/BNStory/International/home

MAYWAND, AFGHANISTAN — Under a waning moon, with no electricity for light, the headquarters of Afghan forces in the Maywand district of southern Afghanistan was cloaked in heavy darkness.

Despite the late hour, district leader Haji Safullah remained awake in his concrete bunker, sitting cross-legged on ragged carpets, talking with police commanders about how to defeat the Taliban.

“Pakistan,” the former mujahedeen warrior said, his voice a growl in the dark. “We must do something about Pakistan.”

As the Taliban insurgency grows in southern Afghanistan, so do suspicions about Pakistan's role in the war. Afghans tend to blame their old nemesis for everything wrong in their country, but their accusations about the Taliban finding money, shelter, weapons and fighters on the other side of the border are getting more specific these days. Mr. Safullah rhymed off the names of Taliban leaders living in neighbourhoods and compounds around Quetta, in west-central Pakistan, and complained bitterly that his men can't hunt insurgents in those havens.
More on link

Pakistan wants nuclear bargain
GRAEME SMITH From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060901.wxpakistan01/BNStory/International/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Pakistan is expected to push Gordon O'Connor for help with obtaining Canadian nuclear power technology today, as the Defence Minister visits Islamabad for talks about the rising Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan.

Mr. O'Connor flew into Islamabad last night and enjoyed a late dinner at the upscale Serena Hotel with retired lieutenant-general Tariq Waseem Ghazi, Pakistan's Secretary of Defence.

The first evening of the three-day visit was spent talking about Afghanistan and regional security, according to a Pakistani source, but the Canadian delegation is likely to hear demands for nuclear assistance during today's scheduled meetings with Pakistani defence and intelligence officials.

Analysts say nuclear technology could be a key bargaining chip in Canada's increasingly urgent diplomatic efforts to win Islamabad's support for the war against the Taliban. 
More on link

Afghans tipped to NATO sweep
Troops tell villagers to quit Taliban hotbed
GRAEME SMITH  Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060901.AFGHANEVAC01/TPStory

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- NATO took the unusual step yesterday of warning villagers to evacuate a strip of farmland southwest of Kandahar or risk getting caught in the crossfire of a coming battle.

U.S. Colonel Steve Williams, deputy commander of North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in southern Afghanistan, said international troops are planning a confrontation with Taliban insurgents in Pashmul, a cluster of villages 25 kilometres southwest of the city.

"For the safety of the people, I would request that any people who are civilians in Pashmul please leave before the operations kick off, because we do not want to hurt innocent civilians," he said.

Canadian soldiers have been fighting heated battles in the region over the past four months, but this is the first time the foreign troops have declared in advance that they will sweep into a particular area.
More on link


In Afghanistan, the Taliban and al Qaida resurge
By WARREN P. STROBEL and JONATHAN S. LANDAY Fri, Sep. 01, 20006 McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/15399694.htm

KABUL, Afghanistan — Five years ago, the United States fired its first shots in the post-9/11 war on terror here in Afghanistan, evicting al Qaida and toppling the Taliban regime that hosted Osama bin Laden's network.

Today, the United States and its allies are struggling to halt advances by a resurgent Taliban and al Qaida fighters in large swaths of this still desperately poor and unstable country.

"Things are going very badly," admitted an official with the allied military forces, who asked not to be identified because the issue is so sensitive. "We've arrived at a situation where things are significantly worse than we anticipated."

The trends in Afghanistan appear to mirror the global war on terror a half-decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
More on link

Suicide attack in Afghanistan injures three cops  
Web posted at: 9/1/2006 11:7:13 Source ::: Agencies 
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Pakistan+%26+Sub-Continent&month=September2006&file=World_News2006090111713.xml

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan • A suicide blast in Afghanistan wounded three policemen yesterday while Nato forces reported they had bombed rebel strongholds after a base was attacked. 

Police blamed the suicide attack in the southern province of Zabul on Taleban fighters, who have been waging an increasingly sophisticated insurgency since being driven from government in late 2001. 

The attacker rammed his vehicle into a police convoy on the highway linking the capital Kabul and the main southern city of Kandahar, provincial police said. 

“The initial reports we have is three police were wounded after a suicide attacker hit his explosives-laden car into an Afghan police convoy,” deputy provincial police chief Ghulam Jailani Khan said. 

Afghanistan has seen some of its deadliest suicide attacks this year. Some 17 people were killed in a blast at a crowded market in the southern province of Helmand on Monday. Another four died later of their wounds. 

The Taleban has boasted that it has hundreds of men ready to be suicide bombers. 
More on link

UK soldier killed in Afghanistan
POSTED: 1807 GMT (0207 HKT), September 1, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/01/afghan.uk.solider.ap/

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An insurgent attack on Friday killed one British soldier and seriously wounded another in the latest fighting to wrack southern Afghanistan, while suspected Taliban gunmen ambushed and shot dead a district chief, officials said.

Insurgents attacked the British soldiers in the southern province of Helmand at 4 p.m. (1130 GMT), according to statements from NATO and the British Ministry of Defense. One militant was killed in the fighting. The wounded soldier was evacuated for medical treatment.

Britain has nearly 4,000 troops deployed in Helmand as part of a NATO-led security force battling to bring security to turbulent southern Afghanistan.

Twenty-two British soldiers have died in the country since November 2001, 17 since this March when it moved into Helmand, also the hub of Afghanistan's world-leading heroin industry.

The province has seen the worst of the recent fighting, during the biggest upsurge in violence in nearly five years since the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces.

Militant supporters of the Islamist militia have stepped up attacks, rendering much of the south and east of the country a no-go zone for civilians. Insecurity has also spread to new provinces, such as Ghazni, where Taliban-led fighters are more active than in the past.
More on link

NDP leader says Canada should withdraw from Afghanistan mission  
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=101793

OTTAWA: NDP Leader Jack Layton says Canada should pull its troops out of Afghanistan by February because the mission has gone astray. 

Sniping at both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President George W. Bush, Layton said the Afghan mission has lost its direction. It has no clear goals, no exit strategy and no criteria to judge success, he said at a news conference Thursday. "This is not the right mission for Canada," he said. "There is no balance. In particular, it lacks a comprehensive rebuilding plan and commensurate development assistance." 

The focus in Afghanistan has changed from reconstruction to open war and Canada should have no part of it, he said. 

"Stephen Harper wants to take Canada in the wrong direction." 

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay quickly brushed off Layton’s proposal. 
More on link

Pak-Canada agree to cooperate war against terror  
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=101813

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and Canada has underscored the need for close cooperation in their struggle against the war on terror. 

This was discussed during a meeting between senior Federal Minister and Minister for Defence Rao Sikandar Iqbal and the visiting Minister of National Defence of Canada Gordon O’Connor here on Friday. 

The meeting discussed the geo-political situation of the region with special focus on developments in Afghanistan. 

The Minister told the visiting dignitary that it was the earnest desire of Pakistan to see peace and stability in Afghanistan. 

The Minister highlighted the steps taken by Pakistan against fighting the menace of terrorism and extremism. 

The Minister told his Canadian counterpart that Pakistan was cooperating with 50 countries of the world against fighting terrorism and making all out efforts to curb the menace.
More on link

British soldier killed in Afghanistan; insurgents arrested (Roundup)
Sep 1, 2006, 22:49 GMT South Asia News
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1197091.php/British_soldier_killed_in_Afghanistan_insurgents_arrested__Roundup_

Kabul - One British soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in an attack in southern Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the country German military police arrested seven suspected insurgents driving an explosives-laden vehicle, officials said Friday. 

The British casualties occurred in an attack by suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the British Ministry of Defence said in London Friday
More on link

'Why did Blair send my teenage son to fight an illegal and dishonest war?'  
By Terri Judd Published: 02 September 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1269497.ece

The mother of a British soldier caught up in one of the bloodiest incidents in Iraq this year has accused Tony Blair of sending her son to fight an "illegal" war. 

Dani Hamilton-Bing, whose son tried to quell rioters in Basra after the downing of a Lynx helicopter in May that killed five British soldiers, attacked Mr Blair for putting the lives of over-stretched troops in Iraq and Afghanistan at risk.

The early learning lecturer's comments are unusual because tradition dictates that military families of serving soldiers do not speak out.

But Mrs Hamilton-Bing said that anger at seeing her son sent to fight a dishonest war had driven her to take action, adding that many other military families shared her views.

She said: "My son joined to fight legal wars, not wars based on lies and deception.
More on link

Audio Excerpts - Interview with Afghanistan expert Barnett R. Rubin
Fri, Sep. 01, 2006
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/15419486.htm

A leading Afghanistan scholar says that America’s military counterterrorism strategy has failed to eliminate the Taliban – and may actually be contributing to the growth of the insurgent Islamist group.
Barnett R. Rubin, director of studies and senior fellow at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, said in a recent interview that a strategy devoted to destroying Taliban remnants has diverted resources from developing a strong central government in Kabul. 

Editor's Note: The following clips are in MP3 format, and the sound level is a bit low. Please adjust your computer's sound level to account for this. 
More on link

Dutch soldier injured in ambush in southern Afghanistan   
The Associated Press Published: September 2, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/02/europe/EU_GEN_Netherlands_Afghanistan.php




THE HAGUE, Netherlands A Dutch soldier was wounded Saturday when insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said.

The man — the first Dutch combat casualty in Afghanistan — was hit in the leg as he drove the first vehicle in a convoy near the town of Deh Rawod in Uruzgan province, the ministry said in a statement.

Dutch troops in the convoy returned fire.

"It was unclear if any enemy fighters were killed, but it is considered likely," the ministry said.

The injured driver was transported to a nearby Dutch military field hospital and underwent surgery. His injuries were not life-threatening.

The ambush came just two days after a Dutch F-16 pilot died in Afghanistan when his fighter jet crashed in what the military said was an accident.

 THE HAGUE, Netherlands A Dutch soldier was wounded Saturday when insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said.

The man — the first Dutch combat casualty in Afghanistan — was hit in the leg as he drove the first vehicle in a convoy near the town of Deh Rawod in Uruzgan province, the ministry said in a statement.

Dutch troops in the convoy returned fire.

"It was unclear if any enemy fighters were killed, but it is considered likely," the ministry said.

The injured driver was transported to a nearby Dutch military field hospital and underwent surgery. His injuries were not life-threatening.

The ambush came just two days after a Dutch F-16 pilot died in Afghanistan when his fighter jet crashed in what the military said was an accident.

 THE HAGUE, Netherlands A Dutch soldier was wounded Saturday when insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said.

The man — the first Dutch combat casualty in Afghanistan — was hit in the leg as he drove the first vehicle in a convoy near the town of Deh Rawod in Uruzgan province, the ministry said in a statement.

Dutch troops in the convoy returned fire.

"It was unclear if any enemy fighters were killed, but it is considered likely," the ministry said.

The injured driver was transported to a nearby Dutch military field hospital and underwent surgery. His injuries were not life-threatening.
More on link

Opium cultivation rose 59 percent in Afghanistan this year, U.N. says
Saturday September 2, 2006
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/2/apworld/20060902213855&sec=apworld

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Opium cultivation in Afghanistan is spiraling out of control, rising 59 percent this year to produce a record 6,100 tons _ nearly a third more than the world's drug users consume, the U.N. said Saturday. 

Antonio Maria Costa, the U.N. anti-drug chief, said the results from his agency's annual survey of Afghanistan's poppy crop were "very alarming.'' 

"This year's harvest will be around 6,100 tons of opium _ a staggering 92 percent of total world supply. It exceeds global consumption by 30 percent,'' Costa told reporters in Kabul after presenting the survey to President Hamid Karzai. Opium is the raw material of heroin. 

In a scathing statement, Costa said the Afghan government should take much stronger action to root out graft. He said governors and police chiefs of opium-growing provinces should be sacked and charged. He accused corrupt administrators of pocketing aid money. 

Costa warned that the south of the country was "displaying the ominous hallmarks of incipient collapse, with large-scale drug cultivation and trafficking, insurgency and terrorism, crime and corruption.'' 
More on link


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## GAP (3 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 3 Sept 2006*

Original report by CTV

3 Cdns. killed in Afghanistan offensive: report
Updated Sun. Sep. 3 2006 9:50 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060902/nato_casualties_060903/20060903?hub=TopStories

At least three Canadian soldiers serving with NATO forces were killed during a major offensive in the volatile district of southern Afghanistan on Sunday. 

"Three Canadian soldiers have been killed and six wounded in the fighting," Afghan Defence Ministry spokesperson Zahir Azimiaid told Reuters news agency on Sunday. 

Azimiaid added that up to 89 insurgents had been killed in fighting, following a major air and ground offensive by NATO and Afghan forces in Kandahar province that began Saturday. 

Earlier, International Security Assistance Force spokesperson Maj. Scott Lundy confirmed there have been casualties, but would not say how many were killed, or what their nationalities are. 

He said the operation in the Panjwaii district includes Canadian, British and American troops. 

Afghan defence officials also said an uncertain number of civilians are dead after two days of fighting in the region. 
More on link

Over 200 Taliban die in Afghan offensive: NATO
Sun Sep 3, 2006 2:48pm ET By Sayed Salahuddin
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-03T184805Z_01_ISL68390_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-VIOLENCE.xml

KABUL (Reuters) - A major NATO offensive killed more than 200 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan and four NATO soldiers died in Sunday's fighting, the organization said.

NATO also lost 14 British military personnel, who died when a Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 spyplane crashed on Saturday while the alliance and Afghan forces mounted Operation Medusa in Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

Hundreds of troops, backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships, were involved in the offensive on the area, southwest of Kandahar city, that has been a center of Taliban resistance. 


"Reports indicate that more than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation MEDUSA began early Saturday morning," a statement by NATO said, adding Afghan forces captured more than 80 other Taliban.

Four NATO soldiers were killed during Sunday's operations and seven others were wounded, the statement said, without elaborating on the nationalities of the victims.

Earlier, an Afghan defense ministry spokesman said three Canadian soldiers with the NATO force were killed in the battle.

The operation was the biggest by NATO since it took over command of the southern region on July 31 from U.S.-led coalition forces, Major Scott Lundy, a spokesman for the alliance, said.
More on  link


89 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan  
Posted by admin on 2006/9/3 13:46:25  Kabul, Sep 3 (Xinhua)
http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=12220

 Eighty-nine Taliban militants were killed in the past 24 hours in the southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan, a defence ministry spokesman said Sunday.

The militants were killed in Panjwai and Jalai districts in Operation MEDUSA, which was launched on Saturday by around 2,000 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan forces, said Zahir Azimi.

Earlier, ISAF spokesman Luke Knittig told a press conference that around 20 Taliban insurgents had been killed in the operation.

An ISAF statement said the operation, which is the largest since it took command in southern Afghanistan on July 31, aims to drive Taliban fighters out of Panjwai district to set conditions for reconstruction and development.

A considerable amount of ground has been gained by ISAF and Afghan forces in the district, the statement indicated, adding that "a significant number of suspected insurgents were detained" by the Afghan police.

A British reconnaissance plane of ISAF crashed near Panjwai on Saturday, killing all 14 soldiers on board.
More on link

Cdn. troops launch offensive into Taliban hotbed
Updated Sat. Sep. 2 2006 11:30 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/cdn_offensive_060902/20060902?hub=TopStories

Canadian troops suffered no casualties as they swept into a Taliban hotbed west of Kandahar on Saturday, but a nearby plane crash killed 14 British soldiers. 

Canadian combat units, along with other NATO and Afghan forces, have launched a major offensive against insurgents in the violent Panjwai district. The mission is dubbed Operation Medusa. 

"It's in an area where Canadian troops have taken casualties," said CTV's Matt McClure on Saturday from Kandahar, ". . . and where they've also been involved in heavy battles trying to take this territory early this year." 

Canadian battle group commander, Col. Omer Lavoie, told CTV News that his soldiers have gained the upper hand against the militants despite meeting some resistance. 
More on link

O'Connor denies wanting Cdn. troops in Pakistan
Updated Sat. Sep. 2 2006 11:28 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060831/afghan_oconnor_060902/20060902?hub=TopStories

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has denied suggesting Canadian troops should be stationed in Pakistan, claiming his comments were misunderstood.

"Media reports today have misreported comments I made while visiting with the government of Pakistan," said O'Connor in a press release issued Saturday. 

"At no time did I advocate, suggest or imply I favoured stand-alone Canadian troop deployment in Pakistan." 

O'Connor spoke with military officials in Pakistan during a trip to the region, and later summed up the meetings with a reporter from The Associated Press of Pakistan. During the interview, he allegedly said he wanted Canadian soldiers in the country. 

"Among other things, I suggested that some Pakistan officers be stationed with our troops in Kandahar and Canadian troops be stationed on the Pakistan side," the Globe and Mail quoted him as saying. "This will assist in information gathering and intelligence sharing on both sides of the border." 

But O'Connor said the quote was taken out of context and he did not condone the deployment of troops in Pakistan. 

"What I said was that Canada needs to engage with Pakistan as part of our security and reconstruction mission in Afghanistan," said O'Connor. 
More on link

Canadians lead latest offensive into Taliban stronghold  
Canadian Press Globe & Mail article on same action
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060903.woffensive0903/BNStory/Front/home
More on link

Families grieve Afghanistan tragedy  
Press Association Sunday September 3, 2006 7:58 AM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6055356,00.html

The families of 14 British service personnel killed when a Nato Nimrod MR2 aircraft crashed in southern Afghanistan are coming to terms with their loss.

The reconnaissance aircraft was thought to have suffered a technical fault at 4pm local time (12.30pm BST) on Saturday, 12 miles west of Kandahar.

A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said enemy action had been discounted.

Among those who perished were 12 RAF service personnel, a Royal Marine and an Army soldier.

The crash caused the biggest single loss of British troops in Afghanistan or Iraq since the war on terror began in November 2001.

ISAF spokesman Major Luke Knittig said the aircraft - acting in a support role - had made an emergency call shortly before it disappeared. Coalition helicopters were seen flying to the scene.

Haji Eisamuddin, a local tribal elder, described how the wreckage of the plane burned in an open field.
More on link


British soldier dies in Afghanistan after insurgent attack on barracks  
3 September 2006 09:14 By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1269453.ece

A British soldier was killed and another badly wounded yesterday when their platoon's house was attacked by insurgents in southern Afghanistan where the Army is facing a determined assault by the Taliban. 

The soldiers were not immediately identified, but it was the second death of a British soldier in southern Afghanistan in four days, and the seventh since the start of August.

The attack took place in Musa Qala, in the north of Helmand province, where 4,000 British soldiers have been deployed as part of a Nato-led security force. The Taliban have allied themselves with the local drugs mafia into a potent armed opposition which has spread its influence throughout south and eastern Afghanistan, terrorising farmers who have been reluctant to swap their poppy growing for alternative crops.

Helmand is at the heart of the heroin industry, and this year's opium harvest is expected to show a strong increase in a UN report to be published today.
More on link

Afghanistan offensive 'kills 20'  
Sunday, 03 Sep 2006 12:34 
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/news/defence/afghanistan-offensive-kills-20-$449268.htm

Around 20 Taliban fighters have already died in the coalition forces' latest Afghanistan offensive, Nato have claimed.

Known as Operation Medusa, the offensive is an attempt to clear out the area surrounding the town of Panjwayi in the southern province of Afghanistan of resistance fighters.

Coalition forces operating in the offensive had a "special emphasis on driving out the insurgents so Afghans in Panjwayi district can return to their homes and orchards that sustained their livelihoods," a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.

The area has been one of the worst for peacekeeping troops, with casualties mounting and suicide bombers continuing to maim and kill. Twenty died in August when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a market in the centre of Panjawayi.

The operation was being provided with reconnaissance by British Nimrod MR2 flights, including that which crashed yesterday killing 14 military personnel.

British casualties have continued to mount in the troubled south of the country, especially in the notorious Helmand province to the west of Kandahar.
End

NATO forces defuse mines in car, bicycle in southern Afghanistan, police say   
The Associated Press  September 3, 2006 
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/03/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Mines_Found.php

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan NATO forces defused four mines found Sunday in a car and on a bicycle parked along a busy road in Kandahar in Afghanistan's volatile south, police said, amid an upsurge in Taliban attacks.

Police found three mines in an unoccupied Toyota car and one on a bicycle, then informed NATO forces, who defused them, area police officer Jan Agha said.

Authorities are searching for suspects, he said. The incident occurred amid the deadliest spate of militant attacks and fighting in Afghanistan since a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime nearly five years ago.

Most of the violence has been in southern Afghanistan, where Kandahar is a major city.

 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan NATO forces defused four mines found Sunday in a car and on a bicycle parked along a busy road in Kandahar in Afghanistan's volatile south, police said, amid an upsurge in Taliban attacks.

Police found three mines in an unoccupied Toyota car and one on a bicycle, then informed NATO forces, who defused them, area police officer Jan Agha said.

Authorities are searching for suspects, he said. The incident occurred amid the deadliest spate of militant attacks and fighting in Afghanistan since a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime nearly five years ago.

Most of the violence has been in southern Afghanistan, where Kandahar is a major city.
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Miss Afghanistan taken off ramp at Fashion Week  
New Delhi, Sept 3. (UNI):
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200609031411.htm

India's biggest fashion event denied permission to Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai, whose bikini walk at the Miss Earth pageant three years ago earned her expulsion from her country, to walk on the ramp at a show inspired by her courageous life. 

Samadzai, who was the lead model of Bangalore-based Deepika Govind, was told to get off the ramp a few minutes before the show at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week last evening, according to fashion industry sources. 

An official of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) told the designer that the US-based model would not be allowed to walk, the sources said. 

Govind's latest collection was inspired by the story of Samadzai, who is torn between her homeland, family and her own individual rights. 

The FDCI stopped the model as she was not holding a valid work permit issued by the Home Ministry to take part in the fashion week, the sources said adding the apex body of fashion designers in the country had, however, allowed two foreign male models to walk the ramp earlier in the event. 
More on link

Taliban Suffer Serious Losses In NATO Operation in Afghanistan   
3 September 2006 | 10:39 | FOCUS News Agency 
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n95174

Kabul. NATO forces and the Afghan army carried out a large-scale land and air operation against Taliban positions on Saturday, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, Reuters reported citing a statement of NATO. The operation was held in Kandahar province. 
On Saturday a plane of the British Air Forces taking part in the NATO mission crashed in southern Afghanistan killing 14 British servicemen. NATO confirmed that the crash was caused by a technical problem. The taliban, however, said they had downed the plane.
end

District police chief, 3 guards killed in west Afghanistan  
September 03, 2006  People's Daily Online        
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/04/eng20060904_299157.html

Suspected Taliban insurgents gunned down a district police chief and his three bodyguards in the relatively peaceful Nimroz province in west Afghanistan, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad said Saturday. 

"Juma Khan, the district chief of Khashrod district, was on his way to Dularam when came under militants' attack on Friday as a result he and his three bodyguards were killed," Azad told Xinhua. 

Three militants were also killed in fire exchange between the two sides, he added. 

He put the attack on the enemies of peace a term used against Taliban-led insurgents. 

More than 1,900 have been killed in Taliban-linked militancy since January this year in the post-Taliban Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


Afghanistan: Western allies grow weary of Pakistan support for Taliban
From the Globe and Mail: Saturday 2 September 2006
http://www.judeoscope.ca/breve.php3?id_breve=2508

As the Taliban insurgency grows in southern Afghanistan, so do suspicions about Pakistan’s role in the war. Afghans tend to blame their old nemesis for everything wrong in their country, but their accusations about the Taliban finding money, shelter, weapons and fighters on the other side of the border are getting more specific these days. Mr. Safullah (Maywand district leader) rhymed off the names of Taliban leaders living in neighbourhoods and compounds around Quetta, in west-central Pakistan, and complained bitterly that his men can’t hunt insurgents in those havens.

The frustration of such front-line commanders has been percolating upward in recent months, through the ranks of foreign soldiers, NATO officials, and Western diplomats. During a visit to Islamabad yesterday, Canada’s Defence Minister praised Pakistan’s assistance but pressed for more. “In my ideal world, they could do even better because that way our troops will be safe,” said Gordon O’Connor, who was on a tour this week through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

And diplomats say that each NATO soldier killed by a Taliban bomb or ambush adds weight to an emerging consensus among Western allies, roughly mirroring the conclusion of the battle-scarred Afghan commander: Something must change inside Pakistan, quickly.

(...)

Analysts often point to the deep historical ties between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which helped nurture the Taliban in the early 1990s, giving them support that helped the movement grow from a religious backlash against corrupt warlords into a theocracy that dominated most of the country.
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Stoffer, Layton agree to disagree on Afghanistan mission
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | Sunday September 3, 2006
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/525802.html


Nova Scotia MP Peter Stoffer is at odds with his party leader’s stance on Afghanistan.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said Thursday that Canada should pull its troops out of Afghanistan by February, arguing the mission is not associated with any "comprehensive strategy to achieve peace."

But Mr. Stoffer doesn’t share that view.

"I think just to ask for a pullout right now may be a bit early," the Sackville-Eastern Shore MP said Friday.

Parliamentarians need to work together and with the international community to come up with a plan for the future of Afghanistan, he said.

"You just can’t say, ‘Well, we’re going to stay in Afghanistan for two more years’ without a plan. And I don’t think you can say, ‘We’ll pull out right away or in February’ without a plan. I think both elements of that discussion should be more comprehensive in their approach."

Mr. Stoffer seemed comfortable opposing Mr. Layton’s view, even as more than 1,500 delegates prepared for an NDP policy convention next week in Quebec City.

"It’s not the first time I’ve disagreed with the leader on a particular subject," he said.

Mr. Stoffer’s opinion on the Afghanistan mission is shared by the father of a soldier killed there
More on link

District chief killed by militants in S. Afghanistan  
September 02, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/02/eng20060902_299137.html

Suspected Taliban militants killed a district chief in the central Ghazni province of Afghanistan, an official told Xinhua Saturday. 

Some Taliban suspects Friday ambushed a vehicle carrying Habibullah Khan, Muqur district chief, who was on his way from the district to Ghazni city, the provincial capital, said Abudul Ali Fakuri, the spokesman for Ghazni province. 

The district chief was killed in the ambush, and his two bodyguards were injured, Fakuri added. 

Ghazni police chief Tafseer Khan said some policemen rushed to the spot, but the militants had fled. 

A search for the attackers is under way, but so far no one has been arrested. 

Ghazni province has witnessed quite a few attacks on Afghan officials and the U.S.-led coalition forces over the past four months. 

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked insurgence this year, during which over 1,900 people, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Afghan drug fight has failed: US
By Our Correspondent WASHINGTON, Sept 1
http://www.dawn.com/2006/09/02/top17.htm

The US-backed strategy to fight Afghanistan’s massive drug trade has failed and the country is expected to have a bumper opium crop this year, the US State Department said on Friday.

It is a real source of concern not only for the Afghans but the international community, the departments spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington.

At a separate briefing, also at the State Department, Thomas Schweich, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international narcotics, conceded that opium cultivation in Afghanistan is expected to hit record levels this year.

The trade in illicit drug was preventing Afghanistan from getting on its feet and developing an economy that can plug in to the modern world, said Mr McCormack.

Western officials in Afghanistan are forecasting a possible 40 per cent increase this year in land under opium poppy cultivation, despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in counter-narcotics efforts. Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s opium and heroin supply.

I’m not here to put a happy face on this situation. I’m not going to say anything is truly working,” Mr Schweich said. It’s not a catastrophic failure, but it’s no success either. It needs refinement and it needs improvement.”

Mr Schweich did not have specifics on how much opium production numbers would likely rise in an upcoming report by the UN anti-drug agency. But he said US officials were prepared for a significant increase.

The high numbers, he said, were partly a reflection of a drug strategy that was only started last year. Funds for farmers to pursue livelihoods other than poppy production were distributed in a ‘spotty manner, he said.
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Iraq & Afghanistan: Warning of A Serious Crisis Ahead
by Swaraaj Chauhan
http://www.themoderatevoice.com/posts/1157176294.shtml

If this is not another moment of crisis in American history then what would be. 

Here is the fighting/intelligence arm of the American nation virtually informing the lawmakers of the USA the futility of continuing the war in Iraq. Yet another report from the Associated Press highlights the failure of the U.S.-backed strategy to fight Afghanistan's massive drug trade.

The Pentagon - the nerve centre of the United States Department of Defense charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military - has without mincing words informed the Congress of the near futility of the Iraq war. And this is not the first time!!! Tragically, the warnings are falling on deaf ears.

If you read the Pentagon report carefully you would find that while it is pointing at the dangers inherent in staying on in Iraq, the Bush administration seems to have 'forced' the Army Commanders to increase the number of troops in Iraq. 
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Extremists Damage Afghan School; Multiple Bombs Discovered
American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=669

Extremists severely damaged a co-ed school in Afghanistan’s Paktika province today with a makeshift bomb, U.S. military officials reported. 
The munition caused major damage to the roof and most of the inside of the Malekshay School, whose grand-opening ceremony was scheduled for next week. No one was in the school at the time of the explosion. 

Afghan National Police secured the area and are investigating the incident. A coalition explosive ordnance disposal team was sent to investigate the site. 

“This is one more extremist attack on the education system in Afghanistan,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman. “They recognize that knowledge is power and would prefer the general public remain ignorant so they can't challenge their oppressive ways. We will continue to support and strengthen educational opportunities for all Afghans so that they may be empowered to improve their own lives and the future of their country.” 

In other news from Afghanistan, a chain of four makeshift bombs was discovered and destroyed by coalition forces in Paktika province yesterday. 

The first bomb was discovered on the side of a road, and a U.S. explosive ordnance disposal team examined the device and detonated it in place, revealing three more bombs, which had been placed 10 to 15 feet apart in the middle of the road. Those bombs were also destroyed in place. 

“Coalition forces have once again neutralized the threat of roadside bombs in Afghanistan,” Fitzpatrick said. “An increasing number of improvised explosive devices are being discovered by coalition forces or turned in to Afghan security forces before they can be used to harm others.” 
More on link

MoD names killed British troops  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5310718.stm

The Ministry of Defence has named the 14 UK military personnel who died when their plane crashed in Afghanistan. 
The RAF Nimrod MR2 crashed on Saturday, killing 12 air personnel from 120 Squadron based at RAF Kinloss in Moray, Scotland, a Royal Marine and a soldier. 

Wing Commander Martin Cannard, of 120 Squadron, said the victims were "great guys" and it was a "profound loss". 

An inquiry has begun to find out why the reconnaissance aircraft came down. A technical fault has been blamed. 

The dead are honoured 

The 12 RAF personnel were named on Sunday evening as: Flight Lt Steven Johnson, Flt Lt Leigh Anthony Mitchelmore, Flt Lt Gareth Rodney Nicholas, Flt Lt Allan James Squires, Flt Lt Steven Swarbrick, Flt Sgt Gary Wayne Andrews, Flt Sgt Stephen Beattie, Flt Sgt Gerard Martin Bell and Flt Sgt Adrian Davis. 

Also named were Sergeant Benjamin James Knight, Sgt John Joseph Langton and Sgt Gary Paul Quilliam. 

The soldier who died was Lance Corporal Oliver Simon Dicketts from the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Marine was named as Joseph David Windall. 
More on link

Afghan leaders discuss plans for future in Khost Province
By Air Force Master Sgt. David Byron CJTF-76 public affairs Sept. 1, 2006
http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/Features/2006/09-September/Afghan%20leaders%20discuss%20plans%20for%20future%20in%20Khost%20Province.htm 

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Officials from the Afghan central and provincial governments, along with Coalition forces participated in a Shura in Khowst City on Aug. 24.

A Shura is a council meeting of area leaders. The Khowst meeting included Arsala Jamal, the provincial governor, and provincial line directors and council members from throughout Khost Province.

Also attending were Eshan Zia, Afghanistan’s minister of rural rehabilitation and development, and Canadian Brig. Gen. Daniel Pepin, Combined Joint Task Force-76 deputy commanding general for effects.

“This was not a Coalition-driven meeting,” said Pepin. “We simply provided support and guidance to make it happen.”

The meeting’s primary purpose was to demonstrate the central government’s support for Governor Jamal. This included discussing the governor’s plans and priorities for reconstruction and the effective use of the Provincial Development Council. The event demonstrated cooperation between the different levels of government.

Zia reinforced the central government’s support and commitment to Jamal’s future plans for the province.

Discussions were productive and Shura members were supportive of the new governor and his vision for Khost, said those in attendance.

Pepin reiterated to those in attendance that the Coalition is not the only organization that can bring about reconstruction. He explained that various levels of Afghan government and several non-governmental organizations truly want to assist in fostering progress in the region.

“The PRT can facilitate bringing these organizations together for the betterment of the province,” Pepin said. “But the Coalition can only support, not carry out, these plans.”
More on link


NCE helps Afghan women get to school
Aug. 29, 2006  By Army Sgt. Mayra Kennedy 345th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
http://www.cfc-a.centcom.mil/Features/2006/08-August/NCE%20helps%20Afghan%20women%20get%20to%20school.htm

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The U.S. National Command Element here donated two mini-vans to the Albironi Institute of Information and Technology on Aug. 16, only weeks after a needs assessment of the school was made by the 405th Civil Affairs unit.

Army Col. R-Stephen Williams, 207th Infantry Brigade and NCE commander from the Alaska National Guard, along with members of the NCE staff delivered the mini-vans. 

Williams explained that after completing a review on the Albironi institute, he was anxious to help out right away.

"We went to the school and spoke to the education minister and decided that it would be great to provide them with school materials and equipment," said Williams, from Chugiak, Alaska. "We found they needed some type of transportation to drive the women around, mainly for security.  We thought, if we can get them two vehicles, the school could pick them up in areas where there may be a security concern.”

These vehicles will provide safe and reliable transportation to the school for the women; enabling them to get the education they seek.  Presently, the institute instructs girls from age six to women in their 40s.  

"There are many brave women here putting themselves out there who realize that there are opportunities for them," he said. “It was pretty exciting to see these women who have never had the opportunity to get an education during the Taliban regime to try to learn English, read and write and work on computers.”

The NCE also donated school supplies and two stationary bikes for the students at the Albironi institute. Williams commented that in addition to the transportation issue, women at the institute expressed their interest in getting in shape and being healthy. 

"The women wanted to have a gym so they could get in shape,” he said. “They sounded just like American women.”
More on link

Afghanistan Suicide Bombings Take Mostly Civilian Toll
American Forces Press Service KABUL, Afghanistan, Sep. 3, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=678

Civilians make up more than 84 percent of the people killed by suicide bombers throughout Afghanistan this year, military officials here reported today. 
As of Aug. 12, officials at Combined Forces Command Afghanistan said, 105 out of the 124 people killed by suicide bombers were civilians. 

During that period, five coalition servicemembers were killed, while 14 Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police were killed. The other 105 suicide-bombing fatalities were innocent civilians, officials said. 

“This is what the Taliban extremists offer the people of Afghanistan – death and destruction,” said Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition forces spokesman. “These suicide bombers place no value on human life and continue to threaten the safety of the Afghan people. They hide behind the mask of being devout, but nowhere in the Koran does it say the killing of innocent civilians is justified.” 

Collins said that Taliban extremists purposely inflict death and destruction on their own people and show no remorse for their actions. “Their blatant disregard for human life cannot be justified under any circumstance,” he said. 

(From a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news release.) 
End


----------



## The Bread Guy (3 Sep 2006)

*Afghan and ISAF troops keep pressure up on Taliban in Panjwayi district*
ISAF News Release #2006-127, 3 Sept 06
http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_03Sept06_127.htm

Afghan forces and ISAF troops continued to inflict heavy losses on Taliban fighters in Kandahar’s Panjwayi District as Operation MEDUSA continued for a second day, despite losing four ISAF soldiers to enemy fire. 

Reports indicate that more than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation MEDUSA began early Saturday morning. This figure was arrived at by reviewing information from ISAF surveillance and reconnaissance assets operating in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, as well as information reported by various Afghan officials and citizens living nearby. 

Four ISAF soldiers were killed during today’s operations and seven others were wounded. Six of the seven wounded are expected to return to their duties within the next few days. 

More than 80 suspected Taliban fighters were captured by the Afghan National Police and a further 180 insurgents were seen fleeing the district. 

There are no reports of civilian casualties, despite the heavy weight of fire being used. 

ISAF does not release the nationality or identity of any reported casualty until the relevant nation has done so.


----------



## GAP (3 Sep 2006)

*Additional articles 3  & 4 Sept 2006*


Harper offers condolences to grieving families
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/03/1798756-cp.html

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement Sunday on the deaths of four Canadian soldiers: 

On behalf of all Canadians, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan and Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish, as well as of two other soldiers whose families have requested that their names not be released at this time, who died today in the line of duty. 

I also extend my wishes for the speedy recovery of the six other soldiers who were injured. 

While deeply saddened by this loss, I hope the families may find some solace in the knowledge that they do not grieve alone and that Canada will not forget the heroism of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. 

They will be sorely missed by their comrades in Afghanistan who carry on with our mission there, serving our country with tremendous professionalism, skill and determination. 

We are proud of these soldiers' contribution to bring stability and hope to the people of Afghanistan

These soldiers lost their lives in the service of their country. Canada is grateful for that service, and saddened by this loss. 
End

Military community braces for more bad news while mourning dead soldiers
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/03/1800208-cp.html

PETAWAWA, Ont. (CP) - Residents of an eastern Ontario military community are bracing for more bad news, even as they struggle to cope with the loss of soldiers killed in Afghanistan this weekend. 

Two of the four Canadians killed Saturday in one of the deadliest battles since Ottawa sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002 have been identified as Petawawa-based soldiers. 

The military confirms that CFB Petawawa's Warrant Officers Frank Mellish and Richard Nolan are among the latest soldiers killed in Afghanistan. 

But area residents say they fear more local soldiers will be identified among Canada's latest war dead. 

The names of two other soldiers killed Saturday have not yet been released, nor has the name of the latest victim, a Canadian killed Sunday in a friendly fire incident. 

But the community remains behind the military action in Afghanistan and many say recent calls to pull Canada out of the region are misplaced
More on link



Update

4 Canadian soldiers killed, 9 injured in Afghanistan
Sun, September 3, 2006
http://winnipegsun.com/News/2006/09/03/1798556.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP-AP) — Four Canadian soldiers were killed during a major NATO offensive involving air strikes and artillery barrages against insurgents in the Panjwaii district of southern Afghanistan, Canadian military officials said Sunday. 

Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser announced the deaths during a briefing with reporters. In addition, up to nine Canadians were reported wounded. Injuries to two of them apparently were light enough for them to stay on in the combat area. 

Earlier Sunday, an official with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said the four NATO soldiers were killed by enemy fire in the fighting in Panjwaii district, west of the city of Kandahar. Seven NATO soldiers were wounded. 

The Afghan Defence Ministry, citing intelligence reports, also said 89 militants had died during two days of fighting during Operation Medusa, launched Saturday. NATO claimed to inflicted far higher casualties on the insurgent. 

“Reports indicate that more than 200 Taliban fighters have been killed since Operation Medusa began early Saturday morning,” said a NATO spokesman
End


Canadian killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan
Updated Mon. Sep. 4 2006 7:47 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/friendly_fire_060904/20060904?hub=TopStories

A Canadian soldier was killed during a friendly fire mishap in Afghanistan on Monday when a NATO warplane accidentally strafed troops.

The death comes just one day after another four Canadian soldiers were killed and six wounded during a major NATO offensive in the volatile Panjwai district of southern Afghanistan.

The friendly fire mishap occurred around 5:30 a.m. when an A-10 Warthog was called in to support soldiers trying to seize a Taliban stronghold along the Arghandab River.

"Canadian troops were very close to enemy lines, air support had been called in and this A-10 Warthog came roaring in. Instead of hitting the Taliban positions, it hit the Canadians very heavily," CTV's Matt McClure reported on Newsnet from Afghanistan. 

"We'd told that dozens of others were injured, including these five who are going to be evacuated. Most of the soldiers received light injuries, however, and are expected to return to duty."

The injured troops were evacuated by helicopter, including a giant twin-rotor Chinook. 

"It was a scene of absolute chaos this morning at the airport near the hospital. We were there as helicopter after helicopter ferried in the wounded," McClure said.

The identity of the soldier killed in the friendly fire incident was not released.
More on link


Suicide bomber kills NATO soldier, 4 civilians
RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060904.wkabul0904/BNStory/National

KABUL — A car bomb targeting a NATO convoy killed four Afghan civilians and at least one NATO soldier in the Afghan capital on Monday, NATO and Afghan officials said. Ten people were wounded.

The explosion happened on the Kabul-Jalalabad road at 10:15 a.m., alliance officials said.

Afghan officials said it was a suicide bombing and the attacker also died.

But NATO spokesman Major Toby Jackman said it was unclear if the attack was a suicide bombing or caused by a bomb that was being transported in a car exploding prematurely.
More on link

UN envoy demands Afghan shake-up  
By Our International Staff  September 4 2006 18:27 | Last updated: September 4 2006 18:27
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/976e13fa-3c32-11db-9c97-0000779e2340.html

The senior United Nations envoy to Afghanistan has warned that some Nato troops in the country are operating under excessive restrictions that are hampering the alliance’s mission there.

The alliance, whose credibility is widely seen as hanging on its success in the country, is facing unexpectedly fierce opposition from resurgent Taliban fighters that has alarmed some Nato governments.


ADVERTISEMENT
The warning from Tom Koenigs, the UN’s special representative for Afghanistan, came as Nato’s entire civilian and military leadership flew out to the country. Nato said the visit had been long planned to demonstrate a joint commitment to the mission – but officials said it should help fight the perception that the alliance was losing its way there
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (4 Sep 2006)

*Taliban slams reports *  
The Hindu (India), 5 Sept 06
http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/05/stories/2006090505221300.htm

The top Taliban military commander on Monday said NATO's claims to have killed more than 200 insurgents over the weekend were propaganda and warned that his men would target journalists who reported ``wrong information'' given by the U.S.-led coalition or NATO. ``They are saying that they have killed 200 Taliban but they did not kill even 10 Taliban,'' said Mullah Dadullah, military commander for south and southeastern Afghanistan. ``They are just destroying civilian homes and agricultural land. They are using the media to do propaganda against the Taliban.'' . . . .



*Canadians appreciate U.S. air support but shocked by new friendly fire incident*
Les Perrault, Canadian Press, via Winnipeg Free Press, 4 Sept 06
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/world/story/3666431p-4238969c.html

The sun lifted into a clear sky with the usual haze of dust at 5:30 a.m. Monday while two U.S. 
A-10 Thunderbolts swept down the narrow Arghandab River valley, blasting away at supposed 
Taliban positions.  A young corporal from Newfoundland glanced toward the heavens, noting 
one aircraft's sickening low-pitched moan as it shattered the ground with a 10-second burst of 
about 300 shells the size of a pop cans.  It's far from the rat-tat-tat usually associated with a 
machine-gun.  "It's like the noise a whale makes when it runs into a ship," said Cpl. J. R. Smith
from Mount Pearl, N.L.  An hour later, the soldiers found out more than 30 Canadian soldiers, 
including one who died, were the unintended targets at the bottom of that strafing run. A giant 
Chinook helicopter was needed to ferry out all the wounded . . . .

*Warplanes kill NATO soldier in ’friendly fire’ incident in Afghanistan *  
Online News (Pakistan), 4 Sept 06
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=101898

NATO warplanes killed one of the force’s own soldiers and wounded several others in a 
``friendly fire’’ incident in southern Afghanistan on Monday, NATO said in a statement.  The 
mishap occurred during a NATO-led anti-Taliban operation in Kandahar province’s Panjwayi 
district after ground troops requested air support, NATO said. ``Two ISAF (NATO’s International
Security Assistance Force) aircraft provided the support but regrettably engaged friendly forces 
during a strafing run, using cannons,’’ the statement said.  There were ``multiple casualties’’ 
caused in the air raid, including one NATO soldier who was killed, the force said. The 
nationalities of the troops were not immediately clear . . . .

*'Friendly fire' claims 1 in Afghanistan*
Associated Press, via Washington Times, 4 Sept 06
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20060904-015632-6874r.htm

Two U.S. warplanes accidentally strafed their own forces in southern Afghanistan today, 
killing one Canadian soldier and seriously wounding five others, NATO and the U.S. military
said.  A British soldier attached to NATO was also killed in a Kabul suicide bombing, which 
left another four Afghans dead on Monday, NATO and Afghan officials said. Sixteen suspected
Taliban militants and five Afghan police died in separate Afghan violence . . . . 

*Casualties Mount Across Afghanistan in Day of Heavy Fighting*
Benjamin Sand, Voice of America, 5 Sept 06
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-04-voa4.cfm

A suicide bombing and friendly fire incident have killed at least three NATO soldiers and 
four civilians in Afghanistan. The losses come as NATO forces mount their largest 
counter-insurgency operation since the Western alliance assumed command of southern 
Afghanistan on July 31.  One Canadian soldier was killed and several others seriously 
wounded Monday, after NATO aircraft accidentally fired on their own forces during an 
intense firefight with Taleban insurgents . . . .



*Dutch Soldiers Active In Kandahar*
Netherlands National News Service, 5 Sept 06
http://www.nisnews.nl/public/050906_2.htm

About 100 Dutch soldiers are currently operating in the Afghan province of Kandahar in 
support of the Canadian army. For this reason, the Dutch left their own base in Uruzgan last week.
The defence ministry in The Hague confirmed the "temporary presence" of Dutch military in 
Kandahar yesterday. They are guarding a post on the route between Kandahar city and Tarin Kowt,
the capital of Uruzgan. The Netherlands' support enabled Canadian soldiers in Kandahar
to participate in an offensive against the Taliban . . . . 



*Opium Trade in Afghanistan Linked to Human Trafficking*
Lisa Schlein, Voice of America, 4 Sept 06
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-04-voa20.cfm

The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration says there is a connection between 
the illegal trade of drugs in Afghanistan and human trafficking. IOM is holding a three-day 
workshop in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to make government officials more aware of the 
problem and the need for them to take action . . . .



*Britain's new top soldier: 'Can the military cope? I say - just' *  
Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian (UK), 4 Sept 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1864263,00.html

The new head of the British army has told the Guardian that his soldiers are fighting at the limit 
of their capacity and can only just cope with the demands placed on them by the government. 
Sir Richard Dannatt, who took over from Sir Mike Jackson last week, called for a national 
debate about what resources the armed forces should be given, and what value society should 
place on them.  In his first interview since taking up his post as chief of the general staff, General 
Dannatt warned: "We are running hot, certainly running hot." He added: "Can we cope? 
I pause. I say 'just'." . . . .


*Nato 'must play greater part in war on Taleban'*
Michael Evans & Ned Parker, Times Online (UK), 5 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2342830,00.html

BRITAIN has called on its fellow Nato members to contribute more troops and military equipment to help in the war against the Taleban in Afghanistan after some of the darkest days for British troops in the region . . . .


----------



## GAP (5 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 5 Sept 2006*

Soldiers bid farewell to five fallen comrades
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060905.wsoldiers0905/BNStory/National

Remains of Canadian soldiers killed Sunday and Monday in Afghanistan offensive are on their way home 
Canadians Press

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — The remains of five Canadian soldiers killed Sunday and Monday in Afghanistan's volatile Panjwaii district are on their way home.

In a solemn ramp ceremony at Kandahar airfield early Tuesday, about 800 Canadian soldiers — along with 100 from other countries — bid farewell to their fallen comrades. 

A procession of soldiers, squinting in the harsh desert sunlight, carried the flag-draped coffins onto the C-130 Hercules aircraft as a piper played a mournful melody.

Tears streamed down some of the pallbearers faces while others fought back tears with clenched jaws.
More on link

Handling the perilous job of close air support  
Task fraught with things that can go wrong 
PAUL KORING From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060905.wxafghanhow05/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

WASHINGTON — 'Death on Call" is the grim but apt motto of one elite unit of air force ground controllers whose perilous job is to call in deadly firepower from warplanes where the difference between the catastrophe of friendly-fire casualties and wiping out the enemy can be measured in metres or fractions of seconds.

Close air support -- using warplanes and helicopter gunships to attack the enemy in the middle of a battle and often only sprinting distance away from friendly forces -- is among the most delicate, dangerous and difficult aspects of modern warfare. It is fraught with things that can, and sometimes do go wrong, despite extraordinary training and high-tech communications.

"In the heat of battle, the factor that makes the difference for ISAF is airpower," British Lieutenant-General David Richards, NATO's commander in Afghanistan, said yesterday, referring to the International Security Assistance Force.

"Through hundreds and hundreds of missions, it is the skill of our aircrew that has saved our troops on the ground and paved the way to success," Gen. Richards said, hours after a U.S. warplane killed one Canadian soldier and wounded several more. 
More on link

Soldier killed in Afghanistan remembered as ideal neighbour and loving fatherCanadian Press  Monday, September 04, 2006 

CFB PETAWAWA, Ont. (CP) - A neighbour of one of four soldiers killed in heavy fighting in Afghanistan Sunday described him as a man with a "genuine soul" who was devoted to his children and committed to his work in the Canadian Forces. 

Speaking from her home in Petawawa, Ont., Sarah Proulx said Warrant Officer Richard Nolan was the sort of man who took the most pleasure in spending hours playing outside with his three school-aged sons and stepdaughter. 

"I'd be out working in my garden, and I would hear him with his children . . . just giving them perfect guidance," Proulx said. 

Nolan, known as Rick to his friends, was one of four soldiers killed Sunday morning during a coalition ground assault on an insurgent position west of Kandahar City. 

Warrant Officer Frank Mellish also died, and six soldiers received non-life-threatening injuries. 

At the request of their families, the names of the other two casualties were not released immediately. 

While members of Nolan's family declined to speak to the media, Proulx said Nolan's children are currently in the care of his mother who came from his home province of Newfoundland to look after the children while their parents were overseas. 

Both Nolan and his common-law partner Kelly were serving six-month stints in Afghanistan, but were not posted to the same part of the country. 
More on link

Dutch troops back up Canadians in Afghanistan in major offensive
Sep 4, 2006, 7:00 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1197747.php/Dutch_troops_back_up_Canadians_in_Afghanistan_in_major_offensive

The Hague - More than 100 Dutch troops have been deployed to assist Canadian forces during a major operation in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the Defence Ministry in The Hague said Monday, confirming earlier press reports. 

The Dutch troops have been redeployed from the neighbouring province of Uruzgan, where a Dutch force is engaged in pacification and reconstruction under the aegis of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. 

The 100 troops would man a post on the route between Kandahar City and Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan, the ministry said. 

The redeployment was being seen as controversial in the Netherlands, with some members of parliament saying approval had been given for a deployment only to Uruzgan. 

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
End

Six-month postings questioned
OMAR EL AKKAD From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060905.wxafghansoldiers05/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

The decision to send Canadian troops to Afghanistan for six-month rotations is both a reflection of the great toll such deployments take on soldiers and their families, and an indication of how short-staffed the military is, Canadian historians say.

The tradition of sending soldiers oversees for six-month periods began with Canadian involvement in Bosnia more than a decade ago. During Canada's military role in Korea, soldiers were stationed for one-year stints.

"I think in part it's a reflection of the short-staffed nature of the military," historian Jack Granatstein, a professor emeritus at York University in Toronto, said of the current six-month rotation. However, he added that the length of deployment also factors in the "terrible impact" that longer periods in a war zone can have on a soldier's family life, especially when there is a chance that soldier may be deployed multiple times in a relatively short number of years.

For most reservists, a six-month deployment translates to a one-year commitment because there is six months of preparation beforehand. About one in five Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan is a reservist.
More on link



Bloc wants urgent debate on foreign file  
Quebeckers fear PM is following U.S. lead on Afghanistan and Israel, Duceppe says 
STEVEN CHASE From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060905.wxafghanpol05/BNStory/National/home

OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is calling for an emergency debate on the direction Canada's foreign policy is taking -- including whether Ottawa should pull its troops from Afghanistan.

He said there's a growing feeling among Quebeckers that Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is moving in lockstep with U.S. President George W. Bush on foreign policy, from Israel to Afghanistan.

"I think they have more and more the impression that Harper is taking the same alignment that Bush is taking, and they are firmly against that," Mr. Duceppe said in an interview as the death toll of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan reached 32.

The Bloc says the minority Conservative government's foreign-policy actions this summer -- such as strongly supporting Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon -- have broken with Canadian tradition
More on link

Friendly fire claims former Olympic athlete
ALEX DOBROTA AND OMAR EL AKKAD From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060904.wgraham0905/BNStory/Afghanistan

World-class runner and former Olympian Mark Anthony Graham was killed in Afghanistan yesterday, mistakenly hit by fire from a U.S. warplane.

"This is really sad news for his family and for the Olympic family as well," said Tim Bethune, who used to train with and compete against Private Graham, a sprinter who competed for Canada as part of the 4x400-metre relay team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

He described the soldier as bright, determined and a hard worker. "He was a very tough competitor. You had to be at your very best to beat him," Mr. Bethune said.

"If anyone was not at their best, they'd suffer at the hands of Mark."
More on link

A Fijian soldier with British army in Afghanistan is reported to have been killed
Posted at 10:52am on 04 Sep 2006
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/bulletins/rnzi/200609041052/1686ee64

A Fijian soldier serving with the British army in Afghanistan is reported to have been killed in clashes with Taliban insurgents.

British newspaper reports say 27-year old Ranger, Anare Draiva ,of the 1st Royal Irish Regiment died in combat in Northern Helmand on Friday.

Ranger Draiva enlisted in the British Army nearly three years ago and was previously based in Germany.

His body will be brought back to Fiji for burial.

About 3,000 Fiji nationals serve in the British military, mostly in the army, where they comprise the largest segment of troops from Commonwealth countries.
More on link

Carleton student says she funnelled cash to terror cell
GREG MCARTHUR AND OMAR EL AKKAD From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060905.wxkhawaja05/BNStory/National

She started out looking for a husband. Instead, the young Carleton University student became a key conduit for thousands of dollars that, police say, was financing terrorism.

Zenab Armend Pisheh, an Ottawa-area chemistry student in her early 20s, says she was used by young, aspiring jihadists in Britain and Canada and that she was handpicked because "sisters don't get caught -- brothers get caught if they send money."

For the first time yesterday, Ms. Armend Pisheh emerged as a key, co-operating witness for British and Canadian prosecutors, who are trying to prove that seven young British men and an Ottawa man, Momin Khawaja, conspired to blow up a British landmark in 2004. 

The seven Britons have been on trial for months, and Mr. Khawaja, the first person charged under Canada's anti-terrorism legislation, is slated to begin his trial in January. Although Ms. Armend Pisheh didn't appear in court in London yesterday for the trial of the seven men, a statement detailing how she was first wooed, and later made a co-conspirator, was read into the record by British prosecutors. 
More on link


Afghanistan: what Labour must do
(Filed: 04/09/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/09/04/dl0401.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/09/04/ixopinion.html


At a stroke, the number of British casualties since the beginning of the Helmand offensive has been doubled. Fourteen more lives have been lost and, with them, a sophisticated and expensive aircraft. The vulnerability of our position in Afghanistan, which depends on an air-bridge to Karachi, has been exposed. There are, inevitably, renewed calls for the withdrawal of our Servicemen from the theatre.

Such calls are influenced by the debate over Iraq. Many of those who favour the evacuation of British troops from Basra tend, almost unthinkingly, to extend their argument to Afghanistan. But the two cases are very different. We now know that Saddam did not pose a direct military threat to our interests. The Taliban regime, on the other hand, was training and exporting militiamen to fight the West. Occupying Afghanistan has allowed us to dismantle the training camps and to reduce substantially the operational capacity of the jihadists. While there will be endless arguments over whether Iraq is better off now than it was under the Ba'athists, there can be no such arguments about Afghanistan, which has benefited from foreign investment, female emancipation, new schools and hospitals and agrarian improvement.

"Ah, but you can't hold Afghanistan by force," say some half-clever people. "We tried that before." Even as history, this is bunkum. Britain won both Afghan wars. The massacre of the garrison in 1842, which became an icon of Imperial defeat, came about because Ghilzai tribesmen violated a safe-conduct agreement and ambushed a departing column. It was swiftly and brutally avenged. British policy in the 19th century was, in effect, to find a well-disposed local chieftain and offer him support so that he could dominate any rivals – which is roughly what we are doing today, with the difference that we now lend our support to the faction elected by the Afghans themselves. By and large, the policy is working: we have replaced an inimical regime with a friendly one and, although parts of the country remain lawless, we are at least taking on the terrorists in the Hindu Kush rather than in British cities.
More on link

Afghans tipped to NATO sweep
Troops tell villagers to quit Taliban hotbed GRAEME SMITH 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060901.AFGHANEVAC01/TPStory

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- NATO took the unusual step yesterday of warning villagers to evacuate a strip of farmland southwest of Kandahar or risk getting caught in the crossfire of a coming battle.

U.S. Colonel Steve Williams, deputy commander of North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in southern Afghanistan, said international troops are planning a confrontation with Taliban insurgents in Pashmul, a cluster of villages 25 kilometres southwest of the city.

"For the safety of the people, I would request that any people who are civilians in Pashmul please leave before the operations kick off, because we do not want to hurt innocent civilians," he said.

Canadian soldiers have been fighting heated battles in the region over the past four months, but this is the first time the foreign troops have declared in advance that they will sweep into a particular area.
More on link

Pakistan wants nuclear bargain
GRAEME SMITH From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060901.wxpakistan01/BNStory/International/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Pakistan is expected to push Gordon O'Connor for help with obtaining Canadian nuclear power technology today, as the Defence Minister visits Islamabad for talks about the rising Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan.

Mr. O'Connor flew into Islamabad last night and enjoyed a late dinner at the upscale Serena Hotel with retired lieutenant-general Tariq Waseem Ghazi, Pakistan's Secretary of Defence.

The first evening of the three-day visit was spent talking about Afghanistan and regional security, according to a Pakistani source, but the Canadian delegation is likely to hear demands for nuclear assistance during today's scheduled meetings with Pakistani defence and intelligence officials.

Analysts say nuclear technology could be a key bargaining chip in Canada's increasingly urgent diplomatic efforts to win Islamabad's support for the war against the Taliban. 
More on link

Afghan war winnable, but at 'high cost'  
Analysts say victory remains possible if Canadians can stomach the casualties 
ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ From Monday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060904.wxafghanside04/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

Canada can achieve its military, humanitarian and democratic goals in Afghanistan, but it's going to take much more time and will cost many more lives, military historians said yesterday.

"The goals are to create a stable government there that is not a base for terrorism. I think that is achievable over time but probably at a high cost," Jack Granatstein, a fellow of the Calgary-based Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, said in an interview. "We're clearly in a bloody and miserable war and it's going to get worse. I think the ends are worth the costs, but that's very hard to say to the wife of one of the soldiers who got killed."

Dr. Granatstein and David Bercuson, director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, said some Canadians have gone along with the enduring myth that their country's forces acted only as impartial peacekeepers in previous military excursions since the Second World War and suffered no casualties.

In fact, Prof. Bercuson said, Canada has a long history of using military force to gain political, diplomatic or economic advantage.
More on link

Fatal Afghanistan plane crash caused by on-board fire - reports
Monday, 4th September 2006 06:13
http://www.lse.co.uk/FinanceNews.asp?shareprice=&ArticleRef=44215&ArticleHeadline=Fatal_Afghanistan_plane_crash_caused_by_onboard_fire__reports

LONDON (AFX) - The plane crash in Afghanistan that killed 14 British military personnel on Saturday was caused by an on-board fire, it was reported on Monday.

According to The Times, citing an unnamed military source, a short circuit inside the aircraft caused a spark leading to a fire, with smoke engulfing the work stations of the men on board.

Meanwhile, The Sun newspaper reported that fire warning detectors went off, with flames damaging the fuselage and disabling the Nimrod MR2's controls.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) declined to comment on the reports, saying only that: 'The indications are that there was a technical problem of some sort.'

The Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 reconnaissance plane, on a NATO mission, came down in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan on Saturday.
More on link

NATO Assault in South Afghanistan Kills More Than 200 Taliban  
By Ed JohnsonSept. 4 (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHpcI9GQTjU0&refer=home

 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization said it carried out its biggest military offensive in southern Afghanistan, killing more than 200 Taliban fighters as it tried to clear insurgents from the region west of Kandahar. 

Four Canadian soldiers also died in the weekend battle with Taliban rebels, Canada's Ministry of Defense said. The operation, codenamed ``Medusa,'' was the largest assault since NATO took command in the south from the U.S.-led coalition on July 31. 

In addition, 14 British military personnel were killed when their surveillance plane crashed in Kandahar province Sept. 2, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said. The crash was a ``terrible accident and not the result of hostile action,'' said U.K. Defense Secretary Des Browne. 

Violence has increased across Afghanistan's southern provinces in recent months, as supporters of the ousted Taliban regime carry out suicide attacks and bombings against international and Afghan troops. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has doubled this year to 18,500 soldiers drawn from 37 countries to battle the insurgency. 

The operation, backed by U.S. air support, focused on the Panjwayi district, a Taliban stronghold about 35 kilometers (21 miles) west of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city. 

The Taliban death toll was drawn from ISAF surveillance and reconnaissance information and reports from Afghan officials and citizens in the area, NATO said. 

``More than 80 suspected Taliban fighters were captured by the Afghan National Police and a further 180 insurgents were seen fleeing the district,'' the alliance added in its statement. 
More on link

15 Taliban militants, 3 policemen killed in S. Afghanistan  
September 04, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/04/eng20060904_299449.html

Fifteen Taliban militants and three policemen were killed in a clash in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, an official told Xinhua on Monday. 

The clash occurred Sunday night when the militants attacked the center of Garmser district, said Nabi Jan Mullhakhil, the provincial police chief, adding 15 Taliban rebels were killed including a local commander Mullah Satar and 10 others injured. 

Three policemen were also killed and eight wounded in the 5- hour fierce conflict, Mullhakhil said, adding the militants had escaped and the district center had returned clam. 

However, a purported Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said 16 policemen were killed in the clash, and only two Taliban militants lost their lives. 

He also claimed the Taliban fighters occupied the district's major government building overnight and set fire on it before retreating. 

Later information has often proved the Taliban intends to exaggerate the casualties and damages it inflicts on government and foreign targets. 

Garmser district, locating in eastern Helmand, has been attacked frequently by Taliban insurgents in the past months. 
More on link

Suicide Bombing Kills 5 in Afghanistan
The Associated Press Monday, September 4, 2006; 4:20 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400080.html

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A car bomb targeting a NATO convoy killed four Afghan civilians and one NATO soldier in the Afghan capital on Monday, officials said.

It was unclear if the attack was a suicide bombing or caused when the bomb exploded prematurely, said Maj. Toby Jackman.

Three NATO troops were wounded in the blast, he said. He did not give their nationalities nor that of the NATO soldier killed.

Ali Shah Paktiawal, the criminal director of Kabul police, said blast was a suicide attack. He said the bomber was driving a four-wheel-drive car and had died in the blast.

Interior Ministry spokesman Yousef Stanezai said four Afghan civilians were killed and seven wounded.

Paktiawal said two Afghan youths who had been riding past on a motorbike were among the dead.
More on link

Mission impossible in Afghanistan?
Last updated at 08:19am on 4th September 2006
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/newscomment.html?in_page_id=1787&in_article_id=403515

Less than five months ago, John Reid suggested British troops could be withdrawn from Afghanistan in three years 'without firing a shot'. 

Did he actually believe it - or was he just trying to pull the wool over the public's eyes? 

Either way Mr Reid's remark, made when he was Defence Secretary, has proved tragically wide of the mark. 

So far, 15 of our servicemen have been killed in action. And now Saturday's terrible plane crash has brought the total British death toll to 36. 

The fate of that ageing Nimrod MR2 reopens vital questions about the adequacy of our troops' equipment in the toughest prolonged battle since Korea. 

We know they have nothing like the manpower they need. Some exhausted units are having to fight continuously for up to 40 days in temperatures of 120F. 

Even when the latest reinforcements arrive in Helmand, barely 4,500 troops will have to police an area four times the size of Wales. And their job becomes less clearly defined every day. 
More on link

Afghanistan success story loses luster
Taliban unnerves formerly secure sector
By Kim Barker Tribune foreign correspondent Published September 4, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609040143sep04,1,736944.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

MUQOR, Afghanistan -- This town was once a success story, where girls attended school and the Taliban had no sway. But on a recent night, enemy fighters surrounded the district headquarters, fired rockets and bullets at the few men guarding the place and kidnapped seven people. "Son of Bush," they shouted.

Three days later, U.S. Army Capt. Erik Schiemann looked at the damage, the smoke-blackened rooms, the bullet-pocked walls, the caved-in roof. He told the new police chief, away during the attack, that the government and the military had failed Muqor. The Taliban had won this battle.
More on link


Afghanistan "hooked on its own drug" says UN  
Deutsche Presse Agentur Published: Monday September 4, 2006 
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Afghanistan_hooked_on_its_own_drug__09042006.html

Vienna- Opium production in Afghanistan is "out of control" at a "staggering" 92 per cent of total world supply, said head of the UN Organizaton on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, in remarks quoted on Monday. The Afghan area under opium production went up by nearly 60 per cent this year from 2005 to 165,000 hectares. In the southern province of Helmand, where the Taliban had scaled up their attacks on the Afghan government and international forces, cultiation had gone up by 162 per cent. 

"These are very alarming numbers. Afghanistan is increasingly hooked on its own drug," Costa was quoted by the UN Information service in Vienna as having said in presenting UNODC's annual survey to President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Saturday. 

The southern part of Afghanistan was displaying "the ominous hallmarks of incipent collapse, with large-scale drug cultivation and trafficking, insurgency and terrorism, crime and corruption." 
More on link

Opium Trade in Afghanistan Linked to Human Trafficking  
By Lisa Schlein Geneva 04 September 2006
http://voanews.com/english/2006-09-04-voa20.cfm  

The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration says there is a connection between the illegal trade of drugs in Afghanistan and human trafficking. IOM is holding a three-day workshop in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to make government officials more aware of the problem and the need for them to take action. 

The International Organization for Migration says given the scale of problems facing Afghanistan, human trafficking does not come out on top. But the organization notes that larger issues like the ongoing insurgency, illegal drugs, and massive poverty help create the conditions in which human trafficking thrive. 

 Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium. A new U.N. report shows opium cultivation has been rising sharply.

The Head of IOM's Counter Trafficking Department, Richard Danziguer, tells VOA there is a link between various forms of organized crime, such as the illegal drug trade and human trafficking.

"When there is criminal activity, especially drug trafficking, weapon trafficking, often we will find there is a link to human trafficking as well," he said. "And, then some people actually are forced into working for the opium godfathers, if you will, working as practically slave labor in the fields cultivating the poppy." 

According to the 2006 State Department Report on Trafficking in Persons, Afghanistan is a source country for women and children. 
More on link


----------



## GAP (5 Sep 2006)

*More articles found 5 Sept 2006*

JGK commandos to Afghanistan,
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsf/articles/20060905.aspx

Commandogram from Denmark 
September 5, 2006: Denmark is sending a team of its Jægerkorpset (JGK) commandos to Afghanistan, to deal with a local group of Taliban who have been attacking Danish troops there. Denmark has 122 soldiers in Afghanistan, as part of the NATO force that has taken over counter-terrorism duties in southern Afghanistan. The Taliban believe that if they can kill enough of the NATO troops, their governments will withdraw support for military operations in Afghanistan. 

The British and Canadian contingents, each more than ten times the size of the Danish force, have been able to hammer the Taliban sent against them. But the Danish base has been attacked over fifty times so far, and eight Danish soldiers have been wounded. The Danish special forces have been in Afghanistan before, as have those from most nations in the world that have special operations troops. Apparently the Jægerkorpset convinced their superiors that a few Danish commandos, with some knowledge of operating in Afghanistan, could go in and clean out the local Taliban forces that are attacking the Danish troops. 

The Danish Special Operations Forces are small. The Jægerkorpset are commandos, similar to the British SAS. There are only about 70 of them. There is also a force of about fifty naval commandos, similar to U.S. SEALS. Then there are a few dozen arctic commandos, who operate only in Greenland. There are several companies of reserve troops trained to operate as LRRPS (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols). 

The Jægerkorpset troops will have the benefit of American special forces in the area, who probably already have a good idea of which tribal groups are responsible for the attacks. The Jægerkorpset troops will have to go in and do some scouting, to identify exactly who is carrying out they attacks. At that point, the Jægerkorpset will probably ambush the Taliban and kill or capture them. Any who get away will most likely advise their friends that Danish troops be removed from the Taliban hit list. 
more on link

Blair calls for peacekeeping aid in Afghanistan 
The World Today - Tuesday, 5 September , 2006  12:30:00 Reporter: Stephanie Kennedy
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1733647.htm

ELEANOR HALL: With a suicide bombing in Kabul bringing the number of UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan this week to 15, the British Government is calling for more countries to help with the increasingly dangerous peacekeeping effort.

UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, says the resurgent Taliban should not be allowed to turn Afghanistan into a breeding ground for terrorism again. But the head of the UK army has warned that British soldiers are only just able to cope with the demands being placed on them.

From London Stephanie Kennedy reports.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: A British soldier was killed in Kabul after a NATO convoy was hit by a suicide bomber. Three others were injured. This incident comes just two days after the UK lost 14 troops in a plane crash. 

The Nimrod was involved in a NATO offensive targeting the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan, the pitched battles have claimed 200 Taliban fighters, and five Canadian troops.

NATO spokesman Major Luke Knittig.

LUKE KNITTIG: The operation presses on in its third day, we are getting results. Sadly we have suffered from casualties, we understand this Panjwayi district is a very important place for us to establish our presence, to allow the Government and international actors to move in there in a way that will touch people's lives in a positive way that hasn't happen there in a long time.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: Amid allegations Britain's military forces are overstretched, the UK is now calling on other countries to step up and provide more troops in Afghanistan.

Speaking from Kabul, the Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells.

KIM HOWELLS: I'd certainly like to see many more troops and resources coming from other NATO members. The battles, which currently are going on in Kandahar and in Helmand certainly do require more resources. I really don't want to give the impression that there is a kind of crisis. 

It isn't that, it's just that the job can be done much more quickly, and I think much more safely, it it's clear that all of the NATO members involved in this, are pulling their weight.

STEPHANIE KENNEDY: Amyas Godfrey is a defence analyst with the Royal United Services Institute.

AMYAS GODFREY: If other nations wanted to we could address the situation by flooding it with numbers, but different nations have different approaches to operations. 

Britain and America are far more robust than most nations, and our rules of engagement allow us to be offensive, defensive, take all sorts of different approaches. 
More on link  

Nato looks east in Afghanistan
Tuesday 05 September 2006,
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A0C3778F-2A5A-4ABD-9923-166A8B44B00B.htm

Nato's leadership was in Afghanistan to assess the expansion of the International Security Assistance, due to move into eastern Afghanistan in the coming months to cover the whole of the country.


The delegation, which includes ambassadors from Nato member states, will also meet the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and representatives from the United Nations and European Union before leaving on Wednesday.

Nato's Operation Medusa, launched on Saturday to flush out Taliban fighters from a stronghold near the main southern city of Kandahar, has caused some of the most intense fighting since of the Taliban government was overthrown nearly five years ago.

Nato said more than 200 Taliban fighters had died - a figure disputed by one of their commanders. Five Canadian soldiers had been killed, one in a friendly fire by a US warplane on Monday.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who says he speaks for the Taliban, said on Tuesday that if Nato had killed so many men, they should show them to the media. He also denied that hundreds of its fighters were trapped in Panjwayi, and said they were giving a hard time to the Nato and Afghan forces there.
More on link


AFGHANISTAN: Voluntary refugee returns down by 60 percent
04 Sep 2006 15:45:17 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/d75978e632b1c3c8dbd778e2cd8d3d55.htm

KABUL, 4 September (IRIN) - An estimated 125,000 refugees have voluntarily returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran this year - nearly a 60 percent decrease on the same period last year, the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Monday.

"This is a very substantial level of returns, and while it is lower than during the same period last year - when 295,000 Afghans returned - it is a phenomenon that is happening despite current security concerns in some parts of the country," Adrian Edwards, UNAMA's spokesman, said in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Afghanistan estimates that 2.5 million Afghans are still living in Pakistan, with another 900,000 in Iran. 

Nader Farhad, UNHCR's spokesman in Kabul, said returning refugees faced many problems including deteriorating security, unemployment, lack of shelter and schooling and a shortage of health services.
More on link

Over 120,000 refugees return to Afghanistan this year   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-05 04:15:42  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/05/content_5048448.htm

    KABUL, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- About 125,000 refugees have returned to Afghanistan, which still has the world's biggest refugee population, so far this year, with the majority coming back from Pakistan and Iran, a UN spokesman said Monday. 

    The latest figures come from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan, when speaking at a press conference. 

    He said "This is a very substantial level of returns, while it is lower than the same period last year, in which 295,000 Afghans returned." 

    UNHCR estimates that 2.5 million Afghans are still in Pakistan, while another 900,000 are in Iran. Many have lived in exile for more than 20 years. 

    The number of Afghan refugees accounts for over 40 percent of the total 8 million under the UNHCR's mandate. 

    In the past five years, more than 4.6 million Afghan refugees have returned home from abroad, and started their new lives in this middle Asian country. 
More on link

Musharraf to visit Afghanistan: spokesperson 
Islamabad, Sept. 5 (Xinhua):- 
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609050344.htm

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf will visit Afghanistan at the invitation of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said on Monday. 

Speaking at the week news briefing in Islamabad, the spokesperson said that the arrangements are being worked out and the visit would take place at the earliest. 

She did not give the date for the visit but reports said that the president is likely to visit Kabul on Sept. 6. 

"The purpose of the visit is to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries," Aslam said. 

The spokesperson said that the Afghan government is not involved in destabilizing activities in Pakistan. 

However, she said that Afghan territory is being used for such activities. "Pakistan and Afghanistan have long and complicated border and it is not easy to seal it. Pakistan authorities are very much aware of the problem and taking precautionary measures," Aslam said. 
More on link

Afghan symbol for change becomes symbol for failure   
By David Rohde The New York Times  September 4, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/04/news/province.php

It began last summer. 

On a July morning, Taliban gunmen shot dead the province's most powerful cleric as he walked to the main city mosque to lead morning prayers. Five months later, they executed a teacher at a nearby village school as students watched. The following month, they walked into another mosque and gunned down an Afghan engineer working for a foreign aid group, shooting him in the back as he pressed his forehead to the ground and supplicated to God.

This spring and summer, the slow and methodical siege of this southern provincial capital intensified. The Taliban and their allies set up road checkpoints, burned 20 trucks and slowed the flow of supplies to reconstruction projects. All told, in surrounding Helmand Province, five teachers, one judge and scores of police officers have been killed. Dozens of schools and courts have been shuttered, according to Afghan officials. 

"Our government is weak," said Fowzea Olomi, a local women's rights advocate whose driver was shot dead in May and who fears she is next. "Anarchy has come."

When the Taliban fell nearly five years ago, Lashkar Gah seemed like fertile ground for the United States-led effort to stabilize the country. For 30 years during the cold war, Americans carried out the largest development project in Afghanistan's history here, building a modern capital with suburban-style tract homes, a giant hydroelectric dam and 300 miles of canals that made 250,000 acres of desert bloom. Afghans called this city "Little America." 

Today, Little America is the epicenter of a Taliban resurgence and an explosion in drug cultivation that has claimed the lives of 106 American and NATO soldiers this year and doubled American casualty rates countrywide. Across Afghanistan, roadside bomb attacks are up by 30 percent; suicide bombings have doubled. Statistically it is now nearly as dangerous to serve as an American soldier in Afghanistan as it is in Iraq. 
More on link

Struggling troops 'need support'  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5312886.stm

The RAF crash killing 14 British personnel at the weekend was the latest piece of bad news to come out of Afghanistan. 
But several military experts say the UK should not be tempted to pull the troops out and it is clear that their numbers should be bolstered. 

Francis Tusa, editor of the Defence Analysis newsletter, said from mid-2002 the international community took its eye off Afghanistan because it was more focused on Iraq. 

"If they had provided Afghanistan with sufficient troops back then, we wouldn't be in this current situation. 

"For British forces to try to police an area three times the size of Wales with a single infantry battalion of around 700 troops is a complete non-starter." 
More on link


Afghanistan: Canadian Aid Nixed
Posted by: lex on http://PEJ.org Monday, September 04, 2006 - 09:58 PM
http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5498&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

CBC News - The escalating violence in southern Afghanistan has forced Canadian aid projects to be put on hold in the region, a published report says. In 2005, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) earmarked $6 million for aid projects in the war-torn country. But Ted Menzies, parliamentary secretary for CIDA, told the Toronto Sun that it had become too dangerous for aid workers to operate in the area around Kandahar, the largest city in the volatile southern region. 

www.cbc.ca
End

Polio cases experience 6-fold rise in Afghanistan  
September 05, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/05/eng20060905_299589.html

Afghanistan has seen a six-fold rise in the number of polio cases, which only affect children, in 2006 compared to last year's same period, a UN spokesman said Monday. 

Twenty-six cases have been confirmed in this country this year, while there were only four cases in the same period in 2005, Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan, told a press conference. 

All but one of these cases is in southern Afghanistan, where the tense security situation has made it difficult for health teams to reach children, he added. 

Mainly passed through person-to-person contact, polio is a highly infectious disease infecting children, which is caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. 

The World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Public Health will hold a one-day vaccination campaign against polio on Wednesday in four districts in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, according to Edwards. The provinces are the stronghold of Taliban militants. 
More on link


Peace makes war in Afghanistan
By Jonathan S. Landay Tuesday, September 5, 2006 McClatchy Newspapers
KABUL, Afghanistan —
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003243627_taliban05.html

The Pakistani military is striking truces with Islamic separatists along the country's border with Afghanistan, freeing Pakistani militants and al-Qaida fighters to join Taliban insurgents battling U.S.-led troops and government forces in Afghanistan.

Western and Afghan officials said the new infiltration comes as the United States, its NATO allies and the Afghan government are struggling to stem a resurgence of the Taliban across large swaths of southern and eastern Afghanistan.

The fighting in Afghanistan is the bloodiest since U.S. forces drove the Taliban from power after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Many of the movement's top leaders, along with Osama bin Laden and many of his followers, escaped to Pakistan and have never been caught.

The Pakistani regime of Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been negotiating truces — with the Bush administration's encouragement — with Islamic separatists in North Waziristan and South Waziristan, mountainous tribal areas along the Afghan border where U.S. officials think bin Laden may be hiding.
More on link

Witness: Taliban dead may be civilians
Wednesday 23 August 2006
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5AC9033E-41EA-4585-A219-278040F31E73.htm

Nato's claims to have killed 11 Taliban who were preparing an ambush in Afghanistan have been disputed by local people who have said that the dead were civilian grape-pickers.

The Nato-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan said its troops spotted 15 Taliban near a main road in Kandahar late on Tuesday.

 After realising they had been detected, the men then moved to a nearby compound which Nato aircraft then bombed, said Major Scott Lundy, a Nato spokesman.

Lundy said: "11 Taliban were killed in the air strike, while two insurgents were later seen leaving the compound." 

 But civilians in the Zhari area to the west of Kandahar city, said the dead were farmers who had been working in their grape fields in the cool of the evening.

"Those people who died in the bombing were civilians," Ahmad Shapour, a resident of the area, said by telephone.

 The killing of Afghan civilians by Nato troops threatens to weaken popular support for the US-backed government of Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, in his war against the Taliban.

Nato also said that one of four Canadian soldiers wounded in an attack on Tuesday had died of his wounds, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Lundy also said that a teenager had been shot dead and another wounded by Nato soldiers after the pair, who were riding a motorbike, had ignored soldiers' orders to stop near the scene of the suicide car-bomb attack
More on link

Afghanistan 'falling into Taliban hands'
Tue 5 Sep 2006
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1310442006



AFGHANISTAN is "falling back into the hands of the Taliban" and British troops are fighting in a lawless land, a new report said today. 

The report, Afghanistan Five Years Later: The Return of the Taliban, said the British and United States-led international coalition in Afghanistan has "failed to achieve stability and security". 

The Taliban is becoming increasing popular due to the West's failure to tackle Afghans' "extreme poverty", according to the study for the Senlis Council think-tank. 

All of southern Afghanistan, where British troops are concentrated in the lawless Helmand province, is now under "limited or no central government control", the report claims. The Senlis Council blames military priorities and "flawed" poppy eradication policies for Afghanistan's plight. 

The report states: "The Taliban is back and has strong psychological and de facto military control over half of Afghanistan. The international community has failed to achieve stability and security in Afghanistan."
end

Pakistani govt, local Taliban sign peace agreement   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-05 21:47:36  ISLAMABAD, Sept. 5 (Xinhua)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/05/content_5053087.htm?rss=1

Pakistan on Tuesday signed a deal with local Taliban militants in North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan aiming at ending years of unrest in the restive tribalbelt. 

    The agreement, brokered by a "Grand Jirga" was signed on a football ground at a college in Miranshah, the main town of the North Waziristan, local private Geo TV reported. 

    The members of the Grand Peace Jirga, government officials, tribal elders and local Taliban militants were present in the ceremony. 

    Under the agreement, the North Waziristan tribal elders, local mujahideens and ulema should ensure ceasing all sorts of attacks on the security forces and government assets. 

    Under the agreement, there would be no to and fro crossing on the border for militant action in Afghanistan, all foreigners in North Waziristan would leave Pakistan and those opting to stay would remain peaceful and respect the law, while the government property, vehicles, wireless sets etc. seized during the skirmishes would be returned to the government. 

    The agreement also outlined some government obligations, including the government would free all the persons arrested during the operations and they would not be re-arrested on the basis of past incidents, all the national privileges would be restored and the check posts set up on the roads in north tribal region would be wrapped up. 

    Under the agreement, land and air operations of the government would be stopped and the problems would be resolved in the light of the traditions. The government would pay compensations for the losses incurred during the operation. 
More on link

NATO says major offensive cornering Taliban
Tue Sep 5, 2006 10:23am ET By Sayed Salahuddin
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-05T141955Z_01_ISL90167_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-VIOLENCE.xml&archived=False

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO forces cornering Taliban guerrillas killed 50-60 fighters in artillery and air strikes and ground battles on Tuesday in a major offensive to crush a revitalized Taliban in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.

"We are closing the circle on the Taliban. We have got the Taliban in a bit of a trap," NATO spokesman Major Quentin Innes said. Late on Tuesday, he estimated Taliban casualties at up to 60 based on observations by NATO troops on the ground.

Last weekend, NATO launched Operation Medusa, its biggest offensive against an increasingly active Taliban, in Kandahar province, the hardline Islamist group's spiritual heartland. 


The operation is focused on Panjwai district, near the capital, Kandahar city, and is being supported by air strikes.

Panjwai has been the scene of a series of operations by Afghan and foreign forces this year. Several thousand civilians have fled in the face of previous battles and residents say many have died in the latest fighting.

Medusa was launched after NATO forces encountered stiffer than expected Taliban resistance as they took over the south from U.S.-led troops in the alliance's biggest-ever ground operation.

Casualties have been high. NATO says it has killed more than 250 guerrillas, a claim the Taliban disputes. At least five Canadian soldiers have died in combat and 14 British troops were killed when their plane crashed early in the offensive.
More on link

Dozens of Taliban Killed in Afghanistan
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2395431&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

By NOOR KHAN 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Sep 5, 2006 (AP)— U.S. artillery and airstrikes killed between 50 and 60 suspected Taliban militants Tuesday, the fourth day of a NATO-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, an alliance spokesman said. 

NATO already has reported more than 200 Taliban killed in the operation. 

The U.S. troops, operating under NATO command, clashed with the militants in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province, where an offensive began over the weekend to flush out hundreds of Taliban fighters. 

Maj. Quentin Innis, a NATO spokesman, said the troops had identified Taliban positions and the two sides had exchanged fire. He said the estimate of 50 to 60 killed was based on reports from troops looking through "weapons sights and other observation devices." 

He said there had been no NATO or Afghan troop casualties. 

It wasn't possible for reporters to reach the site of the battle to independently confirm the death toll. 

The Afghan Defense Ministry also said 200 militants had died since Saturday increasing its previously reported toll of 89. The dead included four Taliban commanders and 12 of their bodyguards, a ministry statement said, citing intelligence reports. 
More on link

Casualties Mount Across Afghanistan in Day of Heavy Fighting
By Benjamin Sand Islamabad 04 September 2006
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2006/09/mil-060904-voa02.htm

A suicide bombing and friendly fire incident have killed at least three NATO soldiers and four civilians in Afghanistan. The losses come as NATO forces mount their largest counter-insurgency operation since the Western alliance assumed command of southern Afghanistan on July 31. 

One Canadian soldier was killed and several others seriously wounded Monday, after NATO aircraft accidentally fired on their own forces during an intense firefight with Taleban insurgents.

NATO spokesman Major Luke Knittig says the incident occurred in the southern province of Kandahar. 

"The troops there called for, and received close air support. Two ISAF aircraft responded to provide that support, but, regrettably, engaged friendly forces during a strafing run with their machine guns," Knittig says.

NATO forces launched a major operation on Saturday that targets Taleban extremists in Kandahar's Panjwayi district. NATO says at least 200 militants have been killed since the mission began, although Afghan officials put the toll at half that.

'Operation Medusa' is NATO's largest offensive against the Taleban since the Western alliance took over security operations in the south on July 31.

The area remains the Taleban's primary battleground. During at least five months of heavy fighting, the Taleban and their supporters have effectively taken over various districts in four southern provinces.

NATO commanders say they have given themselves a six-month deadline to reassert relative control in the region. 
More on link

FO rejects Afghanistan report  
Press Association Tuesday September 5, 2006 3:18 PM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6059409,00.html

Nato forces in southern Afghanistan are caught in a cycle of violence against the Taliban which is sparking poverty and starvation on a grand scale, a critical report has claimed.

Ongoing fighting is turning the average Afghan against British and US-led forces, leading some to claim their lives were better under Taliban rule, the report found.

The Foreign Office has vigorously rejected the report, insisting that progress in Afghanistan was being made and said it did not recognise the picture being portrayed.

The damning report, entitled Afghanistan Five Years Later: The Return of the Taliban was put together by The Senlis Council, a think-tank.
More on link


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## tomahawk6 (5 Sep 2006)

700 Taliban Trapped !

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,212123,00.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — NATO and Afghan forces used artillery and air strikes overnight to keep up pressure on an estimated 700 Taliban trapped by an offensive that the alliance claims has killed at least 200 militants in southern Afghanistan, NATO said Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, NATO leaders including Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and top commander U.S. Gen. James L. Jones were in Afghanistan for talks with Afghan officials on a security and development accord and to assess progress in the alliance's mission to stabilize the volatile south.

NATO's Operation Medusa, launched Saturday to flush out militants from a stronghold near the main southern city of Kandahar, has sparked some of the most intense fighting since the fall of the Taliban regime nearly five years ago.

NATO claims more than 200 Taliban have died — a figure strongly disputed by a top militant commander. Five Canadian soldiers have also been killed, one in a friendly fire by a U.S. warplane Monday.

NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy said its forces were conducting patrols, and had launched artillery and airstrikes overnight on Taliban positions. He estimated 700 militants "trapped" in an area spanning several hundred square kilometers (miles) in Panjwayi and Zhari districts, some in fortified compounds, others moving in the open.

NATO has also reported 80 Taliban have been arrested and that a further 180 have fled the fighting.

"It's a complex battle space. Some (Taliban) elements are fixed, others are moving," Lundy said.

Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban military commander for south and southeastern Afghanistan, on Monday rejected NATO's claims of over 200 dead — described by Lundy as a "conservative figure."

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said Tuesday that if NATO had killed so many Taliban fighters, they should show them to the media. He also denied hundreds of its militants were trapped in Panjwayi, and said its fighters were giving a hard time to the NATO and Afghan forces there.

During Monday's clashes, a U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt warplane supporting NATO mistakenly strafed Canadian troops fighting Taliban forces in Panjwayi, killing one soldier and seriously wounding five.

A top U.S. general expressed sadness over the friendly fire — being investigated by a board of military officers.

"The death or injury of each and every coalition member is a tragedy that saddens us, our families and the military and civilian members of the coalition," Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander of U.S. Central Command Air Forces said in a statement.

In other violence, more than 20 other people were killed in fighting reported across Afghanistan on Monday, including a British soldier and four Afghans in a Kabul homicide bombing.

The bloody contest between resurgent Taliban militants and U.S. and NATO forces has left hundreds dead in each of the past four months — the deadliest spate of violence since the pro-Al Qaeda Taliban regime's 2001 ouster.

The NATO chiefs, who arrived in Afghanistan late Monday, are due to travel around the country and on Wednesday will meet with beleaguered President Hamid Karzai. Their three-day visit will coincide with a trip to Kabul by Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan, a key Western ally in the war on terrorism, is under increasing pressure to crackdown on Taliban on its soil. Afghanistan claims militia leaders stay in Pakistan and that militants launch cross-border attacks. Pakistan denies the presence of Taliban leaders and says it has 80,000 troops at the border to stop infiltration.


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## tomahawk6 (5 Sep 2006)

http://www.pentagon.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=697

Officials Express Regret After Friendly Fire Incident

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sep. 5, 2006 – Military officials in Southwest Asia are expressing regret and offering condolences in the wake of a “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan yesterday that claimed one coalition soldier’s life and wounded several others. 

A statement issued by the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command Air Forces said a U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt II responded to a call for close-air support from officials of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force at about 5:30 a.m. yesterday. Coalition troops were engaged in close combat against Taliban insurgents, west of the city of Kandahar in the Panjwayi district of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. ISAF forces engaged in the battle received close-air support from the A-10s during the extended battle, officials said. 

“Regrettably,” the Central Command Air Forces statement said, “one of the several A-10s supporting the mission engaged friendly forces during a strafing run. One soldier was killed and a number of others were wounded.” ISAF medical assets responded immediately and evacuated the casualties to ISAF military medical facilities for treatment, officials said. 

“I extend our deepest sympathies to all the soldiers and airmen and their loved ones affected by this combat accident,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North, Central Command Air Forces commander, quoted in the command statement. “The death or injury of each and every coalition member is a tragedy that saddens us, our families and the military and civilian members of the coalition.” 

The statement also included an expression of sympathy from the commander of NATO’s force in Afghanistan, along with his determination to continue the mission. 

“I wish to send my deepest sympathies to all of the soldiers and their loved ones who’ve been affected by this very sad incident,” British Army Lt. Gen. David J. Richards, commander of ISAF, said in the Central Command Air Forces statement. “It is particularly distressing to us all when, despite the care and precautions that are always applied, a tragedy like this happens.” 

Richards emphasized the importance of the mission and the operation in which the incident occurred. “Helping the people of Afghanistan and at the same time preventing this country once more from becoming a safe haven for terrorism is in all our interests,” he said. “The particular battle ISAF is spearheading in Kandahar at the moment is both tough and vital, and being conducted with bravery and skill -- I am humbled to lead such people.” 

The NATO leader stressed the importance of air power. “At this time we must also remember that, in the heat of the battle, the factor that makes the difference for ISAF is airpower,” he said. “Time and time again, through hundreds and hundreds of missions, it is the skill of our aircrew that has saved our troops on the ground and paved the way to success.” 

He vowed that NATO forces would continue in their mission, “deeply saddened by this loss but totally unaffected in their determination to build on the existing progress of Operation Medusa and finish the job. Our comrades would expect no less.”


----------



## George Wallace (5 Sep 2006)

Looks like there is going to be a lot of scrutiny of Aircraft and ATC/AWACs tapes and timelines on this one.


----------



## The Bread Guy (6 Sep 2006)

*Bodies of 5 soldiers expected to arrive in Trenton today*
Toronto Star, 6 Sept 06
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157493014237&call_pageid=968332188492

A military Airbus jet is scheduled to touch down at the air base in Trenton this afternoon, bearing a sad milestone in the Afghanistan conflict — the bodies of five soldiers killed over the weekend, the most ever brought home in a single flight.  The friendly-fire death of Pte. Mark Graham on Monday followed on the heels of the death of four other Canadians who were killed Sunday in a major offensive against insurgents . . . . 



*COC praises soldier, sprinter Graham*
Canadian Press, via Halifax Chronicle, 6 Sept 06
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/526449.html

The Canadian Olympic Committee praised soldier and former sprinter Mark Graham as "a courageous patriot and an outstanding athlete" on Tuesday.  Pte. Graham was killed and more than 30 others wounded Monday in Afghanistan as two U.S. aircraft accidentally opened fire on Canadians during a strafing run. He was 33.  Graham was a member of Canada’s 4x400-metre relay team at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Graham and teammates Byron Goodwin, Mark Jackson, Freddie Williams and Anthony Wilson placed 13th . . . . 



*Latest Nato offensive ‘cornering’ Taliban*
Gulf Times (Qatar), 6 Sept 06
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.aspx?cu_no=2&item_no=106249&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

Nato forces cornering Taliban guerrillas killed 50-60 fighters in artillery and air strikes and ground battles yesterday in a major offensive to crush a revitalised Taliban in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said.
"We are closing the circle on the Taliban. We have got the Taliban in a bit of a trap," Nato spokesman Major Quentin Innes said. Late on Tuesday, he estimated Taliban casualties at up to 60 based on observations by Nato troops on the ground . . . . 



*NATO chief: Taliban thinks they can "win," but NATO will defeat militants *  
Rahim Faiez, Associated Press, 6 Sept 06
http://www.cp.org/premium/ONLINE/member/elxn_en/060906/p090605A.html

Taliban militants believe they "can win" in southern Afghanistan, but NATO forces will defeat them, the alliance's secretary general said Wednesday.  "It is clear that some of the terrorists, the spoilers think they can win in the south," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters during a press conference in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "They are wrong. Because they cannot win, they will not win," the NATO chief said. "That is why we are engaged in combat as well at this very moment."  De Hoop Scheffer and Karzai also signed an accord to boost security and development in war-ravaged Afghanistan . . . .




*Two small villages key to NATO strategy*
Hugh Graham, Toronto Star, 6 Sept 06
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157493013257&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

Why are the mud-walled Afghan villages of Panjwai and Pashmul so important that people across Canada now know the names; so crucial that five Canadian soldiers and 200 Taliban fighters died there over the weekend, not to mention the 72 Taliban who died there during a previous Canadian offensive on Aug. 20?   To start with, Pashmul is only 20 km southwest of Kandahar. And Kandahar was, in 1994, the city where the Taliban was founded. It was also the Taliban's last holdout before they lost Afghanistan to Afghan and U.S. forces in 2001.  Back then, the plan was to close the Taliban up in Kandahar before coaxing them out in the open. By this summer, however, the roles were almost reversed. Canadian troops, stationed in Kandahar, had to be careful about sallying out into Taliban ambushes . . . . 



*Soldier Defends Mission:  'We all believe in what we are doing there,' anonymous trooper says in open letter to Canadians*
Alan Cairns, Toronto Sun, 5 Sept 06
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2006/09/05/1803069-sun.html

A brave Canadian soldier, who knew the five men killed in Afghanistan over the weekend and is one day destined to fight there himself, says every soldier is devoted to the mission and accepts the risks.  "We all believe in what we are doing there ... We're not there because we are doing what we are told; we are there because we want to be there," said the man, who sought anonymity.  "My opinion is pretty much synonymous with every Canadian soldier. It's difficult to have any brothers in arms -- and your friends -- come home in a box with a flag draped over it, but the reality is this is what we do ... There may be a time when we close our eyes and never open them again." . . . . .



*Mission challenged:  Grits call for debate on Afghan strategy, PM honours fallen*
Alan Findlay, Calgary Sun, 6 Sept 06
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/09/06/1806784-sun.html

The Stephen Harper government responded to the deaths of five Canadian soldiers with nary a flinch in its commitment to Afghanistan, as several Liberal leadership candidates criticized the mission's military emphasis.  The prime minister and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor issued media statements yesterday expressing their sadness and condolences over the death of former Olympian Pte. Mark Anthony Graham, who was killed by friendly fire from an American plane . . . . 


*Opinion/Commentary*

*Harper has botched Afghanistan: Hébert*
Chantal Hebert, Toronto Star, 6 Sept 06
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157493014247&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

If a federal election had taken place yesterday, the Afghan mission would likely have cost Stephen Harper his government.  Against the backdrop of a weekend of multiple Canadian casualties topped by a deadly friendly fire incident, there is no way the thin Conservative blue line in Quebec would have held.  As daunting as the Tory majorities in the 10 seats that the party holds in Quebec may seem, they would have melted under the heat of the emotions triggered by a surge of bad news coming from an unpopular front . . . .

Brazen self-promotion -  for more.....
http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/CANinKandahar


----------



## GAP (6 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 6 Sept 2006*

Canadian troops advance on Taliban
Soldiers cross rough terrain to surround insurgents as offensive continues 
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060906.wafghan06/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN — Canadian troops pushed deep into the warren of fields in Panjwai district Wednesday morning, hunting Taliban under bright moonlight after enduring hours of co-ordinated attacks by the insurgents.

The soldiers crept forward on foot, into terrain so difficult that armoured vehicles could not advance for fear of getting stuck in the rutted fields, irrigation trenches and dry canals.

It was the first major incursion by either side in the past 24 hours, in the continuing struggle for control of Panjwai district. Operation Medusa, launched four days ago to control the volatile region southwest of Kandahar city, has settled into a siege, with hundreds of Canadian troops and their allies encircling about 700 insurgents who fiercely defend their foothold near Afghanistan's second-largest city. 

U.S. forces taking part in the battle said Tuesday they had killed between 50 and 60 suspected Taliban militants. NATO and Afghan officials have said about 200 insurgents have so far died in the operation.
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Interactive: The Panjwai Battlefield  
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/bnfiles/Battle/battleground.html#SlideFrame_1

Five Cdns. hurt in mortar attack east of Kandahar
Updated Tue. Sep. 5 2006 2:35 PM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060905/afghanistan_wounded_060905?s_name=&no_ads=

PANJWAII, Afghanistan -- Tracer rounds and exploding mortars lit up the sky Tuesday as Taliban insurgents launched brazen attacks on Canadian armoured vehicles west of Kandahar city, wounding five soldiers.

The Canadians returned fire and NATO air strikes were called in. Several buildings were left in flames during the fighting.

The five soldiers were injured when a mortar shell landed near their light armoured vehicle around 6:30 p.m. The injured were evacuated to Kandahar Airfield, the main base for alliance forces in southern Afghanistan.

None of their injuries were considered life threatening.

Two hours earlier, an insurgent with an assault rifle fired several shots at armoured vehicles.

An Apache attack helicopter blasted away at his position. When the dazed man wandered out of the building still brandishing his AK-47, Canadian soldiers gunned him down.

The troops of Canada's Task Force Kandahar have scrambled several times in recent days to deal with casualties and to counter Taliban attacks.
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British Soldier Killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press Wednesday, September 6, 2006; 1:58 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/06/AR2006090600423.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A British soldier was killed and six others were wounded _ five seriously _ when their patrol strayed into an unmarked minefield in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the alliance said.

The soldiers were evacuated to a NATO medical facility after they were extracted from the minefield in volatile Helmand province, a NATO statement said.
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Three British soldiers have been killed by a landmine in southern Afghanistan. Wed Sep 6 2006
http://www.itv.com/news/world_8deeffc9161b2650aa83375103a2b586.html

Following the death of one soldier in the explosion in the northern Helmand province earlier, the MoD later confirmed that two further soldiers had died.

Of those killed, one was a soldier who had been seriously injured in an incident last Friday.

Earlier, Nato warned the Taliban that it will not be deterred by the movement's resurgence in southern Afghanistan.

Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has pledged to go ahead with Nato's planned takeover from US forces in the east by the end of the year.

He added: "The ongoing violence in some areas of the country, as we are experiencing and witnessing, will not deter NATO from carrying out its mission."

His comments come as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepare to hold talks in Kabul over the ongoing conflict.

Nato recently launched their biggest land offensive, Operation Medusa, to crush the Taliban in their southern heartland.

Nato forces claim that more than 250 Taliban fighters have been killed in the worst fighting since the 2001 war.
End

CVW-1 Strikes Continue Over Afghanistan
Story Number: NNS060906-12 Release Date: 9/6/2006 1:33:00 PM
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=25439

From USS Enterprise Public Affairs

ABOARD USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- For the second consecutive day, aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 stationed aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65) provided support to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops on the ground Sept. 4, as part of Operation Medusa in Afghanistan. 

In concert with coalition air forces, and in response to requests from ISAF troops in contact with Taliban extremists, F/A-18C Hornets from both the “Sidewinders” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 86, based in Beaufort, S.C., and the “Knighthawks” of VFA-136, based in Virginia Beach, Va., conducted several missions, including a strike mission, on sites near Kandahar being used by the extremists for attacks on ISAF ground forces. 

“Carrier Air Wing 1 continues to provide flexible and effective support for the ISAF ground forces,” said Capt. James Paulsen, deputy commander, CVW-1. “Whether we operate from land or sea, the Enterprise Strike Group team is helping to set the conditions for security and stability in the region.” 
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The right war - for now   
Lorne Gunter, National Post Wednesday, September 06, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=720744f6-1f37-48e7-b815-52ff96d2b6d2&p=2

And it still is, at least for now.

The second solid reason for us to have troops there, fighting, is that al-Qaeda still remains a threat to the West, and, yes, even to Canada. Al-Qaeda may have less clout than it did before 9/11, but it still had its fingerprints on bombings in Bali, Madrid, Mogadishu and last summer in London. And it is implicated in last month's scheme to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic.

Al-Qaeda remains very dangerous. And if we are not fighting them in Afghanistan, they almost certainly will be attacking us here.

Moreover, if the Taliban are permitted to regain control over even part of Afghanistan, there can be no doubt they will invite al-Qaeda back in to begin training and plotting again.

So while it is difficult to see Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, they are there fighting in the right cause -- at least until al Qaeda and the Taliban are subdued.

lgunter@shaw.ca
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Guess what, war is hell  
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN Wed, September 6, 2006 
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Goldstein_Lorrie/2006/09/06/1806205.html

For all those who wondered what the mindless, idiotic repetition of the phony idea that we are a "peacekeeping" nation would do to Canadians over the long term, now we know. 

Today, we can't stomach 32 military deaths fighting for a just cause before crying "uncle." Shame on us. 

Shame on us for betraying our soldiers, who continue to do the tough job we asked them to do for us in Afghanistan. 

Where would we be today if our parents and grandparents had displayed the same lack of resolve toward Hitler? 

Was nobody listening a year ago when then defence minister Bill Graham -- one of the few Liberals who has acted with honour on Afghanistan -- repeatedly warned us that we were undertaking a dangerous new mission in Kandahar? 

That our soldiers would be helping to free Afghanistan from the iron grip of the terrorist-loving Taliban and that there would be heavy Canadian casualties? 

Was no one listening when Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier warned us our troops would be hunting down "murderers and scumbags" who would be firing back and that our soldiers would be killed? 

Oh, but that's right. When Hillier said that last year, he was pounced upon by the high foreheads in the Ottawa press gallery for speaking out of turn. In other words, for telling us the truth. Such is the sad state of our know-it-all national media, who think a "nuanced" position in foreign affairs means forever proclaiming our "neutrality" in conflicts where we should not be neutral, while blathering about "peacekeeping" in places where there is no peace to keep. 

And since, in fact, more than 100 Canadians have died in "peacekeeping" operations since 1956, would somebody please tell the cut-and-run crowd led by federal NDP Leader Jack Layton that "peacekeeping" was never without risk, contrary to the myths that politicians like him have spun over the years? 

A year ago, when Gen. Hillier was explicitly warning us about the deadly and difficult task awaiting our soldiers in Kandahar and that "we're not the public service of Canada, we are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people," Layton never said, as he is now, that we should abandon our military mission there. In fact, he said the exact opposite. 

Back then, Layton said that "given what has happened" -- a reference to last July's terrorist bombings of the London transit system -- Gen. Hillier's "controlled anger" was "an appropriate response" and that "we have a very committed, level-headed head of our armed forces who isn't afraid to express the passion that underlies the mission that front-line personnel are going to be taking on." 

Yeah, Layton said that. 

So could someone in Ottawa ask him how he squares what he said then with what he's saying now, that we should run away and -- God help us -- negotiate with the Taliban? 

Uh, negotiate what with the Taliban, Jack? The separation of mosque and state? Women's and children's rights? Union contracts with mandatory bathroom breaks for suicide bombers? C'mon! 

The sad spectacle of Layton going wobbly on a mission he supported a year ago speaks to why the NDP isn't up to the job of running a lemonade stand, let alone the country. 

And Layton isn't even the root problem. He's the symptom. 

He sums up perfectly the attitude of too many of us who think that supporting our soldiers means shedding a tear when the latest war casualties are returned to Canada today, while demanding that our troops be brought home. This, while mindlessly screeching that "Stephen Harper is a Bush clone," which ignores the rather salient point that while Harper supports the Kandahar mission, Paul Martin sent us there. 

In any event, respecting our soldiers doesn't mean shedding crocodile tears over our war dead. It means honouring their sacrifice by giving their comrades the support they need to finish the job. 

It means deciding -- before we put our soldiers in harm's way -- whether we have the stomach for it. Because if we don't, we should never have sent them in the first place. 
End

Afghan-Pakistani talks on border
POSTED: 0617 GMT (1417 HKT), September 6, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/06/pakistan.afghanistan.ap/index.html

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan's leader was heading to neighboring Afghanistan on Wednesday to tackle the tenacious problem of militants using the two countries -- both key U.S. allies in the war on terror -- as bases to attack each other, officials said.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf planned to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The two-day visit comes amid Afghanistan's deadliest spate of violence since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Militants often cross the two countries' long, porous border. Both governments routinely accuse each other of not doing enough to control the frontier, where Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives are believed to be hiding.

"Afghanistan is expecting the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to take effective action against terrorism," said Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen.

Musharraf will likely give Karzai evidence that individuals have used Afghan territory to destabilize Pakistan's Baluchistan province, a Pakistani government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Tribal militants in remote, impoverished Baluchistan have long been waging a violent campaign for more wealth from resources extracted there. Pakistani officials have repeatedly said the insurgents were receiving munitions from smugglers based in Afghanistan.

During Musharraf's visit, he will also inform Karzai of steps Pakistan has taken to curb militancy, drive Taliban and al-Qaida remnants from border areas, and control weapons and drug smuggling, the official said.
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'Revenge' pushes hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan
POSTED: 0313 GMT (1113 HKT), September 3, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/03/afghan.sept11.ap/index.html

NARAY, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of American soldiers at this remote outpost are keeping up the hunt for Osama bin Laden even though the trail's gone cold, still motivated by memories of the hijacked and crashed airliners of five years ago on September 11.

"Revenge was a big part of it," said 24-year-old Lt. Mike Vieira of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division. The unit's 600 soldiers arrived here in February at what was then the army's northernmost outpost along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

From the base, called Forward Operating Base Naray, soldiers can spy ethnic Pashtun tribesmen and militants walking on a nearby ridge that marks the border with Pakistan. It's a known passage for surreptitious crossings.

At least seven soldiers, including the battalion's first commander, Lt. Col. Joseph J. Fenty of Florida, have been killed in ambushes and helicopter crashes during the mission. The troops are pushing into areas of eastern Afghanistan where anti-U.S. insurgents have long operated unchallenged.

The steep, wooded valleys offer countless hideouts and natural vantage points for militants to stage ambushes.

"These mountains are very, very ruthless," says Sgt. Ross Gilbert, a 24-year-old Californian. On his third tour to Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001 toppled the Taliban regime, Gilbert said the failure to capturing bin Laden is a major frustration for him and fellow infantrymen.

"But I know he is hiding somewhere and he is not able to get out and around," Gilbert said. "He is hiding like a little mouse in a cave from a snake. Right now he is on the run. He ain't got nowhere to go and one of these days we'll get him."
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In Pakistan, signs of al Qaeda all around
POSTED: 2143 GMT (0543 HKT), September 5, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/05/tracking.terror/index.html

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

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- We could have been anywhere when the latest al Qaeda video hit the Internet because it was available worldwide on dozens of Web sites.

But it was most likely made within 200 miles of where we were.

Five years after 9/11, Pakistan appears to have replaced Afghanistan as the group's center of gravity.

Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be in the more remote parts of this country. Two of the London subway bombers planned and trained for their mission here.

And al Qaeda's production company, As Sahab, also apparently does much of its work in Pakistan.

The Pakistani government has cut a deal with the Taliban in Waziristan province that essentially allows the group to run its own affairs as long as it promises not to export terror across the border to Afghanistan.

Waziristan is one of the places where bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are thought to have hidden out and where As Sahab produces its work.

Spreading the message
On a crowded and poor commercial street in the border town of Lahore, Pakistan, the day after the al Qaeda video appeared, we visit an Internet cafe.

Cafe is probably the wrong word. It is a small room with 10 workstations, all of them in use.
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Dryden calls for debate on Afghanistan
SCOTT DEVEAU AND BILL CURRY Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060905.wdryden0905/BNStory/National/home

Liberal leadership candidate Ken Dryden called today on the Conservative government to reopen the debate on Canada's role in Afghanistan.

"I don't believe we should start a pullout now. But we should start a very close re-examination of where we are and what we are doing," Mr. Dryden told reporters in Ottawa as he unveiled his "Big Canada" platform, which focused on the Kyoto agreement on climate change, the Kelowna Accord on aborigional issues and a national child care program.

Mr. Dryden said the debate should take place in six months time.

He said he supports the current mission but wants a debate to hear from experts as to whether it should be changed or even abandoned.
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How Afghanistan led to war in The Hague
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=26746

If Dutch troops go to Afghanistan, junior coalition party D66 may drag its ministers out of the Dutch government, causing it to collapse. We examine the latest political poker game in The Hague.

The long-running indecision about dispatching 1,200 troops to the south of Afghanistan is turning into a political poker game, with the fate of the Dutch government at stake. All sides seem prepared to let the crisis go down to the wire and no one is about to fold.
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Taliban Gains in Afghanistan Due to U.S.-Led Policy, Study Says 
By Alex Morales Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) 
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aIxrzepD8Bkk&refer=canada

 The Taliban is gaining ground in Afghanistan due to ``misguided'' policies of the U.S.-led coalition and NATO that focus on fighting insurgents rather than combating poverty, a security and drugs policy analyst said. 

U.S.- and U.K.-led counter-narcotic programs in Afghanistan to eradicate the cultivation of opium poppies, and ongoing military campaigns in the south, have accelerated the insurgency and led many Afghans to support the Taliban, the Senlis Council said today in a 217-page report. 

``The Taliban has de facto military control of half of Afghanistan, as well as strong psychological control,'' Emmanuel Reinert, executive director of the council, told reporters in London. ``Because the Taliban is helping ordinary people, support for them is growing.'' 

Afghan, coalition and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces this year have faced a resurgent Taliban, mainly in southern Afghanistan. The Taliban have stepped up attacks, including suicide bombings, in response to military efforts to extend the influence of the central government into remote eastern and southern provinces. 

Violence and poppy eradication programs have forced thousands of Afghans into makeshift camps after they fled their homes in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, Reinert said. Coalition efforts need to be aimed at feeding people rather than destroying poppies, their only source of income, he said. 

``These people are starving; they don't have access to clean water; children are dying,'' Reinert said. 
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Afghanistan: Campaign against Taliban 'causes misery and hunger' 
By Kim Sengupta 6 September 2006
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1367185.ece

Two international think-tanks published reports yesterday highlighting failures of US and UK policy in Afghanistan, and warned the security situation in the country was deteriorating. 

The Senlis Council claimed that the campaign by British forces against the Taliban had inflicted lawlessness, misery and starvation on the Afghan people.

Thousands of villagers fleeing the fighting and a continuing drought, as well as farmers who have lost their livelihood with the eradication of the opium crop, were suffering dreadful conditions in refugee camps.

In a separate intervention, the influential International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) said that a vital opportunity was lost when the West failed to carry out adequate reconstruction work after the 2001 war.

Christopher Langton, the head of the IISS defence analysis department, also said that attempts to impose secular laws on a tribal Pashtun society, without the establishment of security, had not worked. At the same time, the war against the Taliban was being hampered because caveats imposed by some Nato countries on the mission have led to a lack of combat flexibility.
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US shakes east Afghanistan
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1960265.cms

NANGALAM: The thunderous sound of an artillery gun roars through this deep river valley in eastern Afghanistan as American troops lob shells, one after another, high into the rocky mountains. 

As Nato-led troops try to quash a raging insurgency in the south of the country, the US troops in the eastern provinces keep hammering against Taliban, Al Qaida and other Islamic extremists hiding in the forbidding peaks they've long used as sanctuaries. 

US troops from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division deployed here in March, among a community of 19,000 Afghans in Data Pech, in Kunar province. 

At gates of the military's Camp Blessing, children and old men mill around the entrance, some looking for menial jobs, others just wiling away the time. 

Nearby, men work in the fields and women clad in blue burqas walk along tiny dune-coloured footpaths. The base nestles into the face of a mountain, and at its foot lie two artillery pieces that are used daily to support troops operating deeper in the mountains. 
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UK troops in Afghanistan beyond 3 years
Tue Sep 5, 2006 11:51 PM BST
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-05T225105Z_01_L05622945_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-AFGHANISTAN-MILITARY.xml

LONDON (Reuters) - British troops will probably have to stay in Afghanistan beyond their three-year mission, the new head of Britain's army said Tuesday.

Asked whether he thought his troops, who entered southern Afghanistan this year, would stay beyond the three years announced by the government, General Sir Richard Dannatt said: "We have undertaken a mission that is pretty comprehensive."

"Security may take longer than the three years currently funded for," Dannatt said. "It is a decades-long enduring relationship with southern Afghanistan. I fully anticipate we will be there for longer. How long, I don't know."

He was meeting a group of journalists after taking over as Chief of the General Staff from Sir Mike Jackson.

British troops arrived in southern Afghanistan as part of an expanding NATO peacekeeping force. They have quickly become engaged in unexpectedly heavy fighting with Taliban guerrillas.
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Showdown brewing in Ottawa over Afghanistan
Updated Tue. Sep. 5 2006 11:35 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060905/opposition_afghan_showdown_060905/20060905?hub=TopStories

Canada's minority Conservative government appears headed toward a showdown with Opposition parties over Canada's growing combat role in Afghanistan. 

When unveiling his leadership platform on Tuesday, federal Liberal leadership hopeful Ken Dryden aimed some choice criticism at the Conservative government's reluctance to debate Canada's increasingly dangerous role in the war-torn country. 

"What we needed in the spring was a real debate, what we still need is a real debate," he said. 

"The question for us is the basic one: whether we should be there in the first place," said Dryden as Canada's death toll rose past 30 over Labour Day weekend. 

Dryden's voice joins those of NDP Leader Jack Layton, who has repeatedly called for a withdrawal, and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who has called for an emergency debate. 
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Suspected Al Qaeda Aides Arrested in Afghanistan  
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,212358,00.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — Security forces arrested two suspects in a raid on an Al Qaeda hide-out in eastern Afghanistan, and confiscated weapons and night vision equipment believed used for bomb attacks on Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops, the coalition said Wednesday. 

An assault force of Afghan and coalition troops raided the compound, believed to be a refuge "for Al Qaeda facilitators linked to a known terrorist network" near Pelankhel village in Khost province on Tuesday, a coalition statement said. The suspects surrendered peacefully.

The coalition did not identify the suspects or give their nationalities.

Weapons, night vision equipment and various electronic devices, suspected of being used for improvised explosive devices, were found in the compound, the statement said.

"Credible intelligence linked the targeted terrorists to plotting IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Khost province," it said.

U.S.-led coalition forces are concentrating their hunt for Al Qaeda, Taliban and other Islamic militants in the east of the country, along the Pakistan border, where Usama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are still suspected to be hiding, nearly five years after the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
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2 terrorists captured in E. Afghanistan 
September 06, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/06/eng20060906_300179.html

Two terrorists were arrested in eastern Khost province of Afghanistan by Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces, a coalition statement said Wednesday. 

The forces conducted an operation Tuesday on a compound near Pelankhel village, and two terrorists were captured. 

"Credible intelligence linked the targeted terrorists to plotting roadside bombs against Afghan and coalition forces in Khost province," the statement said. 

During the operation, no shots were fired and people in the compound, which coalition forces said was a refuge for al-Qaeda facilitators linked to a known terrorist network, surrendered peacefully. 

Several women and children were also present within the compound. 

"Weapons, night vision equipment and various electronic devices, which are suspected of being used for improvised explosive devices, were collected during a search of the compound," the statement said. 

Khost, a mountainous region, has been a hotbed of Taliban, al- Qaeda and other anti-government insurgents. 

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,100 people, mostly Taliban militants, were killed. 
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Taliban suspected in cleric killings in southern Afghanistan   
The Associated Press  September 6, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/06/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Clerics_Killed.php

Suspected Taliban have killed two pro-government Muslim clerics in a southern Afghan city in two days, an official said Wednesday.

Gunmen shot dead Dost Mohammed, a member of the Helmand province Islamic clerics council, by the gate of his home in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, on Tuesday night, Ghulam Muhiddin, the Helmand governor's spokesman, said.

It followed the shooting death of Mullah Ahmad Jan, a former member of the council, in the city on Monday night, Muhiddin said.

He blamed both attacks on Taliban militants who have stepped up attacks over the past year, sometimes targeting pro-government religious figures.
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Losing Afghanistan  
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060906/OPINION01/609060511

Believers in "body counts" and other Vietnam-era tallies may be cheered by the weekend's reports that a NATO-led offensive in southern Afghanistan killed more than 200 Taliban militants. 

Almost everyone else, however, will realize that developments in that cursed country are bad and getting worse. 
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Bagram C-130s Use High-Tech Cargo Delivery System
By Maj. David Kurle, USAF Special to American Forces Press Service 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=707

WASHINGTON, Sep. 6, 2006 – The same global positioning technology that helps fighter and bomber pilots deliver smart bombs with pinpoint accuracy now allows bundles dropped from cargo planes to steer themselves to drop zones.  
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## Colin Parkinson (6 Sep 2006)

Good Photo's on CBC web page

http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/_world.html?dataPath=/photogallery/world/gallery_53/xml/gallery_53.xml


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## GAP (7 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 7 Sept 2006*

The Afghan mission is not a failure  
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/RTGAM.20060906.wxcomack06/BNStory/National/home

There's 'tradition' and then there's getting the job done, says retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie 
LEWIS MACKENZIE 

As the leader of a party that has little chance of governing the country, the NDP's Jack Layton can accept the political risk of holding up a mirror to the government's decisions and occasionally acting as our national conscience. On the subject of Canada's role in Afghanistan, however, I fear he is dead wrong and am left to wonder if he is following the polls and playing domestic politics on the backs of our soldiers. 

Mr. Layton says that he and the NDP support our soldiers but question the wisdom and achievability of NATO's mission in Afghanistan. And, having said that, he goes on to say the mission is the wrong mission for Canada and is, at the very least, unclear. I can only assume Mr. Layton's call for a withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2007, to pursue more traditional Canadian roles involving mediation and negotiation, is based on a widely held myth that we are better than the rest of the 192 nations in the United Nations at the dated concept of "peacekeeping."

Peacekeeping between states that went to war and needed an excuse to stop fighting worked relatively well during the Cold War and Canada played a role in each and every mission. Mind you, at the height of our participation in UN missions during the 1970s and '80s we had a maximum of 2,000 soldiers wearing the blue beret deployed abroad in places such as Cyprus and the Golan Heights. At the same time, we had 10,000 personnel serving with NATO on the Central Front in Germany, armed with nuclear weapons, ready and waiting for the Soviet hoards to attack across the East German border. Peacekeeping was a sideline activity. We did it well, along with others such as Sweden, India,

Norway, Brazil -- but it was never even close to being our top priority.

The other Canadian myth that might have influenced Mr. Layton's ill-timed call for our withdrawal is the oft-quoted description of Canada's policies being "even-handed," "neutral" or "impartial." We never take a stand for fear of upsetting someone. But the facts surrounding even our exaggerated peacekeeping role explode this troubling myth. For example, in the approval process preceding the very first UN lightly armed peacekeeping mission -- stick-handled by Lester Pearson through a hesitant Security Council in 1956 -- Canada voted against the British and French and, by default, sided with Egypt. We took a stand. 

To suggest, as Mr. Layton does, that we should pull out of the Afghan mission next year and return to our more "traditional" roles ignores one compelling fact. There will be no significant capability for any nation to carry out those "traditional" roles of nation-building in southern Afghanistan until those who are committed to stopping such undertakings are removed from the equation.

In other words, by leaving, we would be saying to the remaining 36 nations on the ground in Afghanistan, "Hey guys, this is getting pretty difficult. We have decided to leave and go home, but don't worry, when the rest of you have put down this insurrection and things are peaceful, we will return and offer our vastly superior skills in putting countries back together. So please, call us as soon as the shooting stops -- for good."

For all those who, like Mr. Layton, say the mission is imprecise, unclear, without an exit strategy, etc., let me disagree and say that to a NATO military commander the mission is crystal clear. 

It is to leave Afghanistan as quickly as humanly possible -- having turned the security of the country over to competent Afghan military and police forces controlled in their efforts by a democratically elected national government. Sounds pretty clear to me.

Retired major-general Lewis MacKenzie was the first commander of United Nations peacekeeping forces in Sarajevo.
End




NATO commander calls for reinforcements in Afghanistan
General James L. Jones says coming weeks will be 'decisive' 
PAUL AMES Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060907.wnato0907/BNStory/International/home

CASTEAU, BELGIUM — NATO's top commander, General James L. Jones, on Thursday called for allied nations to send reinforcements to southern Afghanistan, saying the coming weeks could be decisive in the fight against the Taliban.

Gen. Jones will meet top generals from the 26 NATO nations Friday and Saturday in Warsaw in an attempt to generate troops, planes and helicopters needed for the mission in southern Afghanistan.

Gen. Jones acknowledged that NATO had been surprised by the “level of intensity” of Taliban attacks since the alliance moved into the southern region in July and by the fact that the insurgents were prepared to stand and fight rather than deploy their usual hit-and-run tactics.

However, he was confident that NATO troops could win the battle.
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Injured Canadian soldiers to return home Friday
Updated Wed. Sep. 6 2006 10:50 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060905/afghanistan_sendoff_060906/20060906?hub=TopStories

Several Canadian soldiers seriously wounded in Monday's friendly fire incident in Afghanistan will return home by the end of the week, CTV News has learned. 

Pte. Mark Anthony Graham was killed and dozens of soldiers were wounded Monday when two U.S. fighter jets that were called in for air support mistakenly strafed the Canadians with cannon fire. 

"The (image) that sticks in my head was my driver," Sgt. Kym Cousineau, one of eight seriously wounded Canadians in the incident, told CTV News on Wednesday. "He was yelling, 'I've been hit.' And I was trying to get him calm because I knew that he and I weren't the only two hit. I could hear the screams and yells from everyone else behind the vehicles." 

The wounded soldiers are currently at the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, in a ward dubbed the "Canuck Room." 
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Taliban bolster force fighting Canadians
GRAEME SMITH With a report from Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060907.AFGHANREINFORCE07/TPStory

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN -- Taliban fighters have snuck past a military cordon and swollen the ranks of insurgents now in their sixth day of a major standoff with Canadian troops, according to local government and intelligence officials.

The fact that the Taliban are replacing the fighters they've lost in daily air strikes and artillery barrages shows their determination, local officials say, to keep holding a strategic warren of villages known as Pashmul, about 15 kilometres west of Kandahar city.

A Taliban fighter claimed yesterday that the breach also shows the Canadians' weakness, saying the foreign troops weren't able to isolate the insurgents.

"Hundreds of Taliban fighters came from Helmand yesterday to help us," the fighter said.
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Taliban takes over town for second time in 2 months
Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060907.wtown0907/BNStory

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Taliban militants took over a southern police station after officers fled an Afghan town for a second time in two months, police said Thursday.

Under attack from Taliban forces, police on Wednesday left the remote Helmand province town of Garmser, which was briefly held by insurgents in July before a U.S.-led force reclaimed it, said district police chief, Ghulam Nabi Malakhail.

NATO spokesman Major Scott Lundy said clashes did erupt in Garmser on Wednesday, but he was unaware that police had left the town.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, said Taliban forces have occupied Garmser's police compound since police fled after a large group of insurgents surrounded it.
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Ads reflect military's changing character
BILL CURRY 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060907.ADS07/TPStory

OTTAWA -- In a bid to attract new recruits, the Canadian Forces are developing an aggressive new advertising campaign that characterizes a military career as an exciting chance to "fight terror."

A draft version of the television ad shows dark images of soldiers in combat and jumping out of a plane. Soldiers are also shown stealthily approaching the door of a home in what appears to be Afghanistan. It then cuts to what looks like three hostages being filmed in a terrorist video and civilians grieving.

During the draft ad, three phrases appear separately in sequence stating: "Fight distress, fight with the Canadian Forces and fight terror." However, focus groups reacted negatively to the phrase "fight terror," and a report from Patterson, Langlois Consultants suggested the Department of National Defence drop it from the final ad along with some of the more aggressive scenes that "may prove more provocative than necessary."

The new action advertisements stand in sharp contrast to earlier Forces recruiting efforts, which in the main emphasized the military as a good place to find a job, career, education and training.
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Troops advance on TalibanCanadians cross rough terrain to surround insurgents as offensive continues, reports GRAEME SMITH 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060906.AFGHANMAIN06/TPStory

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN -- Canadian troops pushed deep into the warren of fields in Panjwai district this morning, hunting Taliban under bright moonlight after enduring hours of co-ordinated attacks by the insurgents.

The soldiers crept forward on foot, into terrain so difficult that armoured vehicles could not advance for fear of getting stuck in the rutted fields, irrigation trenches and dry canals.

It was the first major incursion by either side in the past 24 hours, in the continuing struggle for control of Panjwai district. Operation Medusa, launched four days ago to control the volatile region southwest of Kandahar city, has settled into a siege, with hundreds of Canadian troops and their allies encircling about 700 insurgents who fiercely defend their foothold near Afghanistan's second-largest city. 

U.S. forces taking part in the battle said yesterday they had killed between 50 and 60 suspected Taliban militants. NATO and Afghan officials have said about 200 insurgents have so far died in the operation.
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O'Connor wants answers over friendly fire killing
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen Thursday, September 07, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f9a5caf6-e902-4a9b-b400-3c946ff2e758&k=94267

OTTAWA - Warning against any rush to judgment that smacks of anti-Americanism, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said he wants to know whether pilot error or a larger systemic failure led to Monday's friendly fire killing of a Canadian soldier by a U.S. warplane.

In an exclusive interview with CanWest News Service, O'Connor said he has confidence a U.S. military board of inquiry on which Canadian observers have been invited to participate will determine what led to Monday's strafing of Canadian positions by two American A-10 bombers that killed 33-year-old Pte. Mark Anthony Graham and wounded dozens of his comrades.

''What we would want to know is whether any of the co-ordinating procedures were violated. Is it a systemic problem, or is it just an act of an individual? Their board of inquiry, with our participation, will determine that,'' O'Connor said on Wednesday in a telephone interview from Canberra, the Australian capital.

O'Connor refused to speculate what should be done if pilot error were found to be the cause.

Four Canadian troops were killed by an American F-16 blast in April 2002 near Kandahar Air Field.

An American pilot, who was later found guilty of dereliction of duty and fined, had mistaken the Canadian troops for Taliban fighters.

O'Connor said Canadians should resist the temptation to ''rush to judgment'' in the current case, even though it is the second friendly fire fatality involving American planes.

''I was a bit surprised in the 2002 (incident) with the response. Some of it was latent anti-Americanism. No one goes out in battle and intends to hurt their own allies. Sometimes accidents occur or misunderstandings occur,'' said O'Connor.
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DND rushes to buy infrared beacons so attack jets can see troops
Glen McGregor, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen  Thursday, September 07, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=76b6f104-5c45-43aa-bb80-43692257e41b

OTTAWA - In the aftermath of the latest deadly friendly fire accident in Afghanistan, the Canadian military is making a rush order for thousands of infrared beacons that help ground troops be seen by allied aircraft.

A contract notice issued Wednesday said the Department of National Defence has an "urgent requirement" for 1,000 infrared strobes and 5,000 infrared markers for use in Afghanistan.

DND was unable to say Wednesday whether the Canadian troops strafed with cannon fire from U.S. A-10 jets near Kandahar early Monday were equipped with infrared-emitting units to make them more visible from the air.

One soldier, Pte. Mark Graham, was killed and 30 others injured in accident, which occurred shortly after dawn. One report described weather conditions at the time as hazy.

Infrared strobes ordered by DND are typically used on military vehicles and can be seen with proper equipment from more than 25,000 feet above. The smaller infrared markers are attached to soldiers' helmets and are used to help them see each other when using night-vision goggles.

Like many modern combat aircraft, the low-flying A-10s used by the U.S. air force in Afghanistan are equipped with infrared targeting systems. The strobes would show up as bright flashing lights on the A-10s' cockpit display. Pilots could also see the strobes if they were wearing night-vision goggles.

Although there may been enough dawn light to see at the time of the accident, the A-10 pilots would likely have used their infrared systems, which can be superior to the naked eye even in daylight and particularly in poor weather.

"All the armed forces in the world are struggling with combat ID," said Alan Sarsons of Primex Project Management Ltd., the company that received the DND order. He called the infrared beacons "a very effective tool" in helping identify friendly forces.

Primex has sold infrared equipment to DND, but Sarsons didn't how many were available to troops currently in the field.

"This is biggest buy they have ever done," he said.
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Tories show no sign of supporting another debate on Afghan mission
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen Wednesday, September 06, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=3993e23d-7853-4410-9169-6c4f4da0d217

OTTAWA - A day of national soul searching sparked fresh demands Tuesday for another parliamentary debate on the Afghanistan mission following the deaths of five more Canadian soldiers there last weekend, but the Conservative government showed no signs of granting the request.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe called on Stephen Harper to agree to a debate in the House of Commons on Canada's broader foreign policy objectives before the prime minister gives his first major speech at the United Nations two days later on Sept. 20.

Duceppe accused Harper of having a ''dogmatic'' world view that has him in lock step with the Bush administration, and predicted that position would hurt the PM's chances of making crucial political inroads in Quebec. Duceppe also said Canadians need to hear the prime minister's broader foreign policy objectives before he unveils them at the UN.

''I think Harper is too close with the Bush administration in the United States. Period. That kind of attitude is anathema in Quebec. As long as Mr. Harper will have that attitude, they won't support those policies,'' Duceppe said Tuesday in an interview. 

The Bloc leader said he thinks Harper is making foreign policy on the fly something he believes was in evidence this summer when the prime minister supported Israel in its war in Lebanon against Hezbollah. ''It is dogmatic. It is based on 'you're with me, or against me, the good against the bad.' And life's not like that,'' said Duceppe. ''In foreign affairs, like in any other aspect of politics, things are not all black or all white. You have to be more sophisticated.''

Neither Duceppe, nor Liberal leadership contender Ken Dryden would support the demand by NDP Leader Jack Layton to simply bring home Canada's 2,300 troops from southern Afghanistan.

Duceppe dismissed Layton's demand made last week before five Canadians were killed on the weekend as unrealistic given Canada's commitments to its British and Dutch allies currently fighting the major NATO offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

Dryden said a parliamentary debate was necessary to give voice to the mixed feelings most Canadians have about the need to support their troops as the death toll rises to 33, including one diplomat. ''It's a conflict that is going on inside all of us,'' Dryden said Tuesday. ''It's fair. It's right. It's human. But we need to have expression of that. We need to have something else more to go on rather than the periodic military sloganeering and rhetoric that we hear.''
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AFGHANISTAN: Thousands displaced by fighting in Kandahar
06 Sep 2006 18:36:23 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/fa63a27f864fc792690d3e4a73d67515.htm

KABUL, 6 September (IRIN) - Thousands of Afghan families have been displaced by fierce clashes between NATO and Taliban fighters in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Nabi Safai, head of Kandahar's Refugees Department, said reports from tribal leaders in the Panjwaii and Zhari districts indicated more than 2,500 families had been displaced by the fighting.

"People are still feeing their villages and are in a very desperate condition with no shelter and food," Safai said.

The displaced were living in different parts of the province including Kandahar city and the districts of Arghandab and Daman, officials said. Many were staying with relatives.

Haji Agha Lalai, a tribal elder in Panjwaii, estimated that up to 5,000 families had been displaced from Panjwaii and Zhari.

"The governor of Kandahar has helped some 1,000 displaced families but the remaining thousand families are in a very bad condition and need urgent assistance," Lalai said.

He also claimed that 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed during a NATO air strike on the villages of Zangawat and Ghalzian villages in Panjwaii on Sunday.

There has been a surge in Taliban-led violence in southern Afghanistan. Operation Medusa, a NATO and Afghan government-led operation targeting the Taliban, was launched at the weekend, killing more than 250 militants in Panjwaii and Zhari, according to reports. 

Nader Farhad, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman in Kabul, said it was aware of the recent displacements but did not have precise figures because of the security situation.
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U.S. launches attack in east Afghanistan
Sept. 6, 2006, 1:25PM By FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press Writer © 2006 The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4167358.html

KANDAGAL, Afghanistan — U.S. troops on Wednesday launched a fearsome barrage of artillery and rockets into a mountainous militant stronghold in eastern Afghanistan where they suffered their deadliest combat loss more than a year ago.

Despite high casualties suffered by Taliban-led militants since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and tough military action to root them out, insurgents still pose as deadly a threat as ever to the scores of troops from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division deployed near the Pakistan border.
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How NATO Hopes to Turn the Tide in Afghanistan
Though the casualties are mounting, the alliance's new military offensive may have learned from its predecessors' mistakes
By ARYN BAKER/KABUL 
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1532316,00.html

Posted Wednesday, Sep. 06, 2006
By any measure, NATO has had a pretty bad week in Afghanistan. Four Canadian soldiers were killed in clashes in the south over the weekend; 14 British troops died in a plane crash on Sunday; a suicide bomber killed a British soldier and four bystanders after ramming his car into a military convoy in Kabul; one NATO soldier died when he walked into an unmarked minefield, while another died in a mortar attack. And on Monday, a U.S. military plane mistakenly strafed Canadian soldiers, killing one. As if to underscore the challenge facing the alliance, U.N. officials announced last weekend that Afghanistan's opium harvest grew by 50% this year, to a record 6,100 tons — about 92% of the world's supply. Still, even in the face of that torrent of bad news, a new offensive, dubbed Operation Medusa, suggests that the alliance may be finding its feet, little more than a month after the NATO-led International Security Force took over southern Afghanistan from U.S. forces. 

Operation Medusa, involving around 2,000 NATO and Afghan soldiers, is the alliance's biggest offensive to date against the Taliban. The operation is centered on the beleaguered southern district of Panjwai, which saw weeks of intense clashes between Taliban and coalition forces earlier this summer. 

NATO commanders appear to have learned from their predecessors' experiences in the region, however. A heavy U.S. aerial bombardment in the area in May killed some 16 civilians, but also seemed to embolden the Taliban, who had returned to the region soon after coalition forces left to capitalize on local anger at losses inflicted by U.S. forces. This time, it seems, NATO intends to take and hold the contested area, no matter the cost. "When fighting such a war, it is inevitable that we will have casualties. It is a sad but necessary consequence of what NATO is doing [in Afghanistan]," says NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, "We have to win this fight, and we will do what ever is necessary to win it." 
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Musharraf: Taliban launching cross-border attacks in Afghanistan, denies govt involvement   
The Associated Press Published: September 7, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/07/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Pakistan.php

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Thursday acknowledged that al-Qaida and Taliban militants were crossing from Pakistan to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, but denied Pakistan's powerful military intelligence agency was helping them.

"You blame us for what is happening in Afghanistan," Musharraf said in an address to Afghan government and army officials and lawmakers at the Foreign Ministry in Kabul. "Let me say neither the government of Pakistan nor ISI (Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence) is involved in any kind of interference inside Afghanistan."

Musharraf's speech, also attended by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, came a day after the two leaders resolved to cooperate to fight the "common enemy" of terrorism and extremism.

The meeting in Kabul came as Afghanistan — particularly in the south — faced its deadliest surge of violence since the U.S.-led invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States that toppled the Taliban regime for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In his speech, Musharraf said Pakistan had supported the fundamentalist Taliban in the 1990s but that had changed after the al-Qaida attacks on America.

He said Pakistan was saddened by the accusation that it was to blame for every bomb blast and suicide attack in Afghanistan and that it was supporting terrorism inside the neighboring country.
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## Edward Campbell (7 Sep 2006)

From today’s *(7 Sep 06)* _Globe and Mail_; reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act:
----------
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060907.wxblatchford07/BNStory/National/home 

From out of the blue, five flashes of red grief

*CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD*

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

TRENTON, ONT. — As the sun was starting to sink here yesterday, well before the first of the caskets even started to move out of the belly of the sleek grey military Airbus along a little conveyor belt type of apparatus -- making them look as though they had a will of their own -- and down an automated ramp, several dozen civilians gathered outside the fence along Old Highway 2 at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

They stood quietly.

They held Canadian flags great and small.

They wept. I know this because a pretty young air force captain, Nicole Meszaros, went out to thank them for coming and returned red-eyed and ruined: The people were crying, and their tears unleashed her own.

From their vantage point outside the fence, these folks could have seen little of the stirring repatriation ceremony for five fallen Canadian soldiers -- Warrant Officers Frank Robert Mellish and Rick Nolan, Sergeant Shane Stachnik and Private William Jonathan James Cushley, all killed in action in the Panjwai district of southern Afghanistan last weekend, and Private Mark Graham, killed in the same area on Monday during an accidental U.S. strafing run.

The civilians were the witnesses who saw nothing, but in the imagination, in mine anyway, they were a nation strong.

The plane touched down just before 5 p.m., and 20 minutes later, the groups of eight pallbearers, the two pipers, the soldiers of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (who interrupted their combat training to salute their comrades) and the dignitaries were all in their various places.

Then, from the low white passenger terminal, the families of the dead emerged, and at 5:33 p.m., through the open cargo door of the Airbus, the first flash of red was visible -- the first casket, looking for all the world like a merry present, wrapped up in the flag.

It was WO Mellish, who was 38, a married father of two, born in Truro, N.S. but raised on Prince Edward Island, and who, when he wasn't being deployed overseas, raised money for cancer.

His casket moved along the little conveyor-belt thing, the ramp dropped down, and eight white-gloved pallbearers hoisted it onto their shoulders and, eight cheeks pressed tight against the fabric of the flag, began the slow march to the waiting rear door of the first black hearse about 150 metres away.

The pipers played The Flowers of the Forest. The slow march took three minutes.

WO Mellish's casket was gently placed in the hearse, the pallbearers marched off, and out onto the tarmac came the people who loved him. His two young sons, Matthew and Koven, 13 and 11, each carried a rose for their dad; a toddler with a blue soother stroked the door of the hearse, and the first knot of crying people moved off.

By then, there was another flash of red in the belly of the plane, and within two minutes, it too moved along the little conveyor belt and the ramp dropped again, and another group of pallbearers hoisted WO Nolan -- the soldiers were carried off the plane according to their rank and seniority -- onto their shoulders.

The pipers played The Dark Island; the slow march took three minutes.

WO Nolan leaves his wife Corporal Kelly-Ann Dove -- who was also serving in Afghanistan and who wore her desert camouflage yesterday -- his three sons and her daughter, a mother and a huge assortment of uncles and sisters and nephews.

The Nolans were the family with the bright blond and red-haired boys who could not stop weeping, who kept wiping their faces with tissue when only a towel might have caught the tears. After Cpl. Dove had her minute in the hearse with her husband, she fell sobbing into the arms of another soldier. 

Her wedding ring glinted in the sun. As the ring glinted, another flash of red was visible in the plane.

This time, it was the casket of Sgt. Stachnik which slid along the belt and which the ramp dropped down onto waiting shoulders.

Only 30, a member of the Combat Engineer Regiment where the others were all serving with the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, Sgt. Stachnik was engaged. His fiancée, Darcy Mitton, said that by marrying her, a single mom of two children, "I think that's a brave thing to do in itself."

The pipers played Going Home; the slow march was two minutes. Ms. Mitton, with long bright blond hair, was herself brave, and kept an arm around her crying youngsters.

Two minutes later, the fourth flash of red, the casket of Pte. Graham, moved out the Airbus and the ramp dropped it into position. Another broken family, who had loved the strapping 33-year-old, a former Olympic track athlete, shuffled onto the tarmac and over to another black hearse. This knot of grief included Pte. Graham's beautiful little daughter, Shae-Lynn Marie, who is all of 7.

A family spokesman earlier this week said of Pte. Graham, "He wanted to serve his country."

At 6:24 p.m., the last flash of red appeared in the belly of the plane. A minute later, Pte. Cushley's casket was gliding, then dropping, then being carried on eight shoulders. The pipers went back to The Flowers of the Forest for this slow march, which took three minutes, and the family procession was led by Pte. Cushley's mom and dad: He was, after all, only 21.

The hearses lined up; the families retreated to waiting black limousines; soldiers saluted for a final time, and at 6:39 p.m. the ribbon of black cars moved off the tarmac and out the gate, finally passing the small group of civilians with their flags. The people stood at attention; a couple of the men saluted, including Bob Belear of nearby Belleville, Ont.

Mr. Belear is there every single time a Canadian soldier is returned home in this manner. This time, he was there with the knowledge that one of those red flashes might have covered his son's casket. A day earlier, his 23-year-old, Mathew, who is serving with the RCR in Kandahar, was wounded. Pte. Belear was one of five Canadians injured in a Taliban mortar attack; he is now in the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, having had one surgery already.

Yesterday morning, I spoke to Victoria Goddard, the 23-year-old sister of Capt. Nichola Goddard, killed in Afghanistan this spring. Ms. Goddard, and her sister and mom and dad, had their time at Trenton too. Ms. Goddard remembers particularly the pipers and their perfect sombre music, and said of the ceremony, "When people are fighting and dying for your country, it's a good thing to do -- to say, 'We noticed.' "

That's why those people were outside the gate: They paid attention. They noticed, and in my imagination, they were joined by a nation.

_cblatchford@globeandmail.com_


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## GAP (8 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 8 Sept 2006*

More than 2,000 gather to bid farewell to five soldiers killed in Afghanistan  
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/08092006/2/national-2-000-gather-bid-farewell-five-soldiers-killed-afghanistan.html

PETAWAWA, Ont. (CP) - It's the place where they drilled and trained - and it's the place where their family, friends and comrades gathered today to say goodbye to them. 

More than 2,000 people packed into the drill hall at CFB Petawawa for a memorial service honouring Warrant Officer Richard Nolan, Warrant Officer Frank Mellish, Sgt. Shane Stachnik, Pte. William Cushley and Pte. Mark Graham. 

The five soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last week - four in combat and one by friendly fire. 

The crowd, some wearing red sashes in honour of their comrades in Afghanistan, looked on somberly as a minister read the names of the dead men. 

Their pictures sat atop More on link

Radio-Canada reporter hit for backing Afghan mission  
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/08092006/6/n-canada-radio-canada-reporter-hit-backing-afghan-mission.html

OTTAWA (Reuters) - One of Canada's top television reporters has been suspended from her job for praising the country's increasingly troubled military mission in Afghanistan, La Presse newspaper reported on Friday.

Christine St-Pierre, a veteran Ottawa correspondent for French-language public broadcaster Radio-Canada, wrote an open letter to Canada's 2,300 troops telling them to ignore mounting criticism of the mission.


Five Canadian soldiers were killed last weekend, prompting ever louder calls for Ottawa to review the mission. One opposition party wants the troops to come back next February, two years ahead of schedule.


"We owe you all our respect and our unfailing support ... dear soldiers, your tears are not in vain, your tears are brave," St-Pierre wrote in the letter, which La Presse published on Thursday.

Radio-Canada suspended her for breaching internal rules that stipulate employees are not allowed to express their opinions on controversial issues, La Presse said. No one at Radio-Canada was immediately available for comment.

St-Pierre told the paper she knew she had gone too far and said she could no longer be objective when it came to reporting on events in Afghanistan.

"I don't think I'll be covering this story again," she said.
End

Canada needs help fighting Taliban, allies told 
O'Connor complains of military burden as NATO seeks contributions from others 
GLORIA GALLOWAY From Friday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060908.wxafghanhelp08/BNStory/National/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

OTTAWA — Canada's Defence Minister says Canadian troops cannot defeat the Taliban "militarily" in the dangerous southern part of Afghanistan and Canada is shouldering an unduly large part of the mission that has claimed 16 soldiers in the past three months.

"We cannot eliminate the Taliban, not militarily anyway," Gordon O'Connor told Reuters in an interview yesterday from Australia. Instead, the Defence Minister said, "we've got to get them back to some kind of acceptable level, so they don't threaten other areas."

Mr. O'Connor's uncharacteristically pessimistic statements would seem to be at odds with his government's unwavering support for Canadian involvement in the NATO operation.

The minister, who could not be reached for comment on his published remarks, went on to complain about the military burden being borne by Canada.
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Bomb near U.S. embassy in Kabul kills 16
PAUL GARWOOD Associated Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060908.wkabul0908a/BNStory/International/home

KABUL — A massive suicide car bomb struck a convoy of U.S. military vehicles in Kabul on Friday, killing at least 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers, and wounding more than a dozen others, officials and witnesses said.

The blast, which took place near the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital, tore a military vehicle into two burning chunks and scattered debris and body parts over a 50-metre radius.

Two American soldiers in the vehicle were among the dead and two more were wounded, said U.S. military spokeswoman Lieutenant Tamara Lawrence.

The blast shattered windows throughout the downtown area where the blast took place and sent a plume of brown smoke spiraling into the sky.
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Pakistani soil not being used against Afghanistan, time to put aside differences: Musharraf 
Thursday September 07, 2006 (1620 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?153425

KABUL: President General Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistani soil was not being used against Afghanistan and Afghanistan should not have any doubts in this respect.

Addressing a gathering of Afghan parliamentarians, diplomats and dignitaries on Thursday, Musharraf denied that Pakistan land was being used for activities against Afghanistan. He said there are doubts in Pakistan about Afghanistan and called for removing mutual misgivings.

"You blame us for what is happening in Afghanistan. Let me say neither the government of Pakistan nor ISI (Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence) is involved in any kind of interference inside Afghanistan." 

President Musharraf said that Pakistan had supported the fundamentalist Taliban regime in the 1990s, but that changed after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.

He said Pakistan was saddened by accusations it was to blame for attacks in Afghanistan and it was supporting terrorism inside the neighboring country. "We know they are doing this, but the question is this is not sponsored. ... Let me give you my personal assurance that we are with you against Taliban and al-Qaida," he said, adding that Pakistan had deployed 80,000 troops along its side of the Afghan border.

However, the President said it saddened him and the Pakistani people when Afghanistan blamed everything that was happening in that country on Pakistan. "That is what saddens us," he said and added that Pakistan was a home to some four million Afghan refugees and about 2.5 million of them were still residing there." He told the august gathering that a stable Afghanistan was in the interest of its own people as well as for the regional peace.

The President said no one should doubt Pakistan`s sincerity and assured that "we are with you (Afghanistan) in the fight against terrorism, Talibanization and al-Qaeda." He said Pakistan apprehended and handed over about 200 Taliban this year to the Afghan government. 

President Musharraf said there should be an end to blame-game as it affects the brotherly relations of people of the two countries. He said people of the two countries were bind with love for each other and added, "Don`t do anything where people start disliking each other." He also stated that blaming each other was a sign of defeat and the two countries must work jointly to defeat terrorism and extremism. 
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90 Afghan deported 
Monday August 07, 2006 (1101 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?151748

 CHAMAN: Pakistan on Sunday deported some 90 Afghans, who had been jailed in the restive southwestern Balochistan province for several weeks on charges of illegal immigration, officials said. 
They were arrested from different parts of the province as part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants and were handed over to Afghan authorities at the border point of Chaman, Xinhua reported. 

Pakistan arrested more than 100 Afghan refugees last month on charges of having links with Taliban, who were later handed over to Afghan authorities. But the Afghan government freed them one day after their deportation, saying they were not Taliban but common Afghans. 
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U.S. Navy provides air support for Afghanistan operation  
Friday September 08, 2006 (0104 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?153487

WASHINGTON: U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornets from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise launched airstrikes against Taliban fighters near Kandahar and provided support for ground forces in Operation Medusa, launched Sunday by the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, according to a Navy news release. 
The Hornets, from the "Sidewinders" of Strike Fighter Squadron 86, based in Beaufort, S.C., joined other coalition and Enterprise-based aircraft in airstrikes in southern Afghanistan, the release stated. 

"The Enterprise Strike Group team is prepared to effectively support ground forces ... by whatever means are possible," Capt. Mark Wralstad, commander of Carrier Air Wing One, said in a statement. "Our air power, combined with the effectiveness of the ground forces, is proving to be a substantial force." 

Heavy fighting over the weekend left dozens of insurgents and at least five Canadian soldiers dead, officials said Monday. 
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Afghanistan deadlier for coalition troops than Iraq: study
Last Updated Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:42:34 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/07/soldiers-statistics.html

NATO soldiers fighting in Afghanistan face a higher risk of being killed than the U.S.-led international forces that invaded Iraq in 2003, a British statistician says.

Sheila Bird, the vice-president of Britain's Royal Statistical Society, said in the Sept. 9 issue of New Scientist magazine that she made the conclusion after analyzing casualty rates and the number of soldiers deployed on each mission.

Bird said the risk to the NATO forces fighting militants in Afghanistan — including more than 2,000 Canadian troops — is approaching the level faced by the then-Soviets, who abandoned their war there in 1989 after 10 years.
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Medals for acts of valour in Afghanistan and Iraq  
Richard Norton-Taylor Friday September 8, 2006 The Guardian 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1867540,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

A Harrier pilot who dive-bombed fighters attacking allied troops in Afghanistan, a soldier who took a "long walk" through an Iraqi crowd to defuse a bomb, and another who joked as he rescued a British foot patrol are among 64 military personnel honoured today.
Wing Commander Martin Sampson, described as a "fearless and courageous airborne warrior", has been awarded the Distinguished Service Order for action in southern Afghanistan. His citation says that in April 2006, his squadron was scrambled to help troops coming under extremely heavy fire. After the squadron attacked one target, the radios and weapons systems of other Harriers failed.
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NATO military chiefs to meet on Afghanistan operations, NATO reform 
September 08, 2006
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/08/eng20060908_300646.html
         
Top military officers from members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will meet in Polad's capital of Warsaw on Friday and Saturday to discuss NATO operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the military alliance said Thursday. 

The chiefs of staff from the 26 NATO nations will discuss the International Security Assistance Force operation in Afghanistan, developments regarding the NATO Response Force and NATO's military transformation, and preparations for the Riga NATO summit in November, it said in a statement. 

The meeting of the Military Committee, NATO's highest military authority, will also try to shape key military work leading to the NATO summit in Riga, the capital of Latvia, at the end of November, it said. 

NATO's top commander of operations James Jones said Thursday in Mons, Belgium, that he will seek more reinforcements from allied nations at the Warsaw meeting for the mission in southern Afghanistan. 

He said more troops, transport aircraft and helicopters are needed as NATO has met surprisingly fierce resistance from the Taliban since the alliance moved into the southern region of Afghanistan in July. 
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09.08.2006 Friday - ISTANBUL 21:10 

Turkey Hesitant to Send Combat Forces to Afghanistan  
By Suleymen Kurt, Ankara  Thursday, September 07, 2006 zaman.com 
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&hn=36333

As the operations conducted by NATO in Afghanistan continue, Ankara reacted to rumors that NATO will demand combat troops from Turkey.

As the Turkish government has been experiencing difficult days due to discussions over sending troops to Lebanon, any serious consideration of a similar proposal is not likely. 

Turkish foreign affair officials asserted that Turkey has already assumed important missions in Afghanistan, and as such Turkey would not be sending combat forces to the country. 

Reports are circulating that as the violence in Afghanistan increases, NATO will demand more support from its European members. The Daily Telegraph wrote NATO was conducting negotiations with France, Germany, Italy and Turkey for them to send troops to southern Afghanistan. 

According to the same story, a top-level diplomat working in Kabul said the next priority was to send troops to southern Afghanistan and added they especially need Turkish soldiers to prove that this was not a war against the enemies of Islam. 

Authorities in Ankara noted Turkey had not received this type of a demand and added if it came, Turkey would not accept it. 
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AFGHANISTAN: RUSSO SPENA, REVIEW ITALIAN PRESENCE
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200609081839-1247-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline

(AGI) - Rome, Sep 8 - "The hammering pressures from NATO to increase the military commitment in Afghanistan and the recrudescence of conflicts and attacks show that, regardless of the excellent intentions of the Italian government, the Afghan mission is effectively a mission of war," PRC chief whip senator Russo Spena declared. "The PRC's position remains the same: we must pull our troops out of the region as soon as possible. Today, grief for the victims and solidarity to the wounded Italian soldiers is more important. In the next few weeks, however, it will be necessary to review the terms of our presence in Afghanistan, also in the light of the Italian commitment in Lebanon. Minister Parisi did very well to clarify that our military contingent will not be increasing in size, but it is clear that the next problem is that of the withdrawal of our troops." (AGI) - 
081839 SET 06 
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NATO to consider more troops for Afghanistan
08 September 2006 17:05
http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0908/afghan.html

NATO defence chiefs have gathered in Warsaw in Poland to discuss raising troop levels in Afghanistan after top alliance officials conceded they had underestimated Taliban resistance.

The talks are taking place after at least 16 people were killed in the deadliest suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, an attack which witnesses said was aimed at a NATO convoy.

It is reported that Taliban rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack.
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AFGHANISTAN: PARISI, IT WAS AN IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200609081246-1077-RT1-CRO-0-NF82&page=0&id=agionline-eng.italyonline

(AGI) - Rome, Sept 8 - "The facts are becoming clear: it was an attack with an improvised explosive device that hit our patrol". Defence Minister Arturo Parisi said this on the sidelines of the ceremony in Rome for September 8, reconstructing this morning's attack that wounded four Italian soldiers in Afghanistan. Parisi added: "Unfortunately this attack doesn't surprise us because they happen every day. Our soldiers are prepared for this kind of events. The security and rescue apparatus intervened in time and this demonstrates that the mission is organised correctly for the objectives and the risks they run".
   - 
081246 SET 06 
COPYRIGHTS 2002-2006 AGI S.p.A.  
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'Troops won’t be Sent to Afghanistan'  
By Cihan News Agency Friday, September 08, 2006 zaman.com 
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060908&hn=36349

Turkish Chief of Staff Gen.Yasar Buyukanit said that not even one Turkish troop would be sent to Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism. 

While the heated debate over Turkey's decision to send troops to Lebanon as part of the U.N. peacekeeping forces continues, another speculation regarding Turkey's contribution to NATO forces in Afghanistan is being debated in Ankara. 

Speaking to Turkish NTV channel, Gen. Buyukanit said that it was out of the question that Turkey would send soldiers to join the current NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan. 

Buyukanit remarked that Turkey had made necessary contributions to operations carried out by NATO in Afghanistan so far, adding that they would continue to do so. 

Turkish military units in Afghanistan led NATO's International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in the country twice and currently have some tasks in Kabul. 

The government and the Turkish Foreign Ministry have not yet confirmed that NATO requested soldiers from Ankara, although the British Daily Telegraph on Thursday reported so.


----------



## GAP (9 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 9 Sept 2006*

Canada sends tanks to Afghanistan
Officials had said Leopards were readied for exercises; move marks first time vehicles will be sent into combat
David ******** The Ottawa Citizen Saturday, September 09, 2006
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=7dbdb5c7-b2e3-4f4b-a97c-328da00728ca

Less than three weeks after it denied it was sending Leopard tanks to Afghanistan, the Canadian military is set to ship as many as 20 of the heavy-tracked armoured vehicles to Kandahar to provide additional protection for its troops.

Although the tanks have been used once overseas on a peace support mission in Kosovo in the 1990s, this is the first time they will be sent into an actual combat situation.

A warning order was issued earlier this week to the Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) in Edmonton to prepare for the deployment. Twenty tanks are being readied for the operation and about 300 personnel will be heading to Afghanistan.

The Leopards will be used for escort duty for Canadian convoys, which have continually come under attack by the Taliban, government sources said.

In addition, some soldiers have suggested the presence of tanks would make insurgents think twice about attacking Canadian convoys.

The decision to ratchet up Canada's force comes as military officers acknowledge they underestimated the resilience of the Taliban. NATO has been asking for more equipment and soldiers from its allies to deal with the increasing threat in southern Afghanistan.

But government sources said the decision behind sending the tanks to Afghanistan is to provide more protection for Canada's Provincial Reconstruction Teams, rather than use the armoured vehicles directly in combat against the Taliban.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has said he plans to put more emphasis on the teams that provide medical and humanitarian help to Afghan civilians. Part of that is increasing the protection for those teams that use light-armoured vehicles and armoured trucks called G-Wagons.
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30 Taliban killed in south Afghanistan
Associated Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan 
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/15478804.htm

 NATO and Afghan forces using airstrikes, artillery and mortars killed at least 30 Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the alliance said.

NATO said 320 militants had been killed in the weeklong Taliban offensive in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district.

Those include at least 30 militants killed Saturday, and about as many on Friday, said Maj. Scott Lundy, a NATO spokesman. He said NATO and Afghan forces suffered no casualties.

Lundy said the NATO casualty count was based on reports from troops viewing the battlefield through weapons sights and other devices.

A top Taliban commander and a spokesman for the militia have strongly disputed NATO's claims. Reporters cannot access the scene of battle to verify the death toll.

Some 20,000 NATO soldiers and a similar number of U.S. forces are trying to crush the emboldened Taliban insurgency. The heaviest fighting is taking place across vast desert plains in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, also center of the country's massive opium trade.
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Wounded Canadian soldiers return home
Last Updated Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:37:56 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/09/08/wounded-soldiers.html

Several Canadian soldiers injured this week in Afghanistan arrived in Ottawa Friday evening

A Canadian Forces Airbus transported the 11 Canadian soldiers, who either sustained injuries from battle with the Taliban or during a friendly-fire incident. They were scheduled to be taken to the Civic Hospital in Ottawa.

The soldiers had been recuperating at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

The long-term prognosis for Pte. Michael Spence, wounded in the friendly fire incident on Monday "is not yet clear," his parents said Friday.

Spence, of Russell, Ont., "has moved his fingers and toes and has even attempted to speak to the doctors," Rick and Christina Spence said in a statement.

"We are very optimistic at this point, however we do realize that Michael has a long road of recovery ahead of him and it is not yet clear what the long-term prognosis is for our son. We can only hope and pray that he continues to recover well. He is young and very strong, and that will bode well for him."

Spence was among the seven Canadians badly wounded when U.S. aircraft mistakenly attacked them in the early morning as they readied to assault a Taliban stronghold near Kandahar. Pte. Mark Anthony Graham was killed in the attack.
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Why are we in Afghanistan?  
Sept. 7, 2006
http://www.cbc.ca/national/rex/rex_060907.html

If Mr. Layton wants Canadian troops out of Afghanistan, he should say just that. 

He should say that it doesn't serve Canadian interests to be there, that the deaths of Canadian soldiers, therefore, serve no point and that the battlefield of Afghanistan, which will decide who rules in that country, Karzai or Taliban, democracy or rabid fundamentalism, has no meaning or significance for us Canadians. 

He should be clear that when his party says it supports the troops, it means that cancelling the mission those troops are engaged upon is the only honest way that party sees of supporting them. 

But what, up until now, Mr. Layton and his party are saying is that we should and that we shouldn't. That we should do good works in Afghanistan, build schools and roads and help the newly elected government. But that Canadian troops must not on any account contribute to creating conditions where building schools and roads and helping a deeply wounded country is a real possibility. And, please, chatter about negotiations with the Taliban and collective peace-seeking is just so much verbal flannel. 

What part shall we negotiate with the Taliban? You must drop the ban on girls going to school, but can you keep the part about stoning homosexuals? 

The same breath cannot carry two opposing messages, that we must leave and that we should help. 

That's fudge, and poor fudge at that. If the troops leave, they leave, and with them leaves any of the soft contributions we might make to Afghanistan and its people. 

There's also much verbal flutter about a made-in-Canada policy and Stephen Harper as Bush's latest puppet or that this is a violation of Canada's self-vision as a peacekeeping nation. 

If the Afghanistan mission is to be debated, let it be debated for what it is: Either that we owe a duty to that country and it citizens, that will cost the lives of some of our soldiers to pay it and that it is honourable for Canada to assist a country ravaged by terror and war towards a better life, or that none of these things are true, that the mission is a misguided adventure, that Canadian soldiers should not be shedding blood a world away from Canada and that whatever the future holds for Afghanistan is none of our Canadian business. 

Going to the other side of the platter, Stephen Harper has at least an equal burden. The caskets from Afghanistan are coming home and the profound cost of this mission is witnessed on the nightly newscasts, but from the very beginning of this mission, from the long ago days of Mr. Chrétien through Mr. Martin's term as prime minister to this present moment, a clear, full, articulated case for the mission has not been made. 

We've had everything else but the full statement of why the mission is important to us as Canadians, how it relates to our national interest and values and a full description of what we hope to see as a result of our troops being there. 

Why are we in Afghanistan? 

Why does it count? 

Why is it worth the cost of Canadian lives? 

Mr. Harper has an obligation to state the case for staying, perhaps even greater than Mr. Layton's to state the case for leaving. Both have the same obligation to be plain, hard and honest in doing so. Neither so far have met the seriousness of the issue with their articulation of it. For "The National", I'm Rex Murphy. 
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Afghan mission likely to grow  
GLORIA GALLOWAY From Saturday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060909.wxafghan09/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

OTTAWA — More Canadian soldiers will likely be sent to Afghanistan to bolster a reconstruction team in the dangerous southern province of Kandahar and the military is dispatching new types of equipment to aid in the fight with the Taliban.

NATO defence chiefs agreed at a meeting in Poland yesterday that increased resources are needed to tackle a Taliban resistance that they concede was underestimated. Leaders of the alliance are calling on member countries to provide an additional 2,000 to 2,500 troops plus attack helicopters and transport aircraft.

It's a request that comes as 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers, were killed yesterday in the deadliest suicide bombing in the Afghan capital, Kabul, since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is planning a visit to Canada.

Canada, which already has about 2,200 soldiers in Afghanistan, is unlikely to directly meet NATO's call. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said in an interview from New Zealand yesterday that he expected the additional resources requested by the alliance to come from other countries.
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Forces face tough battle in Taliban stronghold
LES PERREAUX Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060908.wafghan0908/BNStory/Front

PANJWAII, Afghanistan ( — Canadian troops and NATO allies broke the relative calm in this combat zone Friday as they drove well into a Taliban stronghold, drawing heavy gunfire and sporadic shelling onto alliance positions.

Canadian troops along with Afghan and U.S. reinforcements took turns moving through former insurgent outposts, triggering several firefights and rocket-propelled grenade attacks.

No coalition troops were injured in combat late Thursday and Friday, while a NATO spokesman said 20 to 30 Taliban were killed. The tally could not be independently confirmed.

On one small part of the front lines, Canadian foot soldiers were sent scrambling for cover beneath a bridge on Friday as rocket-propelled grenades whizzed overhead and crashed into the ground a short distance away.
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Civilian deaths reported in Operation Medusa
GRAEME SMITH 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060908.AFGHANCIV08/TPStory

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN -- At least 14 civilians have died in bombings of suspected Taliban compounds as part of the Canadian-led offensive against insurgents in the notorious district of Panjwai, according to local officials and villagers.

The military has touted the extra precautions that went into the month-long planning of Operation Medusa, which was designed to avoid such incidents. Strategists even sacrificed the element of surprise, warning people to leave the district in the days before the foreign troops advanced.

And yet villagers in at least three parts of the battlefield reported that a number of civilians have been killed in almost a week of relentless bombing, artillery barrages and strafing runs.

The clearest information comes from witnesses and local officials in Ghaljain, a tiny cluster of mud-walled compounds near the village of Zangabad, roughly 35 kilometres southwest of Kandahar.
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Canadian troops making things worse: Afghan legislator
 Mike De Souza, CanWest News Service  Saturday, September 09, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=5dac8c63-42f2-42d3-b12c-7c5c27e12a56

QUEBEC -- Canada's troops are making matters worse for the Afghan people, a popular member of the war-torn country's national assembly told an NDP policy convention Friday.

With federal New Democrats debating a resolution to withdraw Canadian troops from combat in southern Afghanistan over the next six months, Malalai Joya, 27, the youngest elected Afghan parliamentarian, said efforts to fight the Taliban are helping warlords and drug lords take control of the country, suppressing the voices and rights of women and children.

"If (Canadians) want to prove themselves as real friends of the Afghan people, they must act independently," said Joya, who has escaped several assassination attempts since she was first elected in 2003. "They continued the policy of the U.S. and our people don't agree with U.S. policy, and this is why there is no positive results right now."

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the federal government is insulting Canadian troops by keeping them in a mission without a clear strategy or analysis of the consequences.

He added that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's defence of the mission in Afghanistan is a sign he is following the priorities of U.S. President George W. Bush, instead of spending money on fights that pose more of a threat to humanity.

He cited the spread of AIDS in developing countries and climate change.

"There is such a totally disproportionate investment of the world's energy, time and money on the issues that George Bush has defined as the threat to human security as opposed to the real threats to human security," said Layton. "The toll is taken in lives. This isn't political rhetoric."

Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special envoy on HIV/AIDS, said that Canadian leaders are only now starting to recognize that the mission is taking an unexpected turn.
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Top soldier quits over 'grotesque' Afghan war
Christina Lamb
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2350795,00.html

THE former aide-de-camp to the commander of the British taskforce in southern Afghanistan has described the campaign in Helmand province as “a textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency”. 
“Having a big old fight is pointless and just making things worse,” said Captain Leo Docherty, of the Scots Guards, who became so disillusioned that he quit the army last month. 

 “All those people whose homes have been destroyed and sons killed are going to turn against the British,” he said. “We’ve been grotesquely clumsy — we’ve said we’ll be different to the Americans who were bombing and strafing villages, then behaved exactly like them.” 

Docherty’s criticisms, the first from an officer who has served in Helmand, came during the worst week so far for British troops in Afghanistan, with the loss of 18 men. 
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September 10, 2006 


Troops die as UK holds back Afghan reinforcements
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2350705,00.html

Nato reveals that Britain withdrew an offer of 800 extra troops, reports Michael Smith in Kabul 

BRITAIN agreed to provide an extra 800 troops to allied forces fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan but later withdrew the offer, Nato officials disclosed last week. 
Lieutenant General David Richards, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, planned to use the 800-man force as troubleshooters, sending them into any area where fighting broke out. 



However, John Reid, then the defence secretary, was so angry at the reluctance of other Nato countries to supply troops that the offer was retracted. 

Reid, who famously said that he hoped British troops would leave Afghanistan without firing a single shot, indicated that the UK would send no more troops other than the 3,300 men to be based in Helmand province. 

Last week the US general in charge of Nato made the obvious link between the shortage of troops and the casualties faced by the allied forces in southern Afghanistan. 

Appealing to Nato countries to send more soldiers, General James Jones, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said: “It will help us to reduce casualties and bring this to a successful conclusion in a short period of time.” 
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Canadian Forces Ordering Vanguard UGVs for Bomb Disposal
Posted 07-Sep-2006 04:10
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/09/canadian-forces-ordering-vanguard-ugvs-for-bomb-disposal/index.php

The USA has led the way in robots for explosives/ordnance disposal, but interest from allies is growing. Now Allen-Vanguard Corp. of Ottawa, Canada has been selected for the Canadian Forces (CF) 5-year "MINI-ROV" program by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND). Ultimate quantities and contract values including in-service support over the life of the program are not yet established, but the initial order for its Vanguard Mk2 ROV robots is valued at CDN$ 3.7 million, with an option for additional robot orders at a value of CDN$ 1.6 million. The Company expects to fulfill the initial order in the first half of its 2007 fiscal year commencing October 1st, 2006. 

The Vanguard Mk2 ROV is a smaller, lower-end military/civilian UGV, as opposed to the firm's larger and more capable BombTec Defender D2. Instead, the Vanguard emphasizes portability, modularity and field maintenance, and low cost. This combination won it an award in an evaluation of competing robots for the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) of the USA's National Institute of Justice. The TSWG is the U.S. national forum that identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates interagency and international research and development (R&D) requirements for combating terrorism.
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Sept. 11 sent Canadians to Afghanistan, raised Afghan hopes now dimmed 
Les Perreaux, Canadian Press  Saturday, September 09, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=57552d46-870b-4816-80d5-260ca26de528&k=98279

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Baking under the sun while keeping dusty vigil at the main gate at Kandahar Airfield, Cpl. Rod Petrovic thinks back on how he ended up in this searing, dangerous land. 

He was strolling between classes at Durham College in Oshawa, Ont., on Sept. 11, 2001, when word seeped through the crowd of young students that a plane had ripped into a tower of the World TradeCenter. 

He ran to a television. A short time later, he walked into an army recruiting office. 

"Five years later, it's still the reason we're here," said Petrovic, watching Afghan workers leave the base after a day's work. 

Sept. 11 is seared into the minds of many Canadian soldiers. On the hard days - the ones that killed 32 of their comrades and injured scores more - many say their thoughts turned to 9-11 to remind themselves why they're here. 

"That plane sunk in there like a hot knife into butter," said Cpl. Shawn Denty, 34. 

"It's strange because later on that day my family phoned me at work to say, 'Are you going to be going to war?' I said no way, I'm just a reservist in Canada. But five years later, the fifth anniversary, here I am in Afghanistan." 

Denty describes Sept. 11 as his generation's Pearl Harbor. 

For Afghans, the date led quickly to hope that the West would come to the rescue of their impoverished land, which was for so long a proxy battlefield between the United States and Soviet Union. 

"We had a lot of expectations," said Haji Jan Mohammed, a father of six who joined several shop owners at a rundown downtown Kandahar hotel for a secret rendezvous with The Canadian Press. 

In 2001, Afghanistan was poor but people felt secure under the iron hand of the Taliban, who sprang up in Kandahar province in the 1990s as a band of religious leaders-turned-vigilantes. They wanted to end the rampant crime of post-Soviet Afghanistan and spread their fundamentalist views. The Taliban swept to power in Kabul, imposed tight restrictions on society and meted out severe punishment to offenders.
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NATO to Meet Next Week Seeking More Troops for Afghanistan  
Saturday, September 09, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213187,00.html

WARSAW, Poland — NATO will hold two more conferences aimed at pushing member states to commit more troops to the alliance's mission in Afghanistan as it faces tough resistance from insurgents there, a spokesman said Saturday. 

Military leaders decided after two days of closed-door discussions in the Polish capital that further efforts were needed to plug shortfalls in the force, which has faced increased violence from a resurgent Taliban along Afghanistan's southern border, NATO spokesman Col. Brett Boudreau told The Associated Press.

Earlier Saturday, Gen. Ray Henault, chairman of the NATO military committee, said he would appeal formally to the alliance's council Monday for member states to commit another 2,000-2,500 soldiers to confront the Taliban guerrillas.

NATO military leaders also will hold further conferences on Wednesday and Friday to address the issue of the shortfall of troops in southern Afghanistan and urge member states to live up to the numbers they had pledged to the mission, Boudreau said. Commitments to other missions also will be discussed.
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NDP backs Layton call to withdraw troops from Afghanistan
Last Updated Sat, 09 Sep 2006 18:38:56 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/09/09/ndp-afghanistan.html

Members of the federal New Democratic Party on Saturday overwhelmingly endorsed party leader Jack Layton's call to pull Canadian troops from Afghanistan.

The vote came during the national party's convention in Quebec City, where the mission in Afghanistan has dominated discussions and debates.

Although a number of delegates rose to speak strongly against the motion, it easily passed when put to a vote, which means it is now official NDP policy.

An estimated 90 per cent of delegates voted in favour of the resolution from Layton
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Coalition Focusing on East Afghanistan
By FISNIK ABRASHI The Associated Press Saturday, September 9, 2006; 12:09 PM

PECH RIVER VALLEY, Afghanistan -- There was a sudden whoosh overhead, then a blast shattered the night calm at this U.S. military outpost.

The rocket fired from a ridge opposite the small, blacked-out camp of soldiers of the New York-based 10th Mountain Division caused no casualties but it rudely awakened the soldiers, who bolted out of bed and into their flak jackets.

"It's the one that you will not hear that will get you," said Lt. Christopher Haynes, from the 2nd Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment.

Five years after the Sept. 11 attacks led to the U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban regime, coalition troops are focusing their attention on the wild east of Afghanistan, where armed loyalists of the hardline Islamist militia, al-Qaida and renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar are proving a stubborn foe.
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NATO forces battle Taliban in Afghanistan
Sat Sep 9, 2006 12:56 PM BST
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-09T115601Z_01_SP137126_RTRUKOC_0_UK-AFGHAN.xml

By Sayed Ali Achekzai

SPIN BOLADAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - NATO forces battled Taliban holdouts in the deserts of southern Afghanistan on Saturday amid a security crackdown in the capital after at least 16 people were killed by a suicide bomber.

Ali Shah Paktiwal, head of the police crime bureau, said officers were checking every main intersection in Kabul after Friday's blast near the U.S. embassy, which killed at least two American soldiers.
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----------



## GAP (10 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 10 Sept 2006*

Extending Canada’s mission in Afghanistan ‘right thing to do’
By PETER MACKAY
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/527313.html

Alongside our allies from more than 35 other nations, our Canadian Forces members, diplomats and development workers are working to ensure the benefits of peace and prosperity extend to all Afghans.

They are working with the Afghan people and their first-ever elected government to create a better future for the Afghan people.

Development cannot occur in the absence of security.

Because of the work of our CF members, girls are now going to school in Afghanistan. Low-income farmers can get small loans to improve their crops. Families can get credit to open a small bakery, or a shoe repair shop, or a teahouse. Wells are being dug and pipes installed to bring water to villages. Roads are being resurfaced so that farmers can get their vegetables to market.

Unfortunately, these images are not the ones most often seen on television.

I saw first-hand how our presence in Afghanistan is helping improve the daily lives of Afghan citizens.

Our integrated approach of development, diplomacy and defence is helping the Afghan people stabilize their country and ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a haven for terrorists.

We must never forget that we are there at the invitation of Afghanistan’s democratically elected government. We are guided by core Canadian values: freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Much progress has been made; but laying the groundwork for democratic development takes time and requires sustained support.
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Report: Germany to move armoured vehicles to Afghanistan
Sep 8, 2006, 17:50 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1199291.php/Report_Germany_to_move_armoured_vehicles_to_Afghanistan

Berlin - The German Army plans to move infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to northern Afghanistan in case it is drawn into fighting with the Taliban, a newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, said Friday. 

The tracked Marder vehicles are better armed than the lighter armoured personnel carriers on wheels used by the Germans currently. 

In the report quoting politicians involved with defence, to appear Saturday, the newspaper said the stock was being sent as a precaution and would merely be parked at a new German base in Mazar-e-Sharif. 

The Germans are a key component in the ISAF peace force in the country. ISAF forces have been drawn into fighting with the Taliban in the south and west of the country, but not in the north where the Germans operate. 

The newspaper said a Defence Ministry spokesman in Berlin stated that no decision on sending the vehicles had been taken yet. The 33- ton Marder carries a crew of three plus six infantrymen. 
End

Distance the Afghan mission from the U.S.
Sep. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM HAROON SIDDIQUI
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157838637103&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

Haroon Siddiqui urges NATO to call meeting with tribes and reassess task 

T he scum were to be squished. We were in Afghanistan to kill the Taliban. It was a matter of our survival; if we weren't there, they'd be here. (Arguably, they could be here because we are there, no? But such common sense questions are not permitted these days.)

Now Ottawa has a new tune. Both the defence minister and the chief of the defence staff concede that the Taliban cannot be eliminated militarily.

Should we, then, be talking to them, as Jack Layton suggests? No. We don't talk to terrorists. 

Afghanistan is unravelling. Canadian soldiers are dying. Half the Canadians want our mission ended, even while NATO wants more reinforcements for its 18,000 troops, who are augmenting the 18,000 American soldiers, who have made a mess, just as they have in Iraq.

The Iraqification of Afghanistan, running parallel to the Americanization of Canada under Stephen Harper, is clear.
More on link


NATO forces kill 94 Taliban in s. Afghanistan
By ASSOCIATED PRESS KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Sep. 10, 2006 12:34 
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154526042123&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

NATO forces kill 94 Taliban in southern Afghanistan 

NATO and Afghan forces killed 94 Taliban fighters in airstrikes and ground attacks in southern Afghanistan, the military alliance said Sunday. 

The 94 militants were killed in Kandahar province's Panjwayi and neighboring Zhari districts late Saturday and early Sunday and were separate to more than 40 Taliban who died in fighting in the same areas earlier Saturday, NATO spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy said. 

The killings were part of a NATO-led Operation called Operation Medusa, which began Sept. 2 and has killed at least 420 insurgents, according to the alliance. Purported Taliban spokesmen have disputed the high death counts. 

NATO said in a statement that the insurgent casualties were inflicted by warplanes in four separate engagements. 

Panjwayi has long been regarded as a haven for the Taliban, which has been fanning Afghanistan's deadliest spate of violence since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the hard-line regime after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. 

Separately, Taliban militants killed three Afghan soldiers and wounded eight in an ambush in southern Zabul province's Shahjoy district Saturday, said Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi. 

Afghan authorities also found the body of a district education chief Saturday who was kidnapped by suspected militants in central Afghanistan's Ghazni province, said Abdul Ali Faquri, a spokesman for the provincial governor. 
More on link

The harsh realities of Afghanistan
Renata D'aliesio, The Calgary Herald, with files from The Associated Press Sunday, September 10, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=fd47e314-4ae3-46bf-80c9-7388ca0dae55

Troops learn quickly of country's dangers, horrors of war

ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- By the time a fresh batch of Canadian troops stepped into Afghanistan early last month, illusions of peacekeeping had already dissipated from their minds.

This wasn't the Afghanistan soldiers Morgan Spurrell, Chris Desjardins and Shane Schofield visited in 2002, a few months after the Taliban government was overthrown. Four years into supposed reconstruction and rebuilding, the country was descending deeper into drugs and violence.

This mission, they knew, was not about peacekeeping, at least not yet. This was about war.

"I think older people get it. They've lived through wars," Master-Cpl. Schofield said yesterday. "But young people in Canada, they don't seem to understand why we're here."

Here, for the moment, is a stretch of fertile land near southern Afghanistan's Zhari district. Fields of corn stalks, cucumbers and onions crisscross rows of marijuana plants, some with stems so thick and long they stretch nearly 2.5 metres into the air.

A major offensive to demolish the Taliban's hold over southern Afghanistan has entered its second week. The first few days claimed the lives five Canadian soldiers. Yesterday, Operation Medusa claimed the life of a U.S. soldier.

NATO forces, however, believe the noose around the insurgents is tightening. Troops destroyed three Taliban positions, a bomb-making factory and a weapons cache yesterday, killing more than 40 of the group's fighters, NATO said.

"We're making good progress every day," said Canadian Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, head of NATO's southern Afghanistan operation. "There is severe pressure on the insurgents remaining in the area, which will continue until they are either defeated or choose reconciliation through surrender."

That said, NATO officials -- and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor -- are calling for more troops and equipment to bolster the forces already in Afghanistan.

Canada is now sending as many as 20 Leopard tanks and 300 additional personnel to Kandahar to provide additional protection for its troops.

The decision to ratchet up Canada's force comes as military officers acknowledge they underestimated the resilience of the Taliban.
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Making every drop count, Coke opens in Afghanistan
Sun Sep 10, 2006 7:11am ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-09-10T111057Z_01_SP144391_RTRIDST_0_AFGHAN-COKE-PICTURE.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna

By Terry Friel

KABUL, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The blind cleric's haunting Arabic prayer chant echoed among the sterile plastic rows of Coke and Fanta, seeking Allah's blessing for the only major business to open in Afghanistan in more than a decade.

Coca-Cola, with its distinctive red-and-white logo, has come to Kabul in what is at once a sign of economic progress and a symbol of the failure of major businesses to open up in the five years since the fall of the hardline Islamist Taliban.

President Hamid Karzai opened the $25 million bottling plant in the capital's industrial complex of Bagrami, meaning sweet or fragrant, on Sunday. 

Karzai's Western-backed government is desperate to kickstart an economy independent of the $3 billion-a-year illegal drugs trade, but has been unable to lure investors to one of the world's five poorest countries, where violence has hit a high since the 2001 war.

The plant, which Coca-Cola goes out of its way to emphasise will produce only non-alcoholic beverages, is franchised to one of the country's richest men, Habib Gulzar, and will initially produce Coke, Fanta and Sprite and soon make bottled water, the company said in a statement.
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Long after 9/11, Afghanistan struggles to find way  
11 September 2006  
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3792597a13638,00.html

BAMIYAN: Life is grim when you can't pay the rent on a scorpion-infested cave, there is no job in sight and desperate people are waiting to take your spot. 

As Afghanistan struggles to rebuild five years after September 11 and the fall of the Taliban, hundreds of families are trapped in a sprawling web of caves in the lush Bamiyan valley, surrounded by stark, desert mountains and famous for two giant Buddhas blown up in 2001. 

"We have no work. Our lives are getting worse. We can't get enough food," says Mahtab, a 35-year-old mother of six perched on a narrow path carved into a cliff, nursing her year-old daughter Fatema, her hair stiff with sand. 

Five years on, Bamiyan is at once a symbol of the progress that has been made and of the lack of it in Afghanistan. 

Bamiyan has Afghanistan's first and only woman governor and is trying to rebuild its tourist trade. But it remains desperately poor, dragged down by the failure of President Hamid Karzai and his Western backers to kick-start the economy while eliminating opium production. 

With the Taliban at its strongest since 2001 and opium production at record levels, violence is blocking efforts at economic development. 

The lack of jobs means more people are willing to grow opium poppies, bolsters warlords and forces impoverished villagers into the arms of the Taliban as paid fighters. 

"We have the young generation and all of them, they are jobless, the majority of them they are jobless," says Bamiyan's thoughtful, soft-spoken Governor Habiba Sarabi, a doctor. 
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Two coalition soldiers killed in Afghanistan   
10/09/2006 - 2:35:34 PM
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=83413004&p=834y33x6&n=83413384&x=

A US-led coalition soldier has been killed in combat in southern Afghanistan, Nato said today.

The soldier was killed late on Saturday in southern Zabul province, where he was embedded as a trainer with the Afghan army, a Nato statement said. It gave no further details.

A second coalition soldier died during the Nato-led Operation Medusa in Kandahar’s southern Panjwayi district, the statement said.

It added that the dead soldier had earlier been mistakenly identified as a Nato soldier – the sixth foreign soldier to die in the anti-Taliban operation that began on September 2.

Nato says more than 420 militants have died in the fighting.

The statement did not give the soldiers’ nationalities. Most of the 20,000 troops in the coalition are American. 
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Afghan governor killed by suicide bombing
2006-09-10 18:14:13  by Yu Zhixiao 

    KABUL, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bombing killed Hakim Tanewall, governor of the eastern Paktia province of Afghanistan, and his two bodyguards on Sunday, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry told Xinhua. 

    The spokesman, Yusuf Stanizai, said the incident happened at around 1:00 p.m. (0830 GMT) when an attacker belted with explosives rushed to the car carrying Tanewall. 

    Three other bodyguards were injured in the attack, which occurred before the governor's office in Gardez city, the capital of Paktia province, he added
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Get out of Afghanistan now: NDP
Sep. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH  OTTAWA BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157838637235&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

QUEBEC—NDP Leader Jack Layton wants Parliament to debate the withdrawal of Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan after party delegates overwhelmingly backed his call to "bring the troops home."

And Layton urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to distance Canada from America's war on terrorism.
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The `war on terror' will turn a generation of angry young men against the West, says Linda McQuaig
Sep. 10, 2006. 01:00 AM LINDA MCQUAIG
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157838637025&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

In the days after 9/11, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami condemned the terrorist attack and reached out to the West to fight terrorism together.

Too bad we ignored him. We'd be safer today if we hadn't.

Khatami was a moderate reformer, a popular democratically elected president who had been struggling to limit the power of Iran's reactionary religious leaders, and to open up a dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.

You'd think the West would love a guy like that. But the Bush administration was determined to treat 9/11 as a battle in the "clash of civilizations" — a clash that Khatami was trying to steer the world away from. 

So, despite an outpouring of sympathy from Iranians over 9/11 — including a moment of silence at an Iranian soccer match — Washington declared Iran part of the "axis of evil" and dragged the West into a "war on terror" that involved invading Muslim countries. 
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AFGHANISTAN: BULGARELLI, IT'S WAR, PULL OUT THE TROOPS Italy
(AGI) - Rome, Sep 8 - 

"Today's attacks give the grave confirmation of the escalation of the situation in Afghanistan, now effectively a theatre of war, and impose the acceleration of the calendar for the withdrawal of the Italian contingent," said Green senator Mauro Bulgarelli, according to whom: "we must take note again that there are no conditions for our troops to stay in Afghanistan, who will inevitably be involved, day after day, in the escalation of conflict which now concerns the entire region, just like this morning. On the other hand, when the decree on the refinancing of missions was being made, it was decided that the presence of our soldiers be conditioned by the escalation of the situation and that a parliamentary monitoring committee be established for this. Today, the constitution of this organ is more urgent than ever, especially in the light of the new commitments our country has made in Lebanon, which make the withdrawal from Afghanistan all the more urgent. There are currently no conditions for the carrying out of a peace mission in Afghanistan. It is also urgent to concentrate the efforts of the UN mission, which is very arduous and taxing." (AGI) - 
081910 SET 06 
COPYRIGHTS 2002-2006 AGI S.p.A.  
End



More on link


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## The Bread Guy (10 Sep 2006)

*Two Coalition soldiers killed in separate incidents*
ISAF Release #2006-142, 10 Sept 06 

Last night, two Coalition Soldiers were killed while conducting combat operations with Afghan forces in ISAF’s Regional Command South. 

One of the casualties was working with an Afghan National Army (ANA) unit that is currently in support of Op Medusa in Panjwayi and was mistakenly reported as an ISAF soldier KIA yesterday. The second casualty was operating in Zabul in support of an ANA unit. 

The Soldiers were operating as members of Embedded Training Teams (ETT). The ETT mentors and trains ANA soldiers for military operations. These soldiers live and work along side ANA soldiers, providing operational advice and logistical support. 

The names of the Coalition service members are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. 

“This is a tragic loss for our Task Force,” said Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Pritt, commander of Combined Joint Task Force - Phoenix. “As embedded trainers, these outstanding soldiers were sharing their knowledge and expertise to assist Afghan soldiers in improving their combat skills. Our prayers and thoughts are with their families during this difficult time.” 



*ISAF Media Update Speaking Notes *  
Army Maj. Luke Knittig, ISAF Spokesman, 10 Sept 06

Good morning... 

Operation Medusa - In just nine days ISAF's Operation Medusa has struck hard at the insurgent heartland of Kandahar. Hundreds of men who we wish had instead chosen to fight for prosperity and progress in Panjwayi and Pashmul no longer remain as a threat. The combat capable partnership of Afghan security forces and ISAF liaison teams is proving to be potent. 

It's important to note that ISAF and Afghan forces are not just fighting. Those who want to be a force for good in Kandahar have the opportunity to do so through established government programs. Already, ISAF is helping the provincial government position the infusion of aid, development and government services possible once the insurgent defeat is complete. 

More Troops and Equipment - The NATO nations' ambassadors came to Kabul this week to publicly and unanimously agree the Alliance's long-term commitment to Afghanistan. NATO's military chiefs met in Warsaw, Poland, to make manning and materiel match mission requirements. The surge capability gained by simply filling the stated operational requirement to 100 instead of 85 percent is what all concerned want. 

Lots I could get into about recent events and operations ongoing in the capital and across the country and how they relate both to Operation Medusa and the anniversary of 9/11, but I'm confident it'll come out in your questions... 


*
Operation Medusa Update*
ISAF Release #2006-141, 10 Sept 06 

The Afghan Army and ISAF grip on insurgents remaining in the Panjwayi and Zhari districts continues to tighten, steadily and incrementally eroding the insurgent’s ability to continue to fight. 

Joint fires were effectively brought to bear throughout the night, and in four separate engagements using close air support between approximately 0745 p.m. and 0550 a.m. a total of 94 insurgents were killed and 1 wounded in the same area. 

In a separate but related engagement, forces supporting Op Medusa identified a developing counter attack and immediately tasked artillery and close air support attacks, directed by observation posts and ground units, to defeat it. The counter attack was neutralized, inflicting severe losses on the insurgents. Numbers are being verified through various sources and will be released once finalised. 

ISAF forces have also successfully disrupted insurgent re-supply routes around the area of Op Medusa. By controlling routes, and blocking insurgent rat-runs we are denying the insurgents the ability to safely reinforce their positions and bring in more ammunition, food and water. 

The activities of the last 24 hours demonstrate Afghan Army and ISAF superiority in terms of the ability to fight at night, bring accurate and proportionate fires to bear with great speed and the ability to disrupt insurgent activities supporting their ability to fight in the Panjwayi and Zhari districts. 



*TALIBAN EXTREMISTS CONTINUE TO TARGET AFGHAN CIVILIANS WITH IEDS*
CENTCOM Release Number 06-09-07PL, 7 Sept 06
http://tinyurl.com/pagrd

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN – Just two days after Taliban spokesman, Dr. Mohamed Hanif disputed the Coalition claim that 102 Afghan civilians have been killed by Taliban-ordered suicide bombings in comparison to just 19 Afghan and Coalition soldiers for 2006, extremists struck against civilians again Sept. 6.
    
    In Khost City, a suicide bomber jumped onto the hood of a civilian taxi, detonating and killing a civilian teacher, an Afghan National Police officer and wounding the taxi driver.  Hanif claimed Taliban responsibility for this attack in a report published by Afghan Islamic Press.
    
    Outside of Bermel, Paktika Province an Afghan private security team struck an improvised explosive device killing two and injuring a third civilian.
    
    In another incident, a motorcycle borne IED exploded at an ANP checkpoint in Logar Province, wounding two Afghan civilians.  They were treated at Puli Alam.  There were no reported Coalition or ANP injuries, collateral damage or damage to Coalition equipment.
    
    “Today brings the death toll to 106 innocent civilians killed this year by extremist Taliban suicide bombers and IEDS,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force-76 spokesman.  “They say Coalition forces are their enemies, yet all the suffering today was born by Afghans.  It is the Taliban that is the enemy of the Afghan people.”
    
     No Coalition soldiers were injured in either of these two attacks.  
     
     In a more fortunate turn of events, Coalition forces discovered an IED west of Khost City on Sept. 7 and disarmed it.
     
    “Afghan and Coalition Forces places themselves in mortal danger everyday searching for IEDs and using intelligence collection to break up suicide and IED bomber cells, all to protect the Afghan people and provide a safe and secure environment for people to live in peace,” said Fitzpatrick.  “The Taliban extremists bring fear, death and destruction to the Afghan people who have endured conflict long enough.” 


**edit - adds CENTCOM release


----------



## GAP (11 Sep 2006)

*Articles found Sept 11, 2006*

Canada sending 15 tanks, 120 more troops
CAMPBELL CLARK From Monday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060911.wxtankssb11/BNStory/National/home  


Major boost in military capability in Afghanistan

OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces' main tank unit is racing to prepare 120 troops and 15 Leopard tanks to 

send to Afghanistan as early as next week, in what would be a major boost in Canadian military 

capability there, according to a military expert who observed them.

The Lord Strathcona's Horse unit has been asked to ready a tank squadron so they could be shipped 

out by Sept. 19, the end of a current training exercise, and possibly sooner, said Bob Bergen, a 

military expert with the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.

Mr. Bergen, a former journalist, observed the Lord Strathconas' preparations over two days at CFB 

Wainright, north of Edmonton, including attending operations meetings on Saturday.

The unit has not been given a formal "warning order," that sets a date for deployment. That would 

come after Ottawa makes the final decision to deploy the tanks but appears to be contingent on 

Canada's ability to arrange transport for the 42-tonne tanks, probably from the United States, 

because Canada does not have the planes to carry them.
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A grim harvest in Afghan vineyards
GRAEME SMITH 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060911.AFGHAN11/TPStory 

Embedded American experts share tactics -- and casualties -- with allies, GRAEME SMITH finds

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN -- Sand-coloured Humvees were a welcome sight for Canadian soldiers 

recently, as the squat U.S. military vehicles appeared on the front lines in Panjwai district, 

churning through the dust and stopping alongside the green Canadian troop carriers.

U.S. forces strengthened a Canadian effort this weekend to contain a group of Taliban fighters in a 

patch of farmland southwest of Kandahar city, while aircraft and artillery pummelled the insurgents 

from the sky. An estimated 94 Taliban died in the bombardment.

Some Afghans had become convinced that the U.S. military was giving up its fight against the Taliban 

in Kandahar province, ever since thousands of Canadian troops arrived early this year.

In fact, the Americans remain an influential presence in this troubled region. One U.S. soldier died 

in the Canadian-led Operation Medusa on Saturday, while another was killed the same day in 

neighbouring Zabul province.
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Canadians push deeper into Taliban-held territory
Canadian Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060911.wafghan0911/BNStory/International/home 


PANJWAII, AFGHANISTAN — Canadian troops have pushed several hundred metres deeper into Taliban-held 

territory with virtually no resistance. 

The soldiers pounded the area with helicopter and warplane artillery Monday, then advanced about the 

distance of a football field.

Troops found blood trails leading away from heavily fortified trenches, which many officers suspect 

have been used to launch rockets at Canadians. 

A NATO statement says another 92 Taliban fighters have been killed, bringing the death toll in 

Operation Medusa to over 500. A Canadian Press reporter at the scene could only see a few bodies.
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Harper a 'cheerleader' for Bush: Layton
BILL CURRY Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060910.wndpconvv0910/BNStory/National/home 

QUEBEC — New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton came out swinging against Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a closing speech to his party's convention, striking a new tone that aims to present his party as ready to form the next government.

"At this convention, we have begun a campaign to persuade the people of Canada to elect an NDP-led government," Mr. Layton told the approximately 1,800 delegates gathered for a weekend policy convention.

"Mr. Harper is deliberately misleading Canadians about who benefits most from his policies. He's become a cheerleader for President George Bush and he's leading Canada down the wrong track on every issue that matters to ordinary Canadians." Mr. Layton also criticized the Liberals, saying they "need more time in the penalty box." The NDP leader emerged this weekend with strong party support for his leadership and his controversial call to pull Canadian troops from Afghanistan.

Prior to taking the stage, Mr. Layton received the support of 92 per cent of the delegates, who voted not to hold a leadership convention within a year.
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Canada doing more than ‘fair share' in Afghanistan, says MacKay
Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060910.wmackay0910/BNStory/National/home 

OTTAWA — More military help is needed in Afghanistan, says Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, but it's time for Canada's NATO allies to “step up” rather than for Canada to contribute more.

Mr. MacKay told CTV's “Question Period” on Sunday that NATO is currently examining what material and troop requirements are needed to quell the Taliban insurgency raging in Afghanistan's southern provinces.

“Clearly there are other countries — not Canada — but other countries who can do more,” Mr. MacKay said.

“Nobody would suggest for a minute that Canada is not doing more than their fair share, above and beyond the expectation.”
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Doubts intensify over Afghanistan's future
By Rachel Morarjee | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0911/p06s01-wosc.html

Critics say President Karzai and the West must redouble efforts to boost security and reconstruction.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – When the Taliban suicide car bomb struck the center of Kabul on Friday, it found grandmother Amena Wahidi in the wrong place at the wrong time - and signaled that five years after Sept. 11, the first chapter in the US war on terror is far from over. 
Mrs. Wahidi died, along with 13 other Afghan civilians and two US soldiers, when the explosion in central Kabul - the first such Taliban attack in the Afghan capital - targeted a US military convoy. The attack coincides with heavy resistance from Taliban fighters to the new NATO presence in southern Afghanistan. NATO forces say they have killed some 420 fighters over the past week alone. 

"The Taliban are showing that they can operate anywhere at will, even in very high security areas," says Joanna Nathan, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group in Kabul. "It is a not a popular uprising at the moment, but people are sitting on the fence waiting to see who will be the winning side."

Popular doubt here about the long-term direction of Afghanistan reflects a perception that the government of Hamid Karzai is weak and the West has not delivered on security and reconstruction, analysts say. Military commanders, international observers, and officials are sounding urgent calls for a redoubling of efforts by the government and its Western backers.

"We can count ourselves lucky that almost five years after Sept. 11, we have approximately 35,000 to 40,000 troops here. Of course things are salvageable, but it's going to be a hard road," says Francis Vendrell, the European Union's Special Representative to Afghanistan.

Mr. Vendrell argues for a three-pronged approach: Kick out corrupt officials, fast-track reconstruction efforts, and - echoing calls by NATO's own commanders - send more troops.

"The government is facing a crisis of legitimacy," says Michael Shaikh with Human Rights Watch. "The only way to deal with this is to tackle the people within its own ranks."

In the past few months, President Karzai has made efforts to crack down on corruption and bad governance. He's appointed an attorney general who has made corruption his top target. Religious conservatives have been swept off the Supreme Court, yielding to more judges trained in modern jurisprudence. And the government has dispatched a raft of new police chiefs and governors to the south, admitting that the central government has not paid enough attention to the volatile south.

"It's not that the Taliban were strong, it's that the government was weak. They have moved into a vacuum [in the south]. There was protracted negligence on our part of those provinces," says Karzai's chief of staff, Jawed Ludin.

But turning around the security situation is now a much more difficult task as the violence has spread beyond the south. Troubling signs are coming in from points north, east, and west as well, with no-go zones and pockets of violence creeping steadily toward the capital:

• Weapons prices in northern Afghanistan - a region where warlords still hold sway - have more than doubled in the past few months, signaling a setback for disarmament efforts. "It's not that there are no weapons available on the market, it's that people are stockpiling and waiting for something to happen," said a Western military official.

• Many parts of Wardak Province, on the western border of Kabul Province, are no longer safe for aid agencies to operate. "People are starting to pull out, and this will give the Taliban a stronger case to win the population over," says an aid worker, who asked not to be identified.

• A week ago, another blast on the Jalalabad road east of Kabul killed a British soldier and four civilians.

• In the western province of Farah, 100 Taliban fighters in pickup trucks armed with rocket-propelled grenades stormed the district headquarters in Kailargar, killing two policemen and torching a health clinic Sunday.

• And a suicide car bomb killed the governor of the southeastern Paktia Province and two others Sunday.

The notion that Kabul remains an oasis of relative stability was punctured by Friday's bombing.

"Through our intelligence sources, we know there's a cell here in Kabul, at least one, whose primary mission is to seek coalition or international troops and hit them with suicide bombs," Col. Tom Collins, a US military spokesman, told reporters in Kabul.

Suicide bombs first became a phenomenon last summer in Afghanistan but the bombers were inept, often killing no one but themselves. That has changed, with more than 70 suicide attacks since the beginning of this year that have become increasingly lethal.

The number of Taliban fighters met on the battlefields of the south has also risen. Partly, this may be due to the Taliban's willingness to pay better. Police are paid around $2 a day, Afghan National Army fighters are paid roughly $4 a day, but Taliban fighters get $8 a day, says Lt. Col. David Hammond, who is training the Afghan National Army in Helmand Province.

While the lure of a little more money no doubt draws some Afghans to the insurgency, the overall economic picture of the country since 2001 is brighter.

According to the IMF, official GDP growth averaged 22.5 percent between 2002 and 2004 and the organization has projected a 14 percent increase for 2005-06. Over a fifth of GDP comes from investment activity with $1.5 billion new since 2003. Most of it is donor aided public investment, but one-third comes as foreign direct investment.

The downside is that nearly a third of the total licit - illicit GDP (almost $6 billion the IMF estimates) - stems from the production and export of opium.

For some Western observers, the past four years feel like a missed opportunity. "US and international attention veered from Afghanistan in mid-2002, and focused on Iraq," says a senior Western diplomat in Kabul. "There was a feeling they had got rid of the Taliban, and left a good man [Karzai], and that things would settle down."

• Staff writer Scott Peterson contributed from Kabul. 
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US Officials Downplay Taleban Resurgence in Afghanistan  
By Stephanie Ho  Washington 10 September 2006 
http://voanews.com/english/2006-09-10-voa26.cfm

U.S. and Afghan officials acknowledge that Taleban forces are posing serious challenges to security in Afghanistan. But they add that, although Taleban fighters are fueling some of the country's worst violence in recent years, the insurgents are no match for NATO and Afghan troops. 

As the United States looks to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, one country that has come under renewed scrutiny is Afghanistan. 

In 2001, the Taleban regime ruled Afghanistan with an iron grip and backed Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaida terrorist network masterminded the September 11 attacks.

Shortly afterwards, U.S.-led troops helped overthrow the Taleban, and in the more than four years that followed, Afghanistan made progress toward setting up a new government. The president, Hamid Karzai, and the 351-seat parliament are democratically-elected. The country also has a new constitution.
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REFUGEE KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN
11.9.2006. 13:50:25
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=131217&region=7

There will be a state funeral Monday in the Afghan capital Kabul for Hakim Taniwal, the provincial governor killed by a suicide bomber. 

Mr Taniwal was a refugee in Melbourne for five years before returning to Afghanistan to take up a diplomatic post. 

He went on to serve as a government minister before becoming governor of Paktia province. 

His wife and children are still in Melbourne and a close family friend, Imal Mirranay says Mr Taniwal went back to Afghanistan fully aware of the potential risks. 

“The southern provinces are very dangerous places, but he said there is no other option because the country has to move towards democracy. If it's going towards democracy, the people have to be educated and it has to be run by a people who understand the true meaning of democracy.” 
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More British troops for Afghanistan if needed
THE OBSERVER AND AFP , LONDON Monday, Sep 11, 2006,Page 4 
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/09/11/2003327118

Whitehall sources have conceded for the first time that extra British troops could be deployed to Afghanistan but would only do so if other members of the NATO alliance fail to supply the reinforcements of troops and materiel demanded by its military chief, Whitehall sources indicate.

Despite concerns that the army is already stretched too far, British defense officials have identified additional troops and equipment available for deployment to southern Afghanistan.

But senior defense officials insist it remains too early to discuss potential numbers.

General James Jones, the US head of NATO in Europe, has said he wants at least 2,000 more soldiers to quash the Taliban before winter.

The failure of key members of the 26-nation alliance to provide the required reinforcements has caused consternation among London defense strategists who are keenly aware that sending more troops to Helmand risks increased political damage.

London is understood to have volunteered more troops during talks in Warsaw on Saturday between NATO defense chiefs, but only on condition that other countries remain reluctant to send service personnel to Helmand.

"If they [NATO partners] don't send, then we will. We have soldiers and helicopters we can send to Afghanistan," said a senior defense source.

Talks on Saturday attempted to persuade NATO members such as Germany and Spain to send their troops to Helmand. 

Both countries presently operate only in the relatively safe northern and western regions and so far have been reluctant to send soldiers into the riskiest areas of Afghanistan.
More on link

Govt urged to honour Australian killed in Afghanistan
Monday, September 11, 2006. 10:27am (AEST)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1737716.htm

Melbourne's Afghan community has called on the Australian Government to recognise the death of an Australian citizen killed in Afghanistan. 

Hakim Taniwal, the governor of Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province, was killed in a suicide attack last night. 

He came to Australia as a refugee and his children still live at Dandenong. 

The Afghan Australian Volunteers Association says Mr Taniwal's work advanced humanity and the fight against terrorism. 

Association spokesman Dr Abdul Khaliq Fazal says his death should be acknowledged in Australia, where he lived for more than a decade. 

"His family deserves a call from the Prime Minister, from the Premier of Victoria," he said.

"I mean he should not be just forgotten as an Afghan migrant killed in Afghanistan or as a governor of Afghanistan. He was also an Australian citizen."
More on link

2 terrorists captured in E. Afghanistan  
September 11, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/11/eng20060911_301643.html

Two terrorists have been captured by Afghan and coalition forces in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan, said a coalition statement on Monday. 

The terrorists, who are accused of planting roadside bombs against Afghan and coalition forces, were detained in Khulbesat village in an operation lasting from late Saturday to early Sunday, it said. 

The two were arrested in the compounds, which credible intelligence indicated as a refuge for al-Qaida facilitators linked to a known terrorist network, it added. 

The forces requested a peaceful surrender of people within the compounds and no shots were fired. Several men, women and children were inside the compounds and all were unharmed during the operation. 

There are no casualties of Afghan and coalition forces, the statement said. 

Khost, a mountainous region, has been a hotbed of Taliban, al- Qaida and other anti-government insurgents. 

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,300 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed so far. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Development, difficulty, destabilization in Afghanistan 5 years after Sept. 11 attacks 
By Yu Zhixiao  September 11, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/11/eng20060911_301400.html

"Although life is better than five years ago, it is still very hard. And a very worrying issue is the worsening security situation in this city," said Khali Haider, owner of a pharmacy in downtown Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. 

A suicide car bombing killed 15 people including two U.S. soldiers just 50 meters from the pharmacy on Friday. All its window glass was shattered by the shocking blast. 

Similar to what Haider is experiencing, Afghanistan is enjoying development, facing difficulty and suffering destabilization five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, which touched off the U.S.-led Afghan War toppling the former Taliban regime. 

RELATIVE DEVELOPMENT 

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005, respectively and a new constitution has been formed and put into practice years ago. 

Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) has enjoyed a year- on-year rise of over 10 percent in the past five years and the life of Afghans has improved obviously. 

People can buy many kinds of vegetables such as cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, cabbage, pepper, etc. as well as a variety of fruits. Bazaars are piled up with Coca Cola, Pepsi, cans, boxes of milk, and shops sell digital cameras, colorful movie discs and fashionable clothes. 

Many new roads have been or are being constructed, while numerous factories have been newly established. 
End

And in rugged Afghanistan, hunt for al Qaeda goes on
Monday, September 11, 2006 BY FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press 
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1157949939116050.xml&coll=1

KORANGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan -- At night, the mountains glow from artillery strikes. By day, gunbattles echo down the valley. Five years after the Sept. 11 attack, Americans are battling al Qaeda militants in this remote area where the U.S. military says the group hatched the terror plot. 

Only about 100 hard-core Afghan, Arab and Pakistani insurgents operate in the Korangal Valley, but this is where the U.S. last year suffered its worst combat loss in Afghanistan and where the military believes at least second-tier al Qaeda leaders still hide and plan attacks. 
More on link

9/11: 5-Yrs later violence overshadows Afghanistan  
 Monday, September 11, 2006  by RFE/RL      
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=128&id=5368&t=9%2F11%3A+5-Yrs+later+violence+overshadows+Afghanistan

In recent weeks, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has touted accomplishments since late 2001, reminding ordinary Afghans how desperate their plight had been five years ago.   
  
Much has happened to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. But efforts to rebuild Afghanistan are being overshadowed by resurgent Taliban violence in the south, a thriving illegal opium trade, warlordism, government corruption, and slow progress on economic development.

RFE/RL analyst Amin Tarzi says that nearly five years after the demise of the Taliban regime, many Afghans still have two main concerns -- security and food for their families. 
More on link



Taliban try to flee southern Afghanistan fighting  
 11/09/2006 - 9:50:51 AM
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=83436862&p=83437y64&n=83437242

Nato airstrikes and artillery have killed a further 92 suspected Taliban fighters, the alliance reported today, pushing its toll of militant dead in a 10-day offensive past 500.

The latest deaths came when insurgents staged a counter-attack in Kandahar province yesterday, a Nato statement said. It added that the casualties in the province’s Panjwayi and Zhari districts were in addition to 94 militants it had already reported as dying in a clash earlier.
More on link

Assassination could destabilise east Afghanistan: academic 
The World Today - Monday, 11 September , 2006  12:45:00 Reporter: Alison Caldwell
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1738206.htm

ELEANOR HALL: The death of a high-ranking Afghan official in a suicide bombing could open up a dangerous power vacuum in the country's relatively peaceful east, according to Australian academic and Afghanistan observer, William Maley.

Professor Maley says he wasn't surprised by the murder of Governor Hakim Taniwal, who he'd known for 17 years and who'd lived in Australia as recently as four years ago.

The Governor was killed just days after warning that a deal done between Pakistan and the Taliban would open up the east of Afghanistan to Taliban infiltrators.

Alison Caldwell has this report.

ALISON CALDWELL: On Wednesday last week, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf made a peace pact with Taliban militants based in his country's tribal border region, next to Afghanistan.

He said the agreement would bring an end to any "Talibanisation" of society, and protect his country and Afghanistan from any Taliban actions in the area.

But the Governor of the neighbouring Paktia province of eastern Afghanistan wasn't so sure.

Hakim Taniwal told The Washington Post "if Musharraf can make an agreement with the bad guys and send them into Afghanistan, if they're not being bothered they'll have more time to infiltrate here and do what they want". 

Four days later Hakim Taniwal was murdered by a suicide bomber outside his office.
More on link


Explosion at funeral ceremony leaves 4 dead in Afghanistan  
September 11, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/11/eng20060911_301726.html

Four persons were killed as a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at the funeral ceremony of a provincial governor in southeast Afghanistan Monday. 

A man strapped explosive device in his body exploded himself at the funeral ceremony of Hakim Taniwal in Tanai district of Khost province today, killing self and three others," a local police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. 

A large number of government official were also present at the funeral ceremony. 

Taniwal, the late governor of Paktia province and his two colleagues were killed when a suicide bomber rammed into his car outside his office Sunday. 

However, authorities in the capital city have yet to make comments. 

"Yes, I confirm that there was an explosion in Khost province today but we have not received information so far," an official at the office of Interior Ministry spokesman told Xinhua but refused to be identified. 

More than 2,300 people mostly militants, according to military officials have been killed in the post-Taliban nation since January this year. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Taliban Extremist Targets Funeral; Afghan, Coalition Forces Capture Terrorists
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=794

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive strapped to his body today during the funeral ceremony for the late governor of Afghanistan’s Paktia province, Mohammad Hakim Taniwal, U.S. military officials reported. 
As family, friends, colleagues and government officials paid their last respects to Taniwal in Khowst province, the suicide bomber approached the funeral and detonated the explosive, killing six people, including two Afghan National Police officers, and injuring more than 35 civilians. Religious leaders condemned the attack, officials said. 

Coalition forces responded immediately and transported the injured to the Khowst hospital, where they are being treated. 

“The Taliban have dishonored the sanctity of a Muslim funeral,” said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman. “The Taliban have no regard for life and no respect for honor, tradition or religion. Today’s attack proves to all Afghans and Muslims that the Taliban are willing to destroy the future of Afghanistan and its people’s way of life.” 

Today’s attack will not deter reconstruction and development in the province or throughout Afghanistan, Fitzpatrick said. “Good governance and security will continue to be extended throughout Afghanistan,” he said. “The government showed its strength and resolve by the smooth transition of provincial governance in a time of crisis.” 

In other new from Afghanistan, Afghan and coalition forces detained a known al Qaeda member today during an early-morning raid of a compound in Nangarhar province. Six other suspected al Qaeda associates also were detained without incident, officials said. 

Intelligence indicates the detainees were involved in anti-government and anti-coalition activities. Several women and children also were located in the compound, and a large number of documents were confiscated. No civilians, or Afghan or coalition forces were injured during the operation. 

Also, Afghan and coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists in Khowst province during an operation yesterday. The suspects were detained after Afghan authorities entered multiple compounds, which intelligence indicated were used by al Qaeda members. 

The detained terrorists are linked to plotting makeshift-bomb attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Khowst province. Several women and children were present within the compounds, and all were unharmed during the operation, officials said 

No Afghan or coalition forces were injured during the operation. 
End


----------



## Colin Parkinson (11 Sep 2006)

http://www.news1130.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w091111A

Battle for Panjwaii fought in long stops and terrorizing quick starts
10, 2006 - 6:54 pm 

By: LES PERREAUX 
PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) - Warrant Officer Jim Murnaghan's quick wisecracks and reassuring smile disappear with the distant pop of the Taliban rocket ignition.
When the rocket-propelled grenade roars in from an insurgent fighter, Murnaghan's eyes become two gaping saucers. His soft laugh switches to a growl, but he doesn't have to yell twice to get attention from his boys or the reporter who has been his shadow for several days on the frontlines of Operation Medusa.
"Get down!" he yells, and we get down instantly.
The hiss becomes a whistle and then a scream just a few feet overhead.
"Under the bridge, under the bridge, under the bridge," he shouts, and his charges, mainly in their 20s, slither under the bridge through feces and broken glass.
They find safety as the deadly projectile thuds into the sand behind them. Nobody is killed. Nobody is hurt, except for a cut finger from a broken bottle.
"If you ever hear artillery that sounds like a train coming into the station, run," he advises. He then turns to his civilian shadow to lighten the situation.
"You got under here faster than anyone! Did you record that? As long as you keep getting under bridges like that, Buds, you'll be OK."
-
Twenty-four hours earlier, the Nomads sat on the edge of the desert hoping their exodus would finally end.
Five Platoon of Bravo Company from the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, was in position for nearly a week, waiting to launch their part of Operation Medusa, the NATO struggle to take back a series of villages in the Panjwaii district just west of Kandahar.
Instead, the battle would come to the Nomads.
Someone jokes the company gained their 'Nomad' nickname for all the time they've spent wandering the desert in Afghanistan.
After days parked in sand, waiting to launch their part of the offensive, the Nomads are suddenly ordered to move in six minutes. Soldiers swear, bundle up their kits, praying not to leave anything behind in the mayhem of their sudden launch into battle.
It's just after 3 p.m. and the soldiers are packed like sardines into the light armoured vehicle (LAV) commanded by Cpl. Steve Vukic from Port-au-Choix, N.L. It's stinking hot. The boat, as some soldiers call it, is packed to the rafters with mortars and rations and troops.
The LAV rolls a short distance to a treeline that is the northern front in the battle to retake Panjwaii from hundreds of Taliban insurgents.
The soldiers dismount, weapons cocked, and begin their sweep of a series of grape and watermelon fields, family compounds and a canal that are perfect hiding spots for Taliban defence.
They use shotguns to open locked doors. The find no insurgents but plenty of signs of war. One soldier nearly pukes after finding a bloated dead cow in a room. Around a corner is a fresh grave. In another compound, a massive unexploded bomb. Several houses are now craters. A child's shoe sits on a collapsed rafter.
The Nomads expect resistance but in these early hours they find none. They have quickly established a bridgehead into a former no-go zone for the coalition.
They set up along a canal wall for a long moonlit vigil over new territory, away from the warmth and big canon of their beloved LAV, at the tip of the spear of this Canadian advance.
They take a break, swiping a couple of watermelons from a field. The sticky juice pours out as the soldiers dig into their first fresh fruit in ages. It seems like all the water in dusty Afghanistan is held in these small green melons.
Someone notes how quiet the evening has become.
"It's too quiet, Tonto," jokes platoon medic Cpl. Darren Dyer. Just like in war movies, everyone calls him Doc.
-
Dawn breaks, and the soldiers are shocked by the quiet night they've passed. Then they make an eerie discovery.
Soldiers had set up trip flares to warn them of advancing Taliban. Someone cut the wires on their flares and stole some.
"Why would they steal our trip flares?" asks Lt. Jeff Bell, the platoon commander. "To use against us?" 
Warrant Officer Murnahan answers: "Just to show us they still can."
The front line remains quiet well into the afternoon until the rocket screams overhead. All around Five Platoon, all hell breaks loose. Small groups of Taliban are testing Canadian resolve. Dozens of smashed Taliban bodies litter the battlefield after a three-hour series of fights across the lines. NATO claims hundreds have died, figures strongly disputed by the Taliban.
Somehow only one NATO soldier, an American, dies in a rocket attack in these opening days of the advance.
The red streak of tracer bullets from machine-guns fly overhead and big bombs send shockwaves that strike the chest in a breathtaking punch. It is the biggest battle Canadian troops have waged in decades, but the Nomads have yet to fire a shot in anger.
There's something extra-disquieting about those rockets. The Nomads have the added pain of recent experience.
A few days earlier, as they milled around the desert waiting for their big move, a series of rockets and mortars blew up near one of their boats, wounding four soldiers, several seriously enough to send them home. Only two emerged unscathed.
Vukic's nearby crew and others blasted away in return, killing at least one Taliban.
In the days since, they constantly share updates on the condition of their friends who have concussions and have been peppered by shrapnel from head to toe. There's talk of head wounds and a medically induced coma. One soldier took a jagged piece of shrapnel near the groin.
Beneath the bridge, a soldier mimics the sound of an incoming rocket. Ryan W. Hunt, a 21-year-old private who escaped the earlier barrage, flinches. He tells the whistler to shut up in saltier, soldierly language. The blond-haired six-footer from Burlington, Ont., takes off.
"Remember guys, he went through some shit a few days ago," said Cpl. Mike Opatovsky of Crystal Beach, Ont.
The others nod and later the whistler apologizes to Hunt.
A few hours pass and Warrant Officer Murnaghan and his shadow emerge from the bridge for another reassuring tour among the troops on the line.
He cracks jokes to set everyone at ease. He cajoles and scolds as needed. He's part big brother, part dad, part high school principal, confessor, probation officer and military adviser.
"Hey Buds, how's it goin'?" the warrant says several times, using a patented Petawawa military base substitute for "dude" or "man."
He is the platoon elder at 36.
Another rocket falls in the sand among some LAVs, less than a hundred metres from the warrant and his shadow. There's no bridge to hide under, so they scurry to a boat instead.
When they return to the warrant officer's unit, a message is passed along from headquarters: Taliban are targeting people hanging around LAVs.
Hunt, whose entire LAV crew was taken out several days earlier hanging around an armoured vehicle, yells at the radio: "Tell us something we don't know." His good humour has returned. He laughs and the rest of the platoon cracks up.
For the rest of the evening, the firing doesn't stop around Five Platoon. But by now, U.S. soldiers and a company from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man., have taken up the advance. Five Platoon is now part of the rear guard, left to search through compounds and grape fields while their colleagues push ahead.
They are back to killing time until their next step forward.
"We're clearing the garden of Hell," said Brad (Killer) Kilcup, a 25-year-old hopeless romantic from Sault-Ste-Marie, Ont.
Five minutes after the rockets fall, there's an eruption of small talk.
During his leave later this fall, Killer plans to marry his sweetheart and take her on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls.
Killer looks for hotel advice for the umpteenth time. He exchanges notes on wedding rings with other hopeless romantics in the platoon.
Warrant Murnaghan laughs out loud at the suggestion that with his moustache and manner of speech, he resembles Ricky, the lovable loser in one of his favourite shows, The Trailer Park Boys.
The soldiers relax for a few moments beneath a tree before returning to their posts and waiting for the next thing.
As the Warrant says, "There's always something going on around here, Buds."


----------



## MarkOttawa (11 Sep 2006)

The Taliban will be back in power if the west doesn't narrow its ambitions
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1869296,00.html   

A pessimistic assessment by military historian and journalist Max Hastings--who nonetheless concludes:



> Whatever form of rule evolves there, in western eyes it is unlikely to be pretty. The best we can hope is that it will prove less ugly than that of the Taliban.
> 
> If the west fails, a heavy responsibility will rest with Germany, France and Italy, which pretended to be willing to contribute yet refused to act with conviction. We should surely forget past blunders and address ourselves solely to the future. If the Karzai regime cannot be sustained, unspeakably barbaric Islamist fascists will regain power in Kabul. This would be a triumph for al-Qaida, a disaster for the global struggle against terrorism, and consign the Afghan people once more to the dark ages.
> 
> There are very few optimists in Kabul today. Yet it seems essential for the world to keep trying there. There is still a chance of success, as there is not in Iraq. Western purposes are far more honourable...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (11 Sep 2006)

*Operation Medusa Update for Sept 11*
ISAF Release #2006-143, 11 Sept 06 
http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_11Sept06_143.htm

Afghan and ISAF troops kept the pressure up on Taliban fighters yesterday through joint fires and aggressive patrolling, gaining ground and driving them from strongholds in Kandahar’s Panjwayi and Zhari districts. 

Yesterday, ISAF spoke of a second major engagement in which ISAF troops tasked artillery and close air support to defeat a Taliban counter-attack. Further analysis of yesterday’s battle damage assessment reports that 92 insurgents were killed. This figure is separate from the 94 insurgents killed in the other incident earlier Sunday. 

“Estimating enemy casualties is not a precise science,” said Col. Chris Vernon, Chief of Staff for ISAF’s Regional Command South. 

“With our considerable technical intelligence, human intelligence and surveillance onto the battle area, we are able to establish figures to a reasonable level of accuracy,” said Vernon. “The Taliban in the Panjwayi-Zhari area have suffered significant attrition.” 

Late Sunday, Kandahar Governor Assadulah Khalid told local journalists that he thought the fighting in Panjwayi and Zhari districts would be over soon, allowing displaced residents to return to their homes. 

ISAF shares Governor Khalid’s assessment but strongly recommends that residents do not return, until Afghan and ISAF authorities formally announce that it is safe to do so. 
---




*ISAF deliver desks for school in Ghor Province*
ISAF Release #2006-144, 11 Sept 06 
http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_11Sept06_144.htm

ISAF soldiers serving with the Lithuanian led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Chagcharan delivered school desks and pillows to a Girls’ School in the Tulak district of Ghor province on 5 & 6 Sept. 

Fifty desks, and pillows for sitting on, were delivered in two trucks. The 200Km journey to the Tulak School took eleven hours over mountainous terrain. 

More than 100 000 of Ghor’s 635 000 school children are studying in different types of educational institutions, around 70 000 of them are boys and 30 000 are girls. There are 390 schools in the province, one of the poorest in the country. 

150 students study at the Tulak Girls’ school. 
---

*Nato claims to have killed 420 Taliban in nine days  * 
Declan Walsh, Guardian (UK), 11 Sept 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1869466,00.html

Nato's battle to subdue the Taliban in southern Afghanistan intensified at the weekend when the international force said it had killed 94 Taliban fighters in air strikes and ground attacks in the Kandahar region, bringing the toll from nine days of combat to more than 420 deaths . . . . 



*Village where Osama bin Laden plotted 'a terrible calamity' *  
Declan Walsh, Guardian (UK), 12 Sept 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1870265,00.html

At 5.16pm local time yesterday, the moment the first plane hit the World Trade Centre, a pair of chirpy young boys skipped past Osama bin Laden's house in eastern Afghanistan, schoolbooks in hand. Predictably, nobody was home.  Across the unpaved street a group of bearded old men shuffled out of the half-completed village mosque. On the pitch behind, a lively game of cricket was under way. Nobody seemed to remember much about the neighbour who hastily left five years ago, except that he kept to himself and turned out to be nothing but trouble . . . . 



*Nato rejects appeal to boost Afghan troops:  Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey ignore request for reinforcements*
Michael Evans, Richard Beeston and Tim Albone, Times Online (UK), 12 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2353444,00.html 
  
SOME OF America’s closest Nato allies have abandoned Washington on the key battleground of the War on Terror, the bloody struggle against Islamic militants for control of southern Afghanistan.  Five years after the world stood “shoulder to shoulder” with America in the aftermath of 9/11, The Times has learnt that many of the countries that pledged support then have now ignored an urgent request for more help in fighting a resurgent Taleban and its al-Qaeda allies . . . . .



*Letter from Private Contractor:  Taleban hires with hard cash*
Nick Higgins, Times Online (UK), 12 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,59-2352988,00.html

Sir, I work in Afghanistan as a security consultant and last year spent nine months living and working in Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province, as security manager to, firstly, the USAid-funded Alternative Incomes Project (AIP) and then to the Alternative Livelihoods Project (ALP), after USAid shut down the AIP. 
The British perceptions of the situation in Helmand were flawed from the outset and the perception of local Afghans was that the British were coming to eradicate the poppy crop. Nothing was done to change this perception, perhaps because the Government failed to set clear parameters to the British deployment. 

The closure of AIP by USAid threw 14,000 men back into unemployment with no relief in sight. ALP is not allowed to indulge in cash for work activity because, says USAid, ALP is a long-term project (it will last till 2009) and cash for work is a short-term fix which is not within its mandate. 

While people who looked to the West for help grow more desperate, enter the “neo-Taleban” who promised the farmers that they would protect the opium from the rampaging British infidels and, secondly, pay unemployed Helmand residents to fight for them. This sudden upsurge in Taleban numbers is not some vast influx of men from across the Pakistan border nor an upsurge of popular support against a foreign invader. It is quite simply a question of economics. 

The Taleban pays $200 a month with a bonus scheme for successful attacks. We are constantly told that Department for Industrial Development has huge sums available, so why not use that to restart the cash for work projects? There are enough labour-intensive, low-technology projects to employ 14,000 to 20,000 men in Helmand alone. 



*What a bloody hopeless war*
Christina Lamb, Sunday Times, 10 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-525-2350363-525,00.html

When Captain Leo Docherty of the Scots Guards entered Sangin in May as part of the first British force to seize the Taliban stronghold, he was horrified to discover that they had so little intelligence they did not even know the location for the district chief’s headquarters which they were supposed to secure and use as their base.  “We fought our way into town then were literally asking people where the building was,” he recalled. “Our intelligence was zero. Absolutely f****** zero.”   His Carry on up the Khyber story of Sangin epitomises how what was meant to be a low-risk reconstruction mission has degenerated into the bloodiest combat faced by British troops since the Korean war . . . . 


*
Officer pours scorn on Afghan 'blunders'  * Duncan Gardham, Telegraph (UK), 11 Sept 06
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/11/wafg11.xml

The operation against the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan in which 33 troops have died has been criticised as "grotesquely clumsy" by a well-placed former British officer.  Using colourful language, Captain Leo Docherty, a former aide-de-camp to the commander of British forces in Helmand Province, said the operation was a "textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency."  He said commanders had been "sucked into a problem unsolvable by military means" as a result of pressure form the Afghan governor and they are now caught in the middle of a civil war . . . .



*Combat losses fail to deter Taliban fighters*
Patrick Bishop, Telegraph (UK), 11 Sept 06
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/11/wnine311.xml

The resurgent Taliban struck again yesterday, murdering a provincial governor in a suicide attack. At the same time its fighters continued to resist attempts to sweep them out of one of their strongholds west of Kandahar.  The violence was a depressing reminder that five years after being overthrown by American-led forces in what appeared to be an unequivocal first victory in the war on terrorism the organisation is far from extinct . . . .


*
'Iraq was not like this. This is war-fighting'*
Bill Neely, Telegraph (UK), 10 Sept 06
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/10/wafg110.xml

As helicopters approach the furthest outposts of the British Army in Afghanistan, they must bank and plunge to deter incoming fire before attempting a landing in the fine, choking sand of places such as Gereshk, Sangin and Musa Qala.   The names meant nothing six months ago, but are now etched indelibly in the minds of the young British soldiers who have fought there – as deadly battle sites where, in searing heat, the Army has engaged in some of its most ferocious fighting for half a century . . . .

**EDIT** - adds ISAF statements


----------



## GAP (12 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 12 Sept 2006*

Fighting terrorism requires sacrifice: Harper
Updated Mon. Sep. 11 2006 11:12 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060911/harper_speech_060611/20060911?hub=TopStories

The scourge of terrorism can't be stopped "unless some among us are willing to accept enormous sacrifice and risk to themselves," warned Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

He used the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States to remember the 24 Canadians who died that day, and to reinforce why Canadian soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan.

Harper said he remembered watching the second tower of New York's World Trade Center collapse on TV with his wife Laureen.

"As the enormity of the events began to sink in, I turned to her and said, 'this will change the course of history'," he said, according to remarks released in advance of his Monday night speech.
More on link

Soldier killed in Afghanistan last week is buried by comrades
Michael Hammond, The Canadian Press Monday, September 11, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c20d1d21-e59c-4a45-a88f-0f6086f9b680&k=70140

OTTAWA -- While memorials around the world remembered the 9-11 terror attacks Monday, a ritual at the National Military Cemetery marked one of the most recent echoes from that five-year-old tragedy.

Family, friends and comrades buried Sgt. Shane Stachnik, a 30-year-old combat engineer killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 3.

He was killed while fighting Taliban insurgents in an operation whose roots trace back to the New York and Washington terror attacks.

Canada followed the United States into Afghanistan against a Taliban regime that had harboured al-Qaida terrorist camps and leaders.

Stachnik was buried with the now-familiar trappings of a guard of honour, a firing party, muffled drums, a piper and a bugler.

His parents Hank and Avril Stachnik followed their son’s flag-draped coffin into the cemetery. Hank Stachnik’s head stooped.

Stachnik, an Alberta native stationed at Petawawa, Ont., was one of four soldiers killed in Operation Medusa, a drive to push Taliban fighters out of a volatile region west of Kandahar.

He was also one of five soldiers from CFB Petawawa killed in a 24-hour period Sept. 3-4.

Lt. Jean Johns, a comrade, linked the Sept. 11 dates five years apart, saying both were marked by mourning and grief.

He said his fellow soldiers will remember Stachnik as a dedicated, yet fun-loving soldier.
More on link

Diggers 'killed 150 in Afghanistan'
September 12, 2006
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20402368-29277,00.html

AUSTRALIAN special forces troops have wiped out more than 150 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters during nine days of fierce fighting in southern Afghanistan.

The Australians from the Special Forces Task Group, with just six men injured in the battle, used superior weapons and overwhelming airborne fire support to overcome the enemy, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Codenamed Operation Perth, the hardest fighting took place in July during the search and destroy missions in the Chora district, about 40km north-east of the Australian base in southern Afghanistan.

During its 12 month deployment, the group has sustained 11 casualties, including several men seriously wounded.

One commando had part of his jaw blown off, another was shot in the buttocks and a SAS specialist was hit in the abdomen.

Several men will be awarded gallantry medals for their actions.

The commandos and SAS troopers are angry that the task group will not be replaced when it leaves later this month.

"It's not right to pull out. We shouldn't just go there for a shoot 'em up and then come home," one soldier told the newspaper.

The Daily Telegraph said it had learned details of the operation by accessing previously classified material about the campaign. 
End

Taliban attacks coalition convoy in E. Afghanistan  
September 12, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/12/eng20060912_301766.html         

Taliban militant attacked a convoy of the U.S.-led coalition forces on Monday in the eastern Nooristan province of Afghanistan, while the forces' casualties are disputed. 

A purported Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, said the militants attacked a U.S. convoy of coalition forces in Khmbesh district at 10:00 a.m. local time, killing several U.S. soldiers and burning eight vehicles. 

He said four Taliban militants were also killed in the fire exchange. 

However, an official from neighboring Kunar province told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that three U.S. soldiers were injured in the attack. 

Meanwhile, Chris Miller, a coalition spokesman, confirmed with Xinhua that there was an attack against a coalition convoy in the district on Monday. "But there were no coalition casualties and any other damages." 

The Taliban, which frequently attacks foreign and government troops in this volatile country, tends to exaggerate the casualties and damages they have inflicted on the troops. 

About 20,000 coalition forces are deployed in eastern Afghanistan to hunt down Taliban and other anti-government militants there. 

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,300 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Afghan police arrest nine terror suspects
Updated Tue. Sep. 12 2006 6:22 AM ET Associated Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060912/afghanistan_arrests_060912/20060912?hub=World

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan police arrested nine people accused of arranging suicide bombings, and separately detained 12 Taliban militants suspected of planning attacks, officials said. 

The U.S. military also said American and Afghan soldiers arrested eight suspected terrorists belonging to the radical Hezb-e-Islami group of Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden. 

Afghanistan is struggling with the deadliest militant violence since U.S.-led forces toppled the hard-line Taliban regime for harboring bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. 

A U.S.-led coalition soldier was also killed and another injured when their Huvmee rolled over Monday in Kunar province's Asadabad district, a coalition statement said. 

The nine were detained Friday in the eastern Logar province and transferred to Kabul for allegedly helping Afghan and Pakistani militants prepare for suicide attacks, said Taj Uddin, spokesman for Afghanistan's counterterrorism department. 

"We have reports that four suicide bombers were aided by this group and coming from Logar," said Uddin, who added one of the four was killed in a recent attack on the Jalalabad-Kabul road. 

Uddin had no details on whether the group was linked to the suicide bombing in Kabul that killed at least 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers. 

Logar province tribesmen rejected the claim that the detainees, including a child aged about 15 and an elderly man, were part of a militant cell. 
More on link

Afghan force 'needs more troops'   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5322698.stm  

Nato's leaders have urged member countries to provide reinforcements to help in its campaign against Taleban guerrillas in southern Afghanistan. 
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer criticised some member states for, in his view, not doing enough. 

The commander of British forces in Afghanistan has meanwhile said combat there is more intense than in Iraq. 

Brigadier Ed Butler said his troops were being attacked up to a dozen times a day but their morale remained high. 

"The intensity and ferocity of the fighting is far greater than in Iraq on a daily basis," Brig Butler told the UK's ITV News programme. 

He said British forces had been involved in "fighting that is up close and personal" that at times included hand-to-hand combat. 

Reinforcements 

Earlier, Nato's top commander, Gen James Jones, said the alliance had been taken aback by the scale of violence in the region. 

But he predicted that the coming weeks would be decisive in the fight against the insurgents. 

Commanders on the ground had asked for several hundred additional troops and more helicopters and airlift, he said. 

"We are talking about modest reinforcements," he told reporters at Nato European headquarters in Belgium. 

  We should recognise we are a little bit surprised at the level of intensity, and that the opposition in some areas are not relying on traditional hit-and-run tactics 

His comments were echoed by Mr de Hoop Scheffer. 

"Those allies who perhaps are doing less in Afghanistan should think: 'Shouldn't we do more?' There are certainly a number of allies who can do more," he told reporters in Brussels. 

About 20 foreign soldiers, most of them British or Canadian, have been killed in fierce fighting with Taleban guerrillas since the alliance extended its peacekeeping mission in the south a month ago. 
More on link

Afghanistan: Tactics and techniques   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5147832.stm

International forces in Afghanistan are facing mounting security problems. The Taleban - ousted from Kabul in the 2001 US-led invasion - have regrouped over the last couple of years, and are now a resurgent force in the south and east of the country. 
Although there are no reliable estimates of their current manpower, Taleban tactics are nothing new. 

Their fighters follow exactly the same principles of low-level guerrilla warfare as the mujahideen fighters who inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet army which occupied Afghanistan from 1979-89. 

Leading defence analyst Colonel Christopher Langton from the International Institute for Strategic Studies told the BBC News website: "It's a well-practised Afghan way of operating. There has been no change in tactics since 2001. A far as they're concerned, it works. 

"They're limited by the type of equipment they have. It's been a long time since they operated any tanks or armoured vehicles. 
More on link


Explosion at funeral kills 6 in Afghanistan
By Matthew Pennington Associated Press Tue, Sep. 12, 2006
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/15498232.htm

KABUL, Afghanistan - In a further assault on the embattled Afghan government, a suicide bomber killed six people Monday at the funeral of a provincial governor who was assassinated by the Taliban. Four senior Cabinet ministers escaped injury.

The attack occurred near a tent where more than 1,000 people had congregated in the Tani district of Khowst province in eastern Afghanistan. The bombing caused carnage and chaos, and police fired in the air to control panicked mourners who feared there might be a second blast.

The funeral was for Gov. Abdul Hakim Taniwal, who was killed Sunday with two other people in a suicide attack outside his office in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province. Taniwal was the most senior official slain in a series of Taliban assaults.

The U.S. military blamed ``a Taliban extremist'' for the funeral bombing, but the Taliban denied it.

The attacker blew himself up in front of a vehicle carrying a senior police officer who may have been targeted because he has helped with operations against Taliban and Al-Qaida, said Mohammed Ayub, the Khowst province police chief.

The senior police officer, deputy provincial chief Mohammed Zaman, was hospitalized with wounds that were not considered life-threatening, Ayub said. Hospital officials said five other police officers who were either inside or near Zaman's vehicle were killed. A 12-year-old boy also died. At least 35 people were wounded.

The Cabinet ministers had left the funeral at the time of the attack, which took place before the burial. The ministers were about a half-mile away at the time, moving by car to a helicopter to return to Kabul, Ayub said. They included the ministers of interior, refugees, telecommunications and administrative affairs.

Ayub complained that the visiting dignitaries -- including his boss, Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Muqbal -- strained security arrangements by insisting on moving to different locations for lunch and prayers.

He said this may have enabled the bomber to slip through the security cordon.
More on link

Government to look at longer stay in Afghanistan  
Tuesday September 12, 2006 By Mike Houlahan
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10400869

The time New Zealand troops spend in Afghanistan may be extended as the Cabinet considers a provincial reconstruction team staying on in Bamiyan province beyond September next year.

An upsurge in violence has led Nato military chiefs to call for more troops and aircraft to be sent to Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Phil Goff said yesterday that the Government had not received a formal request to boost the number of New Zealand soldiers in Afghanistan beyond the 120 to 140 there, but might extend the provincial mission beyond its September 2007 deadline.

"Cabinet will be giving consideration to deployments beyond September 2007 in the next couple of months ... I've been very pleased with the success of the Defence Force personnel and I believe - and the UN and the international forces believe - they have done a superb job there."

The first team was sent to Afghanistan in 2002. The SAS has also served there.

Mr Goff met his Canadian counterpart, Gordon O'Connor, on Friday and said that while Afghanistan was discussed, there had been no request to boost New Zealand's contribution.

"Our stance is that we have them in about the numbers that are appropriate for a country of our size. It's a disproportionate contribution, and what they're doing is very effective, but our first consideration will be the length of time that they will continue to be deployed in Afghanistan rather than whether we would be intending to expand on those forces."

Including development aid and the cost of the soldiers, New Zealand had spent about $150 million in helping to rebuild Afghanistan, Mr Goff said.

Meanwhile, the minister said NZ had held informal discussions with the United Nations about what contribution this country could make to peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon.

That would likely entail fewer than 10 soldiers being sent to the troubled region.

In Parliament last week Mr Goff condemned the use of cluster bombs and said Lebanon had the worst post-conflict cluster bomb contamination yet seen.

NZ troops have considerable experience in de-mining operations. 
More on link

Insurgents melt away from battle
GRAEME SMITH From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060912.wxafghanbattle12/BNStory/Afghanistan/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN — Hundreds of insurgents have scattered from a grinding Canadian military advance in Panjwai district, as soldiers punched into a former Taliban stronghold in a cascade of dust and flying rubble.

A few days ago, the Canadians were convinced that this warren of buildings, code-named Objective Cricket, harboured at least 100 determined insurgents. Some locals estimated as many as 1,000 Taliban were lurking in the region after the rebels overran a strategic belt of farmland southwest of Kandahar city this spring.

But the Canadians gained new intelligence during the weekend, suggesting they would find only scattered groups of two or three fighters opposing them.

The likelihood of so few fighters, perhaps with booby traps or suicide bombs, represents a significant reversal as the rebels had appeared to be prepared for an all-out fight.
More on link


Excalibur Freeze Out  
August 10, 2006
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htart/articles/20060810.aspx

Excalibur has a case of frostbite. The U.S. Army, under the constant prodding of artillery officers in Iraq and Afghanistan, are hustling to get the Excalibur "smart shell" ready for deployment. The troops want the 155mm, hundred pound, GPS guided shell as soon as possible, even if all the kinks are not worked out. The first Excaliburs, that will reach U.S. and Canadian troops this Fall, will have a range of 23 kilometers, and reliability of only about 75 percent. 

But these shells, it was discovered last month, during the final rounds of testing, have a problem with extreme cold. While shells stored in high heat, and fired while quite toasty, performed fine, those chilled down to 40 degrees below zero did not. It seems that the battery produced insufficient power, when that cold, to operate the shell's guidance system effectively. While this would not be a problem in Iraq, it could be a problem in parts of Afghanistan, where the Winters are pretty brutal. Troops in the combat zone, when they heard of this problem, promised to keep the shells warm, but just get the damn things delivered ASAP. 

The Excalibur testing will continue after the Fall shipments. This is so that, sometime in 2008, a new version of Excalibur will be ready, one with a range of over 35 kilometers (and eventually up to 60 kilometers). These versions will have reliability of over 90 percent. 
More on link

Taliban Take to Tough Training
August 28, 2006
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htinf/articles/20060828.aspx

The Taliban have been trying to increase the combat capability of their tribal warriors. Some Taliban groups appear to have undergone professional infantry training, and are led by men who also appear to have received training. Several groups of platoon (20-30 men ) and company (50-80) size have been performing to much higher standards than the normal run of 'martyr fodder' that Afghan and Coalition troops have been encountering in Afghanistan. 

There have been reports of Taliban training camps in Pakistan. Nothing permanent. These appear to be portable, with trainers and equipment moving around to safe (pro-Taliban) villages, and training young men willing to join the fight. The Taliban is paying good wages, to the more promising warriors, but still allowing many volunteers to tag along and take their chances. 

The focus of attacks in recent weeks has been on NATO forces. The Taliban apparently hopes it can kill enough NATO personnel to create problems back home. They haven't been doing very well, even though the Canadians lost eight men in less than a month. But at the same time, Canadian troops killed over a hundred Taliban, and appeared to have no trouble dealing with what they encounter, even the new, improved, Taliban troopers. 

The main problems the Taliban have is with Coalition air power, and Afghans willing to rat them out. One reason Coalition units often travel with a dozen or so Afghan soldier or police, is so they have the ability to get tips from villages they pass through, or travelers they encounter. 

Air power, especially UAVs, are a another major advantage. Once Taliban are detected in an area, UAVs and manned aircraft are out looking for them. Once found, the Taliban are in big trouble, especially if there is no forest, caves or friendly village to hide in. The Taliban have been developing tactics to deal with the air power, but these usually involves ditching the weapons and dispersing. That temporarily destroys the usefulness of a Taliban group, but it preferable to getting blasted by a smart bomb. 
End

Warrior Mentality Persists in Afghanistan 
July 19, 2006
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htinf/articles/20060719.aspx

The Afghan Army is having a hard time losing old habits. The average Afghan soldier is tough and enjoys a fight, and has successfully undergone modern infantry training. But too many of them still think like warriors, not soldiers. For example, a recent fire fight, involving 20-30 Taliban and platoon of Afghans, demonstrated this. The Afghans wanted to charge right into the Taliban, despite the fact that they'd received some pretty good training in fire and movement tactics. Fortunately the advisor with them got them to apply their training. The Taliban force was routed, with no casualties of the Afghan soldiers. 

All Afghan soldiers have successfully completed training in modern infantry tactics and techniques. But most of these guys grew up in a warrior culture, that had other, much less effective, tactics and techniques for fighting. When Afghans are fighting Afghans, it doesn't make much difference. But as Russian commandos in the 1980s, and U.S. Special Forces (starting in 2001) demonstrated, well trained soldiers are superior to warriors. Afghan soldiers realize that, but in the heat of battle, there's always the temptation to go Old School. Even Afghan NCOs and officers get tempted. American advisors to Afghan battalions spend a lot of the time just reminding the Afghan troops. Fortunately, the Taliban have no modern infantry training, and no advisors reminding them that they ought to update their play book. 

The Afghan army currently has 30,000 trained soldiers, and the current goal is to recruit and train 70,000. However, the Afghan defense minister believes the country needs 150,000-200,000. Currently, new troops are being turned out at the rate of about a thousand a month. It would take three years just to reach the 70,000 level. Currently, Afghanistan cannot afford to train, equip and pay a 200,000 man force. 
End

Pakistan leader: Taliban bigger threat than al Qaeda
POSTED: 1533 GMT (2333 HKT), September 12, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/12/taliban.pakistan.reut/index.html

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf warned the West on Tuesday that Taliban insurgents are a more dangerous terrorist force than al Qaeda because of the broad support they have in Afghanistan.

Five years after the 9/11 attacks on the United States masterminded by al Qaeda and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, Musharraf said Taliban fighters had regrouped in southern Afghanistan.

"The center of gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to the Taliban," he told EU lawmakers who quizzed Musharraf on Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts.

"This is a new element, a more dangerous element, because it (the Taliban) has its roots in the people. Al Qaeda didn't have roots in the people," he said. (Watch how Taliban openly stroll Pakistani streets -- 4:02)

Musharraf said he was certain that the Taliban fighters were being commanded by former Taliban ruler Mullah Omar from a base in southern Afghanistan, where NATO troops are struggling to contain an insurgency.

Musharraf rejected criticism that Pakistan was not doing enough to prevent the Taliban from mounting attacks on NATO troops by infiltrating its porous borders with Afghanistan.

"No one should blame us or doubt us for not doing enough," he said, adding that Pakistan had deployed 50,000 troops on its side of the border to tackle militant Islamists.

He urged the international community to do more to rebuild Afghanistan. "We would encourage faster reconstruction activity in Afghanistan," Musharraf said.
End

Finnish and Swedish soldiers in firefight in Afghanistan
Sep 12, 2006, 15:41 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1200667.php/Finnish_and_Swedish_soldiers_in_firefight_in_Afghanistan

Helsinki/Stockholm - Finnish and Swedish soldiers were engaged in a firefight Tuesday in northern Afghanistan, military spokesmen in both Nordic countries said. 

None of the Nordic forces were reported to have sustained any injuries in the firefight that occurred when they were visiting a village in the western part of the Balkh province. 

The Nordic forces were part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 

Reinforcements were later dispatched to the village, some 20 kilometres from the city of Mazar-e-Sharif. 

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen also mentioned the incident at a joint news conference with China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
End

Afghanistan: The forgotten war?   
By Charles M. Sennott The Boston Globe  September 12, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/12/news/afghan.php

SARKANI, Afghanistan A full moon rose over a jagged mountain range here on the border with Pakistan as Staff Sergeant Michael Nye of the U.S. Army peered warily into the gathering darkness.

The 29-year-old infantryman from a National Guard from Massachussetts has grown to mistrust the moonlight, at least here in Afghanistan where it can help guide the way for militants to cross the border and launch attacks.

Later that mid-August night, that was exactly what would happen, and the way the U.S. and Afghan forces here at a forward base known as Camp Joyce responded to a barrage of shoulder-fired rockets revealed much about the failures, the successes and the challenges that lie ahead in the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

But the fireworks would come later. For now, Nye simply surveyed this front line in a struggle where both the mission and the enemy can seem as ill- defined as the long shadows at dusk along the spine of the mountain range in the Kunar Province on eastern Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

The conflict in Afghanistan that began five years ago as a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was initially a massive manhunt for the person who authored them, bin Laden, and a campaign to topple the Taliban government, which offered support to his Al Qaeda organization.

Before the heavy snows came that fall, the Taliban were overthrown, Al Qaeda scattered, and it was only a matter of time, President George W. Bush assured the world, before bin Laden would be brought to justice.

But five years on, the war is far from over. The Taliban are resurgent in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
More on link

Gunmen kidnap aid workers in Afghanistan
Sept. 12, 2006, 9:50AM © 2006 The Associated Press 


KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen have kidnapped a Colombian aid worker and two Afghan employees of a French-funded nongovernment organization west of Kabul, police said Tuesday.

The three disappeared Sunday in Wardak province's Jalrez district, said deputy provincial police chief Mohammed Assan.

Assan said villagers reported seeing four masked gunmen take the three from their vehicle and force them to march at gunpoint down a dirt road. Police found documents identifying the Colombian, his driver and translator and their French Foreign Ministry-funded agency in their abandoned four-wheel drive.
More on link

12 Taliban killed in Afghanistan, 30 suspected militants held  
Kabul, Sept. 12 
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609122064.htm

Afghan police killed 12 Taliban militants in a southern shootout today, while more than 30 suspected insurgents were detained as security forces fought back against a deadly spike in violence, officials said. 

A fierce gunbattle broke out in Ghazni province's mountainous Andar district as Afghan soldiers and police, backed by US-led coalition forces, entered an area where insurgents were holed up, said Mohammed Ali Fakuri, spokesman for the Provincial Governor. 

Twelve militants were killed in the ensuing clash and their bodies left at the scene by comrades who fled, Fakuri said. Two policemen and one Afghan soldier were wounded. 

Ghazni and other southern provinces, particularly Kandahar and Helmand, are gripped by the deadliest spate of fighting since US-led forces toppled the Taliban. 

A US-led coalition soldier was also killed and another injured when their Huvmee rolled yesterday in eastern Kunar province's Asadabad district, a coalition statement said. 

Afghan police arrested nine people accused of helping Afghan and Pakistani militants prepare for suicide attacks, said Taj Uddin, spokesman for Afghanistan's counter-terrorism department. The nine were arrested Friday in the eastern Logar province and transferred to Kabul for questioning. 

"We have reports that four suicide bombers were aided by this group and coming from Logar," said Uddin. He had no details on whether the group was linked to Friday's suicide bombing in Kabul that killed at least 16 people, including two US soldiers. 
End


----------



## GAP (12 Sep 2006)

*More Articles 12 Sept 2006*


Canada sends tanks to Afghan mission
 globalnational.com Tuesday, September 12, 2006
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=2c1e5f10-f7a6-4df6-93d0-6e8501572dcf

LONDON -- NATO countries have ignored an urgent appeal for reinforcements to combat resurgent Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, offering only 20 more troops. 

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer chaired on Monday an extraordinary meeting of alliance ambassadors called after the alliance's military chief appealed last week for an additional 2,500 soldiers to deal with increasing attacks by the Taliban militia, ousted from power in 2001. 

Citing unnamed sources within NATO and in Kabul, reports indicate that so far only the tiny Baltic state of Latvia has committed 20 more troops. 

Major NATO members Turkey, Germany, Spain and Italy have all basically ruled out volunteering troops and France is unlikely to make any contributions, especially given its large role in the peacekeeping force in Lebanon. 

"No one has come forward" with contributions for the NATO force, which took over from the US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan on July 31, London's Times newspaper quoted a NATO source as saying. 
More on link

Anti-Taliban operation moves into mop-up phase
Updated Tue. Sep. 12 2006 12:10 PM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060912/canada_panjwaii_060912/20060912?hub=TopStories

PANJWAII, Afghanistan -- Canadian troops collected Taliban weapons and nuggets of intelligence Tuesday as the battle to enforce NATO control over the restive Panjwaii district entered a final phase. 

Afghan and Canadian soldiers have a last push and weeks of mop-up ahead, but the major battle they expected against hardcore Taliban fighters has dissolved for the moment.

For the third straight day, soldiers encountered little resistance as they approached the southern front in this fight.

As the sun set, a trio of Taliban fighters put up a brief skirmish against a combined force of U.S., Canadian and Afghan troops. The insurgents were overwhelmed by air assault, missiles, cannon and small-arms fire.

NATO issued an estimate that 65 per cent of the objective territory is now under their control.

For the first time in several days, the alliance did not issue an enemy body count, figures hotly contested by the Taliban and impossible to confirm on the front lines where few bodies have surfaced.

One of the biggest risks to the allied soldiers remains booby traps and suicide attacks from the small groups of fighters left behind.

The relatively quiet advance of recent days was in stark contrast to the ambushes, rocket attacks and constant skirmishes of the previous week that killed four Canadians, one U.S. soldier and left more than a dozen wounded. An airplane accident also killed 14 British troops and a friendly fire incident killed a Canadian and wounded dozens.

With hundreds of Taliban dead in air strikes by NATO estimates and many other militants fleeing the area, military investigators turned their attention to combing for clues on how the insurgents operate.

In one compound in newly held ground, the army's Sensitive Site Exploitation team sifted through weapons and, more importantly, new intelligence. 

With the help of an Afghan interpreter, they discovered a ledger containing the names of a dozen Taliban fighters along with the weapons they were issued, including heavy machine-guns and rocket propelled grenades.

"It shows a lot of organization,'' said military policeman Sgt. Roger Marcinowski of Edmonton, "especially with the names that the weapons are issued to.

"Potentially there is a lot of intelligence value there. Each site we've found is a little bit different, but this one has yielded the most.'' 

The find showed that the Taliban left the village in a hurry amidst the heavy bombardment of recent days, according to Marcinowski.

On one page of the ledger in large, artful Persian script, the Afghan interpreter, who only wanted to be identified as Khan, found the slogan: "Long Live the Taliban movement.''

Nearby sat a dozen small pamphlets Khan described as "Taliban how-to manuals.''

The books were mainly full of Qur'an verses used to justify war against western armies, he said.

"This is what they use when someone asks, `Why are you fighting?''' Khan said. 

The team also found weapons, ammunition and rudimentary medical equipment. In the middle of the compound, the Taliban team had dug a trench three metres deep and two metres wide, likely meant to cache weapons. 

"They seemed to be determined to put up a fierce resistance and it looks like they had the means with which to do so,'' Marcinowski said. 

The insurgents clearly left in a hurry, dropping their shovels and pick axes where they worked on the trench.

Several pairs of sandals were left in place, along with a dozen dirty tea cups.

In a strange moment of levity, a soldier called on the radio to declare he had seen a lion. Although leopards are known to live in Afghanistan, one officer suggested the soldier had spent too much time in the marijuana and opium crops that dominate the area. 
End

Deploying tanks to Afghanistan a political risk at home and abroad: experts
 Murray Brewster  The Canadian Press Tuesday, September 12, 2006
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=36cefb16-c443-411d-a6ff-6d4a2d52ec2d

OTTAWA -- Sending tanks to fight Taliban insurgents could cause problems both in Afghanistan and at home, especially if some of the troops manning them are drawn from units in Quebec, experts warned Tuesday. 

A Montreal political scientist said if there are casualties from Quebec, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives could end up paying a heavy price in political support in a province already deeply opposed to the war.

In addition, the grim appearance and destructive power of up to 15 Leopard tanks has the potential to further alienate Afghans already suspicious of foreign troops, said experts in counter-insurgency warfare.

A proposal to send reinforcements, including main battle tanks, to the war-torn country, where the Canadian army has met stiff resistance, will be debated this week by the federal cabinet. It’s been suggested some of the troops could be drawn from units in Valcartier, Que.

Members of the famed Royal 22nd Regiment are scheduled to ship out to Afghanistan next year as part of a planned rotation.  Moving up the deployment of other Quebec units could create a political problem for Harper, if there are casualties among them. 

That would bring the war more sharply into focus for Quebecers at time when Conservatives are trying to win their support, said Pierre Martin, a political science professor at the University of Montreal. “It will hit home much more strongly.

“When the bodies go back to Joliette, Lac-St-Jean or wherever these people come from, in Quebec you’ll see the regional media covering it more deeply. In Quebec, where you don’t see that much support (for the war), this might translate into less-muted opposition. 

“There will be people increasingly concerned about the human cost of the intervention. Over time it won’t get any easier.”

Experts in guerrilla wars say, from a conventional military point of view, the decision to send tanks makes sense, especially if the Taliban mass for conventional-style battles as they did recently in the Panjwaii district, southwest of Kandahar.

But there is a danger that the appearance of heavy armour in the chalky, mud-walled villages and towns will backfire in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds.

“If you see tanks in your streets it’s hard not to think about it as an army of occupation,” said Gavin Cameron, a specialist in counter-insurgency wars at the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military and Strategic Studies.

By buttoning down inside a tank, Canadian soldiers could also end up losing personal contact with locals, which is crucial in building public support.

The firepower of the Leopards also has the potential to create a backlash among Afghans who’ve already complained about civilian casualties and destruction of property
More on link

The battle for Panjwaii
Fought in long stops and terrorizing quick starts
Les Perreaux Canadian Press Sunday, September 10, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/features/afghanistan/story.html?id=fec71a5c-6c76-421b-8e67-faa8bc52c806&k=5536

Canadian troops take a break during their advance into Panjwaii, Afghanistan, Thursday. (CP/Les Perreaux) 

PANJWAII, Afghanistan -- Warrant Officer Jim Murnaghan's quick wisecracks and reassuring smile disappear with the distant pop of the Taliban rocket ignition. 

When the rocket-propelled grenade roars in from an insurgent fighter, Murnaghan's eyes become two gaping saucers. His soft laugh switches to a growl, but he doesn't have to yell twice to get attention from his boys or the reporter who has been his shadow for several days on the frontlines of Operation Medusa. 

"Get down!" he yells, and we get down instantly. 

The hiss becomes a whistle and then a scream just a few feet overhead. 

"Under the bridge, under the bridge, under the bridge," he shouts, and his charges, mainly in their 20s, slither under the bridge through feces and broken glass. 

They find safety as the deadly projectile thuds into the sand behind them. Nobody is killed. Nobody is hurt, except for a cut finger from a broken bottle. 

"If you ever hear artillery that sounds like a train coming into the station, run," he advises. He then turns to his civilian shadow to lighten the situation. 

"You got under here faster than anyone! Did you record that? As long as you keep getting under bridges like that, Buds, you'll be OK." 

Twenty-four hours earlier, the Nomads sat on the edge of the desert hoping their exodus would finally end. 

Five Platoon of Bravo Company from the 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, was in position for nearly a week, waiting to launch their part of Operation Medusa, the NATO struggle to take back a series of villages in the Panjwaii district just west of Kandahar. 

Instead, the battle would come to the Nomdads. 

Someone jokes the company gained their 'Nomad' nickname for all the time they've spent wandering the desert in Afghanistan. 

After days parked in sand, waiting to launch their part of the offensive, the Nomads are suddenly ordered to move in six minutes. Soldiers swear, bundle up their kits, praying not to leave anything behind in the mayhem of their sudden launch into battle. 

It's just after 3 p.m. and the soldiers are packed like sardines into the light armoured vehicle (LAV) commanded by Cpl. Steve Vukic from Port-au-Choix, N.L. It's stinking hot. The boat, as some soldiers call it, is packed to the rafters with mortars and rations and troops. 

The LAV rolls a short distance to a treeline that is the northern front in the battle to retake Panjwaii from hundreds of Taliban insurgents. 

The soldiers dismount, weapons cocked, and begin their sweep of a series of grape and watermelon fields, family compounds and a canal that are perfect hiding spots for Taliban defence. 

They use shotguns to open locked doors. The find no insurgents but plenty of signs of war. One soldier nearly pukes after finding a bloated dead cow in a room. Around a corner is a fresh grave. In another compound, a massive unexploded bomb. Several houses are now craters. A child's shoe sits on a collapsed rafter. 

The Nomads expect resistance but in these early hours they find none. They have quickly established a bridgehead into a former no-go zone for the coalition. 

They set up along a canal wall for a long moonlit vigil over new territory, away from the warmth and big canon of their beloved LAV, at the tip of the spear of this Canadian advance. 

They take a break, swiping a couple of watermelons from a field. The sticky juice pours out as the soldiers dig into their first fresh fruit in ages. It seems like all the water in dusty Afghanistan is held in these small green melons. 

Someone notes how quiet the evening has become. 

"It's too quiet, Tonto," jokes platoon medic Cpl. Darren Dyer. Just like in war movies, everyone calls him Doc. 

Dawn breaks, and the soldiers are shocked by the quiet night they've passed. Then they make an eerie discovery. 

Soldiers had set up trip flares to warn them of advancing Taliban. Someone cut the wires on their flares and stole some. 

"Why would they steal our trip flares?" asks Lt. Jeff Bell, the platoon commander. "To use against us?" 

Warrant Officer Murnahan answers: "Just to show us they still can." 

The front line remains quiet well into the afternoon until the rocket screams overhead. All around Five Platoon, all hell breaks loose. Small groups of Taliban are testing Canadian resolve. Dozens of smashed Taliban bodies litter the battlefield after a three-hour series of fights across the lines. NATO claims hundreds have died, figures strongly disputed by the Taliban. 

Somehow only one NATO soldier, an American, dies in a rocket attack in these opening days of the advance. 

The red streak of tracer bullets from machine-guns fly overhead and big bombs send shockwaves that strike the chest in a breathtaking punch. It is the biggest battle Canadian troops have waged in decades, but the Nomads have yet to fire a shot in anger. 

There's something extra-disquieting about those rockets. The Nomads have the added pain of recent experience. 

A few days earlier, as they milled around the desert waiting for their big move, a series of rockets and mortars blew up near one of their boats, wounding four soldiers, several seriously enough to send them home. Only two emerged unscathed. 

Vukic's nearby crew and others blasted away in return, killing at least one Taliban. 

In the days since, they constantly share updates on the condition of their friends who have concussions and have been peppered by shrapnel from head to toe. There's talk of head wounds and a medically induced coma. One soldier took a jagged piece of shrapnel near the groin. 

Beneath the bridge, a soldier mimics the sound of an incoming rocket. Ryan W. Hunt, a 21-year-old private who escaped the earlier barrage, flinches. He tells the whistler to shut up in saltier, soldierly language. The blond-haired six-footer from Burlington, Ont., takes off. 

"Remember guys, he went through some shit a few days ago," said Cpl. Mike Opatovsky of Crystal Beach, Ont. 

The others nod and later the whistler apologizes to Hunt. 

A few hours pass and Warrant Officer Murnaghan and his shadow emerge from the bridge for another reassuring tour among the troops on the line. 

He cracks jokes to set everyone at ease. He cajoles and scolds as needed. He's part big brother, part dad, part high school principal, confessor, probation officer and military adviser. 

"Hey Buds, how's it goin'?" the warrant says several times, using a patented Petawawa military base substitute for "dude" or "man." 

He is the platoon elder at 36. 

Another rocket falls in the sand among some LAVs, less than a hundred metres from the warrant and his shadow. There's no bridge to hide under, so they scurry to a boat instead. 

When they return to the warrant officer's unit, a message is passed along from headquarters: Taliban are targeting people hanging around LAVs. 

Hunt, whose entire LAV crew was taken out several days earlier hanging around an armoured vehicle, yells at the radio: "Tell us something we don't know." His good humour has returned. He laughs and the rest of the platoon cracks up. 

For the rest of the evening, the firing doesn't stop around Five Platoon. But by now, U.S. soldiers and a company from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man., have taken up the advance. Five Platoon is now part of the rear guard, left to search through compounds and grape fields while their colleagues push ahead. 

They are back to killing time until their next step forward. 

"We're clearing the garden of Hell," said Brad (Killer) Kilcup, a 25-year-old hopeless romantic from Sault-Ste-Marie, Ont. 

Five minutes after the rockets fall, there's an eruption of small talk. 

During his leave later this fall, Killer plans to marry his sweetheart and take her on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls. 

Killer looks for hotel advice for the umpteenth time. He exchanges notes on wedding rings with other hopeless romantics in the platoon. 

Warrant Murnaghan laughs out loud at the suggestion that with his moustache and manner of speech, he resembles Ricky, the lovable loser in one of his favourite shows, The Trailer Park Boys. 

The soldiers relax for a few moments beneath a tree before returning to their posts and waiting for the next thing. 

As the Warrant says, "There's always something going on around here, Buds." 
End

Canadian troops make progress in Panjwaii battle
Updated Mon. Sep. 11 2006 11:12 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060910/afghanistan_mackay_060910/20060911?hub=Canada

Canadian troops made significant incursions into territory held by the Taliban in the Panjwaii district of southern Afghanistan. 

Troops used helicopter and warplane artillery to pummel heavily-fortified trenches suspected of firing rockets at Canadians. 

The troops met little resistance as they advanced several hundred metres. Blood trails were found leading away from trenches abandoned by the Taliban. 

"We actually busted into his first line of defence and penetrated his first level of fighting positions," Col. Omer Lavoie, who is commanding the Canadian attack, said Monday of the Taliban.

The trenches troops found were cut three metres deep with tunnels and escape routes. That turned them into a bunker that would have been able to provide formidable resistance had the Taliban chosen to stay and fight. 

"For the enemy to mass and allow us to do what we're doing here -- to put deep fires and joint fires on a massed, concentrated target -- makes him an opponent we're more used to dealing with," Lavoie said.

However, the Taliban were carrying out counterattacks, firing mortars at Canadian positions.
More on link

Coalition Forces Quell Rocket Attacks in Afghanistan, Destroy Mortar
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=819

– Coalition forces in Afghanistan quelled rocket attacks along the Afghan-Pakistan border yesterday after extremists hiding in nearby hills fired on them, U.S. military officials said. 
“It’s a pretty common occurrence,” said Army 1st Sgt. David Christopher, the senior enlisted soldier for Company B, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. “It happens at least every other day. That’s about 200 rockets we’ve taken in the past seven months.” 

Foreign fighters, al Qaeda terrorists and common criminals often attempt to cut away at coalition and Afghan efforts to improve governance and rebuilding efforts there, officials said. 

“We have seen a fundamental shift in this focus,” said Lt. Col. Chris Toner, commander of Task Force Catamount, which oversees coalition operations in the Paktika province. “We (coalition forces) allow reconstruction projects to continue and the government of Afghanistan to be established here.” 

Elsewhere, combat engineers of the Afghan National Army currently are participating in landmine training with U.S. Army engineers. The three-week training course will improve the skills and competence of the Afghan army engineer detachment allowing them to safely remove landmines from their country, officials said. The Afghan army engineers are in their second week of the intensive three-week program, which stresses realistic, hands-on training. 

Also, U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan destroyed an unexploded mortar round near a residential area about five kilometers outside of Forward Operating Base Sharona yesterday. Afghan National Army soldiers secured the site and called on U.S. troops to assist in removing the threat. 

“We don't want innocent civilians, especially children, to get hurt, so it's important that we get out there as quickly as possible,” said Army 1st Lt. Gerard Torres, a platoon leader with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, out of Fort Drum, N.Y. “Also, if the enemy gets their hands on it, there's a possibility it could be used against civilians or us in the future.” 

After retrieving the mortar round, the soldiers placed it in a safe, open area and secured the site while an explosive ordnance disposal team neutralized the explosive. 
End

Seven al-Qaeda suspects arrested in eastern Afghanistan
Sep 11, 2006, 16:50 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1200299.php/Seven_al-Qaeda_suspects_arrested_in_eastern_Afghanistan

Kabul - In an operation launched by Afghan coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, a known al-Qaeda facilitator and six other suspected al-Qaeda associates were detained, coalition forces said. 

The commander of the Hizb-i-Islami militia in Hafezan in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, was arrested after credible intelligence led Afghan and coalition forces to his compound, the statement said. 

No shots were fired and there were no injuries reported. 

Hikmatyar, the former prime minister of Afghanistan, announced jihad or holy war against what he called the US invasion of Afghanistan four and half years ago and the joint opposition of the Afghan government by Taliban and al-Qaeda in the fight against coalition forces. 

Two other al-Qaeda suspects were arrested last week in the south- eastern province of Khost. 

Meanwhile, International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) and Afghan Army forces killed 92 Taliban fighters in the past 24 hours, in the southern province of Kandahar, NATO said in statement. 

The statement said the figure was separate from the 94 insurgents reported as killed in other incidents early Sunday, but it left room for doubt about the accuracy of battlefield casualties. 

'Estimating enemy casualties is not a precise science,' Col Chris Vernon, chief of staff for ISAF's Regional Command South, said. 

'With our considerable technical intelligence, human intelligence and surveillance onto the battle area, we are able to establish figures to a reasonable level of accuracy,' Vernon said. 'The Taliban in the Panjwayi-Zhari area have suffered significant attrition.' 

Late Sunday, Kandahar Governor Assadulah Khalid announced to residents of Panjwayi and Zhari districts through local reporters that they should return to their homes. 

But ISAF said in its statement Monday, 'ISAF shares Governor Khalid's assessment but strongly recommends that residents do not return until Afghan and ISAF authorities formally announce that it is safe to do so'.
More on link

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Reported Captured [Updated]
http://billroggio.com/archives/2006/09/gulbuddin_hekmatyar.php

The commander of Hezb-i-Islami and al-Qaeda ally reportedly detained during a raid in eastern Afghanistan

On the day of the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attack, Coalition forces score a high value target in Afghanistan. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the commander of Hezb-i-Islami and ally of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, has been captured during a joint U.S. and Afghan Army raid in “eastern Afghanistan.” Hekmatyar, contrary to his rhetoric gave up to the Coalition forces without a fight. Hekmatyar's arrest is said to be part of an 'ongoing operation.'

Hekmatyar has been designated by the U.S. Department of State as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist “ and “has participated in and supported terrorist acts committed by al-Qa’ida and the Taliban.” The 9-11 Commision report indicates Osama bin Laden kept lines of communication open with Hekmatyar. “bin Laden apparently kept his option open, maintaining contacts with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who, though an Islamic extremist, was also one of the Taliban's most militant opponents,” states the report.

Hekmatyar fought against the Soviets, was prime minister of Afghanistan in the mid 1990s, and became an anti-Taliban fighter until the collapse of Afghanistan's Taliban government in December of 2001. After the U.S. operation, Hekmatyar threw in his lot with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and brought Hezb-i-Islami into battle against the government of Hamid Karzai. Hezb-i-Islami split in two, with a section loyal to Hekmatyar (know as Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin or HIG). HIG has influence particularly with Afghan refugees in western Pakistan. Hekmatyar had deep ties to Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, and is said to have facilitated the movement of high level al-Qaeda leaders, including Saif al-Adel and Saad bin Laden, into Iran with the assistance of the IRGC.

The capture of Hekmatyar is a major blow to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, as it provides an opportu nity to split his organization. HIG is considered one of the major Anti-Government Elements (or AGEs) in Afghanistan. And Hekmatyar may be privy to valuable information about the location of high level al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

Updated:

The Khaleej Times is reporting a commander of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami, along with “six associates” were captured “at a compound near Hafezan in eastern Nangarhar province.” The initial report of Hekmatyar's capture may be premature, however American intelligence sources are tight lipped on the subject at the moment
End

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Registration of Afghan refugees to restart - UNHCR
12 Sep 2006 17:36:15 GMT
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/7cbc25ae9d0d18985e036b0aa8278c25.htm

KABUL, 12 September (IRIN) - Pakistan will start countrywide registration of millions of Afghan refugees from mid-October this year and will provide them with refugee identity cards valid for three years, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Monday in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The refugee registration programme in Pakistan was discussed during the 11th one-day tripartite commission meeting in Kabul by senior officials from the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MRR), Pakistan's Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), and UNHCR's heads of office in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Among several important issues [discussed] was the registration of Afghans in Pakistan; the meeting noted that the exercise will begin in mid-October and conclude by the end of December," said Nadar Farhad, UNHCR spokesman in Kabul.

The registration of Afghans in Pakistan for the first time aims to provide the precise number of Afghans living in Pakistan. Those registered will receive a Proof of Registration (PoR) card that recognises them as Afghan citizens living in Pakistan, according to UNHCR.

"The Proof of Registration helps us here in Afghanistan to provide returnees with assistance based on the cards which have high-security features such as digital photographs and the individual's fingerprint," Farhad explained.

The UN refugee agency in Afghanistan estimates that 2.5 million Afghans are still living in Pakistan, with another 900,000 in Iran. 

Only Afghans who arrived in Pakistan after 1 December 1979 and who were included in the February-March 2005 census by the Pakistan government would be eligible for registration, according to Sajid Hussain Chattha, Secretary of SAFRON, who was representing Pakistan at the tripartite meeting.

"I am quite sure that all parties are on board and pretty satisfied to proceed with the registration of refugees in Pakistan," Chattha said. "Afghans who were missing out of the process as a special case will also be attended."

Farhad said registration of Afghans would be carried out by Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in close collaboration with SAFRON
More on link

Graeme Smith on Canada's mission in Afghanistan
Globe and Mail Update 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060912.wliveafghan0913/BNStory/specialComment/home

Where did they go?

Graeme Smith reports in today's Globe that hundreds of Taliban insurgents somehow slipped away at the last moment to put an end to a hard-fought battle over control of the Panjwai district of Afghanistan, not far Kandahar, that cost the lives of several Canadian soldiers.

NATO commanders had been maintaining that they had encircled the Taliban in the cluster of villages known as Pashmul, but in fact the insurgents launched a massive retreat from Pashmul, according to a Taliban commander interviewed in Kandahar city by a researcher for The Globe and Mail.

The commander described perhaps 1,000 fighters scattering in all directions, leaving in cars and trucks, on motorbikes and even on foot.
More on link

Frontier Rules
September 12, 2006
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20060912.aspx

Pakistani officials admitted that American commandos have permission to enter Pakistan, if they are in hot pursuit of al Qaeda or Taliban leaders. This happened as recently as January of this year, in an incident that made it into the media, but just as quickly disappeared when Pakistani authorities declined to make an issue of it. It's also an open secret that American operatives (from the CIA, NSA and SOCOM) operate informant networks among the tribes on the Pakistani side of the border. These people are often spotted moving about with their Pakistani counterparts. 

September 11, 2006: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the primary Islamic terrorist leader in Afghanistan before the Taliban and al Qaeda showed up, was captured just across the border from his Pakistani hideout. Someone gave him up, as Afghan and U.S. forces surrounded the rural compound where he was staying, and captured Hekmatyar and half a dozen followers without firing a shot. Operating from his base in Pakistan, Hekmatyar's terrorists were responsible for much of the violence in eastern Afghanistan. Hekmatyar never got along well with the Taliban, and has been in exile in Pakistan for over a decade. 

September 10, 2006: In Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border, Islamic terrorists continue to threaten and kill pro-government tribal and religious leaders. The recent peace treaty with the tribes was to have stopped this terrorism, or allowed the government to move against it. With recent attacks and murders, the government has to either move against the perpetrators, or admit that the treaty was a sham. 

September 8, 2006: In southwest Pakistan, a bomb went off in a bus station, killing five and wounding over a dozen. Rebellious Baluchi tribesmen are suspected. In western India, several bombs went off near a Mosque, killing nearly 30, and wounding many more. Hindu terrorists are suspected, as this area has long been the scene of Hindu terrorism against Indian Moslems (there are more Moslems in India, where they are a minority, than there are in Pakistan). Meanwhile, in south India, police uncovered a major Maoist weapons stash, including some 600 rockets. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (12 Sep 2006)

Nice piece by Richard Gwyn; his Brit background shows:

Canadian mood growing harder on terrorism
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158011409583&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795



> ...Peacekeeping belongs, sadly, to another age. In the Darfur region of Sudan, where at least 200,000 have been slaughtered, and an all-out genocide threatens, the government is refusing to allow in United Nations peacekeepers.
> 
> Aid is most worthy. But without security, it's an exercise in futility. The Taliban, who want people to be as miserable and as angry as possible, have deliberately targeted aid workers and projects...
> 
> ...



As to harder, Churchill on Overlord, May 1944: 



> Gentlemen, I am hardening to this enterprise.


http://www.history.rochester.edu/mtv/overview.htm

Mark
Ottawa


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## Kirkhill (12 Sep 2006)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=41CAPBX0IMPCXQFIQMGSFGGAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/09/12/wafghan12.xml



> We're on the way to defeating Taliban
> By Patrick Bishop
> 
> (Filed: 12/09/2006)
> ...


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## The Bread Guy (12 Sep 2006)

*UN extends NATO-led Afghan force*
Associated Press, at Dose.ca, 12 Sept 06
http://canada.com.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=1b37d9f5-974a-4453-9096-4b32fa3ea468

The UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend the authorization of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, expressing concern at the upsurge in violence and terrorist activity by the Taliban, al-Qaida, illegally armed groups and drug-traffickers.  Some 20,000 NATO soldiers in the International Security Assistance Force — including about 2,200 Canadians — and a similar number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan are facing an emboldened insurgency led by the country’s former Taliban rulers that has demonstrated the fragility of Afghanistan’s western-backed government . . . .


*Security Council approves extension of security force’s mandate in Afghanistan*
UN News Centre, 12 Sept 06
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19804&Cr=afghan&Cr1=

The Security Council today extended for another year the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which has been beset by an increasing number of terrorist attacks in recent months.  In a unanimously adopted resolution, Council members also called on UN Member States to contribute greater personnel, equipment and funding so that the force can be more effective.  The resolution voiced concern at Afghanistan’s security situation following a surge in violent attacks and terrorist activities by the Taliban, Al-Qaida and armed groups linked to the country’s booming illegal drug trade.  It also stressed the importance of making simultaneous progress on the fronts of security, governance, development and counter-narcotics, given their inter-connected nature, so as to mutually reinforce each element . . . . 

*
Security Council Extends International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan until October 2007, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 1707 (2006)*
UN News Release, SC/8826, 12 Sept 06 
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sc8826.doc.htm

The Security Council, recognizing the “interconnected nature” of the challenges facing Afghanistan, such as security, governance, development and counter-narcotics, decided to extend the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for a 12-month period beyond 13 October 2006.

Unanimously adopting resolution 1707 (2006), the Council, acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, authorized the Member States participating in the ISAF to take all necessary measures to fulfil its mandate.

Recognizing the need to strengthen ISAF, the Council called upon Member States to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to the Force and to make contributions to the Trust Fund established pursuant to resolution 1386 (2001).

In implementing the Force’s mandate, the Council also called upon the Force to continue to work in close consultation with Afghanistan’s Government, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, as well as with the Operation Enduring Freedom coalition.

The meeting began at 12:23 p.m. and adjourned at 12:26 p.m.


Resolution

The complete text of resolution 1707 (2006) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Reaffirming its previous resolutions on Afghanistan, in particular its resolutions 1386 (2001) of 20 December 2001, 1413 (2002) of 23 May 2002, 1444 (2002) of 27 November 2002, 1510 (2003) of 13 October 2003, 1563 (2004) of 17 September 2004, 1623 (2005) of 13 September 2005 and 1659 (2006) of 15 February 2006,

“Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Afghanistan,

“Reaffirming also its resolutions 1368 (2001) of 12 September 2001 and 1373 (2001) of 28 September 2001 and reiterating its support for international efforts to root out terrorism in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,

“Recognizing that the responsibility for providing security and law and order throughout the country resides with the Afghans themselves and welcoming the cooperation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),

“Recognizing once again the interconnected nature of the challenges in Afghanistan, reaffirming that sustainable progress on security, governance and development, as well as on the cross-cutting issue of counter-narcotics, is mutually reinforcing and welcoming the continuing efforts of the Afghan Government and the international community to address these challenges,

“Stressing, in this regard, the importance of the Afghanistan Compact and its annexes, launched at the London Conference, which provide the framework for the partnership between the Afghan Government and the international community,

“Expressing its concern about the security situation in Afghanistan, in particular the increased violent and terrorist activity by the Taliban, Al-Qaida, illegally armed groups and those involved in the narcotics trade, which has resulted in increased Afghan civilian casualties,

“Reiterating its call on all Afghan parties and groups to engage constructively in the peaceful political development of the country and to avoid resorting to violence including through the use of illegal armed groups,

“Stressing, in this context, the importance of the security sector reform including further strengthening of the Afghan National Army and Police, disbandment of illegal armed groups, justice sector reform and counter-narcotics,

“Expressing, in this context, its support for the Afghan Security Forces, with the assistance of ISAF and the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) coalition in contributing to security in Afghanistan and in building the capacity of the Afghan Security Forces, and welcoming the extension of ISAF into Southern Afghanistan, with effect from 31 July 2006, the planned further ISAF expansion into Eastern Afghanistan and the increased coordination between ISAF and the OEF coalition,

“Expressing its appreciation to the United Kingdom for taking over the lead from Italy in commanding ISAF, and recognizing with gratitude the contributions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and many nations to ISAF,

“Determining that the situation in Afghanistan still constitutes a threat to international peace and security,

“Determined to ensure the full implementation of the mandate of ISAF, in consultation with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,

“Acting for these reasons under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,

“1.   Decides to extend the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), as defined in resolution 1386 (2001) and 1510 (2003), for a period of 12 months beyond 13 October 2006;

“2.   Authorizes the Member States participating in ISAF to take all necessary measures to fulfil its mandate;

“3.   Recognizes the need to further strengthen ISAF, and in this regard calls upon Member States to contribute personnel, equipment and other resources to ISAF, and to make contributions to the Trust Fund established pursuant to resolution 1386 (2001);

“4.   Calls upon ISAF to continue to work in close consultation with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General as well as with the OEF coalition in the implementation of the force mandate;

“5.   Requests the leadership of ISAF to provide quarterly reports on implementation of its mandate to the Security Council through the Secretary-General;

“6.   Decides to remain actively seized of this matter.”


*Air Force says Spangdahlem-based pilot fired on Canadian soldiers *  
Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes, 13 Sept 06 
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=39990&section=104

The Air Force confirmed Tuesday that a pilot from the Spangdahlem, Germany-based 81st Fighter Squadron fired on Canadian soldiers in last week’s fatal “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan.  The A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot, whose name and rank were not released, has been grounded and is assisting with an investigation into the accident, said Col. Alvina Mitchell, a spokeswoman for U.S. Central Command Air Forces.  “During this time, he will be working strictly with the [investigation] board,” Mitchell said by telephone.  Both the U.S. Air Force and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan are looking into the incident . . . . 



*Taliban exposes cracks in Nato *  
Simon Tisdall, The Guardian (UK), 13 Sept 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1871090,00.html

Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's public plea yesterday for up to 2,500 additional soldiers to fight alongside British, Canadian and Dutch forces in southern Afghanistan has highlighted deep internal strains in the alliance caused by unexpectedly fierce Taliban resistance in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.  The Nato secretary-general's appeal followed an unsuccessful attempt to drum up more support from leading members such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain in Warsaw at the weekend. A formal force generation conference will be held today. "We are working on getting nations to do what they promised," Mr De Hoop Scheffer said. "I am calling for alliance solidarity because some nations are carrying more of the burden than others." . . . . 


*You must do a lot more to pull your weight, Nato chief chides refuseniks*
Michael Evans, Richard Beeston and Roger Boyes, Times Online (UK), 13 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2355551,00.html

THE political head of Nato appealed yesterday for alliance members to provide hundreds more troops for the mission in southern Afghanistan.  With most of the fighting burden falling on the shoulders of the British, US, Canadian and Dutch troops in the South, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary-General of Nato, said that some countries had failed to live up to their promises on troop numbers.  In an interview with the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, he said that he could not accept a scenario in which Nato members would fail to supply the necessary troops. Alliance foreign ministers will meet in New York next week to discuss the crisis . . . . 


*NATO allies deaf to US call for help*
The Australian, 13 Sept 06
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20402401-31477,00.html

SOME of the US's closest NATO allies have abandoned Washington on the key battleground ofthe war on terror - the bloody struggle against Islamic militants for control of southern Afghanistan.  Five years after the world stood "shoulder to shoulder" with the US in the aftermath of 9/11, The Times has learned that many of the countries that pledged support then have now ignored an urgent request for more help in fighting a resurgent Taliban and its al-Qa'ida allies.  Turkey, Germany, Spain and Italy have effectively ruled out sending more troops. France has not committed itself either way, but military sources in Kabul said there were no expectations that the French would contribute to a new battle group, especially now they were providing a substantial force in Lebanon . . . . 


*Mullah Umar in Southern Afghanistan: Musharraf*
Pak Tribune, 13 Sept 06
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154019

President General Pervez Musharraf has termed Taliban a larger threat than Al-Qaeda saying Talibans will have to be stopped with force and under a systematic and comprehensive strategy. " We will have to fight against Taliban with full force. A systematic mechanism is needed in this respect as Taliban are greater threat than Al-Qaeda", he said this while addressing foreign committee of European Union here Tuesday . . . .


*Soldiers reveal horror of Afghan campaign *  
Kim Sengupta, The Independent (UK), 13 Sept 06
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1523144.ece

Soldiers deployed in Helmand province five years on from the US-led invasion, and six months after the deployment of a large British force, have told The Independent that the sheer ferocity of the fighting in the Sangin valley, and privations faced by the troops, are far worse than generally known.  "We are flattening places we have already flattened, but the attacks have kept coming. We have killed them by the dozens, but more keep coming, either locally or from across the border," one said. "We have used B1 bombers, Harriers, F16s and Mirage 2000s. We have dropped 500lb, 1,000lb and even 2,000lb bombs. At one point our Apaches [helicopter gunships] ran out of missiles they have fired so many . . . .


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## The Bread Guy (13 Sep 2006)

*'Miracle' soldier mends:  Two brain surgeries after friendly fire *  
Sarah Green, Toronto Sun, 13 Sept 06
http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/09/12/pf-1829203.html

Bruce Moncur's survival is a miracle.  But the 22-year-old corporal, injured in last week's friendly fire incident in Afghanistan that killed one soldier and injured more than 30 others, shuns any suggestion he's a hero.  "They all call me a hero, but I don't feel it all," Moncur said yesterday in an exclusive interview with the Toronto Sun. "I feel like normal Bruce from Windsor. The miracle thing sounds a little better."  There's a scar shaped like a comma above his ear after two brain surgeries -- one in Afghanistan, one in Germany -- to repair the damage caused by shrapnel. Moncur -- released yesterday from Sunnybrook hospital, anxious to go home -- also suffered wounds to his buttocks and lower back . . . . 


*Quebec's Van Doos to leave early for Kandahar*
Toronto Star, 13 Sept 06
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158097812724&call_pageid=968332188492

Soldiers from Quebec's famed Van Doos will head to Afghanistan by the end of the month, CBC News reports.  Such a move could have heavy political consequences for the Conservative government, particularly if there are casualties, because the war is already deeply unpopular in Quebec.  The Van Doos, the Royal 22nd Regiment based in Valcartier, Que., were to send troops to Kandahar next August. But CBC said last night about 120 will now be deployed by the end of this month to provide protection for civilian and military reconstruction efforts. "It's part of our job to be deployed when we're asked to," Sgt. Mario Lateigne told the CBC . . . . 


*Conquering Canadians take stock: With the Taliban having melted away, commander reflects on lessons learned *  
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 13 Sept 06
http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/34846

Sitting on the rooftop of a shrapnel-scarred building in southern Afghanistan, Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie squinted into the sunset and looked over the swath of farmland that his soldiers had conquered.  About 10 days earlier, the commander of Canada's battle group was staring down hundreds of Taliban fighters in those fields. His command post was filled with urgent bursts of radio traffic.  But the Taliban appear to have run away, after enduring heavy attacks from the air and a steady Canadian advance on the ground, and the operation has slowed into a methodical mop-up. One officer compared yesterday's mood around the command post to a schoolyard in June . . . .


*NATO tightens circle around Taliban:  Canadian soldiers prepare for final assault on stronghold*
Renata D'aliesio, The Calgary Herald, 13 Sept 06
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=67b107fa-538d-47ca-8009-dd940900ef1e

PANJWAII, Afghanistan - Mounds of dirt spit high into the air south of a rooftop made of mud, at once dimming the bright sky from blue to dark grey.  Another bomb has dropped on a farm field in southern Afghanistan. This one falls over Pashmul, only 800 metres away.  In a matter of time, Canadian and other NATO troops, along with the Afghan national army, will converge on this Taliban stronghold north of the Arghandab River. Slowly, they've been tightening their circle around the insurgents, controlling 65 per cent of the contested area in the Panjwaii and Zhari districts . . . . 


*US wants more NATO troops in Afghanistan by October: envoy*
Agence France Presse, 13 Sept 06
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060913/1/43ec8.html

NATO needs troop reinforcements by the start of October at the latest to fight a growing Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan, according to the US ambassador to the transatlantic alliance.  Victoria Nuland was speaking to BBC radio as NATO members were set to meet Wednesday to try to boost troop numbers, even though were unlikely to secure considerable reinforcements.  "We would like to have more punch in this mission ... no later than the beginning of October because this is an essential season before the cold comes in Afghanistan," Nuland told BBC radio . . . .


----------



## GAP (13 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 13 September 2006*

Canadian Forces release hard-hitting ads today
Updated Wed. Sep. 13 2006 1:07 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060913/CF_ads_060913/20060913?hub=TopStories

An aggressive new Canadian Forces ad campaign was launched Wednesday, drawing a tough response from some Canadian Muslims and an opposition MP who described the spots as war mongering. 

The ads are designed to trigger new interest in the military and boost recruitment numbers, said CTV's Graham Richardson. 

"They're a long way from 'There's No Life Like It,'" Richardson told CTV Newsnet, referring to a long-running Canadian Forces recruitment slogan. 

The first of two 90-second ads features stark music and grainy images of what appear to be actual combat operations, with soldiers carrying guns, raiding homes, kicking in doors and rescuing a hostage. 

Then the words 'Fight Fear, Fight Distress, and Fight Chaos, appear on the screen, closing with the slogan "Fight with the Canadian Forces." 

The second begins with similar music, and features scenes of a helicopter rescue, burning forests and operations in a flood zone, before the same message flashes across the screen. 
More on link



Passage to Panjwaii  –  Canadian Tanks Go to Afghanistan
Leopard  Tanks  Shake Up  the ISAF Armoured Vehicle Mix
Stephen  Priestley ,  CASR   Researcher / Illustrator 
http://www.sfu.ca/casr/ft-isaf-armour2.htm

Things Get Snaky  –  Operation  Medusa  Changes Emphasis  on Vehicle Types

Much has been made of the need in Afghanistan for well-armoured, highly-mobile wheeled combat vehicles. [See: Armour for Afghanistan]  Rightly so, the wheeled LAV III has proven ideal – it is quick, reasonably well-armoured, and its main gun has high elevation allowing it to engage targets in mountainous terrain.  However, while fighting in Panjwaii,  Canadian Forces are once again dealing with mud brick compounds. These walls must be “mouseholed” or punched through with gunfire.

 In a pinch, the LAV’s 25mm automatic gun can be used to mousehole, giving troops access to the compounds. At times, it is necessary to fire over a wall.  Then, indirect-fire artillery support is needed. The CF uses M777 155mm howitzers and the Dutch have self-propelled 155mm guns which they have assigned to assist  CF troops. These 55 tonne Dutch self-propelled howitzers [1] are among the largest armour in Afghanistan. Their use revived  the idea of  sending the heavy CF Leopard tanks.

It was no secret that  Leopard C2  main battle tanks were being overhauled at CFB Wainwright. But, as late as the end of August, CF officials denied that these tanks were being prepared for Afghanistan. That has now been reversed –  15 Leopards (one report said 20) will ship out with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse within a month.

Of   Big Cats  and  Mouseholes  –  A  Ninth  Life  for  Canada’s  Leopard  Tanks

What can Leopards do in southern Afghanistan? Their  main  job would be direct  fire  support  – the  Leopard’s main gun is the 105mm L7A3, a weapon able to “mousehole” a mud-brick  wall with  one  shot.

CF officials also mentioned convoy escort duties. As tanks go, the Leopard C2 is very fast. When new, Leopards could hit 65km/h on good roads or about 45 km/h cross-country. But Leopards are anything but new. It remains to be seen whether 28-year-old tanks can run convoy duty.  Maintenance and  reliability issues aside, Leopards would be imposing.  However, the high-velocity gun is their main asset.

Like the self-propelled howitzers, the Leos are heavily armoured, tracked vehicles.  But SPs specialize in ‘indirect’, or ‘non-line-of-sight’, fire support (at least at long ranges). By comparison, ‘direct’ fire  from high-velocity  tank guns is ideal for Panjwaii. Indeed, this was the exact role intended for the CF’s planned Mobile Gun System. But with MGS cancelled, attention turned back to the CF Leopards.

Booking Our ‘Passage to Panjwaii’  –  Getting  There  Becomes  the Tricky  Bit

 Fighting in Panjwaii  has been underway since 02  September 2006,  but  NDHQ  says  it  will  take  at  least  another  month before  Leopard  tanks  can deploy to southern Afghanistan. So, why the delay?  The military intends to ship the tanks by sea. More desirable would be the option of having the USAF transport these CF vehicles in their  Boeing C-17 airlifters. [2]

The C-17 can lift a 70t Abrams tank but not two 42t Leopards. So at least 15 flights will be needed. It is admirable that the Army has used the urgency of the situation in Afghanistan to speed up refurbishing of the Leopards. But to play a useful role in Panjwaii, the tanks must arrive soon.  It is time to look for alternative transports.

 The answer is familiar.  Most CF heavy equipment has been flown in by leased Antonov or  Ilyushin commercial airlifters. Like the C-17, an IL-76  lifts a single tank. The larger An-124 is capable of lifting three 50t tanks. Through NATO, Canada has paid for ‘assured access’ to leased An-124s. The larger An-225 (which flew DART to Pakistan) carried five 50t tanks (above) on one flight. The choice is clear  –  NDHQ  must exhibit  the same urgency shown by the Army.

[1] The PzH 2000NL SPs (or Pantserhouwitser in Dutch) are just entering service. The Netherlands made two PzH 2000s available to back the CF in OP Medusa (the Dutch are also operating Apache attack helicopters and took over FOB Martello).

[2] Transporting Leopards in C-17s may be political (to reinforce Canada’s choice of strategic airlifter. Instead, it may be politically dangerous  –  giving ammunition to those who would portray Canadian involvement  in Afghanistan as supporting US policy objectives. Making use of  SALIS An-124s, on the other hand,  ties the Leopard tank shipment to NATO and to ISAF which, ultimately, is a UN mandate



Pakistan to broaden rape laws, but women's groups see setback
Parliament is expected to vote this week to allow evidence in rape cases other than four male eyewitnesses.
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0913/p04s01-wosc.html?s=itmthumb

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – A bill originally intended to repeal Pakistan's controversial rape laws is likely to suffer a severe setback this week, analysts say, when Parliament votes on a watered-down version designed to placate conservatives. 
Under the country's long-standing Hudood Ordinances, a woman who claims to have been raped must produce four Muslim male eyewitnesses to the crime - a virtual impossibility in most cases. If the witnesses cannot be produced, the rape victim herself can be charged with fornication, or adultery if she is already married, a crime punishable in the most stringent circumstances by death

This, and other provisions regarding public morality, have prompted calls from human rights activists and progressives for repeal of the Hudood Ordinances since their inception in 1979. The push for changing the laws gathered steam this summer after a private television channel initiated a series of debates on whether the laws are indeed rooted in the Koran and the Sunna (the sayings of Muhammad), as some religious conservatives contend. 

The government channeled the repeal momentum into a narrower effort focused on repealing the rape provisions. The Protection of Women bill was supposed to come to a vote on Monday. But the government has now postponed it until Wednesday because, it says, it wanted to consult with religious scholars who could ensure the bill honors the spirit of religious law.

Progressives, rights activists, some members of the government had hoped that a vote on the Hudood Ordinances would place secular law over religious edicts. But after conservatives flexed their political muscle, the government has announced it will not touch the religious laws.
More on link

Rights group blasts Kashmir abuse 
September 12, 2006  From Mukhtar Ahmad CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/12/kashmir/index.html

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir (CNN) -- The U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch has lambasted the Indian government for what it calls "its failure in checking rights violations by its security forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir."

The accusation is part of HRW's 156-page report titled "Everyone Lives In Fear: Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir."

HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said that the report "documents recent abuses by the army and paramilitaries, as well as by the militants, many of whom are backed by Pakistan."

The chief government spokesman of India's Jammu and Kashmir state, however, defended the Indian military's actions in the regions saying authorities had prosecuted several security men and found them guilty of human rights violations.

Kuldip Khoda also defended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which comes under fire in the Human Rights Watch report for allowing government forces to detain people without trial for up to two years, and making human rights prosecutions difficult.

"I must clarify that there is no need to repeal special laws as we are facing a proxy war in Kashmir. We have to have a safety system for our forces and we don't want them to be prosecuted for false allegations," Khoda told The Associated Press.

Adams said Indian security forces had committed torture, disappearances and arbitrary detentions and they continued to "execute Kashmiris in faked encounter killing" claiming that these killings took place during armed clashes with militants.

"The report shows how impunity has fueled the insurgency. If the Indian authorities had addressed these abuses seriously when they took place, public confidence in the authorities would have increased and future abuses may have been substantially reduced," Adams said.

Also Tuesday, nearly 2,000 members of a pro-independence separatist Kashmiri group held a daylong hunger strike in Srinagar alleging human rights abuses by Indian security forces, AP reported.
More on link

Taliban adopting Iraq-style jihad
A Taliban militant warns that his movement is more sophisticated – and more brutal – than before.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0913/p01s04-wosc.html?s=itm

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Even in near-total darkness, the wounded Taliban fighter insists on masking his identity, his head and face covered by a tightly wound white cloth. Only two bright eyes and a confident voice tell how Afghanistan's Islamist militants are ramping up their fight against US and NATO forces. 
He speaks a warning, of how the "new" Taliban has become more radical, more sophisticated, and more brutal than the Taliban ousted by US-led forces in 2001 - and of how its jihadist agenda now mirrors that of Al Qaeda, stretching far beyond Afghanistan. 

Among the keys to the Taliban resurgence - which is sparking lethal violence on a scale unknown here for almost five years - are crucial lessons drawn from Iraq. 

"That's part of our strategy - we are trying to bring [the Iraqi model] to Afghanistan," says the fighter. "Things will get worse here."

Those "things" include suicide attacks, assassinations of government officials, moderate clerics, and civilians, along with guerrilla tactics now in use against Western forces in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, where NATO claims to have killed more than 500 insurgents in 10 days of intense fighting.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, speaking in Brussels Tuesday, said the Taliban now pose a greater danger than Al Qaeda. "The center of gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to the Taliban," he told European lawmakers."
More on link

Dobbs: Patience favors the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan
September 13, 2006 By Lou Dobbs CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/09/12/dobbs.Sept13/index.html

Editor's note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears every Wednesday on CNN.com.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- While American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting some of the most intense battles of the war against radical Islamic terrorists, our national debate on the future of the conflict has descended to platitudes of campaign rhetoric and a pathological, partisan refusal on both sides of that debate to acknowledge the harsh realities and difficult choices that confront us.

Five years after the September 11 attacks, President Bush told the nation in his televised address, "If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons." Whether right or wrong, President Bush did not tell us how we will defeat these unspecified and unnamed enemies, nor when.

In response to the president's address, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said, "The American people deserved better last night. They deserved a chance to reclaim that sense of unity, purpose and patriotism that swept through our country five years ago." 

But like President Bush, Sen. Reid had no recommendations for defeating our enemies in this conflict. Sen. Reid is right that the American people deserve better. They deserve better from both political parties and our national leadership.

Nearly 140,000 of our troops are in combat to eradicate a steadfast insurgency in Iraq, while 20,000 of our brave men and women fight to defeat the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. Nearly 2,700 of our troops have been killed in Iraq and almost 300 of our troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban is strengthening every day and adopting the Iraqi insurgency's tactics. The Taliban has begun using suicide bombs, roadside bombs and other tactics seldom seen in Afghanistan. Suicide bombings, for example, were once very rare in Afghanistan, but so far this year there have been some 70 suicide attacks, and NATO says today those attacks have killed more than 170 people. The commander of British forces in Afghanistan says that the intensity of the fighting there is greater than that in Iraq.
More on link

12 ‘militants’ killed, 30 held in Afghanistan
KABUL, Sept 12
http://www.dawn.com/2006/09/13/top13.htm

Afghan forces killed 12 suspected Taliban militants on Tuesday in a shootout south of the capital, while more than 30 suspected insurgents were detained as security forces fought back against a deadly spike in violence, officials said.

A fierce gunbattle broke out in Ghazni province’s Andar district as Afghan soldiers and police, backed by US-led coalition forces, entered an area where insurgents were holed up, said Mohammed Ali Fakuri, spokesman for the provincial governor.

Twelve militants were killed in the ensuing clash and their bodies left at the scene by comrades who fled, Fakuri said. Two policemen and one Afghan soldier were wounded.

A US-led coalition soldier was also killed and another injured when their Humvee rolled over on Monday in Kunar province’s Asadabad district, a coalition statement said.

Amid the violence, masked gunmen kidnapped a Colombian aid worker and two Afghan colleagues, working for a French-funded relief group, in Wardak province, said deputy provincial police chief Mohammed Assan.

Villagers saw the trio, who work for Mission d’Aide au Developpement des Economies Rurales en Afghanistan, ordered at gunpoint from their car and marched down a dirt road in Jalrez district, said Assan. Police found the kidnapped men’s identity documents in their abandoned vehicle.

Police arrested nine people accused of helping Afghan and Pakistani militants prepare for suicide attacks, said Tajuddin, spokesman for Afghanistan’s counterterrorism department. The nine were arrested on Friday in Logar province and transferred to Kabul for questioning.

“We have reports that four suicide bombers were aided by this group and coming from Logar,” said Tajuddin, who added one of the four was killed in a recent attack on the Jalalabad-Kabul road.

Haji Alkum, who traveled from Logar to Kabul to try ensure their release said they had a dispute with a man in their village, who accused them of being involved with suicide bombings. “They were shepherds, not terrorists,” he said.

Police also confiscated several Iranian, Chinese and Russian-made weapons, including machine-guns, bomb-making materials and thousands of rounds of ammunition, from a house in the province allegedly linked to the nine, Jalaluddin said.—AP
More on link

NATO Forces Push Taliban Back in Southern Afghanistan  
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213562,00.html 

ZHARI, Afghanistan  — NATO forces, backed by punishing airstrikes, have clawed back volatile southern Afghan regions from Taliban insurgents during a large-scale campaign that has killed at least 510 suspected militants, the alliance said. 

Security forces also killed a dozen Taliban on Tuesday and detained more than 30 in raids aimed at quelling a rampant insurgency.

CountryWatch: Afghanistan

Highlighting the instability, police said gunmen kidnapped a Colombian aid worker and two Afghan colleagues on Sunday in a remote mountain region west of Kabul.

It was not clear who kidnapped the men, but Taliban militants have been fanning Afghanistan's deadliest period of bloodshed since their hard-line regime was toppled by U.S.-led forces in late 2001 for hosting Usama bin Laden.

In southern Kandahar province, thousands of NATO and Afghan forces, backed by intense daily U.S.-led airstrikes, have killed at least 510 suspected Taliban in a campaign dubbed Operation Medusa, that began Sept. 2.

Purported Taliban spokesmen reject the death tolls as exaggerated. Journalists have been unable to enter the region because of the ongoing campaign.
More on link


Swedish soldiers attacked in northern Afghanistan  
September 13, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/13/eng20060913_302244.html

A group of Swedish soldiers was attacked on Tuesday in northern Afghanistan by locals armed with handguns, mines and handheld rocket-launchers, Swedish news agency TT reported. 

The Swedish troops returned fire and no Swedes were reported injured, according to a statement from the Swedish Armed Forces. 

The patrol, which was part of the international ISAF force and also included Finnish soldiers, arrived at the village of Boka in Balkh province to meet Afghan representatives at around 11.40 am local time, according to TT. 

Around 15-30 Afghans attacked the patrol and not until around 1 pm did reinforcements arrive, allowing the Swedes to withdraw from the area. 

The Swedish Armed Forces said that it is still unclear if any Afghans were wounded or killed as the Swedes fired back. 

Two days ago another Swedish patrol in a different province in northern Afghanistan was attacked. Trouble flared up when the troops tried to arrest a suspected criminal. 

But the statement from the Armed Forces on Tuesday gave no indication of the cause of the latest attack. 

The NATO-led ISAF force has faced most difficulty in peacekeeping duties in the south of the country. So far the north of Afghanistan, where the Swedish troops are stationed, has remained calmer. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

U.N. seeks EU help in fight against Afghanistan opium industry  
September 13, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/13/eng20060913_302237.html

The United Nations drugs chief on Tuesday sought help from the European Union (EU) in curbing the spread of opium cultivation in Afghanistan. 

Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), met EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss solutions to the Afghanistan opium crisis. 

The two exchanged views and information on the worrying situation surrounding drugs cultivation in Afghanistan. Afghan Minister of Counter-Narcotics Habibullah Quaderi also participated in the meeting. 

Costa said that in a land as poor as Afghanistan, farmers needed sustainable, legal forms of income to resist the temptation to grow opium. 

"Steps to eradicate the opium poppy must go hand in hand with steps to eradicate poverty," he said. 

According to the UNODC's Afghanistan Opium Survey 2006, which was launched in Brussels on Tuesday, a "staggering" 59 percent increase in opium cultivation in the country has led to a bumper crop of 6,100 tons of opium in 2006. 

Ferrero-Waldner said the European Commission was one of the biggest contributors in the fight against poppy cultivation, in particular to the creation of alternative livelihoods. 
More on link

173 killed in suicide bombings in Afghanistan this year
By PAUL GARWOOD Associated Press  KABUL, Afghanistan
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4182413.html

Suicide bombings have killed 173 people in Afghanistan this year, NATO announced today amid a sharp escalation of Taliban violence that saw 16 militants slain in southern clashes and an aid worker gunned down in the west.

A suicide attacker was the sole victim of a bombing inside a Sunni Muslim mosque in the city of Kandahar, while militants fired two rockets into the eastern city of Jalalabad ahead of a visit by President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. Police said there were no casualties.
More on link

Pakistani prime minister opens road in Afghanistan
Reuters Wednesday, September 13, 2006; 9:53 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300611.html

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrived in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday to open a Pakistani-funded road project hours after two rockets were fired into the area.

President Hamid Karzai flew from the capital, Kabul, under tight security to join Aziz for the inauguration of the $33 million road linking the city of Jalalabad with the Pakistani border and the Khyber pass to the east.

Relations between the two major allies in Washington's war on terror have been strained over Afghan complaints that Taliban insurgents get help on the Pakistani side of the border.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf visited Kabul last week and both he and Karzai agreed to work more closely to fight terrorism and especially to stop militants crossing the border.

On Wednesday, Karzai praised Pakistan's contribution to Afghanistan's reconstruction, stressing the importance of good ties.
More on link

Soldiers leave Darwin for Afghanistan
September 13, 2006. 8:00am (AEST)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1739562.htm
Australian soldiers were farewelled in Darwin last night before they flew out to Afghanistan to help with the Reconstruction Task Force.

The group of 41 soldiers will join more than 200 other Australian soldiers already there teaching locals in the Oruzgan Province how to build and repair essential infrastructure.

Major Brent Maddok had this message for the men.

"The mission is a very, very good mission. We're going to help people who have been down trodden by Taliban for more than 20 years," he said.

Soldier Derek Isted is an engineer and says he is thrilled to part of Afghanistan's rebuilding process.

"It's just our job and so it's finally getting a chance to go overseas and do our job properly."
End





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## The Bread Guy (14 Sep 2006)

*Operation MEDUSA update for Sept 13 *  
ISAF News Release #2006-152, 13 Sept 06
http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_13Sept06_152.htm

Afghan security forces and ISAF troops advanced further into Panjwayi and Zhari districts today, meeting as little resistance as they did yesterday. 

Troops from north and south linked up overnight and continued clearing objectives, assisted by air and artillery as required. The Afghan National Security Forces-ISAF advance is proceeding carefully because of the danger posed by booby traps, explosive devices and mines left behind by the Taliban when they fled. This clearance task, which cannot be rushed, should be seen as the final element of the military advance before reconstruction and development can begin anew. However, it will take time. 

Meanwhile, Afghan National Police are patrolling Highway 1 in order to keep commerce and normal traffic flowing. 

There were no reports of Afghan, ISAF or insurgent casualties in the Panjwayi and Zhari districts today. 

- 30 -



*NATO: Additional Troops Not Needed in Afghanistan*
Gary Thomas, Voice of America, 13 Sept 06
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-13-voa35.cfm

NATO says its counter-offensive against the Taleban has achieved most of its objectives in Afghanistan.  But in talks Wednesday NATO countries did not reach agreement on committing more troops to the fight against the resurgent Taleban.  Speaking after a meeting of NATO generals in southern Belgium, spokesman James Appathurai said no formal offer of additional troops was made during the conference, and that there are already sufficient forces in Afghanistan to wrap up the current offensive against the Taleban . . . .


*Taliban offensive 'achieved two thirds of objectives'*
Evening Echo News (Ireland), 13 Sept 06
http://www.eveningecho.ie/news/bstory.asp?j=103468596&p=yx346897x&n=103469067

Nato today announced the recent counteroffensive it launched against Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan had achieved two-thirds of its goals.  "A significant proportion of the objectives have been taken,” said Nato spokesman James Appathurai.  He said the current operation “could continue without needing extra troops,” even though generals were still looking for some 2,000 more soldiers to speed up the counteroffensive.  “There are sufficient forces in theatre to complete Operation Medusa successfully,” said Appathurai, referring to the offensive that began on September 2 to drive into Taliban strongholds.  Any addition to those troops could help deliver a decisive blow to the Taliban in the region . . . .


*NATO has no troops to spare for Afghanistan*
Indian Express, 14 Sept 06
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/12609.html

Leading European NATO members were set to tell military commanders on Wednesday they cannot provide reinforcements to help quell an insurgency in southern Afghanistan, alliance sources said.  National defence chiefs agreed last weekend on the need to raise between 2,000 to 2,500 troops to help British, Dutch and Canadian troops locked in daily clashes with Taliban guerrillas.  But after consultations with their capitals this week, those same officials were returning empty-handed to a new round of talks at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons, Belgium . . . .


*Nato chiefs fail to win additional 2,500 troops*
David Charter and Michael Evans, Times Online (UK), 14 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2356883,00.html

NATO failed yesterday to find the urgent reinforcements that its top generals have demanded to strengthen operations against the Taleban in Afghanistan.  Despite the recent pressure on Nato governments to reinforce alliance troops fighting in the south of the country, officials admitted that there had been no formal offers in response to an appeal from the alliance’s military and political chiefs to produce another 2,500 troops, as well as helicopters and transport aircraft.  Chiefs of the 26-member alliance must now wait until a defence ministers’ meeting in Slovenia on September 28 to discover whether there has been any change of heart . . . .


*NATO to meet on Afghanistan but few new troops likely*
Pak Tribune, 14 Sept 06
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154113

NATO members are set to meet to try to boost troop numbers to combat an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, but they were unlikely to secure considerable reinforcements.  On the eve of the meeting at NATO?s military headquarters in Belgium, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a rallying call not to abandon Afghanistan as it struggles to build a stable democracy.  "If you allow a failed state in that strategic location, you will pay for it," she warned, speaking on a trip to Canada where she expressed her gratitude for Canada?s 2,300-strong troop deployment to Afghanistan . . . .



*NATO Says No To Opium Destruction In Afghanistan *  
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 13 Sept 06
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/9/DF189929-5B33-43FE-88D4-ACC118EB35F4.html

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has rejected a call from the head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime that alliance forces in Afghanistan be ordered to destroy the country's opium industry.  De Hoop Scheffer said on September 12 that it was not in the alliance's mandate to lead the fight against drugs.  UN official Antonio Maria Costa made the call for robust NATO action on September 12 in Brussels while presenting details of the UNODC's latest report on opium cultivation in Afghanistan . . . .



*NATO fight in Afghan south risks long-term aims*
Mark John, Reuters (UK), 12 Sept 06
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-09-12T092803Z_01_NOA233440_RTRUKOC_0_AFGHAN-NATO.xml

NATO troops have been sucked into bloody combat with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan that risks turning local opinion against them and undermining their ultimate goal of fostering reconstruction, analysts say.  When it pushed south this month, the 26-nation alliance aimed to maintain a clear distinction between NATO forces, which would go there to foster reconstruction, and U.S. special forces, out to smash insurgent bases . . . . 



*Coalition Marches Into a Tight Corner*
Sanjay Suri, Inter Press Service News Agency, 12 Sept 06
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34696

The coalition forces in Afghanistan could find it easier to fly in than fly out of what is emerging as another trap for them.  The coalition forces, led by the United States and increasingly Britain, have been facing mounting attacks. In the most audacious of these, U.S. troops and others were killed last week in an attack near the U.S. embassy in Kabul, considered about the safest area in Afghanistan . . . .



*Australian Reconstruction Task Force deployed to Afghanistan*
ISAF News Release #2006-153, 13 Sept 06
http://www.afnorth.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_13Sept06_153.htm

Australia's contribution to ISAF's Netherlands-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Tarin Kowt is known as the Reconstruction Task Force (RTF) and will be a mix of engineers and security personnel. Deployed to Afghanistan for up to 2 years, the task force will work on reconstruction and community-based projects as part of Australia's commitment to assisting Afghanistan to achieve a stable and secure future . . . .



*Expert: Leave tanks home*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 13 Sept 06
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/528006.html

Sending tanks to fight Taliban insurgents could cause problems both in Afghanistan and at home, especially if some of the troops manning them are drawn from units in Quebec, experts warned Tuesday.   A Montreal political scientist said if there are casualties from Quebec, Stephen Harper and his Conservatives could end up paying a heavy price in political support in a province already deeply opposed to the war.  In addition, the grim appearance and destructive power of up to 15 Leopard tanks has the potential to further alienate Afghans already suspicious of foreign troops, said experts in counter-insurgency warfare . . . .



*"The Last Straw" -- Kabul Soldiers's Shocking Report*
Soldiers for the Truth, 9 Sept 06
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Unlisted.db&command=viewone&id=55

Just thought that you and your readers might want to know what's been going on in the capital of the "other" war here in Kabul.  

I am a [ deleted ] for the [ deleted ] unit tasked with protecting the Theater HQ in Kabul, Cp Eggers.  The blast yesterday that took 2 American Soldiers lives, as well as those of innocent Afghan civilians was the last straw.  

We arrived in country in the end of MAR '06.  When we got here, we were patrolling our sector in M1114's, aggressively, and wouldn't you know it, there were no VBIEDS, or any attacks on our sector. (Which includes the US, UK, German, Pakistani, Dutch embassies, as well as the ISAF HQ).  

There was one rocket attack in APR, but it injured no one. Around JUN, LTG Karl Eikenberry, CFC-A Commander, came out with an unofficial "Afghans First" policy.  We were no longer allowed to take out our Armored Humvees, we had to do our dismounted patrols without our ACH's, and our patrol route was drastically cut down to the safe house area (Area 10), and right around our Camp. 

Since then, we have let ISAF take over our Area, (The Macedonians being the powerhouse that they are). 

There were the 4 of July bombings.  In the last 2 weeks, there have been 2 rocket attacks, and 2 blasts that have killed 2 Brits (on Route Violet), and the last one that took those two yesterday. (One was a female E7, Army, and the other one was an E6, Army, just so you know I am not full of crap).  

The blame on the upswing in violence can be attributed to the one and only man who has tied our hands.  You cannot protect a base from inside the wire.  

Since the 2 UK Soldiers died, we got our 1114's back, and we are now allowed to wear our ACH's.  We however have for the last 6 months been trying to get armored protection for our gunners -- there currently is none -- & the Warlock IED defeating system. (We currently use something called an Acorn, that jams [x] frequencies).  

The largest weapon that we are allowed to mount is an M249 SAW. Our unit has everything that a SecFor unit is supposed to, but our hands are tied.  We have Vets from Iraq, Kosovo, and others doing there 2nd tour here in the 'Stan.  

Please inform your readers about what is going on, so that no more American or Coalition Soldiers die needlessly.  

Thank you very much.(Please don't use my name)

-- A Proud Soldier, US Army



*Special Forces soldier receives German medal *  
Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes, 14 Sept 06
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?article=40026&section=104


A U.S. Special Forces soldier on Tuesday was awarded the highest medal that can be given by the German army to a foreign enlisted troop.  Staff Sgt. Jonathon A. Zapien of 3rd Special Forces Group, out of Fort Bragg, N.C., was presented the Ehrenmedaille, or Honor Medal, during a ceremony in Berlin. Zapien accompanied a German special forces unit from June to October 2005 during missions in southeastern Afghanistan.  In his job, Zapien, a senior weapons sergeant, acted as a liaison between U.S. and German special operators while also engaging with the Germans in combat operations . . . . .


----------



## JackD (14 Sep 2006)

Don't know  if this is the right spot but Times-on-line reports that Poland
 will send more troops to Afghanistan - a mechanised battalion - 900 more troops - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-2357394_2,00.html  (side window).


----------



## GAP (14 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 14 Sept 2006*

CBC’s idea of ‘objectivity’ is nuts  
By PETER WORTHINGTON Thu, September 14, 2006
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Worthington_Peter/2006/09/14/1837879.html

It seems incredible that the CBC would suspend a TV reporter for writing a letter praising our troops in Afghanistan. 

Yet that’s what the CBC has done to Radio-Canada TV reporter Christine St-Pierre for writing an open letter to La Presse saying our soldiers deserve respect and support. 

CBC spokesman Marc Pichette said she’s been “relieved of her functions” indefinitely, because she “infringed” on a number of CBC rules which stipulate that employees aren’t allowed to express opinions on controversial issues. 

To most people this is nuts. To the CBC it is the essence of objectivity. And it is unmitigated horsefeathers. 

The CBC, arguably, is the least “objective” of any news organization in Canada. Listen to CBC Radio’s Cross Canada Checkup for empirical evidence of CBC “objectivity.” For every caller who expresses one view, another caller is chosen to express the opposite view. It is selective balance to appear impartial and inoffensive and leaves the listener stranded. 

Objectivity is impossible in journalism. Every reporter has to distill or compress what he or she sees or hears into a television or radio soundbite, or a condensed version in print. The reporter, subjectively, chooses what is newsworthy. 

But while objectivity is impossible, fairness is attainable by all. And fairness is precisely what the CBC lacks. 

I don’t know anything about Christine St-Pierre, but praise for our troops in no way disqualifies her from fair and honest reporting, and that’s what we should want from journalists. 

“We owe you all our respect and our unfailing support,” she wrote of soldiers. “Your tears are not in vain, your tears are brave” (whatever that means). These sentiments don’t necessarily imply approval for the mission in Afghanistan. Jack Layton and the nutty NDP oppose the mission, but insist they respect individual soldiers. 

During the invasion of Iraq, the CBC withdrew its staff from Baghdad when bombs were falling and depended on the U.S. networks for coverage. Some objectivity! The CBC refused to allow its reporters to be embedded with attacking American troops because it feared their reports would be slanted in favour of the Americans. How insulting to its own reporters. 

In the Kosovo war (wrong and unnecessary in my view), the CBC ran a fabricated documentary about a young woman who supposedly joined the Kosovo resistance because her young sister was killed by Serbs — which turned out to be a lie; the sister wasn’t killed and the woman was with the resistance. 

The CBC refuses to run award-winning documentaries by Calgary filmmaker Garth Pritchard about our troops on hazardous missions, one suspects because they make our soldiers look good. 

On 9/11, of all Toronto radio stations that terrible day, only CBC Radio didn’t interrupt scheduled broadcasting to cover what was happening in New York. Shameful. 

Even the late Pierre Trudeau bellyached about the separatist slant of the CBC when the terrorist FLQ was in the news. During the Cold War, the CBC was more agitated about possible CIA activity in Canada than KGB subversion. A ranking KGB officer was once a CBC soundman. 

Now the CBC punishes a reporter who stands up for Canadian soldiers and her country. Sadly, St-Pierre seems to agree that she’s sacrificed her objectivity. To which I say, Christine, you never had objectivity but you had fairness, which is a reporter’s most precious commodity. 
End

What happens to the wounded when they come home?
On the long road to recovery 
KATHERINE HARDING From Saturday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060826.wxsoldiers26/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

EDMONTON — While the country has stopped to mourn 27 young Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, the sacrifices of dozens more quietly continue at home, as they slowly recover from their battle wounds.

Edmonton has emerged as a key hub for treating the returning wounded: The University of Alberta and Glenrose Rehabilitation hospitals are becoming this country's version of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the U.S. military hospital that treats hundreds of soldiers.

A small army of military and civilian medical staff in Edmonton have had to come to terms with this new reality very quickly due to the jump in battlefield casualties since Canada's combat duties increased earlier this year. 

Doctors say those who return on stretchers are also coming back with devastating head injuries and damaged or lost limbs -- wounds more severe than military medical staff have seen in previous conflicts. Modern body armour is saving the lives of soldiers who would have died in battles of yesteryear.
More on link





Poland commits 900 new troops for Afghanistan
RYAN LUCAS Associated Press Globe & Mail 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060914.w2poland0914/BNStory/International/home

WARSAW — Poland's defence minister said in comments broadcast Thursday that his nation will send at least 900 troops to eastern Afghanistan next year. NATO said the offer did not ease the immediate need for 2,500 additional soldiers in the violence-wracked south.

A NATO official said the Polish deployment was routine and had been arranged before the call for additional soldiers.

The 900 new troops will join 100 Polish soldiers already in eastern Afghanistan, and NATO spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Goetz Haffke said the Polish troops had been expected as part of a routine rotation of NATO troops.

“This is part of a regular reinforcement and rotation that had been planned previously,” Col. Haffke said from NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Headquarters in Brunssum, Netherlands.
More on link

Conquering Canadians take stock  
With the Taliban having melted away, commander reflects on lessons learned 
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060913.wxafghan13/BNStory/International/home

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN — Sitting on the rooftop of a shrapnel-scarred building in southern Afghanistan, Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie squinted into the sunset and looked over the swath of farmland that his soldiers had conquered.

About 10 days earlier, the commander of Canada's battle group was staring down hundreds of Taliban fighters in those fields. His command post was filled with urgent bursts of radio traffic.

But the Taliban appear to have run away, after enduring heavy attacks from the air and a steady Canadian advance on the ground, and the operation has slowed into a methodical mop-up. One officer compared yesterday's mood around the command post to a schoolyard in June.

On his metal folding chair, Col. Lavoie allowed himself a moment of quiet reflection. But the 40-year-old commander couldn't entirely relax while many of his troops were still pushing south, across this former Taliban stronghold about 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city. The steady drive from the north won't stop, Col. Lavoie said, until his soldiers meet their counterparts waiting for them on the southern edge of the battlefield, near the Arghandab River.

More on link

UN wants NATO to destroy Afghanistan`s opium trade  
Thursday September 14, 2006 (0325 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154112

BRUSSELS: The United Nations called on NATO forces Tuesday to take military action to destroy the opium industry in southern Afghanistan, saying that cultivation of the crop is out of control in the embattled Asian country. 
UN anti-drug chief Antonio Maria Costa said opium production was being used to fund terrorist groups. 

"In the turbulent southern region, counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics efforts must reinforce each other so as to stop the vicious circle of drugs funding terrorists and terrorists protecting drug traffickers," Costa told reporters. 

The UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime released its annual survey of Afghanistan’s poppy crop in Kabul earlier this month, which said opium cultivation rose 59 per cent this year to produce a record 6,100 tonnes of opium - a massive 92 per cent of total world supply. 

Costa called on NATO’s 20,000-strong military force in Afghanistan to take action to cut production of the crop used to make heroin. 

"I call on NATO forces to destroy the heroin labs, disband the open opium bazaars, attack the opium convoys and bring to justice the big traders," he said. 

Last week, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said NATO was not planning to play a leading role in the fight against narcotics in Afghanistan. 

The UN agency said only six of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces are opium-free. It said some 2.9 million people were involved in growing opium, representing 12.6 per cent of the total Afghan population, and that revenue from this year’s harvest was predicted to hit over US$3 billion. 

"The goal should be to double the number of opium-free provinces next year, and double them again in 2008. That is ambitious, but achievable," Costa said.
More on link

Bloc firm on support for Afghan mission
DANIEL LEBLANC 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060913.BLOC13/TPStory

OTTAWA -- The Bloc Québécois will continue supporting the Canadian Forces' mission in Afghanistan into 2007, when a group of soldiers based in Valcartier, Que., will form the main Canadian contingent.

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe will address reporters this morning at a meeting of his 50-member caucus, and will expand on his vision for Canada's foreign policy. He is expected to say that he wants more information from the government on the Afghan mission, but that he will not follow the lead of New Democratic Leader Jack Layton in calling for a full withdrawal.

"The NDP is not being serious," Bloc House Leader Michel Gauthier said in an interview. "Even though the mission is hard right now . . . withdrawing immediately, without conditions, would be irresponsible for our soldiers, for Afghanistan and for the other nations, to which we said we will do the job."

The Bloc is calling for an urgent debate in the House of Commons on Canada's foreign policy next week, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the United Nations on Sept. 21.
More on link

After NATO Meeting, No New Troops for Afghanistan  
By JUDY DEMPSEY International Herald Tribune September 14, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/iht/2006/09/14/world/14nato.html?ref=asia

BERLIN, Sept. 13 — A meeting of NATO countries in Belgium on Wednesday failed to win new troops to patrol southern Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban rebellion has challenged the international force. 

Gen. James L. Jones, NATO’s military chief, had called the meeting to persuade countries to deliver on past commitments and to meet a request by the NATO command for up to 2,500 extra troops for Afghanistan.

But a spokesman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, James Appathurai, said the meeting had ended without any concrete offers, despite a grim warning from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the day before that Afghanistan risked becoming “a failed state” if more troops were not sent.

Mr. Appathurai told a news conference that some allies had given “positive indications” on the reinforcements, but suggested that final decisions might have to wait until a Sept. 28-29 meeting of NATO defense ministers in Slovenia. 

The Atlantic alliance has about 20,000 troops throughout Afghanistan, including about 8,000 in the south, who are mostly British, Canadian and Dutch. The south is the heart of the Taliban resistance, and in recent weeks the NATO force has been furiously battling to drive out the group’s fighters around Kandahar, in particular.

The failed attempts to garner more troops came as new demands have been put on NATO members to provide peacekeepers for a United Nations mission in Lebanon.

Already, several countries have said that they will not send more troops to Afghanistan because they are supplying troops to Lebanon. One is Turkey, which has committed at least 1,000 soldiers to Lebanon. Germany, too, said this week that it would not send extra troops for Afghanistan but instead would send forces for the Lebanon mission
More on link

NATO: Additional Troops Not Needed in Afghanistan  
By Gary Thomas London 13 September 2006 Thomas report
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-13-voa35.cfm

NATO says its counter-offensive against the Taleban has achieved most of its objectives in Afghanistan.  But in talks Wednesday NATO countries did not reach agreement on committing more troops to the fight against the resurgent Taleban.

But Appathurai said there were what he termed "positive indications" that some countries might consider contributing more forces at some point.

In remarks in London Wednesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said British troops, who are bearing the brunt of the battle in southern Afghanistan, need help from Europe.

"This British commitment in Afghanistan is important.  They are inflicting real damage on the Taleban and al-Qaida," he said.  "But it is important that the whole of NATO regards this as their responsibility."
More on link

4 killed in Taliban Raid in Afghanistan
September 14, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan --At least 150 Taliban raided a police headquarters in western Afghanistan on Thursday, igniting a battle that killed two militants and two policemen before the insurgents were driven off, an official said.

The early morning clash in Farah province reinforced fears that Taliban militants under NATO attack in southern strongholds are relocating into previously calm areas in the west of the country.

Militants driving in dozens of pickup trucks and firing rocket-propelled grenades surrounded the police compound in the Farah town of Bakwa at about 3 a.m., said Maj. Gen. Sayed Agha Saqeb, the provincial police chief.

Taliban forces held the compound for about one hour before police reinforcements arrived to push the militants out of the town, Saqeb said.

Two policemen were killed and two wounded, while two Taliban died and four others were wounded, Saqeb said.

A NATO official confirmed the clash but had no further details, saying NATO forces were involved in the battle.
End


Stability in Afghanistan in better interest of Pakistan: diplomat 
September 14, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/14/eng20060914_302828.html

Former envoy Rustam Shah Mehmand Thursday said that peace and stability in Afghanistan was in better interest of Pakistan as it is developing trade links with Afghanistan and central Asian states. 

Talking to the official PTV, Mehmand said that both countries had historic and cultural relations and the recent visit of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to Afghanistan removed all the misunderstandings between the two countries and the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would further strengthen the relations. 

Mehmand said that both countries were making development economically, politically and there was also interaction at the public level. 

"We are making railway track and roads which would give alternate access to central Asian states," he said. 

He said that Central Asia would be a big emerging market where there are oil and gas deposits, adding that there was also a plan to supply electricity from Tajikistan to Pakistan. 

With the completion of Torkham-Jalalabad and Jalalabad-Kabul road, he said, the distance between the Pakistani city of Peshawar and Termaiz (the Uzbikistan border) would be reduced. 

These are all milestones which would lead the relations of the two countries to the extreme where they could use their potentials in a positive way for the development purposes, he added. 

Mehmand that it was the right time that Pakistani companies should go to Afghanistan, introduce their products and take part in reconstruction in the areas where peace and security conditions are better. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Expert advice on Afghanistan
Sep. 14, 2006. 01:00 AM HAROON SIDDIQUI
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158184237654&call_pageid=970599119419

Afghanistan is at a crossroads and, with it, Canada's involvement: "We should bring our troops home." "No, we shouldn't." "We should talk to the Taliban." "No, we shouldn't." 

With no easy answers available, I talked to two knowledgeable people, veteran diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi and Afghan Canadian filmmaker Nelofer Pazira.

Pazira's family in Kabul fled the Soviet occupation in 1989 and came to Canada a year later. She has made two movies, Kandahar (2001) and Return to Kandahar (2003), and wrote a book, A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan (2005). 

Pazira, 33, has just returned from a month-long visit to her native land. Unlike the journalists "embedded" with foreign troops, she travelled widely and talked to the people.

She says the Hamid Karzai government "has lost its legitimacy," given its corruption, incompetence and alliances with the regional warlords.

Afghans, caught between the Taliban and NATO troops, are "frustrated, anxious and cynical," especially in Kandahar, the city and the province of the same name.

In Kabul, the foreign troops are seen as forces of good, because they have been. In the south, they are viewed as incompetent occupiers making things worse.

"I am torn. The Canadian in me says, `What are we doing there?' The Afghan in me says, `What if the foreigners all pack up and leave? Will the country go back to pre-9/11?'"

What about Jack Layton's idea of talking to the Taliban?

"That's the only sensible thing I've heard lately. Realistically, diplomacy is the right way. The Taliban are not a homogeneous group, anyway."

Brahimi, 72, the world-renowned United Nations envoy, is a former foreign minister of Algeria, who in 1990 helped the Arab League end the Christian-Muslim civil war in Lebanon. 

Post-Taliban, he organized the Bonn conference (November 2001), then the loya jirga, the traditional gathering of tribes (June 2002), and stayed on until December 2004 trying to turn the failed state into a functioning one.

Since then, he has been a UN envoy to Iraq (2004) and Darfur (2006).
More on link

Afghanistan hits at Musharraf over Taliban remark
By Terry Friel
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1357852006

KABUL (Reuters) - Kabul has angrily rejected comments by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that the Taliban had grown more dangerous than al Qaeda with the support of Afghans, accusing some in Pakistan of sponsoring the rebels.

A terse Foreign Ministry statement accused Musharraf of reneging on a pledge in Kabul last week to stop playing the blame game over the Taliban, whose rise to power was sponsored by Islamabad.

"He has raised some regrettable and disturbing issues," the ministry said. "As with before, the Taliban continue to receive support from outside Afghanistan. Such support is the only factor that helps them inflict damage and suffering upon Afghanistan.

"There are distinct entities (in Pakistan) which provide motivation, training, equipment, financial support and sanctuary for the Taliban," said the statement, received late on Wednesday.

Musharraf said in Brussels on Tuesday the Taliban were a more dangerous terrorist force than al Qaeda because of what he said was the broad support they enjoyed among Afghans.

Speaking five years after al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on the United States and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban, Musharraf told European Union lawmakers that Taliban fighters had regrouped in southern Afghanistan.
More on link

NATO commander: Too much violence in Afghanistan attributed to Taliban   
The Associated Press  September 14, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/14/europe/EU_GEN_OSCE_NATO_Afghanistan.php

VIENNA, Austria NATO's commander cautioned Thursday against blaming the Taliban for all the violence in Afghanistan, saying al-Qaida and other criminal elements are also contributing to the lawlessness plaguing the country.

"There is a tendency to characterize all of the violence in Afghanistan as the resurgence of the Taliban," U.S. Gen. James L. Jones said in a speech to the permanent council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"This is inaccurate. It doesn't capture the nature of the problem," Jones said.

He stressed that there were others carrying out violence, including remnants of al-Qaida and "the strong presence of the drug cartels which have their own infrastructure, their own export system, their own security system and are feeding the opposition."

"I would caution that we should not make the Taliban 10 feet tall (bigger than they are)," Jones told the Vienna-based OSCE, Europe's largest security organization.

The new forms of weaponry being used were available to "all of the actors, not just the Taliban," Jones said.

NATO is conducting an offensive to dislodge Taliban fighters from parts of Kandahar province.

The operation was launched Sept. 2 as a response to Taliban attacks in Kandahar and Helmand, which surprised NATO troops deploying into the south this summer and dragged the Western alliance into its first major land battles since it was founded in 1949 to defend Europe from Soviet attack.

Jones acknowledged that the majority of fighters in the southern region were probably Taliban, adding they were in the process of "learning a painful lesson about the tactics they employed in the last few weeks."

Jones said that there was "no question" NATO anticipated resistance and violence in the region.

"If there is a home for the Afghan Taliban, this is it," he said. In addition, the area is the home of narcotics-producing cartels, is characterized by corrupt and weak governance and hasn't "been visited by too much reconstruction," he said.

"What has happened is an anticipated resistance. What was surprising was the level of intensity and tactics that the opposition forces used," he said, adding they don't usually show a willingness to stand and fight for a long period of time.

"They chose to stand and fight this time. That was a bad mistake," he said.
More on link


Germany to extend mission in Afghanistan  
September 14, 2006         
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/14/eng20060914_302624.html

German troops are likely to have their mission in Afghanistan extended by one year, a government spokesman said on Wednesday. 

Their current peacekeeping operation in the Central Asian state expires on October 13. 

The extension of the soldiers' participation in the international peacekeeping force first needs to be approved by the German parliament, possibly in a vote next week. 

NATO, which is leading the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, has recently called for additional troops due to the worsening security situation in the country, especially in the south. 

Germany, however, will not send its troops to the volatile southern area, government deputy spokesman Thomas Steg said. 

He said the nearly 3,000 German troops would remain in northern Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End


Soldier lotto winner staying in Afghanistan
Sep. 13, 2006. 04:25 PM CANADIAN PRESS
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1158145837434&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News

PASHMUL, Afghanistan — One of Canada's latest lottery jackpot winners tiptoed into an abandoned Taliban stronghold Wednesday to blow up a booby trap insurgents left behind. 

Sgt. Neil Coates may be $625,000 richer thanks to a Super 7 lottery win, but he can't buy his way out of the army or the duty he feels to fallen friends and the comrades who remain.

"My first reaction was, `Get the hell out of here,"' Coates, 44, told The Canadian Press at the front lines of the NATO operation to clear insurgents from this Taliban stronghold.

"But I talked to my wife about it, and this is what I came here to do, I trained a whole year for this. I owe it to these guys to see it through."

Coates, a veteran combat engineer, admits the strange collision of fates has left him a bit bewildered — a dangerous state for a man in charge of a team of explosives and demolition experts. 

"It's difficult to keep focused on what you're doing," Coates said while waiting to clear bombs and weapons from the next village. 

"But with my job, lives depend on staying focused. When you get some downtime, you can sit back and think about what we will do with all the money."

Coates learned about the win from his wife Cheryl on Wednesday when he received an urgent message to call home. 

Her elation made it clear no bad news would be delivered for a change. The family split a $5 million prize among eight lottery partners. 

Coates has lost several friends among the recent Canadian deaths in Afghanistan. 

"It was a bad stretch for three or four days, and one reason it's so overwhelming is one minute you're so depressed and the next minute one of the best things that could ever happen to a person happens to you," he explained. 

"But I think it's been a bit of a morale boost for everybody." 
More on link

Two SEALs Receive Posthumous Navy Cross Awards
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=845

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2006 – Special operations forces personnel, so accustomed to operating in the shadows, stepped sadly into the light tonight as the Navy presented the widows of two SEALs killed in Afghanistan with the nation’s second-highest military award for valor. 

Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter presented the Navy Cross to Cindy Axelson, widow of Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, and to Patsy Dietz, widow of Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz. 

The ceremony was fittingly held here at the U.S. Navy Memorial. “These were our men,” said Rear Adm. Joseph Maguire, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, at the start of the ceremony. 

Axelson and Dietz were part of a four-man team inserted behind enemy lines June 27, 2005, east of Asadabad, Afghanistan, to find and kill or capture a key local militia leader. 

Anti-coalition forces spotted them the following day and promptly alerted the militia forces. The SEALs fought valiantly against “the numerically superior and positionally advantaged enemy force,” according to the citation that accompanied the awards. Three of the four SEALs were wounded and forced into a ravine, where they radioed for help. An MH-47 Chinook helicopter with eight more SEALs and eight Army troops aboard went to the rescue, but was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed, killing all aboard. 
More on link


Saving the 'men who lean against walls'
Experts warn a growing number of disaffected Muslim youths in the Middle East will turn to radical Islam.
By Tom Regan  | csmonitor.com September 14, 2006 at 12:30 p.m.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0914/dailyUpdate.html?s=mesdu

The Toronto Star reports that in the foreseeable future, groups like the Taliban and Al Qaeda will "have no problem replenishing their stock of young fighters, suicide bombers, explosives experts and logistical planners, virtually at will."

The reason for the ease with which these groups will be able to recruit can be found in the demographics of the Middle East. The Star notes that between "the 1970s and 1990s, a dramatic drop in infant mortality coupled with high fertility rates and migration into cities" has led to an enormous population boom in the Middle East. Between one-half and two-thirds of the 380 million people who live in the region are 24 years old or younger.

The region's demographic profile is the exact opposite of the West's, where populations are aging and fertility rates dropping. Canada's birth rate is 1.5 per woman; the global average 2.2. But the majority of Muslim states still average three-to-seven births per woman. At the same time, the region's illiteracy rate, though starting to drop, is still higher than the international norm. The World Bank estimates there are 10 million youngsters not in school, a figure that could rise to 14 million within the next decade.

Another problem is that many of these youths live in authoritarian regimes that haven't been able to compete in the global marketplace, leading to economic and political conditions that make it easier for Islamists to recruit them. The Star notes that there is a name for these disaffected youths, the hayateen, "the men who lean against walls."
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## tomahawk6 (14 Sep 2006)

Poland will increase its forces in Afghanistan by adding a mech battalion.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/14/content_5092341.htm?rss=1

 BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Poland will send an additional 1,000 troops to join the NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan in response to NATO's call for reinforcements, said its defense minister.

    "As of February next year, over 1,000 Polish soldiers are going to be serving in Afghanistan," said Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski Wednesday evening in Washington, according to media reports. 

    "It will be a mechanized battalion that will be stationed at Bagram, where 100 of our soldiers are. We are going to take part in operations primarily in the eastern part of Afghanistan." 

    Polish defense ministry spokesman Leszek Laszczak said, "Poland will increase its contingent in Afghanistan. We will send 1,000 additional troops from February." 

    The soldiers will do a one year tour of duty, starting February 2007, Laszczak added. He also said a Polish general will become a deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force(ISAF). 

    Last week, leading NATO military commanders called for 2,000-2,500 additional soldiers to plug shortfalls in the alliance's force in Afghanistan, which has met strong resistance from the resurgent Taliban guerrillas along Afghanistan's southern border. 

    But a NATO spokesman said on Wednesday member countries had failed to respond to the military commander's call for reinforcements. 

    NATO nations currently have around 18,500 troops in Afghanistan with other non-NATO countries contributing a further 1,500 to the ISAF. 

    The alliance has asked for the soldiers to be available immediately, and it was not clear whether the Polish contribution would plug the gap. 

    Sikorski and Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski are in Washington for talks with U.S. leaders. 

    The country is the first to commit extra troops to the NATO force. It also has around 900 soldiers stationed in Baghdad. Enditem


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## GAP (15 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 15 Sept 2006*


The fighting eases for Canadians in Afghanistan, for now
 Renata D'Aliesio, CanWest News Service Friday, September 15, 2006

NAMARAZI, Afghanistan - An Afghan boy of about 10 passed by pushing a wheel barrel piled high with clothes and blankets.

As they had been instructed to do Thursday morning, some Canadian soldiers stationed in a farm field nearby smiled and waved.

It didn't look as if the boy had noticed them. He was likely too busy struggling with the overloaded cart on a dirt road.

''He probably has three Taliban hiding under there,'' a soldier quipped.

Hours earlier a group of NATO soldiers, most of them Canadian, were in enemy territory in Pashmul, which they had fought for and won on Wednesday. The troops were told to pull out of Pashmul and head to a coalition-friendly area of southern Afghanistan.

The area was just eight kilometers west of Pashmul, along a stretch of ditches that were used by the Taliban to resupply their fighters with food and ammunition. It's also near a stretch of Highway 1 that has been loaded with explosives and suicide bombers targeting Canadian and other coalition soldiers.

All of this, and the fact they just completed a two-week offensive of bombs, grenades and gunfire against the Taliban, had the troops in the farm field a little on edge, suspicious of every person and vehicle that passed.

''It's easy when you're just facing the bad guys,'' Sgt. Mike Martin said Thursday. ''It becomes more complex when everyone's mixed in.''

After wrestling control of Pashmul from the Taliban, the NATO force turned its attention to creating a buffer between the village of Namarazi in the west and the newly gained ground in the east. They were also looking for details on the Taliban's whereabouts.

Although Pashmul served as a stronghold for the insurgents, the Taliban were nowhere to be seen when troops stormed into the area.

There was also very little evidence pointing to the area being a centre for Taliban power.

''That place was sanitized,'' Canadian Major Geoff Abthorpe said. ''There was no garbage, there was no ammo casings, there was no rocket casings, except for the few that we found.

''What were they trying to do? A gut feel on that - they're trying to make the information campaign to sway to their end, that there was no fighting here.''

Fighting in the area had been fierce even before NATO's Operation Medusa began two weeks ago.

The battle for Pashmul has taken the lives of several Canadian soldiers
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More soldiers may head for Afghanistan after all
15 Sep 2006,
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1459686.ece

Norway's foreign minister says the government may end up sending more soldiers to Afghanistan, even though Norwegian military leaders haven't volunteered any to NATO.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says no decision will be made until after a meeting of all the foreign ministers from NATO countries is held next week in New York.

NATO members, including Norway, have been under pressure to contribute more troops to the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Norway already has troops in northern Afghanistan, but it's in the south, especially along the border to Pakistan, where they're most needed.

Canadian and British troops in the area now need reinforcements, and NATO leaders are calling for up to another 2,500 soldiers to bring the total in Afghanistan to around 18,500, a level earlier agreed by politicians.

Norwegian military brass earlier have claimed they don't have enough trained personnel to add to the operations in Afghanistan, while also sending troops to Lebanon and Sudan. 

Støre told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), however, that the Norwegian government may reconsider. They could, for example, send special forces to southern Afghanistan along with those from other countries with the aim of strengthening NATO's presence in the area.

Norwegian military leaders, meanwhile, rejected on Friday suggestions from a few key politicians that Norwegian soldiers aren't sufficiently trained for dangerous missions in hostile areas. One top officer said Norway's troops "do a phenomenal job" and have the education and training they need before being sent overseas.
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Hurt soldier harbours no grudge
Surgery needed after friendly fire 
By CP Fri, September 15, 2006
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2006/09/15/1843528-sun.html

HARROW, Ont. -- A Canadian soldier who endured two surgeries to remove shrapnel from his brain said yesterday he bears no ill will toward the Americans who accidentally strafed his unit in Afghanistan and longs to return to the frontline. 

Cpl. Bruce Moncur suffered the injury, which has left him unable to write, on Sept. 4 in the same friendly-fire incident that injured some 30 Canadian soldiers and claimed the life of Pte. Mark Graham. 

"I had to have a second brain surgery to get some of the bone fragments that were lodged in my brain ... I gotta re-learn how to write," Moncur said. 

"I'd love to be back with my boys ... but obviously I have to sit this one out for a little while. I haven't counted another tour out." 

Canadian soldiers were barely roused from their sleep Labour Day when two U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts, nicknamed Warthogs, accidentally opened fire on them. The planes were called in to support the Canadians, who were trying to take a Taliban stronghold along the Arghandab River. 

"We were just eating breakfast (and) we heard the explosions," Moncur said from his home in Harrow, Ont., near Windsor. "That's when I got hit and I went flying through the air, a good 15-20 feet." 

Moncur lost consciousness. When he came around the only part of his body he could move was his arm. 

"I thought it was moving independently, so I thought I lost my arm," he said. 

"I was freaking out a little bit there. When I realized that my arm was all right, that was when the blood started coming down into my eyes." 
More on link

Violence In Afghanistan  
13 September 2006
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2006-09-14-voa3.cfm
  
A suicide bomber in Tani, Afghanistan, detonated a bomb at a funeral for Abdul Hakim Taniwal, the assassinated governor of Khost province. Six people were reportedly killed and many others injured. According to news reports, the Taleban was responsible for both attacks. Afghan president Hamid Karzai says, "the enemies of Afghanistan. . . .showed that they are not only against the traditions and cultures of Afghans, but also against Islamic law." 

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she is not surprised that there has been an upsurge of violence in Afghanistan since the country was liberated by a U.S.-led coalition in 2002: 

"Of course they're going to fight back, even if they're on the ropes, they're going to fight back. They came back somewhat more organized and somewhat more capable than people would have expected. But that's why they're being beaten back by the NATO forces that are there." 

Said Jawad, the Afghan ambassador to the U.S., says increased Taleban activity will not derail Afghanistan's progress: 

"They [the Taleban] are making a serious comeback. They are a serious security challenge for us right now, but the political process, the reconstruction process, is way advanced by now." 
More on link

Poland offers troops for Afghanistan
By Natalia Reiter September 14 2006 at 03:22PM 
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=qw1158239521274B212

Warsaw - Poland said on Thursday it would send 1 000 troops to Afghanistan next February in the first offer since a Nato appeal for reinforcements, but it was unclear whether any would go to the heartland of a Taliban insurgency.

Nato's top commander of operations said last week he wanted reinforcements of up to 2 500 to help alliance troops there by the onset of the Afghan winter in a matter of weeks. But nations had failed at talks on Wednesday to respond with firm offers.

Deputy Defence Minister Boguslaw Winid told Reuters that Poland had agreed with NATO that the bulk of the troops would go to the east of the country instead of southern provinces, where Taliban fighters had regrouped.
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Afghanistan: a lost cause?
That is the view of many, five years after 9/11, writes Graham Usher in Islamabad 
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/812/in2.htm

Brigadier Ed Butler was blunt. "The violence in Afghanistan is now worse than in Iraq," he told a meeting of NATO's defence chiefs last week. He was referring to the ferocious battles that have assailed NATO troops since they took over most combat operations in Afghanistan from US-led forces in August. 

Butler is head of NATO's 4,500 strong British contingent. He says "hundreds" of Taliban guerrillas have been killed in the fighting. But so have dozens of NATO soldiers and scores of civilians, including 14 in a suicide attack in Kabul on 8 September. Canadian Defence Minister, Gordon O Connor, was more sober in his assessments gleaned from a tour of NATO Canadian troops in Afghanistan's restive southern provinces. "We cannot eliminate the Taliban," he said simply.

This will come as news to his people, as well as to those of the 25 other NATO nations. For regime change in Afghanistan has been sold as one of the few unalloyed successes of the new world born of the 9/11 attacks on America. 

Less than two months after the planes hit New York and the Pentagon, the Taliban had been driven from Kabul and Osama bin Laden from his mountainous Afghan redoubt. Unlike Iraq, the invasion had the sanction of the UN. It also had the support of most Afghans, with 70 per cent of the electorate turning out for presidential elections in 2004. How then -- five years on -- is Afghanistan so near collapse?

The answer can be given in one word, says veteran Afghan watcher, Ahmed Rashid: "Iraq: Washington's refusal to take state-building in Afghanistan seriously and instead wage a fruitless war in Iraq. For Afghanistan the results have been too few Western troops, too little money and a lack of coherent strategy and sustained policy initiatives by Western and Afghan leaders." 
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Kerry Faults Bush's Afghanistan Strategy
By ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press Writer
6:43 PM PDT, September 14, 2006 
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-kerry-afghanistan,1,315505.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen. John Kerry, the party's 2004 presidential nominee, accused the Bush administration of pursuing a "cut and run" strategy in Afghanistan that has emboldened terrorists and made the U.S. less safe. 

"The administration's Afghanistan policy defines cut and run," Kerry said in remarks at Howard University on Thursday. "Cut and run while the Taliban-led insurgency is running amok across entire regions of the country. Cut and run while Osama bin Laden and his henchmen hide and plot in a lawless no-man's land." 
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Land allocation scheme yields first results in Afghanistan
14 Sep 2006 15:44:38 GMT Source: UNHCR
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/82bf46fb77392c89ab4529b359efd717.htm

PUL-I-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, September 14 (UNHCR) – A government land-allocation scheme in Afghanistan has distributed property to thousands of landless Afghans who have repatriated to northern and eastern Afghanistan.

The programme is a welcome development in a country plagued by multiple land claims. According to a 2005 census of Afghans in Pakistan, 57 percent of those who did not want to return cited lack of shelter as the main reason, while only 18 percent cited livelihood and security as obstacles to repatriation.

"It is not easy – especially in a post-conflict country – to distribute land for landless people, in particular to returnees who have long been away from their country," said Ustad Akbar, Afghanistan's Minister for Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR). "The selection of land has been a challenge and I am glad to say that now we have launched townships in 29 provinces."

The land allocation scheme, which was formalised by presidential decree last December, states that to qualify a returnee or internally displaced person (IDP) must possess a national identify card from their province of origin as well as documents to confirm their return to Afghanistan or internal displacement.

The applicant cannot own land or a house in their name or that of a spouse or child, while priority is given to families headed by women and to returnees who are disabled or widowed.

Selection is done by inter-ministry commissions in Kabul and the provinces, which also set the price of the land. So far, more than 300,000 plots of government land have been identified in 29 provinces. Some 18,000 plots have been distributed. But progress in some areas has been impeded by land claims by private landowners or a lack of coordination among government ministries.

One of the areas that have made significant progress is Ettehad township in northern Baghlan province. Already, 3,000 plots of land, each measuring 600 square metres, have been allocated and 2,700 families are building their houses.

With funding from the United States, a French aid agency is helping to build 1,000 houses while UNHCR has provided 50 shelter packages for the most vulnerable families. More than 40 wells are planned. Some 500 families have moved in, and another 1,000 plots will be distributed soon.

"We didn't wait for the government money to come before starting work," said Imamuddin Khan, head of Baghlan's department of refugees and repatriation (DoRR). "We used what we had in our own budget and the returnees themselves did the work." He explained that every block of 1,000 plots will have two schools, two clinics, four mosques, as well as markets and government offices.

Naeem returned to Baghlan from Iran last year and was given land in Ettehad after a selection process based on a quota of 80 percent for returnees, 15 percent for IDPs and five percent for the handicapped. He spent five months building his house with his wife and four children.

"We worked together on this house," said his wife. "Of course I'm happy now. In the past, we were living in rented houses, and in foreign countries. The landlords used to beat up my children. Now at least we have our own home."
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NATO Struggles With Afghanistan Troops
By PAUL AMES The Associated Press Thursday, September 14, 2006; 4:18 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401105.html

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- America's NATO allies have more than 2.5 million men and women in uniform, but the alliance formed six decades ago to confront Soviet might is struggling to muster 2,500 more soldiers to repel Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.

Overstretched militaries, tight budgets, the shaky cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, and the difficulty selling the Afghan conflict to the public are holding European governments back from answering NATO's plea.
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Lodge: Detoured from the 9/11 mission
By Richard K. Lodge/ News Editor Thursday, September 14, 2006 - Updated: 11:46 AM EST
http://www.townonline.com/shrewsbury/opinion/view.bg?articleid=572415

Monday marked five years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I feel like I should write out that date every now and then so we don’t all get blase at seeing "9/11" -- and forget the year it happened. 

    We’re hearing, reading and seeing countless retrospectives and analysis of the question "Are we safer today than we were before Sept. 11?" 

    I don’t think we are, but we now have more secrecy in government, an erosion of our individual rights, wide-spread government snooping into our lives and our phone records, overreaching and sometimes ridiculous airline passenger screening processes, and the massive and expensive new Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy created after the attacks. 
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Norway reconsiders sending more troops to Afghanistan 
September 15, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/15/eng20060915_302948.html 

The Norwegian government will again consider the possibility of sending more troops to Afghanistan, Barth Eide, Undersecretary of State at the Defense Department, said in Oslo on Thursday. 

At Wednesday's NATO summit, none of the 26 member states came forward to offer fresh troops to Southern Afghanistan. 

"Norway will now consider the request made by the NATO Command, " Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) quoted Barth Eide as saying. 

The Norwegian Joint Defense Command has earlier stated that at present they do not have the capacity to send more troops on missions abroad. 

Norway has made it clear that its forces in Afghanistan are not sufficiently trained to take part in combat and not properly equipped to do so either. 

Norway has at present around 500 troops in Afghanistan. 

Meanwhile, this week four Norwegian missile/torpedo boats with a crew of 100 were sent to the Middle East, where they will be engaged in patrolling Lebanese waters, in an attempt to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Lebanon. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

US Emphasizes Development in Afghanistan  
By Stephanie Ho Washington 14 September 2006
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-14-voa78.cfm  

The top U.S. official for Central and South Asia said Thursday Washington's plan to counter the resurgence of the Taleban in Afghanistan includes greater attention to development. 

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told students at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies he has been surprised at the Taleban's intensity. He attributed some of the recent Taleban activity to NATO's taking over control of military operations in Afghanistan.

"As they [Taleban] see NATO deploy in these areas, they've been challenging the NATO troops, crudely put, trying to find out if these guys are as tough as the Americans," said Richard Boucher.
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Why Nato states are wary about Afghanistan  
 Your letters September 15 2006 
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/70093.html

BLAIR is once again off on his favourite "the US right or wrong" rant (September 14), this time criticising European politicians for their less than enthusiastic US stance, with particular reference to the current Afghanistan chaos.
Nato member states are very chary of committing troops to this conflict for some very valid reasons. Currently, the only relatively safe area in the whole of Afghanistan is around Kabul, the rest of the country being firmly under the control of regional warlords and the Taliban. This sad state of affairs has arisen because of the failure to invest heavily in new agricultural and social developments in an effort to curtail severely the cultivation of opium poppies after the initial defeat of the Taliban.
There is a fundamental difference in the attitudes to death of the holy Islamic warriors and the Nato alliance troops, with the former considering death in such a conflict as a direct path to religious glory and eternal life, while the latter consider death as a tragedy. It is therefore small wonder that Nato countries are chary of committing more troops, for the writing is surely on the wall that this Afghan conflict will inevitably result in withdrawal from this disaster zone.
While many of the Afghanis themselves did not initially support the Taliban, they are also exceedingly disappointed that their social and economic lives have not improved under the present so-called government; this has resulted in many of them returning to the Taliban fold.
Blair also conveniently forgets that the neighbouring problem of Iraq was brought about by the combined, illegal and lie-founded war declared by Bush, Blair and Howard which, in turn, has directly influenced events in Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, Israel and Pakistan. A very large Russian force had to withdraw, being soundly defeated by the Afghans in a conflict lasting for years and in which the US and Britain provided military equipment to their opponents, the nascent Taliban. Is it any wonder that some Nato nations do not wish to be further involved, for they are surely right?
Ian F M Saint-Yves, Dunvegan, School Brae, Whiting Bay, Arran.

The only really significant diplomatic success that the Bush administration can point to was its ability to con and coerce its Nato partners and subsequently the United Nations into a deployment in Afghanistan. It locks the UK, the rest of Nato and technically at least the UN into not just the "war on terror" but the reality of the US ground war in the Middle East. 
Those politicians, right across the political spectrum, who gave qualified support to our involvement in Afghanistan have a pressing duty, in the hugely changed circumstances now pertaining there, to review their support for that mission.
Their support for the status quo is not an option, it is nothing more than a recipe for continued loss of life for some and the loss of limbs for many more of our service personnel. Nor is support for the exercise in military seduction embarked upon by Nato's supreme commander who claims that the "we are talking about modest reinforcements" in Afghanistan. His real aim is not, in my opinion, a "modest reinforcement", it is probably an open-ended commitment.
Its seems that Nato's other political leaders have chosen to take their lead, not from our current Prime Minister, but from a former one. It was Harold Wilson who, when invited to join the Vietnam expedition, replied with a polite but firm No. 
Bill Ramsay, 84 Albert Avenue, Glasgow.
BLAIR is once again off on his favourite "the US right or wrong" rant (September 14), this time criticising European politicians for their less than enthusiastic US stance, with particular reference to the current Afghanistan chaos.
Nato member states are very chary of committing troops to this conflict for some very valid reasons. Currently, the only relatively safe area in the whole of Afghanistan is around Kabul, the rest of the country being firmly under the control of regional warlords and the Taliban. This sad state of affairs has arisen because of the failure to invest heavily in new agricultural and social developments in an effort to curtail severely the cultivation of opium poppies after the initial defeat of the Taliban.
There is a fundamental difference in the attitudes to death of the holy Islamic warriors and the Nato alliance troops, with the former considering death in such a conflict as a direct path to religious glory and eternal life, while the latter consider death as a tragedy. It is therefore small wonder that Nato countries are chary of committing more troops, for the writing is surely on the wall that this Afghan conflict will inevitably result in withdrawal from this disaster zone.
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Militants briefly capture district in W. Afghanistan  September 15, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/15/eng20060915_302877.html

Taliban-linked militants briefly occupied a district in Afghanistan's western Farah province on Thursday, a local official told Xinhua. 

"A large number of insurgents raided Bakwah district early in the day and captured it for a while," the district's police chief Nimatullah said, adding the police have recaptured it with the support of locals. 

"Two militants and one policeman were killed in the conflict, which lasted several hours," he said, adding another four militants and two policemen were injured. 

Taliban militants occupied Garmser and Arghandab districts in the southern provinces of Helmand and Zabul one week ago, while the government has regained Garmser so far. 

Militants also claimed they have captured Dilaram and Kalakah districts in Nimroz and Farah provinces, but officials have rejected the claiming as baseless. 

Farah, a former relatively clam province, has suffering from rising violence in the past months. 

Afghanistan is witnessing a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,300 people have been killed. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Poland offers troops for Afghanistan from Feb 2007 
2.20pm Friday September 15, 2006 By Natalia Reiter
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10401453

WARSAW - Poland announced today it would send 1000 more troops to Afghanistan in the first offer since an urgent Nato appeal for reinforcements, but it said they would only be on the ground by next February.

Nato's top commander last week requested up to 2500 extra troops to help combat fiercer-than-expected Taleban resistance in the south before the onset of winter in coming weeks. But nations failed to make any firm offers at talks yesterday.

Polish officials agreed with Nato that most troops would go to east Afghanistan rather than southern provinces where British, Dutch and Canadian troops are battling Taleban insurgents.

But Polish Deputy Defence Minister Boguslaw Winid told Reuters it was still a matter of discussions if some could be shifted south.
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AFGHANISTAN: Honour killings on the rise
15 Sep 2006 08:36:21 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f5ab1423344de828a3aec4a299b952d2.htm

KABUL, 15 September (IRIN) - A weak judiciary, a lack of law enforcement and widespread discriminatory practices against women are fuelling a rise in honour killings in Afghanistan, officials from the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said on Friday.

Bebi (not her real name) fears for her life after fleeing her house in the southeastern province of Paktia in June. The 15-year-old said she was forced into a marriage that she did not want. "I was engaged to an old man when I was only six months old, how can that be right?" 

She's now living incognito with friends in the capital Kabul. Facilities to protect women like Bebi are virtually nil in Afghanistan and many resign themselves to their fate.

"My husband treated me like an animal, not as a human, with daily beatings and torture and locking me indoors, "Bebi said. "I know he [husband] is pursuing me to kill me because he thinks I have disgraced him but God knows it is he who was guilty."

So-called honour killings, which rights activists say have become increasingly common in Afghanistan, are murders of women or girls who are believed to have brought shame on the family name. They are usually carried out by male family members, or sometimes by 'contractors' who are paid to carry out the killing and occasionally by children too young to face the law.

The killings are commonly carried out on women and girls refusing to enter into an arranged marriage or for having a relationship that the family considers to be inappropriate. Due to such pressures from families, many women are driven to suicide or flee their homes to escape an honour killing.

According to AIHRC, some 185 women and girls have been killed by family members so far this year, a significant increase on the previous year. But rights activists say that the real number is much higher as many such cases go unreported, particularly in rural areas. 

"Unfortunately, many women and girls continue to lose their lives due to this [honour killing] brutal crime. Sadly, it's totally ingrained in [Afghan] culture, particularly in rural areas of the country," Soraya Sobrang, head f AIHRC, told IRIN.

Sobrang blamed weak prosecution of perpetrators and a lack of awareness among women about their rights as the key factors driving the practice.
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New Taliban sanctuary feared in Afghanistan
Militants regroup in western areas
By Paul Garwood, Associated Press  |  September 15, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan -- As NATO troops exert pressure on Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, militants have regrouped in western provinces and ignited violence that has killed a dozen people in two days, officials said yesterday.

Afghan and NATO officials fear that Farah province, which borders Iran and is twice the size of Maryland, could become a Taliban sanctuary if military power isn't used to crush the militant threat quickly. Farah is a predominantly Pashtun area where people have ethnic links to the Taliban militia.

US-led and NATO forces have been battling Taliban and allied militants this year in Afghanistan's worst spate of violence since the American-led invasion that toppled the hard-line regime in 2001 for harboring Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Up to 200 Taliban fighters in dozens of pickup trucks poured into the Farah town of Bakwa early yesterday, surrounding a police compound and firing rocket-propelled grenades at policemen, said Major General Sayed Agha Saqeb, the provincial police chief.

Taliban fighters took over the compound for an hour before police reinforcements drove them off into the desert darkness. Two militants were killed and two wounded, while two police also died and two were wounded, Saqeb said.

The raid occurred a day after Taliban insurgents ambushed a police patrol in Farah. Four police and four militants were killed. Several days earlier, a roadside bombing there wounded four Italian soldiers.

``If there is the possibility of some sort of security deterioration in the area, we will get onto it very quickly," a NATO spokesman, Major Toby Jackman, said in an interview.

The threat of a new front opening in Afghanistan's worsening insurgency comes as NATO commanders try to persuade member states to send more soldiers and air support immediately to battle the Taliban resurgence.
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Afghans find success harder to gauge
Poland agreed Thursday to send 1,000 more soldiers.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0915/p06s01-wosc.html

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 

KABUL – Few ever dared dream that Afghanistan, five years after US forces toppled the Taliban, would be Utopia. 
But few, also, would have predicted that chronic weak governance, worsening security, and a resurgent Taliban would prompt senior US officials to warn against allowing Afghanistan to collapse again into a "failed state." 

The metric for success has changed repeatedly for Afghans, whose high hopes - buoyed in late 2001 by unprecedented promises of Western support - have been repeatedly deflated. 

Many feel a familiar foreboding, akin to the disintegration at the end of the Soviet occupation in 1989, which led to years of civil war - and, finally, to more stable Taliban rule.

"My biggest worry is not the Taliban ... but the degree of cooperation of the population with the Taliban," says Homayoun Shah Assefy, a former presidential candidate and strong critic.

"In Maoist terms, they are swimming like fish in a friendly sea.... The gap between the government and the people is widening," says Mr. Assefy. "It's never too late to do good things, but we are moving toward a dangerous situation that is getting worse, not better."

Opium production has soared by nearly half in the past year, to 92 percent of world supply - most significantly in Taliban-heavy provinces of the south, where, many believe, it may help finance the militants. Army and police forces remain weak, and billions in rebuilding have yet to bring steady electricity even to Kabul.
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## GAP (15 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found 15 Sept 2006*

Tanks and 200 more soldiers going to Afghanistan
Updated Fri. Sep. 15 2006 2:34 PM ET David Akin, CTV.ca News
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060915/canada_afghanistan_060915/20060915?hub=TopStories

OTTAWA -- Canada will send tanks and about 200 more soldiers to bolster its presence in southern Afghanistan, an initiative which the military described as "a normal practice" for the kind of situation Canadian soldiers are now facing there.

General Rick Hillier, chief of Canada's defence staff, will announce this afternoon that the Forces are strengthening reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan.

After getting final approval from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Hillier has decided to send the following immediately to Afghanistan:

An infantry company from Valcartier, Quebec 
A Leopard tank squadron from Edmonton to better protect and enable the Canadian Forces to fight in those areas where Taliban forces have established well-coordinated and determined defences; 
Military engineers to manage reconstruction and development projects and, 
A counter-mortar capability to locate Taliban forces that are targeting Canadian Forces installations with indirect mortar fire.
The reinforcements are being sent at the request of the Canadian commanders in Afghanistan. Once the additional forces are in Afghanistan, Canada will have about 2,500 troops in the region. Canadian troops will make up well over 10 per cent of all NATO troops in Afghanistan.

"Canadian soldiers face a complex and very demanding mission in Afghanistan," the Department of National Defence says in a statement. "The situation on the ground in Afghanistan recently shifted due to the changing tactics of the Taliban operating in the southern region, where Canadian and NATO troops are seeking to stabilize areas. 

"Increased capabilities are needed to provide Task Force Afghanistan Commanders with the most effective tools they required to give them more options in the field of operations. These resources provide greater mobility, protection of our troops, flexibility and precision firepower."
End


----------



## MarkOttawa (15 Sep 2006)

400 Australian Troops Arrive in Afghanistan
http://www.afgha.com/?q=en/node/1038



> KABUL, Sep 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News): First contingent of 400 Australian soldiers have arrived in Afghanistan to set up their base in the southern Uruzgan Province.
> 
> A press statement issued here on Thursday said the Australian commitment was in partnership with the Netherlands and forms part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)s mission expansion into Southern Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## muffin (15 Sep 2006)

We are now officially sending 200 more troops from Canada

General Rick Hillier, chief of Canada's defence staff, will announce this afternoon that the Forces are strengthening reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan.

After getting final approval from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Hillier has decided to send the following immediately to Afghanistan:

    * An infantry company from Valcartier, Quebec
    * A Leopard tank squadron from Edmonton to better protect and enable the Canadian Forces to fight in those areas where Taliban forces have established well-coordinated and determined defences;
    * Military engineers to manage reconstruction and development projects and,
    * A counter-mortar capability to locate Taliban forces that are targeting Canadian Forces installations with indirect mortar fire.

More at link below.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060915/canada_afghanistan_060915/20060915?hub=TopStories


----------



## MarkOttawa (15 Sep 2006)

Full National Defence and the Canadian Forces news release here:

Military Strengthens its Reconstruction and Stabilization Efforts in Afghanistan
http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=2066

I find it odd that the word "enhancements" is used instead of "reinforcements".  I'm also glad to see that the UN mandate for ISAF is mentioned (penultimate para)--any bets on whether the Canadian media will mention it--the CTV story doesn't.

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## tomahawk6 (16 Sep 2006)

CENTAF releases airpower summary for Sept. 15

9/15/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Sept. 15.

In Afghanistan yesterday, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs provided close-air support for coalition troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Oruzgan. 

An Air Force B-1 Lancer provided close-air support for coalition troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Asabad. 

The following close air support requests supported NATO forces operating as the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, in Afghanistan. 

Royal Air Force Harrier GR-7s, Marine Corps AV-8Bs and Navy F/A-18 Hornets provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Gereshk. The GR-7s expended enhanced Paveway II munitions and the F/A-18s conducted passes, expending cannon rounds and Guided Bomb Unit-12s on enemy locations. 

RAF GR-7s also provided close-air support for troops in contact near Musah Qal'eh. 

Navy F/A-18s provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Moqor. The F/A-18s expended a GBU-12 on an enemy location. Navy F/A-18s also provided close-air support for troops in contact near Now Zad. 

Additionally, six Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan. 

In total, coalition aircraft flew 44 close-air support missions in support of OEF or ISAF. These missions included support to coalition, Afghan and ISAF troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols. 

In Iraq, Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-15E Strike Eagles provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Baghdad. 

Air Force F-15Es also provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Ad Diwaniyah. 

Marine Corps F-18Cs and Air Force F-16s provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces near Salman Pak. 

Additionally, 19 Air Force, Navy, Army, RAF and Royal Australian Air Force ISR aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. 

In total, coalition aircraft flew 43 close-air support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities. 

On Sept. 13, an Air Force rescue and medical crew on an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter flew one medical evacuation mission in support of OEF. One Afghan National Army member, with injuries requiring urgent care, was evacuated as a result of this mission. 

Air Force C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift support, helping sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. They flew 180 airlift sorties, delivered 420 tons of cargo and transported 4,290 passengers. This included more than 34,000 pounds of troop resupply airdropped in eastern Afghanistan. 

Coalition C-130 crews from Australia, Canada, Japan and Korea flew in support of OIF or OEF. 

On Sept. 13, U.S., French and RAF tankers flew 40 sorties and off-loaded more than 2.3 million pounds of fuel.


----------



## GAP (16 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 16 Sept 2006*

Hilliers response when asked what the Leo's would be used for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl79yHyh2N0&eurl=
End

We debate, with guns blazing
But is it informed debate? There is a serious lack of understanding about Canada's mission to Afghanistan
 CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20060916.COBLATCH16/TPStory/National/columnists

I spent yesterday morning at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, where I was one of four journalists on a media panel that was part of a senior officers' course.

It was more time "in the company of soldiers," to borrow the title of the latest book from U.S. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson, and I confess I tried to put my audience at ease with a brief rendition of the chorus from The Prick of Steel, one of my late father's air force songs.

(Well, I do love any opportunity to sing the thing.)

I don't think I am betraying any secrets by saying that for all that the relationship between the press and military is sometimes confrontational, and is always fraught with the potential for peril (both real and imagined), the soldiers in the crowd and reporters on the panel have one thing in common.

I don't purport to speak for my colleagues -- least of all for the CBC's Carol Off, whom I got to meet yesterday for the first time after years of admiring her work and who is one of this country's most accomplished journalists and the author of, among others, The Ghosts of Medak Pocket.

But I think it fair to say that to varying degrees, most of us on the panel are frustrated by the lack of understanding about Canada's mission to Afghanistan; by the paucity, not of debate, but of informed debate; by the large and self-serving political apparatus that stands between our two groups; and by what appears to be our collective and separate inability to do very much about any of it.

The press in this country is, for the first time in decades, actually covering, in significant numbers, the Canadian Forces in action, and from my informal reading and viewing, are doing at least a reasonable -- if, as always in our business, uneven -- job of it. Some of us have been embedded with the troops based at Kandahar Air Field; a smaller but growing number of us have been on the front lines, such as these are in the modern war; I think it safe to say that, in the main, this has been a hugely successful venture.

Ordinary soldiers are more available to the press than ever before in my lifetime, and they are, in my experience, not at all shy about speaking forthrightly about what it is they're doing and why they're there. And for the most part, I think, we in my business are fairly faithfully painting the picture as it is in southern Afghanistan.

Yet we are failing miserably, somehow, in getting the message across.

Public opinion polls repeatedly show that Canadians are confused about why we are in Afghanistan, that they fear young soldiers are dying in vain, and that they have difficulty distinguishing between Afghanistan and Iraq and, more generally, among Afghanistan, Iraq and the countries of the larger Middle East.

Anecdotally, most reporters have had experiences that echo what the polls say, as have most soldiers, I think. For all the words and miles of tape the former have produced, for all the intelligent comments the latter have made from the lowliest private all the way up through the ranks to colonels, many of our fellow citizens do not appear to know that Afghanistan is a mission approved by the wider international community, with about three dozen NATO and non-NATO countries contributing to the effort (including the likes of plucky Romania, whose troops fearlessly muck about in Cold War-era vehicles) and specifically sanctioned by the United Nations.

Those who do know, and who, in the normal course, give their knee-jerk blessing to such UN-approved ventures, pay the UN stamp of approval here little heed -- even suggesting in one breath that Canada pull out of this UN mission and, in the next, that Canada should be sending troops to another UN mission, such as Lebanon. It makes little sense.

This problem is not of the military's creating and, while I feel we in the press are somewhat responsible -- I feel I fail the soldiers damn near every time I write about them because I've yet to properly capture their marvellous ability to switch gears, for instance -- the real culprit is Ottawa, that is, the elected leaders.

It was the Liberal government that first sent the troops to Afghanistan, a decision reaffirmed, the mission extended, by the Stephen Harper government.

There was little debate, even in the House of Commons, but then the House of Commons rarely hosts what could be properly called debate; instead, there is grandstanding, sniping and posing.

And since then, the Harper government has done a simply dreadful job of explaining the mission. As Ms. Off noted yesterday, when Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor recently deigned to utter a few words about it, he was in Australia. And when Mr. Harper spoke this week on the Sept. 11 anniversary, he made the correct link -- Canada is in Afghanistan because the 9/11 terrorists trained there -- but failed to deliver anything resembling a statesmanlike or ringing explanation of the good we are doing by being there.

I mentioned that flat address the next day to a Canadian officer I know.

I think I said, "Someone should be offering a robust defence of this mission. It's defensible." He corrected me: "It's advocate-able."

Mr. Harper has in Rick Hillier, the Chief of the Defence Staff, the best natural salesman in the country. Yet the CDS appears to have been muzzled and, in his absence, neither Mr. Harper nor Mr. O'Connor is stepping up to the plate.

This brings me, in a roundabout way, to an event tomorrow in Toronto.

The polls do reveal one heartening result, that whatever ambivalence Canadians may have about the mission and despite their confusion, they appear to at least grasp what a tremendous group of soldiers we have there. And tomorrow, on the lawn of Queen's Park in Toronto, a memorial to Canada's veterans, all of them, will be unveiled. Veterans and the public alike are welcome.

Best of all, there's a parade first -- an old-fashioned military parade, with bands and pipes and horses and marching troops, starting about noon at the Fort York Armoury. I was in Ottawa last week, where the political animals reign. No wonder I crave the company of soldiers again.

cblatchford@globeandmail.ca
End

Large-scale anti-Taliban military action under way
POSTED: 1512 GMT (2312 HKT), September 16, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/16/afghanistan/index.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The U.S.-led coalition on Saturday acknowledged it is conducting a large-scale military operation against the resurgent Taliban in eastern Afghanistan.

In addition, NATO and Afghan troops have been conducting operations in Kandahar province in the south and in Konar province in the northeast.

Operation Mountain Fury targets five provinces near Pakistan: Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktia and Lowgar. 

"Mountain Fury is just one part of a series of coordinated operations placing continuous pressure on Taliban extremists across multiple regions of the country," the military statement said. 

About 3,000 American and 4,000 Afghan security forces are involved. Of the U.S. contingent, the bulk comes from Task Force Spartan, which comprises the 3rd Brigade of the Tenth Mountain Division, U.S. military officials told CNN.

Soldier killed in attacks on base in Khost
Two attacks on a base in Khost killed a coalition soldier and wounded Afghan National Army soldiers and a coalition soldier, the Combined Forces Command in Kabul said Saturday. The command did not identify the coalition soldiers' nationalities.

The operation, which has involved a combination of patrols, shelling and bombs, has been going on for a few weeks, a military spokesman told CNN. 

The military said it launched the "maneuver" phase on Saturday designed to defeat Taliban militants and foster "economic growth and development." 

U.S. military officials report an upsurge in Taliban activity across the eastern Afghan border in the last several weeks, as Pakistan negotiated a truce with pro-Taliban tribal groups in the border region of North Waziristan.

The Pakistani military told CNN, however, that it has closely coordinated with coalition forces in Operation Mountain Fury.

A similar operation called Operation Mountain Lion was launched earlier this year in eastern Afghanistan.

In total, 37 nations have contributed 20,115 troops to the NATO forces in Afghanistan. (Details)

On Wednesday a NATO spokesman criticized member countries for failing to respond to a call from military commanders for reinforcements in southern Afghanistan.

CNN's Henry Schuster contributed to this report 
End

U.S. pilot targeted Canadians' trash fire
PAUL KORING From Saturday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060915.wxafghan16/BNStory/National

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthog pilot who strafed Canadian troops in Afghanistan, killing one and wounding dozens, mistakenly shot a blazing garbage fire just lit by the Canadians, after being told to target a fire at a suspected Taliban position.

The Warthog pilot apparently mistook the Canadian fire for the intended target, according to an officer familiar with early reports arising from the accident. The Canadian fire appeared almost directly in line with his course.

While some details of the sequence of events leading to the deadly "friendly fire" incident remain unknown, a general picture of the accident is emerging, according to senior military officers who have seen "after-action" reports. Those officers are not party to the official investigation and stress that their knowledge is limited.

In this scenario, ill-fated coincidence, ambiguities and failures to achieve 100-per-cent confidence in target identification before opening fire all appear to have contributed to a very short burst of fatal cannon fire.
More on link

I support the Canadian troops who are in Afghanistan to free its innocent citizens
By David Turner, Burlington The Hamilton Spectator (Sep 16, 2006) 
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158357013950&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112876262536

As a first-generation Canadian with parents being refugees from eastern Europe, I, unlike other readers, do support the war. I support Stephen Harper and his wish to have troops in Afghanistan.

Let us think back to 2002. Jean Chretien, then prime minister, made a pledge to Canada and NATO to help the innocent Afghan citizens who were being oppressed by the Taliban. This was in response to a request from the United Nations asking for military support in Afghanistan.

I suppose when we helped defeat the Nazi oppression in Europe during the Second World War it was considered both peacekeeping and Canadian, but when trying to defeat the Taliban oppression, it is said that we are just following our neighbours to the south.

Just because there are casualties and progress is slow in Afghanistan, does that make it wrong that we are trying to free innocent Afghan citizens?

What would it show to the world if Canada left Afghanistan in its present ruins?
More on link


Tensions overshadow gains in Afghanistan
Civil conflict could reignite as stability remains elusive
By Pamela Constable Updated: 2:10 a.m. CT Sept 16, 2006
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14858705/

KABUL, Afghanistan - Despite scattered gains by international troops fighting Taliban insurgents in the country's south, Afghan and foreign analysts here have voiced concern that a recent peace initiative is backfiring and that lapsed Afghan militias could be drawn into the conflict unless it is quickly quelled and replaced by aid and protection.

NATO and U.S. military officials here said this week that an intensive two-week operation against Taliban fighters in Kandahar province had been a tactical success, killing more than 500 insurgents and forcing others to retreat. Afghan and foreign forces also retook a district in neighboring Helmand province that had been seized twice by the Taliban.

But these pockets of progress on the battlefield are part of a larger, murkier political map. As other Afghan militias begin defensively rearming, ethnic tensions have risen, raising the specter of the kind of civil conflict that devastated the country in the early 1990s.
More on link

Bold stance on Afghanistan
Layton has started a national dialogue to get people thinking about achieving realistic goals
Sep. 16, 2006. 01:00 AM Editorial, Sept. 12. Corina Crawley, Ottawa
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158228016878&call_pageid=970599119419

NDP shows haste in rush to please

I take issue with your assertion that the NDP is not "ready for prime time."

The NDP's stance on Afghanistan is bold, refreshing and worthy of praise. Jack Layton has finally had the courage to do what the Liberals should have done when the mission began to emphasize a military solution over all else — say no.

We have clearly lost our way in Afghanistan. We have not achieved the objectives we first set out to do, which was to capture and punish those responsible for 9/11. The rights of women have hardly been improved. Contrary to delusional NATO public affairs officers, we have not "liberated" the country from the Taliban, or the country's wicked and ruthless warlords and drug dealers. Indeed, many of them now sit in the government of President Hamid Karzai.

Ask yourself this: If the mission is so noble and about defending "shared" values, why are our other NATO partners — like France, Spain and Germany — shunning the political liability that is Afghanistan? Why are British commanders calling the operation a "textbook case of how to screw up a counter-insurgency," as one did in Monday's London Telegraph?

The misguided adventurism of Stephen Harper in Afghanistan is proving to be like the frog in a pot of boiling water. Give it much longer, and it can only get worse.
End


Bomb blast kills 3 in Afghanistan
Sept. 16, 2006, 4:39AM © 2006 The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4191663.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomb blast south of the Afghan capital killed three people and wounded another on Saturday, police said.

The remote-controlled device went off as a car carrying four people passed by on the main road in Musayi district, Kabul province, said Ali Shah Paktiawal, a police official.

The victims were all Afghans working for a local private security firms that provide services to local and international non-governmental organizations, said Mohammad Daud Nadim, regional police chief.
end


Coalition soldier killed in Afghanistan
Sept. 16, 2006, 8:19AM © 2006 The Associated Press 

KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S.-led coalition solider killed, another wounded as bases come under attack in eastern Afghanistan, coalition says.
end

Experimental drug given to British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan  

· Troops could launch lawsuits, warns expert 
· Veterans' groups criticise 'guinea pig' decision 

James Randerson, science correspondent Saturday September 16, 2006 The Guardian 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1873961,00.html

Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are being treated with an experimental blood-clotting drug that has not been fully tested.
Because randomised controlled trials have not yet been carried out into the drug's effectiveness, it is impossible to know whether it is doing more harm than good to patients.

Veterans' support groups have criticised the Ministry of Defence action. One trauma expert has said soldiers treated with the drug could sue the MoD if trials produce evidence it is harmful.

Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrat MP who is chairman of the science and technology select committee, described the MoD's decision as "a dereliction of its duty of care that indicates a moral bankruptcy within the military".
The drug, called NovoSeven, was originally licensed in 1999 as a treatment to stem bleeding in haemophiliacs.

It is undergoing trials for use to stop bleeding in trauma patients with severe wounds and bleeding within the brains of patients with severe head injuries. But its effectiveness and safety as a blood-clotting agent in these circumstances has not been proven.

Inquiries by the Guardian have established that the MoD has authorised its use in battlefield trauma casualties.

Ian Roberts, an expert in trauma care at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "The point is that it is hugely expensive. Like all treatments there is potential for harm and it is not licensed for use."

Professor Roberts wrote to the defence secretary, Des Browne, on August 8 to ask whether the MoD had approved NovoSeven - also called Recombinant Factor VIIa - for use on British servicemen and women. It is thought that the US and Israeli militaries are also using the drug.

"My concern is that the MoD may be wasting resources on expensive treatments that may do more harm than good when it could be investing in high quality research that has the potential to improve the care of combat casualties world-wide," he wrote.

Prof Roberts has not received a reply, but the MoD confirmed to the Guardian that the drug was being used in trauma patients injured on the battlefield.

Veterans' support groups were dismayed. "It seems to us wrong that the military would almost use soldiers as guinea pigs for drugs that have yet to have a proven safety record," said Andrew Burgin of Military Families Against the War, a group with 600 members.

Michael Shalmi, a scientist at Novo Nordisk, the Danish company that manufactures the drug, said: "It is far too early to say whether the benefits of NovoSeven in [the head trauma] context outweigh the risk on a definitive basis." He said a single dose of the drug would cost between £750 and £3,000 depending on the size, and confirmed that data from the drug's use by the MoD and US Department of Defence would not be fed into the company's randomised controlled trials of the drug.

In its response to the Guardian, the MoD said: "Use of Recombinant Factor VIIa in by the defence medical services (DMS) has been authorised after an extensive review of the current evidence. It is strictly controlled in the DMS and only authorised when conventional resuscitation measures have failed."

But Prof Roberts said that even the severely injured should not be given an experimental treatment. "Just because someone's at a high risk of death, it doesn't mean the treatment can't increase their risk of death." In his letter, he said the MoD might be open to legal challenges if clinical trials subsequently find the drug is harmful to trauma patients. But the MoD denies it is putting personnel at risk.

Martin Shalley, president of the British Association for Emergency Medicine, said it was not unprecedented for drugs to be used "off label," in situations where they have not been fully tested. Doctors sometimes had to take a pragmatic approach.

Neither Novo Nordisk nor the MoD could confirm how many patients have been treated with NovoSeven. 
More on link

Angus Reid Global Scan : Polls & Research
Iraq, Afghanistan Wars Split Views in U.S.
September 16, 2006
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/13164

 - Adults in the United States are divided on whether their country’s interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan are part of the same conflict, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 44 per cent of respondents think Iraq is a distraction from the war on terror, while 43 per cent regard it as part of the war on terror.

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

At least 471 soldiers—including 333 Americans—have died in the war on terrorism, either in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was launched in March 2003. At least 2,680 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 20,100 troops have been wounded in action.

Yesterday, U.S. president George W. Bush discussed his government’s handling of the war on terrorism, saying, "If there’s any comparison between the compassion and decency of the American people and the terrorist tactics of extremists, it’s flawed logic. I simply can’t accept that. It’s unacceptable to think that there’s any kind of comparison between the behaviour of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective."

Polling Data

Is Iraq part of the war on terror, or a distraction from it? 

Part of the war on terror
 43% 

Distraction from the war on terror
 44% 

Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 American adults, conducted on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
End

Mounting casualties compel Canada to send Afghanistan reinforcements
By Keith Jones  16 September 2006 
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/sep2006/cana-s16.shtml

Canada will soon deploy additional troops and armaments to southern Afghanistan to bolster NATO’s embattled occupation force.

Canada’s minority Conservative government announced yesterday that it will deploy between 200 and 500 additional Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel to the Kandahar region. The cabinet has also approved a CAF request to send fifteen heavily-armored Leopard tanks and an undisclosed number of armored engineering vehicles, called Badgers, to Afghanistan. The 42.5 ton Leopard has a 105-mm cannon, capable of firing explosive shells at long range, as well as several fixed machine-guns.

CAF chief General Rick Hillier said that four of the tanks will be shipped to Afghanistan by air as soon as possible. Although he termed the reinforcements small, Hillier claimed that they will “dramatically multiply” the CAF’s “opportunities to secure and stabilize” the Kandahar region.

Reinforcing the 2,300-strong CAF contingent in Afghanistan is one of several steps Canada’s minority Conservative government has taken in recent days to counter the growth of Taliban resistance in southern Afghanistan and mounting opposition among the Canadian public to the CAF waging war on behalf of the US-installed and dependent government of Hamid Karzai.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper devoted his address on the occasion of this week’s fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack to arguing that the CAF should play a leading role in suppressing the Taliban as part of Canada’s contribution to the “war on terror.”

To serve as a backdrop to his address, Harper’s aides assembled relatives of several Canadians who died in the attack on the World Trade Center and of several CAF personnel now serving in Afghanistan. Harper concluded his speech by calling on Canadians to pray for the victims of 9/11 and for the Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

Last May, Harper and his Conservatives rammed a motion through parliament that sanctioned prolonging Canada’s participation in the Afghan counter-insurgency campaign by two years, till at least 2009, and expanding the mission to include Canada assuming overall command of the NATO operation in Afghanistan for one-year, starting in February 2008.
More on link

Taliban ideals are clashing with a more secular society. 
*Video  * - CNN's Anderson Cooper reports (September 13)
javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/world/2006/09/13/cooper.afghanistan.vice.vs.virtue.cnn','2006/09/20');
Note: allow 15sec commercial to run
More on link


Contributions to NATO forces in Afghanistan
POSTED: 1055 GMT (1855 HKT), September 15, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/15/afghan.nato.troop.ap/index.html

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Contributions to the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan based on figures provided by its headquarters in Kabul:

Britain: 5,000

Germany: 2,750

Netherlands: 2,000

Canada: 2,000

Italy: 1,600

United States: 1,300

France: 1,000

Spain: 600

Romania: 560

Turkey: 450

Norway: 340

Denmark: 325

Belgium: 300

Greece: 180

Bulgaria: 150

Portugal: 150

Lithuania: 130

Hungary: 120

Czech Republic: 100

Estonia: 90

Slovakia: 60

Slovenia: 50

Latvia: 40

Iceland: 15

Luxembourg: 10

Poland: 10

Non NATO contributions to the force:

Sweden: 220

Australia: 200

Croatia: 100

Macedonia: 100

Finland: 90

Albania: 30

Azerbaijan: 20

Ireland: 10

Austria: 5

New Zealand: 5

Switzerland: 5

Total: 20,115
End


On the front line in Afghanistan  
By Damian Grammaticas  BBC News, Afghanistan  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/5349310.stm

Nato forces in Afghanistan say they are on the verge of a major success in their battles against Taleban fighters but some of the troops have their doubts about the mission. 

At first it looked like a bird - maybe a bat - far away, skimming low over the trees, twisting left and right. 

Then it leapt, soared upwards, clear to see now, a British Harrier jet. 

The aircraft climbed high above the grey-blue mountains and vanished, no trace of it in the perfect, cloudless sky. 

From my vantage point, on top of a small two-storey building, I was watching a battle unfolding. 

Two Apache helicopters operated by the Dutch military appeared from the east, circling like hunters looking for prey. 

Then they flew fast over the trees, every few seconds there was a rasping snarl as they unleashed their rockets. 

Canadian Nato troops had spotted some Taleban men trying to outflank them. 

There were thumping explosions as Nato guns pounded shells into the area, sending up plumes of smoke and dust. 

Even closer to the battle than me, ran the main highway leading west from Kandahar city. 
More on link

Nato struggles in Afghanistan   
By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5345452.stm

For now there is not going to be a Polish solution to Nato's problems in Afghanistan

Nato spokesmen are making it clear that Poland's decision to send 1,000 troops to the country early next year - a few months earlier than planned - has nothing to do with the alliance's current military problems in the south of the country. 

Nato is still struggling to find up to 2,500 extra troops for southern Afghanistan and it needs them urgently. 

If they cannot be found then the success of Nato's mission could be called into question and this in turn could have a considerable impact upon future perceptions of the alliance itself. 

Nato leaders accept that Afghanistan represents a fundamental test for the alliance. 

The crucial problem for any international institution is relevance. Is it still useful to its members? Can it re-invent itself for a world that is very different from that in which it was founded? 

Into the unknown 

So far Nato has not done too badly. In the wake of the ending of the Cold War, Nato lost an enemy but it soon found a new role in exporting stability. 

In part, this was a diplomatic process by broadening its membership eastwards to take in not just former Warsaw Pact members like Poland, but also countries like the Baltic republics whose territory was once part of the Soviet Union itself. 

But Nato also became a key international military player - perhaps the only organisation in the world capable of mounting major peace support missions in Bosnia and Kosovo. 

However Afghanistan presents very different challenges.
More on link

Afghan village mirrors national plight   
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4244454.stm

The BBC's Soutik Biswas spent Tuesday in an Afghan village, linking ordinary people there with BBC News website readers from all around the world who sent their questions on daily, rural life. Here he reflects on the day. 
In seven hours sitting under a burning sun with only a slight wind blowing from the Hindu Kush mountains, replying to questions from strangers all over the world, Rahmat Gul - devout Muslim, father of seven children, teacher and vineyard owner - had not lost his cheeky sense of humour

When a reader from Turkey e-mailed in asking what single thing he would wish for if he had a magic wand, Mr Gul quipped: "I would like to marry an English woman. I am ready for a new wife." 

Mr Gul was one of six residents of Asad Khyl, an arid, brown village of high-walled mud homes, cracked culverts, dry streams and shrubby vineyards in the rolling Shomali plains north of Kabul, whom I had chosen to take part in our live One Day in Afghanistan project. 

We had lugged a laptop, a satellite dish, a generator, a table, a few chairs, garden umbrellas and miles of cables from Kabul to Asad Khyl to hook up live with the world so that our readers could have a live pow-wow with Afghan villagers. 

Mr Gul's infectious humour, along with a sumptuous lunch feast, helped keep us going. 

"Soutik brother, listen to me," he said once midway through the programme with a mischievous smile. 
More on link


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## GAP (16 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found 16 Sept 2006*

Next Attack Imminent:
Muslims ordered to leave the United States
 By Paul L. Williams & David Dastych Saturday, September 16, 2006 
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/paul-williams091606.htm

Urgent news from Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan:

Final preparations have been made for the American Hiroshima, a major attack on the U. S.

Muslims living in the United States should leave the country without further warning.

The attack will be commandeered by Adnan el Shukrijumah ("Jaffer Tayyer" or "Jafer the Pilot"), a naturalized American citizen, who was raised in Brooklyn and educated in southern Florida.

The al Qaeda operatives who will launch this attack are awaiting final orders. They remain in place in cities throughout the country. Many are masquerading as Christians and have adopted Christian names.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban will also launch a major strike (known as the "Badar offensive" against the coalition forces in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan.

The American people will be treated to a final audio message from Osama bin Laden which will be aired within the next two weeks.

The announcements from Abu Dawood were obtained by Hamid Mir, the only journalist to interview Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Taliban leader Mullah Omar in the wake of 9/11. Mir earlier reports regarding the resurgence of the Taliban with support from Iran and an unofficial truce between President Pervez Musharraf and al Qaeda have been panned out by the press in recent months.

Mr. Mir interviewed Dawood on September 12 at the tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi on the outskirts of Kabul. Dawood and the al Qaeda leaders who accompanied him were clean-shaven and dressed as Western reporters. The al Qaeda commandeer had contacted Mir by cell-phone to arrange the meeting. The contents of the encounter are as follows:

Q: How did you have my local mobile number?

A: We watched you on Geo TV walking in the mountains near Kabul with British troops. You were embedded with our enemies. We were sure that you are staying in one of the few hotels or guest houses in Kabul. We were looking for you in Serena and Intercontinental hotels, but then some Taliban friends informed us that they had your phone number and you might visit them in Zabul [an Afghani province]. We got your number from Commander [Muhsen] Khayber. [Khayber was responsible for a homicide bombing in Casablanca that killed 32 people]. Don't worry about that. We will not make any harm to you. We just want to warn you that you better don't take any rides in the tanks and humvis of the Western Forces; they are not safe for any journalist in Afghanistan.

Q: Thanks for your concern; can I know your name?

A: Yes my name is Abu Dawood, if you remember, we have already met in Kunar two years ago, but at that time I had a long beard, now I have a small one. You were there in the mountains, close to Asadaabad [a small village in the Kunar province of eastern Afghanistan] and you met some Al Qaeda fighters. I was among them.

Q: OK. I just want to say that I am a journalist, I have to speak to both sides of a conflict, for getting an objective view and that is why I was traveling with the British troops; now I am sitting with you and that is my real job. I have interviewed Osama bin Laden as well as Condoleezza Rice, General Pervez Musharraf and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. I hope you will appreciate my objective approach?

A: You have claimed to be objective, but you and your TV channel have always given much time to the propaganda of our enemies. Anyhow, it was our moral responsibility to warn you that you better try to avoid traveling with the British, American, Canadian, French, Spanish and Italian troops in Afghanistan, we will target all of them, we don't want that people like you suffer by our attacks, it is not good for you, and at least you should not be killed with the enemies of Islam. I am sure, brother Khayber have informed you that the Taliban will launch a big operation against the Crusader Forces, in the holy month of Ramadan; don't come to Afghanistan in Ramadan. You will see a lot of fadaee amalyat ["suicide bombings"] in coming days, Kabul will become a graveyard of NATO and ISAF.

Q: Yes Khayber told me about the "Badar operation" in Ramadan. I think you are an Afghani but you are not a Talib, are you a member of Al Qaeda?

A: You are right. But we are with the Taliban, just helping them, fighting under their command. Every Al Qaeda fighter can become a Talib, but every Talib cannot become Al Qaeda.

Q: So where is Sheikh Osama bin Laden?

A: I don't know exactly, but he is still in command of Al Qaeda, and he is in contact with his Mujaheddin all over the world.

Q: Why there was no new video statement from him, in last two years?

A: Because the CIA can feed his fresh picture to the computers fitted on their Predator planes, and these planes can get him, like Nek Muhammad or Akbar Bugti. But he has released many audio messages this year. Listen to him carefully. Don't underestimate his warnings. America is playing with the security of Muslims all over the world, now it is our turn again. Our brothers are ready to attack inside America. We will breach their security again. There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time.

Q: What do you mean by another attack in America?

A: Yes a bigger attack than September 11th 2001. Brother Adnan [el Shukrijumah] will lead that attack, Inshallah.

Q:Who is Adnan?

A: He is our old friend. The last time, I met him in early 2004, in Khost. He came to Khost from the North Waziristan. He met his leaders and friends in Khost. He is very well known in Al Qaeda. He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago. We call him "Jaffer al Tayyar" ["Jafer the Pilot"]; he is very brave and intelligent. Bush is aware that brother Adnan has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he doesn't want to panic his people. Sheikh Osama bin Laden has completed his cycle of warnings. You know, he is man of his words, he is not a politician; he always does what he says. If he said it many times that Americans will see new attacks, they will definitely see new attacks. He is a real Mujahid. Americans will not win this war, which they have started against Muslims. Americans are the biggest supporters of the biggest terrorist in the world, which is Israel. You have witnessed the brutality of the Israelis in the recent 34-day war against Lebanese civilians. 9/11 was a revenge of Palestinian children, killed by the US-made weapons, supplied to Israel. The next attack on America would be a revenge of Lebanese children killed by US-made cluster bombs. Bush and Blair are the Crusaders, and Muslim leaders, like Musharraf and [Afghani President Hamid] Karzai are their collaborators, we will teach a lesson to all of them. We are also not happy with some religious parties in Pakistan and Egypt, they got votes in the name of Mujaheddin, and then, they collaborated with Musharraf and [Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak. Now look at all of them, Musharraf and Karzai don't trust each other, the CIA and ISI don't trust each other, all the hypocrites and enemies of Mujaheddin are suspecting each other; this help to us is coming from Heavens. Allah is with us.

Q: But if you attack inside America again, then Muslims living in America will face lot of problems, why would you like to create new problems for your brothers and sisters?

A: Muslims should leave America. We cannot stop our attack just because of the American Muslims; they must realize that American forces are killing innocent Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to respond back, in the same manner, in the enemy's homeland. The American Muslims are like a human shield for our enemy; they must leave New York and Washington.

Q: But your fighters are also using the American Muslims as their shield, if there are no Muslims in America, then there would be no Al Qaeda, may be the Americans would feel safer?

A: No, not at all. We have a different plan for the next attack. You will see. Americans will hardly find out any Muslim names, after the next attack. Most of our brothers are living in Western countries, with Jewish and Christian names, with passports of Western countries. This time, someone with the name of Muhammad Atta will not attack inside America, it would be some David, Richard or Peter.

Q: So you will not attack America, until Muslims are there?

A: I am not saying that, I am saying that Muslims must leave America, but we can attack America anytime. Our cycle of warnings has been completed, now we have fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim scholars to destroy our enemy, this is our defending of Jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we have the right to enter in their homes, they are killing us, we will kill them.

Long time investigative journalist, Paul L. Williams is the author of such best-selling books as The Dunces of Doomsday, The Al Qaeda Connection , Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11. He has been the subject of a PBS documentary and the subject of programs on the Discovery and History channels. He is a frequent guest on such national news networks as Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR.
(International journalist David M. Dastych writes for Poland's acclaimed weekly,Wprost. His columns appear regularly in the Edmonton-based Polish Panorama.) He can be reached at: David.dastych@aster.pl
End


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## MarkOttawa (17 Sep 2006)

Two comments (although I realize the thread is for stories, I feel impelled):

1) Perhaps, in the long run, it might indeed be better if many--not all--Muslims left;

2) Pity the Crusades did not have the same degree of success as the Muslim conquest of Iberia.

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (17 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 17 Sept 2006*

UK troops 'to spend 10 years' in Afghanistan
Michael Smith, Kandahar The Sunday Times September 17, 2006 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2361496,00.html 

THE commander of the British taskforce in southern Afghanistan said last week that UK troops could be in the country for as long as 10 years. 
In his first interview since arriving in Afghanistan, Brigadier Ed Butler said: “I don’t think there’s any doubt we will be here for a considerable time. There will need to be training teams and embedded officers for 10 years or so.” 

Butler, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, took full responsibility for setting up the “platoon houses” at Sangin and Musa Qala, where 15 British soldiers have died. But he said the decision to send troops into the frontline bases, described by many of his men as “hellholes”, was made “under not inconsiderable pressure” from Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s president. 

When British troops began arriving in April to take charge of Helmand province, they met immediate Taliban resistance, Butler said. Baghran district centre had been overrun by the Taliban. 

“The governor [of Helmand] was concerned, and the Afghan government was concerned, that northern Helmand was about to fall to the Taliban,” said Butler. 

British troops had shown immense bravery in intense combat. “They have been in almost constant engagement with the enemy. Some of these guys are barely out of school. Killing someone is a very difficult thing to do,” Butler said. “People think: ‘Well, that’s what soldiers are paid to do’, but it still takes raw courage to go out and do it.”
End

Afghan bomb attack on Canadian convoy kills passer-by
Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:06am ET By Ismail Sameem
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-17T120609Z_01_ISL242604_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-VIOLENCE.xml&archived=False

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber attacked a Canadian military convoy in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing himself and a passer-by, a day after U.S.-led forces launched a new offensive against a resurgent Taliban.

Hours later, another suicide bomber blew himself east of the capital Kabul, wounding four people, including two foreigners.

The Taliban and their militant allies have unleashed a wave of attacks, including scores of suicide blasts, on government and foreign troops this year. Security forces have responded with a series of offensives. 

A passer-by was killed and five were wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his mini-van into the Canadian convoy on the outskirts of the southern city of Kandahar, said police officer Mohammad Yaseen.

A spokesman for the NATO-led force said three soldiers suffered minor injuries and one vehicle was slightly damaged.

"They dusted themselves off, changed the tyres on their vehicle and carried on," said the spokesman, Flight Lieutenant Euan Downie. He declined to specify their nationality.

In the other incident, the suicide attacker blew himself on the road leading to eastern city of Jalalabad from Kabul, wounding four people, police said.

The wounded included two foreigners but police said they were not soldiers. Their nationality was not immediately clear
More on link

War and Military Issues: Afghanistan-another Iraq: Towards a solution
http://www.canadiandemocraticmovement.ca/displayarticle925.html

When NDP leader Jack Layton called for Canada to withdraw from Afghanistan there was the usual amount of derision from the usual sources. Silly Jack! Silly NDP! But then too maybe Jack has one hell of a good idea because it seems those perpetrating the war are really short on good ideas, don’t inspire much confidence, and appear quite incompetent.

Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor has just returned from Afghanistan and it seems he learned a few things on his trip, one being that the Taliban are infiltrating into Afghanistan from Pakistan. For anybody paying attention this has been known for some time. 

He either did or didn’t suggest Canadian troops be dispatched to Pakistan. A Pakistan newspaper reported this, but then O’Connor denied it once home.

He also probably learned for the first time the presence of foreign troops on Pakistan soil is a very sensitive issue in that country, otherwise he would have been much more cautious in floating such ideas as an officer exchange program for better intelligence co-ordination. 

So early in this mission O’Connor has already called for more troops and more equipment. One almost gets the impression O’Connor is winging it-the ad-lib school of warfare.

To supply the required troops there is now an extensive recruiting program. This might also be a poll on how many young Canadians are willing to be cannon fodder for some Yankee cowboy flying around in his A-10 Warthog looking for handy targets- most recently one dead Canuck and thirty wounded.

One major problem with Afghanistan is that it is a war being fought twice.
More on link

Afghanistan calls for help against Taleban “increase”
(Reuters) 16 September 2006 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September588.xml&section=subcontinent

HERAT, Afghanistan - Top officials in western Afghanistan called on Saturday for troop reinforcements to cope with a spike in attacks by Taleban rebels they say have fled NATO-led strikes in the south.


The past week has seen an increase in violence in Farah and Nimroz provinces, which had experienced relatively little of the almost daily attacks in the south and east.

In each province a small, remote town was captured and briefly held by dozens of heavily armed insurgents before they were pushed out by security forces.

In Farah a police convoy was attacked Wednesday and four policemen and four Taleban were killed in the fighting. A day earlier unidentified gunmen shot dead a UN driver.

Farah police commander Sayed Agha Saqeb said he believed the attacks were being carried out by Taleban who had arrived from southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces, where thousands of extra NATO troops have moved in.

“They’re here. We have told the central government to send us reinforcements to clear our province of Taleban,” Saqeb told AFP.

He said his troops had fought rebels “several times” over the past weeks. Four were captured following a gun battle days ago, he said.

“But that’s not enough. We need to launch a big operation,” he told AFP.

The governor of adjoining Nimroz was also concerned.

“I think those Taleban who were defeated in the Kandahar region are now moving to our areas. I think a massive operation is required before they find a sanctuary here,” Ghulam Dastgir Azad said.
More on link

17 insurgents, coalition soldier killed Afghanistan 
September 17, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/17/eng20060917_303572.html

Seventeen insurgents were killed by ISAF, while one coalition soldier was killed and another injured in the volatile Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday. 

The rebels were killed on Friday night on a road close to an ISAF base in the southern Uruzgan province when they were placing roadside bombs, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. 

"ISAF forces engaged the insurgents first by exchanging small arms fire, then by calling in close air support," it said, adding "Two small bombs were dropped on the insurgent positions." 

Five insurgent vehicles were also destroyed in the conflict, said the statement, which added there were no ISAF casualties. 

Also on Friday, a soldier of the U.S.-led coalition forces was killed and another wounded during two separate attacks by militants at a fire base in the eastern Khost province, a coalition statement said. 

Some Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the attacks at the base, which is near the Afghan-Pakistan border. 

The killed soldier, a trainer embedded with Afghan forces, was assisting Afghan soldiers in improving their combat skills. 

His nationality and name are yet to be announced. 
More on link

Britain may send more troops to bolster Nato in Afghanistan 
By Kim Sengupta Published: 17 September 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1604086.ece

Britain is considering sending extra troops to Afghanistan following Nato's failure to offer the reinforcements requested by commanders struggling to combat a reinvigorated Taliban. 

Contingency plans are being drawn up after commanders warned that lack of reinforcements for an autumn offensive would severely hinder the campaign momentum. The options for deployment under consideration include the current spearhead battalion, 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, on a short-term basis, or either the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Rangers or the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

The Canadians, also taking losses in the Kandahar region, are reinforcing their contingents with troops as well as 15 Leopard tanks. Sending the troops, however, will not solve the lack of helicopters dogging the Nato force. Land convoys are regularly ambushed, and even a routine re-supplying run now needs full battle-group protection. The British military is adamant that there are no helicopters to spare.

Lieutenant-General David Richards, British commander of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, has said a reserve of 1,000 combat troops would allow him "to swing my main effort where I want to go, rather than having to respond to Taliban attacks and so on". He also pointed out that Nato has been asking for reinforcements for 18 months
More on link

NATO death tolls raise skepticism in Afghanistan
AP , KABUL  Sunday, Sep 17, 2006
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/09/17/2003327965

Over the past two weeks, NATO says it has killed more than 500 Taliban militants near Afghanistan's main southern city of Kandahar, in the deadliest battle since US warplanes bombed the militia out of power in late 2001.

Locals also hear that there have been heavy Taliban losses. But the NATO claim has still been greeted with some skepticism and is proving a double-edged sword for the alliance, indicating not just military success but a bigger Taliban resistance movement than anyone anticipated.

"If they kill that many, the Taliban must have thousands of fighters on that front," said Mohammed Arbil, a former Northern Alliance commander.

NATO has stood by its battle assessments, and one official with its International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan revealed that its internally circulated estimates of militant dead that were more than double what it has publicized to journalists.
More on link

Coalition soldier killed in E. Afghanistan  
September 17, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/17/eng20060917_303570.html

One coalition soldier was killed and another wounded during two separate attacks by militants at a fire base in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan, a coalition statement said Saturday. 

The attacks occurred on Friday in the base, which is near the Afghan-Pakistan border, it said, adding some Afghan soldiers were also injured. 

The killed soldier, who was a trainer embedded with Afghan forces, was sharing his knowledge and experience to assist Afghan soldiers in improving their combat skills, said Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Pritt with coalition forces. 

The soldier's nationality and name are yet to be announced. 

About 20,000 coalition soldiers, most of whom are Americans, are deployed in eastern Afghanistan to hunt down militants and facilitate reconstruction there. 

Afghanistan is suffering from a rise of Taliban-linked violence this year, during which more than 2,300 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed. Among the fatalities are more than 100 foreign troops. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Local tank squadron heading to Afghanistan  
By Sun staff September 16, 2006 
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/09/16/1852176.html

An Edmonton Leopard tank squadron will soon be off to war-torn Afghanistan, bolstering the strength of Canadian contingent. 

Capt. Lena Angell, a spokesman for the army’s Land Force Western Area, said four tanks were slotted for imminent departure. 

“There are four soldiers to each tank,” said Angell. 

She added that support troops were also likely to be shipped out, but she wasn’t sure how many. 

The Leopard tank squadron will better protect Canadian forces and allow them to fight in areas where the Taliban have entrenched and determined defences. 

Angell said she didn’t know when precisely the tanks would depart, or how they’d get there. 

The dark tanks will be painted beige to blend in to the sandy region. 
End

'Our boys are so shattered' ... families plead for more Afghanistan troops  
Defence Secretary to call for reinforcements from Nato amid claims that British soldiers are just too tired to fight 
Mark Townsend, defence correspondent Sunday September 17, 2006 The Observer 
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1874327,00.html

Relatives of British troops serving in Afghanistan's Helmand province have raised serious concerns over the safety of soldiers, claiming many are so exhausted they are finding it difficult to operate properly.
A growing number of wives, mothers, girlfriends and sisters have decided to speak out over the 'intolerable' pressures on loved ones amid fears that, unless more Nato countries agree to send extra troops, the situation will deteriorate further.

The women describe how soldiers they have spoken to have had one day off in eight weeks because of relentless fighting with Taliban forces and are surviving on just three hours sleep.

'They are absolutely shattered; after a 10-hour gun battle my son is so exhausted he can barely speak,' said one mother whose son has been stationed in the volatile Sangin region of Helmand for two months. Families also reveal that the supply of rations to the more remote British camps remains so erratic they are sending food parcels amid complaints troops are suffering weight loss.

One mother said fatigue was one of the most dangerous issues and that it was causing mistakes. Her 19-year-old son in the Household Cavalry Regiment had lost a close friend after an accident involving an armoured vehicle. Her son had been left stranded in Sangin after their Scimitar broke down and they could not obtain the right part. She said: 'Eventually they tried to repair the Scimitar themselves, but were absolutely exhausted. One man jacked it up on sand, went underneath the vehicle and it collapsed, crushing his head.'
More on link

Battling Taliban in Afghanistan may take 3-5 years: British commander  
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/17/eng20060917_303646.html         

Britain's Lt. Gen. David Richards, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, said on Saturday that the fight against the Taliban might take three or five years. 

Speaking to Channel 4 News, Richards, who took command of the 8,000-strong NATO troops in August, said he was sure the campaign would be successful and that the Taliban would "start dancing to my tune." 

He said fighting in the southern province of Helmand was "very tense" two weeks ago and the Taliban had lost many fighters. 

"Although in a way we were not able to maneuver as freely as we would have wished perhaps, we have, I think, created an environment in which most people, including many Taliban, have just had enough fighting," he said. 

Also on Saturday, about 3,000 U.S.-led coalition troops along with 4,000 Afghan soldiers and policemen launched a massive anti-Taliban operation in eastern and central provinces of Afghanistan. 

Operation Mountain Fury began in the morning to beat off Taliban resistance in Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktia and Logar provinces, a statement from the coalition said. 

"Mountain Fury is just one part of a series of coordinated operations placing continuous pressure on Taliban extremists across multiple regions of the country," the statement said. 
More on link

Canadians get tougher on Afghanistan
By RICHARD GWYN
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotian/528819.html

A REMARKABLE poll was published last weekend which, while its publication close to the anniversary of 9/11 was coincidental, may reveal quite a lot about changing Canadian attitudes toward terrorism.

The poll showed that the attitude of Canadians toward our involvement in Afghanistan, far from becoming more and more fearful and critical as almost all commentators have so far taken for granted would happen, is, if anything, hardening.

A single poll must always be treated with great caution. The numbers in the Ipsos-Reid survey were a virtual tie. The reported increase in support for Canada’s role — to 51 per cent from 47 per cent in late July — could easily be a blip.

But it does seem to be the case that calls for Canada to quit Afghanistan — most recently by NDP leader Jack Layton — have fallen, not on deaf ears but on ears that are tuned elsewhere.

Arguments for quitting are certainly strong. The fighting keeps getting worse (far worse than anyone forecast) and our death toll keeps rising, to 32 soldiers and diplomats by last weekend.

No early turnaround is in prospect. We and other coalition troops are up against a vicious alliance of the Taliban religious fanatics who come over from safe havens in Pakistan, and local drug lords (this year’s opium crop is at a record). 
More on link

Canadian convoy targeted in southern Afghanistan   
The Associated Press Published: September 17, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/17/asia/AS_GEN_Afghanistan.php

A top NATO general on Sunday said an offensive aimed at driving Taliban militants from their safe havens in southern Afghanistan has been "successfully completed," even as suicide bombers struck military convoys, wounding six soldiers.

Lt. Gen. David Richards, head of the 20,000 NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said the insurgents have been forced out of the volatile former Taliban heartland, and reconstruction and development efforts there would soon begin.

Alliance officials have said more than 500 militants were killed during the two weeklong operation, centered mainly in Panjwai, Pashmul and Zhari districts of southern Kandahar province.

Meanwhile, two foreign military convoys came under attack from suicide bombers Sunday, a method frequently used by insurgents in Iraq.

A 17-year-old youth carrying explosives jumped in front of a U.S. military convoy east of Kabul, killing a bystander and wounding three American soldiers, Afghan police said.
More on link

Time for the truth about Afghanistan
Published: Sunday, 17 September, 2006, 09:19 AM Doha Time Eric S. Margolis  Special to Gulf Times
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.aspx?cu_no=2&item_no=108177&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26

NEARLY ALL the information we get about the five-year old war in Afghanistan comes from US and Nato public relations officers or `embedded’ journalists who too often merely parrot military handouts.

The official rosy view is now being contradicted by impartial observers. 

The respected European think-tank, Senlis Council, which focuses on Afghanistan, just reported the Taliban movement is "taking back Afghanistan" and now controls that nation’s southern half. 

This is an amazing departure from claims by the US and its Nato allies that they are steadily winning the war in Afghanistan. 

According to Senlis, southern Afghanistan is suffering "a humanitarian crisis of starvation and poverty..." caused by "US-British military policies". 

Flatly contradicting rosy western reports, Senlis investigators found, "US policies in Afghanistan have re-created the safe haven for terrorism that the 2001 invasion aimed to destroy". 
More on link

NATO ends offensive in southern Afghanistan, hailing success
Last Updated Sun, 17 Sep 2006 09:44:35 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/17/afghanistan.html

Operation Medusa, the Canadian-led NATO mission set up to drive Taliban fighters out of the volatile Panjwaii district of southern Afghanistan has ended after two weeks, military officials announced on Sunday.

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the Canadian commander in charge of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, called the mission southwest of Kandahar a success and said it will make the country's second-largest city safer.

NATO forces drove about 700 insurgents from the district, he said.

The Canadians carried out what was described as one of their biggest battles since the Second World War. With the support of Afghan, Dutch, British and U.S. units, they used air strikes and artillery in one of the most intense military clashes in southern Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government for harbouring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Alliance soldiers now occupy parts of Panjwaii and neighbouring Zhari district and have reopened a section of a main highway that had been closed to civilian traffic during the operation, NATO said.

During the offensive, four Canadian soldiers were killed by insurgents. In another setback, a U.S. warplane mistakenly fired on a group of Canadians, killing one soldier and injuring more than 30 others.

More than 30 NATO troops were killed in Operation Medusa, while the military alliance estimated more than 500 militants died.
More on link

Operation Mountain Fury under way
FISNIK ABRASHI Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060916.wfury0916/BNStory/International/home

KABUL — Thousands of American and Afghan soldiers launched an offensive against resurgent Taliban militants in five eastern provinces on Saturday, seeking to expand the Afghan government's reach into the volatile frontier region, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The operation comes on the heels of a Canadian-led NATO offensive in southern Afghanistan in which NATO claims hundreds of insurgents were killed over the last two weeks.

The new push in the east is "part of a series of co-ordinated operations placing continuous pressure on Taliban extremists . . . in order to provide security to the population, extend the government to the people and to increase reconstruction," the U.S.-led coalition said.

Dubbed Operation Mountain Fury, the new offensive involves 7,000 U.S. and Afghan soldiers in the central and eastern provinces of Paktika, Khost, Ghazni, Paktya and Logar, the military said.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (17 Sep 2006)

What went wrong in Kandahar under the Americans: a review by Moisés Naím, editor in chief of _Foreign Policy_ magazine, of _THE PUNISHMENT OF VIRTUE: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban_, by Sarah Chayes.

Rise of the Warlords
Freed from Mullah Omar's yoke, Afghanistan slid into corruption and violence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401321.html



> ...Unlike many Westerners in Afghanistan, Chayes throws herself into the culture, learning Pashto, living with a family of 21 and wearing down the already rutted roads as she drives herself around town. She also confronts mysterious death threats and ends up sleeping with a Kalashnikov rifle propped beside her bed.
> 
> Chayes first enters Kandahar in the days after the Taliban's fall. She does so as a journalist, having volunteered to leave her cushy job as an NPR correspondent in Paris because the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks inspired her to do more than "filing a seemingly endless series of food stories." ..
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (17 Sep 2006)

Another rather pessimistic piece:

The Death Of an Afghan Optimist
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500993.html



> Hekmat Karzai, a cousin of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, called me from Kabul last Sunday. "Barney," he said. "We lost a friend today." A suicide bomber had blown up the car of Hakim Taniwal, the governor of Paktia province on Afghanistan's frontier with Pakistan, killing him and two aides. The attack took place outside Taniwal's office, where I had gotten into the same car with him five weeks earlier, and where we had our final conversation...
> 
> The last time we spoke, Taniwal repeatedly emphasized that stability was possible only with the support of ordinary Afghans. "We should invest in peace," he said, "not in fighting." He backed military operations based on precise intelligence, but such operations, he believed -- even if they killed, captured or routed some Taliban -- would have little long-lasting effect without popular support and economic development. Elders from 10 provinces, whom I met the day before my visit with Taniwal, had agreed, denouncing corrupt state officials. The people have totally lost trust in the government, they told me.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (17 Sep 2006)

*NATO faces five-year effort to pacify Afghanistan with reluctant European allies: U.S. report*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 17 Sept 06
http://canada.com.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=9a2a1bd0-030d-49cf-9ffb-4a1b76474d21

Canada, Britain and the United States face a struggle of five years or more to wrestle Afghanistan from Taliban influence in a NATO mission rife with political differences, tenuous public support and the outright refusal of some European members to accept combat missions, says a newly released U.S. Congressional research report.  The three traditional allies have shouldered the brunt of the heavy fighting because most European forces are lightly armed, trained for garrison duty and reluctant to go into harm’s way, says the report, entitled NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance . . . .

*"NATO in Afghanistan:  A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance"*
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33627.pdf
_*Army.ca Discussions of report & contents*_
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/49520.0.html
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/49752.0.html


*No Taliban in Pakistan: Gen Sultan*
Daily Times (Pakistan), 18 Sept 06
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\09\18\story_18-9-2006_pg1_2

There are no Taliban in Pakistan, but there are millions of Afghan refugees, but they must not be confused with the Taliban. However, there could be stray individuals part of or sympathetic to the group, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, press secretary to the president and head of Inter-Services Public Relations, told journalists here on Saturday. Gen Sultan said there should be no misgivings about the deal reached with tribal elders in North Waziristan. He dismissed as utterly baseless allegations that some kind of a deal had been entered into with the Taliban in Afghanistan . . . . 


*'Central front' in terror war? Pakistan*
WorldNetDaily.com, 16 Sept 06
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51993

Pakistan figures prominently in the rap sheets of at least 10 of the 14 high-value al-Qaida detainees being transferred from CIA custody to the Gitmo prison in Cuba, a WorldNetDaily analysis reveals.  According to declassified intelligence briefings on the terrorists, at least three were born in Pakistan and another seven used Pakistan as a base of operations.  U.S. officials say the common nexus is further indication that al-Qaida leaders and their managers have carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan after escaping Afghanistan in 2001. "Clearly, Pakistan is the central front in the war on terrorism," said James Dobbins, a former Bush administration envoy to Afghanistan . . . . 


*U.S. 'handed off a mess' to NATO forces:  Bush failed to finish Afghan 'job,' senator says*
Tim Harper, Toronto Star, 16 Sept 06
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1158357012648&call_pageid=968332188854
or
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0916-02.htm

There was no Mission Accomplished banner, the venue was the U.S. Capitol not an aircraft carrier, and the president wore a business suit, not a Top Gun flight suit.  But the message was the same — victory had been declared. Prematurely.  Now, more than four years after George W. Bush trumpeted the liberation of Afghanistan in his 2002 State of the Union address, a resurgent Taliban is very much back in the game and Canadian troops are taking casualties in fierce fighting which many believe could have been avoided.  "We've handed off a mess to the NATO command, a mess which was totally preventable,'' says Brian Katoulis, an analyst with the Center for American Progress.  Whether a Bush administration with a limited attention span failed to finish the job in Afghanistan because of its obsession with Iraq is a matter of debate here, but there is a cruel irony for Canadian troops and policymakers.  Ottawa's commitment to Afghanistan was partly driven by its determination to stay out of Iraq, but the manner in which the Iraqi war has bled manpower and resources in this country has likely cost Canadian lives in Afghanistan . . . . 


*West won’t win Afghan war*
Eric Margolis, Toronto Sun, 17 Sept 06
http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2006/09/17/1852269.html
or
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0917-26.htm

As Canadian, American and British soldiers continue to die in Afghanistan, it is time the truth be told about this ugly little war.  Much of what we’ve so far been told by our governments and media has been untrue, wishful thinking, or crass jingoism.  The respected European think tank, Senlis Council, which focuses on Afghanistan, just reported the Taliban is “taking back Afghanistan” and now controls that nation’s southern half. According to Senlis, southern Afghanistan is suffering “a humanitarian crisis of starvation and poverty.  “U.S. policies in Afghanistan have re-created the safe haven for terrorism that the 2001 invasion aimed to destroy,” Senlis found . . . . 


*No risks, no credit, says retired general*
Kathleen Harris, Toronto Sun, 17 Sept 06
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2006/09/17/1852726-sun.html

Just months into his minority government's mandate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stormed onto the foreign-policy stage with a firm commitment to the war in Afghanistan, strong support for Israel in the Middle East and closer ties with the U.S.  Critics say the Conservatives are taking Canada on a "seismic shift" on foreign policy that's too militaristic and out of step with Canadians' fundamental values. Yet others insist the PM is charting Canada on course for an enhanced reputation and greater respect internationally . . . .


*'Our boys are so shattered' ... families plead for more Afghanistan troops *  
Mark Townsend, The Observer (UK), 17 Sept 06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1874343,00.html

Relatives of British troops serving in Afghanistan's Helmand province have raised serious concerns over the safety of soldiers, claiming many are so exhausted they are finding it difficult to operate properly.  A growing number of wives, mothers, girlfriends and sisters have decided to speak out over the 'intolerable' pressures on loved ones amid fears that, unless more Nato countries agree to send extra troops, the situation will deteriorate further.  The women describe how soldiers they have spoken to have had one day off in eight weeks because of relentless fighting with Taliban forces and are surviving on just three hours sleep . . . .

*
More on AFG here - http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/CANinKandahar*


----------



## GAP (18 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 18 Sept 2006*
Four NATO soldiers killed in Afghan explosion
Updated Mon. Sep. 18 2006 8:09 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060917/suicide_bomb_afghan_060918/20060918?hub=TopStories

*or*

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060918.wafghan0918/BNStory/International/home

*or*

http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ContentPosting.aspx?newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20060917%2fsuicide_bomb_afghan_060918&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&showbyline=True

*or* BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5355478.stm

*or*

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060918/1/43hvm.html

Four soldiers were killed and several wounded in an explosion which targeted troops in southern Afghanistan Monday, NATO confirmed.

The attack took place as the troops, including Canadians, were handing out candy and notebooks to children in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar province.

NATO spokesman Mark Laity told Newsnet that four soldiers were killed and "a significant number of others wounded," but declined to reveal their nationalities. 

He said the blast, which may have been carried out by a suicide bomber "on a bicycle," also injured "a number of civilians.'' 

Laity told Newsnet that NATO officials were "not surprised" by the attack.

"These tactics are what we'd expect from an enemy that's been defeated," Laity said, adding that it may be "some time" before the number of civilian casualties was known.

Monday's attack came just a day after NATO wrapped up Operation Medusa -- a two-week anti-Taliban operation in which more than 500 insurgents were reported killed. 
More on link

Don’t give Afghan president easy ride
SCOTT TAYLOR On Target
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/529010.html

AFGHAN PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai is scheduled to make a presentation Friday to Parliament. The Harper Conservatives hope that by parading the "democratically elected" Karzai around Ottawa to praise our troops they will shore up public support for the mission in Kandahar. 

There is no doubt President Karzai is thankful for the presence of Canadian soldiers in his country for the simple reason that, without an international military force, his regime would be toppled within days.

While the Afghan warlords, drug lords and Taliban can still muster the dedicated allegiance of their armed followers, the ill-trained, demoralized, U.S.-organized Afghan security forces are of dubious quality and questionable loyalty to the Karzai government. 

Indicative of this sad state of affairs is the fact that the "democratically elected" president relies on U.S. special forces troops for his personal bodyguards.

In advance of Karzai’s promotional visit to Ottawa, a member of the Afghan parliament embarked on a one-woman campaign to discredit her own government. At a number of speeches across Canada, 28-year-old Malalai Joya told all who would listen that the Karzai regime is a sham and that the so-called progress made by the U.S. occupation to date is a complete lie.

"The U.S. government did remove the medieval regime of the Taliban and their al-Qaida masters," she said. "But instead, they brought back the Northern Alliance to power and they are brothers-in-creed of the Taliban and as brutal and anti-democracy as (the) Taliban and even worse." 

The most severe criticisms levelled by the outspoken Afghan MP were aimed at Karzai himself. "Instead of relying on people to bring the criminal warlords to trial, (Hamid Karzai) appoints these criminals to higher posts," she said. "For instance, this year he appointed 13 former commanders with links to drug smuggling, organized crime and illegal militias to senior positions in the police force."
More on link

Taliban claims responsibility for southern Afghan suicide blast   
The Associated Press  September 18, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/18/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Taliban.php 

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility Monday for a suicide blast that targeted Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, who claims to be a spokesman for Taliban affairs in southern Afghanistan, said the bomber who targeted troops in Kandahar was an Afghan from the same province.

NATO said its troops suffered "multiple casualties" in the blast. An Afghan official said the attack left several people dead and dozens wounded.

Ahmadi, whose exact ties to the militants is not known, said the militants will continue with their attacks against U.S., NATO and other coalition forces.
More on link

Taliban vow to retake Panjwai redoubt
GRAEME SMITH 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060918.AFGHANMAIN18/TPStory/

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The Taliban fighter who passed through Kandahar city this weekend seemed remarkably calm and happy, considering the horrors he has seen in the past two weeks.

The 37-year-old watched friends torn apart by bombs and shredded by gunfire. More agonizingly for a proud warrior, he saw foreign soldiers seize control of the farmland where he grew up. Hundreds of insurgents had dug trenches to defend Panjwai District, but they ran away when confronted with an onslaught of air power and a grinding advance by the Canadians and their allies, who declared victory in the battle yesterday.

"The Taliban will continue their fight for Panjwai," the fighter said.

"No Muslim wants the human garbage of foreign soldiers in beautiful Afghanistan."
More on link

Canada will 'finish the job' in Afghanistan: MacKay
Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060917.wMacKay17/BNStory/National/home

HALIFAX — Canadian troops will stay in Afghanistan as long as it takes to rebuild the war-torn country and establish democracy there, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said Sunday.

Mr. MacKay was responding to comments by Canadian and British military officials — including Canadian Gen. Rick Hillier — who have said international forces will be needed for up to five more years. Canada's current commitment expires in 2009.

“We've said all along that we're there to finish the job,” said MacKay before meeting with Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Bot.

“Will we be there five years? Will we be there longer? That remains to be seen. I would certainly defer to Gen. Hillier as far as his assessment on the ground.”
More on link

Moments of levity break loaded silence  
Graeme Smith spent nearly two weeks on the front lines with Canadian troops, reporting on the triumphs and tragedies as NATO forces battled Taliban insurgents. Now that the dust has settled, he offers a glimpse of the other side of war 
GRAEME SMITH From Monday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060918.wxafghantrenches18/BNStory/International/home

The dust of a demolished wall hangs in the air. Canadian soldiers crouch in the rubble, peeking around corners with their rifles poised and ready. This is the Sept. 11 offensive, part of Operation Medusa, a huge push by hundreds of Canadian and U.S. soldiers into the heart of suspected Taliban territory in a cluster of villages known as Pashmul.

You might expect this to be a serious moment, but the reality of war contains a thousand blank minutes between each moment of terror. A thud hits your sternum as something nearby detonates -- maybe a Canadian mortar, maybe a Taliban rocket-propelled grenade, maybe a block of C4 plastic explosives big enough to throw a house in the air and leave it raining down in chunks -- and a second later it's a calm day in the ancient farmland along the Arghandab River.

Nothing ordinary fills that vacuum of sound. After an entire morning of air strikes, artillery and demolition work, the birds and insects have fallen silent. Sometimes a pale grasshopper flicks past, but otherwise nothing moves. The fields of grapes, wheat and vegetables are hazy with mist in the morning sun, giving off a thick scent that reminds the soldiers of gardens at home.

"You guys missed Charlie's break-dance!" yells a soldier. Maybe half a minute has passed since the last explosion, since the last ground-shaking instant of fear, and the soldiers' instincts are to instantly start with the jokes. One of the soldiers had been crouched in the same position too long, cutting circulation to his legs.
More on link

Bloc firm on support for Afghan mission
DANIEL LEBLANC  From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060913.wxbloc13/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

OTTAWA — The Bloc Québécois will continue supporting the Canadian Forces' mission in Afghanistan into 2007, when a group of soldiers based in Valcartier, Que., will form the main Canadian contingent.

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe will address reporters this morning at a meeting of his 50-member caucus, and will expand on his vision for Canada's foreign policy. He is expected to say that he wants more information from the government on the Afghan mission, but that he will not follow the lead of New Democratic Leader Jack Layton in calling for a full withdrawal.

"The NDP is not being serious," Bloc House Leader Michel Gauthier said in an interview. "Even though the mission is hard right now . . . withdrawing immediately, without conditions, would be irresponsible for our soldiers, for Afghanistan and for the other nations, to which we said we will do the job."

The Bloc is calling for an urgent debate in the House of Commons on Canada's foreign policy next week, before Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the United Nations on Sept. 21.
More on link

Afghanistan and the gun registry could scuttle PM's Quebec strategy
BRIAN LAGHI OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060918.PARLIAMENT18/TPStory/TPNational/Politics/?cid=al_gam_nletter_thehill

The parliamentary sitting that begins today is supposed to be the one where Stephen Harper begins harvesting what he has carefully cultivated in Quebec since the winter election.

It now, however, looks increasingly like a session threatening to yield a meagre crop.

When MPs return to the House of Commons today, they should expect to see a flurry of legislation and proposals aimed at putting the final building blocks in place to elect a majority government. That includes, according to House Leader Rob Nicholson, the passage of the accountability legislation and the Senate term-limit bill, as well as the announcement of an expenditure restraint package. Voters can also expect a new set of priorities that focus on such issues as value for money, accountability and national security.

But the cornerstone of the agenda will be a substantial environmental package augmented by proposals to fix the so-called fiscal imbalance -- both issues that have deep resonance in Quebec, the province on which the Conservatives' majority hinges.
More on link

Governor-General wants to visit Afghanistan
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060918.NATS18-3/TPStory/TPNational/Politics/?cid=al_gam_nletter_thehill

Ottawa -- Governor-General Michaëlle Jean says she would like to visit Afghanistan, but the federal government has so far been reluctant to agree because of security concerns.

"I would like to see the impact of our involvement in Afghanistan on the civilian population, on the Afghan people," Ms. Jean said. "But for that I need to be able to travel from one community to another in the country, in order to listen to Afghans speak about their support for our commitment to rebuilding the country." CP
More on link

Canadian commander in Afghanistan: tanks will be big help in protecting troops Les Perreaux, Canadian Press
Published: Monday, September 18, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=3716a2d3-75e6-4700-bcb4-53d5fd3ebe09&k=1117

 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The top Canadian general in Afghanistan concedes that eight months ago he never dreamed of asking Ottawa to send tanks to the war-torn country. 

The armoured behemoths with a massive cannon and well-protected crew are far from the top of the list of tools usually recommended to win over hearts and minds in a counter-insurgency war. 

"When I first came here, the last thing I was going to ask for was tanks," said Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, head of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan. 

"At the same time, the enemy has a vote. You take the equipment, you take the capabilities and the skill sets you need to deal with the enemy. The enemy we fought in June was different than the enemy we just fought. He has changed, and we are changing at the same time." 

Canadian troops will soon have 15 Leopard I tanks in Kandahar to bolster the collection of Light Armoured Vehicles (LAV-3), Bison and Nyala armoured jeeps that already make Canadians among the most heavily armoured troops in the country. 

Canadian, Afghan and NATO troops are winding down Operation Medusa, an effort to remove Taliban fighters from an area near Kandahar city. At the start, the operation ran into frequent stiff resistance and dug-in fighters who took advantage of walled fields and compounds to mount hit-and-run attacks. 

Hundreds of insurgents reportedly died in the fighting, while four Canadian soldiers and one American were killed. 

Despite the lopsided fight, Fraser said the battle showed the need for tanks. 
More on link

Browne talks up NATO boost in Afghanistan
DANIEL BENTLEY
http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1376432006

DES Browne, the Defence Secretary, said yesterday he was "optimistic" that British troops in Afghanistan would receive further support from other NATO countries. 

He said he was in discussions with defence ministers which gave him confidence there would be troops "sufficient to do the job". 
More on link

Kerry faults Bush‘s Afghanistan strategy 
Staff and agencies 17 September, 2006
http://www.localnewswatch.com/jordanfalls/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=7551

By ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 14, 9:43 PM ET 

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. John Kerry , the party‘s 2004 presidential nominee, accused the Bush administration of pursuing a "cut and run" strategy in Afghanistan that has emboldened terrorists and made the U.S. less safe. 

"The administration‘s Afghanistan policy defines cut and run," Kerry said in remarks at Howard University on Thursday. "Cut and run while the Taliban-led insurgency is running amok across entire regions of the country. Cut and run while Osama bin Laden and his henchmen hide and plot in a lawless no-man‘s land." 

Kerry‘s "cut and run" accusation echoes criticism Republicans have leveled at Democrats who have challenged Bush‘s handling of the Iraq war. 

"John Kerry lacks the credibility on the war on terror to be taken seriously," said Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz. "The junior senator from Massachusetts would be well served by not using his own agenda‘s mantra to falsely attack this administration‘s foreign policy." 

Afghanistan has been plagued by an upsurge in violence by the Taliban, which is trying to topple the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. Military commanders have called for an extra 2,500 troops to help the NATO force in Afghanistan. 
More on link

NDP wants troops out, but can't decide on Afghanistan House vote
The Hill Times, September 18th, 2006 NEWS STORY By ABBAS RANA and BEA VONGDOUANGCHANH
http://www.thehilltimes.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2006/september/18/ndp/&c=1

The NDP still hasn't decided if it will use its one and only opposition day to push for a House vote on Afghanistan.
The NDP says it wants Canadians troops out of Afghanistan, but it can't decide if it will push for a House vote on the controversial hot-button issue. The party hasn't decided if it will use its one and only opposition day this fall to hold a House of Commons vote. 

"We're still discussing how we will do that, but we definitely agree that there should be a debate and a vote in the House on Afghanistan," said NDP House Leader Libby Davies (Vancouver East, B.C.) told The Hill Times in a telephone interview from Thunder Bay, Ont., where the NDP caucus held its retreat last week. "How that will happen, it could be an opposition day but it could be some other way that we bring it forward. That's something that we're actually discussing." 

Brad Lavigne, director of communications and research to the NDP caucus, also declined to say definitively if the NDP will introduce a supply motion in the House on pulling Canadian troops out of Afghanistan. 

"That opportunity is available to us and we have not ruled that out," said Mr. Lavigne in a telephone interview from the caucus retreat with The Hill Times. "At this stage, we're not going to alert the Liberals or the Conservatives as to what our strategy is." 

Mr. Lavigne said in addition to the Afghanistan mission, some of the other priorities that the NDP could force a vote on include affordable housing, education and training, long-term care for seniors and the environment. 

NDP Leader Jack Layton (Toronto Danforth, Ont.) enumerated these priorities in his closing speech at the NDP policy convention in Quebec City. 

In every Parliamentary session, all opposition parties are given a certain number of supply days during which they may propose motions for debate–some of which can be made votable–on any matter falling within the jurisdiction of the federal government. In the current session of Parliament, Liberals will have four opposition days, the Bloc will have two and the NDP will has only one opposition day. As of last week, only one opposition day was scheduled which is set for next week for the Liberals. The remaining six opposition days for the three opposition parties will be scheduled by the governing Tories in the fall session of Parliament. 
More on link

NATO faces five-year effort to pacify Afghanistan with reluctant European allies
U.S. report Murray Brewster, Canadian Press Sunday, September 17, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4498d24e-0386-490a-835d-f33f3ac36da3&k=47109

 OTTAWA (CP) - Canada, Britain and the United States face a struggle of five years or more to wrestle Afghanistan from Taliban influence in a NATO mission rife with political differences, tenuous public support and the outright refusal of some European members to accept combat missions, says a newly released U.S. Congressional research report. 

The three traditional allies have shouldered the brunt of the heavy fighting because most European forces are lightly armed, trained for garrison duty and reluctant to go into harm's way, says the report, entitled NATO in Afghanistan: A Test of the Transatlantic Alliance. 

Most European countries, with the notably exception of France, send their troops to the war-torn country under tight restrictions, without proper equipment and with little money for reconstruction efforts. 

"These restrictions, for example, may prohibit forces from engaging in combat operations, or from patrolling at night due to a lack of night-vision equipment," says the review, published by the Congressional Research Service on Aug. 22 and made available last week in Canada. 

"These governments tend to be reluctant to send their forces out into the field to confront the Taliban and control warlords and their militias. The result, in this view, has been that British and Canadian (International Security Assistance Forces) and U.S. forces (Operation Enduring Freedom), bear a disproportionate share of the most dangerous tasks." 

Attempts by allied commanders to limit so-called national caveats "have met with limited success," the report concluded. 

Last week, NATO's call for reinforcements to quell escalating attacks in the south was met with silence by most alliance members. The main exceptions were Canada and Poland, which weighed in with 900 troops for the effort. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay responded to the report on Sunday and to comments by British and Canadian military leaders by saying Canadian troops will stay in Afghanistan for as long as it takes to rebuild the country. 
More on link

Iraq, Afghanistan Medals of Honor slow in coming
Scripps Howard News Service
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060917/WIRE/209170337/1117/news

WASHINGTON - Gripes are growing in the ranks of some U.S. troops and veterans about the virtual absence of Medals of Honor bestowed upon a growing list of those who have performed extraordinary acts of combat valor in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So far, just one of the nation's top decorations has been awarded, and that was posthumously to Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who died in the early days of the war.

Critics are especially ticked that no living hero has been selected for the award, and note that - if the medal were awarded at the same rate at which it was during the Vietnam War - at least 30 would have been presented so far.

The Pentagon says the process for awarding Medals of Honor is necessarily painstaking, but is proceeding.

n n n
The military appears to be disproportionately unfriendly to lesbians, according to data from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Although women make up about 15 percent of the nation's active-duty force, they accounted for 30 percent of those discharged last year under the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Pentagon policy. In all, 219 of the 726 troops booted out of uniform were women, with the Army expelling the most (146).
More on link

NATO's credibility questioned
Sept. 17, 2006, 10:00PM Washington Post
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4193966.html

After a plea for more troops in Afghanistan, 1 nation answers

BRUSSELS - More than a week after NATO's top leaders publicly demanded reinforcements for their embattled mission in southern Afghanistan, only one member of the 26-nation alliance has offered more troops, raising questions about NATO's largest military operation ever outside of Europe and the goal of expanding its global reach.

The plea for more soldiers and equipment to fight a resurgent Taliban comes as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's forces are suffering the highest casualty rates of the nearly five-year-long conflict in Afghanistan, and as European governments are feeling stretched by the demands for troops there and in Iraq, Lebanon, the Balkans and Africa.
More on link


In Afghanistan, identifying the enemy can be difficult
By Andrew Maykuth Mon, Sep. 18, 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/15547831.htm

BAR SHULTAN, Afghanistan - When the gunfire started about 2 a.m. outside the mud-walled compound, Malik Namatullah woke abruptly: The commandos had already scaled the wall and peered over the top.

The soldiers wore camouflage uniforms, night-vision scopes, and black balaclavas concealing all but their eyes. Their rifles were trained on Namatullah.

"It's the Americans," the farmer told his startled friends in this mountainous village along the Kunar River, six miles from the Pakistan border. "Don't move."

Namatullah's strategy no doubt saved his life early that morning Aug. 24. Others were not so fortunate. A U.S. Special Forces team killed eight people at the house during the lightning strike, including a 12-year-old boy.

A coalition spokesman says the raid targeted terrorists. The villagers say only civilians were killed. Their fate illustrates the treacherous path the war has taken here after five years, where the allegiance of townspeople will ultimately determine the outcome, but where every civilian death is a propaganda victory for Islamic radicals.

According to the coalition, the U.S. forces were fired upon during an attempt to detain a man who they said collaborated with Arab extremists. The dead included the "al-Qaida facilitator," Alam Zair, the owner of the house, who was about 40.

But Namatullah and local officials insist Alam Zair was no terrorist. They say the Americans killed five elders from the ethnic Pashtun village who happened to be staying overnight to resolve a land dispute. Namatullah was among the visiting elders.

Within 24 hours, the Americans found themselves engulfed in a political crisis. Parliament expressed outrage at the American aggressiveness. President Hamid Karzai, under pressure from Afghans upset by the foreign military forces, promised an investigation.

U.S. forces quickly released four men they had detained during the raid, including Namatullah. The Afghan government pledged cash reparations to families of the dead. But the public damage was done.

"Unfortunately, this is not an unusual case," said Shahzada Shahid, a Muslim cleric and a member of parliament from the area. "Gradually the opinions of people are turning against the Americans."
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Royal Highland Fusiliers expected to be sent to Afghanistan  
 IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent September 18 2006 
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/70245.html

THE Royal Highland Fusiliers have been earmarked as likely reinforcements for the exhausted British paratroopers involved in months of fighting against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.
The light infantry battalion, recruited from Glasgow and Ayrshire, is on five days' notice to move and could deploy quickly to Helmand, defence sources confirmed yesterday.
A UK military source said: "The pressing issue is the need for a mobile reserve. It has to be on the ground, acclimatised and ready to take part in operations before winter closes campaigning in November. The window of opportunity to demoralise the Taliban decisively is closing fast."
The Ministry of Defence said any deployment decision would be taken by Nato along with the UK government. 
Lieutenant-General David Richards, Nato's overall commander in Afghanistan, has told the alliance and MoD he needs more troops immediately. 
He also predicted that the campaign to break the Taliban's hold on the south could take "between three and five years".
British and Canadian forces have inflicted up to 1200 deaths on the insurgents since May in two campaigns in the Sangin area of Helmand and west of Kandahar at Panjawi. 
But 1000 fighters are thought to have slipped through a cordon between the main Kandahar highway and Arghandab River as two weeks of heavy fighting codenamed Operation Medusa ended yesterday.
There are now fears the defeated Taliban could regroup in neighbouring Helmand and launch a final series of attacks.
Britain has three units available as short-term reinforcements – the RHF, now the 2nd battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland; the Royal Irish Regiment at Fort George, Inverness; and 2nd battalion of the Parachute Regiment.
The Royal Irish sent a 100-strong rifle company to Helmand six weeks ago and has already suffered three dead and 12 wounded.
THE Royal Highland Fusiliers have been earmarked as likely reinforcements for the exhausted British paratroopers involved in months of fighting against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.
The light infantry battalion, recruited from Glasgow and Ayrshire, is on five days' notice to move and could deploy quickly to Helmand, defence sources confirmed yesterday.
A UK military source said: "The pressing issue is the need for a mobile reserve. It has to be on the ground, acclimatised and ready to take part in operations before winter closes campaigning in November. The window of opportunity to demoralise the Taliban decisively is closing fast."
The Ministry of Defence said any deployment decision would be taken by Nato along with the UK government. 
Lieutenant-General David Richards, Nato's overall commander in Afghanistan, has told the alliance and MoD he needs more troops immediately. 
He also predicted that the campaign to break the Taliban's hold on the south could take "between three and five years".
More on link

Osama is in Afghanistan not here: Pak   
 PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Posted online: Monday, September 18, 2006 at 1529 hours IST 
http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=140739

WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 18:  Pakistan dismissed as "outlandish" reports that it was sheltering top al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, and hinted that the terror mastermind was most probably in Afghanistan. 
It also defended the peace deal with tribal leaders in the northern border region amidst allegations that by signing the truce, the government has slackened its war on terror. 

 "There is no truth in the allegation that by striking a deal with the tribal leaders in the North, especially in Waziristan, the government of Pakistan is either going soft on the pro-Taliban militias operating in that neck of woods or that there is any slackening on the part of the government in the war against terror," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said on Sunday. 

He termed as "outlandish" reports suggesting that al-Qaeda leaders such as Osama bin Laden, his top deputies like Ayman-al-Zawahiri and Mullah Omar were holed up in Quetta. 

"Nothing could be further from the truth. Pakistan's commitment to the war against extremism and terrorism is very much in place. President Musharraf is a strong leader. The time has come where President Musharraf's leadership on this issue should not be questioned," Kasuri was quoted as saying. 
More on link

13 Taliban militants killed in S. Afghanistan 
September 18, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/18/eng20060918_303921.html

Thirteen Taliban fighters were killed by the police in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, provincial police Chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil told Xinhua Monday. 

"The conflict occurred in Gereshk district on Sunday evening. As a result, 13 Taliban militants including a local commander were killed," Mullahkhil said. 

Four militants were also wounded in the clash, he said, adding a number of Taliban bodies were still lying on the ground. 

Meanwhile, Mohammad Sahfiq, spokesman for governor of the eastern Khost province, told Xinhua on Monday that six Taliban suspects were killed in the past two days in the province in Operation Mountain Fury. 

The operation was launched Saturday by 7000 U.S.-led coalition forces and Afghan troops and policemen to wipe out Taliban militants in five provinces of eastern and central Afghanistan. 

A huge quantity of arms and ammunition of the rebels were also destroyed in the province, Sahfiq added. 

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001. 

Over 23,00 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in this Central Asian country in the past nine months. 

Source: Xinhua
End




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## tomahawk6 (18 Sep 2006)

Troops in Afghan District Find Anger at Lax Government

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/world/asia/18afghan.html?ex=1316232000&en=5165743cf5da26f0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

ANDAR DISTRICT, Afghanistan, Sept. 17 — American and Afghan forces moved Sunday into this district, one of the areas most troubled by insurgents in recent months, as part of a broader operation to reassert control in Ghazni, a strategically important province near the capital, Kabul. But while they encountered little insurgent activity, they did face anger and frustration from the local population.

The new operation, involving about 10,000 troops, began just as NATO forces declared that they had successfully taken control of Panjwai District, southeast of here near the city of Kandahar, after more than two weeks of heavy fighting. 

“Afghan, ISAF and coalition forces have successfully cleared the Panjwai area, forcing insurgent forces to abandon their positions,” the NATO commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Richards, said in a statement released by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. 

The extended battle and heavy bombardment in the district left an estimated 500 Taliban fighters dead, and five dead and many more wounded among NATO troops, including members of a unit hit by fire from allies. The remnants of the insurgents are thought to have escaped west into Helmand, a neighboring province, one senior military official said.

Since May, Taliban forces had tried to hold Panjwai, a rich suburb of vineyards and orchards, and make it a permanent base from which to expand their presence in the south and even threaten Kandahar, the military official said.

At the same time, more insurgents swarmed into Ghazni Province in a natural movement away from the border regions with Pakistan, where American and Afghan forces were concentrating much of their military might over recent months, into the more remote highlands.

Local residents in Andar said the Taliban were “everywhere around,” but American and Afghan Army forces have so far not encountered much resistance, after an initial fight south of Ghazni that left 36 Taliban dead on Sept. 12. 

They entered Andar without a shot fired and held a meeting with elders and townspeople on Sunday to announce that they had come to bring stability and security.

They found a population anxious about security and resentful of the government and the police, whom they accused of preying on the people.

“Please bring security and stability,” pleaded one man, Daulat Khan, interrupting the opening speech of the provincial governor, Hajji Sher Alam. He said the police mistreated people, accusing them first of being with a rogue commander, and then of belonging to the Taliban.

Another man said: “Four months ago we had order and justice here. And now I don’t know what is the cause, but it has gone.” 

As soon as he arrived for the town meeting, Muhammad Jan, 35, a mason, said: “There are a lot of Taliban. They are causing a lot of problems. If they come here and fight, it will affect us all.” 

A white-bearded man, glowering at the governor, shouted, “The governor has done nothing for us!” Another man thundered that the police chief was a bad man and that his police force treated the people badly and profaned their homes. 

“The schools have no teachers, no tents, the children sit under the sun, the teachers don’t get paid,” said Sayed Muhammad, a shopkeeper. “Corruption exists in this district. The members of Parliament promised us a lot, but they did not fulfill even 2 percent of their promises.” 

“In some districts, the people are receiving a lot of assistance because they know the governor. Their roads are being built and repaired, and here we don’t have anything,” Mr. Muhammad said to loud applause. The district, badly hit by flooding several months ago, received none of the emergency flood aid that came to the province, he added.

The governor replied, “If anyone harms or mistreats you, come and tell us.” 

Soldiers of the United States Army 10th Mountain Division listened impassively, even as the gathering of some 200 Afghan men rumbled loudly with discontent.

Bringing security is only part of what the people in these remote, insurgent-ridden districts need and want, said Maj. Gen. Ben Freakley, the operational commander for American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He said there was an equal need for good governance and development, something the government and the donors, rather than the military, had to achieve.

“If we have to fight, we will fight,” he said after the meeting. “We could fight insurgents here for 10 years, but we don’t want to.” 

“The biggest thing is changing the environment,” he continued. “Where we have a decent district chief and district police chief, there is optimism, potential and such capability.” But, he said, “Andar has been neglected by all of us.” 

That changed this week with the arrival of an American and an Afghan National Army brigade that will stay in the region until a new police force can be trained and deployed. They found only 70 police officers still working, hunkered down in the police station, frequently under attack, and with many deserting as the Taliban threatened them and their families, extending their warnings even to their cousins.

The neglect was such that many people had sided with the Taliban, since the alternative was a venal, scared police force, said the newly appointed district chief, Hajji Abdul Rahim. “Some of the people are very hungry for government,” he said. “We have to work with the people.”

Violence continued with two suicide bombers striking Sunday, killing a Pakistani laborer in Kandahar and wounded eight civilians. Another suicide bomber threw himself at an American convoy on the east side of Kabul, wounding two American engineers and two of their Afghan colleagues.


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## GAP (18 Sep 2006)

*More articles found 18 Sept 2006*

New deaths in Afghanistan likely to add to political furor
 Canadian Press Monday, September 18, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=ab8447f2-94c6-4ede-a742-9d24f31852b0

OTTAWA — The news that four more Canadians have died in Afghanistan threatens Prime Minister Stephen Harper's steely resolve to shape the political direction of the country to his own plan as the Commons returns from its summer recess.

The latest bad news from the controversial Afghan mission adds to the woes of the Conservative government, which has been rocked over the summer by other military losses and last week's tragic Montreal college shootings, which set the gun registry debate back on full boil.

The opposition can use these random, yet predictable, events to try to hijack Harper's political agenda. 

Both issues will be in the forefront the moment Commons Speaker Peter Milliken opens the daily question period.

An Afghan official said the latest Canadian deaths occurred when a suicide bomber on a bicycle targeted soldiers as they handed out candy and other gifts to children.

The deaths came just as the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives issued a report warning that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are more likely to be killed than are American soldiers in Iraq.

Canadians are bearing a disproportionate level of casualties in the allied coalition, the report says.

"As we examined the troubling data, the question arose as to whether the Liberals misjudged the danger, and if the Conservatives ignored it," said Steven Staples, co-author of the report.

Canada has now lost 36 soldiers killed in Afghanistan. A Canadian diplomat has also died.

The government is aware that events can open unexpected pitfalls.

"The things you can't control, you can't control. It's a fact of life," Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl said last week.

Polls suggest that public support for the minority Conservative government has slipped slightly in recent months from election night levels.

Public and political uncertainties over both Afghanistan and Tory plans to kill the long-gun registry will make for a rocky autumn in the Commons.
End

Suicide Bombs Kill 18 in Afghanistan  
By CARLOTTA GALL and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA  September 18, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/world/asia/18cnd-afghan.html?hp&ex=1158638400&en=2e2c6c7a8ee5c9ba&ei=5094&partner=homepage

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 18 — Afghanistan was hit by three devastating suicide bomb attacks today, killing 18 people and wounding more than 60, many of them children, in one of the country’s worst days of violence against civilians.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed in one explosion when a suicide bomber on a bicycle set off a bomb as the soldiers were handing out gifts to children in a village in southern Afghanistan. Eleven other soldiers were wounded as well as 27 villagers, many of them children, local government officials said.

The bombing was the southern village of Char Kota, in Pashmul, one of the areas that NATO troops had only just wrested from the control of Taliban fighters after two weeks of heavy fighting. The NATO commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Richards, declared victory in the area Sunday, saying that NATO had taken control of the area and forced out the remaining Taliban fighters.

NATO confirmed that four soldiers from its International Security Assistance Force were killed and several injured but did not confirm their nationality. NATO said they were on patrol in a village and talking to children when the bomber approached on his bicycle.

“This action was as much an attack on the Afghan people as an attack on’’ the military force, General Richards said in a statement issued in Kabul. “This patrol was arranging the requirement for aid, reconstruction and development in the Zhare and Panjwai area. It is beyond comprehension that a suicide bomber should choose this time to attack, knowing that he could kill innocent children,” his statement said.

Another suicide bomber struck in the western town of Herat, killing 11 people and wounding 18, and a third blew up his car in Kabul, killing 3 policemen and wounding 9 other people.

A Taliban spokesman, reached by telephone, claimed responsibility for the attack in southern Afghanistan, naming the bomber as a man from the southern city of Kandahar.

The attacks came a day after President Hamid Karzai left to attend the United Nations General Assembly and then to make state visits to Canada and Washington. Mr. Karzai is hoping to win more support for his beleaguered country as violence escalates, and in particular to ask President Bush to bring more pressure on neighboring Pakistan to help prevent the violence. The Afghan government says that Pakistan provides refuge to the Taliban insurgents across the border.

The attack in Herat came at 7 p.m. as townspeople were leaving the main town mosque, the Masjir-e-Jame, after evening prayers, said a spokesman for the provincial governor, saying that he would only speak on the condition of anonymity. Most of those killed were young men, he said, and the wounded included a 4-year-old boy. 
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UK to send RAF jet to Afghanistan  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5357260.stm 

UK troops are coming under sustained attack  
The UK is to send another Royal Air Force fighter jet to Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Des Browne has said. 
The move is a response to a "surge" in demand for close air support from British and other international troops fighting the Taleban, said a statement. 

It brings to seven the number of British Harriers in Afghanistan. They are based at the Kandahar airfield. 

It was intended to be a temporary deployment "kept under constant review", said Mr Browne. 

Deadly violence 

British troops, as part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force, have been battling Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan after taking over from a US-led coalition in July. 

About 4,000 UK troops are in Helmand. 

The area is where most of Afghanistan's opium production is concentrated, and sees regular deadly violence blamed on Taleban fighters or drug lords. 

The total number of UK troops killed while on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 now stands at 40. 

BBC correspondent Alistair Leithead, in Kabul, said unlike in Iraq, troops in Afghanistan were actually "standing up and fighting and getting through tens of thousands of rounds with heavy machine guns". 

"It is very intense, very dangerous, and obviously very stressful for those people involved in it, given the difficulties of the terrain and the intensity of the fighting," said our correspondent. 
End 

Canadians killed at much higher rate than allies in Afghanistan: report
Last Updated Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:43:49 EDT CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/09/18/report-soldiers.html

Canadian troops in Afghanistan are three times more likely to be killed by hostile activities than their British counterparts and 4½ times more likely than Americans, a study says.

"Canadian Forces are incurring a disproportionately heavy burden of casualties among coalition forces in Afghanistan," said a statement that accompanied the release of the report on Monday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The study from the non-profit research organization also suggests that Canadian troops are six times more likely to be killed than U.S. troops in Iraq.

The report finds that apart from the United States, more Canadians have died in hostile action than any of the other 46 countries that have contributed to the NATO force.

From the time Canada began the mission in early 2001 to Sept. 8, 2006, it had suffered 27 military deaths from hostile action out of a total of 71 non-U.S. deaths — a ratio of two Canadians for every five deaths.

Further, the researchers calculate that since February, Canadian troops accounted for 43 per cent of the non-American deaths on the Afghan mission: 20 of 47 deaths.
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AFGHANISTAN: Countrywide polio vaccination drive under way
18 Sep 2006 14:47:00 GMT Source: IRIN
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/7dfefbe55b6b671b1e32d24ec1f9ad01.htm

KABUL, 18 September (IRIN) - Over 7 million Afghan children aged under five will be vaccinated against the polio virus during a three-day joint campaign launched on Sunday by the Afghan health ministry and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Afghanistan, one of just four countries in the world where polio is endemic, has seen the number of cases surge this year. There have been 28 confirmed polio cases in 2006, compared to only four in the same period last year, according to the Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) officials.

Nearly all of this year's polio cases have been recorded in southern Afghanistan, which is going through a deadly phase of Taliban-led violence. MoPH officials said Kandahar was leading the list with 16 cases; Helmand registered six cases and Urozgan two cases, with Zabul and Farah each having one case this year. 

The deteriorating security in the south has been one of the most significant challenges for health workers in their drive to fully implement the polio immunisation on the ground, analysts say. 

During the vaccination drive, which is led by the MoPH, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), some 45,000 health workers and volunteers will go house-to-house to administer the oral vaccine across the country, explained MoPH spokesman Abdullah Fahim.

"We hope all people, including government officials, community elders and those involved in fighting [the virus], particularly in the south of the country, will ensure a safe environment for the complete implementation of the polio vaccination campaign," Fahim remarked.

Along with receiving the polio vaccine, some 7 million children aged between six months and five years will also get vitamin A supplements, which help to boost resistance to other childhood diseases, MoPH officials said.

"The vitamin A supplements will boost children's immunity against various respiratory tract infections as the winter gets closer," Dr Shukurallah Wahidi, head of preventive medicine at MoPH, said.

Meanwhile, following recent polio cases in western Herat and central Bamyan provinces, WHO officials warned that the virus was spreading in the country.

"Polio is entering into an alarming stage in Afghanistan while insecurity is not allowing us to go safely and vaccinate all the children in the south," Dr Tahir Mir, medical officer for polio vaccination at the WHO, told IRIN from Kandahar
More on link

Suicide attack kills four NATO troops in Afghanistan
Sep 18, 2006, 14:53 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1202563.php/Suicide_attack_kills_four_NATO_troops_in_Afghanistan

Kabul - A suicide attack killed four soldiers of NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Kandahar, injured at least 25 afghan civilians, 13 Taliban insurgents were killed in Helmand province, officials said. 

Major Quentin Innis NATO-led ISAF spokesman in Kandahar said, the suicide attack occurred around 9:30 a.m. in Zhari district 20 kilometers west of Kandahar city. Four ISAF soldiers died, and several others were injured in the attack, he said. 

Most of the injured civilians were children, Innis said. 

In a separate incident, suspected Taliban insurgents and Afghan police clashed in Helmand province adjacent to Kandahar, and 13 Taliban insurgents were killed, said Haji Muhaiuddin Khan, spokesman to the governor of Helmand. 

He said the clash took place in Nahri Saraj Area of Helmand province, and that there were no casualties or damage to Afghan police, he said. 

Helmand is one of the most volatile southern provinces, where over 4,000 British troops are based fighting the insurgency. Helmand is the leading province in poppy cultivation, which had 162 per cent production increase in 2006. 

Zhari is one of the two districts where NATO declared end of its 15-day counter-insurgency offensive, during which it claimed to have killed over 510 Taliban fighters. According to ISAF, at least 21 NATO-led soldiers lost their lives, and hundreds of people were displaced from their houses. 

On Sunday, police arrested four Taliban insurgents in Kabul, charged with organizing bomb blasts in the Afghan capital and attacks against foreign soldiers. 

One of the arrested appeared on state TV Afghanistan and said the group's aim was jihad against American soldiers. 
More on link

*Another take on the Attack on the Canadians from the other side*

16 Canadian Invaders Terminated, Wounded in Afghanistan
Last update: 18 September 2006, 17:34 
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/09/18/5621.shtml

Approximately 16 soldiers of NATO-led ISAF were killed and wounded today, September 18, in Afghanistan. The attack was carried out by a Taliban suicide bomber, Quratullah, of Kandahar province who was riding a bicycle.  The attack against a Canadian patrol happened in Qluf area of Pashmool. 

Pashmool area is located 30 kilometer west of Kandahar city on the border between Panjwai and Ziari Dashta. NATO-led ISAF forces recently conducted a grand propaganda-type operation in Panjwai and Ziari called "Medusa" and claimed to have killed over 400 fighters in the operations. However, Taliban said that the number of their casualties in the operation "Medusa" was not more than 15. 

Taliban on Monday (Sept. 18) said that none of their fighter was killed in Gereshk district of Helmand yesterday (Sept. 17). After the claim of Helmand officials that 13 fighters were killed including a Talib commander Mulla Muhammad Akhund in Gereshk district, spokesman of the legal Afghan government of The Islamic State of Afghanistan, Dr. Muhammad Hanif told Afghan Islamic Press that it was false as no clash took place in Gereshk yesterday. He, however, said that an enemy's plane pounded an area in the same district but there were no casualties.
End

Ottawa issues tender for aid work in Afghanistan
Updated Mon. Sep. 18 2006 2:31 PM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060918/afghanistan_bids_060918/20060918?hub=Canada

OTTAWA -- The government has issued a $5-million tender for development work in southern Afghanistan in an effort to improve its image among both Canadians and Afghans. 
The contract from the Canadian International Development Agency aims to jump-start a series of community work programs as well as efforts to help farmers with seeds, tools and advice.

The work will include paying thousands of Afghans to rebuild community infrastructure.

The formal contract offer comes just days after the Canadian military wound up a prolonged and bitter head-to-head clash with hundreds of Taliban insurgents in the region.

The tender notice makes it plain that public relations is a key factor.

"There has been growing attention and public scrutiny of Canadian activities in southern Afghanistan and the need to show results given the significant commitments made by Canada to a broad range of reconstruction activities,'' the contract notice said.

"There is a need to demonstrate to Canadians and Afghans that our activities are improving the lives of the Afghan people.''

The contract is directed at a single company, Development Works Inc., of Ottawa. Other firms can apply if they can demonstrate an ability to meet a series of stringent requirements, including a minimum of two years' experience in Afghanistan, experience working with Pashtun tribal communities and an ability to get field work up and running within three weeks of the contract signing.

The contract document says gaining the trust of the Afghan community around Kandahar will improve security for the Canadian military in the short term and contribute to the ability of Afghans to fend for themselves in the long term.
End

Harper says new deaths in Afghanistan example of why Canada needs to be there
Canadian Press Monday, September 18, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=08c6f322-baf5-419c-b900-9c3cfd509c49&k=73203

 OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the military mission in Afghanistan against a new barrage of opposition criticism, saying the latest Canadian deaths in the country highlight the "evil" they are trying to eradicate. 

Harper pointed out four servicemen killed Monday died at the hand of a suicide bomber while they were handing candy out to village children. 

"I think nothing more than this incident illustrates the evil that they are fighting and the goodwill and nobleness of the cause they are taking to the Afghan people," Harper told the House of Commons. 

As predicted, the first day of Parliament's fall session was consumed with talk of the Afghan mission and the aftermath of the Dawson College shooting - two issues that threaten to knock the Conservatives off their strictly focused policy agenda. 
More on link

DoD Identifies Army Casualty
http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=9971

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Sgt. 1st Class Bernard L. Deghand, 42, of Mayetta, Kan., died on Sept. 15 in Spira, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when his unit encountered enemy forces using small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire during combat operations. Deghand was assigned to the Army National Guard 35th Division Artillery, Hutchinson, Kan. 
More on link

NATO Leaders to Discuss Afghanistan Mission, Support Needed
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=992

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2006 – NATO leaders will meet in New York later this week to discuss the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force effort in Afghanistan and the best way to meet its outstanding requirements. 
The NATO leaders are slated to meet while in New York for the opening of the 61st session of the U.N. General Assembly. 

NATO has assumed the security mission in southern Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones, NATO’s top military officer, reported last month while in Washington. The alliance now has responsibility for about 80 percent of the nation and is slated to assume command for the rest of the country by the year’s end, he said. 

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has called the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan its most important and has urged more contributions from its 26 member nations. 
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## The Bread Guy (18 Sep 2006)

*German military requests armored fighting vehicles for Afghanistan *  
Associated Press via International Herald Tribune, 18 Sept 06
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/18/europe/EU_GEN_Germany_Afghanistan.php

The German military has requested armored fighting vehicles to better protect its troops in Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

Commanders have asked for "a handful" of Marder infantry fighting vehicles for German troops in Afghanistan, ministry spokesman Joachim Schmidt said.

While the government must still approve the deployment, "it makes military sense" to send the vehicles, which German troops already use on their peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, Schmidt said.

Most of the 2,700 German soldiers serving in the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan are in the relatively stable north of the country.

German officials say attacks on its forces there have increased and are resisting pressure for them to reinforce other NATO troops battling Taliban rebels in the south.


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## big bad john (19 Sep 2006)

http://www.jfcbs.info/htm/2006/pr/Release_18Sep06_164.htm

ISAF, Afghan Forces launch operation in Western Afghanistan 
Release #2006-164 18 September 2006 


FARAH, Afghanistan (18 September 2006) 

Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army troops began Operation Wyconda Pincer today, supported by ISAF forces. 

The Border Police, teams from the National Directorate for Security, American soldiers from PRT Farah, and Italian and Spanish troops joined forces for security operations in Bala Baluk and Pusht-e Rod Districts. 

The aim of the operation is to engage local leaders and elders to enhance the security of Farah Province and oppose Taliban forces involved in criminal activities and recruitment in this region. 

The operation features Civil Affairs teams, assessments of police checkpoints and compounds, and meetings with village elders. 

"This operation is in response to a growing number of terrorist acts that have occurred in recent weeks, and shows the resolve of the Government of Afghanistan and ISAF to retain the security and stability of the region," said Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team Commander, Commander Michael Horan. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Information 
ISAF Public Information Office

Press Office +93 (0) 799511155
Mobile: 0093 (0) 799 55 8291
http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF 
pressoffice@isaf-hq.nato.int


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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## GAP (19 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 19 Sept 2006*

Mike Duffy Live: One-on-one with Harper 12:06 Video Clip
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=Politics&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger3_158576306_1158612942_500kbps.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger3_158576305_1158612156_218kbps.wmv&clip_start=00:06:50.14&clip_end=00:12:06.72&clip_caption=Mike Duffy Live: One-on-one with Harper&clip_id=ctvnews.20060918.00162000-00162691-clip1&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060918&slug=harper_report_060918&archive=CTVNews
More on link

Quick action by Canadian private after bombing credited with saving lives 
Canadian Press Published: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=9e1b2b45-479a-4fc9-95e4-7e1520c71907&k=77874

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The quick action of a soldier may have saved several lives following Sunday's bomb attack that killed four Canadians. 

One of the few soldiers on patrol to escape unscathed from the bicycle suicide bombing happened to be the only soldier on hand with advanced medical training. 

Pte. Mackenzie Murphy recovered quickly from the shock of the blast to give first aid to a dozen bleeding comrades, his friends say. 

Two other soldiers, Cpl. Miguel Dulac and platoon commander Lt. Craig Butler, assisted Murphy to apply tourniquets and bandages to heavily bleeding wounds. 

Ten soldiers were wounded seriously enough in the attack to be moved to an advanced hospital in Germany, but none of their injuries are considered life-threatening. 

Several others suffered slighter wounds. 
End

Latest deaths illustrates 'the evil' Canadians are fighting in Afghanistan, PM says
Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen  Tuesday, September 19, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=f5973405-725a-4dec-8ab2-692f303a288d&k=20869

OTTAWA - The suicide bombing deaths of four Canadian soldiers Monday while trying to give candy to Afghan children illustrates the "evil" they are fighting and the nobility of their cause, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

"Nothing more than this incident illustrates the evil that they are fighting and the goodwill and the nobleness of the cause that they are taking to the Afghan people," Harper told the Commons as his government confronted its toughest political challenge defending and explaining Canada's war in Afghanistan amid rising casualty rates as the House on Monday resumed for the fall session.

With fresh news of Canada's four latest fatalities, the opposition parties leapt on the government's conduct of its NATO struggle in Afghanistan to further their own domestic battles how best to position themselves for a possible spring election. A second soldier's identity was made public Tuesday. Cpl. Glen Arnold, 2 Field Ambulance, CFB Petawawa, Ont. was one of the four soldiers killed on Monday.

Harper and his cabinet brushed aside an NDP call for a troop pullout, saying all parties should support Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken also rejected a request by the Bloc Quebecois for an emergency debate on Canadian foreign policy.

As the death toll of Canadians killed in Afghanistan rose to 36 including one diplomat bitter words flew across the Commons about the future of the mission.
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Can we not wait a day before exploiting deaths?
 CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20060919.AFGHANBLATCH19/TPStory/National/columnists

It was such a curiously Canadian way to die.

Soldiers, whose fellows just days before were engaging in hard battle against Taliban forces in the volatile combat zone that is the Panjwai District of southern Afghanistan, were now back, walking some of the same ground. The Canadians had been giving out candies and school notebooks and were on what's often called a presence patrol when the bomber struck.

They were on foot, the soldierly equivalent of a mix-and-mingle, and they were moving through a crowd of civilians that included children when the fellow on a bicycle approached and then blew himself up.

Hold that image: Young Canadians -- men mostly, for the Canadian Forces is still mostly men; suckers all for kids, suckers especially for Afghan kids in so many of whose faces and eyes East marries West so agreeably; trying their best, their equipment and arms notwithstanding, to be friendly, to demonstrate trust, to show with their smiles and their gentleness and maybe their gifts that they were not the enemy.

Now picture the man on the bicycle, moving toward them.

They would have been alert. Ours are professional soldiers, and though those now in Afghanistan -- drawn chiefly from the Royal Canadian Regiment and the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry -- are relatively new to the country, they have been there long enough, and seen enough awfulness and suffered enough losses, that wariness, if not hyper-vigilance, would be second nature.

Yet there have not been so many bicycle suiciders, what the military calls BBIEDs, or bicycle-borne improvised explosive devices. They are about as rare as DBIEDs, or donkey-borne IEDs, though there have been a couple of those too. And to the Western eye, there is something almost innately peaceable about a guy on a bike. In Canada, the most famous cyclists are NDP Leader Jack Layton and his wife Olivia Chow, who as it happened, arrived at the House of Commons yesterday, a familiar sight, on their bikes.

What was the response, at home, to their deaths?

Why, let's be blunt, it was to feast upon the carcasses. There was barely a pause. I don't know quite when we became a nation that eats its fallen, but that is what has happened.

The attack immediately became fodder for returning federal politicians, those like Mr. Layton, who have no stomach for the Afghanistan mission and want it ended, the sooner the better, so Canadian soldiers can be sent off elsewhere into the troubled old world, preferably to a place where they can hand out goodies to children and not be blown up. I do not dispute the right of a federal leader, MP or citizen to grill the government over this mission, to disagree vehemently with it, to protest in the streets.

But can there not be a short interval, can it not wait until the dead are buried? Publicly identified?

And Mr. Layton, who is known as "Taliban Jack" now in the military, ought not to purport to speak for soldiers, least of all when they are doing the very sort of thing he claims to want them to be doing.

He said yesterday that he is confident Canadian soldiers would want the mission to be re-evaluated, reassessed. As someone who has actually spoken to some of our serving men and women, I can assure Mr. Layton that nothing could be farther from the truth.

The soldiers I know, dozens of them, say nothing of the sort. They are acutely alert to the fact they live in a raucous democracy; for God's sake, defending that is part and parcel of why they are soldiers. Debate over what their government has asked them to do is part of the small print of the deal they make when they sign on; they don't expect a nation singing their praises in harmony.

But reassessing the entire mission with every soldier's death? Second-guessing every battle, every action they take, every move they make, from the comfort and safety of Canada? That isn't. And yet it happens throughout the news business and the expert commentary business and at the national water cooler, which is to say the public-opinion poll. At my own newspaper, for instance, a story was assigned yesterday on the merits of soldiers giving out gifts to kiddies and the troubled history of that practice.

The attack provided ammunition, too, for that legion of military critics whose opinions are sought by the cable-news networks and who appear, in the 24/7 media world, to be on perpetual standby.

The collective wisdom here was to point out that just the day before, the Canadians and coalition had been trumpeting the success of Operation Medusa, the big offensive in Panjwai and Zhari districts. 

And now this, the experts said, in effect, "You see? There's no winning here."

It is all too much of a muchness, as one of my friends is wont to say: Too much analysis, when what was called for was unrequited sorrow, at least for a time; too much politicking, when what was called for was statesmanship (only interim Liberal Leader Bill Graham to my ears provided that); too much second-guessing of the only folks in the country who are on the front lines.

A soldier I know wrote yesterday to ask me to imagine what would have happened if those Canadians had shot at the fellow on the bicycle, if he had been the benign figure he would have been here at home, if he had turned out to be an innocent.

We know what would have happened: exactly what has happened each and every time -- and there have been few of these occasions precisely because our soldiers are as good as they are -- an Afghan has been killed in comparable circumstances. "We are requiring the wisdom of Solomon, with the reaction time of Superman, from these kids," that soldier said, and right he is.

Four dead Canadians, at least 10 wounded seriously enough to be taken to the U.S. military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, and yet so few can resist the urge to pick at their bones.

cblatchford@globeandmail.com
End

Labour admits: we made mistakes on Afghanistan  
Richard Norton-Taylor Tuesday September 19, 2006 The Guardian 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1875711,00.html

Strength and determination of Taliban were misjudged, says defence secretary 

The defence secretary, Des Browne, will admit today that Britain and its Nato allies seriously underestimated the strength of the Taliban and the violent resistance faced by western forces in Afghanistan. "The Taliban's tenacity in the face of massive losses has been a surprise, absorbing more of our effort than predicted and consequently slowing progress on reconstruction," he will say in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London.
More on link




Key strike puts Taliban to flight
Michael Smith, Kandahar The Sunday Times September 17, 2006 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2361459_2,00.html 

BRITISH special forces have played a key role in a defeat of the Taliban as part of Operation Medusa, the largest combat operation ever mounted by Nato. 

Over the past fortnight Nato troops, led by the Canadians, have driven the Taliban out of the strategically important Panjwayi district between Maiwand and Kandahar. 

Last week members of the newly formed British Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) pulled out of their hides to the southeast of Maiwand with their commanders satisfied that the Taliban had been defeated and expelled from the area. 

“They chose to take us on,” said a senior Nato officer. “They have suffered heavy casualties. In fact, they haven’t suffered such extensive casualties since the fighting in 2001-02.” 

The British special forces had spent the first 10 days guarding against any Taliban reinforcement from the west, and the last few picking off fleeing insurgents. 

Senior officers cautioned that while Operation Medusa had been “a tactical success”, there was no room for complacency and nobody was about to use the word victory. “It has a tendency to come back and bite you on the arse,” one officer said. 

This battlefield has a profound historical resonance. Maiwand was the scene of one of the most devastating defeats ever suffered by the British when, in July 1880, 2,700 British and Indian troops were outnumbered 10 to one by Afghan tribesmen. More than 1,000 British and Indian troops died but 7,000 of the enemy were killed in what was a pyrrhic victory for the Afghans. 

The British suffered losses in the latest battle — 14 dead when a Nimrod spyplane crashed on the first day, including signallers from the Special Boat Service (SBS) and the SFSG who were relaying intelligence collected by RAF colleagues. 

Five Canadian and two Afghan soldiers were killed on the ground. But Nato claimed that more than 500 Taliban — a third of those making a stand at Panjwayi — were killed. 

The Taliban were using the area as a forward operations base to put pressure on the city of Kandahar, which is seen as the key to controlling the south. 

During the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, the mujaheddin occupied the area, which is covered with grapevines, wheat and poppy fields, making it an ideal supply base for an insurgent army. 

It is riddled with drainage ditches and high walled compounds providing perfect cover for a marauding guerrilla band and there are scores of escape tunnels and trenches built during the mujaheddin days. 

General David Richards, the Nato commander, chose the area to demonstrate to the 70% of the population who, he believes, will back whoever appears stronger, that Nato and not the Taliban is in charge. 

Richards had prepared the ground carefully. His commanders talked to tribal leaders to persuade the 40,000 population to leave for their own safety and to convince them that the alliance would rebuild once the Taliban had left. 

The battle, which pitted more than 2,000 troops against 1,500 Taliban, opened on Saturday September 2 with a salvo of gunfire from Canadian and Dutch artillery. A company of 150 men from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry advanced across the Arghandab river. 

But the Taliban were lying in wait and the company took the brunt of their aggression, coming under intense mortar and machinegun fire that killed four Canadians. The Canadian commander temporarily withdrew his forces and replaced them with Taskforce Grizzly, comprising 200 Afghan infantry backed up by US troops. 

On the left flank, Taskforce 31, comprising SBS and US Army Special Forces, were used temporarily to “shape the battlefield”, seizing the initiative from the Taliban. 

Two other companies of the Princess Patricia’s were making slow progress against a Taliban trench system in the north. The third company was redirected to join the push, along with US infantry. They were backed up by direct fire support from Canadian and Dutch artillery and by air support from Apache attack helicopters, US B1 Lancer bombers, F16s, and US A10 Tankbusters — one of which killed a fifth Canadian soldier with “friendly fire” — plus RAF Harrier GR7s. 

While the SBS and the US Special Forces gave the Nato advance a kick-start from the south, other US special operations troops spread across the area to the south of the battlefield. They were ordered to keep out Taliban reinforcements and supply columns attempting to make their way along the desert roads from the Pakistani towns of Nuski and Quetta. 

The UK and US special forces boosted the southern advance considerably and after a few days the SBS were withdrawn and reassigned to other tasks. 

To the north, the Canadians, whose light armoured vehicles were vulnerable to rocket- propelled grenades, were struggling. By the beginning of last week, an operation scheduled to last only 10 days looked like lasting a month. But sustained aerial and artillery bombardment were beginning to tell on the Taliban. 

Suddenly one company of the Princess Patricia’s made a breakthrough, pushing forward to hold a position well ahead of the Canadian lines. A second company pushed forward and very soon all three Canadian companies were leap-frogging each other to the point that the American infantry could be withdrawn. 

The effect was like a vice, squeezing the Taliban out to the west where they were awaited by Dutch infantry, a Danish armoured reconnaissance company and, further out towards Maiwand, the British SFSG, mostly former paratroopers. 

By the end of last week, the vast majority of the Taliban were thought to have fled. 

Senior Nato officers expressed astonishment that the Taliban had abandoned traditional guerrilla tactics that would have seen them dispersing the minute heavy artillery and aerial firepower were introduced. 

“The next three to six months is a crucial period here,” Richards said. “We are establishing psychological ascendency over the Taliban in Panjwayi. 

“Operation Medusa has not been about killing for no reason. The people there want to believe we can win and we’re beginning to demonstrate that we will win.”
End   



UN official urges Afghanistan, Pakistan to cooperate in fighting terrorism   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-19 04:00:08   KABUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/19/content_5107167.htm

A senior UN official on Monday called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to end their "war of words" and fight terrorism together. 

    Speaking at a press conference, Tom Koenigs, special representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, said the "War of words" between Afghanistan and Pakistan is discouraging and "pointing finger at each other doesn't improve security in Afghanistan." 

    The security situation in southern Afghanistan is so much influenced by "cross-boarder elements," and cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan is much needed, he added. 

    "The security in Afghanistan and that in Pakistan is closely connected. The insurgents have to be fought on both sides," the UN official said, noting the two countries can't afford "a safe haven for militants." 

    Afghanistan, which has a 2400-km border with Pakistan in the east and south, has been critically accusing Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, while Pakistan insists it has deployed 80,000 troops along the border to fight terrorism. 

    Bilateral relations have been badly strained over disputes on the anti-terror issue. 

    There was positive sign of the improving of the relations after Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf paid an official visit to Afghanistan from Sept. 6 to 7 

    During the visit, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of keeping a neighborly Afghan-Pakistani relationship and fighting terrorism together. 
More on link

Seventh Harrier off to Afghanistan
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1382542006

BRITAIN is to send another RAF Harrier fighter jet, above, to Afghanistan to support hard-pressed ground troops, it was announced yesterday. 

The single aircraft is being temporarily dispatched amid fears British forces are massively under-equipped. 

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, said that the deployment was in response to a surge in demand for close air-support from British and other international troops fighting the Taleban. 

It will take to seven the number of Harriers in Afghanistan, based at Kandahar. "As with any operational commitment, the duration of this deployment will be kept under constant review," Mr Browne said. 

The British announcement came as the German military asked for armoured fighting vehicles to better protect its 2,700 troops in Afghanistan. 

Commanders have asked for Marder vehicles. The government has still to approve the deployment, but the defence ministry said "it makes military sense" to send the vehicles.
End

The Scots surgeon saving lives as Taliban rockets rain down
RICHARD GRAY AND JEREMY WATSON  (jwatson@scotlandonsunday.com) 
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=444&id=1373842006

THE "ambulances" arrive back with bullet holes in their fuselages. The injuries sustained by the young people in his care are horrific: missing limbs, gaping gunshot wounds, ghastly burns. 

To save lives, staff are urged to volunteer blood that can be pumped straight from their veins into a sterile bag and then instantly into a waiting patient. 

It is far worse than a Saturday night in the A&E of the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, and Peter Davis should know. 

In his civilian life, he is a consultant at the Southern, often dealing with the aftermath of drunken fights, road crashes and a steady stream of stabbings and slashings. 

But as Lieutenant-Colonel Davis, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, he is currently based in Afghanistan's lawless Helmand province, and his job is a constant struggle to save the lives of soldiers and civilians caught up in daily battles with Taliban fighters. 

In a moving and exclusive dispatch from the troubled province, Davis describes both the horror and the absurdity of being a medic at war. He stresses he is just part of a dedicated team of doctors and medical support staff battling to keep alive a steady flow of casualties from fighting described as the toughest endured by British forces since the Korean war in the 1950s. 

His role is both to treat casualties as they arrive as well as lead helicopter emergency medical response teams that fly out to battlefield incidents. "The helicopters are armed and the situations are dangerous," he writes. 

Davis, a 43-year-old married father of three, has been in Afghanistan for a few months but has already seen more major injuries in that time than he would working for three or four years in the NHS. Some of the injuries are rarely, if ever, seen in UK hospitals: limbs ripped off by explosions, high-velocity bullet wounds to the head or neck, and blast injuries. 

Although the tented hospital they work in has the best of equipment and staff, their labours have to take place in all-enveloping dust. 

"We might as well be on the moon," he says. "The camp has been deliberately constructed in the middle of nowhere for security reasons. The sand has the consistency of talcum powder and the dust gets everywhere." 

Even in an Afghanistan war-zone, however, it appears there is no escape from petty bureaucracy. "A recent environmental cleanliness survey of the wards within this hospital reported that the floors were 'dusty.' No kidding!" he declares. "Even the deployed military is not immune to the bureaucratic audit that beleaguers the NHS." 
More on link

Suicide blasts in Afghanistan kill 18, including 4 Canadians   
 Kandahar, Sept19: 
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=323617&sid=SAS

Three powerful suicide blasts struck Afghanistan yesterday , killing 18 people including four Canadian soldiers handing gifts to children. 

The blasts were the latest in a spike of suicide bombings in Afghanistan blamed on the extremist Taliban movement, which has picked up a deadly insurgency as foreign forces have moved into insurgent strongholds.

In the first blast a man on a bicycle blew himself up in a crowd of children clamouring for pens and books from Canadian troops with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) near the southern city of Kandahar.

The explosion struck an area west of Kandahar where ISAF announced yesterday it had succeeded in driving out Taliban entrenched fighters, about 500 of whom it said earlier were killed in a two-week operation.

Four Canadian soldiers were killed, Canadian Commander General David Fraser said. Police said about 12 soldiers were wounded but ISAF would not confirm the number.
More on link

NATO, Afghan forces launch operation in W Afghanistan    
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-19 03:01:19  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/19/content_5107143.htm

    KABUL, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) along with Afghan troops and policemen launched Operation Wyconda Pincer on Monday in the western Farah province of Afghanistan, ISAF said in a statement. 

    "The aim of the operation is to engage local leaders and elders to enhance the security of Farah province and oppose Taliban forces involved in criminal activities and recruitment in this region," it said. 

    The operation features Civil Affairs teams, assessments of police checkpoints and compounds, and meetings with village elders, it added. 

    The statement did not mention how many troops and policemen are involved in the operation, just saying U.S., Italian and Spanish soldiers would operate in Bala Baluk and Pusht-e Rod districts of the province. 

    "This operation is in response to a growing number of terrorist acts that have occurred in recent," said Michael Horan, the ISAF commander in Farah. 

    Farah and other western provinces, which enjoyed relative calmness in the past years and earlier this year, are suffering from rising insurgence in the past months. 
More on link

Eleven Taliban killed in southern Afghanistan
AFP Tuesday, September 19, 2006  12:05 IST
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1053920

KANDAHAR: Two separate gunbattles between Taliban rebels and police in volatile southern Afghanistan left at least 11 insurgents dead, police said on Tuesday.              

Three Taliban were killed in an hour-long exchange of fire in the Garmser district of troubled Helmand province before dawn Tuesday, provincial police chief Ghulam Rasoul Aka.        

 "Today at five in the morning, police clashed with Taliban in Garmser. Three Taliban bodies were left at the site. There were no casualties on the police side," he said.            

Another eight were killed when police launched an operation in the same district on Monday night, sparking "hours of fighting", Aka said.           

"They have taken other killed and wounded Taliban with them," he added.            

Garmser district has been overrun and occupied by the Taliban twice since July. On both occasions the rebels were eventually driven out by Afghan and international forces.               

Aka claimed that the eight Taliban killed on Monday were all carrying Pakistani identity cards and were not Afghans.        

Afghan authorities regularly allege that Taliban forces are based in neighbouring Pakistan's lawless border areas and accuse Islamabad of failing to tackle them. Pakistan denies the charges.    

The remnants of the Taliban regime launched an insurgency after they were toppled from government by a US-led coalition in 2001. The insurrection is now going through its bloodiest phase.
More on link

Taliban say killed kidnapped Turk in Afghanistan
Tue Sep 19, 2006 5:24am ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-19T092405Z_01_ISL215949_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-TURKEY.xml&archived=False

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas said on Tuesday they had killed a Turk kidnapped last month after the Turkish construction company he worked for ignored an ultimatum to leave Afghanistan.

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said the Taliban had shot dead the Turk he identified as Mustapha in the southern province of Helmand.

The Turk, who worked for a security firm, was abducted on August 28 in an ambush in Helmand. A Turkish engineer with the Ankara-based Kolin Insaat construction company was killed in the ambush, Turkish officials said.

The Turkish embassy in Kabul said it was trying to check the Taliban claim.
End

Troops will stay Afghanistan: PM
September 19, 2006 - 10:45PM
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Troops-will-stay-Afghanistan-PM/2006/09/19/1158431715338.html

Australian troops will not leave Afghanistan despite it becoming more dangerous, Prime Minister John Howard says.

Violence involving the Taliban, Afghan and NATO troops is growing in intensity across Afghanistan, despite assurances the insurgents are on the defensive.

Three bombings on Tuesday killed at least 19 people across the country, including four Canadian soldiers in an attack that tested NATO's claim of success in driving militants from the volatile southern region.

Mr Howard said Canada had suffered enormously and was carrying a very heavy burden in Afghanistan.

"I think we all have to understand that Afghanistan has got a lot more dangerous and our own forces are exposed to a lot of danger," he said.

"The British are, the Americans are, and they are carrying a very heavy burden and they are fighting in some of the very dangerous areas.

"But we have to maintain our commitment in Afghanistan."

Mr Howard said leaving Iraq or Afghanistan to the control of terrorists would be an enormous blunder.

He said Australia wanted all the countries involved in Afghanistan to stay the course, along with an even greater European contribution
More on link


----------



## GAP (20 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 20 Sept 2006*

*Some of The Fallen*

Corporal Shane Keating
DAWN WALTON  From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060920.wxkeating20/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

If Corporal Shane Keating had a chance to live his life over, those who knew him say the young soldier likely would not change a thing.

"Shane felt he was doing what was right," said Allan Earle, mayor of Dalmeny, a bedroom community north of Saskatoon, where Cpl. Keating grew up.

"He was over there doing what he trained all his adult life for," Mr. Earle added.

The 30-year-old soldier, who was based in Shilo, Man., with 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, died Monday along with three other soldiers when a suicide bomber attacked the Canadians on a foot patrol.

Cpl. Keating was scheduled to return home to his family in a month.

During a press conference yesterday, Major Stephen Joudrey, acting commanding officer of the battalion, described Cpl. Keating as a "sergeant in a corporal's body."

"He was far more mature than his age and his experience would tell you," he said, referring to him as a pleasant and honest person.

Judith Budd issued a written statement about her son.

"We love Shane very much and we are proud of all that he has accomplished. Shane was very proud of his service and believed in what he was doing," she wrote.

Cpl. Keating, was the son of a Saskatoon city police officer who died of cancer about a dozen years ago. That was about the time the family moved to Saskatoon. But Cpl. Keating left an imprint on Dalmeny, a town of 1,800 where he continued to visit and keep in touch with high-school buddies.

Mr. Earle, whose children were friends with Shane and his siblings, remembered Cpl. Keating as one of the "nice kids" in town who came from a respected family.

"It's doubly hard for a family losing a father and now losing their eldest son," he said yesterday.
More on link

Corporal Keith Morley
JOE FRIESEN From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060920.wxmorley20/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

On the day Corporal Keith Morley arrived at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, he went next door to meet the neighbours. They ended up talking for five hours.

"We were just standing outside freezing, and he kept talking and talking," his neighbour, Marcie Jago, said yesterday. She said his enthusiasm for conversation was matched only by his love for his dog Lokie, a German shepherd-Labrador cross.

Ms. Jago said she could almost set her watch by Lokie's twice-daily outings. As soon as he got home for lunch, and again when the day was done, Cpl. Morley, 30 years old and unmarried, would be outside throwing a Frisbee for Lokie to catch.

"He was really close to his dog," she said.

Ms. Jago last saw Lokie before Cpl. Morley left for Afghanistan this summer. The soldier and his dog drove to Winnipeg sitting side-by-side in the cab of his blue Chevy pickup. He was going to leave the dog with his sister while he was away.

"He was really excited to go," Ms. Jago said. "He just said, 'I'm going to Afghanistan and I hope it's for the best.' "

Cpl. Morley's family released a statement yesterday asking to be left alone by the news media.

"We are grieving the loss of Keith right now. He will be missed by all of his family and friends who are very proud of him," they said. "Keith was also proud of what he was doing in Afghanistan."

Cpl. Morley was killed by a suicide bomber near Kandahar on Monday. At CFB Shilo yesterday, Major Stephen Joudrey, acting commanding officer, 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, said it was an extremely sad day for the regiment.

"All three of these men were proud citizens and exceptional examples of the men and women who serve this country both at home and abroad," he said. "We will commit ourselves to their memory and never forget that they fell in service to their country while trying to make the world a better place."
End

Corporal Glen Arnold
DAWN WALTON  From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060920.warnold20/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

Just seven weeks before Corporal Glen Arnold was to leave for Afghanistan, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his sick nephew, Jackson, not with worry about the dangerous mission he was about to undertake.

"I have been tied to [Canadian Forces Base] Petawawa preparing to depart for that extended holiday in a foreign country doing what I do. Serving my country," Cpl. Arnold wrote in June on a family blog dedicated to the recovery of the boy who suffered burns in an accident this summer.

Training had prepared him for many things, the married father of four wrote, but news of the pain being felt by his family, particularly his brother Dean, brought the soldier, hardened by previous tours in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, to his knees.

"I have been to war-torn countries and have not been affected as much as I have in this situation," he wrote, "I find the frustration unbearable at times that I can't be with my brother and nephew in their time of need."

"When I compare my causes of frustration to his, it makes mine petty," he added.

On Monday, Cpl. Arnold, a 32-year-old medical technician with 2 Field Ambulance, was killed along with three other Canadian soldiers when a suicide bomber attacked a Canadian foot patrol about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar city.

Cpl. Arnold, who was raised in McKerrow, a pulp and paper mill town in Northern Ontario, had been in Afghanistan for little more than a month.

Leona Arnold spent much of yesterday trying to make sense of what happened to her son and what she would want Canadians to know about him.

"You can't even think straight today," she said.

Just 12 days before Cpl. Arnold's death, Kerry Arnold, posted a note to her husband on a Department of National Defence website. 

"We love you so much and miss you lots we can't wait to see u home for Christmas," she wrote, "We are so proud of you great job honey stay safe take care." 
More on link

Dedicated soldier knew the risks
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060919.wxafghanprofile19/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

OTTAWA — The death of a 22-year-old soldier in Afghanistan has left his family numb with grief and lamenting his early passing yesterday. 

Private David Byers was one of four Canadian soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, the Department of National Defence said yesterday. 

Though Pte. Byers was based in Shilo, Man., with the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, his family lived in the Northwestern Ontario town of Espanola.

Pte. Byers's uncle, Ian McKay, said he was too stunned by the news of his nephew's death to start coming to terms with it.

"I can't think straight," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "David was a really good kid. He was far too young to die."

Mr. McKay said Pte. Byers was a dedicated soldier who was well aware of the risks he faced when he headed to Afghanistan.

"That's what he went in for. He was prepared for it," he said.

Other members of Pte. Byers's family declined to speak to reporters.

Josh Clark, an 18-year-old who lives across the street from the family, said the news had come as a terrible blow.

"They're taking it pretty bad," he said.

Mr. Clark had lost touch with Pte. Byers in recent years, but recalled spending time with him in high school playing video games.

"We were into the same stuff," he said. "He was a really good guy."

Neighbours said Pte. Byers leaves his parents and two brothers.

Pte. Byers and three other Canadians died when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the Panjwai District of Kandahar Province.

Although the Defence Department had released the name of only one of the slain soldiers by last night, a woman in McKerrow, Ont., said her nephew was among the dead.

She said he was in his 30s and married with four children and was stationed at CFB Petawawa.

The aunt said her nephew's parents, who are also from McKerrow, were in Toronto when they received the news and were on their way last night to their Northwestern Ontario home.
More on link

*May our Brave Soldiers Rest in Peace*


----------



## GAP (20 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found 20 Sept 2006*

Afghanistan is 'worst victim' of terrorism: Karzai
Sep 20, 2006
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1203286.php/Afghanistan_is_worst_victim_of_terrorism_Karzai

New York - Afghanistan has become the 'worst victim' of terrorism, which has indiscriminately killed civilians, shut down schools and mosques, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told the UN General Assembly Wednesday. 

'We have seen terrorism rebounding as terrorists have infiltrated our borders to step up their murderous campaign against our people,' Karzai said. 

'Terrorism sees, in the prosperity of the Afghan people, its ultimate defeat,' he said. 

Karzai urged international assistance to help combat terrorism, which he said emanated from beyond Afghan borders. He said military action alone cannot defeat terrorism. 

'We must destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm, and deploy terrorists,' he said. 

More than 200,000 students have lost their schools and polio cases jumped to 27 this year, from four last year, because terrorist activities prevented health workers from reaching children, Karzai said. 

Karzai also pledged his government would fight to eliminate poppy cultivation, which the UN said had reached record crop this year. The thriving narcotic trade has fuelled the ongoing war and is one of the main sources of funding for terrorism, he said. 
End

Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is clear
Wednesday 20 September 2006
http://www.judeoscope.ca/breve.php3?id_breve=2627

David Bercuson, director of the 
Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, writes in the Globe and Mail (excerpts):

Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is clear. Two governments, the Liberals and the Conservatives, understood that the Taliban cannot be allowed to regain control of the country. First, because they are medieval religious fanatics who allow no room whatsoever for any deviation from their strict imposition of their own version of Islamic law. Second, because the Taliban aligned themselves with the jihadist movement whose aim is to destroy Western Judeo-Christian society. In doing so, the Taliban allowed al-Qaeda to inflict the terror attacks of Sept. 11 on our nation: Granted the attacks were not on our soil, but two dozen Canadians were killed and billions of dollars of damage was done to the our economy. We have a huge stake in stopping the Taliban from returning to power in Afghanistan.

When Canada committed to the Kandahar mission, the plan was to do a lot of reconstruction work, because helping the locals is essential to driving a wedge between them and the Taliban. It also ties Afghans more closely to the government of Hamid Karzai. Show Afghans in tangible ways that their lives will get better and we not only win their political allegiance, but they will share information about who among them is Taliban, where they hide their weapons, and when they will attack us. This is a vital part of counterinsurgency warfare and it works — which is precisely why the Taliban attack these reconstruction efforts. Build a school and the Taliban blow it up. And that is why we have soldiers there: to protect the reconstruction efforts. But protection is most effective when the enemy is found, attacked and neutralized as far as possible from the target he wants to attack. The choice is to defend the newly built school, or find and neutralize the Taliban well before they get a chance to attack it.
End


Afghanistan's forgotten army dreams of a world of plenty
By Patrick Bishop in Kandahar (Filed: 20/09/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/09/20/do2004.xml


"What you do?" asks Olga, working her strong thumbs into the back of my neck.

"Journalist."

"What?"

"Er, like TV."

"Ah, khorosho." In the mirror I can see a smile break across her broad Kyrgyz features. TV is good. The TV world is the one she wants to inhabit.

Instead poor Olga is stuck in a massage parlour on the Kandahar airfield, described by a military website as "one of the most remote, landlocked and desolate places the Army has ever had to build as a combat base". On the plus side, it "makes a perfect hub to battle the Taliban".

But "desolate" is right. The climate is vile. The heat is stunning and the air is heavy with talcum powder dust, fecal dust as everyone likes to tell you, mingled with the immemorial dung of man and beast, that clogs the lungs like an 80-a-day fag habit.

Behind the wire are two armies. There are the men and women in uniform, the Britons, Canadians and Dutch of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), who are bearing the brunt of the war on the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Then there are the men and women who support them.
More on link

Important Taliban figure captured in C Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-20 04:00:02   KABUL, Sept. 19 (Xinhua)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/20/content_5112200.htm

 An important Taliban figure and his five colleagues were arrested on Tuesday in Andar district of the central Ghazni province of Afghanistan, government official told Xinhua. 

    The U.S.-led coalition forces captured a doctor, who is "an important Taliban character" supporting the group financially and medically, at 7:00 a.m. local time in Andar, Tafseer Khan, the provincial police chief, told Xinhua. But he declined to reveal the details about the captive. 

    Local AINA TV reported Mullah Samad, an advisor to Mullah Omar, the top Taliban chief, was captured along with Samad's five colleagues on Tuesday. 

    However, Marcelo Calero, the coalition spokesman, told Xinhua "We checked and we don't have any reports on this (capturing)." 

    Ghazni police chief Khan also said a would-be suicide bomber was arrested in Kabual on Tuesday afternoon. 

    Andar district has been plagued by rising insurgence in the past weeks, during which Taliban militants clashed critically with government and foreign troops, causing casualties on both sides.
 Enditem

Afghanistan: a Tale of never ending Tragedy
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-ryan/afghanistan-a-tale-of-ne_b_29804.html

It's now approaching five years since the Taliban government in Afghanistan was deposed by American bombing and the reoccupation of the country with the former mujahedeen and so-called regional warlords, together with invading US troops. So what has happened in this almost five-year period? 

Actually, there's little evidence of any fundamental change, and in a number of respects, conditions have gotten worse.

Other than some improvements in Kabul, little has been done to rebuild the country's infrastructure, which was almost totally destroyed over a 20-year war period. About half the population is unemployed. Most farmers struggle to make a living and some have resorted to the growing of poppies for opium and heroin, which are processed and shipped out of the country by the warlords or their agents - with little interference by US forces or the Afghan army or police. Instead they harass the farmers now and then. Afghanistan now produces about 90 percent of the world's opium, some of which is later distributed by the Kosovo Albanians - another "liberated" state by the Americans. More than half the GDP in both areas comes from opium and heroin. So the Americans have produced two full-blown narco-states, both under their protection. 

When the Taliban regime was first removed, many Afghan women celebrated by removing their burqas - now only a few brave souls in Kabul dare to be seen without the burqa. The Sharia law, with only minor modifications, is still in effect. Under the dreaded Taliban, at least the roads and villages were safe for both Afghans and foreigners alike, whereas now the lawlessness, fear and chaos of the mid 1990s has returned. What's going on here?
More on link

Harper to defend Afghanistan mission in first United Nations speech  
Beth Gorham, Canadian Press Published: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=6eb9695b-cc74-416a-9b7f-401ed106d75b&k=73165

 WASHINGTON (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be promoting Canada as a key global player at his first United Nations speech Thursday, while trying to mollify critics at home who say the Afghanistan mission is exacting too high a price. 

Observers also expect Harper to appeal for more help from the international community, especially top European allies, as he highlights Canada's contributions in the war-torn country and defends the switch from peacekeeping to active combat. 

It's a delicate line for the Conservative leader, who has been accused of aligning his foreign policy, even some of his phrasing, too closely with President George W. Bush. 

And the prime minister is under other pressures at home, especially after announcing a new contingent for the fight and the deaths Monday of four Canadian soldiers killed by a suicide bomber while they were handing out candy to kids. 

New Democrats are calling on him to bring the troops home and the Bloc Quebecois is demanding an emergency parliamentary debate. 

Harper can't afford, though, to appear to be wavering at the UN, said David Bercuson at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute in Calgary. 

Harper may, however, talk about redeploying elsewhere in Afghanistan after the current mission ends in January 2009. 

"He also needs to find a better way of selling it to Canadians than simply repeating the maxims of Washington," said Bercuson. 

"They're getting that message from the highest levels of the armed forces - that the case has to be presented much better and more widely." 

And while it's true that Canada is losing soldiers partly because the United States diverted much of its attention from Afghanistan to Iraq before the Taliban was truly crushed, there are other factors, he said. 

"Are we picking up their chestnuts for them? It's a yes and a no. They took a lot of their resources out of Afghanistan or just never sent them." 

"But there's as much of an argument to be made that NATO should have gone in earlier," said Bercuson. 

"The Americans and the Brits paid the price in the first years. We came along relatively late in the game and now we're taking the heat." 
More on link

Soldiers say goodbye to latest casualties
Renata D'Aliesio CanWest News Service Wednesday, September 20, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=6964be89-f454-4231-b9c8-7becc01249ea

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - They have been here before.

Not just for one casket of a Canadian soldier, but for four.

Hundreds of soldiers lined the tarmac to say goodbye to four Canadians killed Monday by a suicide bomber on a bicycle.

Troops from A company, 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district in southern Afghanistan when an older man passed by on a bicycle.

Battle soldiers Cpl. Shane Keating, Cpl. Keith Morley and Pte. David Byers, based in Shilo, Man., were killed in the blast. Medic Cpl. Glen Arnold of 2 Field Ambulance in Petawawa, Ont., also died.

Dozens of other soldiers and civilians were wounded. Ten of the soldiers were flown to a military hospital in Germany for treatment, while the injured troops still at the Kandahar Air Field base attended Wednesday afternoon's ramp ceremony.

With arms wrapped in slings and legs sore from blasts of shrapnel, these soldiers saluted along with the others as four caskets draped with Canadian flags were carried to a plane bound, eventually, for Canada.

"It may not be fair and we can hate it, but it happens," the chaplain, Maj. Robert Lauder, told them. "And it seems to happen here more than any other place."
End

Afghanistan urges donor countries to keep aid flowing   
The Associated Press Published: September 19, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/20/business/AS_GEN_IMF_Afghanistan.php

Afghanistan on Wednesday urged international donors to continue supporting the country's reconstruction, saying it had made progress but needed help in improving security and fighting the drug trade and graft.

"Despite the progress we have made over the past years, there is still a great need for support," the country's finance minister, Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi, told delegates gathered for the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Singapore.

"Economically, Afghanistan has continued implementing a reform strategy aiming to create an environment conducive to private investment," Ahadi said.

The minister also said he was "disappointed to report that not enough progress has been achieved" in improving security and clamping down on the narcotics trade.

Ahadi also said he has asked the World Bank, which Sunday approved a broad strategy for tackling corruption, to help enforce anti-graft measures in his country.

"We struggle with corruption at all levels. Taking bribes to perform the duties of one's job, nepotism in hiring practices, illegal fees and siphoning money from the reconstruction," he said.

Decimated by decades of war, the Central Asian nation has made progress since a U.S.-led coalition toppled the hard-line Taliban regime in 2001, but is still plagued by violence, extreme poverty and illicit opium production that makes up about 90 percent of the global supply.

The minister said it was important for the World Bank and international donors to provide funding through the Afghan government.
More on link

ArmorGroup boosted by Afghanistan tension  
By Saeed Shah Published: 20 September 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1621782.ece

The greater commitment of Britain and the international community to Afghanistan has been lucrative for the bodyguard provider ArmorGroup, which has seen its Afghan revenues jump almost threefold. 

The company is providing protection against a resurgent Taliban threat to British personnel in the country, including embassy staff and workers from the Department for International Development. It is also guarding World Bank staff and members of a US company awarded a reconstruction contract.

The company now has 600 protection officers in Afghanistan, making it ArmorGroup's second-biggest operation after the 1,500 engaged in Iraq. Revenues in Afghanistan were up 267 per cent to $15.7m (£8.7m), for the first half of the year.
Reporting interim results, the company said it hoped to be given mine-clearing contracts in Lebanon. Deals for clearance, including UN projects, should be awarded soon, ArmorGroup's chief executive, David Seaton, said.

The group's revenues were up 30 per cent at $134.4m, but pre-tax profits slipped $1m to $3.7m. 
End

Poland to send troops to Afghanistan this week  
Web posted at: 9/20/2006 8:11:54 Source ::: REUTERS 
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=September2006&file=World_News2006092081154.xml

warsaw • Poland will deploy the first wave of a promised new contingent of Nato soldiers to Afghanistan this week, earlier than previously announced, a military official said yesterday. 

Poland, responding to a Nato call for reinforcements, said last week it would send 1,000 additional troops to Afghanistan but said they would not be on the ground until next February. 

Alliance sources said Nato would try to convince Poland to send troops earlier to help quell the heaviest bout of violence in Afghanistan since US-led forces overthrew the Taleban in 2001. 

The decision to send more Polish troops has increased tensions within the ruling coalition. 

General Lech Konopka, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, said because of the situation in Afghanistan, some soldiers would be deployed this week and added to a contingent of some 100 Polish troops already on the ground. 

“We will send some 70 soldiers this week and could send more in the last 10 days of the this month,” said Konopka, adding the idea was to gradually increase the number of soldiers to reach the full deployment of 1,000 by February. 

He said it was unclear whether some of the soldiers would go to the southern provinces, where Nato is battling Taleban insurgents. 

The leftist Self-Defence, a junior coalition party, at odds with ruling Law and Justice over next year’s budget, argues the money being spent on the deployment would be better spent elsewhere. The party has threatened to quit the coalition and trigger early elections.
End

Afghanistan is not Iraq
By Kiran Reddy, Ancaster The Hamilton Spectator (Sep 20, 2006) 
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158702615729&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112876262536

Re: Afghanistan

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, have not only influenced global politics, but have also changed the way we, as Canadians, think.

For the most part, Canadians are strongly opposed to the war in Iraq and the way the United States is handling it.

Many of us have developed strongly "liberal" views as a result of this strong opposition to war.

I share most of these views, but I am strongly opposed to the recent outcry against the war in Afghanistan that has spread as a result of the recent deaths of four Canadian soldiers. The death of Private Mark Anthony Graham hit especially close to home, as many of us watched this Hamilton hero run in the 1992 Olympics.

Although Graham's death was a tragedy, I urge everyone not to confuse the travesty that is the war in Iraq with Canada's peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan. Let us not link these two wars together. In doing so, we stoop to the level of the brainwashed American masses.

We should not allow our opposition to U.S. President George W. Bush's oil-gathering expedition in the Middle East to change into opposition to a UN-sanctioned effort against terrorism in Afghanistan. After all, if the war in Afghanistan was not a just one, Canada wouldn't have joined in the first place.
End


3 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan 
September 20, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/20/eng20060920_304573.html         

Three Taliban militants were killed and two policemen were wounded as they came in contact in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province, police chief of Ghazni said on Wednesday. 

"A police convoy was attacked in Gero district Tuesday and police returned fire as a result three Taliban operatives were killed and two police were injured," Tafsir Khan told Xinhua. 

Taliban militias have failed to take their bodies, he added. 

However, a so-called local commander of Taliban in the area Anis Sharaf rejected the claim, saying five policemen were killed during the firefight. 

Eleven more Taliban militants were killed in the troubled southern Helmand province on Monday, according to officials. 

More than 2,300 people mostly militants are said to have been killed in the ongoing violence in Afghanistan since January this year. 

Source: Xinhua 
More on link

Troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan to remain steady, perhaps even higher
http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5432162&nav=2KPp

PENTAGON Insurgent activity in both Iraq and Afghanistan is leaving the Pentagon with some painful choices involving troop strength.

The choices are not only difficult, but also politically sensitive. Either make more frequent call-ups of some National Guard and Reserve troops or expand the size of the active-duty Army.

General John Abizaid, the commander of U-S forces throughout the Middle East, says the military will maintain, or possibly even increase, force levels of more than 140-thousand troops in Iraq through next spring.

Late last year, military brass had hoped to cut troop strength to 100-thousand by the end of this year
More on link

Leaders to tout troops' role in Afghanistan  
By CP
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2006/09/20/1867216-sun.html

WASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be promoting Canada as a key global player at his first UN speech tomorrow, while trying to mollify critics at home who say the Afghanistan mission is exacting too high a price. 

Observers also expect Harper to appeal for more help from the international community, especially top European allies, as he highlights Canada's contributions in the war-torn country and defends the switch from peacekeeping to active combat. 

It's a delicate line for Harper, who has been accused of aligning his foreign policy, even some of his phrasing, too closely with U.S. President George W. Bush. 

However, in a speech to Parliament on Friday, Afghanistan's president will try to convince Canadian skeptics about the need for this country's continued involvement in Afghanistan. 

Hamid Karzai will not make specific references to the NDP party, which has called for the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan, nor will he target other MPs who personally oppose the military mission. 

He wants to avoid being dragged into domestic politics, but he does want Canadian politicians to hear his message, said Afghanistan's top envoy to Ottawa. 

"He is going to explain the Afghan perspective and convey the wishes and hopes of the Afghan people," said Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador to Ottawa. 

The New Democrats have been calling on Harper to bring the troops home and the Bloc Quebecois is demanding an emergency parliamentary debate. 
End

Serbian army medics to work in Afghanistan
OSLO, Norway, Sept. 20 (UPI)
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060920-084655-3953r

Serbia's Defense minister says a military medical team, as part of Norway's contingent, will be sent to Afghanistan to join NATO-led forces. 

Defense Minister Zoran Stankovic, in Oslo for talks with Norwegian leaders, worked out a plan for the Serbian team of 30 physicians to leave for Afghanistan by the end of September, the Serbian news agency Beta reported Wednesday. 

Stankovic said the Parliament in Belgrade must first approve the team's departure. 

Serbia, which is seeking to become a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program in the near future, would use the Norwegian contingent to send the team to Afghanistan.

End

34 Taliban killed in Afghanistan fighting
POSTED: 1543 GMT (2343 HKT), September 20, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/20/afghanistan.ap/index.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Clashes and bombings left up to 34 Taliban fighters and one policeman dead in five separate incidents in central and southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

Police recovered the bodies of seven suspected Taliban fighters after a two-hour clash with police early Wednesday in a mountainous southern region of Helmand province, district police chief Ghulam Rasool said.

NATO-led soldiers, meanwhile, killed up to 10 suspected insurgents in Helmand's Garmser district Tuesday, a NATO statement said. There were no NATO casualties.

Afghanistan has been suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001. On Monday, three bombings killed at least 19 people, including four Canadian soldiers.

Suspected Taliban fighters ambushed police in Ghazni province on Tuesday, and provincial police chief Tafseer Khan claimed that 13 fighters were killed. But he said no bodies had been recovered because the insurgents removed them from the battlefield.

Khan also said that two police and about 17 fighters were wounded in the fight in Giro district.

Four insurgents were killed in a clash with Afghan soldiers in eastern Paktika province Tuesday, a Defense Ministry statement said. The troops recovered an unspecified amount of ammunition and a mortar.

In the central province of Wardak, one policeman was killed and two wounded after dozens of fighters attacked police, said Mohammed Hassan, the deputy provincial police chief. One of the officer's legs was severed by a rocket-propelled grenade.

A roadside bomb wounded three Afghan soldiers in neighboring Khost province, the ministry said.

Elsewhere, a wedding celebration north of the Afghan capital turned into a scene of sorrow after assailants threw a grenade at the outdoor gathering, killing five women and wounding 18, an official said.

Four suspects were detained after the blast Monday in the village of Sayadan, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Kabul, said Abdul Jabar Takwa, the governor of Parwan province.

The women were celebrating in a garden when assailants threw the explosive device over a wall, Takwa said.

Both the groom and bride came from poor families and the motive for the attack appeared to be a private feud, he said.

In Afghanistan, a conservative Islamic country, men and women celebrate separately at wedding parties.

An American civilian contractor and an Afghan interpreter, meanwhile, surfaced unharmed at the main NATO base in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, two days after being ambushed by gunmen in southwestern Nimroz province, said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a U.S. military spokesman.

Fearing that the pair had been kidnapped, American troops had launched a two-day search and rescue mission in the area, Fitzpatrick said. But the two appeared at Kandahar Air Field on their own.

The two work for U.S.-based L-3 Communications Titan Group, which provides interpreters for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. No one from the company was immediately available for comment.
End

More International Forces Headed to Afghanistan
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1043

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2006 – Several NATO countries have agreed to send additional forces to Afghanistan to fill the troop requirement agreed upon a year and a half ago, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe said today. 
A conference in Warsaw, Poland, earlier this month with the chiefs of defense from all 26 allied nations yielded no offers of additional support for NATO forces in Afghanistan, but extended negotiations after the conference resulted in definite offers from four countries, U.S. Marine Gen. James L. Jones said at a Pentagon news conference. 

These offers, along with several other tentative offers, will bring the NATO troop level in Afghanistan close to 100 percent of what was agreed upon in the alliance’s military plan for Afghanistan, he said. The force is now manned at about 85 percent. 

“What we were looking for was the forces that would give depth and robustness to (the commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force) and give him more maneuverability throughout the country,” Jones said. 

Romania is deploying a battalion, which will arrive in Afghanistan in October and be fully operational by the middle of October, Jones said. This force will constitute the operational reserve for NATO, he said. In addition, Poland has announced the deployment of a maneuver battalion and special operations forces beginning in January. Poland has agreed that this battalion can be used as the tactical theater reserve, which Jones has said is necessary to give the NATO commander flexibility in operations. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (20 Sep 2006)

Romania to send 190 more troops to Afghanistan in response to NATO call
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/WarOnTerrorism/2006/09/18/1857835-ap.html



> The soldiers, who are part of a NATO strategic reserve force, will join 586 Romanian troops already serving in Afghanistan. They are scheduled to leave for Afghanistan next month.



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (20 Sep 2006)

*More articles found 20 Sept 2006*

DoD News Briefing with Gen. Jones from the Pentagon - update on Afghanistan
September 20, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3725

BRYAN WHITMAN (Pentagon spokesman): Good morning. And once again it's my pleasure to introduce to you General James Jones, Commander EUCOM, and also Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He is here along with the rest of the combatant commanders this week and, as always, has offered to give us some of his time to give you an update on Afghanistan. 

          And so we appreciate it, General. And let me turn it right over to you. 

         GEN. JONES: Well, thanks very much. And good to see you all again. I didn't think it was going to be this quick -- (laughter) -- but I'm happy for the occasion, genuinely so. 

         What I'd like to do this morning, with your permission, is just make a couple of opening statements to pick up on where we were when we last talked. I want to update you on Operation Medusa, which occurred in the southern part of the country recently. I'd like to add some more information and some context to our efforts with regard to the overall force generation for the NATO forces in Afghanistan, and then a few words on the long-term way ahead for our efforts in that country. 

          I have a few charts that will magically appear as I talk. 

         This first chart, again, by way of just starting wide and necking down, shows that NATO is engaged in operations on three different continents with 38,000 troops deployed in support of operations ranging from training missions to, as we've seen recently in Afghanistan, some offensive operations. Our main effort remains focused on Afghanistan; that is the alliance's point of main effort right now. The International Stabilization and Assistance Force mission is proving to be the most demanding operation that NATO perhaps ever has been involved in. 

         This next slide shows the expansion of ISAF throughout Afghanistan, starting with the north. And today NATO finds itself responsible for over three-quarters of the country with 37 NATO and non-NATO nations, with over 20,000 troops committed to the effort. 

        The Provincial Reconstruction Teams, the total of which are about 23 throughout the country, are used by NATO increasingly to help establish our presence. 

        We operate primarily in a permissive environment, concentrating on stabilization through the provision of a secure environment, allowing the international community to reconstruct areas that might otherwise be inaccessible to them. PRTs are an essential part of our strategy. They are the most visible expression of good things happening in areas where the government has not been able to establish its presence yet. 

        The government of Afghanistan has welcomed ISAF expansion at every stage. We're now on our third stage in the south and the tangible stability and reconstruction that PRTs bring to the provinces. 

       Now with regard to Operation Medusa, there is no doubt that COMISAF -- commander of ISAF, General Dave Richards, has had a most demanding tactical challenge in the southern region. As you know, NATO assumed operational responsibility for the southern region from the coalition on the 1st of July, and we've been involved in offensive operations in that region almost continuously ever since. 

       Operation Medusa recently terminated its active phase or its offensive phase this past weekend. And as shown on this slide, this operation was designed to defeat insurgents in the vicinity of Pashmul and Pensjwayi in the Kandahar province in order to set the conditions for reconstruction and development. This was an offensive operation that was generated by the Taliban and forces who oppose our presence, oppose the Karzai government and decided to engage NATO in perhaps its first real operational ground test in a long, long time. 

       This next slide shows that the operation area itself, which we'll refer to as the Pashmul Pocket, is located roughly 50 kilometers to the west of Kandahar and is situated between Highway 1 in the north and the Arghandab River in the south. Kandahar itself, as you know, is of very important strategic as well as symbolic importance. It sits at the crossroads of many things. For instance, it's in the crossroads of the Taliban's former heartland. It's in an area that massively produces opium, narcotics trade. It has been beset by criminal and lawlessness, ineffective governmental structures and no permanent troop strength of any consequence yet, I mean, since we've been in Afghanistan. 

       We've had -- the coalition has been able to sustain special operations missions of the kinetic type, but this is not a part of the country that has felt or even seen much of reconstruction with the -- because of the freedom of action that the opposing military forces have had in that up until this point. 

       So the arrival of 6,000 NATO troops who had no intention of going anywhere was a culture shock to the region, and I think it's fair to say that it's primarily the Taliban decided to make a test case of this region. And I've said that we were surprised by the level of violence, and that's true. But what was really most surprising in the change in tactics because they decided to stand and fight in a fairly conventional linear sense, and they paid a very heavy price for it. And the outcome of it was that they retreated, and we are now in the consolidation phase, and we are going to start bringing aid and reconstruction to that region. 

       So our intent throughout was the signal to the insurgents, the government of Afghanistan and the people of the region as well as to the international community, the NATO forces would not back down from exercising robust and overwhelming combat power when necessary. It was also designed to demoralize the Taliban and their supporters and deter them from believing that they could achieve a military victory on a fairly conventional -- in a fairly conventional battle and seize the initiative. 

       This operation was comprised of troops and assets from five nations -- Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and Afghan national army battalions. The operation was further enabled by the prompt movement of Romanian, Portuguese and Estonian forces in the key operational support missions in the southern region. 

       In my view, it demonstrated the joint and combined operations of the nations and commands involved extensive coalition air support was made available over and above the Dutch F-16s already available to COMISAF; CFC A was very, very generous in providing rifle companies -- two rifle companies from the U.S. and nonstop tac air on call for the -- for ISAF, which certainly made a huge difference. 

       The success of our efforts was recently acknowledged when Qari Mohammed Yousaf Ahmadi, generally viewed as the Taliban's chief spokesman, announced to the Afghan Islamic press on 15 September that -- and I quote -- "The Taliban forces have conducted a tactical retreat from the Pashmul and Safaid Tawan areas of the Panjwayi district in Kandahar province," unquote. This was not a decision that was theirs alone. I assure you it was encouraged highly by ISAF. 

       On this next slide you'll see that following the successful completion of offensive operations, that our forces immediately began the stabilization phase of Operation Medusa. In this phase we intend to provide immediate battle-damage repair and quick-impact material assistance for the returning population. The U.S., for example, has made available half a million dollars to address this urgent immediate need. As you can see on this chart, ISAF is engaged with the broader international community to enable and facilitate the return of internally displaced persons, and set the conditions for longer-term reconstruction and development activities. 

       At the end of this conference, I'll make available to you several charts that outline the longer-term reconstruction and development activities programmed in Operation Medusa's area of operation, reconstruction and development activities in the south, and a synopsis of development activities in all of Afghanistan since 2006. 
More on link

US helicopters operating in Afghanistan intrude into Pakistan
Sep 20, 2006, 15:52 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1203332.php/US_helicopters_operating_in_Afghanistan_intrude_into_Pakistan

Islamabad - Six US military helicopters intruded into Pakistan airspace on Tuesday while operating against militants in eastern Afghanistan, the newspaper Dawn reported Wednesday. 

It quoted unidentified officials and locals as saying the helicopter gunships appeared over Lawara Mandi area of the North Waziristan tribal region following an attack on US-led coalition forces in Pipali area across the border in Afghanistan. 

Neither the US forces nor the Pakistani border forces took any action during the intrusions, the sources said. 

Senior Pakistani military officers later flew to the area to assess the situation, according to the newspaper. 

Pakistan's government signed a peace deal and stopped its military operations against the pro-Taliban tribes inhabiting North and South Waziristan regions earlier this month on the promise the tribes would not assist any militant activity across the border. 

Islamabad signed the deal with the tribesmen, who have kinship relations in Afghanistan, as its military operations against the tribes was shifting their sympathies towards the Taliban. 

US Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher stated in a speech in Washington last week that 'the agreement really has the potential to work.' But other US elements and its allies continue to blame the current surge in Taliban militancy in Afghanistan on Pakistan. 
End


----------



## MarkOttawa (20 Sep 2006)

NATO Offensive Kills More Than 1,000 Taliban Fighters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/20/AR2006092001106.html

No mention of Canadian, Brits or Dutch.

Taliban Rebels Said to Lose First Head-On Battle
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/world/asia/21aghancnd.html?hp&ex=1158811200&en=6df0e7db8d5a6304&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The major US media can be infuriating, not that the Brits are much better.

Canadian media do pay attention:

Canadian-led offensive may have killed 1,500 Taliban fighters
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/20/jones-afghan060920.html

Reuters has a straight report (how rare these days); any major Anglosphere media carry it?:

NATO says 1,000-1,500 Taliban died in Afghan fight



> Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers are leading a NATO push into the south, the most lawless part of Afghanistan, and have faced a more aggressive Taliban than expected.



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## Lockness (21 Sep 2006)

*'You get battle-inoculated pretty quickly'*
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2366294,00.html

From Tim Albone at Camp Bastion, southern Afghanistan

British forces' determination is undermining rebel credibility 


BRITISH forces in Afghanistan insist that despite the surprising toughness of Taleban fighters they are more than up to the task. 
“This is what the Army is meant to do,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Tootal, commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, whose troops make up the bulk of the 4,300 troops Britain has in Helmand province. 

The fiercest battles the troops have faced have taken place in Sangin, Nauzad, Musa Qala and Kajaki, all in the north of the province. In these towns the British are based in platoon houses, administrative centres that have been strengthened with sangars and sandbags, which provide the troops with a rudimentary base. 

Before the British deployed to the towns, Colonel Tootal insisted, they “very nearly fell to the Taleban”. 

“The Taleban thought they were going to push us out of all the district centres in three days and that’s what they told the people,” he said. “The fact that we are still there is a big blow to their creditability.” 

Lieutenant Angus Mathers, 26, with 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, was based in Nauzad. During a particularly busy two-week period the Gurkhas were attacked on 28 occasions. “We had 28 tics [troops in contact] in two weeks. They ranged from one hour to five or six hours,” said Lieutenant Mathers. 

During several of the battles Taleban fighters got to within 10metres (30ft) of the Gurkha platoon house. They launched rocket-propelled grenades, threw grenades and fired Kalashnikov assault rifles. 

“It was terrifying,” said Gurkha Rifleman Dic Limba, 22. “Ten metres is close contact. At night you could see the flash of the weapon and the tracer rounds. Some of the boys got hit in their helmets. I was firing a 50 cal and got hit on my weapon.” 

Although most of the attacks in Nauzad took place during the night, the Taleban also had a sniper who fired during the day. “It was very accurate,” said Rifleman Limba. 

Lieutenant Mathers told The Times: “After your first battles, including a six-hour one, you get battle inoculated pretty quickly. The guys are battle hardened.” 

“They were never going to get into our platoon house,” added Lieutenant Mathers.

END

Now there is an image... a Taliban who managed to make it inside a Gurkha platoon house for some close quarter fighting.  Time to break out them Khukuris!


----------



## GAP (21 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 21 Sept 2006*

Canadian forces regroup, review tactics after bombing
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060920.wxafghan20/BNStory/National/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — One day after a suicide bomb killed four Canadians, the troops in southern Afghanistan were reviewing the details and asking themselves hard questions: How could they have guessed the Taliban would employ an elderly man as a bomber? How can they defend against an explosive so powerful that it killed a cow 70 metres away?

The most difficult question, however, was how to continue the softer side of their operations, mingling with civilians and helping with reconstruction, after the risks of letting their guard down had been so violently illustrated.

"I don't know if we should change our tactics, but definitely be more vigilant," said Private Brendan Dawson, of Alpha Company, a unit of the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry who helped carry wounded soldiers to helicopters in the chaotic aftermath of the explosion.

"I guess there's always stuff you can't protect against," he said. "It came out of nowhere. The guys, they couldn't have done anything."
More on link

Prime Minister questioned over comments
GLORIA GALLOWAY 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060920.AFGHANHARP20/TPStory/

Ottawa -- Opposition members are demanding that Prime Minister Stephen Harper explain what he meant when he said during a television interview that the lives lost in Afghanistan may have strengthened the Canadian military.

"This is the first time in some time that Canada's moved to the front lines of a peace-and-security operation, and I think it's really sinking into us all how difficult that is and what that really means," Mr. Harper said during an interview with CBC televised Monday night.

"At the same time, I can tell you it's certainly engaged our military. It's, I think, making them a better military, notwithstanding, or maybe in some way because of, the casualties."

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh and NDP defence critic Dawn Black rose in Question Period yesterday to ask the Prime Minister to clarify his statements.
More on link

U.S. and U.K. have created crisis in Afghanistan
By Nicholas Solntseff, Hamilton The Hamilton Spectator (Sep 21, 2006) 
Re: 'The War We Never Declared' (Sept. 19)
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158790226557&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112876262536

The story outlines the position of Stephen Harper's Conservative government and NDP Leader Jack Layton's opposition to Canada's military action in Afghanistan.

A June document from the Senlis Council -- a European think tank with offices in Kabul, London, Brussels and Paris -- reports that after five years, the international reconstruction mission led by the United States and the United Kingdom has failed Afghanistan and its people. A military approach and aggressive poppy crop eradication strategies, aggravated by drought, have led to extreme poverty and starvation for hundreds of thousands. This has led to the return of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. The U.S. and the U.K. are responsible for these humanitarian and security crises, which make Afghanistan a renewed menace for its own people and the world.

Canada and the international community continue to unquestioningly accept America's fundamentally flawed policy approach in southern Afghanistan, thereby jeopardizing the success of military operations in the region and the stabilization, reconstruction and development objectives. Canadian troops and Afghan civilians are paying with their lives for Canada's adherence to the U.S. government's failing military and counter-narcotics policies.

We should not blindly accept either the "for" or "against" statements made by politicians, but try to understand the problems faced by Afghans in trying to make a living. It is clear to me the Taliban now represent an insurgency whose goal is to improve life in the villages and the surrounding countryside. History tells us that insurgency cannot be defeated by force.
More on link

Afghanistan’s President Notes Progress, Problems
By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1074

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2006 – Although progress has been profound and his country continues to move forward, terrorists have stepped up their efforts to derail that progress, Afghanistan’s president told the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday. 
“We have seen terrorism rebounding as terrorists have infiltrated our borders to step up their murderous campaign against our people,” Hamid Karzai said. 

Terrorists, he told the assembly, see a successful and prosperous Afghanistan as a knockout blow for their aims there. 

“That is why our schools and clinics get burned down and our … teachers and our doctors get killed,” he said. “That is why, today, 200,000 of our students who went to school a year ago are no longer able to do so.” 

He noted that polio cases in his country have risen from four in 2005 to 27 so far this year. 

“All of these cases have occurred in some areas of southern Afghanistan, where terrorists are preventing children from access to vaccination and health care,” Karzai said. “Terrorists are prepared to cross any boundaries and commit horrific acts of violence to try to derail Afghanistan from its path to success. They want the international community to fail in its collective endeavor to help Afghanistan rebuild. 

“That is why they decapitate elderly women, blow up mosques full of worshipers, and kill school-going children in indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas,” he continued. “And that is why they are killing international soldiers and civilians who have come to Afghanistan to help the Afghan people, like the four Canadian soldiers who were killed four days ago while distributing notebooks and candies to children in a village in Kandahar, or the Turkish engineer who was building roads in Helmand.” 

The Afghan president told the multinational gathering of the progress his country has seen since he last addressed the body two years ago and noted that millions of Afghans voted in the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. 
More on link

NATO troop needs in Afghanistan being met, general says
Sep 20, 2006,
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1203449.php/NATO_troop_needs_in_Afghanistan_being_met_general_says

Washington - NATO countries have committed to sending more troops to assist with the alliance's operation in Afghanistan, the top NATO commander said Wednesday. 

General James Jones, the American general who heads NATO military operations, said Poland and Romania have agreed to send more troops, as have Canada and Britain, meeting his request to increase the force by about 2,500 soldiers. 
More on link

NJ firm win $1.4B Afghanistan contract  
Thursday September 21, 2006 (0056 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154840

KANSAS CITY: A joint venture between Black & Veatch and The Louis Berger Group Inc. has won a $1.4 billion, five-year contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development to rebuild infrastructure in Afghanistan. 
Ownership of the joint venture is split evenly between the two companies, Black & Veatch spokesman George Minter said Tuesday. He wouldn?t say how much revenue Black & Veatch will get from the contract. 

Minter said that the $1.4 billion is an overall cap for the project and that both companies will use many Afghani subcontractors to do the work, which fits the USAID?s goal of standing up Afghanistan?s economy during the rehabilitation. 

The Louis Berger Group, privately held and based in East Orange, N.J., is a global engineering firm specializing in roads and bridges. Black & Veatch will complement that specialty with its engineering expertise in power and water infrastructure. 

In a release, the companies said their work in Afghanistan will include rehabilitating power transmission networks, generation capacity, roads, water and sanitation systems, and public building improvements. 
More on link

Just say no to opium-poppy cultivation in Afghanistan
By John K. Cooley September 21, 2006 edition

ATHENS – It's time for the US and its allies to face up to historical responsibilities by attacking the root of current violence and war in Afghanistan: the alarming resurgence of the Afghan opium trade. 
Violence and insurgency, copying the suicide bombings and other desperate tactics seen in Iraq, are financed by the drug lords and traders who profit from the record production and traffic in opium and its most dangerous by-product, heroin. 

 Antonio Maria Costa, who directs the UN's anticrime and antinarcotics agency, UNDOC, has just provided stark details of a new UN report. Opium poppy cultivation, processing, and transport have become Afghanistan's top employers, its main source of capital, and the principal base of its economy. 

NATO forces are taking heavy losses fighting the Taliban in the south, especially in Helmand Province, the source of the lion's share of opium. US troops and a US-led coalition continue to police other regions, with the US still pursuing Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda lieutenants.

Meanwhile, the drug culture, fostered by Afghan authorities, is turning Afghanistan into the narco-state it was during the Taliban years before the theocracy banned opium poppy culture in 2000 and 2001.

UNDOC's annual report shows that despite current worldwide expenditures of over $2 billion to fight drugs, Afghanistan in 2006 breaks its own records.
More on link

Afghanistan, Pakistan clash over terror fight
20 Sep 2006 21:37:33 GMT Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20233913.htm

By David Ljunggren

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday angrily rejected Afghan charges that he was being soft on the Taliban and said Kabul should be doing more to stamp out the militant threat.

The spat with Afghan President Hamid Karzai marked an unseemly rift between two leaders who met in early September and agreed to do more to fight Taliban fighters largely blamed for a recent upsurge in violence.

Karzai told the United Nations on Wednesday that foreign troops in Afghanistan would not be able to end Taliban assaults unless "terrorist sanctuaries" outside the country were destroyed -- a clear reference to Pakistan.

NATO troops are battling to put down the heaviest outbreak of violence in Afghanistan since 2001 when U.S.-led forces overthrew the Islamic-fundamentalist Taliban, which had been sheltering Osama bin-Laden and his al Qaeda organization.

Musharaff, complaining that "what President Karzai has said is not the correct thing," said Kabul did not fully understand what was going on in the region.

"I am already doing a lot in Pakistan. They need to be doing more in Afghanistan," he told a news conference, saying Taliban commander Mullah Omar and his top subordinates were in the southern Afghan region of Kandahar.

"They (Afghan forces) need to go for them. Military action is required against him and his command echelon," he said.
More on link

 Afghan reconstruction
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0921/p09s01-coop.html

Afghanistan is struggling to recover from more than a quarter-century of conflict, with violence still raging in the south and southeast. It is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world and home to a booming narcotics trade. 

Six million fled during the conflict 
600 children die every day 
Around 35,000 foreign troops

Billions of dollars have poured into rebuilding Afghanistan since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime in 2001. But many Afghans are frustrated at the pace of reconstruction efforts, which have been dogged by security problems and allegations of corruption and mismanagement. 

The Taliban were toppled by U.S. and mujahideen forces in 2001 after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. 

Remnants of the Taliban fighting to oust thousands of foreign troops and Afghanistan's new western-backed government have stepped up a campaign of bomb attacks, ambushes and raids during 2006. Security officials also blame land disputes, banditry, the drugs trade and clan feuds for rising violence. 

But there is some good news. Millions of former refugees have streamed back, the judiciary and army are being reconstituted and roads and hospitals rebuilt. Women, who were barred from education and jobs during the Taliban years, are now allowed to vote and some have won seats in parliament. 
More on link

Top NATO Commander Military Can’t Rebuild Afghanistan Alone
September 19, 2006
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/09/19/top-nato-commander-military-cant-rebuild-afghanistan-alone/

NATO’s top commander U.S. General James L. Jones has given reporters an in-depth update on NATO operations in Afghanistan, where attacks by Taleban forces have increased dramatically.  The general said progress has been made, but strongly urged more help from the international community. 

U.S. Marine General James Jones, NATO’s supreme commander of allied forces in Europe, says the just concluded Operation Medusa in southern Afghanistan was an unexpectedly tough battle, and a setback for Taleban forces. 

“But what was really most surprising is the change in the tactics because they decided to stand and fight in a fairly conventional, linear sense.  And they paid a very heavy price for it.  And the outcome was that they retreated and we are now in the consolidation phase and we are going to start bringing aid and construction to that region.”

The general says around 1,000, and maybe more, out of a total of some 4,000 Taleban fighters were killed during the two week operation. 

Operation Medusa took place about 80 kilometers west of the city of Kandahar, a key symbolic and strategic region of the country.  He said it lies in the crossroads of the former stronghold of the Taleban, an area that produces opium and is beset by lawlessness and ineffective local government. 
More on link

UN Official Warns of Possible Afghanistan Collapse  
By Dan Robinson  Capitol Hill 20 September 2006
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-20-voa77.cfm  

A United Nations official who recently called for NATO forces in Afghanistan to help combat the sharply expanding opium trade says the country is becoming increasingly unstable. VOA's Dan Robinson reports on remarks to U.S. lawmakers by Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime.

The comments to the House International Relations Committee come less than one week before Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai meets with President Bush at the White House.

Noting Karzai's warning last year that either Afghanistan destroys opium or opium will destroy Afghanistan, Costa says the country is dangerously close to the second option.

"Foreign pressures are making Afghanistan the turf for proxy wars," said Antonio Maria Costa. "The country is being destabilized by an inflow of insurgents, and weapons and money and intelligence. There is collusion from neighboring countries and this is a problem in itself."

Calling counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics two fronts in the same war, Costa repeats his call for NATO to be actively engaged in the fight against the opium trade.

"NATO troops should be given the mandate and the means to help the Afghan army to fight both the war against the Taleban and the opium trade, to destroy the labs, disband the opium bazaars, open as they are, attack the opium convoy and bring to justice the big traders," he said.
More on link

Iran, Afghanistan stress expansion of ties  
New York, Sept 21, IRNA
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0609210378105707.htm

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, here Wednesday stressed further enhancement of Tehran-Kabul cooperation. 

The two presidents met on the sidelines of the 61st annual session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Ahmadinejad, in the meeting, spoke of the common grounds and potential for raising the level of cooperation between the two brotherly and friendly countries. 

By sharing its experiences and expertise in the interest of enhancing Tehran-Kabul cooperation, Iran also signifies its willingness to help in whatever way to increase security in the region and speed up development as well as contribute to a better life for the Afghan people, he said. 

He laid emphasis on following up the tripartite agreement signed between Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan to materialize common objectives as Persian language countries. 

Improvement and expansion of transportation networks, railways in particular, provide a strong incentive for both countries to clinch more contacts between active participants in the economic sectors of the three countries, he added. 

Karzai, for his part, highlighted the importance his country gives to promotion of ties with Tehran in all fields. 

He described the trend of implementation of agreements previously signed between the two countries as "positive" and "getting faster." Renewing his invitation to Ahmadinejad to visit Kabul, he said Afghanistan is ready to hold another session of the Tehran-Kabul Joint Commission to follow up previous agreements and conclude new ones. 

Karzai also praised Iran's role in establishing peace and stability in the region, saying "the Islamic Republic of Iran has always played an effective role in establishing peace and stability in the region." 
On Ahmadinejad's speech at the 61st annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York, he said it was "very important" and reflected the views of independent world countries. 

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was among the first speakers at the inaugural session of the world body on Tuesday
More on link

French defense minister rules out sending additional troops to Afghanistan   
The Associated Press Published: September 21, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/21/europe/EU_GEN_France_Afghanistan_Troops.php 
*and on this link*
France cannot help in south Afghanistan: minister
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-21T084725Z_01_L21404054_RTRUKOC_0_US-AFGHAN-FRANCE.xml&archived=False

France's defense minister on Thursday ruled out sending more troops to Afghanistan, saying that French forces were already engaged elsewhere.

Speaking on RFI radio, Michele Alliot-Marie said France was not in a position to respond to a recent NATO request for 2,500 troops to augment forces in Afghanistan.

"Let us not forget that we are present on a very large number of external fronts," Alliot-Marie said. "I think that other countries that are perhaps less engaged have the possibility of participating in this reinforcement."

France last month contributed 2,000 troops to a reinforced U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, rocked by 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants. It also has contingents of peacekeepers in the civil war-torn Ivory Coast and elsewhere.

Alliot-Marie called the current situation in Kabul — where France heads military operations — "fragile" and insisted that all of France's 1,000-strong contingent in Afghanistan was needed in the capital.

"It is out of the question that we take remove part of our forces from Kabul to send them to southern Afghanistan," she said.

Several European nations agreed Wednesday to provide more troops for NATO in Afghanistan, where violence has surged and efforts to eradicate the opium crops are floundering. NATO's top commander, U.S. Gen. James L. Jones, said that agreements would nearly meet the full troop requirements. There are currently about 20,000 NATO troops there, and 21,000 U.S. troops.
End

Italian soldier killed in Afghanistan road accident
By DPA  Kabul, Sep 21 (DPA) 
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/62154.php/Italian_soldier_killed_in_Afghanistan_road_accident

An Italian soldier serving in Afghanistan was killed in a road accident near Kabul, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF

Two other Italian troops were hurt Wednesday when their armoured vehicle overturned while going up an incline, said the ISAF, which is aiding the Afghan government to establish security in the strife-torn country. 

The accident occurred during a routine patrol outside the capital while the soldiers were on their way to Musay-Tal, it added.

The injured were taken to an ISAF hospital.
End

5 years later, a more sophisticated mission in Afghanistan
By Andrew Maykuth Posted on Thu, Sep. 21, 2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15572167.htm

PECH RIVER VALLEY, Afghanistan - The soldiers of C Company huddled around the radio as the bad news spread: Insurgents had ambushed a platoon about 10 miles upriver, killing the turret gunner of an armored humvee.

"One KIA," said First Sgt. John Mangels, a 20-year veteran, swearing under his breath. "One wounded."

A quiet rage ran through the main camp in eastern Afghanistan that day, Aug. 17. Army Capt. Robert Stanton, the company commander, hovered over a topographical map with one of his platoon leaders, jabbing at routes the Taliban might take to flee into the Hindu Kush mountains.

The Americans' instincts told them to strike back with great force - to send a strong message to anyone associated with the militants who had set up the ambush. But their training instructed them to retaliate only when the time was right, at precisely the right target - that winning over the population was just as important as killing the enemy.

"A lot of Afghans are sitting on the fence," said Mangels, 43, who has also served in Iraq. "If you are careful, they see that, and they come to your side. But if you kill the wrong people, it's damage that takes months - years - to recover from."

Five years after America launched the war on terrorism here after the Sept. 11 attacks, the battle in Afghanistan has evolved into a protracted counterinsurgency campaign stretching along much of the 1,500-mile Pakistani border, where resurgent Taliban forces live among the Afghans or find sanctuary in tribal areas across the border.

U.S. conventional military forces, trained to employ shock-and-awe power, have retooled for a more sophisticated mission. For a year before C Company and the other units of the 10th Mountain Division's Third Brigade Combat Team was deployed to Afghanistan in March, even the lowest infantryman was drilled in the new doctrine. The soldiers learned Afghan language, culture and history. No more calling the enemy "Haji" - not when the Afghan government that the Americans are supporting is Muslim, too.

"We are trying to advance the state of the art in counterinsurgency here," said Col. John W. Nicholson Jr., the brigade commander whose forces are stationed in eastern Afghanistan.
More on link

4 Suspected Taliban Die in Afghanistan  
By NOOR KHAN , 09.21.2006, 09:44 AM 
http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/09/21/ap3034968.html

Police clashed with militants who tried to set fire to an oil tanker in southern Afghanistan, killing four suspected members of the Taliban, a police official said Thursday. 

Police confronted the militants Wednesday on the main Kandahar-Kabul highway in Zabul province, said Noor Mohammed Paktin, the provincial police chief. One policeman was also injured. 

Also Wednesday, NATO-led troops detained five suspected militants, including a regional insurgent leader, as they rode on motorbikes in Zabul's Arghandab district, Paktin said. 

The five were sent to a NATO military base for questioning, he said. 

Southern Afghanistan has been a hotbed of the resurgent Taliban militants, who are battling Afghan and NATO forces with a ferocity that has surprised many foreign military and political leaders. 

Authorities found the body of a Turkish national who was kidnapped last month along with another Turk whose body was already recovered, said Yasin Khan, from the private security firm USPI, which has been helping the authorities. 

An official with the Turkish construction company Konlit, which employed the victims, said a security officer by the name of Mustafa Semih Turfal had been kidnapped in August, but there was no information on his whereabouts. 

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed Tuesday the militants killed the Turk in the Yakhthal area of southern Helmand's Gereshk district after his company failed to meet demands to leave Afghanistan. 

An Italian soldier, meanwhile, died and two others were injured when their armored vehicle overturned near the Afghan capital, NATO said. 

The victims were on a patrol just outside the capital late Wednesday when the vehicle overturned on a steep incline, the statement said. 
End


Chong; “Canada is in Afghanistan… to protect our national interest”.
Posted on Thursday, September 21  Minister Chong's press release:
http://www.thehaltonherald.ca/phpnuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=111

Ottawa: Afghanistan under the Taliban was a country under siege from within. Schools and religious institutions were destroyed, women and girls were denied even the most basic human rights such as schooling and terrorist organizations received safe harbour and training. These facts are not in dispute, but what has been questioned lately is why Canadian Forces personnel are in Afghanistan and what it is we are hoping to achieve.


Let me be clear, Canada is in Afghanistan at the invitation of the Afghan government to help Afghanistan rebuild, to fulfill our obligations to NATO and the UN (Resolutions 1363, 1378, 1383, 1386, 1390, 1401, 1413, 1419, 1444, 1453, 1471, 1510, 1536, 1589, 1563, 1623, 1707) and to protect our national interests. 


Freedom, democracy, the respect for human rights and the rule of law are fundamental to the Canadian way of life. Canada has always stood by our allies when freedom was threatened. As a founding member of NATO, we take seriously our commitment to NATO that an attack on any member nation is an attack on all member nations. 


While it can be argued that the war in Iraq shifted some of the focus off of Afghanistan and this has allowed the Taliban to regain a presence in some regions, this does not detract from the simple fact that our current mission is entirely in line with Canadian tradition. From the beaches of Normandy to the Korean War, Cyprus to the Golan Heights, Canadians have willingly put themselves in harm’s way. The dangers to our military personnel are very real and should never be underestimated. But now more than ever, it is critical that our troops and those of our NATO allies continue their mission – the future of Afghanistan depends on it.


If we are to achieve any measure of success in the region then we must continue to help the Afghan people rebuild their country so that it can stand on its own as a stable, prosperous and independent country. To this end, our government has committed $1 billion over ten years in development assistance. The benefits of our assistance are already beginning to show as proven by the 12 million people who registered to vote in the first series of democratic elections ever held in that country and by the nearly 5 million children who are now attending school. There is a real and palpable sense of hope in Afghanistan that did not exist even just five years ago. 
Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will Afghanistan be rebuilt on a prescribed timeline. Nation building takes time and will require our sustained support. To withdraw prematurely would jeopardize the very future our young men and women have put their lives on the line to protect. It would most certainly cast doubt on any future international mission that we might engage in. That is not who we are as a nation. Peace does not come without a price, nor does it come about with wishful thinking and it does a disservice to our history and traditions to pretend otherwise.
More on link

Louis Berger rehabilitates infrastructure in Afghanistan  
http://home.nestor.minsk.by/build/news/2006/09/2108.html

The Berger Group, in joint venture with Black & Veatch, was awarded the Afghanistan Infrastructure and Rehabilitation Program (AIRP) contract by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The $1.4 billion contract extends through 2011 and will focus on the rehabilitation and construction of vital energy, water and transportation infrastructure throughout the country.

The AIRP will initially focus on improving and extending roads and rehabilitating power transmission networks and power generation capacity throughout Afghanistan. Subsequent work will address urban development needs and services, water and sanitation infrastructure as well as public buildings
End


----------



## big bad john (21 Sep 2006)

http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_20Sept06_168.htm?tsfsg=671a8c16c81e9d71323961f389ad20d5

ISAF mount rescue attempt in Southern Afghanistan 
Release #2006-168 20 September 2006 

DELARAM, [NIMROZ PROVINCE], Afghanistan - 20 September 2006

Forces from PRT Farah mounted a two-day rescue attempt following the ambush of an American civilian and an Afghan interpreter in Delaram, Nimroz Province. 

A Quick Reaction Force from ISAF's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Farah responded to a request for assistance from soldiers of the US headquarters in Bagram. 

An employee of L-3 Communications Titan Group and an interpreter travelling from Kandahar to Herat had escaped their captors following an ambush in Delaram, and had gone into hiding. US ground forces searched door to door for the two men, working closely with Spanish air support, who were prepared for a rapid rescue mission. Lieutenant-Colonel Ed Boyer, Deputy Commander at PRT Farah said; "To our dismay, we were unable to locate them at the time." 

The pair were discovered on Tuesday morning, with the help of local people in Delaram and transported safely to Kandahar, where they were handed over to coalition forces. Lieutenant-Colonel Boyer added; "The PRT responded quickly, and stand ready to support any assigned rescue mission." 

L-3 Communications Titan Group are a defence and security company based in Virginia in the USA, with 10,000 employees working on over 2,000 contracts. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Information 
ISAF Public Information Office

Press Office +93 (0) 799511155
Mobile: 0093 (0) 799 55 8291
http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF 
pressoffice@isaf-hq.nato.int 


http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_20Sept06_167.htm?tsfsg=acc62ff8c7da5416e90f97ab472b9d93

ISAF soldiers kill up to 10 insurgents and destroy 3 vehicles in Garmsir 
Release #2006-167 20 September 2006 

KABUL, Afghanistan - 20 September 2006

ISAF soldiers from the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) were engaged by several insurgents at the district centre of Garmsir in Helmand Province yesterday afternoon. The ISAF soldiers received incoming fire from small arms and 107mm rockets, shortly after spotting a number of insurgents carrying a heavy machine gun. ISAF forces engaged the insurgents with machine gun fire and close air support. 

Battle damage assessment indicates that three insurgent vehicles were destroyed with up to ten insurgents killed. There were no ISAF casualties. Soldiers from the OMLT work closely with the Afghan National Army and Police in a training and mentoring role. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Information 
ISAF Public Information Office

Press Office +93 (0) 799511155
Mobile: 0093 (0) 799 55 8291
http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF 
pressoffice@isaf-hq.nato.int 

http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF/Update/Press_Releases/newsrelease/2006/Release_21Sept06_173.htm?tsfsg=4a318ce49d7903da2beb721216a2c132

ISAF soldier dies, 2 injured in Kabul road accident 
Release #2006-173 21 September 2006 

KABUL, Afghanistan - 21 September 2006

An ISAF armoured vehicle overturned on a steep incline at 23:20 last night, while on a routine patrol just outside Kabul on the road towards the Musay Valley. 

One soldier was killed and 2 lightly injured. The injured soldiers, who were able to move by themselves, were taken to an ISAF medical facility for treatment. 

The Italian ministry of defense has confirmed that it was an Italian soldier that died. 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact Information 
ISAF Public Information Office

Press Office +93 (0) 799511155
Mobile: 0093 (0) 799 55 8291
http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF 
pressoffice@isaf-hq.nato.int


----------



## GAP (22 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 22 Sept 2006*

Canadian leader: 'No quick fixes' on Afghanistan
POSTED: 1821 GMT (0221 HKT), September 21, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/09/21/canada.afghan.reut/index.html

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- The international effort against Taliban militants in Afghanistan faces major long-term problems and cannot succeed by military means alone, an unusually downbeat Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.

Canada has 2,300 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar, scene of a series of major clashes with the Taliban. In the last three months alone, 20 Canadians have died, prompting ever louder calls for the troops to be brought back home.

"Let us be realistic. The challenges facing Afghanistan are enormous. There will be no quick fixes. Moreover, success cannot be assured by military means alone," Harper told the U.N. General Assembly.

Harper -- in some of his gloomiest comments on Afghanistan since his Conservatives won the January 23 election -- said the international community could not afford to fail.

"We have responded. But we haven't made Afghanistan's progress irreversible -- not yet. ... We are therefore acutely aware that the United Nations' job in Afghanistan is not done," he said.

"Difficulties don't daunt us. But lack of common purpose and will in this body would. ... If we fail the Afghan people, we will be failing ourselves."

Harper is under fire from critics who say he has not done nearly enough to explain why Canada is fighting in Afghanistan rather than focusing on the reconstruction effort. Four Canadian soldiers died in a bomb blast Monday.

There are around 41,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, but Ottawa -- complaining it is carrying too much of the burden -- wants other NATO nations to contribute more. (Watch NATO's commander describe the Taliban's expected reaction to NATO forces -- 2:14)

Last week Canada said it was sending 200 more troops and a squadron of Leopard tanks to reinforce its mission.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is due to address Canada's Parliament on Friday.

Harper was more upbeat when he spoke to the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday night, playing down recent opinion polls that show most Canadians want the troops to come back.

"I don't really accept that Canadians are opposed to the mission. I think what Canadians regret, what hurts Canadians a lot, is seeing their brave men and women in uniform lose their lives," he said.
More on link
Building bridges to locals in Afghanistan
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0920/p06s02-wosc.html

$43 million will go to reconstruction in five provinces in bid to reduce Taliban influence.

KANDAGAL, AFGHANISTAN – The generals and governor strode across the 230-ft. span in eastern Afghanistan - the longest Bailey Bridge built during combat since World War II, the military says - with an optimism they want to spread across this divided valley where US and Afghan troops fight almost daily battles against the Taliban. 
"Once they see the joy of reconstruction, many people will come to our side," provincial governor Didar Shalizai tells US Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley. "They will run toward us." 
More on link

Pakistan: U.S. threatened to bomb us back to Stone Age
POSTED: 0039 GMT (0839 HKT), September 21, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/21/pakistan.threat.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan says the United States threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the 9/11 attacks if he did not help America's war on terror.

Musharraf says the threat was delivered by Richard Armitage, then the deputy secretary of state, to Musharraf's intelligence director, the Pakistani leader told CBS-TV's "60 Minutes."

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,' " Musharraf said in the interview to be shown Sunday on the CBS television network. (Watch how Armitage shook up the Pakistan intelligence chief -- 1:35)

It was insulting, Musharraf said. "I think it was a very rude remark," he told reporter Steve Kroft.

But, Musharraf said he reacted responsibly. "One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation and that is what I did," he said.

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the conversation.

Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan, wouldn't say such a thing and didn't have the authority to do it. Armitage said he did have a tough message for Pakistan, saying the Muslim nation was either "with us or against us," according to CNN. Armitage said he didn't know how his message was recounted so differently to Musharraf.

In a speech in January 2002, four months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Musharraf gave a speech in which he clearly came down on the side of reform at home and opposition to Islamic fundamentalism.

Pakistan to this day is considered an ally of the United States in the struggle with militant groups. Sometimes, however, Pakistan appears reluctant to go after the Taliban, which controlled neighboring Afghanistan until 2001 and has intensified its insurgency in the southern part of the country in recent months.
More on link

Bush would send troops inside Pakistan to catch bin Laden
POSTED: 0544 GMT (1344 HKT), September 22, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/20/bush.intv/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush said Wednesday he would order U.S. forces to go after Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan if he received good intelligence on the fugitive al Qaeda leader's location.

"Absolutely," Bush said.

The president made the comments Wednesday in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. (Watch Bush state his position on Iran and the war on terror -- 18:06)

Although Pakistan has said it won't allow U.S. troops to operate within its territory, "we would take the action necessary to bring him to justice."

But Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, told reporters Wednesday at the United Nations that his government would oppose any U.S. action in its territory.

"We wouldn't like to allow that at all. We will do it ourselves," he said.

A January airstrike on suspected al Qaeda figures on the Pakistan border provoked protests by tens of thousands of Pakistanis and complaints by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who said U.S. officials launched the attack without consulting his government. 

Bin Laden's followers killed nearly 3,000 Americans in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. In response, the United States and its allies overthrew Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, which had allowed al Qaeda to operate within its territory -- but bin Laden slipped the U.S. noose and is believed by many to be hiding in the rugged mountains along the Afghan-Pakistani border five years later.

Pakistani authorities recently signed a peace agreement with pro-Taliban tribal leaders in the country's restive northwest after two years of clashes with the traditionally autonomous tribes that left more than 600 Pakistani troops dead. But Aziz told CNN earlier this month that top terrorist leaders like bin Laden would have "no immunity" under the agreement.

"This notion that anybody who has a record as a terrorist will get safe haven -- we would not even think of doing that," he said.
More on link

19 Afghan construction workers killed when rebels ambush their bus
Friday Sep22 2006
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/3695625p-4271966c.html

KABUL (AP) - Rebels ambushed a bus carrying Afghan construction workers Friday in the country's volatile south, killing' of them, the Interior Ministry said.
The attack happened shortly after noon in Kandahar province began when a roadside bomb exploded near the bus, said ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary.

Some of the labourers may have been killed by the bomb, while others were shot by militants who fired on the remaining workers, he said.

Officials couldn't immediately say who employed the labourers
More on link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrives to address House of Commons
Friday Sep22 2006
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/canada/story/3695617p-4271964c.html

OTTAWA (CP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has arrived on Parliament Hill to deliver a historic speech to the Commons.
A 21-gun salute boomed out as he inspected a military guard of honour drawn up before the Peace Tower to greet him, all of them soldiers who have served in Afghanistan.

Karzai paused to thank the air force band which played the national anthems of both countries.

"What a nice anthem you played," he told the band leader. "It was great.

"I wish I could have a tape of it."

Then he turned to the band and said: "It was beautiful. I'll take a copy of it back home."    
The Afghan leader was met by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, among other dignitaries.

Karzai signed a guest book in the rotunda beneath the Peace Tower, writing that he wanted to thank Canadians for their help in Afghanistan's "hour of need."

O'Connor was asked how long Canada will stay in Afghanistan. Canada now is committed until 2009.

"NATO and Canada will consider an exit when we believe that governance and development are making steady progress and are irreversible," the minister said.

About a half dozen protesters wearing masks depicting U.S. President George W. Bush, Harper and Karzai chanted as Karzai went through the welcoming ceremonies.

"Hey Karzai," they shouted, well within earshot of the Afghan president, "we know you. You're a little puppet too." 
End

Several suspected Taliban killed, detained in southern Afghanistan
Sep 21, 2006, 16:42 GMT
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1203712.php/Several_suspected_Taliban_killed_detained_in_southern_Afghanistan

Kabul - One Afghan policeman and ten suspected Taliban insurgents were killed and several others detained in various incidents around the country Thursday. 

Two policemen were also injured in the clashes, officials said. 

A police spokesman in Helmand said that one policeman was killed and two injured when a police patrol was ambushed Wednesday night by suspected Taliban in Nawa district. Three attackers were arrested. 

In a statement, NATO said NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF)troops on Tuesday killed up to ten insurgents and destroyed three of their vehicles in clashes with rebels bearing small arms and rockets in Garmsar district in Helmand province. 

No ISAF troops were injured in the fighting. 

Also in Helmand, the Afghan Interior Ministry said the body of a Turkish engineer had been recovered by police in Nahri Saraj district. 

Mustafa Azimi was working for a Turkish road construction company when he was kidnapped by the Taliban more than two weeks ago, a purported Taliban spokesman, Yusuf Ahmadi said announcing his execution to local reporters. 

NATO also announced that ISAF military police Wednesday detained 12 suspected Taliban members following the detonation of an explosive near troops in the southern province of Kandahar. 

There were no ISAF casualties in that incident either, NATO said
More on link

Afghanistan's President Notes Progress, Problems
By John D. Banusiewicz, American Forces Press Service
Sep 21, 2006, 10:50
http://www.blackanthem.com/News/military200608_966.shtml

Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. – Although progress has been profound and his country continues to move forward, terrorists have stepped up their efforts to derail that progress, Afghanistan's president told the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday. 

"We have seen terrorism rebounding as terrorists have infiltrated our borders to step up their murderous campaign against our people," Hamid Karzai said. 

Terrorists, he told the assembly, see a successful and prosperous Afghanistan as a knockout blow for their aims there. 

"That is why our schools and clinics get burned down and our ... teachers and our doctors get killed," he said. "That is why, today, 200,000 of our students who went to school a year ago are no longer able to do so." 

He noted that polio cases in his country have risen from four in 2005 to 27 so far this year. 

"All of these cases have occurred in some areas of southern Afghanistan, where terrorists are preventing children from access to vaccination and health care," Karzai said. "Terrorists are prepared to cross any boundaries and commit horrific acts of violence to try to derail Afghanistan from its path to success. They want the international community to fail in its collective endeavor to help Afghanistan rebuild. 

"That is why they decapitate elderly women, blow up mosques full of worshipers, and kill school-going children in indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas," he continued. "And that is why they are killing international soldiers and civilians who have come to Afghanistan to help the Afghan people, like the four Canadian soldiers who were killed four days ago while distributing notebooks and candies to children in a village in Kandahar, or the Turkish engineer who was building roads in Helmand." 

The Afghan president told the multinational gathering of the progress his country has seen since he last addressed the body two years ago and noted that millions of Afghans voted in the country's presidential and parliamentary elections. 
More on link

Afghanistan names candidate for UN Secretary-General   
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-22 04:37:32  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/22/content_5122240.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan announced on Thursday the nomination of Ashraf Ghani, former Finance Minister of Afghanistan, as the candidate for the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. 

    The Afghan government believes that Ashraf Ghani is "uniquely equipped to lead the United Nations at time when imagination and leadership are required in both security and development," said a government press release. 

    With experience at the frontlines of conflict and poverty, Ghani stands at the intersection of Islam and the West with the capacity to bring the world together at a time of growing religious and geographical tension, according to the press release. 

    Ghani, currently chancellor of Kabul University, served as Afghanistan's finance minister. Before that he worked for the World Bank in Asia, spending 10 years working in China, India and Russia. "He is therefore particularly sensitive to the opportunities presented by the world's emerging economies," the press release said
More on link


U.S. to maintain Afghanistan force level
Sept. 21, 2006, 12:30PM By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writer © 2006 The Associated Press 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4204336.html

WASHINGTON — U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan are likely to remain steady, at about 21,000, at least until next February, the top U.S. general there said Thursday, echoing earlier comments about forces in Iraq.

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry told Pentagon reporters that while the Taliban enemy in Afghanistan is not extremely strong, their numbers and influence have grown in some southern sections of the country.
More on link

Report: Soldier says British military casualties in Afghanistan underreported   
The Associated Press Published: September 21, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/21/europe/EU_GEN_Britain_Afghanistan_Casualties.php

A British army officer claimed that Britain is sustaining higher casualties in Afghanistan than official figures suggest, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.

Maj. Jon Swift, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, also said the British operation in Afghanistan is "politically" driven, the BBC said.

His comments were briefly posted on the Web site of his Royal Regiment of Fusiliers infantry battalion before being removed, according to the BBC.

British soldiers often have been treated for wounds and sent back out to fight in Afghanistan without their injuries being recorded, the network quoted Swift as saying.

"The scale of casualties has not been properly reported and shows no sign of reducing," Swift's letter on the Web site was quoted as saying. "Political, and not military, imperatives are being followed in the campaign."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense denied the accuracy of Swift's comments, which, he said, the BBC apparently had quoted correctly.

The spokesman said the ministry had not ordered that Swift's comments be removed from the Web site, which is maintained and controlled by an independent, private regimental association based in England. A phone call to the association on Thursday night was not immediately returned.

Speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with the Ministry of Defense's rules, the spokesman said all serious casualties suffered by British soldiers in Afghanistan are routinely recorded on the Ministry of Defense's Web site.

"We publish all serious injuries. We don't include relatively minor injuries, cuts, bruises, but all significant gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds, amputations are fully reported on," the spokesman said.

He said the deployment of British troops in violent Afghan provinces such as Helmand in the south was not "politically motivated," but came at the request of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
More on link

Bush works to defuse fray between allies Pakistan and Afghanistan   
The Associated Press Published: September 22, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/22/america/NA_GEN_US_Bush_South_Asia.php

President George W. Bush is playing middle man in a foreign policy problem that has bubbled up between Afghanistan and Pakistan, two allies in the U.S. campaign against terrorism who accuse each other of not doing enough to crack down on extremists.

Bush was meeting on Friday with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He is following up that meeting with talks on Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Then, they will have a three-way sit down on Wednesday.

Bush is working to find a way to defuse the dispute between Pakistan, which is helping the United States track Osama bin Laden and restrain bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, and the struggling democratic government in Afghanistan.

Karzai's government is suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since U.S.-led troops toppled the Taliban in late 2001.

Coinciding with the Bush-Musharraf meeting was a news report alleging that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States pressured Pakistan to become a partner in the U.S.-led war on terror.

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program, Musharraf said that after the attacks, Richard Armitage, then deputy secretary of state, told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb his country if it did not help fight terrorists.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf told "60 Minutes."

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the conversation.

Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan, would not have said such a thing and did not have the authority to do it. Armitage said he did have a tough message for Pakistan, telling the Muslim nation that it was either "with us or against us," according to CNN. Armitage said he didn't know how his message was recounted so differently to Musharraf.

Afghan officials have alleged repeatedly that Taliban militants are hiding out in neighboring Pakistan and launching attacks across the border into Afghanistan. Pakistan, which has deployed 80,000 troops along the border, rejects the accusation and says it's doing all it can to battle extremists.

"This isn't about pointing fingers at one another," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Thursday. "What this is about is finding ways that we can all work together to be able to achieve our common objectives, which is a free, secure and independent Afghanistan; a secure Pakistan border area as well."

Musharraf is strongly defending a truce he recently signed with Taliban-linked militants in the tribal North West Frontier Province where his government has little control. Under the terms of that deal, Pakistani troops agreed to end their military campaign against fighters in North Waziristan. For their part, the militants said they would halt their attacks on Pakistani forces and stop crossing into Afghanistan to launch ambushes.

"If they're able to live up to the terms of those agreements, the border should be a much quieter region," NATO's top commander, U.S. Gen. James L. Jones, said at a Senate hearing on Thursday. "We're in the process now of observing very closely what is going on and what the effect is on the Afghani side of the border. And we'll know that within probably the next month or so."

Karzai said in a speech in New York City on Thursday that the Taliban was not gaining strength and he suggested that Pakistan's toleration of militants had helped make Afghanistan unstable.

He also said some in the region used extremists to maintain political power, referring to Musharraf.

Karzai equated cooperating with terrorists to "trying to train a snake against somebody else."

"You cannot train a snake. It will come and bite you," he said.

During Musharraf's visit, human rights activists are asking Bush to press Musharraf to restore civilian rule in Pakistan, end discrimination of women, and stop using torture and arbitrary detention in counterterrorism operations. Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup. Instead of giving up his military uniform in 2004 as promised, he changed the constitution so he could hold both his army post and the presidency until 2007.

___

On the Net:

White House: http://whitehouse.gov

CIA World Factbook on Pakistan:

https://http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pk.html

 WASHINGTON President George W. Bush is playing middle man in a foreign policy problem that has bubbled up between Afghanistan and Pakistan, two allies in the U.S. campaign against terrorism who accuse each other of not doing enough to crack down on extremists.

Bush was meeting on Friday with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He is following up that meeting with talks on Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Then, they will have a three-way sit down on Wednesday.

Bush is working to find a way to defuse the dispute between Pakistan, which is helping the United States track Osama bin Laden and restrain bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, and the struggling democratic government in Afghanistan.

Karzai's government is suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since U.S.-led troops toppled the Taliban in late 2001.

Coinciding with the Bush-Musharraf meeting was a news report alleging that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States pressured Pakistan to become a partner in the U.S.-led war on terror.

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program, Musharraf said that after the attacks, Richard Armitage, then deputy secretary of state, told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb his country if it did not help fight terrorists.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf told "60 Minutes."

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the conversation.

Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan, would not have said such a thing and did not have the authority to do it. Armitage said he did have a tough message for Pakistan, telling the Muslim nation that it was either "with us or against us," according to CNN. Armitage said he didn't know how his message was recounted so differently to Musharraf.

Afghan officials have alleged repeatedly that Taliban militants are hiding out in neighboring Pakistan and launching attacks across the border into Afghanistan. Pakistan, which has deployed 80,000 troops along the border, rejects the accusation and says it's doing all it can to battle extremists.

"This isn't about pointing fingers at one another," State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Thursday. "What this is about is finding ways that we can all work together to be able to achieve our common objectives, which is a free, secure and independent Afghanistan; a secure Pakistan border area as well."

Musharraf is strongly defending a truce he recently signed with Taliban-linked militants in the tribal North West Frontier Province where his government has little control. Under the terms of that deal, Pakistani troops agreed to end their military campaign against fighters in North Waziristan. For their part, the militants said they would halt their attacks on Pakistani forces and stop crossing into Afghanistan to launch ambushes.

"If they're able to live up to the terms of those agreements, the border should be a much quieter region," NATO's top commander, U.S. Gen. James L. Jones, said at a Senate hearing on Thursday. "We're in the process now of observing very closely what is going on and what the effect is on the Afghani side of the border. And we'll know that within probably the next month or so."

Karzai said in a speech in New York City on Thursday that the Taliban was not gaining strength and he suggested that Pakistan's toleration of militants had helped make Afghanistan unstable.

He also said some in the region used extremists to maintain political power, referring to Musharraf.

Karzai equated cooperating with terrorists to "trying to train a snake against somebody else."

"You cannot train a snake. It will come and bite you," he said.

During Musharraf's visit, human rights activists are asking Bush to press Musharraf to restore civilian rule in Pakistan, end discrimination of women, and stop using torture and arbitrary detention in counterterrorism operations. Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup. Instead of giving up his military uniform in 2004 as promised, he changed the constitution so he could hold both his army post and the presidency until 2007.

___

On the Net:

White House: http://whitehouse.gov

CIA World Factbook on Pakistan:

https://http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pk.html

 WASHINGTON President George W. Bush is playing middle man in a foreign policy problem that has bubbled up between Afghanistan and Pakistan, two allies in the U.S. campaign against terrorism who accuse each other of not doing enough to crack down on extremists.

Bush was meeting on Friday with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He is following up that meeting with talks on Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Then, they will have a three-way sit down on Wednesday.

Bush is working to find a way to defuse the dispute between Pakistan, which is helping the United States track Osama bin Laden and restrain bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, and the struggling democratic government in Afghanistan.

Karzai's government is suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since U.S.-led troops toppled the Taliban in late 2001.

Coinciding with the Bush-Musharraf meeting was a news report alleging that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States pressured Pakistan to become a partner in the U.S.-led war on terror.

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program, Musharraf said that after the attacks, Richard Armitage, then deputy secretary of state, told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb his country if it did not help fight terrorists.

"The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,'" Musharraf told "60 Minutes."

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the conversation.
More on link

Body of kidnapped Turkish citizen found in Afghanistan 
September 22, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/22/eng20060922_305172.html

The body of kidnapped Turkish citizen Mustafa Semih Tufal was found on Thursday in Afghanistan, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. 

Officials of Turkish Embassy in Kabul were quoted as saying that the body of Tufal, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan last month, was found. 

Taliban militants on Tuesday shot dead Tufal, after his company failed to meet demands to leave Afghanistan. 

Tufal's funeral will take place in Turkey on next Tuesday, said the officials. 

On Aug. 28, Tufal was kidnapped on Kandahar-Erat highway in an armed attack while his colleague Murat Gedik, also a Turkish citizen, was killed at the scene. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

EU wants quick military success in southern Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-22 22:17:41  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/22/content_5126616.htm

    BRUSSELS, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has asked for quick military victories in southern Afghanistan coupled with improvement of governance at the local level and reconstruction assistance. 

    "It is not politically a good idea to have a long fighting season, not only now, but in the next year or two," EU's special representative in Afghanistan, Francesc Venedrell told reporters in Brussels. 

    Civilian casualties, which are largely unavoidable in military operations, bear a political price, he explained. Even the killing of Taliban fighters in these operations may draw sympathies from the Pashtun population in the south, he said. 

    He said "Operation Medusa," which was aimed to establish government control over an area of Kandahar Province centered on the town of Panjwayi, had ended satisfactorily with full control of Panjwayi. 

    The victory in the battle does not mean victory in the war, he said. But through the operation, the Taliban has seen the capacity of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. 

    Military victories should be followed up immediately by reconstruction assistance, he said. 

    "There has to be tangible and visible reconstruction efforts to provide more employment to the people," he said. 

    The Taliban are able to recruit people not due to ideological grounds, but to their promises of higher pay than the police and the army, he said. 
Enditem

General Explains Decision to Refrain From Targeting Taliban Funeral
By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1081

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2006 – Much has been made in recent days of an aerial photograph taken in Afghanistan that reportedly shows hundreds of Taliban fighters attending a funeral and the decision to refrain from wiping out the gathering militarily. 
At a Pentagon news conference today, the commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan said the rules of engagement provide all the flexibility needed to take the fight to the enemy and to protect coalition forces, but the decision in this case was not as simple as it might appear to be. 

Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry said the intelligence available to the coalition commander on the ground did, indeed, support the belief that the gathering was for the funeral of a mid-level Taliban operative. “It was also reasonable to believe that, as he looked down at that photograph or looked down at the video, that a number of the people that were standing there at that funeral were Taliban fighters,” the general added. 

But it’s what the picture didn’t show that ultimately led to the decision not to strike, Eikenberry said. Just outside the frame, he said, was an Afghan village. 

“And it also was reasonable for the commander to conclude from that village that there were probably innocents -- maybe sympathetic to Taliban, but innocents, noncombatants -- that had moved to participate in that funeral,” the general said. And the photo couldn’t rule out the possible presence of women and children, he added. 
More on link





More on link


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## MarkOttawa (22 Sep 2006)

Taliban's Gains Forestall U.S. Troop Reductions in Afghanistan
By Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post Staff Write, Friday, September 22, 2006
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101249.html



> The U.S. military plans no troop cuts in Afghanistan before March, as fighting intensifies against Taliban forces that have gained influence in a political and security "vacuum" in the southern part of the country, according to a senior U.S. commander.
> 
> "Our troop levels in Afghanistan will remain about steady through . . . February," said Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, who leads the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan. There are approximately 20,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the highest number since the U.S.-led invasion [there was no invasion, rather air and special forces support for the Northern Alliance who defeated the Taliban; regular US forces did not arrive in any numbers until late November, 2001, when the Taliban had been comprehensively routed - Mark] in October 2001 to overthrow the Taliban government...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (22 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found on 22 Sept 2006*

Canada readies fighter jets
Sep. 22, 2006. 07:04 AM BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158875420005&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

OTTAWA—While publicly touting redevelopment efforts in Afghanistan, the federal government has quietly laid the groundwork to deploy CF-18s, its front-line fighter jet, to support Canadian troops battling insurgents, documents show. 

Ottawa has awarded the U.S. government a $1.9 million contract for "deployment support" for the CF-18s, according to a list of contracts from Public Works and Government Services.

If deployed, it's likely the twin-engine jets would join U.S. and British fighters in attacking insurgent positions in southern Afghanistan.

Lieut. Adam Thomson, a defence department spokesperson, said the military was simply doing "prudent planning" in considering a possible deployment of the fighter fleet but stressed the final decision rests with the government.

*No plan to deploy jets in Afghanistan: O'Connor*
Updated Fri. Sep. 22 2006 10:09 AM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060922/oconnor_fighter_planes_060922/20060922?hub=Canada

OTTAWA -- Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is pouring cold water on a published report that Ottawa is paving the way for deployment of CF-18 fighter jets to support Canadian troops in battling the Taliban in Afghanistan. 

O'Connor said he is not aware of any proposal to send the fighter jets. 

"I think I can deny it because no one's even brought it across my desk," he told Ottawa radio station CFRA. 

The defence minister's comments come after a report Friday that documents it obtained show the federal government has quietly laid the groundwork to deploy CF-18s to support Canadian troops battling insurgents. 

Ottawa has awarded the U.S. government a $1.9-million contract for "deployment support" for the CF-18s, the newspaper reported, citing a list of contracts from Public Works and Government Services. 

If deployed, it's likely the twin-engine jets would join U.S. and British fighters in attacking insurgent positions in southern Afghanistan. 

O'Connor was among those greeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Parliament Hill on Friday, where the visiting leader spoke to the Commons. 
End






In Kabul schools, fear of Taliban return
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0919/p07s02-wosc.html

Students learning English in co-ed schools that proliferated since 2001 view the US skeptically.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Glory and service to country seem to drive the students taking private English lessons in one of the many foreign language schools that have opened here since the Taliban fell. They aspire to be doctors, engineers, and journalists - to elevate themselves above the decrepitude and insecurity they see all around them. 
"I want to be an astronaut!" announces 14-year-old Arsalan. So does his little brother. Their friend, Seeyar, is determined to be president. 
More on link


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## tomahawk6 (23 Sep 2006)

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2006/09/mil-060922-afpn01.htm

CENTAF releases airpower summary for Sept. 22

9/22/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Sept. 22. 

In Afghanistan Sept. 21, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, Navy F/A-18 Hornets and Royal Air Force GR-7 Harriers provided close air support for Coalition troops in contact with Taliban extremists in the vicinity of Serwa. The A-10s expended guided bomb unit-12s; the F/A-18s expended a GBU-38; and the Predator expended a Hellfire missile on enemy positions. 

Air Force A-10s provided close air support for coalition troops in contact with Taliban extremists in the vicinity of Towgu Ghar. 

The following close air support requests supported NATO forces operating as the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, in Afghanistan. 

Royal Air Force GR-7s and U.S. Marine Corps AV-8 Harriers provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Garmsir. The GR-7s made passes and expended a general purpose 500-pound bomb and rockets; the AV-8Bs expended a GBU-38 and a GBU-12 on enemy locations. 

U.S. Navy F/A-18s provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Sangin and Bayanay. 

Air Force B-1B Lancers provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Kajaki and Now Zad. 

Royal Air Force GR-7s provided close-air support for ISAF troops in contact with enemy near Now Zad. 

An Air Force A-10 also provided close-air support for ISAF troops in contact with Taliban extremists in the vicinity of Kandahar. 

In total, coalition aircraft flew 56 close-air-support missions in support of OEF or ISAF. These missions included support to coalition, Afghan and ISAF troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols. 

Additionally, six Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan. 

In Iraq, Air Force F-16 Falcons conducted a strike against anti-Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Ramadi. The aircraft expended cannon rounds. 

U. S. Marine Corps F/A-18s provided close-air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Basrah, Baghdad and Balad. 

Air Force F-16s provided close air support to troops in contact with anti-Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Tikrit and Iskandariyah; Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles and Royal Air Force GR-4 Tornados also provided close-air support to troops in contact in the vicinity of Iskandariyah. 

In total, coalition aircraft flew 39 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities. 

Additionally, 12 Air Force, Army and Royal Air Force ISR aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. 

Air Force C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift support, helping sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. More than 145 airlift sorties were flown; more than 175 tons of cargo was delivered, and more than 3,500 passengers were transported. This included about 47,500 pounds of troop re-supply air-dropped in eastern Afghanistan. 

Coalition C-130 crews from Australia, Canada, Japan and Korea flew in support of OIF or OEF. 

On September 20, Air Force, Royal Air Force and Republic of Singapore Air Force tankers flew 40 sorties and off-loaded more than 2.5 million pounds of fuel.


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## The Bread Guy (23 Sep 2006)

*Inspiring tale of triumph over Taliban not all it seems*
Graeme Green, Globe & Mail, 23 Sept 06
Permalink - http://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/33276

The official story of Operation Medusa has been repeated many times in recent days, after NATO declared success with its biggest offensive to date in Afghanistan . . . . It's an inspiring tale, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization calls on members for more troops and struggles to gain support for the war.  But interviews with tribal elders, farmers and senior officials in the city of Kandahar suggest a version of events that is more complicated, and less reassuring . . . . 


*Dusty Afghan plain, a Taleban and NATO battlefield*
Khaleej Times (UAE), 23 Sept 06
http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September847.xml&section=subcontinent&col=

Quiet reigns over this dusty plain strewn with orchards and crossed with lunar-like mountains.  For two weeks, NATO and the Taleban battled each other here, in this symbolic region of southern Afghanistan which was cleared of its population before the fighting began.  In Pashmul and the adjoining districts of Panjwayi and Zhari, southwest of Kandahar city, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by NATO launched Operation Medusa to dislodge the Taleban from a stronghold near the birthplace of the movement in the early 1990s . . . . 



*The War on Education in Afghanistan*
Antonio Fabrizio, Worldpress.org, 22 Sept 06
http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/2500.cfm

In Western perception, parents usually assume as a matter of fact that their children's schools are safe and harmless sites. When they go to work, American and European parents know that their children are learning and playing in safety, that there is nothing they should worry about.  This is not the case in Afghanistan. The problem in Afghanistan is not just the fact that there is an ongoing conflict between NATO/U.S. troops and Taliban insurgents . . . . .



*Afghan Girls, Back in the Shadows*:  Home Classes Proliferate as Anti-Government Insurgents Step Up Attacks on Schools
Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 23 Sept 06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092201404.html?nav=rss_world
Washington Post Login (if needed) - http://www.bugmenot.com/view/www.washingtonpost.com

In a small, sunlit parlor last week, 20 little girls seated on rush mats sketched a flower drawn on the blackboard. In a darker interior room, 15 slightly older girls memorized passages from the Koran, reciting aloud. Upstairs was a class of teenage girls, hidden from public view.  The location of the mud-walled home school is semi-secret. Its students include five girls who once attended another home school nearby that was torched three months ago. The very existence of home-based classes is a direct challenge to anti-government insurgents who have attacked dozens of schools across Afghanistan in the past year, especially those that teach girls . . . . 



*New Taliban not the foe it used to be*:  Group morphing into complex enemy  
Mitch Potter, Toronto Star, 23 Sept 06
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158961811494&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

Whatever they are today, it is best not to fix in your mind a hard definition of the Taliban. Because tomorrow they will change. And change again the day after that.  Such is the mercurial nature of the moving target Canadian soldiers and their NATO colleagues are up against in southern Afghanistan, where a single word barely begins to describe the complex insurgency seeking to upend the goal of stabilization . . . .


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## GAP (23 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 23 Sept 2006*

Canada gave its word on Afghan undertaking
Sep. 22, 2006. 01:00 AM ROSIE DIMANNO
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158875419940&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist969907621263

OTTAWA—There is nothing quixotic — tipping at windmills dreamy — about the security and stabilization mission to Afghanistan.

NATO, invited in, is not the Soviets, chased out.

And the Taliban are most definitely not the mujahedeen of legend. Most of them weren't even born then. They don't fight like them, they aren't drawn from a broad arc of ethnic groups and tribal alliances like them, and they're not nationally, passionately, esteemed as valiant warriors like them.

It simplifies the conundrum of Afghanistan to argue, as many are now doing, that Canada is being dragged into an endlessly expanding and essentially winless war against the Taliban. Or further, even more ignobly, that this struggle is not in our interest — not worth the blood of Canadian men and women — and that we should disengage forthwith, concentrate our resources, in treasure and troops, elsewhere. (But elsewhere, be it Darfur or Haiti — or whatever bright object of humanitarian need might captivate the likes of Jack Layton — would lose its thrall, you can bet on it, as soon as Canadian troops started dying there, too.)

Eighteen months into this mission, the fact is we don't even know who we're fighting, although self-professed Taliban spokesmen boastfully take credit for casualties inflicted on NATO forces. There is a resurgent Taliban in the southern provinces but this is only one element in a quasi-coalition of insurgents that includes powerful drug cartels, regional militias, local criminal gangs and foreign combatants lured by the always inspirational commandment to jihad.

But we're making a grandiose and mythical enemy out of the Taliban, as if this faction is an opponent that can't be dislodged or even contained, prevented from sloshing over into all the other provinces where there has been no robust threat to the rehabilitation of Afghanistan.
More on link


PRT in Afghanistan encouraged by support
Updated Fri. Sep. 22 2006 11:04 PM ET  CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060922/PRT_team_060922/20060922?hub=TopStories

Canadians serving in Afghanistan were paying close attention to Ottawa Friday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Afghan President Hamid Karzai addressed MPs and senators. 


Watching a live feed of CTV Newsnet over the internet, Commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), Lt.-Col Simon Hetherington, said soldiers were encouraged by the support. 


"We managed to hear the Prime Minister's speech," Hetherington told CTV Newsnet. "On behalf of my soldiers and the Canadians here, I want to just thank everyone for giving us their support." 

The PRT, made up of 250 Canadians, is responsible for extending the authority of Afghanistan's government as well as rebuilding some of the nation's shattered infrastructure. 

As commander of the PRT, Hetherington guides his team in their battle to shift local support away from the Taliban. 

"Part of our role as the Provincial Reconstruction Team is to follow on behind the success (of our combat soldiers) and assist the people in returning home, building their communities again, and getting them back on their feet to show that the government of Afghanistan is behind them and that it's the government they need to support and not the Taliban," said Hetherington. 

But Hetherington said separating the locals from the enemy is a difficult task. 

"It's not like the classic war where we wear uniforms of different colours and it's easy to identify the combatants," said Hetherington. "The insurgents, the Taliban, dress like local people so it is extremely difficult for our forces to identify the enemy." 
More on link

Officer tells of British troop exhaustion
Saturday 23 September 2006, 16:01 Makka Time, 13:01 GMT   
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A37A2EBA-4DF1-48C3-B454-E3E4BE886483.htm

British forces in Afghanistan are exhausted and need more helicopters to fight the Taliban, according to a leaked email from a middle-ranking officer serving in the country.


The email, from a major serving in the Sangin area of northern Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, described the Royal Air Force as "utterly, utterly useless" and underlined that more soldiers and equipment were needed "desperately," Britain's Sky News reported.

The Guardian newspaper said the email was sent by Major James Loden of 3 Para, who was awarded the Bronze Star medal in 2004 by the US military for his services in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Major Loden heavily criticises Harrier Force, the British air force in Afghanistan, for failing to support ground troops and describes one incident where a Harrier fighter bomber dropped phosphorus rockets near British soldiers.
More on link

Pakistan urged to end Baluch offensive  
Friday 22 September 2006, 8:51 Makka Time, 5:51 GMT   
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/37203698-0E48-460F-8B5A-CE434C8A4BA2.htm

Tribal chieftains in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province have called for an end to military operations in the gas-rich region where militants are fighting for more autonomy.


The demand came at a meeting of tribal jirga (council) attended by heads of more than 80 Baluch tribes in the city of Qalat.
    
A declaration, issued at the end of the day-long meeting, read: "The military operations are state-terrorism. These must be stopped."

The jirga was convened in the wake of the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a veteran Baluch rebel leader, in a military offensive on August 26.
    
Several people were killed in violent street protests and bomb blasts after Bugti's death, which analysts said would exacerbate trouble in Pakistan's biggest but least-developed and most sparsely populated province.
    
The jirga called on international human rights groups to conduct an investigation into the killing.
More on link

France investigates bin Laden 'death' leak
POSTED: 1235 GMT (2035 HKT), September 23, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/23/france.binladen.ap/index.html

PARIS, France (AP) -- The French defense ministry on Saturday called for an internal investigation of the leak of an intelligence document that raises the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid in Pakistan a month ago, but said the report of the death remained unverified.

"The information defused this morning by the l'Est Republicain newspaper concerning the possible death of Osama bin Laden cannot be confirmed," a Defense Ministry statement said.

The daily newspaper for the Lorraine region in eastern France printed what it described as a confidential document from the French foreign intelligence service DGSE citing an uncorroborated report from Saudi secret services that the leader of the al Qaeda terror network had died.

The contents of the document, dated September 21, or Thursday, were not confirmed by French or other intelligence sources. However, the DGSE transmitted the note to President Jacques Chirac and other officials, the newspaper said.

Chirac, speaking to reporters at a summit in Compiegne, France, with the leaders of Russia and Germany, said he had ordered the Defense Ministry to investigate and that the reports "are not confirmed in any way."

Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie "has demanded an investigation be carried out of this leak," a ministry statement said, adding that transmission of the confidential document could risk punishment.
More on link

Karzai thanks Canadians for their sacrifices
Updated Fri. Sep. 22 2006 11:02 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060922/karzai_ottawa_090622/20060922?hub=TopStories

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his emotional meeting Friday with the families of Canadians who died in Afghanistan often left him at a loss for words. 

"They have given their life to a very good cause, the cause of helping a suffering part of humanity, the Afghan people," Karzai told CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife Friday. 

And because of this, they are "bringing greater security to the world, Canada included," he said. 

"But when you are faced with a mother or father who has lost a son or a daughter, you don't know what to say," Karzai confessed to Fife in an interview on CTV Newsnet. "I was speechless. 

"Their loved one will not come back to them," he said, but Afghanistan is grateful because "the blood they shed in Afghanistan is going to make a lot of other parents have the lives of their children (made) safer, better." 

Asked what role Afghans are playing in the fight, Karzai said the country is still struggling to rebuild its institutions, including the military and police force, after more than 25 years of war. 
More on link

Thousands rally for military overseas
Canadian Press Globe & Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060922.wrally0922/BNStory/National/home

OTTAWA — The subdued colours of official Ottawa were replaced Friday with blazing displays of red as thousands of people jammed Parliament Hill in an unprecedented outpouring of pride and tears for Canadian troops fighting in Afghanistan.

 "First off all I'd like to say, wow," said Lisa Miller, wife of a Canadian soldier, as she surveyed the crowd of up to 10,000 from a platform at the base of the Hill.

 "We never dreamed it would be this good," she said weakly, wiping tears from her eyes. "It's heart-warming you came together to support our soldiers."

Ms. Miller and another military spouse, Karen Boire, were the architects of a campaign to wear red on Fridays as a show of support for the soldiers. It started in Petawawa, Ont. — home of the Royal Canadian Regiment's 1st Battalion, which is currently deployed overseas.

 The idea of a rally took on a life of its own as local radio stations in Ottawa — spearheaded by CFRA — pumped it up, promoting it on air.

 Prime Minister Stephen Harper made an impromptu appearance, telling the rambunctious, upbeat audience that they owe their freedoms to soldiers just like the ones who are fighting terrorism in Afghanistan.

 Throughout the lunch hour Friday — by foot, by cab and by bus — supporters of the troops and the war in Afghanistan streamed on to the front lawn, all wearing or carrying something red.
More on link

Visiting Canada, Afghan leader presses Pakistan
GLORIA GALLOWAY From Saturday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060922.wxkarzai23/BNStory/International/home

Ottawa — Pakistan must find the political will to eliminate the breeding grounds of terrorism that lie inside its borders if Afghanistan is ever to know peace, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said yesterday during his first official visit to Canada.

Mr. Karzai did not mention Pakistan by name during a passionate and eloquent address to the House of Commons. But in an interview with The Globe and Mail, he was blunt about the problems posed by his neighbour to the south.

“There are places there that, in the name of madrassas, in the name of religious schools that are not religious schools, that actually preach hatred for others, for us in Afghanistan and for the rest of the world.”

Unless those schools are closed, Afghans will continue to suffer as will the Canadians soldiers and aid workers who are trying to bring peace and democracy to a country that has known war for so many years, Mr. Karzai said.
More on link

Officers warn about plight of British troops  
Richard Norton-Taylor Saturday September 23, 2006 The Guardian 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1879302,00.html

British troops in Afghanistan are exhausted and desperately short of helicopters, and there is no sign that the casualty rate will fall, according to accounts yesterday from officers on the frontline.
The reports, including a leaked email describing the RAF as "utterly, utterly useless", put the government under fresh pressure over whether it adequately prepared British troops for operations in the hostile south of the country.

The most graphic accounts came in emails from Major James Loden of 3 Para, who described British forces as desperately short of reinforcements and helicopters, and berated the RAF for being "utterly, utterly useless". Maj Loden, who was awarded the Bronze Star medal in 2004 by the US military for his services in Afghanistan in support of its Operation Enduring Freedom, lambasted the pilot of a Harrier fighter bomber for firing phosphorus bombs closer to British troops on the ground than the enemy.

"A female Harrier pilot 'couldn't identify the target', fired two phosphorus rockets that just missed our own compound so that we thought they were incoming RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], and then strafed our perimeter missing the enemy by 200 metres," Maj Loden said.

The major also said two junior colleagues appeared "very frightened and slow to react" when called on to help save a dying man during an intense ground battle last month. He said his men were exhausted and at times reduced to tears. The major's emails were leaked to Sky News.
More on link

Musharraf takes President Bush into confidence on Waziristan peace deal  
Saturday September 23, 2006 (0346 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155070

WASHINGTON: Pakistan and US have agreed on continuing cooperation with each other in war on terror and further consolidating the bilateral ties in diverse areas of activities. 
The consensus emerged in one on one meeting between President Musharraf and President Bush held in Oval house at White House Friday and subsequent one hour meeting alongwith their respective delegations. 

US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice, under secretary of state Richard Boucher and US ambassador in Pakistan Ryan C Crocker assisted President Bush while President Musharraf was assisted by foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, NWFP governor Lt Gen (Retd) Ali Jan Aurakzai, Pakistan ambassador in US Mehmood Ali Durrani, minister for religious affairs, Ejaz Ul Haq, minister for women development Sumaira Malik and director general ISPR, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan. 

A wide spectrum of matters including all dimensions of US-Pakistan relations, war on terror, situation of Afghanistan, Waziristan peace deal, civil nuclear technology requirements of Pakistan and purchase of F-16s figured in the meeting. 
More on link

Pakistan Urges International Efforts To Halt Trend Of Islam Phobia  
Saturday September 23, 2006 (0346 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155069

UNITED NATIONS: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar has urged the world community to enhance efforts to halt the trend of Islam phobia. 
He also proposed the initiation of discussion to adopt an international, legally binding instrument on elimination of religious intolerance. 

He was addressing a Ministerial Meeting of 15 Member States of the United Nations on Interfaith Dialogue for Cooperation and Peace today on the sidelines of the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly. 

The Ministers from Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Senegal, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago attended the Meeting. 

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, who represented Pakistan in the Meeting, highlighted Pakistan?s efforts to eliminate hatred and prejudices against religions, and emphasized the need to hold seminars and meetings on interfaith cooperation. 

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs articulated that new and subtle forms of discrimination had emerged in the recent past including prejudices and stereotyping of people on the basis of religious affiliation. 
More on link

Rally in Toronto to back troops  
By JOE WARMINGTON
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/09/23/pf-1884096.html

Next week, it will be our turn to see red. 

And even Jack Layton is invited. Every Torontonian who cares is. No politics. We've had all we need of that. Just support for our men and women fighting for freedom. 

The only requirement (and even that is optional) is to wear something red to send a message to our soldiers in Afghanistan that Canada's largest city cares. All of us. Left, right, centre. Canadians. 

The momentum began yesterday in Ottawa as thousands flocked to Parliament Hill in the first pro-troop rally. Some estimates had it at 10,000. I am so proud. I knew a lot of people were solidly behind our fighting men and women. 

It doesn't have to be as big, but I am hoping we can do something like that here. A lot of people have told me they didn't hear about the rally in Ottawa until my last column and they would like to show their support too. 

Now many of you know I couldn't organize a drunk-up in a distillery, so if somebody wants to help do this in a bigger way, e-mail me and we'll do it. 

Nothing fancy. We're just going to do our part. 

Big or small, either way, I will be at Yonge-Dundas Square between noon and 1:30 p.m. next Friday wearing red and white and saying thank-you to the service men and women in Afghanistan. And thank you to those who have already died. Join me. 

FILL THAT SQUARE 

I know some people will show for sure. I have a lot of Toronto Police pals who have indicated they will. And I have a lot of friends in the media who said they will too. 

And Sun readers are the best. I'm betting I'll see you there in droves. It would be nice to fill that square. 
More on link

US Choppers violate Pakistani airspace over N Waziristan, 4 killed   
Tuesday September 19, 2006 (2340 PST)
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154724

MIRAN SHAH: US Choppers flew over North Waziristan for 4-hours violating Pakistani airspace whereas in four different incidents 4 persons were killed and 6 got injured. 
According to details Taliban warriors attacked the area of Papli near Pak-Afghan border killing several in addition to injuring others. 

On the occasion US helicopters reached the site and after violating Pakistani airspace for four hours in the area returned, back. 

An official vehicle of the Political Authorities of North Waziristan Agency, was heading to Data Khel Nur Mandi from Miran Shah when it overturned and fell in a ravine. 

A Khasadar Shareen Sarwar died on the spot and three others sustained serious injuries. One of the injured is reported to be in a critical state. 

The injured were rushed to Miran Shah Hospital. 

In another incident a passenger pick up heading to Miran Shah from Lozah Mandi when it was intercepted by looters. Firing claimed three lives and three others sustained injuries in the incident. 
End.

Mental disorders plague more Iraq, Afghanistan war veterans in US   
The Associated Press Published: September 23, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/23/america/NA_GEN_US_Veterans_Stress.php

More than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking medical treatment from the Veterans Health Administration report symptoms of stress or other mental disorders — a tenfold increase in the last 18 months, according to an agency study.

The dramatic jump in cases — coming as more troops face multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan — has triggered concern among some veterans groups that the agency may not be able to meet the demand. They say veterans have had to deal with long waits for doctor appointments, staffing shortages and lack of equipment at medical centers run by the Veterans Affairs Department.

Contributing to the higher levels of stress are the long and often repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, troops also face unpredictable daily attacks and roadside bombings as they battle the stubborn insurgency.

Veterans and Defense Department officials said the increase in soldiers complaining of stress or mental disorder symptoms also may suggest that efforts to reduce the stigma of such problems are working and that commanders and medical personnel are more adept at recognizing symptoms.

"It's definitely better than it was in past generations," said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Veterans Affairs officials say they have increased funding for mental health services, have hired at least 100 more counselors and are not overwhelmed by the rising demands.

"We're not aware that people are having trouble getting services from us in any consistent way or pattern around the country," said Dr. Michael Kussman, acting undersecretary for health and top doctor at the VA.

Nearly 64,000 of the more than 184,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who have sought VA health care were diagnosed with potential symptoms of post-traumatic stress, drug abuse or other mental disorders as of the end of June, according to the latest report by the Veterans Health Administration.

Of those, close to 30,000 had possible post-traumatic stress disorder, said the report.

The Government Accountability Office reported in February 2005 that just 6,400 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans had been treated for stress disorders. The office is an investigative agency of Congress.

Kussman said the numbers of people reporting symptoms of stress probably represent a "gross overestimation" of those actually suffering from a mental health disorder. Most of the troops who return from Iraq have "normal reactions to abnormal situations," such as flashbacks or trouble sleeping, Kussman said.

He said the returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans represent just 3.5 percent of the more than 5 million people seen by the VA each year.

The VA, he said, has targeted $300 million (€234 million) for post-traumatic stress disorders for 2005-06, and is seeking another $300 million for 2007.

VA facilities largely serve veterans who have ended their military service, but some National Guard and Reserve members returning from the war are using VA facilities because they are closer to their homes.

While veterans groups don't have data on the number of veterans encountering problems with the VA, they said veterans are reporting long delays for appointments at the agency's medical centers.

"If they're going to keep recruiting anywhere near where they need to be, they'd better take care of the young vets, because everyone is watching," Rieckhoff said.

One soldier in Virginia Beach, Virginia, said he was having a hard time sleeping after he returned from Iraq, and was told he'd have to wait two-and-a-half months for an appointment at the VA facility, said Rieckhoff.

Rieckhoff said the Buffalo, New York, veterans medical center gave his organization a "wish list" of needed supplies and other expenses, including wheelchairs, rehabilitation equipment and medical monitors.

"If the VA is going to see 30 percent of the 1.5 million U.S. service members who have deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the VA may expect a total of 450,000 veteran patients from these two wars," said Paul Sullivan, director of programs for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. "This is a very ominous trend, indicating a tidal wave of new patients coming in, and the numbers could go up."

The Defense Department has made mental health assessments and education programs mandatory for active-duty service members returning from the war. There are several dozen combat stress teams working with military units to prevent and identify stress or other mental health issues.

The department has also put a self-assessment screening on the Internet so military members can evaluate their symptoms.

Dr. Joyce Adkins, the Pentagon's director of stress management programs, said there has been a slight increase in the number of service members reporting mental health problems or symptoms.

"We've done a lot of education for service members at multiple times, to help them understand ... the common problems associated with deployment, the symptoms they might experience and what that might mean," she said.

___

On the Net:

Defense Department: http://www.defenselink.mil

Military Mental Health Self Assessment Program: https://http://www.militarymentalhealth.org/

 WASHINGTON More than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking medical treatment from the Veterans Health Administration report symptoms of stress or other mental disorders — a tenfold increase in the last 18 months, according to an agency study.

The dramatic jump in cases — coming as more troops face multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan — has triggered concern among some veterans groups that the agency may not be able to meet the demand. They say veterans have had to deal with long waits for doctor appointments, staffing shortages and lack of equipment at medical centers run by the Veterans Affairs Department.

Contributing to the higher levels of stress are the long and often repeated tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, troops also face unpredictable daily attacks and roadside bombings as they battle the stubborn insurgency.

Veterans and Defense Department officials said the increase in soldiers complaining of stress or mental disorder symptoms also may suggest that efforts to reduce the stigma of such problems are working and that commanders and medical personnel are more adept at recognizing symptoms
More on link

25 Taliban militants killed in S Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-23 05:07:56 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/23/content_5126722.htm 

    KABUL, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least 25 Taliban rebels were killed on Friday by the police in the southern Uruzgan province of Afghanistan, an official told Xinhua. 

    The police and some rebels exchanged fire in Chora district, killing 25 Taliban militants, said Mohammad Qasim, the provincial police chief. 

    One policeman was also killed and another injured in the clash, he said. 

    About 20 pieces of weapons including machine-guns were also seized by the police. 

    Uruzgan and other southern provinces have been hotbeds of Taliban and other anti-government militants. 

    A local official told Xinhua on Friday that 19 Afghan construction workers were killed and three others injured in an ambush in the southern Kandahar province on Thursday. 

    Militants planted a roadside bomb to attack a bus carrying the workers, then shot them with machine-guns in Shorawark district, about 200 km south of the provincial capital Kandahar city, said Haji Sultan Mohammad, the district's police chief. 

    However, some local reports quoted the Interior Ministry as saying that the ambush occurred on Friday. 

    Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001. 

    Over 24,00 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in Afghanistan in the past nine months. Enditem

Editor: Mu Xuequan  
End

RAF 'utterly useless' in Afghanistan says Major
(Filed: 22/09/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/22/uafghan.xml

Afghanistan casualties are 'under-reported'

Emails written by a British Army major serving in Afghanistan condemn the RAF as "utterly, utterly useless".

They also indicate that more helicopters and manpower are "desperately" needed for the operation to be successful.

The three emails, obtained by Sky News, were penned by an unnamed officer based with 3 Para in the troubled southern province of Helmand.

The major refers to the death of his colleague Cpl Bryan Budd in the Sangin area last month, and describes the soldiers' efforts to save him during an intense fire-fight.

They also outline concerns for two junior colleagues who "look very frightened and slow to react".

"There is a fine line between giving them time to accept what has happened and adjust, and gripping them hard and forcing them to focus," the officer adds.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence did not question the authenticity of the emails, saying they were a "moving and at times humbling account of fighting" in Helmand.

But he added: "It reflects both how intense the fighting can occasionally be, and the enormous courage, dedication and skill of the British troops operating there."

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, had already pointed out that British soldiers in the province were sometimes "working to the limits of endurance", the spokesman said.

He added: "The comments this Major makes about the RAF are, however, unfortunate.

"They do not reflect the view of the vast majority of soldiers about the Harrier Force in Afghanistan, which has consistently performed brilliantly in defending coalition forces, so much so that it is in regular demand not just from British commanders on the ground, but from our allies too.
More on link

MoD plays down critical e-mail on Afghanistan
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1405012006

LONDON (Reuters) - The government played down a leaked e-mail on Friday in which an army officer serving in Afghanistan described air force pilots there as "utterly, utterly useless" and said more troops were needed.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the comments, which media jumped on as evidence of mounting problems for the British force in Afghanistan, represented only one man's opinions and were not representative.

Details of the e-mail were broadcast by Sky television, which said it was written by a middle-ranking officer serving in the Sangin area of northern Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

The BBC also carried the comments, which the MOD said was a personal message to friends and family rather than a formal complaint about conditions in Afghanistan.

In the e-mail, the officer wrote of his concerns for two junior soldiers who, in a recent firefight, "looked very frightened and slow to react".

The officer berates the Harrier Force, the British air force in Afghanistan, for failing to support ground troops, and says more manpower and helicopters are needed to fight the Taliban, Sky said, adding that the e-mail had been leaked.

A Defence Ministry spokesman acknowledged the e-mail gave "a moving and at times humbling account of fighting in a part of Helmand province" but said the officer's comments were nevertheless unfortunate.

"They do not reflect the view of the vast majority of soldiers about the Harrier Force in Afghanistan, which has consistently performed brilliantly in defending coalition forces," the spokesman said in a statement.

"It must be remembered that this is the opinion of only one man. The general view is very different."
More on link


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## GAP (23 Sep 2006)

* More Articles found 23 Sept 2006*

Harper Says Canada Anticipates Staying in Afghanistan Longer  
By Greg Quinn Sept. 22 (Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a3iBG1JnNge8&refer=canada

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he anticipates keeping troops and aid workers in Afghanistan, beyond when their current mandates are set to expire starting with a military mission that runs to 2009. 

Canada in two years will make recommendations about future work in Afghanistan, and the mandate will probably shift as Canadian soldiers finish training a new local army, Harper said today at a press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. 

``I don't anticipate that we will leave but I certainly anticipate our role will evolve and change,'' Harper, 47, said. Karzai said Afghanistan is ``grateful'' for Canada's help so far and would also ``welcome'' an extended mission. 

Karzai said in a speech to Canada's Parliament today that Afghanistan may need the country's help for 10 years to fight a fight poppy trade that finances Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents, a broader and longer mission than Canada has authorized. While Harper won a vote in May to extend a military mission in Afghanistan by two years into 2009, the deaths of 20 Canadians there since June has eroded public support for the mission. 

The world must do what's necessary to tackle ``symptoms'' of terrorism, such as the opium trade, and secure Afghanistan's borders to keep new insurgents out, Karzai said in his speech. 

``If we don't destroy poppies in Afghanistan, poppies will destroy us,'' Karzai said. ``I hope you will have the patience to bear with us for that long, perhaps five to 10 years.'' 

Canada has about 2,300 soldiers in the country, with 200 more on the way, as part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization force fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda and securing Karzai's elected government. 

NATO Meeting 

Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor today joined an earlier call by the U.K. for NATO to send more troops to Afghanistan, saying he will make his case at a meeting of his colleagues next week in Slovenia. 

``I will be encouraging all countries in NATO to do their share in Afghanistan because Afghanistan is the most important effort that NATO has right now,'' O'Connor told the CTV television network in an interview today. He also said Canada's troops currently don't have a mandate to fight the opium trade. 

Canada has a humanitarian mission there that runs to 2011. 
More on link

Serbian military in Afghanistan  
23 September 2006 | Source:Blic 
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/comments.php?nav_id=36913


BELGRADE -- Serbian soldiers will increase their presence in the peace-keeping missions in Afghanistan.

The Serbian Defense Ministry’s decision to send Serbian military units to various peace-keeping missions around the world has been questioned by many. Part of the public fears participation in crisis-regions and putting the lives of their family members at risk, and the possibility of making Serbia a terrorist target.

On the other side, peace-keeping missions increase trust, improve the nation’s image and demonstrate Serbia’s democratic potential. 

Defense Minister Zoran Stanković said that a deal has been made with the Norwegian Defense Ministry for the first Serbian physician to be sent to Afghanistan on September 27, as a part of Norway’s peace-keeping unit. Another member of the Serbian military’s medical unit will be headed to Afghanistan as well at the end of September. 

Stanković told daily Blic that four doctors have already undergone preparations in Norway, at the Peace-Keeping Mission Center. 

“Also, we agreed to have our participation in the mission significantly increased starting March 2007, when 26 medical professionals will be sent to Afghanistan. All the preparations for the departure of the two physicians have been completed, and the group that is preparing to leave on March 27 will start taking English language courses next month.” Stanković said. 
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (23 Sep 2006)

[U.S.]Army General Nominated to be International Security Assistance Force Commander in Afghanistan
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=9605



> The Secretary of Defense announced Sept. 21 that the President has nominated Gen. Dan K. McNeill for reappointment to the grade of general with assignment as Commander, International Security Assistance Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Afghanistan. McNeill is currently serving as Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia...



In February 2007 when the term of UK Lt.-Gen. Richards expires, and when US forces in the east are supposed already to  be under ISAF.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/07/afghanistan.ap/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (23 Sep 2006)

Operation Medusa: The Afghan campaign is testing NATO's staying power
Wall St. Journal, Saturday, September 23, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT
http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110008987



> In the war on terror, few battles are as clear and decisive as the one fought these last few weeks in southern Afghanistan. Six thousand Canadian, British, American and other NATO troops trounced resurgent Taliban fighters who dared to fight in the open. "Operation Medusa" dislodged insurgents from trenches and tunnels near Kandahar, killing a thousand or more.
> 
> The intensity of the fighting surprised some NATO allies, who this summer took over the lead in southern Afghanistan from the U.S. More tests are to come. The insurgents will surely regroup, shun direct engagements with Western troops, and resort to the ad hoc terrorism perfected in Iraq. To adapt NATO's nomenclature, the Medusa was injured but the snakes are very much alive...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## Kirkhill (23 Sep 2006)

Outnumbered and short of food, British troops win six-day battle with Taliban  
By Tom Coghlan in Kabul  (Filed: 22/09/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/22/nbattle22.xml

"Situation critical." The young British bombardier spoke urgently into the handset of his radio above the crack of small arms around him and the heavier thud of rocket-propelled grenades.

The radio antennae on the jeep beside him abruptly cartwheeled away and an RPG round sailed gracefully five feet overhead. "Incoming mortar and RPG rounds getting closer and more accurate. Situation critical," he repeated.
   
As the bombardment continued, Bombardier Sam New from 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery, began to feed complex sets of grid references to the disjointed voices of American and British close air support pilots circling high above Helmand. Then the line went dead. A bullet had severed the cord attaching it to the radio set.

Last week, 17 British soldiers, 10 Estonian infantrymen, 100 Afghan army and 100 Afghan police took part in a joint Nato operation to retake the dusty desert town of Garmser in southern Helmand. The town, which sits on the Helmand river, has fallen to the Taliban twice since July and is strategically important because it is the southern-most point of government control.

When the fighting finally finished earlier this week, the event merited a one-and-a-half line press release from the Afghan government: "Garmser retaken by Afghan police after five hours fighting."

That did little justice to what was actually an unrelenting six-day battle, as British journalists discovered when they accompanied the British Army unit during its assault on Garmser.

The British troops were part of a Nato Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) which works alongside the Afghan National Army.

Sean Langan, a British television documentary maker who was embedded with the troops throughout the battle, said it took them 150 hours to retake the town in fighting that began on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on America.

During the assault, he said Nato troops fired tens of thousands of rounds and called in 54 separate air strikes on Taliban positions that were sometimes closer than 100 yards. The Nato force went into the fight thinking they had a five-to-one numerical advantage, only to find that faulty intelligence meant they were outnumbered two to one.

Then, in a reminder of the thinly-stretched forces available, a unit earmarked to reinforce them was called away to a more critical area further north.

Chinook helicopters were able to make sure the troops were regularly resupplied with ammunition but were unable to deliver enough food - a familiar complaint for British troops sent to front-line positions in Afghanistan.

"The first fire came down on us as we advanced towards the outskirts of Garmser," said Mr Langan, who was obliged to burn his clothes after the battle because they were soaked with the blood of wounded Afghan soldiers. "It was a rocket-propelled grenade that airburst over our jeeps. I could hear the shower of shrapnel falling around us.

"After that, there was just a more or less continuous cracking of incoming rounds for six days."

One British soldier was slightly wounded and three Afghan troops, including a commander, were killed during the fighting.

More than a dozen Afghans were also wounded. A battle assessment is going to establish Taliban casualties although British officers said several fighters were killed and dozens more injured.

For three days the British, Estonian and Afghan force pushed forward inch by inch into the town supported by almost constant air strikes.

British Harriers sometimes flew so low over their positions on strafing runs that the soldiers mistook the sudden explosive roar of their engines 60 feet overhead for the explosion of incoming mortar rounds.

When American A10s directed cannon fire on the Taliban positions it was, said Langan "a low physical vibration that you felt rather than heard. It is a beautiful and very disturbing sound". F18 jets and even B1 heavy bombers based on the Indian island of Diego Garcia dropped 2,000lb bombs on Taliban positions around them. As the bombs landed, British soldiers shouted "get some" at the enemy out of sheer relief. Correspondents attached to the Nato force saw numerous blood trails, although they rarely saw the bodies of enemy dead, which were being dragged away by Taliban fighters.

On the first day however, they captured a Taliban fighter with a life-threatening stomach wound whose life was saved by the prompt attention of a British Army medic.

"The medic kept him alive all night, even though this Taliban tried to grab a gun and kill him while they were caring for him," said Mr Langan.

During the night, the Taliban fighter's heart stopped twice but the medic managed to revive him. In the morning, before he was airlifted out, the injured Taliban touched the forehead of the men who had saved him in respect. With intelligence reports indicating the Taliban force had been heavily reinforced by fighters coming in from across the Pakistan border, the Nato and Afghan force believed they might be overrun during the third night of fighting.

They surrounded their position with trip flares and waited. Although a trip flare was triggered, flooding the area with light and eerie shifting shadows, the figures of Taliban fighters flitted away into the night.

British officers were also impressed by the performance of the Afghan forces in the attack.

On day three of the fighting, one of the Afghan army's commanders, a charismatic young man who wore a bandana and T-shirt with crossed bandoliers of bullets, died leading a headlong charge against a well-fortified position defended by around 30 Taliban fighters.

The next day, the Afghan police chief, General Abu Jan, led 20 police in a similarly determined frontal attack.

The battle finally turned on the fifth day after British soldiers conducted an intensive mortar attack against Taliban positions.

After the Taliban had taken several direct hits, they gradually withdrew and the Nato force was finally allowed to retake control of Garmser.

Major Luke Knittig, spokesman for the Nato commander Lt Gen David Richards, said: "We recognise that Garmser is a place that is worth fighting for and where we concentrate our forces, both Nato and Afghan, those forces succeed.

"Though I will admit that it was not without substantial effort in Garmser."


----------



## GAP (24 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 24 Sept 2006*

Harper tells rally he'll re-build the military
Updated Fri. Sep. 22 2006 11:04 PM ET Canadian Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060922/rebuild_military_060922/20060922?hub=Politics

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged again to rebuild Canada's military during a speech Friday to thousands attending a rally on Parliament Hill to support Canada's troops overseas. 

The subdued colours of official Ottawa were replaced with blazing red shirts, red ties, red hats, red jackets -- even flashes of red thongs among the crowd -- all intended as a morale booster first proposed by the wives of two soldiers from the nearby Canadian Forces base at Petawawa, Ont. 

Harper told a rambunctious, upbeat audience that they owe their freedoms to soldiers just like the ones who are fighting terrorism in Afghanistan today. 

"Let me tell you," he said, "this government is committed to rebuilding the armed forces of Canada and we are overwhelmed with the support we are getting to do that." 
More on link

Four fallen soldiers honoured at CFB Trenton
Updated Sat. Sep. 23 2006 11:17 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060923/soldier_repatriation_060923?s_name=&no_ads=

Four military families mourned the losses of loved ones during a repatriation ceremony marking the return of Canada's latest deaths in southern Afghanistan. 

Four flag-draped caskets were loaded into hearses on the tarmac of Canadian Forces Base Trenton in eastern Ontario as the stirring Scottish lament, "Flowers of the Forest," played on a bagpipe. 

Family members, some sobbing, looked on as pallbearers escorted each casket from the military Airbus to the black hearses. 

Pte. David Byers and Corporals Glen Arnold, Shane Keating and Keith Morley were killed by a suicide bomber in the Panjwaii district last Monday. They had been handing out candy and school supplies to children when their attacker struck.

Arnold was stationed with 2 Field Ambulance out of CFB Petawawa, near Ottawa. 

Keating, Morley, and Byers were from the second battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based at CFB Shilo, Man. 

Their flag-draped caskets were flown home from Canada's base in Afghanistan
More on link

Afghan Girls, Back in the Shadows  
24. September 2006, 03:11 
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1229

By Pamela Constable, WP 
SHEIKHABAD, Afghanistan -- In a small, sunlit parlor last week, 20 little girls seated on rush mats sketched a flower drawn on the blackboard. In a darker interior room, 15 slightly older girls memorized passages from the Koran, reciting aloud. Upstairs was a class of teenage girls, hidden from public view. 

The location of the mud-walled home school is semi-secret. Its students include five girls who once attended another home school nearby that was torched three months ago. The very existence of home-based classes is a direct challenge to anti-government insurgents who have attacked dozens of schools across Afghanistan in the past year, especially those that teach girls. 

"We are scared. All the home schools are scared. If I even hear a dog bark, I don't open the gate. I go up on the roof to see who is there," said Mohammed Sulieman, 49, who operates home schools for girls in several villages in the Sheikhabad district of Wardak province. 

Children's education was once touted as an exceptional success in this struggling new democracy. Within two years of the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, an extremist Islamic movement that banned girls' education and emphasized Islamic studies for boys, officials boasted that 5.1 million children of both sexes were enrolled in public schools. These included hundreds of village tent-schools erected by UNICEF. 

Now that positive tide has come to a halt in several provinces where Taliban insurgents are aggressively battling NATO and U.S. troops, and has slowed dramatically in many other parts of the country. President Hamid Karzai told audiences in New York this week that about 200,000 Afghan children had been forced out of school this year by threats and physical attacks. 
More on link

Outnumbered and short of food, British troops win six-day battle with Taliban  
24. September 2006, 03:12 
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1230

By Tom Coghlan, Telegraph (UK) 
"Situation critical." The young British bombardier spoke urgently into the handset of his radio above the crack of small arms around him and the heavier thud of rocket-propelled grenades. 

The radio antennae on the jeep beside him abruptly cartwheeled away and an RPG round sailed gracefully five feet overhead. "Incoming mortar and RPG rounds getting closer and more accurate. Situation critical," he repeated. 

As the bombardment continued, Bombardier Sam New from 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery, began to feed complex sets of grid references to the disjointed voices of American and British close air support pilots circling high above Helmand. Then the line went dead. A bullet had severed the cord attaching it to the radio set. 

Last week, 17 British soldiers, 10 Estonian infantrymen, 100 Afghan army and 100 Afghan police took part in a joint Nato operation to retake the dusty desert town of Garmser in southern Helmand. The town, which sits on the Helmand river, has fallen to the Taliban twice since July and is strategically important because it is the southern-most point of government control. 

When the fighting finally finished earlier this week, the event merited a one-and-a-half line press release from the Afghan government: "Garmser retaken by Afghan police after five hours fighting." 

That did little justice to what was actually an unrelenting six-day battle, as British journalists discovered when they accompanied the British Army unit during its assault on Garmser. 
More on link

Outnumbered and short of food, British troops win six-day battle with Taliban  
24. September 2006, 03:12 
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1230

By Tom Coghlan, Telegraph (UK) 
"Situation critical." The young British bombardier spoke urgently into the handset of his radio above the crack of small arms around him and the heavier thud of rocket-propelled grenades. 

The radio antennae on the jeep beside him abruptly cartwheeled away and an RPG round sailed gracefully five feet overhead. "Incoming mortar and RPG rounds getting closer and more accurate. Situation critical," he repeated. 

As the bombardment continued, Bombardier Sam New from 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery, began to feed complex sets of grid references to the disjointed voices of American and British close air support pilots circling high above Helmand. Then the line went dead. A bullet had severed the cord attaching it to the radio set. 

Last week, 17 British soldiers, 10 Estonian infantrymen, 100 Afghan army and 100 Afghan police took part in a joint Nato operation to retake the dusty desert town of Garmser in southern Helmand. The town, which sits on the Helmand river, has fallen to the Taliban twice since July and is strategically important because it is the southern-most point of government control. 

When the fighting finally finished earlier this week, the event merited a one-and-a-half line press release from the Afghan government: "Garmser retaken by Afghan police after five hours fighting." 
More on link


Afghanistan AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL  
http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/afg-summary-eng

Lawlessness and insecurity increased, hampering efforts towards peace and stability. Anti-government forces killed civilians involved in the electoral process, making large parts of the country inaccessible to humanitarian organizations. US forces continued arbitrary and unlawful detentions and failed to conduct independent investigations of reports that Afghan prisoners had been tortured and ill-treated. Armed groups committed abuses against civilians with impunity, including the abduction and rape of girls. Justice and redress were unobtainable for women who experienced widespread discrimination and violence in the community, including abduction, rape and forced marriage. Refugees were pressured into returning to Afghanistan despite continuing threats to their safety. A military commander was secretly executed after an unfair trial.
More on link

Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research
Afghanistan Mission Gains Backers in Canada
September 24, 2006
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/13256

 Fewer Canadians reject their government’s rationale to take part in the war on terrorism, according to a poll by The Strategic Counsel released by CTV and the Globe and Mail. 49 per cent of respondents oppose the decision to send Canadian troops to Afghanistan, down six points in a month.

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

In March, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper travelled to Afghanistan—his first official trip as head of government. Harper dismissed any changes to the mission.

At least 474 soldiers—including 32 Canadians—have died in the war on terrorism, either in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
More on link

Afghans, NATO say dozens of Taliban killed  
24. September 2006, 03:10 
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1228

Reuters - Dozens of Taliban insurgents have been killed in the latest clashes in the Afghan south where foreign and government forces have been engaged in fierce combat in recent weeks. 

The Afghan Defense Ministry said 40 insurgents were killed in a battle with Afghan and NATO forces in the southern province of Helmand on Saturday. 

"An enemy base was totally destroyed," the ministry said on Sunday of the fighting in the province's Girishk district. 

The 20,000-strong NATO-led force said on Sunday 23 insurgents were killed in two clashes in other parts of the province over recent days. 

Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment but the insurgents, fighting to oust foreign forces, routinely deny the extent of losses reported by the government and foreign forces. 

Independent verification of both sides' reports is usually impossible. 

Afghanistan is facing its bloodiest violence since the Taliban government was removed in 2001. 

The head of Britain's army told the BBC on Saturday the Taliban were proving to be a more difficult adversary for British troops in Afghanistan than they expected. 

More than 130 foreign troops, most of them American, British and Canadian, have been killed in fighting or accidents during operations this year. 
More on link

Forty rebels killed in Afghanistan
Sunday 24 September 2006, 16:08 Makka Time, 13:08 GMT   
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/872C0FAD-2CF6-416A-9FAB-6157BC786138.htm

Nato-led and Afghan security forces backed by war planes have killed at least 40 suspected Taliban fighters during a raid in southern Afghanistan.


The rebels were killed during an operation by the International Security Assitance Force (Isaf) and Afghan troops in Helmand province’s Greshk district on Saturday, the Afghan defence ministry said.

"As a result of Isaf air bombardment and a joint ground operation, 40 enemies of our people were killed," a statement said on Sunday.

A Taliban stronghold was destroyed in the raid; but no Afghan or foreign troops sustained any casualties, it added
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Body counts in Afghanistan and Iraq
http://www.cursor.org/stories/archivistan.htm

For every American who dies in either Afghanistan or Iraq, about 17 innocent Afghan or Iraqi civilians perish. The overall cumulative death count for both Americans and civilians in Iraq is approximately 10 times greater than in Afghanistan (data accessed on September 17, 2006). No inference should here be drawn that therefore the Iraq conflict is more lethal as lethality needs to be computed in terms relative to size of relevant population universe.1.

The data for this assessment is generated from two web-based compilations which present disaggregated figures by incident. Data for Afghanistan comes from three chronological data bases covering the period October 7, 2001 to the present assembled by the author (available here), whereas Iraqi numbers come from the website of Iraq Body Count.
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Building bridges to locals in Afghanistan
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor 
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0920/p06s02-wosc.html

$43 million will go to reconstruction in five provinces in bid to reduce Taliban influence.

KANDAGAL, AFGHANISTAN – The generals and governor strode across the 230-ft. span in eastern Afghanistan - the longest Bailey Bridge built during combat since World War II, the military says - with an optimism they want to spread across this divided valley where US and Afghan troops fight almost daily battles against the Taliban. 
"Once they see the joy of reconstruction, many people will come to our side," provincial governor Didar Shalizai tells US Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley. "They will run toward us." 
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Bulgaria Assigns Top Priority to Afghanistan Mission
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=70101

Politics: 24 September 2006, Sunday.

Bulgaria should keep the mission in Afghanistan a top priority of its foreign policy due to the tense and complicated state of affairs there, the defence minister said after returning from Kabul.

Minister Bliznakov plans Bulgarian troops to remain deployed in Afghanistan another three or five years, when he expects local authorities and police to get stronger and take it all into their own hands, Darik News reported. 

Asked whether Bulgaria's unit in Afghanistan will be expanded, the minister said no political decision has been taken to this effect.

At present the country has about 500 soldiers in international missions but reports say this number may increase in 2007. 

The Bulgarian delegation landed at a surprising visit to Kabul Airport on Saturday to donate school equipment to the children at two schools here. 

Vesselin Bliznakov and General Zlatan Stoykov conferred with ISAF high-ranking officials opportunities for sending another 100 troops to the Alliance's forces in Afghanistan.

Click here to receive realtime news about this topic in the future.
End


Cloak of secrecy hides abuse in Afghanistan
Sept. 23, 2006, 8:41PM Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/4209778.html


GARDEZ, Afghanistan -- After completing their deployment to this remote firebase, the Green Berets of ODA 2021 left for home covered in glory.

The 10-member Special Forces team, part of the Alabama National Guard, returned to their families in the spring of 2003 with tales to tell of frenzied firefights and narrow escapes.

Its commander had nominated each of his men -- as well as himself -- for medals for valor. The team's performance was heralded as evidence that the Guard could play as equals with the regular Army in the war on terrorism.

But the team also had come home with secrets.

Apparently unknown to Army officials, two detainees had died in the team's custody in separate incidents during the unit's final month in eastern Afghanistan. Several other detainees allege that they were badly beaten or tortured while held at the base in Gardez.
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Bill Clinton: I got closer to killing bin Laden
POSTED: 1825 GMT (0225 HKT), September 24, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/24/clinton.binladen/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- In a contentious taped interview that aired on "Fox News Sunday," former president Bill Clinton vigorously defended his efforts as president to capture and kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. 

"I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him," Clinton said, referring to Afghanistan.

"We do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is one-seventh as important as Iraq," he added, referring to the approximately 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

In the interview, which was taped on Friday, Clinton also lashed out at Fox's Chris Wallace, accusing him of promising to discuss Clinton's initiative on climate change, then straying from the issue by asking why the former president didn't do more to "put bin Laden and al Qaeda out of business."

"So you did Fox's bidding on this show. You did your nice little conservative hit job on me," he said to Wallace, occasionally tapping on Wallace's notes for emphasis. "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of?

"And you've got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever. But I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it," Clinton said.

Wallace said that the question was drawn from viewer e-mails.

Clinton asserted he had done more to try to kill bin Laden than "all the right-wingers who are attacking me now." In fact, Clinton said, conservatives routinely criticized him for "obsessing" over bin Laden while he was in office.

"They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed," he said.
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NATO: 23 insurgents killed
POSTED: 1249 GMT (2049 HKT), September 24, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/24/afghanistan.ap/index.html

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- NATO says its aircraft killed 23 suspected insurgents in southern Afghanistan over the last several days.

A NATO helicopter attacked 20 insurgents who shot at a NATO patrol in Helmand province on Friday, killing 15 of the suspected insurgents.

A NATO statement says an attack helicopter fired on another group of insurgents who shot at a support helicopter on Thursday, killing eight of the militants in another district of Helmand province. There were no NATO casualties.

Southern Afghanistan over the last several months has seen some of the fiercest fighting since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban regime.
End

Karzai, Layton discuss Afghanistan mission  
Updated Sat. Sep. 23 2006 11:17 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060923/karzai_layton_060923/20060923?hub=Canada

NDP Leader Jack Layton and Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to disagree on the role of Canadian troops in Afghanistan. 

"Clearly he believes that the mission as it is currently constituted should continue and we have serious questions about it," Layton said Saturday in Montreal.

However, Layton said Karzai agrees that military might alone isn't enough to secure Afghanistan's long-term stability, and any political solution to the country's problems need to include Pakistan. 

The NDP has called for Canadian soldiers to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by February -- a call rejected by the Conservative government and most Opposition Liberals. 

Karzai also met with Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, whose party has also been calling for an emergency debate on the mission. Details of that meeting weren't available.
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Afghanistan gets much needed fire fighting equipment
20 Sep 06 
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/AfghanistanGetsMuchNeededFireFightingEquipment.htm


Lashkar Gah, the centre of government in Helmand Province, has taken possession of a supply of brand new fire fighting equipment.

The much needed equipment will greatly help the 41 fire fighters who provide 24 hour fire cover for Lashkar Gah and the surrounding area. And so, on Monday 18 September 2006, Fire Chief Khadar Nasar Khan took possession of the new equipment from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) personnel.

Captain Michael Hoffman and Warrant Officer Klaus Augustinus, Danish officers from the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), were there to oversee the handover of the fire fighting equipment. 

Fire Chief Khadar Nasar Khan bid for funding for the equipment through the district Shura, or council, to the Provincial Development Council. This was overseen by the Governor of Helmand Province, Governor Daud, and the Council put its seal of approval to the bid. 

The fire fighting equipment is the 
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Apaches in action in Afghanistan
14 Sep 06 
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/ApachesInActionInAfghanistan.htm

The Army's Apache attack helicopters have delivered devastating effect for the NATO force in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

Keeping a close eye on whatever might be going on around Camp Bastion in Helmand Province are a squadron of Apache helicopters; part of the Joint Helicopter Force, a tri-service unit that has already proved its worth in Iraq. 

And as neighbourhood watch schemes go, they don't come any better than 656 Squadron AAC. To perform their eye-in-the-sky role these state of the art snoopers have night vision systems, CCD TV target trackers, thermal imaging and radar that can spot vehicles as small as a motorbike – one of the Taliban's preferred method of getting around. 

The helicopters can also swiftly deliver a powerful punch when the forward operations bases or patrols need it. Apache's defining weapon is the 30mm cannon which can put down pinpoint-accurate fire at a rate of 625 rounds a minute. When larger area cover is called for, or when enemy buildings need to be knocked out, there are hellfire missiles and CRV7 rockets. Which means that the Apaches can destroy targets up to 12kms away. 
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Forces and MOD respond to "leaked e-mail" concerning operations in Afghanistan
22 Sep 06 
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/ForcesAndModRespondToleakedEmailConcerningOperationsInAfghanistan.htm

Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces spokespersons have responded to media reports today, 22 September 2006, relating to an e-mail "leak" from a British Officer in Afghanistan in which he outlines his experiences in theatre, and allegedly criticises RAF operational support to ground forces.

An MOD spokesman said:

"Like many others published in recent weeks, this is a moving and at times humbling account of fighting in a part of Helmand province, Afghanistan. It reflects both how intense the fighting can occasionally be, and the enormous courage, dedication and skill of the British troops operating there. As the Secretary of State said only this week, British soldiers in Helmand are, in some cases, working to the limits of endurance, but their morale is high and they are winning the fight."
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Light Dragoons gear up for Afghan deployment
22 Sep 06 
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/LightDragoonsGearUpForAfghanDeployment.htm
Members of the Light Dragoons who are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan next month have been undergoing five months of intensive training which culminated in a march along the north Norfolk coast.

The march along the beautiful coastline was part of C Squadron's combat fitness test in which they had to carry 30lb (13.6kg)  Bergen bags on their backs. The training has also included the honing of individual and team skills, a range package (training on the range) and courses on patrols and observation posts.

The Squadron will be based at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan. Their deployment on Operation Herrick will add to existing military contributions from the UK and 35 other nations as part of a NATO drive to make the area secure for reconstruction work.

Commenting on the training, Captain Will Jelf, Second in Command of the Squadron, said:
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Increased IED Attacks in Afghanistan Catch Vice Chairman’s Attention
By Lt. Brenda Steele, USN Special to American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1156

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 24, 2006 – The increase in frequency of improvised explosive device attacks throughout Afghanistan’s southern and eastern regions has the attention of the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani.  

Giambastiani visited Afghanistan earlier this month to meet with U.S. and coalition servicemembers and to assess challenges U.S. troops are facing with more sophisticated and increased IED attacks. 

The number of suicide bombers has risen recently with an overall uptick in violence in Afghanistan. 

With the establishment of the Joint Improvised Explosive Devices Defeat Organization, the admiral said he is seeing some improvements when it comes to locating IEDs before they have a chance to detonate. 

The challenge now is to reduce the level of causalities, he said. 
More on link


----------



## Kirkhill (24 Sep 2006)

Heroic fight for British Afghan base
The Sunday Times September 24, 2006 
Michael Smith, Kandahar
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2372134,00.html

Major reveals how engineers joined defence 


THE commander of British troops at the outpost of Sangin in southern Afghanistan has described how a shortage of troops forced him to co-opt engineers and military policemen as infantry during a fierce battle with the Taliban in which one of his best soldiers died. 
With considerable understatement, Major Jamie Loden of 3 Para described his period in charge of British troops defending Sangin as “fairly intense”. “I have been in the field since July 27 and have only had three days with no contact,” he wrote in a series of leaked e-mails. 

More on link


----------



## GAP (24 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found 24 Sept 2006*

Development a slow road in unstable Afghanistan
Renata D'Aliesio, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, September 23, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=86641c1d-1201-4220-aa27-fbf561ed4dff


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - An Afghan police commander shares a story about a recent suicide attack.

The bomber tried to get into his station, but had trouble getting past bands of razor-sharp wire. So instead of blowing himself up where he could cause the most mayhem, he exploded into pieces before he could kill anyone but himself.

The story is being told at the provincial reconstruction team's base in Kandahar city. Fourteen police commanders have gathered to learn how to improve security at their stations, and subsequently better protect their people.

This Friday morning class is a small example of the work being done with the hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars earmarked for Afghanistan. In many ways, the Afghan police's predicament is no different than that facing Canada's efforts for development in one of poorest and most volatile countries in the world: How to turn baby steps into strides amidst near daily explosive attacks?

The answer is a work-in-progress.

"We can't send workers out into a war zone where that's going on," said Canadian Lt.-Col. Simon Heatherington, head of the provincial reconstruction team. "It's difficult at times to cut a ribbon on the things that the PRT does.

"I don't have a squadron's worth of engineers here. I don't have troops that go out with equipment and build things and build bridges. What we do have are people who go out assessing the needs in the community and helping the Afghan institutions address those needs."
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Defense Minister: Payment of BG Soldiers in Afghanistan Should be Equal to That in Iraq  
24 September 2006 | 14:36 | FOCUS News Agency 
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n96444 

Sofia. Afghanistan should remain a priority of Bulgaria’s foreign policy, the Bulgarian Minister of Defense Veselin Bliznakov said during a news conference after the return of the Bulgarian delegation to Afghanistan, a reporter of FOCUS News Agency informed. 
Minister Bliznakov said that the visit had several main purposes: A strategic goal – Bulgaria to be introduced to the situation in Afghanistan in order to be able to estimate its future position regarding the mission there. Second – there was a political goal – to show its position as a reliable partner in fight against world terrorism.
Bliznakov added that payment of the Bulgarian soldiers in Afghanistan should be increased in order to match that of the Bulgarian soldiers in Iraq.
End

Karzai meets with Layton
Canadian Press 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060923.wlayton/BNStory/National/home

Montreal — As the bodies of four Canadian soldiers arrived home from Afghanistan on Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai maintained that the sacrifices of Canadians are making his country a safer place.

Mr. Karzai appeared eager to shore up support for Canada's presence in his country while polls continue to show decidedly mixed opinions about the mission.

On the second day of his visit to Canada, Mr. Karzai met with the two federal leaders whose parties have expressed the most criticism about the country's involvement in Afghanistan: the NDP's Jack Layton and the Bloc Quebecois's Gilles Duceppe.

Mr. Karzai also met with Canadian soldiers Saturday morning at a downtown hotel, thanking them for their contribution in rebuilding his war-torn homeland.
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The Key to Afghanistan: More Time
By Jim Hoagland Sunday, September 24, 2006; Page B07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092201396.html

American commanders worry that Afghanistan is "the forgotten war" as it recedes into the shadow of the bloodier, more divisive conflict in Iraq. But they take some comfort from their relative obscurity: They need time, and they will take it any way they can get it.

The biggest challenge that U.S. and NATO forces face is not on the battlefield. It lies in building confidence in the country's rural tribes and sparse urban population that Western governments will stay deeply involved in Afghanistan for a decade or longer. If Afghans do not believe that, they are unlikely to take the risks of vast social and political change being demanded of them today.
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The white supremacist Nationalist Party of Canada supports the NDP’s stance on cutting and running from Afghanistan:
Karzai, Go Home! http://www.natparty.com/archive.htm

The puppet President of Afghanistan (and ex-oil executive and Halliburton Corporation executive) Hamid Karzai, put in by American imperialist aggression and propped up by a mercenary-military alliance (the troops of NATO, including Canadians), is visiting his neo-con Zionist backers in our fair capital of Ottawa. Karzai is looking for more Canadian cannon-fodder for the meat grinder and encountering resistance to establish another McWorld whorehouse in that ancient civilization. He knows that Canadians have served with bloody distinction as fill-ins in past conflicts throughout history, from the Boer War in South Africa, to Korea, to Afghanistan today. He knows Canada’s ruling elite are a bunch of liars, just like the recently-admitted "ex-commie" government in Hungary.
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Karzai goes straight to doubters of Afghanistan mission
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=a5056f86-610b-4b22-9430-7d166f8e84b3

Mike Blanchfield, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, September 23, 2006 
OTTAWA - Call it vintage Hamid Karzai, a carefully aged blend of humble thanks for all the world has done for his country mixed with a desperate plea to do even more.

It is a combination that Afghanistan's charismatic president has honed in numerous international settings, whether it is big summits, or bilateral visits such as Friday's address to a joint session of the House of Commons. And on Friday it was delivered with the perfect balance of solemnity and humour, all of it topped with a dashing style of flowing green robes, black karacul hat and piercing dark eyes.

Each time he ventures into an international forum, Karzai must balance two competing imperatives: show gratitude for every grain of help his once forgotten country is receiving, while never letting anyone forget it needs so much more to turn the corner.

That's because in the years following the Taliban's ouster and his installation as interim leader, then elected president, the world was slow to meet its spending pledges to reconstruct Afghanistan and prevent it from ever becoming a pariah state and a haven for terrorism.

In Canada, the challenge was different: Canada has made Afghanistan it's number one recipient of development assistance and also has a healthy military presence with 2,500 troops.

But with polls showing Canadians divided on whether the ultimate sacrifice of their 36 soldiers and one diplomat is too high, Karzai had a different challenge, one he met head on, from the moment he began his address to the joint Houses of Parliament by aiming his remarks at the families who have lost loved ones "in my country, Afghanistan.''
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Soldiers' bomb deaths hit hometowns hard
Fri, September 22, 2006  By GREGORY BONNELL, CP
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2006/09/22/1877956-sun.html

ESPANOLA -- The cenotaph outside this town's Legion hall bears the names of 26 soldiers, local men who "served till death" in the name of their country. 

Two more names -- the first since 1968 -- soon will be etched into the grey stone. 

Pte. David Byers, 22, was born and raised in Espanola. Cpl. Glen Arnold, 32, grew up in McKerrow, five kilometres away. On Monday, they died together -- victims of a suicide attack in Afghanistan that has left their hometowns in shock. 

"We care about all the soldiers we lose there, but when it hits home it's devastating," said Leslie Stewart, a friend of both families. She is spearheading a yellow ribbon remembrance campaign. 

"Every person I'm talking to is reacting with shock and disbelief. They want to do something to show the families their support," she says. 

The ribbon on the front gate of the Byers family home in Espanola, just steps away from Stewart's home, is part of a trail of yellow stretching down the street and over the bridge spanning the Spanish River. 

Arnold used to travel that road daily from his hometown of McKerrow -- a hamlet of about 450 residents, one convenience store and a boarded-up tavern -- to attend school in Espanola, a town of 5,500. 

Arnold had relatives working at the massive pulp and paper mill that drives the local economy. His mother, Leona, served for years as a school trustee. His loss and that of Byers have proved almost too much for some in a town where everyone knows everyone else, a place that's now dotted with Canadian flags flying at half-mast. 

"What can you say? I picked up a (condolence) card today. I have no words," said Jackie Ardiel. "It's two families that have lost their babies. It makes your little problems so tiny." 

At Espanola high school, where Byers graduated four years ago, the principal not only had to inform students of the tragedy, but also his teaching staff, many of whom are close friends of both families. 

"This has had an effect on the entire community," said Paul Camillo, whose children played hockey with Arnold's brother. 

"I think people are just starting to come to terms with what has happened, with how the conflict in Afghanistan has now come home to us." 
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Let true colours show
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2006/09/23/pf-1883896.html

I thought of you, Jack Layton. I thought of you and all your other left-wing lollipops who want to bring our brave and committed soldiers home from Afghanistan because you can't stomach that some of them are getting killed -- I thought of you because with your self-righteous intellectual arrogance and colossal stupidity, you just don't get it, and never will. 

I thought of you, Lollipop Jack Layton, as I drove to Parliament Hill where thousands upon thousands of Canadians -- who, unlike you, get it -- formed a massive blanket of red from east to west and north to south in front of the centre block of the great bastion of Canadian democracy, the kind of democracy the embattled government and mothers and fathers and children and grandchildren of Afghanistan crave in their war against the inhumane, murderous Taliban. 

DEMANDED SOLDIERS' RETURN 

I thought of you, Lollipop Jack Layton, and I wondered what your reaction would have been to another Friday, Sept. 22, this one in the year 1944; I wondered -- had you been alive and had there been a Nutso Dumbo Party and had you been its leader -- if you'd have wet your undies and demanded our brave and committed soldiers be immediately brought home after you read the following newspaper story on what happened on that day. 
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Tory blasts absent MPs for 'total disrespect'
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2006/09/23/1883895-sun.html
By KATHLEEN HARRIS

A Conservative MP has blasted the "total disrespect" shown by Liberal and NDP MPs who skipped yesterday's historic address in Parliament by Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. 

Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, said it's a disgrace so many MPs played hooky from the House of Commons as Canadian soldiers put their lives on the line in Afghanistan and a critical public debate rages. 

At least 40 Grits were no-shows for the speech. 

"The Canadian soldiers have spilled their blood for the Afghan people, and Mr. Karzai had come to thank them, but as usual the Liberals showed total disrespect to the Canadian Forces and to the Canadian people by not even having the courtesy to show up," Obhrai said. 

Pat Breton, a spokesman for Liberal Leader Bill Graham, estimated only 60 of the 102 Liberal MPs were present in the House due to the leadership campaign. 

"We sent out the message that we hoped all members would make their way back to Ottawa, but the reality is that the delegate selection is next weekend, and that was a priority," he said. 
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Afghanistan to buy passenger planes from China  
September 24, 2006          
September 24, 2006 

Afghanistan's Ministry for Transport and Aviation is considering buying some passenger planes from China, a Kabul-based English newspaper reported Sunday. 

In talks with the daily Afghanistan Times, Minister for Transport and Aviation Nimatullah Ehsan Jawid said his ministry would buy five small planes from China to restore Afghanistan's former domestic airliner company the Bakhter. 

"With buying such planes from China the Bakhter's activities would be revived," Ehsan Jawid told Afghanistan Times. 

Bakhter, a small company providing domestic flight services in the past, stopped its services due to over two and a half decades of war. 

Currently Afghanistan's state-owned national carrier Ariana and a private airline company the KamAir are in operation. 

Ariana has only three Boeing 727 and two Air Bus 300 and KamAir has a few planes connecting post-Taliban Afghanistan with outside world. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Afghan orphans reshape their lives at RAWA orphanages  
Overview of RAWA orphanages in Pakistan and Afghanistan 
http://www.rawa.org/orphanages.htm

Background: Afghanistan has been at war continuously for almost three decades. These conflicts have left behind a legacy of complete turmoil; millions of deaths, destruction of the whole landscapes and collapse of the country’s infrastructure. Undoubtedly, the bulk of this tragedy was borne by the children and women who are the most vulnerable segment of any society and therefore the prime victims of this calamity. The children have suffered the horrors of kidnapping and child trafficking, sexual abuses, child labor in addition to appalling humiliation and degradation. 
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Afghan warlords unite to fight Nato
IAN MATHER DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT (imather@scotlandonsunday.com) 
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1410642006&format=print

AS Nato struggles to find more troops to send to Afghanistan, the alliance appears to have achieved the impossible, but dangerous feat of uniting previously disparate warlords, tribes and militia. 

US and British troops have stopped identifying them by their allegiance, and refer to them all as ACM - short for Anti-Coalition Militias - a collective word for the mixture of Taliban supporters, Pakistani jihadists, armed tribesmen, loyalists to various warlords and a sprinkling of foreign fighters who represent al-Qaeda. 
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Sat 23 Sep 2006

Taliban warns Poland on troops for Afghanistan
WARSAW (Reuters) -
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1409912006&format=print

Poland is investigating a warning by Taliban rebels against sending more troops to beef up its tiny force with the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, the PAP news agency reported on Saturday.

"Such information appears on the Web, and our special services are naturally investigating, but nothing serious is happening," PAP quoted Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski as saying.

He was responding to a report in the newspaper Zycie Warszawy that a warning by the Taliban was posted on a Web site operated by Russia's Chechen separatists.

"We appeal to the Polish parliament and nation. British and Canadian forces are suffering defeat after defeat. The more so you should not decide to despatch your troops to Afghanistan," the daily quote the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as saying.

The Taliban named the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan before they were swept from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

Poland, which has 103 soldiers in Afghanistan at present, pledged 1,000 more in response to a NATO call last week for reinforcements to help restore order in Afghanistan which has faced intensified Taliban insurgency in the past few months.

"Warnings addressed to the Polish government are taken into account, but they have no influence on our decision to send Polish troops to Afghanistan," PAP quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski as saying.
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NDP’s Afghanistan plan shortsighted
By MARTIN MACKINNON
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/530174.html

I was deeply concerned when I read the opinion article by Alexa McDonough in the Sept. 17 edition of The Sunday Herald. It parroted the words of Jack Layton that the NDP position is that Canada should immediately withdraw our soldiers from Afghanistan. She and the NDP have implied that this is George Bush’s war and we should not participate. 

To be clear, I am no fan of President Bush, after watching him squander the good things that America was trying to accomplish in the Middle East under the Clinton administration and watching him squander the world’s support for the United States as a result of events of Sept. 11. However, to respond that Canada should abandon its military involvement in Afghanistan is totally irresponsible. 

In 2003/2004, the former deputy prime minster of Canada, John Manley, visited Kabul and, during that visit, was approached by a woman who wanted to thank Canada for its help. Her story is shocking. Due to the many wars in Afghanistan, numerous families have lost all the males in the household. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to go outside alone, work outside the home, or receive an education. As a result, these women and their children were starving in their own homes. The only relief she was receiving was that being provided by Canada. 

What the NDP want to do is abandon this woman and all the women in Afghanistan to this fate. Perhaps Mr. Layton should have had his press conference to announce the NDP policy to withdraw our military at a school in rural Afghanistan. There, he could tell the school girls to their faces that they would now have to "fend for themselves," if they wanted to continue getting an education.

Jack Layton and the NDP want to negotiate with the Taliban, who practised brutalizing women. The NDP have always been proponents of women’s rights. It would seem that political expediency has trumped women’s rights. 
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Airmen hit back at army after 'useless in Afghanistan' claim  
Mark Townsend, defence correspondent Sunday September 24, 2006 The Observer 
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1879861,00.html

Bitter recriminations broke out among British forces in Afghanistan last night as factions of the RAF and infantry rounded on each other amid continued combat in Helmand province.
Evidence of a split surfaced in the wake of comments by Major James Loden of 3 Para that the RAF had been 'utterly, utterly useless' during operations against the Taliban. A series of fractious emails emerged yesterday from furious service personnel, provoking fears that morale was at risk of collapsing. Further concern came with fresh evidence that the psychological fallout of Afghanistan may prove far greater than that from Iraq, while the number of UK casualties from Helmand was said to have caused British-based medical centres to be 'absolutely overrun'.

In one angry email to colleagues, a pilot operating in Sangin claimed that decisions taken by some senior infantry officers had put the lives of RAF crew at risk. He wrote: 'I take it was not this major's [Loden] troops I was picking up in Sangin whilst being RPGed? [attacked by rocket-propelled grenades]. Should I call his troops utterly useless when they lit up a landing site with a strobe for the second time because they forgot to switch it off and risk the lives of four blokes and 25 million quid plus the life of other casualty we were trying to pick up?'
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The War on Education in Afghanistan
Antonio Fabrizio September 22, 2006
http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/2500.cfm

In Western perception, parents usually assume as a matter of fact that their children's schools are safe and harmless sites. When they go to work, American and European parents know that their children are learning and playing in safety, that there is nothing they should worry about.

This is not the case in Afghanistan. The problem in Afghanistan is not just the fact that there is an ongoing conflict between NATO/U.S. troops and Taliban insurgents. Of course, that does put school children in jeopardy because bullets and bombs could accidentally kill students who are on their way to school or even in their schoolyards.

Yet, it is quite a different case when students and teachers are targeted on purpose. In Afghanistan, schools, students, and educators are being targeted more and more frequently by Taliban insurgents. The insurgents are trying to regain control of the volatile Southern regions and spread their presence and influence all over the country, causing unpredicted difficulties to Western and Afghan troops. To that end, insurgents burn schools, kill teachers, and intimidate students and their families.
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Thousands protest Iraq, Afghanistan wars
By KATIE FRETLAND Associated Press Writer  © 2006 The Associated Press Sept. 23, 2006, 3:15PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4209443.html

MANCHESTER, England — Thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched Saturday against the presence of British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on the eve of the governing Labour Party's annual gathering.

Protesters packed Manchester's central Albert Square before setting off on a march around the conference center where delegates will hold their five-day meeting, starting Sunday
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Top soldier defends military performance in Afghanistan  
23. September 2006, 07:12 
http://www.afghannews.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=1224

By Lachlan Carmichael, AFP 
Britain's highest ranking officer dismissed criticism of the air force's performance in Afghanistan as isolated and said the armed forces were "doing an extremely good job." 

For a second consecutive day, the chief of the general staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, issued a strong defense of the armed forces which are facing heavier-than-expected resistance from a resurgent Taliban. 

"If the odd person has had a disappointment in that an airstrike being called in has not identified the target or has identified the wrong target, that is understandable in the fog of war and the heat of battle," he told BBC radio Saturday. 

Sky News reported Friday that e-mails written by an unidentified major condemned the Royal Air Force as "utterly, utterly useless" and underlined that more soldiers and equipment were needed "desperately." 

Dannatt appealed for teamwork and solidarity. 

"It is disappointing that some members of the team have seen fit in a private e-mail to criticise other members of the team. We don't need that," Dannatt said. 

"This is difficult and dangerous work but we are doing it successfully because we are doing it as a team," he told BBC radio. 

Although he said that the armed forces were "coping" in Afghanistan, Dannatt said that they were working to maximum levels. 

"Quite simply we are fully committed on what we are currently getting on with and doing an extremely good job in those areas," Dannat told BBC radio. 

"It is a matter of priorities. If the government wishes more to be done by the military, it needs a bigger military." 
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Warnings about plight of British troops in Afghanistan played down London
Sept 23, IRNA  UK-Troops-Afghanistan 
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-239/0609239687141230.htm

British troops in Afghanistan are exhausted and desperately short of helicopters, while suffering "significant" casualties, according to leaked accounts from officers on the frontline. 

The reports, including an e-mail describing Britain's Air Force as "utterly, utterly useless," raised further questions about whether UK troops were adequately prepared for operations in combating insurgents in the hostile south of the country. 

But the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, described the soldiers as doing "a fantastic job in Afghanistan, and in Helmand province in particular." 
The e-mail criticizing the air force from Major James Loden of the Parachute Regiment was "irresponsible" and "unfortunate," the chief of general staff said on BBC radio on Saturday. 

Loden, who was awarded the Bronze Star medal in 2004 by the US military for his services in Afghanistan, gave graphic accounts of the plight of the British deployment, saying the forces were desperately short of reinforcements and helicopters. 

The leaking of his e-mail to the press came less than 24 hours after it emerged that another army officer described the scale of casualties suffered by British troops in southern Afghanistan as "very significant and showing no signs of reducing." 
The officer, Major Jon Swift, a company commander in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, criticized the current strategy as "following political rather than military imperatives." 
He was referring to pressure from local Afghan leaders on British commanders to send troops to forward bases in the north of Helmand province, where the Taliban was taking control. 

There have been no recent figures about the number of troops wounded in action in Afghanistan, but this month also has seen 19 servicemen lose their lives, including 14 who died when a Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft crashed
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## tomahawk6 (25 Sep 2006)

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=102761

NATO wants Indian troops to operate in Afghanistan 

BRUSSELS: NATO - the US led western military alliance, wants Indian troops for its missions in volatile regions like Afghanistan and Kosovo, according to newspaper reports. 

NATO officials here at Brussels, its headquarters, said Indian troops would be part of a wider engagement the alliance envisages with non-member states. 

The alliance does not expect Indian troops for its missions overnight but as a consequence of a protracted engagement that will drive policy change in New Delhi and reforms within NATO. 

Beginnings have been made at two levels. NATO headquarters has briefed Indian diplomats here. Its secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Schaffer has met defence minister Pranab Mukherjee. 

Pakistan’s support in the U.S. lead War Against Terror (WoT) however has been conditional. General Musharraf’s Regime seemed to have made it clear that an Indian presence in Afghanistan would have to be avoided. 

General Musharraf however comes under increasing pressure for not doing enough against the Taliban and Al Qaeda based in Pakistan. North Afghan leaders and on the ground U.S. and NATO officers based sections of the Pakistani establishment for aiding the anti-government insurgency in Afghanistan. 

Five years on both the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the Taliban head Mullah Omar roam free, apparently within Pakistan’s tribal regions in the west along the border with Afghanistan.


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## GAP (25 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 25 Sept 2006*

Troops in battle for public trust    
 Renata D'Aliesio, Calgary Herald Published: Monday, September 25, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=fa3d26ef-c881-40a7-a455-95d59216881b

Young boys and girls scurry about the main road on a Sunday afternoon as normalcy slowly returns to a collection of small grocery and retail shops in the commercial hub of Panjwaii and Zhari districts. A week ago, nearly every door was barricaded with steel. A week before that, a barrage of bombs and gunfire assailed the countryside on either side of the Arghandab River.

The children are happy to see the soldiers today. No scowls or spitting, this time.

In the hours between patrols and fighting, soldiers often talk about what it will take to dramatically change Afghanistan. Inevitably, they agree they must win over the children. And not just with notebooks, pens and candy.

"It's not about pictures of soldiers handing out candies," said American Gunnery Sgt. Rilon Reall. "It's about shifting a society, and that's going to take generations."

Reall has just returned from a walk about the main road. The patrol included the Afghan National Army, Canadian military police and Sgt. Chris Augustine, a member of the civil military co-operation unit from the provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar city.

The Canadian unit has been tracking the damage caused by Operation Medusa, the latest attempt to drive the Taliban from a swath of farmland in Kandahar province.

Now, amid the wreckage of war, Augustine and a crew have a bag of money for jobs like cleaning canals, repairing gates and restoring water wells.

As for the bigger tasks -- rebuilding houses, schools and mosques -- those requests will have to work their way through some NATO red tape. Hopefully, not too much of it, Augustine said.

The battle for Panjwaii and Zhari didn't end with the fighting. How NATO and the Afghan government handle the coming weeks and months -- the rebuilding not only of structures, but also of local residents' trust -- may very well determine whether the Taliban return to dominance here. They have, many times, in the recent past.
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wrong to support Afghan mission, Constitution expert says
Canadian Press Published: Monday, September 25, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/story.html?id=670711d8-0b5d-4fcf-8ddf-5199b60082ef

MONTREAL -- Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean was wrong to speak out in favour of Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan, says a constitutional expert. 

Henri Brun, a professor in constitutional law at the University of Laval, called Jean's statements about the Afghan mission "incorrect" and out of line with Canada's political tradition. 

In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Jean defended Canada's role in Afghanistan as necessary to remove the Taliban and rebuild the war-torn country. 

But Brun said it is "difficult to reconcile the political incursion with her functions" as the Queen's representative. 

"It is disappointing that Ms. Jean, after only a year in her position, doesn't have a better knowledge of her functions," he said. 

Brun added that within the Constitution, the monarchy is not accorded any political powers. 

He also said that public opinion in Canada wouldn't be affected much by Jean's statements
End

SUBJECT: Pictures of Afghanistan 
Posted by Renata D'Alesio on 9/24/2006 2:48:06 PM
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/features/afghanistan/daliesio.html

A military radio squawks about an ambush as men from the Afghan National Army pray. 

Seventy insurgents have attacked a military convoy, injuring one soldier. The holy month of Ramadan has started, and it’s another beautiful night. American Gunnery Sgt. Rilon Reall remarks on the sky. 

“I’ve seen a shooting star every night,” he said, “except the one night I didn’t look.” 

It’s easy not to see the beauty of this country. Rubble lines the drive from Kandahar Air Field to the city. When the buildings were destroyed is impossible to tell: From war 30 years ago or just yesterday. 

Women are rarely seen on the streets, and when they are, they’re still unseen. Few have shed their burkas around Kandahar. 

Poverty is everywhere. Even the wealthy grape/poppy farmers have little compared to our standards of comfort in Canada. 

My picture of Afghanistan is a skewed one. For the most part, I have seen it through the military’s eyes. And like them, I’m struggling to put my suspicions aside when I meet local Afghans. 

In my first hours in Kabul, their beauty struck me. On Friday, I was struck by their tenderness. 

Fourteen police commanders had gathered at the provincial reconstruction team’s base in Kandahar City to learn about strategies to protect their police stations. 

In greeting each other, they pulled closely together and exchanged hushed greetings. 

The moment, this tenderness between police commanders, felt utterly normal. Beautiful. 
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NATO wants Indian troops to operate in Afghanistan  
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=102761

BRUSSELS: NATO - the US led western military alliance, wants Indian troops for its missions in volatile regions like Afghanistan and Kosovo, according to newspaper reports. 

NATO officials here at Brussels, its headquarters, said Indian troops would be part of a wider engagement the alliance envisages with non-member states. 

The alliance does not expect Indian troops for its missions overnight but as a consequence of a protracted engagement that will drive policy change in New Delhi and reforms within NATO. 

Beginnings have been made at two levels. NATO headquarters has briefed Indian diplomats here. Its secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Schaffer has met defence minister Pranab Mukherjee. 

Pakistan’s support in the U.S. lead War Against Terror (WoT) however has been conditional. General Musharraf’s Regime seemed to have made it clear that an Indian presence in Afghanistan would have to be avoided. 

General Musharraf however comes under increasing pressure for not doing enough against the Taliban and Al Qaeda based in Pakistan. North Afghan leaders and on the ground U.S. and NATO officers based sections of the Pakistani establishment for aiding the anti-government insurgency in Afghanistan. 

Five years on both the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the Taliban head Mullah Omar roam free, apparently within Pakistan’s tribal regions in the west along the border with Afghanistan.
End

Taliban adopted WWI-style tactics in fight against Nato: General  
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=102759

PASHMUL: Quiet reigns over this dusty plain strewn with orchards and crossed with lunar-like mountains. For two weeks, Nato and the Taliban battled each other here, in this symbolic region of southern Afghanistan which was cleared of its population before the fighting began. 

In Pashmul and the adjoining districts of Panjwayi and Zhari, southwest of Kandahar city, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by Nato launched Operation Medusa to dislodge the Taliban from a stronghold near the birthplace of the movement in the early 1990s. 

The village of Pashmul, a collection of hamlets, suffered the worst damage. The school is in ruins, its roof sagging and white walls crumbled. It had been built with US aid and served as a command post for the Taliban, Nato said. 

"They were shooting at us from these grape huts," said Colonel Richard Williams, deputy head of ISAF forces in the south, pointing to mudbrick buildings pierced by multiple slits for aeration and used to dry grapes into raisins. 

Despite the arid soil, with every step kicking up clouds of dust, agriculture thrives: grapes, watermelons, corn, hashish and opium poppies all flourish, fed by a system of underwater irrigation.Walls of mud surround the fields, which are crossed by dry canals ideal trenches. 

"They used the canal system to attack and then fall back to the bunkers," Williams said.His escort stiffened suddenly at the sight of a silhouette ahead before realising it is that of a child. 

"You can’t really see anything," said Staff Sergeant Steven Keith. "You don’t see who is behind that wall, you don’t see what’s in the cornfield." 

The fighters were using trench and bunker systems right out of World War I, said Williams. They may have chosen to make a stand here because even the Russian invaders of the 1980s could not beat them out of Pashmul or Panjwayi. 

"So they wanted to do it again," he said, noting the position was also at the "back door" of Kandahar city, the largest city in the south. Moving through this area has been the traditional route for taking Kandahar, said ISAF spokesman Major Quentin Innis. In another part of Pashmul, Nato bombs destroyed a bread oven under which the Taliban had installed a mortar position, another example of their extensive defensive network. 

"We left the area, and then the Taliban arrived," said the owner of the property, 35-year-old Abdul Qader. "We could see the fighting here from the other side of the river where we had taken refuge, in Panjwayi Bazaar." "My family is still there," he said, adding he did not feel the time was right to bring them home. "The good news is the villagers left before we arrived," said Williams. "So there was no collateral damage and we didn’t have to worry about that. "Some left because ISAF had dropped leaflets warning about the looming showdown, Williams said. Others said they had left because the Taliban instructed them to or they were tired of being bullied by the rebels
End

Australian foreign minister at NATO headquarters to discuss Afghan deployment   
The Associated Press Published: September 25, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/25/europe/EU_GEN_NATO_Australia.php

BRUSSELS, Belgium Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer traveled to NATO headquarters Monday to discuss Afghanistan where his country is sending about 400 soldiers to join the alliance force facing an upsurge of Taliban violence in the volatile southern region.

The ongoing deployment will double Australia's contribution to the 20,000 strong NATO force. But the decision to replace around 200 elite combat troops currently engaged in the fight against the Taliban with a force mostly made up of military engineers to support reconstruction efforts has drawn some criticism.

"In the hour of NATO's greatest need, Australia will, this month, withdraw its most highly trained combat troops," said a recent editorial in The Australian newspaper. "Australia should be doing more to help."

NATO is currently seeking more combat troops for its operation in the south where commanders have been caught by surprise by the ferocity of Taliban resistance. The allied commander U.S. Gen. James L. Jones says up to 2,500 extra troops are urgently needed to push ahead attacks on the insurgents before the onset of winter allows them to retreat into mountain hideaways.

The deployment of the 400-strong reconstruction task force to serve alongside around 2,000 Dutch troops in the mountainous Uruzgan province will make Australia the largest non-NATO member of the alliance force there.

Prime Minister John Howard last week said the troops will deploy as planned despite the increased violence.

"Afghanistan has got a lot more dangerous and our own forces are exposed to a lot of danger," he said. "But we have to maintain our commitment in Afghanistan."
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Europe must join fight in Afghanistan
NATO's call for help is urgent and not a matter of politics; Canada, Britain and U.S. can't continue to stand alone in staving off extremists
 Alexander Moens The Edmonton Journal Monday, September 25, 2006
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/opinion/story.html?id=02e6a0d2-df34-4bcd-abe8-ff3e80e1ec85

European members other than Britain and the Netherlands cannot decide whether to join NATO's first ground war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, contenders for the Liberal party's leadership in Canada, such as Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae, are carefully distancing themselves from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's firm commitment to forcefully oust the Taliban so that nation-building anddevelopment can begin.

In Afghanistan, European governments and Canadian opposition leaders must realize two things: the fight is not about pulling America's chestnuts out of the fire, and there cannot be development and state building until there is security. Islamist extremists are trying to regain control of a state from which they will likely terrorize the West, including Europe and Canada.

When the United States defeated the Taliban in early 2002, European countries and Canada under a UN mandate put in a considerable effort to stabilize the new regime in Kabul. In 2003, NATO took over the command and planning of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) because it was simply too difficult and big to be run by any contributing member. European and Canadian stabilization and reconstruction efforts have been crucial in keeping Afghanistan afloat ever since.

But the scene is changing from merely rebuilding Afghanistan to staving off an attempt by a mixture of Taliban, al Qaida and Drug Lord warriors to take back the country from the democratically elected government under Hamid Karzai.
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Taliban shadow still haunts after Nato offensive in Afghanistan
Published: Monday, 25 September, 2006, 09:31 AM Doha Time 
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=109443&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

PASHMUL: "It is very dangerous here because the Taliban have not been driven out and Nato is still here," says a villager in this part of Afghanistan's Kandahar province.
Days after Nato forces declared they had defeated insurgents entrenched in Panjwayi and Pashmul, worried inhabitants still fear the Taliban and some even sympathise with the rebels.
And life cannot return to normal.
"It is impossible to go back to our village because our house has been destroyed, unless the coalition forces help us," continues villager Haji Bilal-jan, referring to Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"My house was bombed and burnt. I lost 4,000 kilos of raisins that were ready for market," says the 48-year-old with a black turban and thick beard.
"ISAF was cruel, they bombed our houses when there weren't even any Taliban here."
Another villager, Namatullah, interrupts. "Why did you allow the Taliban to come here?" demands the 45-year-old, who does not wear the traditional turban, unleashing a bitter debate. "We have to call a shura (council) in every village to appoint someone to tell the strangers - Taliban or other - to go on their way," he says.
But says Haji Bilal-jan, "We do not have the power to stop the Taliban from coming to our village or to ask the coalition not to bomb our houses."
"The government must pardon everyone and let them return," he says, apparently referring to the Taliban, whose main leaders have found refuge in Pakistan.
Namatullah recalls meeting some of the Taliban who had moved into the area. "One day I was working close to a stream where women were washing clothes with the children. A hundred metres away, I saw a group of Taliban.
"I told them to leave, that they were going to get these women and children killed. They replied, 'No we have orders.'" His house was destroyed by a bomb and his loft, which contained Rs25,000 worth of opium, was hit by a rocket, he says.
But he is not complaining. "I am happy because the Taliban deserve punishment, even if it cost the destruction of my house." "If Pakistan is helping them, the Taliban will come back. If it drops them, they will not come back," he says. - AFP 
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Special report: Afghanistan - The dead zone  
Months of ferocious fighting have been followed by a lull at the start of Ramadan. But no one pretends the killing is over 
By Kim Sengupta in London and Ahmed Rahim in Lashkargar  Published: 24 September 2006 
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article1726097.ece

British forces in Afghanistan are restructuring their operations after months of fierce combat which have taken a mounting toll on the battlefield and caused rising concern at home. 

The policy of setting up "advanced platoon houses", which have drawn relentless attacks in the heart of Helmand province's Taliban country, will be quietly abandoned. British troops will instead be concentrated in more easily defended bases near the towns of Lashkargar, Grishk, Sangin and Musa Qala, as well as their main base, Camp Bastion.

The outposts in the Sangin Valley are still being manned by British troops, but they are due to be handed over to the Afghan army, and no new ones are likely to be established.

Supply runs from the regional HQ in Kandahar, which are routinely attacked despite being escorted by entire battle groups, are getting greater protection. Apart from varying the routes being used, military sources say pre-emptive air strikes are being made on would-be ambushers as intelligence improves.

The policy, part of a package being put forward by the new British commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General David Richards, is aimed at stopping the haemorrhaging of troops and setting up secure zones where reconstruction, which has virtually ground to a halt in the lawless landscape, can begin. This was his original plan, but before he took over command of southern Afghanistan, British troops were sent into the Sangin Valley at the urgent request of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, backed up by the Americans.

It is a measure of the ferocity of the resulting fighting that Ministry of Defence officials are relieved that no British soldier has been killed for 18 days. The last fatalities were on 6 September, when three soldiers died, one of them from injuries sustained five days previously. But even though there may now be a slight lull with the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast all day, no one is pretending the killing is over.

Nato was expecting the Taliban to use classic hit-and-run guerrilla tactics. Instead it has been carrying out frontal attacks, losing many men, but still inflicting losses. Most worryingly, there appears to be no shortage of Islamist fighters coming across the porous Pakistani border to replace the killed and wounded
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Two Deaths Were a 'Clue That Something's Wrong'  
A Special Forces team in Afghanistan failed to alert its superiors. Witnesses tell of torture. 
By Craig Pyes and Kevin Sack, Special to The Times September 25, 2006 
http://ktla.trb.com/news/la-na-torture25sep25,0,7573207.story?coll=ktla-news-1

WAZI, Afghanistan — The Green Berets of ODA 2021 were on high alert as their convoy rumbled down the winding, rutted road that day in March 2003. The team had been tipped that armed men loyal to the notoriously volatile warlord Pacha Khan Zadran lay in wait around the bend.

As they approached this mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, the Americans spied the warlord's fighters high on a ridge to their right. They scrambled for cover behind their trucks and Humvees.

Moments later, machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades rained down on their vulnerable position. Though pinned down, the Americans responded with a fusillade of their own.

"The air was snapping like Rice Crispies [sic]," the Special Forces team's newly assigned commander, Chief Warrant Officer Kenneth C. Waller, 32, wrote in a florid after-action report. "So many rounds were flying back and forth that lead was overcoming the oxygen in the air."

The battle raged for 45 minutes, then A-10 attack planes and Apache helicopters flew in and strafed the Afghans into retreat.

There were no casualties among the 17 Americans on patrol that day. "It seemed as if we had an angelic bubble surrounding our position," Waller reported to headquarters.

Though Waller filed several detailed and colorful accounts of the battle, he apparently omitted any mention of what happened next.
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Battle strains test GIs' limits
Soldiers felt justified in using aggressive techniques against detainees
By Kevin Sack and Craig Pyes Los Angeles Times September 25, 2006
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/america_at_war/article/0,1426,MCA_945_5018846,00.html

GARDEZ, Afghanistan -- Danger and chaos still ruled Afghanistan when about 300 National Guardsmen of the 20th Special Forces Group's 1st Battalion arrived nine months after the December 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime. 
Al-Qaida and the Taliban were in flight, but not vanquished. The new government was trying to stand up, but it was wobbly. And, much like today, the U.S. military struggled to balance the sometimes incompatible missions of combat and reconstruction. 

As this latest rotation of U.S. Green Berets hit the ground, much of the countryside remained beyond the control of the newly installed government of interim President Hamid Karzai. 
It would fall to Special Forces teams such as ODA 2021 to root out al-Qaida and Taliban stragglers and unearth caches of weapons. In Paktia, the province that includes Gardez, the task was complicated by Byzantine local politics. 

Tribal warlords and bandits had skirmished for centuries over the inhospitable terrain along the porous border with Pakistan. They had only been emboldened by the power vacuums and shifting alliances created after the U.S.-led invasion. 
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Special forces stretched thin by two wars
Too few elite troops for key furtive work 
By David Wood  Sun Reporter Originally published September 24, 2006
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.special24sep24,0,3228806.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. // So many of America's special operations commandos have been thrown into combat in Iraq and Afghanistan that only a handful of the elite troops are available for the quiet but critical work of training local security forces and stabilizing governments elsewhere -- raising worries about al-Qaida and related terrorist groups expanding in other parts of the world.

The demand for Army Green Berets, Navy SEALs and other highly trained units in battle, which senior military commanders expect will last for the foreseeable future, is a tough problem for the military and for its relatively small and overstretched special operations forces centered here in a bustling wartime headquarters.
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The challenges in Afghanistan
TODAY'S EDITORIAL September 25, 2006 
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060924-085112-7431r.htm

The news from Afghanistan in recent months has not been good. How NATO responds -- in immediate troop deployments and in preparations for the longer term -- could determine whether Afghanistan evolves into a viable, sustainable democracy or reverts into the chaos that sowed the seeds of September 11. 
    Consider these worrisome developments in September alone. On Sept. 2, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported that opium production in Afghanistan had surged 49 percent this year. After having been effectively eradicated earlier this decade, Afghanistan's opium output now accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's illegal supply and generates more than half of Afghanistan's national income. Also on Sept. 2, NATO forces operating in southern Afghanistan launched Operation Medusa, which has culminated in the military alliance's largest ground assault in its history. 
    On Sept. 7, following 18 months of behind-the-scenes entreaties for more troops, NATO's supreme allied commander, U.S. Gen. James L. Jones, issued an extraordinary public appeal to the 26-member alliance for 2,500 additional troops to be deployed in southern Afghanistan. Despite his characterization of the current fighting as being "decisive," Gen. Jones received no commitments from the top generals from the 26 NATO countries that convened in Warsaw on Sept. 8 and 9. On September 11, the United States and the rest of the world commemorated the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack, conceived and orchestrated from Afghanistan, that murdered nearly 3,000 innocents. On Sept. 12, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned the world that Afghanistan risked becoming "a failed state" (again) unless NATO affirmatively responded to the public plea from Gen. Jones for more troops. Eerily, on the day after the fifth anniversary of September 11, Miss Rice warned that Afghanistan "could come back to haunt us" if NATO was not successful in defeating the resurgent Taliban. The very next day, a high-level NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium, concluded without any of the alliance's 26 nations making a firm commitment to provide additional troops to southern Afghanistan. 
    Currently, there are about 20,000 troops under NATO command in Afghanistan, including about 1,300 from the United States. In addition, there are another 20,000 U.S. forces who remain exclusively under U.S. command. With 5,000 troops in Afghanistan, Great Britain, which also has 7,200 troops in Iraq, contributes the most troops to NATO's contingent in Afghanistan. Germany has deployed about 2,800 troops to Afghanistan, but they are confined mostly to Kabul. So, too, are Turkey's 900 troops in Afghanistan. Canada has 2,300 soldiers in Afghanistan, and the Netherlands has about 2,000 troops. Spain has contributed nearly 700 soldiers to Afghanistan, and Romania and Denmark have smaller contingents there. 
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U.S. military's forgotten women   
By Lizette Alvarez The New York Times Published: September 24, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/24/news/women.php

Lieutenant Emily Perez, 23, a West Point graduate who outran many men, directed a gospel choir and read the Bible every day, was at the head of a weekly convoy as it rolled down roads pocked with bombs and bullets near Najaf, Iraq. As platoon leader, she insisted on leading her troops from the front.

Two weeks ago, one of those bombs tripped her up, detonating near her Humvee in Kifl, south of Baghdad. She died Sept. 12, the 64th woman from the U.S. military to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Eight died in Vietnam.

Despite longstanding predictions that the United States would shudder when its women were killed in action, Perez's death, and those of the other women, the majority of whom died from hostile fire (the 65th died in a Baghdad car bombing a day later), have stirred no less - and no more - reaction at home than the deaths of the nearly 2,700 male dead. The same can be said of the hundreds of wounded women.

There is no shortage of guesses as to why: Americans are no longer especially shocked by the idea of a woman's violent death. Most do not know how many women have fallen, or under what circumstances. Photographs of body bags and coffins are rarely seen. And nobody wants to kick up a fuss and risk insulting grieving families.

"The public doesn't seem concerned they are dying," said Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who has closely studied national service. "They would rather have someone else's daughter die than their son."

What's more, no one in the strained military is eager to engage in a debate about women and the risks they are taking in Iraq because, quite simply, the women are sorely needed in this conflict.

As has happened many times in war, circumstances have outpaced arguments. They are sure to be taken up again at some point, only this time, the military will have real-life data on the performance of women in the field to supplant the hypotheticals.
More on link


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## GAP (25 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found 25 Sept 2006*

Bodies Tajiks, Pakistanis brought to Waziristan from Afghanistan Islamabad,
Sept 25, IRNA Pakistan-Afghanistan-Bodies 
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0609253430191629.htm

Bodies of two Tajik and five Pakistani nationals, who died while fighting allied forces in Afghanistan, have been brought to Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region, local correspondents said on Monday. 

It is the second time dead bodies of Pakistani fighters have been brought from Afghanistan in less than a week. 

There was no official word on the report. 

Five bodies, including that of a local Taliban commander Mulla Muhammad Kalam, were brought to North Waziristan tribal agency four days ago. 

Reports said two Tajik militants were buried in Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan. 

One Pakistani was identified as Farooq, 25, who belonged to local Ahmadzai Wazir tribe, died while fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan. 

Correspondents said that four fighters were the residents of Charsadda, a major town near Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province. 

Their corpses were sent to their home town from Waziristan for burial. 

Official sources said that several injured militants were also shifted to Wana for treatment. 

But it is not clear where they are being treated and who is providing money for their treatment. 

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of not doing much to stop militants from crossing the border. 

Pakistan says it has deployed some 80,000 troops along with Afghan border to check the illegal cross-border-movement. 
End


Carrier aircraft join Afghanistan fight
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 25 (UPI) 
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060923-044203-4477r

The U.S. Navy carrier USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, the nucleus of a carrier strike group, is supporting operations in Afghanistan. 

The Enterprise embarked Carrier Air Wing 1 and departed Naval Station Norfolk May 2 for a regularly scheduled six-month deployment supporting the global war on terrorism. 

The USS Enterprise is the flagship in the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, which includes the cruiser USS Leyte Gulf, destroyer USS McFaul, frigate USS Nicholas, the attack submarine USS Alexandria and the fast-combat supply ship USNS Supply. 

The Naval News Stand reported Sept. 21 that USS Enterprise Carrier Air Wing aircraft continued their support of International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom from Sept. 12 through Sept. 19. 

The use of carrier-based aircraft in aerial operations against Taliban and al-Qaida forces is the first deployment of naval aircraft there since Taliban operations began intensifying in the spring, leading to some of the toughest fighting in the country since the overthrow of the Taliban five years ago. 

Carrier Air Wing 1 commander, Carrier Air Wing 1 Capt. Mark Wralstad, said: "The strength of the Enterprise Strike Group team has been clearly demonstrated over the skies of Afghanistan during the last 19 days. Whether we fly attack missions against known Taliban locations or investigate potential sources of hostile fire aimed against coalition troops on the ground, our aircraft are inflicting significant damage against those trying to destabilize the region."
End

2 suicide bombers killed in E. Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-25 17:12:55  
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/25/content_5136183.htm

    KABUL, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two suicide bombers lost their lives Monday as their explosive-laden car apparently went off pre-maturely in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan, spokesman of Interior Ministry said. 

    "A Corolla car carrying the two persons exploded at 10:00 a.m. in Rig Ration area on Khost-Kabul highway 12 km from Khost city, the provincial capital, killing them on the spot," Zamarai Bashari told Xinhua. 

    He said there were no other casualties, but declined to give more details. 

    Khost and the neighboring provinces of Paktia and Paktika bordering Pakistan have been the scene of increasing militancy this year. 

    A suicide bombing on Sept. 10 killed Hakim Taniwal, the governor of Paktia province, and another suicide bombing killed eight persons on his funeral in Khost province the next day.
Enditem   

Secdet’s joy and sorrow
Volume 11, No. 52, September 21, 2006 By Maj Dave Munro and Lt Cameron Jamieson 
http://www.defence.gov.au/news/armynews/editions/1152/topstories/story08.htm

Friends: Secdet 9 members bow their heads at the dedication of a plaque in memory of Pte Jake Kovco (left).
Photo by Cpl Jim Culloden 
  
Well, baby, it’s great to see you

Proud dads: Four little bundles of joy were waiting at Sydney Airport for these members of Secdet 9 when they returned home from Iraq on September 14. From left are OC Secdet 9 Maj Kyle Tyrrell with one-week-old Darcey, Cpl Michael Smith with three-week-old James, Sgt Grant Johnson with 11-week-old Isabelle and LCpl Craig Turnbull with four-week-old Zachery. The joy of the 110 members of the detachment at their return home was tempered by the fact that their mate Pte Jake Kovco – whose death is currently the subject of a Board of Inquiry – was not with them. Pte Kovco’s widow, Shelley, was among those who greeted the soldiers who served with her husband.

During their deployment they conducted a number of tasks which took them outside the International Zone and, on occasion, into other locations within Iraq. The detachment provided protection for the Australian Embassy staff, in particular the Ambassador. They also upgraded the defences and facilities surrounding the Australian Embassy in Baghdad.

Secdet 9 suffered five casualties during their operations, including the wounding of Cpl Sarah Webster and three others by an exploding 122mm rocket, and the death of Pte Jake Kovco. 

Pte Kovco’s widow Shelley was on hand to greet the returning soldiers at Sydney Airport on September 14.

OC Secdet 9 Maj Kyle Tyrrell said he was extremely proud of the cohesiveness of his team in Baghdad.

“This was demonstrated in mid-August when four members were wounded in a rocket attack,” he said. 

“Within 12 minutes of the attack, Secdet had conducted first aid and coordinated the evacuation of the wounded soldiers to a nearby coalition medical facility.”

Before leaving Baghdad, Secdet 9 held a service of thanksgiving to commemorate their deployment in Iraq.

The service was conducted by Padre Maj Robert McKennay, who said that “for many it will be a sad time to leave comrades in arms, but outweighing this will be the joy of returning to Australia, family and friends”.

During the service Padre McKennay dedicated a plaque in memory of Pte Kovco. “We honour his memory and as part of our remembrance we dedicate this memorial plaque to him,” he said.
More on link



Sgt. is oldest U.S. woman to die in combat
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 24 (UPI) 
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060924-014942-4871r

A suicide bombing near Kabul, Afghanistan, has killed the U.S. military's oldest known female soldier to die in combat, a 52-year-old woman from Waukesha, Wis. 

Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard, a gunner on a Humvee, was on a supply run to a U.S. military base when the fiery suicide bombing killed her Sept. 8, The Chicago Tribune reports. 

She worked in one of the military's civil affairs units, doing reconstruction and relief work, having been called up from the U.S. Army Reserve last December. 

Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Howard became the first woman firefighter in Bryan, Texas, in 1978, the Tribune said. 

She later became a fire risk-management specialist with insurance companies, eventually helping set up a consulting company in California. 

She was married to Hugh Hvolboll, whom she married before going to Afghanistan after being together for 15 years. 

"As a boyfriend, I would have no status with the Army," Hvolboll said. "As a husband, I did."
End

NATO details airstrikes in Afghanistan
By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press Writer © 2006 The Associated Press Sept. 24, 2006, 1:39PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4210656.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO forces killed more than 60 suspected insurgents the last several days in an increasingly volatile southern Afghan province while suffering no casualties, the military alliance said Sunday.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense said 40 Taliban fighters were killed by NATO airstrikes that "completely destroyed" a militant base in the district of Grishk on Saturday. Maj. Luke Knittig, a NATO spokesman, said the alliance also estimated about 40 fighters were killed.

A NATO helicopter, meanwhile, fired on about 20 insurgents attacking a NATO patrol in neighboring Naw Zad district Friday, killing 15 of the rebels, the alliance said.
More on link


Coalition, NATO troops in Afghanistan cannot confirm reported bin Laden's death  
September 25, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/25/eng20060925_306029.html

NATO and the U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan could not confirm the widespread reports which said al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had died of illness, the military said on Sunday. 

"About the reported death of Osama bin Laden, this is what we will say: coalition forces could not confirm the reports," 

Marcelo Calero, a coalition spokesman, told Xinhua. 

Meanwhile, Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told a press conference here that "I have read the interesting reports about bin Laden's death, but I have no information about this issue." 

On Saturday, a French regional newspaper, L'Est Republican, quoted a French secret service report as saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month. 

The report, which is dated Sept. 21 and has been shown to French President Jacques Chirac, said, "According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," according to L'Est Republican. 

This has caused the media's wide attention to the current condition of bin Laden, who is believed to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and is the United States' most wanted man with an award of 25 million U.S. dollars. 
More on link


NATO troops in Afghanistan try to adapt to local culture 
September 25, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/25/eng20060925_306021.html

ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan have been distributed with information cards on Ramadan, a major festival for Muslims, to better understand and respect local religion and culture, said a spokesman of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Sunday. 

Every ISAF solider in this Islamic country has been given a plastic "2006 Ramadan - ISAF soldier smart card", which tells knowledge of Ramadan and the "Do's and Don'ts" in this festival, Euan Downie told Xinhua. 

"We want to make soldiers know the importance of Ramadan to locals, and be sensitive to their needs and customs," he said. 

Ramadan, which lasts from the evening of Sept. 23 to the evening of Oct. 22 this year, is a month-long period of fasting held from sunrise to sunset during the ninth month of the Islamic Year. 

"Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship," the card says. 

It also says "Do remain especially sensitive of Islamic cultural practices during the month of Ramadan. Don't eat, drink, chew gum or tobacco in the presence of Afghans (or other Muslims) during the day." 

According to the card, ISAF soldiers shouldn't enter mosques " unless it is an absolute operational requirement," and should " avoid planning meetings with Afghans in the afternoon unless the issue is urgent." 

About 21,000 ISAF troops are being deployed throughout this country except the eastern region to fight anti-government militants and facilitate reconstruction. 

Source: Xinhua  End


----------



## GAP (26 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 26 Sept 2006*

General Hilliar's speach at Ottawa Red Friday Rally
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSFhX7XMoeg

*Audio:*

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
http://www.cfra.com/chum_audio/Harper.RedFridayRally.Sept.22.06.mp3

Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier
http://www.cfra.com/chum_audio/Rick.Hillier.RedFridaySpeech.Sept.22.06.mp3

CFRA, Ottawa, photo gallery available here
http://www.cfra.com/red-fridays/index.asp?id=8#


Italian, Afghan soldiers killed in bomb blasts
Updated Tue. Sep. 26 2006 10:18 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060925/afghan_killing_060926/20060926?hub=TopStories
Audio:  CTV Newsnet: Paul Workman from Afghanistan 4:07 
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=TopStories&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/26/ctvvideologger3_159266339_1159269935_500kbps.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/26/ctvvideologger3_159266338_1159269138_218kbps.wmv&clip_start=00:07:43.86&clip_end=00:04:07.24&clip_caption=CTV Newsnet: Paul Workman from Afghanistan&clip_id=ctvnews.20060926.00163000-00163771-clip1&subhub=video&no_ads=&sortdate=20060925&slug=afghan_killing_060926&archive=CTVNews

At least 20 people were killed in two separate bombings in Afghanistan on Tuesday -- including an Italian soldier killed by a remote control bomb under a bridge near Kabul.

Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for both blasts. 

The first bombing, a suicide blast, went off as foreign troops were passing through Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.

Afghan soldiers stationed at the security gate of a provincial governor's home stopped the bomber, who then set off his explosives, killing 18 and leaving at least 17 wounded.

The blast killed several Afghan soldiers and Muslim pilgrims seeking paperwork to travel to Mecca, officials said. 

The governor, Mohammed Daoud Safi, was inside the compound and was not injured in the attack.

NATO troops were in the area at the time but none were hurt, a NATO spokesman told reporters. 

It's not known if any Canadian soldiers were with the NATO troops.

CTV's Paul Workman, reporting from Kandahar, described the suicide blast as a "very deadly attack."

Speaking to Newsnet Tuesday, Workman said it appeared the targets were "foreign contractors" doing work for the governor.

"We're also speculating this may be tied to Ramadan. The Taliban said it would be stepping up attacks and that it would be a very bloody Ramadan," he said.

It was the deadliest suicide attack in Afghanistan since Aug. 28, when 21 civilians were killed in Lashkar Gah by a bomber targeting an ex-police chief.

Meanwhile, the remote control blast just south of Kabul targeted an armoured personnel carrier. 

The attack killed Italian soldier Chief Corp. Maj. Giorgio Langella and a child riding in a car behind the convoy. 

NATO said five soldiers were wounded.

"It was the Italians who were targeted this time," Workman told CTV Newsnet.

Taliban-linked militants have stepped up their attacks across Afghanistan the last several months, though attacks in Kabul are still much rarer than in the country's south.

Attacks in the capital are mostly aimed at foreign military troops. On Sept. 8, a suicide car bomber rammed into a U.S. Humvee, killing 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers.
More on link

Last chance for Afghanistan?
POSTED: 1113 GMT (1913 HKT), September 26, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/26/afghanistan.lead/index.html

By Paul Sussman for CNN
Adjust font size:
(CNN) -- "We have now left a hard and dark past behind us," declared Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai in his inauguration address of December 7, 2004. "Today we are opening a new chapter in our history."

It was a sentiment echoed at the time by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, one of some 150 foreign dignitaries gathered in Kabul to witness Karzai's swearing-in.

"The tyranny has gone, the terrorist enemy is scattered," he proclaimed. "The people of Afghanistan are free."

Two years on, and five years after a U.S. lead coalition launched Operation Enduring Freedom to drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan and end the country's role as a safe-haven and training ground for al Qaeda, Karzai has arrived in Washington for a summit with Presidents Bush and Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.

It is a crucial meeting, coming as it does at a time when the optimism of Karzai's inaugural speech is looking ever more forlorn and misplaced.

Crisis and instability
Touted as a showcase of the success Washington's "War on Terror," Afghanistan has become increasingly unstable and crisis-ridden over the last 12 months, with Karzai's power, never broad-based at the best of times, now effectively limited to the capital Kabul and its immediate surroundings (detractors have long dismissed him as "The Mayor of Kabul.")

Elsewhere in the country, and despite the presence of some 41,000 NATO and U.S. troops, the picture is one of spiraling instability and lawlessness. Especially in the south, in provinces such as Helmand and Kandahar, a resurgent Taliban have been inflicting significant casualties on both coalition troops and on a demoralized, underpaid Afghan army.

Civilian casualties have likewise been mounting at an alarming rate -- a suicide bomb attack in Helmand on Tuesday left nine civilians and nine Afghan soldiers dead.

"The Taliban's tenacity in the face of massive losses has been a surprise," admitted Britain's Defense Secretary Des Browne in a recent speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London, "Absorbing more of our effort than predicted and consequently slowing progress on reconstruction."

"At this stage the insurgency isn't a direct threat to Karzai's administration," says Joanna Nathan of the International Crisis Group's Kabul office. "It is, however, getting ever closer to Kabul and deflecting a huge amount of energy, time and resources during what should be a period of hope and rebuilding.

"The fighting has got noticeably worse over the last twelve months, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Violence is unquestionably on an upward trend.

"This is definitely the lowest point in the last five years."

Warlords and opium
The Taliban, however, are just one of a series of hurdles facing President Karzai in his attempts to stabilize and rebuild his country.
More on link

Al Arabiya TV: Taliban says bin Laden alive
POSTED: 1211 GMT (2011 HKT), September 26, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/26/taliban.binladen.reut/index.html

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) -- Dubai-based Al Arabiya television on Tuesday quoted a Taliban official as saying al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was alive and in good health.

The Arabic channel said its Pakistan bureau had received a call from the unnamed Taliban official a few days after a leaked French secret document said Saudi intelligence believed bin Laden died last month in Pakistan.

"The official said bin Laden was alive and that reports that he is ill are not true," said Bakr Atyani, Al Arabiya's Islamabad correspondent. "The Taliban checked with members who are close to al Qaeda that these reports are baseless."

Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was last seen in a video statement aired to coincide with the November 2004 U.S. presidential elections.

A report in French regional daily L'Est Republicain last week quoted a document from the DGSE foreign intelligence service, saying the Saudi secret services were convinced bin Laden had died of typhoid. (Watch how the report has fueled speculation over what exactly happened to bin Laden-- 2:01)

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had no evidence that bin Laden was dead. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that as far as he knew the Saudi-born militant was alive.

Bin Laden has issued several audio messages in the past two years, the last one in July 2006 in which he vowed al Qaeda would fight the United States anywhere in the world.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to flush out al Qaeda and the government of the hard-line Islamic Taliban movement that supported it after the militant network carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. 
End

Musharraf rebuts Taliban claims
POSTED: 0952 GMT (1752 HKT), September 26, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/25/pakistan.afghan.reut/index.html

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, bristling at allegations his country harbors Taliban rebels, criticized Afghanistan's leader on Monday, saying he was failing to draw people away from the Islamic militants.

Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who are due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday, have been at odds over Afghan accusations that Taliban leaders are running the insurgency from the city of Quetta in southwest Pakistan.

The Pakistani leader, promoting his new memoir in New York, called the allegations "ridiculous" and said Karzai's government needed to do more to end marginalization of ethnic Pushtun who form the main support base for the Taliban.

"The sooner Mr. President Karzai understands his own country's environment, the easier it will be for him," Musharraf told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

He later added: "I have always been saying that I believe President Karzai to be the right person to be president of Afghanistan."

Musharraf said the coalition fighting the Taliban "must take immediate action to wean away the people" by spreading economic development and political representation to Pushtun areas.

"Don't let them join the Taliban and fight a people's war against you," added Musharraf after a speech promoting his autobiography, In the Line of Fire.

In his book, Musharraf wrote that he thought Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was most likely to be close to his original base in southern Afghanistan, where NATO forces are facing fierce resistance from insurgents.
End

Afghan factory weaves symbol of hope  
Director dreams of neglected looms spinning uniforms and creating jobs 
GRAEME SMITH From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060926.wxafghanfactory26/BNStory/International/home

DAND DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN — Passing on the highway, a motorist could glance at the rusty gate and the crude painted sign that says "Kandahar Taixtel Mills" and assume this textile factory is just another relic of Afghanistan's ruined dreams.

The bullet-scarred walls, the peeling paint and the smashed windows all suggest an industrial ambition that faded long ago, blasted away by decades of war.

But past the dying trees in the courtyard, through the grand halls filled with mothballed machinery and empty thread spools covered with years of dust, the eerie silence of this massive facility gives way to a loud clatter.

A few of the old Russian cotton looms are still working, churning away in one corner of a building the size of several football fields. The factory isn't dead -- only dormant, barely operating, kept alive by a devoted staff that hasn't been paid in nearly a year.
More on link

The Major's Email: British Harrier Support in Afghanistan, Revisited
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/09/the-majors-email-british-harrier-support-in-afghanistan-revisited/index.php#more

DID has written in the past about the British GR7 Harrier II's performance in Afghanistan, so the recent controversy over their performance in the wake a soldier's email deserves attention. Newspaper reports described a leaked email from a British Major serving in Afghanistan, which reportedly said that: 

"Twice I have had Harriers in support when c/s on the ground have been in heavy contact, on one occasion trying to break clean. A female harrier pilot 'couldn't identify the target', fired 2 phosphorous rockets that just missed our own compound so that we thought they were incoming RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), and then strafed our perimeter missing the enemy by 200 metres."

Nor is that all. He reportedly added that "the US air force had been fantastic", and "I would take an A-10 over Eurofighter any day." The UK MoD responds, and DID discusses the issues....
More on link

Securing the Northern Front: Canada and the War on Terror, Part II
By Hayder Mili
http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369755

This is the second in a two part series on Canada and the war on terror.

The information provided by Ahmed Ressam since his arrest in December 1999, sentenced yesterday to 22 years in federal prison for plotting to bomb the baggage area of the Los Angeles International Airport, ultimately led to the exposure of the Montreal network and, more importantly, proved just how active Jihadists have been in Canada. As the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS) have warned since the early 1990s and the public has now become well aware of, Canada was being used as a financial and logistical base for international terrorists seeking to attack the United States. Moreover, far from being limited to Montreal, other Jihadi networks have been active in the country; from Ontario and Alberta, to the westernmost province of British Columbia where, in 1999, Ressam had attempted to cross over into the U.S.

Following 9/11, United States security officials looked across the border, towards Montreal, Québec where Ressam alleged that over 60 trained Jihadists remained. Of particular concern were two Tunisian-born Canadians, Abderraouf Jdey [1] and Faker Boussora [2]. The two had settled in Montreal in the early 1990s, and like a number of local militants, had also attended the Assuna mosque. There, they most likely met with Ahmed Ressam’s recruiter and fellow Tunisian, Raouf Hannachi, before being sent to train in Afghanistan. Jdey was subsequently chosen by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to pilot an airliner in a second wave of suicide attacks supposed to take place following 9/11. [3] 

The Al-Kanadi Family

Apart from the Montreal group, there was another major network in Canada headed by an Egyptian-born Canadian man with strong ties to Egyptian Jihadi groups. Killed in a shootout with Pakistani security forces in Waziristan in October 2003, Ahmed Said Khadr funded the deadly November 19, 1995 Egyptian embassy bombing in Islamabad. Khadr, also known as Al-Kanadi (the Canadian), was a high ranking Canadian member of al-Qaeda who had fought the Soviets alongside Osama Bin Laden and personally knew most of al-Qaeda’s command structure, including Ayman Al-Zawhiri and Abu Zubayda. 
More on link

Canadian presence in Afghanistan will cost $3.5 billion in 2009
Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060921.wbillions21/BNStory/National/home

OTTAWA — Canada's presence in Afghanistan will cost taxpayers more than $3.5-billion by February 2009, says the federal government.

The extension of Canada's military commitment alone to 2009 will cost $1.25-billion, according to a government response to a question by the NDP.

The government has already spent $2.3-billion for the mission between September 2001 and May 2006. A total of $466-million of that amount was used for development aid, the rest for military activities.

In 2003, the Foreign Affairs Department also spent $29-million to open and maintain a temporary embassy in Kabul. A permanent facility will cost $41 million, plus $9.2-million annually for operations.
End

Musharraf 'war-gamed' U.S., concluded Pakistan would lose
PAUL KORING  From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060926.wxpakistan26/BNStory/International/home

WASHINGTON — Pakistan's military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, says he contemplated war with the United States in 2001 but opted instead to forsake the Taliban and become President George W. Bush's ally.

"I war-gamed the United States as an adversary," the Pakistani leader wrote in his martially titled memoirs In the Line of Fire, published yesterday. It apparently didn't take the general, then an international pariah for having staged a coup to toppled his country's democratic government, very long to conclude that Pakistan would lose.

"The answer was a resounding no," he wrote, having concluded that the world's most powerful military would wipe out his forces, destroy his nuclear weapons, wreak havoc on Pakistan's threadbare infrastructure, help India seize disputed Kashmir and then turn to his archrival in New Delhi for the support and bases it needed to topple Afghanistan's Taliban regime.

In the days after suicide hijackings destroyed New York's World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon, Mr. Bush warned that countries harbouring or helping terrorists would share their fate.
More on link

Presenter: Secretary Of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai
September 25, 2006 1:30 PM EDT 
http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3731

Press Availability with Secretary Rumsfeld and Afghanistan President Karzai


       SEC. RUMSFELD: Look at this on a beautiful day. Welcome. Nice to see you all. 

       Mr. President, the microphone's yours. We're very pleased you're here. 

       PRESIDENT KARZAI: Thanks very much. 

       SEC. RUMSFELD: And thank you for coming again. 

       PRESIDENT KARZAI: Thank you. Good to see you again. Thank you. 

       SEC. RUMSFELD: We hope your trip to the United States is an excellent one. 

       PRESIDENT KARZAI: It's beautiful always -- 

       SEC. RUMSFELD: And we brought good weather for you. 

      PRESIDENT KARZAI: -- especially during the fall, and all the colorful trees. 

      Secretary Rumsfeld, I'm honored to be in the United States once again, and on such a good day, especially to be meeting with you. And thank you, by the way, for the excellent honor guard. I hope I can get a copy of the national anthem of Afghanistan that you played so nicely, and quite romantic, by the way, it was played. 

More on link

Vice Chairman Visits Troops in Afghanistan, Focuses on IED Issues
By Lt. Brenda Steele, USN Special to American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1156

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 24, 2006 – Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Afghanistan earlier this month to meet with U.S. and coalition servicemembers and to assess the many challenges U.S. troops are facing with more sophisticated and increased improvised explosive device attacks 

The increase in frequency of IED attacks throughout the southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan has the attention of senior leaders as the number of suicide bombers has risen recently during an overall uptick in violence in Afghanistan. 

With the establishment of the Joint Improvised Explosive Devices Defeat Organization, the admiral said he is seeing improvements when it comes to locating IEDs before they have a chance to detonate. Ordnance teams are then sent in to defuse and dismantle the devices. 

The challenge now is to reduce the level of causalities, he said. “Now we must work harder every day towards reducing our numbers of causalities from these horrible attacks,” Giambastiani stressed. 
More on link

Taliban Only Part of Bigger Issue, Afghan President Says
By Samantha L. Quigley American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1161

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2006 – With reports circulating of a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said quelling the Taliban is only part of the bigger response needed for a secure and peaceful country. 
“It’s not eliminating the Taliban. It’s ending terrorist violence in Afghanistan,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today. “We have defeated (terrorists, but) to defeat them completely, to take them off the agenda, for us that is the purpose.” 

President Bush will meet in Washington with Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf later this week to discuss the best way to accomplish this. 

Karzai said he believes that cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan is the best way to defeat terrorism in the region. 

In an interview on CNN’s “Late Edition,” the Afghan president said he is waiting to see the results of a recent agreement between the Pakistani government and tribal chieftains of Pakistan’s Waziristan province, which borders Afghanistan. 

Musharraf said the agreement will help control cross-border movement of terrorists. “Unfortunately, since the agreement was signed, we saw more violence in Afghanistan exactly at the border areas with north Waziristan (in) Pakistan,” Karzai said. “Our governor … was assassinated with a suicide bombing, so we’ll have to really see … if the agreement will hold as signed.” 
More on link

Investigation finds suspected prisoner abuse in Afghanistan  
Tuesday September 26, 2006 (0226 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155332

LOS ANGELES: An investigation undertaken by a US newspaper has found that US special forces in Afghanistan may have been responsible for the deaths of two detainees in 2003. 
The Los Angeles Times said its probe focusing on a 10-member Green Berets team from the Alabama National Guard, has also determined that several other detainees may have been badly beaten or tortured. 

One victim, an unarmed peasant, was shot to death while being held for questioning after a fierce firefight, the report said. 

The other, an 18-year-old Afghan army recruit, died after being interrogated at the base. Descriptions of his injuries were consistent with severe beatings and other abuse, according to the paper. 

A member of the special forces team told The Times his unit held a meeting after the teen?s death to coordinate their stories should an investigation arise. 

"Everybody on the team had knowledge of it," the unnamed soldier is quoted as saying. "You just don?t talk about that stuff in the special forces community. What happens downrange stays downrange. Nobody wants to get anybody in trouble. Just sit back, and hope it will go away." 

The two fatalities were different from scores of other questionable deaths in US custody because they were successfully concealed, not just from the American public but from the military?s chain of command and legal authorities, The Times said. 
More on link

Afghan President Thanks U.S. Troops for Liberating Afghanistan
25 September 2006 By David Shelby Washington File Staff Writer
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=September&x=20060925162149ndyblehs0.3401453

Karzai says Afghan people must confront narco-trafficking problem

Washington – Afghan President Hamid Karzai thanked the U.S. military for liberating Afghanistan from the oppressive Taliban regime and for providing security as the country works to rebuild its institutions and infrastructure.

“[M]y message for the American soldiers in Afghanistan is that they have liberated us from tyranny, from terrorism, from oppression, from occupation into a country that is now moving towards prosperity, that is once again the home of all Afghans,” Karzai told reporters September 25 after a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Karzai said that Afghanistan has been transformed fundamentally by the U.S. intervention.  “Afghanistan was not the home of all Afghans,” he said. “Today it is. Everybody's back in that country with a parliament, with a constitution, with a market economy, with a free press, with all that.” 

He added that the ongoing effort to fight terrorism in Afghanistan is bolstering the security of the entire world.

The Afghan president acknowledged that Afghanistan’s opium trade continues to threaten the country’s development.

“Narcotics is a menace to Afghanistan. It's also an embarrassment to us as a nation. We are ashamed of that terrible product hurting us and hurting young people around the world,” he said.
More on link

Bulgaria must send more troops to Afghanistan: Defence Minister  
Sofia (Bulgaria), Sept 26. (AP):
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200609260314.htm

 Bulgaria should increase its military presence in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov said on Monday, but added no decision had been made yet. 

``Given the complicated situation there, which has become even more complicated in the past weeks and months ... it is extremely necessary that all countries boost their participation,'' Bliznakov told reporters. ``We should take a very serious approach and fulfill our commitments as a (NATO) member.'' 

Bulgaria, which joined NATO in 2004, currently has some 150 troops in Afghanistan, but Bliznakov said the country was able to send more, without giving numbers. 

The Government will decide on the issue after a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Slovenia later this week, Bliznakov said. The final decision must be taken by parliament. 

Bliznakov paid a short visit to Afghanistan last weekend, and met Bulgarian soldiers, NATO commanders and Afghan officials. 

NATO, which has about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan now, has appealed to its members to send up to 2,500 extra troops. NATO's top commander, Gen. James L. Jones, has said reinforcements are needed to pursue the Taliban before the onset of winter enables them to take refuge in the hills. 
End


----------



## GAP (26 Sep 2006)

*More Articles found 26 Sept 2006*

Leopard tanks - They make the leap to Afghanistan.  
BOB BERGEN Special to Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060922.wcomment0922/BNStory/National/home

The Harper government's decision to commit 15 Leopard tanks and about 120 crew and support troops to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan demonstrates refreshing new foreign policy leadership.

On a historic level, the decision to deploy Leopard tanks from the Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) marks the first time tanks have been sent to an operational theatre in a combat role since the Korean War. It is expected the first draft of Strathconas will leave Edmonton on Sept. 26.

At the political level, the decision to deploy the Strathconas to Afghanistan is nothing less than Canada demonstrating to NATO that it is prepared to make the hard military choices over Afghanistan that set an example for other members of the alliance. Exemplary muscular foreign policy? Leadership internationally from Canada? This is breathtaking.

But there is more: At the strategic level, in order to transport the 42-tonne Leopards to Afghanistan, Canada needs the help of heavy, long-distance airlift that underscored other Canadian foreign policy considerations. In this case, according to Department of National Defence's Major John Diderich, senior public affairs officer for Canadian operational support command, Canada has asked the American military for help transporting the Leopards overseas. The aircraft will either be Boeing C-17 Globemasters or Lockheed's C-5 Galaxy. The significance of the strategic lift considerations is that the Canadian government launched a procurement process in July to acquire four C-17s that would give the Forces the capability of deploying wherever and whenever they want, rather than relying on allies or private charter companies.
More on link

Educator shot dead by militants in Kandahar
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060926.AFGHANSLAIN26/TPStory/?query=afghanistan
Taliban takes credit for gunning down popular Afghan women's-rights activist
NOOR KHAN Associated Press

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Gunmen on a motorbike have killed an Afghan women's-rights activist who ran an underground school for girls during the Taliban's rule, the latest victim of an increasingly brazen militant campaign against government officials and schools.

Safia Ama Jan, a provincial director for the Ministry of Women's Affairs, was slain outside her home in Kandahar yesterday while on her way to work, said Tawfiq ul-Ulhakim Parant, senior adviser to the ministry in Kabul.

"The enemy of Afghanistan killed her, but they should know it will not derail women from the path we are on. We will continue on our way," said Fariba Ahmedi, a female member of parliament from Kandahar who joined hundreds of men and women, including the provincial governor, for the funeral yesterday evening at a packed Shia mosque.

The two attackers fled after the shooting. Mullah Sadullah, a regional Taliban commander, claimed responsibility for the killing in a telephone call to Associated Press, but the claim could not be verified.
More on link

Washington to send 4-star general to assume Afghanistan command   
The Associated Press Published: September 26, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/26/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_New_US_Commander.php

KABUL, Afghanistan A four-star American general will take charge of both U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in February, boosting the stature of the military mission in the fractured country and unifying an international command struggling to contain a resurgent Taliban militia.

Provided he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, U.S. Army Gen. Dan K. McNeil will take over command of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan currently headed by British Army three-star, Lt. Gen. David Richards, ISAF spokesman Maj. Luke Knittig said Tuesday.

"It speaks volumes to the attention that Afghanistan will continue to receive," said Knittig, a U.S. Army officer.

McNeil, 60, who now heads the Atlanta-based U.S. Army Forces Command, will be the top foreign commander in Afghanistan. His arrival will unify separate leadership of U.S.-led coalition forces, headed by U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, and international troops now operating under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Knittig said.

O'Neil's appointment was approved Sept. 22 after consultation with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Knittig said.

The move appears to reflect the elevated importance of the Afghan war among military brass in Washington, who have put a four-star general, Gen. George Casey, in charge of Iraq operations. Another four-star, Gen. John Abizaid, is the top U.S. commander throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Four stars represent the U.S. military's highest rank.

Tuesday's announcement comes amid growing alarm at increases in Taliban strength, numbers and brutality after the group was all but defeated by 2003. The U.S. military estimates some 4,000 Taliban fighters are pressing an anti-government campaign in Afghanistan's southern provinces alone.
More on link

War hits close to home; City reservist back on job after being injured by friendly fire  
DON CROSBY Local News - Tuesday, September 26, 2006 @ 08:00 
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=205937&catname=Local+News&classif=

A reservist with the Grey and Simcoe Foresters is back on the job after recovering from injuries he suffered during the Labour Day weekend while fighting with his unit in Afghanistan. 

Pte. Dean Lapointe of Owen Sound suffered minor injuries caused by shrapnel during a friendly fire incident involving a U.S. plane. A Canadian soldier was killed and dozens more were injured. 

"When I heard his voice that morning my whole world was OK," Lapointe's mother, Maureen Handley, said in an interview from her office Monday. She is director of health promotion with the Grey Bruce Health Unit in Owen Sound. 

"I was just so happy I heard from Dean first." 

Shortly after hearing from her son at about 3 a. 
m. Handley got a second call from Lt. Colonel Bill Adcock, the regiment's commanding officer, informing her of her son's injuries. 
More on link


Canada would 'welcome' help in Afghanistan: ambassador
By TARA BRAUTIGAM
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/25/1895005-cp.html

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - Canada wants its allies to step up their help in curtailing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, this country's ambassador to the war-torn nation said Monday. 

"We're taking on our burden and a little bit more, and we're very proud of that," David Sproule said after giving a speech at Memorial University in St. John's. 

"But we're anxious that the burden be shared amongst all contributing countries in NATO and those that have the wherewithal to do so." 

Sproule's remarks come just as Canada is set to conclude its deadliest month in Afghanistan since troops were deployed four years ago. Twenty of Canada's 37 deaths there took place in the summer of 2006, including nine in September. 

Other NATO countries have so far not sent as many troops as they have previously pledged, Sproule said, but he added that some have stepped up their support in the last couple of weeks. 

"We want to ensure that they meet those obligations," Sproule said. 
More on link

Marine Corporal Questions War Coverage at Pentagon Employees’ Forum
By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1226

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2006 – A Marine corporal quizzed top leaders at a recent Pentagon employees’ question-and-answer session about what the department can do to counter the reporting of negative news from Iraq and Afghanistan. 
“Negativity in the press is absolutely detrimental to the morale of our forces and our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Cpl. John A. Stukins said to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Sept. 22 town hall meeting. 

“What are we doing to confront this problem and to better the morale of our forces over there -- not only over there, but here as well?” asked Stukins, a 23-year-old administrative specialist from Lafayette, La., who works with the Marine Staff at the Pentagon. 

Rumsfeld and Pace both congratulated Stukins for asking his question. 

Fielding Stukins’ query, Pace said there was around-the-clock media coverage of the overseas exploits of the U.S. military early on during the global war on terrorism. 

“We had television, newspapers, magazines,” Pace explained. “If you were interested, you could read as much as you wanted and you could watch as much as you wanted, and you could form your own opinions.” 

However, as the conflict continued, other issues began to compete with military news for radio or television airtime or newspaper or magazine copy inches, Pace said. 
More on link

Afghanistan, 5 years later: U.S. confront Taliban's return
By Jonathan S. Landay McClatchy Newspapers Posted on Mon, Sep. 25, 2006
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/15606794.htm

MALEK DIN, Afghanistan - The soldiers of Bravo Company knew that their quarry was here, somewhere. They could hear the Taliban fighters radio one another as they tracked every step the Americans took through the rutted tracks, the mud-walled compounds and the parched orchards of this sun-seared patch of Afghan outback. 

Yet in three tense, sweat-soaked days of blasting open doors, scouring flyblown haylofts, digging up ammunition caches and quizzing tight-lipped villagers, the 10th Mountain Division troops never found a single Taliban fighter. 

"They just hide their weapons and become farmers," muttered one U.S. officer, nodding at a group of turbaned men glowering from the shady lee of a nearby wall. 

Afghanistan has become Iraq on a slow burn. Five years after they were ousted, the Taliban are back in force, their ranks renewed by a new generation of diehards. Violence, opium trafficking, ethnic tensions, official corruption and political anarchy are all worse than they've been at any time since the U.S.-led intervention in 2001. 
More on link

Karzai: US should have engaged Afghanistan before 9/11
By Chris Cermak Sep 26, 2006,
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1204896.php/Karzai_US_should_have_engaged_Afghanistan_before_9_11

Washington - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday said the United States' failure to address his country's radical religious movement before September 11, 2001, helped lead to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. 

'You had your twin towers blown up because you in the US failed to connect that a monster in my part of the world ... could hurt you in America,' Karzai said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Centre for Scholars in Washington. 

After the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan ended in 1989, Karzai said the international community turned a blind eye on his country as religious fundamentalism, born out of the resistance to communism, began to take hold. 

'The West forgot about us completely,' Karzai said. 'We didn't matter to international politics ... we were ignored, in spite of our warnings repeatedly.' 

Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, fought with the Mujahedeen against the Soviet invasion in December 1979. 

Karzai said that religious extremists, and terrorists like bin Laden, took advantage of the resistance to foment their own beliefs on the population, and that that effort 'still continues.' 
More on link

Suicide bombing in southern Afghanistan kills 18
By ABDUL KHALEQ 
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2006/09/26/1899210-ap.html

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide bomber struck outside the compound of a southern Afghan governor on Tuesday, killing 18 people, including several Muslim pilgrims seeking paperwork to travel to Mecca. 

The attacker detonated his suicide vest when Afghan soldiers stopped him at the compound's security gate, said Ghulam Muhiddin, spokesman for the Helmand provincial governor. 

The bomber had been walking toward a vehicle of the private military contractors who provide security for the governor, said Squadron Leader Jason Chalk, a NATO spokesman. 

Nine Afghan soldiers and nine civilians were killed, said Rahmatullah Mohammdi, director of the hospital in Lashkar Gah. Seventeen people were wounded, he said. 

The governor, Mohammed Daoud Safi, was inside the compound and was not injured in the attack. 
More on link

NATO envoy in Afghanistan sees cause for optimism  
September 26, 2006         
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/26/eng20060926_306257.html

The new NATO envoy in Afghanistan, Daan Everts, is optimistic despite many problems in Afghanistan, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported Monday. 

"It is the first time in Afghanistan's history that a foreign military presence has been largely welcome. The fear is that without the presence of NATO and other troops, a civil war would immediately break out," Everts was quoted as saying. 

The paper did not say when and where the remarks were made. 

The Dutch diplomat, who earned his spurs in European trouble spots such as Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania, found a dramatic situation in Afghanistan. 

"In the West we forget sometimes about the dark forces that rule here. There is no comparison with the Balkans. Besides the mutual mistrust and the ethnic rivalries, there is an immense drug business. The fabulously wealthy drug barons are a more formidable enemy than the Taliban." 

According to Everts, too little has been achieved so far to meet the enormous expectations of the Afghans after the fall of the Taliban regime. That has led to "impatience, frustration, disillusion." 

But progress has also been made, he said. "A major leap forward has been made in the area of education. You can see that in the massive number of girls going to school." 

On the other hand, the government, the judiciary and the security services do not function adequately. That creates a breeding ground for the Taliban, he added. 

He said the coming months are crucial. 

"Afghans are watching to see who has the upper hand. The recent Operation Medusa was not only a military victory but also a psychological one. In the operation in Kandahar the people saw that NATO hit back hard and came over to our side." 

"We must now show with large-scale reconstruction that it pays to choose for the government and the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force). If Medusa is given a permanent follow-up, it will help to convince more Taliban supporters to come over to our side." 

Essentially, many Taliban fighters want to integrate, he said. "Many Taliban fighters say: we are stopping. It is not nice to be always on the run. Many want to integrate." 

Source: Xinhua

End

Australian PM defends withdrawal of commandos from Afghanistan
(AP) 26 September 2006 
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/September/subcontinent_September951.xml&section=subcontinent

CANBERRA, Australia - Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday defended his government’s decision to withdraw Australia’s elite combat troops from Afghanistan, while backing calls for NATO members to extend their deployments to the country’s most dangerous areas.


Australia is sending 400 more troops to Afghanistan, mostly military engineers whose mission will be reconstruction projects in the country’s south, doubling the size of its deployment there.

But Canberra is withdrawing a force of some 200 Special Air Service troops who have been in Afghanistan for the past year, replacing them with engineers.

The changes come as leaders debate how to bolster the fight against a resurgent Taleban in southern Afghanistan, where international forces have increasingly engaged in pitched battles. NATO leaders want forces from countries such as Spain, Italy and Germany to be available to join the fight in the south, rather than in Afghanistan’s calmer north and west.

Howard, whose country contributes the largest number of non-NATO forces in Afghanistan, stood by the decision to withdraw the commandos.

We think the current force composition is right and we have to be careful that we don’t ask our special forces to carry all of the burden all of the time,’ Howard told reporters in Canberra.
More on link

NATO troops in Afghanistan try to adapt to local culture  
Tuesday September 26, 2006 (0226 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155333

KABUL: ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan have been distributed with information cards on Ramadan, a major festival for Muslims, to better understand and respect local religion and culture, said a spokesman of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 
Every ISAF solider in this Islamic country has been given a plastic "2006 Ramadan - ISAF soldier smart card", which tells knowledge of Ramadan and the "Do?s and Don?ts" in this festival, Euan Downie told Xinhua on Monday. 

"We want to make soldiers know the importance of Ramadan to locals, and be sensitive to their needs and customs," he said. 

Ramadan, which lasts from the evening of Sept. 23 to the evening of Oct. 22 this year, is a month-long period of fasting held from sunrise to sunset during the ninth month of the Islamic Year. 

"Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship," the card says. 

It also says "Do remain especially sensitive of Islamic cultural practices during the month of Ramadan. Don?t eat, drink, chew gum or tobacco in the presence of Afghans (or other Muslims) during the day." 
More on link

Provide Afghanistan with humanitarian aid
Sep. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM Sept. 23.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159221038688&call_pageid=970599119419

New Taliban not the foe it used to be
Mitch Potter's article on the perpetually changing nature of the Taliban gives the war being fought in Afghanistan a much-needed dose of depth. 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was caught in the crossfire last week as Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe debated Canada's shift in foreign policy. The crossfire that demands the attention of responsible government officials and the citizens whom they've been elected to represent is far less abstract.

As Potter reports, the Canadian military has come to identify two tiers in the Taliban, an extremist tier and a tier driven by "despair and joblessness into the ranks of the insurgency." That there's no way of knowing how many of the 1,000 reported killed fell into which of these two tiers in Canada-led Operation Medusa is stomach-turning.

We don't know our "enemy" and can only take stabs at understanding the daily lives of the Afghan people, putting templates over a population torn by the devastating reality of extreme poverty and a complete lack of infrastructure.

What we do know is that we're killing hundreds, if not thousands, of people for the simple and very concrete reality of despair.

Considering these circumstances, responsible citizens and parliamentarians cannot ethically support a foreign policy that has chosen the brutally indiscriminate route of combat — tracking down and killing an "enemy" that is largely constituted of the victims of a war-torn country, hopeless and impoverished civilians who are caught in a crossfire — rather than providing what is so desperately needed: humanitarian aid.
Jason Demers, Toronto

End

AFGHANISTAN: MARSHAL AND CORPORAL SERIOUSLY WOUNDED
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200609261042-1019-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

(AGI) - Rome, Sept 26 - Two Italian soldiers were wounded in an attack in Kabul this morning: marshal Francesco Cirmi, born 1976 in Bologna and corporal Vincenzo Cardella, born 1982 in San Prisco, province of Caserta. Both were taken to the French hospital of Kabul, while three more Italian soldiers were only slightly injured. All involved soldiers make part of the 21th company of the second alpine regiment of Cuneo and are active in Afghanistan in Battle Group 3 of the Regional Command Capital.
   - 
261042 SET 06 

More on link

Why Canada must review mission
Sep. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM JACK LAYTON
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159221038634&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

Debate over Canada's combat role in southern Afghanistan is growing. In the last few days, Canadians have had the opportunity to hear from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

But who's listening to the millions of everyday Canadians who are reaching the conclusion that this is the wrong mission for Canada? 

In his speech to the United Nations, Harper stepped up his efforts to justify the government's decision to extend this mission for, we now hear, as long as it takes. 

The more we learn, the more it becomes clear that this mission is ill-defined, unbalanced and that Canada has no exit strategy. In short, this current mission is a strategic blunder by Harper, the Conservative government and the Liberals who helped them keep us there.

The Conservative government's insistence on a military solution to Afghanistan's insecurity is highly contestable. 

Harper says Canadian troops must engage in warfare in Afghanistan to "eliminate the remnants of the Taliban regime once and for all." 

This is not a view shared by Karzai who just this past Thursday told the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, "Bombings in Afghanistan are no solution to the Taliban. You do not destroy terrorism by bombing villages." 

Harper's stubborn and narrow approach to Afghanistan is a lift from President George Bush's tired playbook and one Canadians are having little difficulty seeing through.

Weeks ago, I called for the withdrawal of Canadian Forces from the combat mission in southern Afghanistan. 

I called on the government to focus Canada's role on reconstruction, aid and development.

This mission is not balanced. It is overwhelmingly skewed toward military combat and away from development assistance and diplomatic efforts. In fact, for every dollar the Canadian government is spending in Afghanistan only 10 cents goes to reconstruction and aid, while 90 cents goes to the military. 
More on link

AFGHANISTAN: FINI, NEW TRAGEDY NOBODY SHOULD FEED POLEMICS
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200609261237-1053-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-eng.oggitalia

(AGI) - Rome, Sept 26 - "A new tragedy hit the armed forces" but "it is not wise to feed political polemics in a time of grief. I hope everyone agrees on this". AN leader Gianfranco Fini said this to journalists who asked him to comment on the attack on the NATO contingent in Afghanistan. Fini explained that "in these painful circumstances it is necessary to be there for the family of the fallen soldier, for our soldiers involved in the operations aimed at guaranteeing the Afghan people the possibility to live in freedom". Fini underlined that "it is ever more a moral duty to define our soldiers as constructors of peace, also for the sacrifice that accompanies these missions".
   - 
261237 SET 06 
End


----------



## MarkOttawa (26 Sep 2006)

NATO to study fast move to complete Afghan handover
Tue Sep 26, 12:24 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060926/pl_nm/afghan_nato_dc;_ylt=Ag9y2kJr0sTVTo_WjGgviXlZ.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--



> BRUSSELS (Reuters) -
> NATO defense ministers will on Thursday examine a military proposal that will allow the alliance to rapidly complete its plans to take over command of all peacekeepers in
> Afghanistan, NATO officials said.
> 
> ...



Anyone know what the Romanians are doing?

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## big bad john (27 Sep 2006)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/27/world/asia/27afghan.html?ref=world

Attacks in Afghanistan Grow More Frequent and Lethal 


By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: September 27, 2006
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 26 — Afghanistan suffered two deadly bombings on Tuesday that killed 20 people, providing another sign of the increasing size and power of suicide attacks and roadside bombs by insurgents. 

 The more devastating attack occurred when the police stopped a suicide bomber as he approached a security checkpoint near the governor’s office in Lashkar Gah, in southern Helmand Province, and he detonated explosives strapped to his chest. 

The bomber killed 18 people, 6 of them policemen and soldiers. The rest of the casualties, including a woman, were civilians who had gathered at a central mosque to sign up for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, said the police chief of Helmand, Gen. Muhammad Nabi Mullahkhel.

South of Kabul, the capital, a bomb planted under a bridge struck a NATO military vehicle, killing an Italian soldier and an Afghan child nearby.

The suicide attack in Lashkar Gah was the second there in a month, and one of more than 60 in Afghanistan this year, United Nations officials said. The tactic was rarely used by insurgents a year ago. 

Civilians increasingly have been paying the price of the more frequent and devastating attacks. More than 150 civilians have been killed by suicide bombings this year, the head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, said recently, before the attacks on Tuesday. 

The bombings, once relatively ineffective, now increasingly claim casualties in the double digits. On Aug. 3, a suicide bomber struck in the district bazaar of Panjwai, near Kandahar, killing 21. A suicide attack killed another 21 people in Lashkar Gah on Aug. 28.

On Sept. 18, a bomber in Kabul rammed his car into an American military convoy, causing a huge explosion that ripped apart an armored Humvee and killed 16 people, 2 of them American soldiers and the rest passers-by.

The use of roadside bombs has also increased. Two powerful bombs were laid on roads close to Kabul in recent weeks. 

The bomb near the capital, positioned under a bridge less than 10 miles south of Kabul, also wounded five soldiers and five civilians, according to officials. The hurt civilians were driving in a car behind the convoy.

Military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan are divided about whether the tactics and technology used in suicide bombings and roadside bombs have been brought from Iraq, where they are so common, or if insurgents here are simply copying those tactics.

Canadian and American soldiers on operations in the southern province of Kandahar last week said they saw a clear connection with tactics in Iraq. One called it the “Iraqization” of the insurgency here, whether through personal contacts or the Internet. 

Canadian soldiers, for instance, said they recently found a scarecrow by a roadside rigged with explosives. In Iraq, insurgents have rigged corpses beside roads with explosives.

Suicide bombers are also now using explosive vests, which are far more powerful than before, the soldiers said. In another bombing on Sept. 18, a man on a bicycle who rode up to Canadian soldiers handing out gifts to children in the southern village of Char Kota, in Pashmul, had on a vest rigged with explosives. The detonation killed four soldiers and injured several more who were in full body armor, as well as wounding two dozen children.

There are signs of more careful training as well. The bomber who killed the governor of Paktia Province on Sept. 10 managed to penetrate security by claiming to have a letter of recommendation addressed to the governor. 

He then threw himself onto the hood of the governor’s car, detonating his explosive vest up against the windshield and killing everyone inside the car, according to government and military officials.

The high level of civilian casualties has appeared to cause a split in the Taliban, with some apparently opposed to suicide bombing, NATO military officials said. 

Taliban fighters who occupied the Panjwai district in July and August tried to distance themselves from the suicide bombing that killed so many civilians and damaged shops in August. They posted leaflets saying that outsiders, or “foreign Taliban,” were responsible for the suicide bombing and that such violators would receive capital punishment. 

“They were worried about their image,” said Olli-Pekka Nissinen, a NATO media operations officer. 

Villagers and farmers in the Panjwai area, where heavy fighting has taken place over the past three weeks, also blamed foreigners or outsiders for the suicide bombing, and said that ordinary Taliban were just intent on fighting NATO forces. 

A witness of the Sept. 18 suicide bombing in nearby Pashmul, Khair Muhammad, whose two daughters were wounded in the blast, said the bomber appeared to be an Arab.


----------



## GAP (27 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 27 Sept 2006*

Canadian convoy targeted in Kandahar
Canadian Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060927.wafgahnblast0927/BNStory/International/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A suicide bomber has targeted a Canadian convoy in Kandahar.

Police say no Canadian troops were hurt in Wednesday's blast.

One Afghan civilian was injured.

The blast took place two kilometres from the regional international reconstruction headquarters.

One military vehicle — a R-31 Nyala — was damaged.

In April, the Canadian Forces deployed 50 Nyalas, which are built to withstand landmine blasts.
End

Afghans Kill 25 Suspected Insurgents
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2497360

Afghan Troops Kill 25 Suspected Insurgents in Clash; Suicide Bomber Targets NATO Convoy

By NOOR KHAN 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Sep 27, 2006 (AP)— Afghan security forces killed 25 suspected insurgents during a clash Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, while a suicide bombing targeting a NATO convoy wounded one civilian, officials said. 

Insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in southern Helmand province's Garmser district, the NATO-led force said. In the ensuing clash, "at least 25 insurgents" were killed, NATO said. 

The suicide attack in neighboring Kandahar province wounded a civilian and damaged a military vehicle, said police official Abdul Ali Khan. 

The violence came hours before Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf were to join President Bush for dinner at the White House. 

Karzai and Musharraf have been at odds recently over each country's efforts to hunt terrorists and to stop them from crossing their shared border, especially in tribal areas, and wage attacks in Afghanistan. 

Southern Afghanistan is bearing the brunt of clashes and suicide bombings, the worst outbreak of violence since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban-led regime. Militants have increasingly resorted to the use of roadside and suicide bombings against foreign and Afghan government forces
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Quit crying, Musharraf tells Canada
OLIVER MOORE From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060927.wmusharraf27/BNStory/International

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf lashed out at critics of his government's anti-terror credentials yesterday, noting that his army has suffered hundreds of casualties while Canadians "cry and shout" when a few of their soldiers die.

General Musharraf was unyielding during an interview with the CBC, reacting strongly when it was suggested that Pakistan could do more to stamp out the Taliban. He shot back that that his country has borne the brunt of the fighting and, trying to make his point, he radically underestimated the number of Canadians killed in Afghanistan.

"We have suffered 500 casualties, Canadians may have suffered four or five," he said in the interview broadcast last night. "You suffer two dead and there's a cry and shout all around the base that there are coffins. Well, we've had 500 coffins."

There have actually been 36 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
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Harper condemns Martin for Afghanistan criticism
DANIEL LEBLANC Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060927.wharper0927/BNStory/National/home

BUCHAREST — Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a sharp retort today to former prime minister Paul Martin's assertion that Canada has lost its way in Afghanistan.

Speaking to reporters in Romania, where the Francophonie summit officially opens on Thursday, Mr. Harper said that Mr. Martin approved the current mission and should not criticize it.

"The fact Mr. Martin is incapable of sticking by his decisions explains why he is no longer the prime minister of Canada," Mr. Harper said.

Mr. Harper was speaking after a bilateral meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu. Romania has 600 troops in Afghanistan, with another 200 on the way.
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Australian PM defends pulling special forces out of Afghanistan   
Tuesday September 26, 2006 (1340 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155358

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister John Howard has defended his decision to withdraw special forces troops from Afghanistan in the midst of an increasingly bloody insurgency. 

An elite special force task group of about 200 Special Air Services (SAS) troops and commandos is due to return to Australia this month after spending a year conducting operations in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

Howard defended pulling out the troops at a time when the insurgency was intensifying and        NATO`s commander of the alliance`s mission in Afghanistan, General James Jones, has appealed for 2,000 extra soldiers.

Howard said it would be a mistake to put too much pressure on Australia`s special forces.

"The design of our force commitment always was that special forces would be there for a period of time and then there would be a replacement by other forces," he told reporters.

"We think the current force composition is right and we have to be careful that we don`t ask our special forces to carry all of the burden all of the time.

"I think you have to be very careful you don`t overburden those people with all of the responsibilities."

Australia is in the process of deploying a 400-strong reconstruction team backed by infantry troops to work with a Dutch-led reconstruction taskforce in Uruzgan.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he met with NATO officials in Brussels overnight to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

He said more troops would be desirable but there was also scope for some European troops to remove caveats placed on their existing deployments so they could be reassigned from the relatively quiet north to hotspots elsewhere in the country.
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Denmark boosts Afghanistan contingent   
The Associated Press Published: September 26, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/26/europe/EU_GEN_Denmark_Afghanistan.php

COPENHAGEN, Denmark Denmark will send an additional 30 troops to beef up its contingent serving in southern Afghanistan as part of a NATO-led force, the government said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Soeren Gade made the announcement after receiving the backing of Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee. Denmark has 360 troops in Afghanistan.

The extra 30 soldiers will be added during the regular troop rotation scheduled for next month.

The NATO-led force, known as ISAF, was launched in 2002 in the Afghan capital, Kabul, for peacekeeping duties and to coordinate reconstruction projects. It later expanded to the volatile Helmand province in the south.

The Danish Parliament decided earlier this year to send troops to Helmand province. There was no need for another vote on the additional troops.

Denmark has a maximum of 1,200 soldiers assigned to international operations, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. The small Scandinavian country also sent two navy ships to an international naval force to help patrol the Lebanese coast.
End


House OKs $70B for Iraq, Afghanistan  
By ANDREW TAYLOR , 09.26.2006, 09:53 PM Associated Press 
http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/09/26/ap3047460.html

Despite intense partisan divisions over the course of the Iraq war, the House on Tuesday easily approved $70 billion more for military operations there and in Afghanistan. Lawmakers also adopted a record $448 billion budget for the Pentagon. 

With Iraq alone costing about $8 billion a month, another infusion of money will be needed next spring. 

The House passed the Pentagon appropriations bill by a 394-22 vote Tuesday night, and the Senate is due to cat before adjourning this weekend for the fall campaign. 

The House-Senate compromise bill provides $378 billion for core Pentagon programs, about a 5 percent increase, though not quite as much as President Bush asked for. The $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan is a down payment on war costs the White House has estimated will hit $110 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. 

With final passage of the bill, Congress will have approved $507 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and heightened security at overseas military bases since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to the Congressional Research Service. 
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Newsweek spotlights Afghanistan for overseas readers
Annie Leibovitz in U.S.  The Associated Press Published: September 26, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/26/america/NA_GEN_US_Newsweek_Different_Covers.php 

NEW YORK Newsweek offered different covers overseas and at home this week, featuring a close look at violence in Afghanistan for international readers called "Losing Afghanistan" while its U.S. edition focused on photographer Annie Leibovitz for a story titled "My Life in Pictures."

International editor Fareed Zakaria said the magazines often have different covers because they are tailored to different audiences overseas and in the United States. In the U.S., Newsweek is a mass-circulation magazine with a broad reach, while overseas it "is a somewhat more upmarket magazine for internationally minded people who travel a lot," he said.

"Afghanistan is sort of the first victory in the war on terror. For that to be going badly is tremendous," Zakaria said. International editions feature a photograph of what appears to be a Taliban fighter with a grenade launcher.

U.S. editions featured a photo of Leibovitz, one of America's premier photographers, on the cover with several children.
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Clinton: Afghanistan Needs More Troops
The Associated Press Tuesday, September 26, 2006; 10:17 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601709_pf.html

LONDON -- Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday the resurgence of the Taliban and growth of the poppy harvest in Afghanistan are signs there are insufficient coalition troops in the country.

Clinton also said the global hunt for al-Qaida leaders must be intensified and warned that fighting terrorism through military methods alone carried a risk of encouraging people to turn to extremism.

"There are not enough troops to serve the country (Afghanistan)," he told an audience at London's Royal Albert Hall. The United States has 21,000 troops in the country, and NATO has about 20,000 there.

Afghanistan has been suffering its heaviest insurgent attacks since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001 in a U.S.-led war. Also opium production in Afghanistan has boomed since 2001. Last year, more than 4,500 tons of opium were harvested, about 90 percent of the world supply.

Securing good government in Afghanistan and tracking al-Qaida suspects were the two global priorities today, he said.

"I think it is important that the fight against terror secures a genuine Muslim democracy in Afghanistan and that we intensify the hunt for the leaders of al-Qaida, because they are still by far the most dangerous global network with global targets," Clinton said.

The former president said he did not believe Iran's nuclear program was the world's most critical problem. Rather, he said, it was the risk of terrorists acting independently of nations and their potential ability to access nuclear weapons.
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Bomb explosion injures 4 in university in E. Afghanistan  
September 27, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/27/eng20060927_306590.html

A bomb attack wounded three teachers and one student on Tuesday in Khost University in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan, a local official told Xinhua. 

The attack happened at around 2:00 p.m. local time in the university, said Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. 

An investigation is underway, said Ayub, who declined to give more details. 

No one has claimed responsibility and the motivation is still unclear. 

Militants have occasionally attacked universities in this insurgent country. 

On July 3, a bomb exploded in a girls' class in Herat University in the western Herat province, killing one girl student and injuring six others. 

Khost, a mountainous region, has been a hotbed of Taliban, al- Qaeda and other anti-government insurgents. 

Due to rising Taliban-linked turbulence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Bush to referee dinner between sniping allies
POSTED: 1758 GMT (0158 HKT), September 27, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/27/us.karzai.musharraf.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President George W. Bush jokes that he will study the body language of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf at the dinner table on Wednesday to see how far their relationship has frayed.

Karzai respectfully calls Musharraf "my friend" and "my brother," yet the two are constantly at odds when it comes to how to deal with Islamic extremists. Over dinner, Bush will play referee.

For months, Karzai and Musharraf have been trading barbs and criticizing each other's efforts to fight terrorists along their long, remote, mountainous border.

Under Musharraf, Pakistan was a key supporter of Afghanistan's Taliban militia before it was ousted from power by a U.S. military campaign in late 2001 for harboring al Qaeda. But it quickly distanced itself from the Taliban following the Sept. 11 attacks and aided the Americans. (Watch President Musharraf defend his country's efforts to find bin Laden  -- 10:15)

Afghan officials allege that Pakistan is letting Taliban militants hide out and launch attacks into Afghanistan. Pakistan bristles at such charges. Without the United States playing mediator, the relationship between the two U.S. allies would be tense at best, analysts say. (Watch President Karzai emphasis the need to continue the fight against terrorism  -- 2:20)

"We're kind of the glue that helps cement the two of them," said Peter Brookes, a foreign policy and national security expert at the Heritage Foundation.

Rising violence in Afghanistan
The White House dinner comes at a time of rising violence in Afghanistan. This month, a suicide bomber assassinated a provincial governor, a close associate of Karzai's. On Monday, Safia Ama Jan, a women's rights advocate who ran an underground school for girls during Taliban rule, was assassinated. The killing underscored the increasingly brazen attacks by militants on government officials and schools in Afghanistan
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Former FBI agent: Clinton never approved a plan to kill bin Laden
POSTED: 1434 GMT (2234 HKT), September 27, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/26/coleman.cnna/index.html

(CNN) -- Amid rumors of Osama bin Laden's death from illness, former President Bill Clinton and the Bush administration argued this week over who did more to kill the al Qaeda leader before the September 11 attacks.

CNN's Tony Harris spoke with former FBI agent Dan Coleman, an al Qaeda expert who spent 10 years hunting for bin Laden, about the finger-pointing between the two administrations. Coleman also weighed in on where he believes bin Laden is hiding and on the status of bin Laden's health.

HARRIS: [Pakistani] President Musharraf in his book says he thinks bin Laden is in east Afghanistan. [Afghan President] Karzai says he's probably in Pakistan. What do you make of the back and forth here?

COLEMAN: That's a bit of cross-blaming. The borders in that region are rather undefined, and I defy either one of them to say exactly where he is at any one point in time.

HARRIS: So, undefined because neither leader has control of those border areas at all?

COLEMAN: Afghanistan is basically still in anarchy. And Pakistan, the part of Pakistan in which bin Laden may or may not be located, is northwest frontier provinces which are basically reservations, tribal reservations. And the central government does not have a lot of control there.

HARRIS: What do you make of the deal between Pakistan and some of the tribal leaders in that sort of rugged, undefined area that you describe?

COLEMAN: Well, bin Laden has been on the loose for five years now. If they wanted the $25 million for him they would have turned him in already. So I suspect that's more internal politics in Pakistan.

HARRIS: So bin Laden is being sheltered?

COLEMAN: I believe so, yes.

HARRIS: Given your knowledge of how intelligence flows, what did you make of the French reporting over the weekend that bin Laden is either dead or is seriously ill?
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   We Could only wish....
Congress set to approve $448 billion for defense
POSTED: 1250 GMT (2050 HKT), September 27, 2006 
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/27/defense.spending.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just days before leaving Washington to campaign, members of Congress are moving to provide $70 billion more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a record $448 billion Pentagon budget.

With Iraq alone costing about $8 billion a month, another infusion of money will be needed next spring. Opinion polls show the war continues to be unpopular with voters, but even Democratic opponents of the war generally embrace the Pentagon measure, since it provides money for body armor and other support for U.S. troops overseas.

The House passed the Pentagon appropriations bill Tuesday night on a 394-22 vote, and the Senate could clear the bill for President Bush as early as Wednesday or Thursday.

The House-Senate compromise bill provides $378 billion for core Pentagon programs, about a 5 percent increase, though not quite as much as Bush requested. The $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan is a down payment on war costs the White House has estimated will hit $110 billion for the budget year beginning October 1.

With final passage of the bill, Congress will have approved $507 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and heightened security at overseas military bases since the September 11 attacks five years ago, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The growing price tag of the Iraq conflict is partly driven by the need to repair and replace military equipment destroyed in battle or simply worn out in harsh, dusty conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Almost $23 billion was approved for Army, Marine Corps and National Guard equipment such as helicopters, armored Humvees, Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicles, radios and night-vision equipment.
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National Intelligence Estimate on Terrorism Released
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1263

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2006 – The number of people identifying themselves as jihadists is increasing and spreading, but the United States has still made significant progress against terrorists, according to a declassified National Intelligence Estimate. 
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence yesterday released a declassified version of “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States.” The estimate is dated April 2006. 

The estimate looks at the threats posed by terrorists to the United States and its interests over the next five years. President Bush took the nearly unprecedented step of releasing the estimate following a leak to the media. Stories appeared in the New York Times and Washington Post over the weekend saying that the war in Iraq has increased the danger of terrorism to the United States. 

Bush told Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte to declassify the key judgments of the report. “You can read it for yourself,” the president said yesterday during a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “We'll stop all the speculation, all the politics about somebody saying something about Iraq, somebody trying to confuse the American people about the nature of this enemy.” 
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Troops in Afghanistan for "10 more years"
By James Grubel
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1431192006

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Afghanistan could need foreign military support for 10 more years, Australia's military commander warned on Wednesday, as Taliban insurgents intensified fighting against foreign troops in the nation's troubled south.

Australian Defence Force commander Angus Houston said that while progress was being made in rebuilding Afghanistan's north and east, more effort would be needed to give people hope in the south, where NATO forces are facing fierce opposition.

"Counter insurgencies are always long-term affairs," Houston told reporters in Canberra at a briefing on the return home of 200 special forces troops after a year in Afghanistan.

"It will take a long time. I don't think anybody's indicated it will be done in a year or two. It is probably going to take in the order of 10 years," he said.

The Taliban has intensified its campaign against the Afghan government and foreign troops since NATO forces took over responsibility from U.S. troops in July, raising new concerns for the country's future.

Australia is withdrawing its special forces, who have spent 12 months in Uruzgan province, but will keep about 500 troops in Afghanistan, including a detachment of Chinook helicopters and a team of engineers and tradesmen to help reconstruction work.

In a rare media briefing on behalf of Australia's secretive commandos, special forces commander Major-General Mike Hindmarsh detailed some of their missions to hunt down Taliban commanders over the past year.

But Hindmarsh said the fight to win the support of the people of Afghanistan remained in the balance.

"We are talking about a war that is ongoing, and yet to be won, where the battle to gain the trust and support of the population remains in the balance," Hindmarsh said.

The Australian government has ruled out redeploying the special services to Afghanistan's south, saying they need a rest after a busy year of deployments, including East Timor. But Houston said they might return to Afghanistan after a rest.
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3 Pakistani tribesmen linked to attack coalition in Afghanistan freed   
The Associated Press Published: September 27, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/27/asia/AS_GEN_Pakistan_Tribesmen_Freed.php

Three Pakistani tribesmen suspected of attacking coalition forces in Afghanistan were released here on Wednesday under a truce deal between pro-Taliban militants and the Pakistani government, two intelligence officials said.

Pakistani paramilitary troops detained the three men on Sept. 19 after they crossed from neighboring Afghanistan into Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, said one of the intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

The three were suspected of attacking a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province that same day but were later released for lack of evidence, the second official said without providing further details.

The three were turned over to tribal elders in Miran Shah, the main town in the semiautonomous North Waziristan region, on Wednesday under a Sept. 5 peace deal between the Pakistani government and militants suspected of links with the Taliban militia.

"They were handed over to the elders on the condition that if there was any case against them they will be produced" to the authorities, one of the officials said.

Pakistan's government had deployed 80,000 troops to Pakistan-Afghan border region after U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to topple the hard-line Taliban regime for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The Pakistani deployment to North Waziristan angered tribesmen in the conservative region and sparked a violent campaign against the government that killed hundreds of soldiers, militants and civilians.

Under the recent truce, soldiers that had been deployed to security posts throughout the region were returned to their barracks and militants agreed to no longer take part in attacks inside North Waziristan or in Afghanistan.
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Fight in Afghanistan 'toughest since Vietnam'
Email Print Normal font Large font September 27, 2006 - 7:41PM
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/fight-in-afghanistan-toughest-since-vietnam/2006/09/27/1159337217608.html#

Australian commandoes battled hundreds of Taliban fighters and the nation's helicopters braved enemy fire to evacuate wounded coalition soldiers in the toughest fighting experienced by Australian troops since Vietnam.

The brave action of Australian troops during a 10-day action involving 500 coalition forces in a small Afghanistan valley was revealed by defence commanders for the first time today.

The offensive was launched by Australian helicopters which landed coalition forces directly on a compound in a bid to capture an enemy commander - resulting in a ferocious battle with hundreds of Taliban.

At one crucial point in the fighting, Australian helicopters braved a torrent of enemy fire to evacuate the wounded soldiers of other coalition partners.

Australian commandoes on the ground then joined the fighting with the 500-strong coalition force, fighting pitched battles with the enemy where they were forced to surround their vehicles which were being peppered by enemy fire.

Astonishingly, no Australians were killed.
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Houston praises work of troops in Afghanistan  
PM - Wednesday, 27 September , 2006  18:21:00 Reporter: Gillian Bradford
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1750520.htm

MARK COLVIN: The Chief of the Defence Force says Australia's troops in Afghanistan over the last 12 months have faced some of the fiercest battles this country has known since Vietnam.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston and the Commander of the Special Operations Group today gave an insight into the role of the 200 or so SAS soldiers and commandos.

The troops have been involved in some intense battles in the Uruzgan province. None have been killed, but Air Chief Marshal Houston says they have killed key Taliban leaders and achieved their mission of disrupting the enemy.

But amid praise for the operation, the Defence Force Chief has been forced to defend his advice to pull the SAS out of Afghanistan, just when Australia's calling for more European countries to take up the fight.

From Canberra, Gillian Bradford reports.

GILLIAN BRADFORD: The Uruzgan province in Afghanistan is an inhospitable environment; extreme temperatures, mountainous terrain and an enemy armed with an arsenal of equipment sourced from Russia and arms dealers in Asia.

It's a region tailor-made for guerilla warfare according to the Commander of the Special Forces, Major General Mike Hindmarsh.

MIKE HINDMARSH: It's not surprising that the Taliban reacted extremely aggressively to our arrival in their backyard. It was akin to poking an ant bed with a stick.

As severe as the Afghanistan environment can be, it remains home to an adversary who is tough, resolute, agile and more dangerous than anything Australian Special Forces have encountered, at least since the Vietnam War.

GILLIAN BRADFORD: Australian troops have been on the ground in Afghanistan for over a year. So far, a few have been injured but none have been killed. 
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Taliban attacks triple in eastern Afghanistan since Pakistan peace deal,  US official says  
The Associated Press Published: September 27, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/27/asia/AS_GEN_Afghan_Taliban_Attacks.php

U.S. troops on Afghanistan's eastern border have seen a threefold increase in attacks since the recent truce between Pakistani troops and pro-Taliban tribesmen that was supposed to have stopped militants making cross-border raids, a U.S. military official said Wednesday.

The agreement, which followed a June 25 cease-fire, has also contributed to the Taliban's overall resurgence as ethnic Pashtun rebels are no longer fighting Pakistani troops and are using the North Waziristan border area as a command-and-control hub for launching attacks in Afghanistan, said the official, who was interviewed on a U.S. military base in Kabul.

Pakistani tribal elders brokered the truce between Pakistan's government and militants and an accord was signed Sept. 5, ending years of unrest in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
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Click on the headline for the full story

National News
Increasingly interventionist and bellicose, a peace-loving country goes to war—how did this change in Canada come about?
Posted at Sunday, September 10, 2006 - 12:47 AM, by: Jim Scott
http://saltspringnews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=15156

 Canadian Army medic Cpl. Darren Dyer stands watch by the moonlight as Canadian troops advance in Panjwaii, Afghanistan, in the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 8. Photo: Les Perreaux, Canadian Press. Bill Schiller reports: "[By going to] Kandahar, Canada was going to have to step outside of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and once again sign up with the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). ... ISAF was truly multilateral, led by an international organization. Its mandate was to assist the Afghan government. It had somewhat more restrained rules of engagement. By contrast, Operation Enduring Freedom was an American-led, counter-terrorism mission, aimed at rooting out and killing Taliban. Other nations assisted it, but it was Washington-run and directed by an administration mainly known for its muscle. And while the operation had been approved by a UN mandate, that mandate was issued on the basis of self-defence — issued on Sept. 12, 2001. But why couldn't Canada move into the south and remain under ISAF command, some wondered? Why did it have to come under the OEF umbrella?" ...
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## MarkOttawa (27 Sep 2006)

This is intriguing:
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=f6118f4e-8a48-47d4-a081-b079aaf97d7e&k=47229



> ...
> Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor recently asked Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for permission to station Canadian troops inside the Pakistan border to cut off that pipeline, but Canada received its answer Wednesday.
> 
> Musharraf told CBC television in an interview that the request has been denied, and that he took the request as a slight to his own forces.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (28 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 28 Sept 2006*

We ignore at our peril the rules of counterinsurgency  
JEFFREY SIMPSON From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/RTGAM.20060927.wxcosimp27/BNStory/National/home

Conventional forces often lose unconventional wars because they lack a conceptual understanding of the war they are fighting.

Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Moten, chief of military history, U.S. Army

That Leopard tanks are being sent to Canadian forces in Afghanistan is bad news, intellectually and operationally.

The tanks are about the last piece of equipment an army needs in fighting an insurgency: powerful weapons to smash infrastructure, kill people, fight against other powerful machines and, ultimately, help occupy territory but useless if used against insurgents.

Fighting an insurgency is about winning local residents, not territory. If one side captures territory but, in the process, alienates local residents, it will eventually lose that territory. The war Canadians are fighting in Afghanistan is for the allegiance, help and support of local people.

Judged by that standard, Operation Medusa was a good deal less than the complete success that the Canadian military suggested. Yes, territory that had been controlled by enemy forces was occupied. Some of the enemy fighters were killed, along with a handful of Canadians.
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NATO expected to approve move into eastern Afghanistan
PAUL AMES Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060928.wnatoafghan0928/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA — NATO defence ministers were expected Thursday to approve an extension of the alliance's Afghan security mission across the whole of the country, taking in the volatile eastern region and bringing around 10,000 U.S. troops under allied command.

Diplomats said the move had been discussed at an early morning meeting of ambassadors at NATO headquarters in Brussels and was likely to be announced during the ministers' talks in this Adriatic resort. Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor is attending the informal meetings, which run through to Saturday. 

The decision comes just two months after NATO troops moved into the southern sector, sparking fierce resistance from Taliban fighters and dragging the alliance into the first major ground combat since it was formed six decades ago.

European ministers will also come under pressure to send more troops to the southern sector where soldiers from Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands have borne the brunt of the fighting.
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Wounded Canadian soldiers return home
Last Updated: Friday, September 8, 2006 | 12:37 PM ET  CBC News 
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/09/08/wounded-soldiers.html

Several Canadian soldiers injured this week in Afghanistan arrived in Ottawa Friday evening.

A Canadian Forces Airbus transported the 11 Canadian soldiers, who either sustained injuries from battle with the Taliban or during a friendly-fire incident. They were scheduled to be taken to the Civic Hospital in Ottawa.

The soldiers had been recuperating at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.

The long-term prognosis for Pte. Michael Spence, wounded in the friendly fire incident on Monday "is not yet clear," his parents said Friday.

Spence, of Russell, Ont., "has moved his fingers and toes and has even attempted to speak to the doctors," Rick and Christina Spence said in a statement.

"We are very optimistic at this point, however we do realize that Michael has a long road of recovery ahead of him and it is not yet clear what the long-term prognosis is for our son. We can only hope and pray that he continues to recover well. He is young and very strong, and that will bode well for him."
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Pathfinders on a four-day mission fight off eight-week Taleban siege
From Tim Albone in Kandahar
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2376780,00.html

25 British soldiers survived mortars, Kalashnikov fire and grenades 

A BRITISH reconnaissance platoon that set out on a four-day mission to a town in the north of Helmand province in Afghanistan ended up spending 52 days under siege by the Taleban. 
The 25 men of the Pathfinder Platoon, who have been first into several Taleban-held areas during the British deployment in southern Afghanistan, came under such ferocious attack that they were forced to stay in Musa Qala fighting almost daily battles. 

“We were there for eight weeks; three of those were under constant attack. I’d gone in with four days of socks,” a senior officer told The Times. 

The Pathfinders were attacked with Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and a recoilless rifle that could blow holes through walls. Resupply became such a problem that the platoon had to repair a well in its compound to get drinking water. The local police chief cooked for the men. 

“Resupply was difficult. There was incredible risk for the helicopter landing inside the compound and we didn’t have enough men to secure the field [where the helicopter could land outside the compound] and defend the compound,” the officer said. 

The Pathfinders, who arrived in Musa Qala in the middle of June, were based in a walled compound, which they shared with Afghan police. 

The walls were reinforced with sandbags to provide firing positions for their .50-calibre machineguns, SA80 machineguns, Browning pistols and anti-tank missiles. The platoon also had the ability to call in help from air support which, despite recent criticisms of the RAF, was described by the Pathfinders as fantastic. 

The group was supposed to be reinforced by a company of 120 paratroops but they had to be diverted to the town of Sangin when they came under heavy assault by Taleban insurgents. 

Despite the almost continuous onslaught, the Pathfinders did not lose a man in Musa Qala, although the sergeant-major was shot through the arm and several men suffered broken bones. “We were extremely lucky and came off pretty lightly,” the officer said. 
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Angry Musharraf to raise ISI collusion claims with Blair
By Jenny Booth and agencies
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2379063,00.html 

General Pervez Musharraf will hold talks with Tony Blair today amid controversy over a British government-commissioned report that claims Pakistan's spy network is too close to Muslim terrorists.

The report by the Defence Academy - a Ministry of Defence thinktank - which was leaked to the BBC's Newsnight programme, is said to claim that, indirectly, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency had supported al-Qaeda and the Taleban and aided the Madrid and London bombers.

The policy paper is also reported to propose using military links between British and Pakistani armed forces to persuade Mr Musharraf to step down as leader of the country, accept free elections, withdraw the army from civilian life and dismantle ISI. 

The Pakistan President reacted angrily to the findings, particularly the suggestion that his intelligence service had in any way colluded with terrorism.
More on link

Killer claims his innocence is proved by Musharraf's memoir
By Daniel McGrory September 27, 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2377294,00.html

A Briton facing execution for his role in murdering an American journalist in Pakistan may cite the book 
  
A BRITISH militant sentenced to death in Pakistan for his role in the murder of the American journalist Daniel Pearl wants to use evidence from President Musharraf’s memoir to save himself from the hangman. 
The Pakistani leader appeared to exonerate Omar Sheikh in his book In the Line of Fire, serialised this week in The Times. Sheikh, 32, who was brought up in Wanstead, East London, has been on death row since 2003 after being convicted of orchestrating the kidnap and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter. 

General Musharraf appears to have changed his mind about the Briton’s guilt, saying he now believes that the man who beheaded the American hostage was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. This allegation has stunned Pakistani officials, who had implored their President not to disclose secrets about their investigations into al-Qaeda. Rai Bashir, Sheikh’s lawyer, said yesterday that he intended to use the memoir to force a new appeal hearing. 

In the Times extract General Musharraf appears to contradict the original claim that the British militant callously planned Mr Pearl’s murder, saying: “Only later did I realise that Omar Sheikh had panicked because the situation had spiralled out of his control.” Mr Bashir said: “After reading the book, if I feel necessary, I will quote the book in my arguments in favour of my client. It can be used as evidence.” Three other men jailed for life for their part in the crime have lodged appeals. 
More on link

Canadian troops unite for training
September 26, 2006 
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/09/26/pf-1900273.html

HALIFAX (CP) - Soldiers from across Canada are training together for the first time before deploying early next year to Afghanistan. Military officials say the Forces members from bases in Gagetown, N.B., Petawawa, Ont., and Edmonton are in Gagetown preparing for the mission. 

Lieut.-Col. Jamie Morse says regular Forces members and reservists are going through a variety of exercises. 

They include ambush simulations and training on how to deal with locals while doing reconstruction work in Afghanistan. 

He says members of Task Force 107, which will head to Afghanistan in February, will go to Wainwright, Alta., in the coming weeks for more training. 

Soldier have been training at their respective bases for the last several months, but only recently began training together. 

About 900 of the estimated 2,000 Forces members in the group are from bases in Atlantic Canada. About 250 of those are reservists. 

Morse says they had no difficulty finding volunteers to go to Afghanistan as part of the reserve force, which is about the same size as other reserve battalions that have been deployed in previous missions. 

The reservists have been receiving training since the spring. 

In Afghanistan, Lieut.-Cmdr. Chris Phillips says work on the ground is now focusing on starting reconstruction work in the Panjwaii area. 
More on link

Tension high at leaders' gathering
PAUL KORING  From Thursday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060928.wbush28/BNStory/Afghanistan/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

WASHINGTON — Seeking to soothe bickering allies, U.S. President George W. Bush attempted to broker a truce last night over dinner between Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, and his neighbour, General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan.

But at a carefully staged predinner Rose Garden appearance, the forced bonhomie between the two feuding Muslim leaders suggested that rallying them to a shared approach to battling Islamic extremists will need far more than fine food and atmospherics.

"These two men are personal friends of mine," Mr. Bush said as the two stood stiffly, one on either side of him. 

They never shook hands and barely acknowledged each other. 
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Rumsfeld Expresses Confidence NATO Will Provide Troops Needed in Afghanistan  
By Barry Wood  Tirana 27 September 2006
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-09-27-voa50.cfm  

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he expects NATO countries to supply enough troops for peacekeeping duties in Afghanistan, where attacks by Taleban rebels have risen sharply.  

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told reporters he is confident NATO member countries are committed to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

NATO troops have recently taken command of peacekeeping operations in southern Afghanistan and by the end of the year are expected to take over the eastern part, which is currently commanded by the United States.
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Martin's waffling on Afghanistan shows his lack of leadership: Harper Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=98221320-3062-4e1c-8e64-67a9e59a6744&k=43864

 BUCHAREST, Romania (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is accusing Paul Martin of waffling on Afghanistan and says it's a perfect example of why the ex-Liberal leader is no longer leading the country. 

Martin has suggested he doesn't like the way the mission in Afghanistan is unfolding. 

But Harper says it was Martin who sent Canadian troops into the country. 

He says when a prime minister makes that kind of decision he has to take responsibility for it and stick to it. 

The fact that Martin can't do that when it comes to Afghanistan and so many other situations is why he is no longer prime minister, says Harper, who is in Romania for the summit of francophone countries. 
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Writethru: 25 insurgents killed in S. Afghanistan  
September 28, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/28/eng20060928_306975.html         

At least 25 insurgents were killed on Wednesday in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, said a spokesman of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 

Maj. Luke Knittig told Xinhua that according to reports from Afghan security department, the militants were killed by Afghan police and troops in Garmser district at around 8:30 a.m. local time. 

He said the insurgents attacked a police post in the district with small arm fire, and the police and troops fought back, killing at least 25 militants. 

Garmser, located in eastern Helmand, has been a hotbed of Taliban and other militants. The Taliban occupied the district center briefly several times in the past months. 

Also on Wednesday, one civilian was injured in a suicide car bombing apparently targeting ISAF troops in Dorahi area of the neighboring Kandahar province. 

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001. 

Over 2,400 persons, mostly Taliban rebels, have been killed in this Central Asian country in the past nine months. 

Source: Xinhua
End

Terrorist cell leader captured in E. Afghanistan  
September 28, 2006      
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/28/eng20060928_306978.html

A leader of a terrorist cell was captured in the eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan by Afghan and the U.S.-led coalition forces on Wednesday, said a coalition statement. 

The terrorist, who led a cell carrying out Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks against Afghan and coalition troops, was arrested in south of Asadabad, the provincial capital. 

"The known IED cell member manufactured several IEDs and was responsible for placing devices in various locations in the Pech Valley region," the statement said. 

Credible and strong intelligence indicated the terrorist was planning to attack the troops in the immediate future, it added. 

A coalition spokesman John Paradis said, "This is a positive development in that a key terrorist facilitator has been detained, his actions thwarted and his future plans disrupted." 

No casualties were reported in the capturing operation. 

Kunar, a mountainous region, has been a hotbed of Taliban, al- Qaeda and other anti-government militants. 

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of violence since the Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001. 

Source: Xinhua
End

Bin Laden is alive and hiding in Afghanistan, insists Musharraf
By James Bone
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2378688,00.html

It's not a hunch. We have got good intelligence, the Pakistan President tells our correspondent in New York 

PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF, dismissing a French intelligence report that Osama bin Laden had died of typhoid, said yesterday that he believed the al-Qaeda leader to be hiding in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, possibly with the help of an Afghan warlord. 
“It’s not a hunch,” the Pakistani President told The Times. “Kunar province borders on Bajaur Agency. We know there are some pockets of al-Qaeda in Bajaur Agency. We have set a good intelligence organisation. We have moved some army elements. We did strike them twice there. We located and killed a number of them.” 
More on link

US thinks Afghanistan more do-able than Iraq
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?main_variable=Columnist&file_name=ashok%2Fashok39.txt&writer=ashok
  
Among the reams of statistics available in the world's most powerful capital city, two stand out as representative of the United States' existential dilemma. Of every dollar of American tax-payer money disbursement for development work - "nation-building", as the term goes - in Iraq, only 14 cents reaches the Iraqi people. 

"Eighty-six cents," said a State Department official, quoting numbers reported back to the US Congress by the administration, "go towards security, foreign salaries, back-up supplies, replacement for stolen goods ...". 

There is no comparative national figure for Afghanistan. "But," said the State Department analyst, "in Helmand province, which is the worst performing province in Afghanistan, 58 cents of every dollar spent reaches the local people."
  
The inference is fairly clear: "Afghanistan is still more do-able." The original theatre of the War on Terror is more capable of being turned around than the great drain along the Euphrates. "There is a growing perception," said a senior administration official, "that we should have 'finished' Afghanistan first. Iraq was a squandering of political capital."
  
On the face of it critics of President George W Bush advocate a simplistic road-map: exit policy for Iraq; more troops into Afghanistan. Yet this may be easier said than done, and both countries are immense and compelling question marks. 
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NATO troop offers expected for Afghanistan
27 Sep 2006 21:00:21 GMT Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27514331.htm

PORTOROZ, Slovenia, Sept 27 (Reuters) - NATO states will probably offer more troops and equipment to meet shortfalls in Afghanistan when their defence ministers meet on Thursday, but holes will remain, a U.S. government official said on Wednesday.

"A number of allies have stepped forward, so tomorrow we will take stock of that and have some more announcements I think about that," said the official.

"I think we will still probably have some more holes but we're hopeful that the meeting will provide energy and focus to keep going with that," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

NATO's top operational commander, U.S. Marine Gen. James Jones, called this month for reinforcements and more equipment to help tackle tougher-than-expected resistance from Taliban militants after the alliance moved into southern Afghanistan.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has just over 20,000 troops from 37 countries operating in the capital Kabul, north, west and south. The U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) coalition has a similar number.

After initially getting no offers for reinforcements, Poland and Romania offered about 1,000 extra troops each, according to NATO diplomats. Denmark was also considering additional forces, the diplomats said.

Poland may further increase the number of troops it will send to Afghanistan, the U.S. official said, adding that it would not restrict where its forces can operate.

Such restrictions, or caveats, have been blamed by U.S. and NATO officials for troop shortfalls in some Afghan areas.
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Taliban targets Australian soldiers in Afghanistan
AM - Thursday, 28 September , 2006  Reporter: Peter Lloyd
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1750704.htm

TONY EASTLEY: Less than 24 hours after the Chief of the Australian Defence Force heaped praise on the role of Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan, the Taliban has accused the SAS of killing innocent civilians during recent fighting in the country. 

The charge, of course, can't be verified, but what is certain is that the Taliban is re-arming, and it says Australian forces are a target.

South Asia Correspondent Peter Lloyd reports from Kabul.

(Sound of gunfire)

PETER LLOYD: Taliban gunfire in the district of Chora, where the SAS and Australian commandos took on the insurgents.

Unofficial accounts say the soldiers killed more than 100 enemy fighters. But the Taliban commander, Mullah Mohammad, says there is more to the story.

(Sound of Mullah Mohammad speaking)

"They caused a lot of damage and killed a lot villagers and ordinary people," he said. "The Taliban didn't received a lot of casualties." 

It's no longer safe for foreign reporters to approach the Taliban directly. 

This interview was recorded for the ABC by a local journalist.

The Taliban displayed their Russian-era firepower they've been using against the Australians. Their leader, Mullah Mohammad, also showed off an anti-tank mine.

(Sound of Mullah Mohammad speaking)

"We plant this under bridges," he said. "We bring down the infidels with this. The other day we used one to kill 10 or 12 infidels. We destroyed their tank as well."

By November, 400 Australian troops will be based at Oruzgan province's Camp Holland on a mission to rebuild the region's shattered infrastructure. But the Taliban have other plans. 

Mullah Mohammad again.

(Sound of Mullah Mohammad speaking)

"We won't let them be based here," he said. "They are our enemies. They are no different to the Americans."

The Taliban's threats aren't news to Lieutenant Colonel Mick Ryan, the leader of the Australian deployment.

MICK RYAN: My reaction to that threat is the Australian soldiers are here to help the people of Oruzgan. The Australian soldiers are here to help develop the basic infrastructure and that's what we intend to do.

PETER LLOYD: How will you address the Taliban threat? 

MICK RYAN: We have a very robust force protection, both with our own integral force protection assets, but working within the wider Dutch taskforce, we are well able to protect ourselves and get out and undertake these projects where and when we need to.
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3 NATO soldiers injured in western Afghanistan  
September 28, 2006          
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/28/eng20060928_307247.html

Three soldiers of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and their local interpreter were injured as an explosive device struck their vehicle in western Herat province, a press release of the multinational force said Thursday. 

"An improvised explosive device exploded at the edge of the road while an ISAF vehicle was driving near Shindand, approximately 90 km south of Herat city, wounding three ISAF soldiers," said the press release. 

An Afghan national working as interpreter was also wounded in the incident Wednesday, it said. 

However, it did not identify the nationality of the wounded soldiers. 

This is the second attack on NATO troops so far this week. A previous attack near Kabul left at least one NATO soldier dead and wounded another on Tuesday. 

More than 2,400 people mostly militants have been killed in Taliban-linked skirmishes over the past nine months in Afghanistan. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Germany Debates Afghanistan Mandate as Chaos Threatens  
NATO | 28.09.2006 
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2188183,00.html

The unease over the spiralling violence in Afghanistan and the potential for an outbreak of all-out war is threatening the extension of the German army's mandate which was up for debate in the Bundestag Thursday.

After the German government agreed last week to extend the Bundeswehr's mandate in Afghanistan as part of NATO's International Stabilization and Assistance Force (ISAF), the debate moved to the Bundestag Thursday, where parliament was initially expected to agree to a year long extension.

However, after a leaked statement from the German ambassador in Kabul citing the worsening situation in the failed Central Asian state and similar concerns from an increasing number of politicians across the German political spectrum, that expected agreement is now in some doubt.

Hans-Ulrich Seidt, the German ambassador in Afghanistan, was quoted in a report in the Bild Zeitung tabloid as saying that he was "extremely pessimistic" about the security situation in the country and that it was entirely possible that the Afghan government could lose control in the next 12 to 18 months. This, he said, would see Afghanistan plunged into chaos and the ISAF faced with dealing with an expanded war across the whole country.

Unease was expressed not only by members of the free-market liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Green party -- usually Germany's conscience in foreign military matters -- but also sections of the ruling coalition parties of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). 

Cross-party concern for future of mandate

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Afghanistan is slipping further into chaos
With the security situation in Afghanistan being described as the worst since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the safety of the approximately 3,000 German soldiers currently deployed in the country is becoming increasingly threatened.
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Italy, Australia pledge to continue cooperation in Afghanistan   
The Associated Press Published: September 28, 2006
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/28/europe/EU_GEN_Italy_Australia_Afghanistan.php

ROME Italy's and Australia's foreign ministers on Thursday pledged to continue cooperating in Afghanistan, even as the Australian official has recently criticized European nations for imposing restrictions that limit the effectiveness of the Afghan peacekeeping force.

"As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we appreciate the role that Italy has been playing," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said after a meeting in Rome with his Italian counterpart, Massimo D'Alema.

"We look forward to continuing cooperation between the Italians and Australians as we wrestle with a fairly difficult environment there," he said.

This week Downer reiterated calls for more firepower from Europe in Afghan peacekeeping operations, saying it was needed to combat an upsurge in Taliban fighting.

"It's tough to expect the Americans, the British, us (Australians), the Canadians ... to do all the hard work in the south," Downer said on Tuesday.

NATO wants forces from countries such as Spain, Italy and Germany to be available to join the fight in the south, not only in Afghanistan's calmer north and west.

Italy has resisted that call.

D'Alema reiterated the government's stance that while Italy remains committed in Afghanistan, it does not expect to either increase or reduce its contingent, currently totaling 1,600.

"We do not foresees at this stage any changes in one direction or the other," said D'Alema.
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Terrorist Bomb Expert Captured in Afghanistan; 10 Taliban Rebels Killed
American Forces Press Service
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1265

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces captured a known makeshift bomb expert and terrorist cell leader today during an operation south of Asadabad, U.S. military officials reported. 
The terrorist was the leader of a cell that planned bomb attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the Konar region. He was also responsible for placing bombs in various locations in the Pech Valley region. 

Intelligence indicated that the terrorist was planning to attack coalition and Afghan security forces in the immediate future, officials said. 

“This improvised explosive device builder posed an imminent threat to the safety of not only coalition and Afghan forces, but to the local population,” said Air Force Lt. Col. John Paradis, a coalition spokesman. “This is a positive development in that a key terrorist facilitator has been detained, his actions thwarted and his future plans disrupted. Today’s operation sends a strong message to the extremists. We will continue to pursue these enemies of Afghanistan.” 

The operation ended without incident, and no injuries were reported, officials said. 

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, coalition forces killed 10 Taliban rebels in Paktika province while conducting offensive operations during Operation Mountain Fury on Sept. 25. 

Coalition forces spotted 15 extremists operating in the Sharan district and engaged with ground forces and attack helicopters. Five of the extremists broke contact and fled. 

“Operation Mountain Fury continues to pressure the enemy to eliminate their ability to coerce and intimidate the Afghan people,” said Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a coalition spokesman. “We will continue to take the fight to the enemy and destroy them, if necessary, to ensure security here in Paktika and elsewhere.” 
More on link

Air Force Investigating Crash in Kyrgyzstan
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2006 
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=1279

Air Force officials have convened a Safety Investigation Board to determine the cause of a ground collision between a Kyrgyz TU-154 passenger plane and a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyzstan around 8 p.m. Sept. 26. 
“Our primary concern was for the safety of the passengers and crew of both aircraft,” Air Force Col. Joel “Scott” Reese, commander of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, said. “I’m thankful there were no injuries.” 

The three-member crew of the KC-135 had just returned from an aerial refueling mission and was taxiing from the runway when the TU-154’s wing collided with the KC-135’s wing. The wing of the KC-135 caught fire as a result of the collision. The TU-154 continued its take off and made an immediate emergency landing. The passengers of the TU-154 were evacuated without injury. 

“Fire and emergency crews from Manas International Airport along with our firefighters extinguished the fire on the KC-135,” Reese said. “We’re grateful for the relationship we have with our partners here at the airport. Our joint training paid off immensely in the successful response to this emergency.” 

This is the first accident between U.S. and Kyrgyz aircraft. Air Force officials are cooperating with local airport and aviation authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident, officials said. 
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (28 Sep 2006)

NATO set for early takeover of Afghan peacekeeping
28 Sep 2006 11:12:57 GMT Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JOH838685.htm



> NATO defence chiefs were set on Thursday to agree to assume command of peacekeeping across all of insurgency-hit Afghanistan next month despite some allies' concerns over tactics and troop shortfalls.
> 
> The move into eastern Afghanistan could take effect quickly because it would largely involve placing under NATO command some 10,000 mostly U.S. forces already in the region, giving NATO commanders a greater pool of troops and equipment.
> 
> ...



Troops in line for VCs after Taliban battles
Daily Telegraph, by Neil Tweedie (Filed: 28/09/2006)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/28/nmedals28.xml



> British commanders in Afghanistan have recommended that their men receive almost 180 awards for gallantry, including "several" Victoria Crosses, following the most intense fighting since the Korean War.
> 
> The awards are to be rushed through for Christmas.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (29 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 29 Sept 2006*  *Red Friday!*

Canadian soldier killed in Afghan explosion
Updated Fri. Sep. 29 2006 1:02 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060929/soldier_killed_060929/20060929?hub=TopStories

A Canadian soldier was killed Friday after stepping on a booby trap and triggering an explosion in southern Afghanistan.

The soldier, who was on foot patrol, was serving in the First Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment.

He died around 1 p.m. in Panjwaii -- the scene of recent fighting and bombings west of Kandahar city.

The soldier's identity was withheld at the request of his family. The soldier's hometown and age were also not released.

His remains were taken by helicopter to Kandahar Airfield. One soldier was slightly hurt and no civilians were wounded in the bombing.

The explosion comes near the end of Canada's deadliest month in Afghanistan. Ten Canadian soldiers have died in September.

In all, 37 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died on the mission to Afghanistan since 2002.

Most of Canada's 2,200 troops on the mission in Afghanistan operate in Kandahar province. 

The latest death occured on the day when Canada's top soldier kicked off a visit to Afghanistan, describing success in that country as a "long, slow process" due to shifting Taliban tactics. 

General Rick Hillier said reconstruction efforts have been frustrating and the Taliban resistance has gained strength, but he emphasized that Canadian soldiers are learning from every encounter with the enemy. 

"Did we see a resurgent Taliban this spring that has slowed some of the development, particularly in the south? Yes,'' Hillier said. 

"However they've been set on their back foot recently,'' he added, referring to the recent Canadian-led NATO push, dubbed Operation Medusa, that killed hundreds of Taliban in an area west of Kandahar, according to NATO. 

Hillier's goal is to assess how the situation has changed in southern Afghanistan since he visited earlier in the year. 
End

Forces will listen to Red Rally cheers on radio  
By IAN ROBERTSON, TORONTO SUN
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/09/29/1917924-sun.html

Canadian forces are being given a chance in Afghanistan to hear red today -- a rousing wave of support that will rock the downtown in a giant flag-waving rally. 

The 2,500 Canadian soldiers are being urged by the military brass to tune in the Red Rally cheers and best wishes when hour-long radio broadcasts start at noon from Dundas Square on CFRB and AM-640 Radio. 

The Canadian Armed Forces asked for a CD recording, "which they will have at Canada House in Kandahar, for any of the troops who don't hear the broadcast," CFRB program director Steve Koch said. 

"The rally will start here when it's midnight there." 

The Sun is providing 500 Maple Leaf flags for people at the rally, plus a book in which they can write good wishes to be sent to the troops. 

"It's not about supporting the war, it's not about partisan politics," Koch said. 

"It's about supporting the men and women who have chosen to work for our country in the Canadian Forces." 
More on link

Victory Not Always Clear in Afghanistan: Hillier  
Josh Pringle Friday, September 29, 2006 
http://www.cfra.com/headlines/index.asp

Canada's top soldier says winning in Afghanistan is going to be a "painful, slow process." 

General Rick Hillier admits Taliban tactics are making military victory difficult for Canadians to see. 

The Chief of Defence Staff is in Kandahar to visit with Canadian troops and get a better sense of how the situation has changed over the summer. 

Hillier told reporters the Taliban resistance has grown and the pace of reconstruction in the war-torn country is frustrating. 

But Hillier says the Canadian Forces are adapting to the tougher foe. 

36 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2002. 
More on link

The church dance that snowballed
September 21, 2006 MARK STEYN
http://www.macleans.ca/culture/books/article.jsp?content=20060925_133309_133309

A masterful new work on al-Qaeda and 9/11 explains how a loser cult has metastasized

On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, U.S. and Afghan troops in "eastern Afghanistan" -- a vague delineated land that doesn't necessarily stop at the Pakistani border -- captured a man called Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Who?

Well, he was the head of Hezb-i-Islami -- or, latterly, one faction of it. And for a while he was prime minister of Afghanistan, and an opponent of the Taliban, and then an ally of the Taliban. And in recent years he's been Iran's Mister Big in the Hindu Kush. He's believed to be the guy who smuggled Osama's son, Saad bin Laden, and various al-Qaeda A-listers out of Afghanistan and to the safety of the ayatollahs' bosom. He's an evil man who knows a lot of high-value information, if you can prise it out of him.

He made his name in the eighties, when there were so many Afghan refugees in Peshawar that the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, decided to streamline operations and make the human tide sign up with one of six designated émigré groups in order to be eligible for aid. Hekmatyar headed one of the two biggest, with some 800,000 people under his banner. He also has the distinction of being the commander of Osama's first foray into the field. In 1985, bin Laden and 60 other Arabs were holed up in Peshawar doing nothing terribly useful until they got the call to head across the Afghan border and join up with Hekmatyar's men to battle the Soviets near Jihad Wal. So off they rode, with a single local guide. They arrived at Hekmatyar's camp at 10 in the evening only to find the Soviets had retreated and there was no battle to fight
More on link



Explosion kills one NATO soldier on patrol in southern Afghanistan
September 29, 2006 - 8:26
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/news/shownews.jsp?content=w092931A

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - NATO says one of its soldiers has been killed in an explosion in Kandahar province.

The NATO statement did not provide the nationality of the soldier

It said the soldier died in an explosion in Kandahar province while conducting a dismounted

patrol around 1 p.m.

The alliance usually leaves it to the country involved to release information on casualties.

Most of Canada's 2,200 troops on the mission in Afghanistan operate in Kandahar province.
End

Paralyzed soldier has a will to win
Faith in Afghan mission unshaken by war wound Response to grim medical prognosis: `I'll show them'
Sep. 28, 2006. 01:00 AM DANA BORCEA TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159353728044&call_pageid=970599119419

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Canada's mission in Afghanistan before the UN General Assembly last week, Cpl. Christopher Klodt sat in his hospital room willing his arms to move again.

When visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai stood in Parliament thanking Canadians for the sacrifices made for his country, Klodt struggled to pull his T-shirt on over his head by himself.

And as the bodies of four fellow soldiers recently killed in Afghanistan landed at CFB Trenton on Saturday, Klodt said that if he could, he would go back and keep fighting the war that has confined him to a wheelchair.

The 24-year-old native of Dundas, Ont., was shot in the neck during a gun battle with Afghan rebels outside Kandahar 2 1/2 months ago.

The bullet tore through his throat, crippling his esophagus and larynx, before lodging itself in his spine, paralyzing him from the shoulders down.

Doctors painted a grim picture for his family in the days after the shooting. Klodt would likely never breathe without a machine, they said. He would be fed through a tube and probably never speak again.

When his mother, Joy, delivered the prognosis to him, his response was: "I'll show them." 

Sitting in his wheelchair outside Chedoke Hospital in Hamilton, Klodt recalls how far he's come since then.

Due to limited mobility in his arms, and particularly his hands, Klodt is still classified as a quadriplegic. He shrugs off the gloomy label.

"Please, I'm not going to be like this forever," he says. "I've got my right arm going now, and the left is coming." 

His hands still don't work the way he wants them to, but he has taught himself to put on his clothes and hold his own food.

While still strained, his voice is clear and audible — a far cry from the barely-there whisper it was a few months ago.

Klodt, who only just started eating solid food again, has lost 40 pounds since he was shot.

The outline of the former football star's rib cage pokes out of his torso. Sometimes he can even see his own heart beating through his chest.

It has been only a couple of weeks since he started his rehabilitation, but his physiotherapist tells him he has come a long way.

"I believe it's willpower," Klodt says.
More on link

Al Qaeda promises message on pope, Bush, Darfur
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/28/al.qaeda.tape.ap/index.html

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri will soon release a new message about the pope, President Bush and Sudan's troubled Darfur region, an Islamic Web site said Wednesday.

A banner warning of the upcoming message was posted on an Islamic Web site that frequently airs al Qaeda videos. Wednesday's notice did not specify whether the new message was a video, audiotape or text, but al-Zawahiri usually releases videos.

His latest came earlier this month, to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Al Qaeda released a string of videos for the anniversary, showing increasingly sophisticated production techniques in a likely effort to demonstrate that it remains a powerful, confident force five years into the U.S.-led war on terror. (Full story)

The red stylized banner posted Wednesday flashes a small headshot of al-Zawahiri, next to a short text: "As-Sahab production institute presents: Sheik Ayman al-Zawahiri, God protect him. Bush...Vatican pope...Darfur...Crusader wars."

The graphic is stamped with the emblem of As-Sahab, al Qaeda's media production arm.

It did not specify a timeframe for the tape's release, saying only that it would come out "soon, God willing."

Osama bin Laden and his deputy al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. Many analysts believe that they no longer have centralized control to order or organize attacks by militants around the world. The capture and killing of many mid-level commanders has left al Qaeda more diffuse and amorphous.

But at the same time, the terror network's propaganda machine has grown more sophisticated, aiming to rally militants and romanticizing jihad, or holy war.

If al-Zawahiri's upcoming message addresses the pope's comments on Islam, as the banner posted Wednesday suggests, the tape would have to have been produced recently.
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Rumsfeld: No one anticipated insurgency's strength
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/09/28/rumsfeld.profile/index.html

(CNN) -- Donald Rumsfeld's Iraqi war plan worked beautifully for three weeks. U.S. troops quickly deposed Saddam Hussein and captured Baghdad with a relatively small force and with lightning speed.

But with Iraq on the verge of civil war three years later, the secretary of defense now admits that no one was well-prepared for what would happen after major combat ended.

"Well, I think that anyone who looks at it with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight has to say that there was not an anticipation that the level of insurgency would be anything approximating what it is," Rumsfeld told CNN for the documentary, "CNN Presents Rumsfeld -- Man of War," which debuts Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

In a rare one-on-one television interview, Rumsfeld talked with CNN special correspondent Frank Sesno about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the transformation of the U.S. military and his approach to management.

Rumsfeld's style and policies have rankled many, and several former top military officers have called for him to resign. One of those is the man who led the 1st Infantry Division in northwest Iraq in 2004. Former U.S. Army Maj. Gen John Batiste said he asked for more troops and was turned down.

"We're in a real fix right now [in Iraq]," Batiste told CNN. "We're there because Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ignored sound military advice, dismissed it all, went with his plan and his plan alone."

Batiste argued that had he been given more troops the military could have secured Iraq's border with Iran and secured the country's oil facilities. (Watch Batiste describe how Rumsfeld ignored military's advice -- 5:50)

Rumsfeld's plan was to win the war with low troop levels and superior technology, let democracy take root and then have the Iraqis secure the country. That strategy appeared to be working in Afghanistan, where 1,000 troops had ousted the Taliban with the help of the indigenous Northern Alliance.

Make your case
Several retired generals told CNN the 74-year-old secretary is inflexible, especially when he has staked out a position. However allies, including his top aide, disputed that assertion.

"He's tough. He's smart. He's fair. He's focused," Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. "But he's not the guy that most people think he is."(Watch Pace talk about an "incredible patriot" -- 4:22)

Rumsfeld said he welcomes debate and that he tells people to make their case.

"And we've ended up adjusting or changing or calibrating [the plan]," he said.

But retired Army Gen. Paul Eaton told CNN that if you spoke up and the Pentagon disagreed, "Then you're going to have a problem."

Eaton reflects what many critics claim about Rumsfeld's controversial management style and the decisions that stem from it: that Rumsfeld doesn't listen; he doesn't like dissent; and he dismisses ideas that differ from his own.

The secretary shrugged off such criticism.
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Amnesty accuses Pakistan of abusing rights in war on terror
MUNIR AHMAD Associated Press
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060929.wamnesty0929/BNStory/International/home

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities have illegally detained innocent people on suspicion of terrorism and secretly imprisoned them or handed them to the U.S. for money, Amnesty International claimed in a report released Friday.

Hundreds of Pakistanis and foreigners have been detained, a practice fuelled by U.S. offers of thousands of dollars for terror suspects, said Claudio Cordone, senior director of research at Amnesty International. Pakistan also operates its own rewards program, providing money for the capture of suspected terrorists.

“Bounty hunters — including police officers and local people — have captured individuals of different nationalities, often apparently at random, and sold them into U.S. custody,” he said.

Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Displaced Afghans too afraid to go home  
NATO's declaration of victory in Panjwai not enough to assure villagers they're safe 
GRAEME SMITH From Thursday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060928.wxafghan28/BNStory/Afghanistan/home

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Less than 10 per cent of civilians who fled a massive battle in Panjwai district earlier this month have returned to their homes, the Canadian military says, as villagers continue to fear a resumption of fighting between foreign troops and insurgents.

Ten days have passed since Canadian commanders declared Operation Medusa a success, after killing or routing hundreds of anti-government fighters from a swath of farmland dangerously close to the city of Kandahar.

Since then, North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces have co-operated with the local government and international agencies to launch an unprecedented rebuilding operation, trying to swing local support in their favour by reviving the same villages that crumbled under a rain of air strikes and artillery.

Villagers who fled say they're tempted by the news they hear on the radio, declaring that people who return to Panjwai will be eligible for donations of food aid, household goods and cash for remaking their homes. But they're also hearing rumours that gangs of Taliban fighters remain in the district, in some cases occupying whole villages.
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Graeme Smith discusses Canada's Afghan mission
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060912.wliveafghan0913/BNStory/specialComment/home

The Battle for Panjwai — one of the largest military operations for Canadian soldiers since the Second World War — ended with the defeat or escape of the Taliban insurgents.

But the fighting, which lasted more than a week, has caused Canadian commanders to re-evaluate their tactics as Graeme Smith reports today in his article Conquering Canadians take stock.

"If you had asked me five months ago: 'Do you need tanks to fight insurgents?' I would have said: 'No, you're nuts'," Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie, the Canadian commander told Smith after the battle.

"But . . . very seldom do insurgents mass and concentrate the way they've done here and dig their feet into a stronghold. From my perspective, they're acting more like a conventional enemy."
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German lawmakers extend Afghanistan mission
28 Sep 2006 14:05:33 GMT Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28486492.htm

BERLIN, Sept 28 (Reuters) - German lawmakers on Thursday agreed to keep German troops in Afghanistan for another year as part of a NATO peace-keeping mission despite concerns the Bundeswehr could be stretched by its overseas commitments.

One week after the German navy embarked on a mission to patrol the coast off Lebanon, lawmakers voted 492 to 71, with nine abstentions, to extend the Afghanistan mission for another 12 months.

Germany leads the NATO mission in the relatively calm north of the country, where it has 2,900 troops on the ground. That is almost the full quota of 3,000 soldiers set by parliament.

It has ruled out sending troops to the mainly lawless south to support British, Dutch and Canadian forces, who are facing attacks from Taliban guerrillas. France has also refused to send troops to the south, saying it has its hands full in Kabul.

It was less than eight years ago that Germany took part in its first foreign combat operations since World War Two. Now it has almost 4,000 troops in the Balkans, nearly 3,000 in Afghanistan and more than 1,000 in Africa, mainly in Congo.

Lawmakers approved the deployment of 2,400 troops to Lebanon last Wednesday, a mission which breaks a postwar taboo by taking German forces into the heart of the Middle East.

The German defence ministry has called for more money to support its operations, but the finance ministry has rejected the demands. Some Germans fear that calls to join future international peace-keeping missions would strain resources.

NATO nations have around 18,500 troops in Afghanistan with other non-NATO countries contributing a further 1,500 to its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). 
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Berlin opera bans Mozart for fear of provoking Islamic extremists  
 1.00pm Wednesday September 27, 2006 By Tony Paterson
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=18&objectid=10403202

BERLIN - A Mozart opera production in which the severed head of the Muslim prophet Mohammed is shown on stage was banned by one of Berlin's main opera houses yesterday because of fears that the work might provoke a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists.

The decision, by Berlin's Deutsche Opera to cancel a forthcoming presentation of the Mozart work Idomeneo provoked uproar among politicians and German theatre directors who said the opera house had allowed itself to be intimidated.

"This is mad," said Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German Interior Minister who has invited Muslim leaders to attend an Islamic conference in Berlin, "Taking such measures is ridiculous and totally unacceptable," he added.

Kirstin Harms, the Deutsche Oper's manager said the company had decided to remove Idomoneo from its programme after receiving information from Berlin police which suggested that the work could provoke what she described as an "incalculable security risk" to the public if it was shown.
More on link

Warlords, Taliban and drugs fuel violence
http://www.alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/AF_REC.htm?v=at_a_glance

Afghanistan is struggling to recover from more than a quarter-century of conflict, with violence still raging in the south and southeast. It is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world and home to a booming narcotics trade. 

Six million fled during the conflict 

600 children die every day 

Around 35,000 foreign troops

Billions of dollars have poured into rebuilding Afghanistan since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime in 2001. But many Afghans are frustrated at the pace of reconstruction efforts, which have been dogged by security problems and allegations of corruption and mismanagement. 

The Taliban were toppled by U.S. and mujahideen forces in 2001 after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. 

Remnants of the Taliban fighting to oust thousands of foreign troops and Afghanistan's new western-backed government have stepped up a campaign of bomb attacks, ambushes and raids during 2006. Security officials also blame land disputes, banditry, the drugs trade and clan feuds for rising violence. 

But there is some good news. Millions of former refugees have streamed back, the judiciary and army are being reconstituted and roads and hospitals rebuilt. Women, who were barred from education and jobs during the Taliban years, are now allowed to vote and some have won seats in parliament. 
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AFGHANISTAN'S COALITION OF THE LESS-AND-LESS WILLING
BY PHILIPPE GOHIER SEPTEMBER 28, 2006
http://maisonneuve.org/index.php?&page_id=12&article_id=2452

It’s probably safe to assume that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf didn’t give a copy of his new memoir to Afghan President Hamid Karzai when the two had dinner at the White House yesterday. Both leaders were there at the behest of President George W. Bush, who was anxious to see the two scale back the diplomatic spat that has erupted between them during their respective visits with Canadian and American leaders. According to the Star, “Karzai and Musharraf have been trading barbs and criticizing each other's efforts to fight terrorists along the long, remote, mountainous border their nations share.” Karzai is worried Musharraf’s government isn’t doing enough to prevent Taliban militants from operating inside Pakistan, and Musharraf thinks Karzai is simply trying to shift the blame for the chaos in Afghanistan away from his own leadership, reports the Globe. 

So off the leaders went for a private, though high-profile, dinner with Bush inside the Old Family Dining Room at the White House. If Bush has now become involved in the process it is because salvaging the Afghan mission from the dual threat of military failure and waning public support requires that Musharraf and Karzai agree to fight the Taliban together. The Bush administration knows all too well the effects of losing diplomatic support in the midst of large-scale military operations. His “coalition of the willing” for the war in Iraq lost much of its steam after new governments in Spain and Italy pledged to withdraw their troops, leaving US soldiers to shoulder the vast majority of the work, and casualties. But Musharraf and Karzai have their own compelling reason to negotiate a truce. Despite, as the Globe notes, being “loath to be seen as Mr. Bush’s lapdogs,” the two leaders both know the choice between American support and the Taliban is no choice at all. Nonetheless, the bitter end to a pair of diplomatic visits aimed at firming up Canadian and US resolve for Afghanistan’s reconstruction leaves a worrisome impression. Suddenly Afghanistan's prospects are starting to look as rosy as Iraq's. 
More on link

Bin Laden 'alive and in Afghanistan'
James Bone, New York  September 29, 2006
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20495320-2703,00.html

PAKISTAN has intelligence suggesting Osama bin Laden is hiding in the eastern Afghanistan province of Kunar, possibly with the help of an Afghan warlord, President Pervez Musharraf said, dismissing a French intelligence report that the al-Qa'ida leader had died of typhoid.
"It's not a hunch," General Musharraf said. "Kunar province borders on Bajaur Agency. We know there are some pockets of al-Qa'ida in Bajaur Agency. We have set a good intelligence organisation. We have moved some army elements. We did strike them twice there. We located and killed a number ofthem." 

Interviewed at his hotel in New York, General Musharraf said he believed that bin Laden was in Afghanistan, and suggested a possible link with Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. 

Brandishing a UN report highlighted with coloured markers, the President read out its finding that the insurgency in Afghanistan "is being conducted mostly by Afghans operating inside Afghanistan's borders". 

The report, issued by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan this month, identifies five "distinct leadership centres" of the insurgency, which "appear to act in loose co-ordination with each other, and a number benefit from financial and operational links with drug-trafficking networks". It says Kunar province is the base of operations of Hekmatyar's wing of the Hezb-i-Islami party. 

Hekmatyar and bin Laden fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. In the 1992-96 civil war that followed the Soviet pullout, Hekmatyar, an ethnic Pashtun who was the prime minister, turned his forces against those of president Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik. 

When the Taliban came to power in Kabul, Hekmatyar went into exile in Iran, while bin Laden found safe haven with the hardline Islamic regime. But Hekmatyar returned to Afghanistan when the Taliban were toppled by the American invasion and has since issued statements urging Afghans to support al-Qa'ida and wage jihad against US-led forces
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The Wild East
By Susanne Koelbl 
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,440017,00.html

Sheer desperation is driving many Afghans back into the arms of the fanatical Taliban movement. Once again, the holy warriors have taken control of entire regions and are seeking to ensnare the Western allies in a bloody guerilla war.

The two Western intelligence agents in Kabul can finally breathe a sigh of relief. This day, this bloody, violent day, is finally drawing to a close. It seems like the beginning of the end.

Bombs went off at hourly intervals in the Afghan capital. The first struck a military bus ferrying young Afghan soldiers downtown. Screaming, the blood-soaked officers scrambled through the shattered windows, flames licking at their uniforms. In all, 39 people were hurt. The next exploded beside a bus filled with employees from the Trade Ministry. Six civilians were seriously injured; one didn't make it to the hospital. A third blast in the eastern part of the city ripped apart another army transporter.
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Violence not to alter Italian mission in Afghanistan: FM 
September 29, 2006 
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/29/eng20060929_307314.html

The recent upsurge of violence in Afghanistan would not alter Italy's peacekeeping mission there, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said on Thursday. 

D'Alema's remarks came after his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. He added at a joint press conference here, held after their meeting, that Italy "intends to fulfill the commitments it has made with NATO." 

Leftist elements in the Italian coalition government have renewed their calls for Italy to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in the wake of two terrorist attacks this week, which killed one Italian soldier and injured eight others. 

The soldier was the seventh Italian to die in Afghanistan and the second in less than a week. Another soldier was killed last Wednesday in a road accident. 

Italy has some 1,700 troops serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led ISAF peacekeeping mission there. 

Some military officials said the situation in Afghanistan was beginning to resemble that in Iraq, where the Taliban-led resurgence has killed more than 2,300 people this year. 

Most of the fighting is in the south of Afghanistan, where NATO has appealed to member states to send more troops. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

US focusing on construction in Afghanistan
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST  Sep. 29, 2006 
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193339779&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Unlike the broad US offensive this summer that saw some 800 Taliban fighters killed in the south, Operation Mountain Fury has seen less sustained fighting, though about 300 rebels have been killed, Lt. Col. John Paradis, a US military spokesman, said Thursday. The operation has 3,000 US and 4,000 Afghan troops operating in five eastern provinces. 

This time around, the US Army is focused on the US $43 million being spent on 120 reconstruction projects, including government headquarters, clinics, roads and bridges. 

The construction spree is key to US counterinsurgency strategy. Commanders say it is critical to extend the government's credibility, open up commerce and increase security, steps that could help persuade Afghans to shun Taliban fighters and put their faith in government
More on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (29 Sep 2006)

NATO to Command 12,000 G.I.’s in Afghanistan
By DAVID S. CLOUD, Published: September 29, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/world/asia/29nato.html?_r=1&oref=slogin



> ...
> The command shift, approved at a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers at this Adriatic resort town, would extend the alliance’s area of operations across all of Afghanistan. It would still leave about 10,000 American troops, including Special Operations units, under exclusive American control...
> 
> Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters that the extension of the alliance’s command into the American sector in the east, along the border with Pakistan, would happen “in the days and weeks ahead.” The exact timing of the move appeared linked to whether European governments themselves would provide additional forces that NATO military planners have requested for southern Afghanistan, as well as progress on easing country-by-country restrictions that limit their use in combat...
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (30 Sep 2006)

*Articles found 30 Sept 2006*

Canadian soldier killed by land mine in Afghanistan
Hillier acknowledges Taliban resurgence, promises to give troops whatever they need
GRAEME SMITH 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060930.AFGHAN30/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/

and here at CTV

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060929/soldier_killed_060929/20060929?hub=TopStories

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- A Canadian soldier died in a huge land-mine explosion yesterday, hours after Canada's top military commander arrived in Kandahar with a grim assessment of the situation in southern Afghanistan.

The insurgency is rising, the pace of reconstruction is frustrating and the military needs new tactics to combat the Taliban, General Rick Hillier said, promising to give his troops whatever they need to overcome their opponents.

The insurgents' tenacity was illustrated with yesterday's attack.

Whoever planted the bomb appears to have sneaked into a cluster of villages known as Pashmul, roughly 15 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city, an area the Canadians had carefully cleared of insurgents in a massive operation more than two weeks ago.
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The story of C Company
Sep. 30, 2006. 05:44 AM MITCH POTTER MIDDLE EAST BUREAU
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159566611565&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan—One must turn back time several generations to find Canadian soldiers in the state that Charlie Company finds itself today. Not since the Korean War has a single Canadian combat unit been so cut to pieces so quickly.

Either of the two events that rocked their world in the dust-caked hills of southern Afghanistan one month ago might qualify as the worst day of their lives. That they came back-to-back — one disastrous morning followed by another even worse — is a matter of almost incomprehensibly bad fortune.

The epic double-whammy — a perfect Taliban ambush of unprecedented intensity, followed one day later by a devastating burst of "friendly fire" from a U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthog — reduced Charlie to a status of "combat ineffective." They were the ones to fire the opening shots of Operation Medusa. But even as the massive Canada-led assault was gathering steam they were finished.

The soldiers left standing are not the same today as the ones who deployed to Afghanistan with nothing but good intentions barely seven weeks ago, as part of 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.

A few are emotional wrecks, too fragile still to speak of what transpired during that fateful Labour Day long weekend. Others bleed anger from their every pore.
More on link

Another version below


Cut to pieces in just 24 hours
The White School exacts a terrible cost from Canada
By Mitch Potter The Hamilton Spectator Panjwaii District, Afghanistan (Sep 30, 2006) 
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159566612714&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815

One must turn back time several generations to find Canadian soldiers in the state that Charlie Company finds itself today. Not since the Korean War has a single Canadian combat unit been so cut to pieces so quickly.

First there was a perfect Taliban ambush of unprecedented intensity. Then a devastating burst of "friendly fire" from a U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthog that killed Hamilton's Private Mark Graham and wounded more than 30 others.

Those two events reduced Charlie to a status of "combat ineffective."

They were the ones to fire the opening shots of Operation Medusa. But even as the massive Canada-led assault was gathering steam, they were finished.

Cpl. James Miller of Hamilton injured by booby trap that kills another Canadian. A10

The soldiers left standing are not the same today as the ones who deployed to Afghanistan seven weeks ago as part of 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Petawawa, Ont.

A few are emotional wrecks, too fragile still to speak of what transpired during that fateful Labour Day long weekend. Others are full of anger.
More on link

Kabul suicide bombing leaves 12 people dead
Updated Sat. Sep. 30 2006 7:38 AM ET Associated Press
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060930/kabul_bombing_060930/20060930?hub=TopStories

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a busy pedestrian alley next to Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 40, officials said. 


The blast was the second major suicide attack in Kabul this month, underscoring the rising danger in the once-calm capital as militants step up attacks across the country. 

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemeri Bashary, said 12 people were killed, including two women and a child, and that 42 were injured. 

Dr. Salam Jalali, a Public Health Ministry official, said 54 had been injured. He said the wounded had been taken to six different hospitals in Kabul, complicating officials' efforts to keep track of the casualties. 

The explosion went off just before 8 a.m. on an Afghan work day, near a narrow dirt road where employees and civilians pass through a security gate. Shops, street photographers, and men who fill out Interior Ministry paperwork for illiterate Afghans make the area a busy cross-section of commerce and government. 

The top U.N. official in the country condemned the "callous attack against innocent Afghans who were simply going to work." 

"It is wrong for any conflict to be played out in a civilian arena with such wanton disregard for so many innocent lives," said Tom Koenigs, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. 

Bashary said the suicide attacker had been acting suspiciously, then tried to get close to a gathering of people just beyond a police checkpoint. 

A witness said he saw the bomber run from police, who had tried to search him. 
More on link

Hillier admits victory in Afghanistan is elusive
Updated Fri. Sep. 29 2006 10:46 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060929/hillier_afghanistan_060929/20060929?hub=CTVNewsAt11

Canada's top soldier kicked off a visit to Afghanistan today by describing success in that country as a "long, slow process" due to shifting Taliban tactics. 

General Rick Hillier said reconstruction efforts have been frustrating and the Taliban resistance has gained strength, but he emphasized that Canadian soldiers are learning from every encounter with the enemy. 

"Did we see a resurgent Taliban this spring that has slowed some of the development, particularly in the south? Yes,'' Hillier said. 

"However they've been set on their back foot recently,'' he added, referring to the recent Canadian-led NATO push, dubbed Operation Medusa, that killed hundreds of Taliban in an area west of Kandahar, according to NATO. 

Hillier arrived in Afghanistan Friday aboard a Hercules C-130 transport plane to kick off a visit to southern Afghanistan. His goal is to assess how the situation has changed since he visited earlier in the year. 

Hillier's somber outlook seemed to contrast with his last visit to Afghanistan, when he was enthusiastic about engaging the Taliban and pushing them out of positions of strength. 
More on link

Afghanistan needs more int`l help: Jalali
Uplift projects launched in Nangarhar, Laghman  Saturday September 30, 2006 (0639 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155713

 KABUL: Former interior minister of Afghanistan said Afghanistan proved the last battlefield of the Cold War and the first battlefield of the global war on terror was in dire need of int`l help. 
Ali Jalali said his country was needed more help to rebuild and to fight terrorists. Addressing a meeting at Benedictine High School in Richmond, he said if Afghanistan failed, that failure would have negative effects on NATO and on the region. 

More than 80 participants were attending a meeting of the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond. He noted that President Bush assured visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday that the United States would continue to support him. 

Jalali admitted that a resurgent Taliban was creating havoc in the southern part of Afghanistan -- killing teachers and moderate religious leaders, and killing themselves with suicide missions. 

Still, the former minister said, if you viewed Afghanistan as a video over the past five years or so, "You see steady progress." Jalali said there have been presidential and parliamentary elections and that schools have reopened, with 6 million children attending. 
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Tim Hortons relents, workers join 'Red Friday'
Updated Fri. Sep. 29 2006 11:02 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060929/timhortons_reddays_060929/20060929?hub=Canada

Tim Hortons employees almost didn't get to join other Canadians Friday in wearing red to support Canadian troops in Afghanistan. 

The "Red Friday" campaign was begun last spring by the families of CFB Petawawa troops serving in the war-torn country. But employees at the Tim Hortons on the base were distressed when the head office issued an order this Friday that they weren't allowed to ditch their uniforms and wear red. 

"I think it's terrible myself," one soldier who came into the doughnut shop on the base told CTV News. "We support them everyday coming in here buying coffee." 

The head office altered its order within hours of making it, telling employees across Canada they had to wear their standard uniforms, but could wear red ribbons or pins on the job, if they wished. 

The manager of the Tim Hortons at Petawawa, whose husband just returned from Kandahar, doesn't think that's enough. She said her employees want to hold out for red T-shirts to support their loved ones overseas. 

Their relatives in Afghanistan love Tims. The outlet in Kandahar is a cherished connection to home. 

Suzy Wells worked at the Tim Hortons at CFB Petawawa two years ago. With her husband training to go to Afghanistan, she can't imagine not being able to wear red on Fridays. 

"They let them wear the support a cookie smile T-shirt when it's time for that, or their camp day T-shirt when it's time for camp day, but they won't let them wear a red shirt in support of Canadian Armed Forces," said Wells. "I think it's kind of silly." 
More on link

VOA Initiates Broadcasts to Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Region
http://voanews.com/english/About/2006-09-29-deewa.cfm

PRESS RELEASE -  Washington, D.C., September 29, 2006 - The Voice of America (VOA) launched the first full news hour of a new radio broadcasting service to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region this week. In the coming months VOA Deewa (Light) Radio will expand to 6 hours of daily news programming. 


"VOA Deewa's first hour-long daily newscast marks the beginning of a new Pashto language radio program specifically designed for the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region," said VOA Director David S. Jackson. "This is an area that is facing significant challenges ranging from ethnic and political strife to poverty and health issues, so it's critical for them to have access to accurate and unbiased news and information." 

The first hour of VOA Deewa Radio offers local, regional, and international news as well as features on topics such as politics, economy, health, education and sports. Special features are also planned, including an on-going series on Muslims in America and "Who We Are," an informative series about life in the United States. 

In addition to the one-hour News Hour, Deewa Radio has begun broadcasting 10 minutes of regional and global news at the top of the hour for four hours every evening, followed by contemporary Pashto popular music on a 24-hour, 7-day per week basis. Over the coming months VOA Deewa Radio will expand to 6 hours of news and information tailed for listeners in the Pashto-speaking region. 

VOA Deewa Radio programs can be heard in select cities on FM 100.5 and on shortwave from 1300-1400 UTC on 11510 kHz (26.06 meters) and 15645 kHz (19.18 meters). Deewa's News Hour runs from 1300-1400 UTC (6:00-7:00 p.m. local time) with 10-minute news bulletins at the top of the hours between 1400-1700 UTC (7:00-10:00 p.m. local time). 

Programs can be heard online at www.voadeewaradio.com. 
End

Land allocation scheme yields first results in Afghanistan 
Friday September 15, 2006 (2337 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154319

PUL-I-KHUMRI: A government land-allocation scheme in Afghanistan has distributed property to thousands of landless Afghans who have repatriated to northern and eastern Afghanistan. 
The programme is a welcome development in a country plagued by multiple land claims. According to a 2005 census of Afghans in Pakistan, 57 percent of those who did not want to return cited lack of shelter as the main reason, while only 18 percent cited livelihood and security as obstacles to repatriation. 

"It is not easy - especially in a post-conflict country - to distribute land for landless people, in particular to returnees who have long been away from their country," said Ustad Akbar, Afghanistan`s Minister for Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR). "The selection of land has been a challenge and I am glad to say that now we have launched townships in 29 provinces." 

The land allocation scheme, which was formalised by presidential decree last December, states that to qualify a returnee or internally displaced person (IDP) must possess a national identify card from their province of origin as well as documents to confirm their return to Afghanistan or internal displacement. 

The applicant cannot own land or a house in their name or that of a spouse or child, while priority is given to families headed by women and to returnees who are disabled or widowed. 

Selection is done by inter-ministry commissions in Kabul and the provinces, which also set the price of the land. So far, more than 300,000 plots of government land have been identified in 29 provinces. Some 18,000 plots have been distributed. But progress in some areas has been impeded by land claims by private landowners or a lack of coordination among government ministries. 
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CNN Anchor to President Bush: 'You’re Part of the Problem'
Posted by Scott Whitlock on September 27, 2006 - 18:14. 
http://newsbusters.org/node/7948

During the September 27 edition of "Situation Room," CNN host Jack Cafferty went on a rant over the Bush administration’s handling of the war on terror. After noting that Presidents Musharraf and Karzai, of Pakistan and Afghanistan respectively, are publically feuding over dealing with the terror issue, Cafferty "spoke" the words he believed the two men wish to say, but can’t: 

Cafferty: "...I think both of these guys are probably reluctant to say, ‘You know President Bush, you’re part of the problem. You decided to invade Iraq. You had the Taliban on the run. You had killed a lot of the people in Al Qaeda. You had, uh, uh, what’s his name, Osama bin Laden cornered in Tora Bora. You had all these people in your gun sights when all of a sudden, Afghanistan became number two on your priority list because you wanted to run off and wage war against Saddam Hussein.’ But nobody’s going to say that, ‘cept maybe me."
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U.S. unit focuses on Afghan construction  
Saturday September 30, 2006 (0639 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155714

GAYAN: The Black Hawk helicopter carrying a top U.S. general swooped down into the jagged mountains along the Pakistani frontier and into the heart of the U.S. military`s latest offensive in Afghanistan. 
But Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley was not supervising combat with Taliban militants who have stepped up attacks in the east. Wearing a big smile, he clipped a ceremonial ribbon and wandered among hundreds of schoolboys waving Afghan flags to celebrate a new eight-room school. 

Unlike a U.S. offensive this summer in the south that killed an estimated 800 Taliban fighters, Operation Mountain Fury has seen less sustained fighting, though about 300 rebels have been killed, Lt. Col. John Paradis, a U.S. military spokesman, said Thursday. 

The operation has 3,000 U.S. soldiers and 4,000 Afghan troops operating in five eastern provinces. But they are focused on the $43 million being spent on 120 reconstruction projects, including government headquarters, clinics, roads and bridges. 

The construction is key to U.S. counterinsurgency strategy. Commanders say it is critical to extend the Afghan government`s credibility, open up commerce and increase security, steps that could help persuade Afghans to shun Taliban fighters and put their faith in President Hamid Karzai. 

"This is a big part of Mountain Fury," Freakley said. "The Taliban can`t build stone roads, the Taliban can`t build a house, the Taliban can`t build confidence in government." 

The school opened by the general last week will accommodate 250-300 boys. Its sturdy concrete walls, corrugated metal roof and solar-powered lights make it a standout building in a region where hardened mud houses blend into the landscape. 
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Samangan residents want reconstruction projects  
Tuesday September 26, 2006 (1340 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?155364

AIBACK: Residents and officials in the northern Samangan have voiced concern over poor role of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the province. However, the PRT officials say they were responsible for supervising security and not reconstruction process.

Dwellers claimed the PRT was implementing welfare projects in other provinces, but had launched no scheme in this province. Islamuddin, a student of law faculty and resident of Aiback, told Pajhwok Afghan News PRT was stationed in Samangan province since two years, but had paid no attention to the reconstruction process in the region.

Amanullah, a shopkeeper in this province, said "We always hear on radio that ISAF has launched different projects like building schools, bridges and roads and water supply projects in other provinces, but none has ever built even a small bridge here."

Expressing concern on poor role of the PRT, deputy provincial governor said they had several times discussed these problems with the PRT, but PRT had turned merely turned deaf ear to their demands.

Uhalehtinen, an official of the Samangan PRT, told this news agency there were two small teams of Fenland and Denmark under ISAF. He said their work was maintaining security and supporting the government.

PRT from every country has their own projects, probably other PRTs in other provinces take part in implementing projects, but in Samangan reconstruction process is not the responsibility of the PRT, rather it was a job of government and other NGOs.
End.

ISAF pledges $190,000 for repairing bridge  
Tuesday September 19, 2006 (0024 PST)
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?154589

KABUL: ISAFs Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Farah has obtained $190,000 USD of funding to make emergency repairs to a vital bridge. 
According to press statement issued on Monday stated the American-built Boghi Pul Bridge had spanned the Farah River since the early 1960s. It is on the main east-west road leaving Farah city, and links the provincial centre to the western districts. The 150-metre structure now needs emergency repairs to keep commerce flowing through the region. 

If the repairs arent made, the bridge could fall down. If we get floods, the bridge could be washed away this year, said Major Jeffery Risher, who manages construction projects for the PRT Farah Civil Affairs team. 

In addition to fixing things, we want to help the local economy, says Maj Risher, "So a local contractor has been hired, and work will soon commence on the bridge." Work is expected to be completed within three to four months. 
More on link

Bush Cites Progress in Pakistan, Afghanistan
In Speech, President Tries to Mend Relations
By Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 30, 2006; Page A06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901539.html

President Bush highlighted anti-terrorism efforts of Afghanistan and Pakistan yesterday, calling the nations invaluable allies despite a surge of violence in southern Afghanistan that has provoked deep suspicions about their ability -- and appetite -- to battle extremists.

Speaking before a Washington audience that included members of the Reserve Officers Association and both countries' ambassadors to the United States, Bush said that 41,000 American and NATO troops in Afghanistan are making progress toward securing and rebuilding the war-torn nation, although significant hurdles remain. While more than 30,000 newly trained Afghan soldiers are working alongside Western troops to secure the country, Bush said, Afghan police "have faced problems with corruption and substandard leadership."
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Kidnapped Colombian released in Afghanistan
29 Sep 2006 13:41:54 GMT Source: Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL215005.htm

 KABUL, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A Colombian aid worker and two Afghan colleagues kidnapped in Afghanistan nearly three weeks ago were released unconditionally on Friday, their aid group said.

The Colombian, his Afghan assistant and their driver were kidnapped near Kabul on Sept. 9. All three were in good health, the French-based Madera aid group said.

The group gave no more details of the release nor did it say who was believed responsible for the kidnapping.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe came under fire from critics and families of kidnap victims in Colombia last week over his handling of the case of the kidnapped aid worker, Diego Rojas Coronel.

Kidnapping is far less common in Afghanistan than it is in Iraq, but both Taliban insurgents and criminal gangs have abducted foreigners. Some victims have been killed, some released, apparently after ransoms were paid. 
End

Czechs offer more soldiers to Afghanistan, jets to Baltics
Sep 29, 2006, 14:42 GMT 
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/article_1206367.php/Czechs_offer_more_soldiers_to_Afghanistan_jets_to_Baltics

Prague - The Czech military has offered to support the NATO alliance with more soldiers in Afghanistan and fighter-jet protection of the Baltics, the defence ministry said Friday. 

The offers were made at a NATO conference this week in Slovenia and must now be considered by the Czech cabinet and parliament, said ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek. 

In Afghanistan, the Czechs would add next year 90 soldiers and specialists to its deployment of about 100 currently serving with NATO's international force. 

Czech specialists would include air-traffic controllers at the Kabul airport, military police and a chemical warfare protection unit. More Czech soldiers would work to defend construction projects around the country. 

Cirtek also said that aerial protection for the Baltic states Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia - all NATO allies of the Czech Republic - was a topic at talks this week between Czech Defence Minister Jiri Sedivy and his Lithuanian counterpart Juozas Olekas. 

'On behalf of all three Baltic states, the Lithuanian minister asked the Czech Republic about aerial protection of the Baltic territory,' Cirtek said. 

Unlike the Czech air force, which is equipped with Gripen fighter jets, the Baltic states have no supersonic aircraft. 

Sedivy said his ministry would support a plan to guard Baltic air space with Czech jets by 2009 in a show of 'allied cooperation.' 
End



UK: Browne denies bid to switch troops to Afghanistan   
29/09/2006 - 2:54:22 PM
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=84230216&p=84z3x5y8&n=84230596

British defence secretary Des Browne today denied that senior military officers have urged the Government to withdraw troops from Iraq to concentrate on the campaign in Afghanistan.

Mr Browne said there was “no division” between ministers and commanders and dismissed reports today that there were internal debates among military chiefs over the deployment of 7,500 soldiers in Iraq.

A report in today’s Guardian newspaper claimed that officers wanted to see an “early and significant cut” in the deployment in the south of the country.

It quoted an unidentified defence source as saying: “There is a group within the Ministry of Defence pushing hard to get troops out of Iraq to get more into Afghanistan."

Mr Browne told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “It is not true that senior military officers have been pressing the Government to withdraw British troops from Iraq, that’s not the case.

“My view, and military commanders share this view, is that we have a vital job to do in Iraq. We have a responsibility to the Iraqi people.”

He added: “There is no division between us and military commanders about what we are doing at the moment and we are doing a very good job there and we ought to be enormously proud of our troops there.”
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Marines Test New Body Armor
Marine Corps News | Lcpl. Ryan C. Heiser | September 25, 2006
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,114805,00.html?ESRC=marine-a.nl

MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C. - Body armor can be traced back to before the Roman Empire, when war was waged with sword and spear and the battlefield rang with the clash of steel on steel. Since then, mankind has upgraded its self-preservation skills, and the steel armored suit is replaced with Kevlar and flak jackets.

Lance Cpl. Steven A. Garner was chosen to try out the next generation of body armor. Marines have used flak jackets for years and now it is time for the next improvement, the Modular Tactical Vest, or MTV. Garner was part of a group of Marines selected from various units, world-wide, to test new flak jacket designs.

In the early stages of development, there were 19 designs, and one-by-one they were eliminated in favor of prototypes which better suit the Marines’ needs. Three designs remain.

“The new flak designs are definitely an improvement,” said Garner, an assaultman with 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment. “You feel safer because it provides a larger area of protection.”

Garner has tested the flaks by participating in hikes, and simulated jumping out of “crashed” helicopters, planes, amphibious assault vehicles, and going through obstacle an obstacle course while firing at targets. These tests were designed to represent various needs of the Marines in combat.

The new flak designs feature integrated side SAPI plates, increased load-bearing capabilities, rifle holsters and a quick-release.

“The exercises definitely represent a broad range of the Marine Corps,” Garner said about the large scope of needs a flak jacket must meet.

Garner, as well as the others, was paired with a flak to test in all the events, and gave it a rating based on how it met the Marine’s needs. The next week the Marines tested a different prototype and rated it and did the same with the last prototype and rated it. This schedule allowed each Marine to test every design in every event, and provided a more accurate rating of the improved flak jackets.

“About 96 Marines and sailors from each Marine Expeditionary Force and every Military Occupational Specialty have tested the new flaks in order to provide a good example of what will work and what won’t,” said Capt. John T. Gutierrez, the project officer-in-charge of the testing.

Garner and the other Marines put themselves through the rigorous testing over the course of three weeks in order to save lives. There will always be a need to upgrade body armor to protect warriors as long as people continue to wage war. 
End

MORE THAN 40 WOUNDED
Suicide bombing kills 12 next to Afghanistan's Interior Ministry 
09/30/2006 
http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/international-news/more-than-40-wounded-suicide-bombing-kills-12-next-to-afghanistan?itemId=B24_12975&cl=%2Feitb24%2Finternacional&idioma=en

The blast was the second major suicide attack in Kabul this month, underscoring the dangers creeping into the once relatively calm capital as militants step up attacks across the country.

Related news Two attacks leave 20 deaths in Afghanistan 
A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 40, many just arriving for work, in a busy pedestrian alley next to Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Saturday, officials said.

The blast was the second major suicide attack in Kabul this month, underscoring the dangers creeping into the once relatively calm capital as militants step up attacks across the country.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said the bombing killed 12 people, including two women and a child, and wounded 42.

Dr. Salam Jalali, a Public Health Ministry official, said 54 had been hurt. He said the wounded had been taken to six different Kabul hospitals, complicating officials' efforts to keep track of the casualties.

The explosion happened just before 8 a.m. local time (0430GMT) near a narrow dirt road where employees and civilians pass through a security gate. 

Shops, roadside photographers, and men who fill out Interior Ministry paperwork for illiterate Afghans give the busy area a cross-section of commerce and government workers.

Investigation underway

The Interior Ministry said the suicide attacker had been acting suspiciously, then tried to get close to a big gathering of people just beyond a police checkpoint. 

Ambulances rushed to and from the bomb scene, which police cordoned off. Windows of nearby shops were shattered, and tables were overturned and thrown to the back of the shops by the blast. At least three shops were destroyed.

Criminal director of Kabul police Ali Shah Paktiawal told AP Television that an investigation into the incident was underway. 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai publicly condemned the attacks, calling them a "terrorist" act targeting "our poor Muslim countrymen." 

Militants have been stepping up attacks across Afghanistan the last several months, including the use of roadside and suicide bombs.
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Defense Ministry Admits German Planes in Action in Afghanistan  http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2190341,00.html

A defense ministry source has revealed that German military aircraft are seeing action in the volatile southern region of Afghanistan. The report comes days after German help in the south was officially ruled out.

German military aircraft are supporting NATO operations in volatile southern Afghanistan, a defence ministry spokesman said Saturday, confirming a report to appear in Monday's edition of the weekly Der Spiegel.

The report came after Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung ruled out any possibility of transferring German troops from the north to help fight a dogged Taliban-led insurgency in the south.

Der Spiegel said German Transall transport aircraft and helicopters had made some 60 flights this year into the south, ferrying allied soldiers and evacuating wounded.

Secret mission a compromise in deployment discussions

The weekly said the operation, hitherto kept secret, was largely aimed at deflecting pressure on Berlin to switch forces to the south from the more peaceful north, where it has some 2,750 troops deployed
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