# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread October 2008



## GAP (1 Oct 2008)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread October 2008  *               

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

*Articles found September 1, 2008*

US drone suspected of deadly attack on Pakistan border with Afghanistan
Pakistani intelligence officials say missiles struck the home of a local Taliban commander in North WaziristanRandeep Ramesh, south Asia correspondent, and Giles Tremlett in Madrid guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 01 2008 10:03 BST 
Article Link

A suspected US drone killed at least six people in a missile strike in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan near the Afghan border, officials said today.

The strike came amid reports that Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, had died after illness. Pakistani officials have accused Mehsud over the assassinated of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto after her return from exile.

Two missiles were fired at a house in the Khushali Torikhel area near Mir Ali town at about midnight, according to local media reports. Pakistani intelligence officials said the missiles struck the home of a local Taliban commander.

The officials said a US drone aircraft — not Pakistani forces — fired the missiles. Pakistani media reported that among the dead were foreign militants.

It was reported that the drone returned fire as it was attacked while hovering over a village. In recent weeks American forces have crossed the border in missions aimed at destroying Taliban and al-Qaida bases in Pakistan. 
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Pakistan attacks 'central hub' of militants' border bases
Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun Published: Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Article Link

Clearly there has been a dramatic upheaval when local people think Afghanistan is a safer haven than Pakistan.

That's just what happened on Monday when United Nations officials reported 20,000 people fleeing across the border into Afghanistan's Kunar province from Pakistan's semi-autonomous Bajaur Agency tribal territory.

And within Bajaur, the most northerly of Pakistan's seven tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan, about 200,000 people -- close to half the population -- are reported to have fled their homes.
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Kandahar dispatch
Eid aid: Ticket required
Canadian end-of-Eid food gifts please some, disappoint others
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 
Article Link

The crowd outside the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar city had gathered early. Afghanistan's poor. Dozens upon dozens of Afghans - wearing their poverty on their faces - arrived early at the barbed wire gates of the Canadian compound in the morning after they heard that food was being given out for Eid al-Fitr, the three-day celebration that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Women in burkas stood at the entrance with their children, bright-eyed and barefoot, running around them, all hoping to be let in.

"My son is sick and in the hospital," said one woman through her blue burka, "and there are no other men in my home who can help me. Please, can you help me get through the gate?"

Tickets, please
A man in a wheelchair was being pushed by his younger sister, a beautiful young girl in a pink headscarf. They had come to the gate with their parents, hoping for food.

"Please help us," their father said. "We don't have a ticket, but we need the help."

The "ticket" was actually an invitation to go behind the wire. Only 200 needy families were chosen by the Canadian military through the district manager and the local mullahs. They would each receive bags of sugar, rice, three litres of cooking oil, a 25 kg bag of flour and a box of tea. Total cost to the military: $12,000.

"We recognize there's a great need out there, and we can't help everyone, but we're just trying to help those we can in our district," said Lt. Jon Baker, who was in charge of the Eid handout.
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Afghan mission raises only minor campaign debate
Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Article Link

The Canadian Forces mission in Afghanistan is to either end, or change dramatically, by 2011.

That is the deadline Parliament has authorized for Canada's 2,500 troops to remain in Kandahar, the heart of the southern Afghanistan insurgency, and where the Canadian Forces have been involved in some of the heaviest combat NATO allies have seen in the country.

Yet, Canada's efforts to stamp out the Taliban insurgency and the slow pace of rebuilding Afghanistan have not emerged as a hot issue in the federal election campaign.
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## The Bread Guy (1 Oct 2008)

*2011 pullout not cutting and running: MacKay*
CTV.ca, 30 Sept 08
Article link

Defence Minister Peter MacKay dismissed the suggestion that the decision to pull out of Afghanistan by 2011 is akin to cutting and running.  His comments followed a statement by military mom Connie Perchaluk who said Canada must not abandon its work in Afghanistan until the job is complete.  "We started a mission, we're part of NATO, let's finish the mission," Perchaluk told CTV's Canada AM.  "(Conservative Leader Stephen Harper) needs to take a firm stance on it whether Canadians like it or not. He's letting down our military, he's letting down NATO forces and military parents if he doesn't stay there past 2011."....


*Defiant military watchdog widens detainee hearings*
Canadian Press, 30 Sept 08
Article link - Order of Military Police Complaints Commission (.pdf)

A defiant military police watchdog agency has decided, despite government objections, to widen public hearings into the way Canadian soldiers handled detainees in Afghanistan.  The Military Police Complaints Commission will expand its hearings into allegations by Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Union that the Canadians handed detainees over to torture by Afghan authorities.  In the complaint filed in 2007, it was alleged that military police handed over prisoners on at least 18 occasions even though there was evidence of torture in Afghan jails.  The commission now will widen the time frame of its investigation by a year. It will also go beyond the issue of whether the transfers of detainees were appropriate, looking as well at whether senior officers failed to investigate allegations of torture by Afghan authorities ....


*3 warlords lead Afghan uprising*
The escalating insurgency in Afghanistan is being spearheaded by a trio of warlords who came to prominence in the CIA-backed war to oust
Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct 08
Article link

The escalating insurgency in Afghanistan is being spearheaded by a trio of warlords who came to prominence in the CIA-backed war to oust the Soviets but who now direct attacks against U.S. forces from safe havens in Pakistan, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.  Groups led by the three veteran mujahedeen are behind a sharp increase in the number and sophistication of attacks in Afghanistan this year.  And despite a flurry of U.S. airstrikes and million-dollar bounties on their heads, the Pashtun chieftains have been able to expand their networks, largely unmolested, from bases along the border of Pakistan.  The trio of warlords include Mullah Mohammed Omar, the former leader of the Taliban government in Afghanistan; Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Islamic hard-liner who briefly served as prime minister in the 1990s; and Jalaluddin Haqqani, a one-time Taliban Cabinet minister whose tribal group was behind some of this year's most brazen attacks in Afghanistan....


*Military sees window to adjust Afghanistan plan*
Reviews under way, to be ready for the next president, are intended to accelerate a new strategy.
Gordon Lubold, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Oct 08
Article link

The US military is working to put a new strategy in place for Afghanistan and Pakistan that could allow it to expand airfields, preposition military forces and equipment, and prepare for a more robust effort soon against Islamist extremists in the region.  Frustrated for years by a lack of direction from the White House on Afghanistan, many defense officials say time is of the essence in developing a new way forward and having it ready to implement as soon as a new president is seated and can agree to it.  The military sees this period – as one administration is ending and another is set to begin – as an opportunity to offer the next president an Afghanistan strategy less shaped by lofty democratic ideals and more by what Pentagon strategists believe can actually be achieved there ....


*British envoy says mission in Afghanistan is doomed, according to leaked memo*
Charles Bremner, Times Online, 1 Oct 08
Article link

The official version of the US-led campaign in Afghanistan received a blow today with a leaked report that the British Ambassador in Kabul believes that US strategy is wrong and the war is as good as lost.  The potentially explosive views were published by Le Canard Enchaîné, a respected French weekly, which said that they were direct quotations from a diplomatic cable written by François Fitou, the French Deputy Ambassador in Kabul.  Mr Fitou reported to President Sarkozy's office and his own Foreign Ministry that Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British Ambassador, believed that "American strategy is destined to fail" in Afghanistan, according to the newspaper ....


*US losing war in Afghanistan, Pak tribal region: former army chief*
Mathaba.net, 1 Oct 08
Article link

Former Pakistani Army chief General `Retd` Mirza Aslam Beg on Tuesday said that US has almost lost its war in Afghanistan and Pakistani tribal region and soon will leave with empty hands.  Talking exclusively he said that it has become very difficult for US to sustain the pressure of local armed groups who have been giving tough time to the US-led forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani tribal area.  Beg was Pakistan's Army chief of staff between 1988 and 1991 and now heads a research center....


*Italy to supply 18 planes to Afghanistan*
Daily Times (PAK), 1 Oct 08
Article link - Wikipedia G-222/C27-A Spartan

An Italian company has won a 287 million dollar contract to supply 18 transport planes to the Afghan armed forces through the US air force, the Italian group Finmeccanica said Tuesday.  Alenia Aeronautica, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, signed the contract with the US Air Force, the group said. The G-222 planes, which were used by the Italian army up to 2005, will be refitted and bought by the US air force before being supplied to its Afghan counterpart, Finmeccanica said in a statement....


*Unlawful killing verdict on mine-blast soldier*
Paul Jeeves, Yorkshire Post, 30 Sept 08
Article link

A SOLDIER who died while serving in Afghanistan may have infringed military procedures moments before he suffered fatal injuries in an explosion, an inquest heard yesterday.  Corporal Damian Lawrence was taking part in a joint UK-Afghan army night patrol clearing compounds in Kajaki in Helmand Province when he was caught in a mine blast.  The hearing in Scarborough was told yesterday that Cpl Lawrence, 25, of Whitby, had taken "a calculated decision" to enter a "mousehole" in the compound which he and his platoon were attempting to clear ....


*Pakistani Taliban Meet Amid Reports Leader Died, Reporter Says*
James Rupert and Khalid Qayum, Bloomberg wire service, 1 Oct 08
Article link

 Pakistan's Taliban movement has called a leadership meeting amid reports its head, Baitullah Mehsud, has died, said a journalist who has spoken with several leaders.  The meeting is in Makin, a village in the isolated region of South Waziristan where Mehsud is based, said Sailab Mahsud, who publishes a newspaper on tribal affairs. Mahsud said the Taliban leaders, whom he didn't identify, denied that Mehsud is dead.  Mehsud, who suffered kidney problems and high blood pressure, died after an illness, Pakistan's GEO Television said earlier. Dawn News and ARY also reported his death, saying they had received denials from unidentified Taliban spokesman ....


*Afghanistan-Pakistan: Italy takes initiative to stabilise region*
ADN Kronos International (ITA), 30 Sept 08
Article link

Italy is planning to organise an international conference that will look at ways of stabilising Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, announced the initiative on Tuesday.  Speaking on Italy's Rai 1 public television, Frattini said Italy would stage the conference in 2009, when it holds the presidency of the G8 group of the world's leading industrialised nations and Russia.  Frattini (photo) called for "solidarity" among NATO countries in Afghanistan, as shown by the Italian government's decision to send three Tornado jets to the strife-torn country.  The Italian Tornado aircraft "will carry out surveillance flights over the country's troublespots ", Frattini said ....

More on links


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## MarkOttawa (1 Oct 2008)

Bush says extremists can't stand Afghan progress 
AP, Oct. 1
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_afghanistan



> President Bush, facing demands for more troops in Afghanistan, said the war-ravaged country had made progress despite difficult fighting against determined killers.
> 
> The president received an Oval Office briefing from the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, who said before the meeting that he needs more troops and aid quickly. The counterinsurgency, McKiernan said, could worsen before it gets better...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (1 Oct 2008)

COUNSELLING THE WARRIORS
Chaplains are there when Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan need someone to talk to
Tom Blackwell ,  Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - They come to his tiny office - some of them "big, tough, strapping strong guys" - all sharing the same basic fear as they head out to do combat in the Kandahar countryside.

"They're afraid of dying, they're afraid of their friends dying, they're afraid their legs are going to be blown off," says Padre Doug Friesen, one of the Canadian Forces' chaplains here. "I think some of the guys are a bit sheepish that they're afraid."

Friesen, an Anglican priest and army major, tries to reassure the soldiers that their anxieties are perfectly normal and that they are "not cowards." Most seem to leave comforted. 

At other times, he talks to troops about marriages strained by prolonged separation, incompetent superiors - or difficulty dealing with the fact they have killed another human being.

In an age when the military also brings psychiatrists, mental-health nurses and sociologists to the war zone, many soldiers still seem to gravitate to the spiritual counsellors who have marched alongside Canadian troops since the Boer War.

As defence minister in 1993, Kim Campbell proposed doing away with the full-time chaplaincy, although the military brass argued her out of it, says Duff Crerar, a historian who has written extensively about the soldier clerics.

"Every time a war breaks out somebody in Ottawa tries to get rid of this 'outdated' position in the CF," he says. "Every time they are overruled by those who will be in danger."

The Canadian Forces now have 150 chaplains, including Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.
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## GAP (2 Oct 2008)

British soldiers unshaken by Taliban rocket attacks in Afghanistan
Tom Blackwell ,  Canwest News Service Published: Thursday, October 02, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - For six days in a row, sometimes twice a day, the sirens blared and the Cockney-accented voice echoed through Kandahar Air Field: "Rocket attack, rocket attack, rocket attack."

The main NATO base in southern Afghanistan has been subjected to an unusual spate of the Taliban's haphazard barrages recently, resulting in a handful of casualties, and a rare order one night for the camp's thousands of residents to all don their body armour.

But the British officer in charge of guarding the base says the attacks remain little more than a minor irritant. Meanwhile, new-found co-operation from neighbouring Afghans is helping the British go after the Taliban teams that launch the antiquated weapons, Air Commodore Andy Fryer of the Royal Air Force said.

"They're trying to disrupt our operations and frighten us," he said, a smashed rocket - mounted and framed - propped against his desk.

"But they're doing neither . . . It has no significant effect on us whatsoever."

The attacks have long been a tradition of life at the airfield, with one forcing a Canadian stage show to be halted for an hour in May.

Based on an outdated Soviet-era design, the 107-millimetre missiles land throughout the huge facility, which has a 30-kilometre-long perimeter, though hardly ever do any significant damage. Blast walls surround most buildings and tents, and many of the crude weapons fail to explode on impact, Fryer said.

Previous reports suggest insurgents prop them against rocks, attach a timer, then scurry away long before they take off.

Though two of the recent sirens were false alarms, the base recorded six attacks in September - most with two rockets each - almost all in the last week. Each time, soldiers and civilian workers, including about 1,800 Canadians, crowded into bunkers, where the mood tends to be more festive than frightened.

Tuesday saw no attacks, but then Wednesday night the "voice" announced the threat level had risen to "dress cat. three," meaning everyone was supposed to put on his or her flak jacket and helmet.
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## GAP (3 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 3, 2008*

Taliban leader rejects call for peace talks with Afghan government
Last Updated: Friday, October 3, 2008 CBC News 
Article Link

A senior Taliban officer is spurning calls for negotiation from Afghanistan's government, calling President Hamid Karzai a U.S. "puppet" amid rumblings that peace talks could be in the offing.

"We reject an offer for negotiation by the Afghan's puppet and slave President Hamid Karzai," Mullah Brother told Reuters by satellite telephone Friday from an undisclosed location.

Karzai, delivering a message to commemorate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr on Tuesday, had called for Saudi Arabian head of state King Abdullah to help moderate peace talks between insurgents and the government.

But Karzai had no right to negotiate, said Brother.

"He only says and does what he is told by America," he said.

His comments appear to contradict remarks he made in March, when he suggested the Taliban could co-operate with the Afghan government and called for a negotiated ending to the fighting.

Brother served as a top military commander 
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AFGHANISTAN: CANADIAN PM, NATO CAN'T STAY FOREVER
Article Link

NATO cant say in Afghanistan for ever and Western leaders that think otherwise are very much mistaken, according to Stephen Harper, the Conservative Prime Minister of Canada. During a debate with political opponents ahead of the forthcoming elections (14 October), Mr. Harper distanced himself from his previous position, in which he originally said that he did not want to pull Canadian troops from Afghanistan until the local authorities were able to guarantee security by themselves; he now says that he wants Canadian troops home by 2011. I think it is a wise move, observed the Prime Minister. One of the things over which I do not agree with certain other Western leaders is that our plan to remain a military force in Afghanistan is indefinite. If we really want to bring peace to the country, and see it evolve, we must train the army and the police so that that they can credibly take the responsibility for their own security. He continued to warn: we will not reach that objective if we do not fix a date for the withdrawal of troops and dont make an effort to meet it. The Prime Minister then said that he had expressed this point of view to George W. Bush and to the two candidates to succeed him, Barack Obama and John McCain. He continued, ending on a note of controversy: there are still three years to go until 2011. By then Canada will have been in Afghanistan for almost a decade. If we never leave, will we ever be able to complete our task?.
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And on to Afghanistan
Article Link

By this time last evening, there had been hard knocks against Harper that seemed to stick. Tonight no, and the difference is Harper's professorial attitude. His students may disagree, they may even get nasty, but he chuckles and understands.

Dion admires Canadian troops in uniform. He says Liberals would try and help secure peace and security in 2011.

Paikin asks how job can get done if Canadians leave.

Harper turns it around: "If we never leave, how will it ever get done?"

"Mr. Harper, I don't think you can be trusted on this," says Layton. "And I don't think this reflects the values of Canadians." And he fires at Dion that NDP can’t trust Liberals either.

Good moment for Dion.

"Mr. Layton, I never broke my word." 

The problems for Dion is the camera too often gets the back of his head as he's talking. 

Duceppe tries to bring the attack back on Harper. This is the difference too with last night: then it was a four-person attack on Harper. Tonight, Layton splits his attack between Dion and Harper.

Duceppe is trying to get Harper to say he made an error by pushing to go into Iraq in 2003. Harper won't say whether he would have taken the country to war in Iraq in 2003.

BTW, the NDP media room is really on top of this debate tonight, sending out releases to journalists every two minutes. The LIBS have gone quiet.

Once again, we stare into Dion's bald spot as he condemns Harper on Afghanistan. They couldn't be doing this to him on purpose, could they?

Harper is scathing. He says he appreciates Dion's position on Afghanistan but that he's changed it three times.

Dion is saying he wants his Canada back, not the Canada of George Bush. His lack of language skills is a handicap.
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## GAP (3 Oct 2008)

Valuable lessons from the republic of Skateistan
An Australian flouts the rules of the foreign-aid community to create an oasis of fun on the tough streets of Kabul 
GRAEME SMITH From Saturday's Globe and Mail September 27, 2008 at 3:52 PM EDT
Article Link

KABUL — The concrete walls grow higher every year in Kabul, the heaps of sandbags get bigger and fewer foreigners walk the streets - except, strangely, two cheerful young Australians who come striding into a park carrying skateboards.

Children swarm them as they open up backpacks to reveal knee pads, wrist guards and helmets. Small hands grab the equipment and within moments a dry fountain overflows with youngsters zooming around the smooth surface, laughing as they fall down and scramble back up.

Oliver Percovich, 34, emerges from the frolic and sits on the sidelines, keeping his eyes on the children like a worried father. He introduces himself as the project director of Skateistan, the only skateboarding school in Afghanistan, but as he talks it becomes clear that the lessons he hopes to teach go beyond showing kids how to balance on wheeled boards.

"We're pushing some boundaries," he says.
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## MarkOttawa (3 Oct 2008)

Afghanistan: expansion of conflict 
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up, Oct. 3
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1223050214

In Afghanistan, waging battles of attrition 
_Stars and Stripes_, Mideast edition, Oct. 3
http://www.stripes.com/articleprint.asp?section=104&article=57863



> ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan — The first firefight erupted to the south, hitting a Canadian patrol somewhere along the Arghandab River.
> 
> Then a few scattered shots hit a group of Canadian and U.S. soldiers on patrol with Afghan police about 300 meters away.
> 
> ...



Petraeus's next war 
After success in Iraq, can America’s favourite general win in Afghanistan?
_The Economist_, Oct. 2http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12342136



> ...
> As security has improved in Iraq, it has worsened in Afghanistan. And as the surge of forces comes to an end in Iraq, there are calls for a similar one in Afghanistan. In its dying days, the Bush administration has ordered a full review of policy in Afghanistan. General Petraeus took part in lengthy high-level meetings in London and Paris last month, and in August he brain-stormed with Pakistan’s top brass on an American aircraft-carrier in the Indian Ocean.
> 
> He says his tactics in Iraq cannot simply be transposed to Afghanistan. Indeed, there are big differences: Iraq is far richer, has a greater density of both American and local forces, its command is more unified, and insurgents enjoy nothing like the cross-border safe havens that the Taliban has in Pakistan’s tribal belt.
> ...



Confronting Taliban, Pakistan Finds Itself at War 
_NY Times_, Oct. 2
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/world/asia/03pstan.html?ref=todayspaper



> PESHAWAR, Pakistan — War has come to Pakistan, not just as terrorist bombings, but as full-scale battles, leaving Pakistanis angry and dismayed as the dead, wounded and displaced turn up right on their doorstep.
> 
> An estimated 250,000 people have now fled the helicopters, jets, artillery and mortar fire of the Pakistani Army, and the assaults, intimidation and rough justice of the Taliban who have dug into Pakistan’s tribal areas.
> 
> ...



Marines reassess equipment needs for Afghanistan
AP, Oct. 2
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/02/business/NA-US-Marines-Future-Weapons.php



> QUANTICO, Virginia: With plans to redeploy more Marines to Afghanistan later this fall, companies like General Dynamics Corp. and Force Protection Inc. are being asked to re-engineer mine-resistant vehicles that can traverse the war-ravaged country's mountainous terrain while offering even greater protection.
> 
> High altitudes, dispersed battalions and restricted travel zones are among the serious challenges facing the service as it weighs the resources needed to perform its missions in Afghanistan where violence has escalated, senior Marine Corps officials told defense industry executives at the service's annual expo Thursday.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (4 Oct 2008)

*Articles found Oct 4, 2008*

 Death of a warrior blow to Australian Afghan war strategy
Tom Hyland  October 5, 2008 
Article Link

Rozi Khan's death may be the biggest setback yet for Australia's war in Afghanistan.

THERE were two, three, maybe four groups of armed men, including elite Australian soldiers. It was the middle of the night, in a chaotic, complicated war. Something could easily go wrong, and it did.

When the shooting stopped, three men lay dead — and Australia's strategy in Afghanistan was left with a gaping wound.

One of the dead was a man called Rozi Khan, a warrior, former police chief, hereditary tribal leader and elected district governor.

Violent death is routine in Afghanistan, and Rozi Khan, an ally of President Hamid Karzai in the fight against the Taliban, knew this better than most.

Two days before he was killed he received another death threat, warning him to stop helping foreign troops, like the Australians.

His killing — apparently as a result of Australian "friendly fire" — prompted an uncharacteristic flurry of high-level international political activity that went beyond normal diplomatic expressions of concern and regret.
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 Dictator 'solution to Afghanistan'
 Elaine Sciolino October 5, 2008
Article Link

A CODED French diplomatic cable leaked to a newspaper quotes the British ambassador in Afghanistan as predicting that the NATO-led military campaign against the Taliban would fail.

The best solution for the country, the ambassador said, would be to install an "acceptable dictator", the weekly Le Canard enchaine reported.

"The current situation is bad, the security situation is getting worse, so is corruption, and the Government has lost all trust," the British envoy, Sherard Cowper-Coles, was quoted as saying by the author of the cable, Francois Fitou, the French deputy ambassador to Kabul.

British officials have retreated from the two-page cable - sent to the Elysee Palace and the French Foreign Ministry on September 2. It states that the NATO-led presence was hindering stability.

"The presence of the coalition, in particular its military presence, is part of the problem, not part of its solution," Mr Cowper-Coles was quoted as saying. "Foreign forces are the lifeline of a regime that would rapidly collapse without them. As such, they slow down and complicate a possible emergence from the crisis."

Within five to 10 years, the only "realistic" way to unite Afghanistan would be for it to be "governed by an acceptable dictator", the cable stated and "we should think of preparing our public opinion" for such an outcome.
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 Forces investigate claims military leaders ignored child abuse by Afghan troops, police
David ******** , The Ottawa Citizen Published: Friday, October 03, 2008
Article Link

OTTAWA - The Canadian Forces will launch a board of inquiry to look into allegations that soldiers' complaints about Afghan troops and police raping boys were ignored by the military leadership.

Military police have also launched an investigation into the same incidents. 
The issue surfaced in the summer after media reports detailed soldiers' concerns about sexual abuse of boys at the hands of Afghan personnel.

In June the Toronto Star reported that in late 2006 a Canadian soldier had heard an Afghan soldier raping a young boy at one of the outposts near Kandahar. The soldier later saw the injuries the boy sustained, including seeing his lower intestines falling out of his body, a sign of trauma from anal rape.
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 Expect slash and burn in tough times
 TheStar.com - Opinion - October 04, 2008 James Travers OTTAWA
Article Link

Not even the most ambitious TV anchor would declare a winner before the first ballot is counted. Even so, it's not too early to look hard at a future unfolding with metronome predictability. 

Start with this assumption: Liberals will not form the next government. That was essentially decided in Montreal nearly two years ago when the party picked Stéphane Dion as leader. In choosing him over Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae, Liberals hitched themselves to a political apprentice and positioned the party too far left of the political sweet spot where Jean Chrétien found three consecutive majorities.

Binding their fate to Dion was Liberal arrogance swaddled in optimism. Figuring Canadians would quickly come to their senses and chase Conservatives from power, Liberals chose to see Dion as an environmental champion, not an ideologue whose rigidity and lack of political instincts alienated those who worked most closely with him in caucus and cabinet.

But that was then. Now, the conundrum for Canadians is what will Stephen Harper do with a second, almost certainly stronger, mandate. Never feathery, the question gains obese weight from current events. A U.S. recession roiling north and an Afghanistan mission stumbling toward disaster are about to confront Ottawa with decisions that will recalibrate domestic and foreign policy for years, if not decades.

At home, the catalytic issue is federal deficits. To avoid slipping into the red – and party leaders unanimously declared against backsliding at this week's debates – taxes will rise or spending must fall. It's an easy choice for Conservatives who don't much like government but do enjoy euthanizing philosophically irritating programs.

Yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre is always irresponsible – unless, of course, something is smoking. Conservatives have already torched funding for signature small-l liberal favourites – the arts and the court challenges programs are examples – and much, much more slashing and burning will follow if, as expected, tough times provide welcome cover for tough decisions. A quick run through Harper's National Citizens Coalition resumé suggests some targets close to Canadian hearts. 

Balancing the books by deciding what to savage or save wouldn't be so challenging if Conservatives hadn't high-rolled through an inherited $12 billion surplus. If they hadn't trimmed the GST or weren't writing so many vote-getting cheques, the next government would now have ample reserves – some say $60 billion annually – to cope with the coming crisis.

It would have been comforting to have some of that cash to pay for an Afghanistan mission projected to cost $22 billion – if it ends in 2011 as the Prime Minister now promises.

But cost isn't the sharpest Kandahar nettle. A diplomatic memo leaked in France this week makes clear what NATO partners prefer to keep opaque. Washington's strategy isn't working, infusing more troops will now only exacerbate a losing proposition and the final outcome is more likely to be one more dictatorship, not a model democracy.
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 Comment: Restructuring the ISI 
 — I —Shaukat Qadir 
Article Link

 There is little doubt that the entire intelligence and security system in Pakistan needs revamping, but not the way the Americans want it

After a series of accusations against Pakistan’s premier intelligence organisation, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), we recently had another demand from the US, that it be restructured. Before addressing this issue, it is necessary to briefly review the recent history of the ISI to understand the reasons for the accusations and the demands that followed.

During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the CIA worked hand in glove with the ISI, funnelling billions of dollars in cash and munitions of war. After the Soviet withdrawal, followed by the US abandonment of Afghanistan, the ISI had no control over the anarchical events that ensued, until the Taliban entered the affray in 1994, bringing some sort of peace in their wake. At least until 1996, when they fell under the influence of Osama bin Laden. However, the ISI’s influence on the Taliban continued till 9/11.

Throughout this period, including that of the Taliban, the CIA continued close collaboration with the ISI, often referring to the ISI as ‘among the most efficient and well organised intelligence organisations in the world’ and as ‘our closest and most reliable partner’. In private, it went so far as to acknowledge that it (CIA) received greater cooperation from the ISI than it did from Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.

During this period, the ISI was the sole actor supporting and, whenever necessary, participating in the Afghan jihad, and the principal one involved in the originally indigenous uprising in Indian administered Kashmir.

Consequently, apart from senior officers, a large percentage of middle and even junior ranking officers became infused with admiration for the courage and conviction of the mujahideen. Some became ardent, even stringent, Muslims, even though they had moderate backgrounds; others were religiously inclined to start with and only became more so; all were ardent believers in the concept of and necessity for jihad, whether in Afghanistan or Kashmir, or elsewhere in the world. Many of them were intended to serve out their military careers in the ISI. Some were even re-employed post retirement till superannuation at the age of sixty.
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 'We are at a critical juncture'
Military leaders, diplomats say more resources are needed in Afghanistan
Peter Goodspeed, National Post  Published: Saturday, October 04, 2008
Article Link

Is Afghanistan in peril?

This week, the top U. S. military commander in the country said he needs more troops and equipment, such as helicopters, predator drones and intelligence resources, to fight the Taliban in a battle that will get worse before it gets better.

A day before the seventh anniversary of 9/11, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee the U. S. military needs to adopt a new strategy in Afghanistan.

"I'm not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan," he said. "[But] I'm convinced we can ."

After seven years of unsuccessfully trying to stabilize the country, George W. Bush, the U. S. President, has ordered a wholesale review of U. S. and NATO policies there.

The flurry of introspective studies, conducted by 17 agencies -- including the Defence, State, Treasury and Agriculture departments and all U. S. intelligence agencies, the National Security Council and the White House "war czar" Lieutenant-General Douglas Lute -- comes as NATO troops are struggling to wage a counter-insurgency campaign against the Taliban.

They are hamstrung by troop and equipment shortages, a fragmented command structure, an explosion of the war in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas and the decline in popular support for the government of Hamid Karzai. the Afghan President.

The Taliban is steadily expanding its presence and influence in the countryside, and U. S. military officials report violence has surged by 30% over last year.

Areas of "extreme risk," where the Taliban exert considerable pressure, now make up about a third of the surface area of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, U. S. intelligence reports the country is being flooded with foreign fighters. Chechens, Uzbeks, Saudis, Iraqis and Europeans are all rushing to fight in Afghanistan via Pakistan. According to intelligence estimates, there are more foreign fighters in Afghanistan now than in Iraq.
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (5 Oct 2008)

*Far from Canada, soldiers turn out en masse at remote Afghan advance poll*
Canadian Press, 4 Oct 08
Article link

As rifle fire echoed from the nearby practice range, soldiers lined up Saturday night at a remote operating base in Afghanistan to cast ballots in advance polling for the Oct. 14 federal election.  Despite being far from home, Canadian soldiers stationed here are taking a keen interest in the federal election. About 75 per cent of those stationed at this forward operating base voted over the course of the last week, some only hours after trading shots with Taliban insurgents.  "It's my choice," said Bombardier Ian Scott of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.  "I'm a soldier, but I'm also a citizen. I need to have that choice."....

*Advance polls open for soldiers in Kandahar*
CTV.ca News, 4 Oct 08
Article link

Election day for most voters is Oct. 14, but Canadians soldiers in Afghanistan have already started to cast their ballots.  Advance voting is now underway way at Kandahar Air Field and at forwarding operating bases in the country.  A military elections officer said there have been some challenges in getting ballots to soldiers in some of Afghanistan's more remote locations. But he noted that no Canadian soldier will be denied the right to vote.  Soldiers and Canadian civilians attached to military operations in Afghanistan will be able to cast their ballots -- for a candidate in his or her home riding -- until Oct. 8.  One soldier said the political parties' positions on Afghanistan were paramount in his voting process.  "The party that's going to support me the most while I'm over here is a big concern for me ... that's kind of the way I voted this year," Cpl. Dave MacDonald said ....


*ISAF captures senior Taliban commander*
NATO news release PR# 2008-513, 5 Oct 08
News release link

Without firing a shot, ISAF soldiers captured a suspected senior Taliban commander in Uruzgan during the very early morning of 1 October.  Mullah Sakhi Dad and one other insurgent were captured at a compound in Tarin Kowt district.  Reports have linked Sakhi Dad with the ordering and coordination of suicide bombers in Uruzgan province. Suicide bombers are alleged to have often reported directly to him and would not conduct their attacks without his permission.  In addition to leading a significant number of Taliban fighters, information received by ISAF has implicated Sakhi Dad in the distribution of mines, gunpowder and IED components throughout the province and the kidnappings of Afghan civilians. Sakhi Dad is also understood to be connected to Taliban leadership, especially Mullah Berader Akhund, the Taliban’s second in command ....


*ANSF and ISAF join forces to help wounded Afghans following insurgent attack in Kandahar Province*
NATO news release PR# 2008-512, 5 Oct 08
News release link

An ANA Air Corps medical and re-enforcement mission reached GHORAK DC on October 3 after the location had been attacked October 2 by insurgent forces. The two helicopters, crewed by ANA pilots, delivered a force of ANP to strengthen the manpower already on the ground.  The helicopters returned to their base at Kandahar International Airport carrying 9 injured, including ANP and local national civilians.  On arrival these personnel were admitted to the ISAF Role 3 hospital where they are currently receiving medical care.  Also on board the helicopters were more than 30 women and children who had requested evacuation.  Upon their arrival at Kandahar Airfield, the Provincial Chief of Police directed local ANP to take the women and children into their care ....


*Relentless Taliban just keep coming*
As their gruelling tour of duty in Afghanistan ends, men of 2 Para tell of relentless battles with an enemy that simply doesn’t know when he is outgunned
The Sunday Times (UK), 5 Oct 08
Article link

....  (Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith) insists that time is on the side of the Afghan government. “The young people want betterment of their lives. What the Taliban can’t do is deliver progress and development. As long as the international community can stay the course, over time the Afghan government capacity will grow.”  He argues that the international community should aim not for victory over the Taliban but to reduce the insurgency to a level that can be contained by the new Afghan army.  “If we reduce our expectations then I think realistically in the next three to five years we will be handing over tactical military responsibility to the Afghan army and in the next 10 years the bulk of responsibility for combating insurgency will be with them.” ....


*Ismail Khan: foreign troops must not stay long*
Energy Minister says foreign troops are not Afghanistan's permanent guests
Reza Sher Mohammadi, Quqnoos.com (AFG), 5 Oct 08
Article link

ENERGY Minister Ismail Khan says foreign forces must not remain long in Afghanistan and must not consider themselves permanent guests in the country.  Speaking to hundreds of people in the western province of Herat on Friday, the Energy and Water Minister said the long-term presence of international troops in the country would not benefit ordinary Afghans.  "Foreign forces must not remain for long in Afghanistan, and they must not think they are the permanent guests in our country," said Khan in the town of Rabat Sangi, where he announced plans to build a new substation to feed the are with Turkmen electricity.  He urged the people to co-operate with the government in restoring peace and security to the country by maintaining law and order in their own districts, towns and villages.  Only then could the government draw up a timeframe for the withdrawal of foreign troops, he said ....


*French troops: We won't go to Afghanistan*
Press TV (IRN), 4 Oct 20
Article link

Troops in a military base in France have opposed their deployment to Afghanistan amid dwindling support of French forces being there.  According to French media, troops in the 27th battalion stationed in a southern France military base said on Friday that they were unwilling to go to Afghanistan as part of France's mission in the central Asian country ....

*French troops oppose deployment*
United Press International, 4 Oct 08
Article link

A group of French troops are opposing their deployment to Afghanistan, French media report.  French forces in the 27th battalion stationed in a southern France military base said Friday they were not willing to go to Afghanistan, Iran's Press TV reported Saturday.  There were 10 French soldiers killed in Afghanistan in August, in what was the deadliest ground attack on international forces since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.  Press TV also reported that 50 percent of French people oppose the deployment of thousands of troops to Afghanistan ....


*Reports Link Karzai’s Brother to Heroin Trade *
James Risen, New York Times, 4 Oct 08
Article link

When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden beneath concrete blocks in a tractor-trailer outside Kandahar in 2004, the local Afghan commander quickly impounded the truck and notified his boss.  Before long, the commander, Habibullah Jan, received a telephone call from Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, asking him to release the vehicle and the drugs, Mr. Jan later told American investigators, according to notes from the debriefing obtained by The New York Times. He said he complied after getting a phone call from an aide to President Karzai directing him to release the truck ....


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## MarkOttawa (5 Oct 2008)

War on Taliban cannot be won, says army chief
_Sunday Times_, Oct. 5
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4882597.ece



> Britain's most senior military commander in Afghanistan has warned that the war against the Taliban cannot be won. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said the British public should not expect a “decisive military victory” but should be prepared for a possible deal with the Taliban.
> 
> His assessment followed the leaking of a memo from a French diplomat who claimed that Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador in Kabul, had told him the current strategy was “doomed to fail” [see first link in first para of post].
> 
> ...



Afghan victory impossible to achieve, British commander says
*Globe and Mail* (via AP), Oct. 4
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081004.wafghan1004/BNStory/International/

*Victory impossible in Afghanistan: senior British commander*
CBC (via AP), Oct. 4
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/04/afghan-war.html

*British general says Afghan victory not possible*
CTV (via AP), Oct. 4
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081004/british_victory_081004/20081004?hub=TopStories

British Commander Calls Defeat of Taliban Unlikely
_Washington Post _(via AP), Oct. 4
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/04/AR2008100402479.html

Grim reality of life beyond Helmand
British officials are pleased with their reconstruction. Our correspondent finds little for them to crow about
_Sunday Times_, Oct. 5
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4882416.ece



> THE glossy photographs on the wall show smiling children and projects with names like “Avenue of Hope” and “Eid Park”, after the Islamic festival. A glass cabinet displays pomegranates, chilli peppers and wheat that the happy population of Helmand is supposed to grow instead of the opium poppy from which most of them make their money.
> 
> A press room is dominated by a poster of the proposed Lashkar Gah Industrial Park, complete with grassy lawns, a pet cat and a passenger jet flying overhead.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## geo (5 Oct 2008)

French troops: We won't go to Afghanistan  

Press TV
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 
Iran

Troops in a military base in France have opposed their deployment to Afghanistan amid dwindling support of French forces being there. 

According to French media, troops in the 27th battalion stationed in a southern France military base said on Friday that they were unwilling to go to Afghanistan as part of France's mission in the central Asian country. 

The troops' refusal to go to the war-ravaged country comes as 10 French soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in August. 

The August ambush is the deadliest ground attack on international forces since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the heaviest single death toll for the French military since the 1983 bombing of a barracks in Beirut killed 58 French paratroopers. 

The Taliban and Former PM Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who leads Hezb-i-Islami group, separately claimed responsibility for the attack on the French troops amid speculation that they were killed by 'friendly-fire' from NATO planes that had come to help them escape the ambush. 

The attack shocked France and sparked fierce debate about the country's presence in Afghanistan. Despite calls to withdraw, French lawmakers have recently approved an extension of the country's involvement in the Afghan conflict. 

Despite the fact that 50 percent of the French people oppose the deployment of thousands of troops to Afghanistan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at the last NATO summit in April that he would send an additional 700 French soldiers to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, bringing the total to about 3,000. 

Criticism of Sarkozy's policies increased following the death of the 10 French soldiers. He has also faced severe criticism for being too close to US President George W. Bush's administration. 


Antiques stolen from Afghan museum  

Dawn 
Oct 4, 2008
KABUL

Antiques dating back 1,300 years have been stolen from a museum in western Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday, blaming a ‘powerful gang’ for the theft after a suspect was found dead. 

The national museum in Herat, the second largest city in Afghanistan, was raided last week, deputy culture minister Mohammad Zia Afshar told a news conference in Kabul. 

The authorities said two suspects had been taken into custody for interrogation and one of them had died in prison under unclear circumstances. 

“We’re investigating whether he was killed. If we find out that he was murdered in prison this will confirm our suspicions that that we are dealing with a very dangerous gang,” Najibullah Manali, another ministry official, told the same news conference. 

He said police were hunting 22 missing artefacts, including clay, metal and stone-made items, some from pre-Islamic Buddhist-era Afghanistan, which dates back about 13 centuries. 

Antiques from the 11th century Ghaznavides and 15th century Timurid empire era were also missing, Manali said.Afghanistan has lost scores of priceless archaeological artefacts through thefts from museums during decades of conflict. Most of the items are alleged to have been smuggled to Pakistan before reaching private collectors in rich Gulf or western countries. 

The Kabul-based National Museum, which is said to be one of the richest in the region, was levelled during the 1992-96 civil war. 

The country suffered its biggest cultural loss after the Taliban, who ruled between 1996 and 2001, destroyed the giant Buddha statues in central Bamiyan.—AFP 



Officials say Taliban mad over alleged US strike  

ASSOCIATED PRESS
By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD 
October 5, 2008
PAKISTAN

The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24. 

Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest, an official said some 15,000 Afghans had left a tribal region the military is trying to wrest from insurgents, but that tens of thousands more had yet to meet a government ultimatum to get out by Sunday. 

The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes on alleged al-Qaida and Taliban targets along Pakistan's side of the border with Afghanistan, straining the two nations' anti-terror alliance. 

The U.S. says pockets of Pakistan's border region, especially in its semi-autonomous tribal areas, are bases for militants attacking American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has pushed nuclear-armed Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens. 

The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and several Arab militants were said to be among the dead in Friday's strike in North Waziristan tribal region. 

Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The officials sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. 

Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared extra-perturbed over the latest strike. The anger was a signal that a senior militant may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, the officials said. 

The insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against locals, including calling them "saleable commodities" _ a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said. 

Two local residents said Taliban fighters had warned people not to discuss the strike, including with the media, or to try inspecting the rubble at the site. The residents asked not to be named for fear of Taliban retaliation. 

The strike in Mohammadkhel appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by U.S.-led forces since Aug. 20. The area is a stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran Taliban commander regarded by the U.S. as one of its most dangerous foes. 

The U.S. rarely acknowledges such attacks. 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny U.S. involvement. 

The information is nearly impossible to verify independently because of the remote, dangerous nature of the areas. 

Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. Neither could Pakistani government and military spokesmen. 

Earlier, however, Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was "speculation" that many were foreign militants, but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report. 

Pakistan's military and civilian leaders have complained that the attacks violate the country's sovereignty, kill civilians and anger the local population, making it harder to crack down on the militants. 

Extremists based in the border region are blamed for rising attacks in Pakistan, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people. 

The prime minister's office announced Saturday that a special joint session of parliament would be held Wednesday so intelligence agencies could privately brief lawmakers about the militant threat facing the country. 

The Pakistani military has been carrying out its own operations against insurgents in the northwest, most notably in Bajur, a tribal region Abbas called a "mega-sanctuary" for militants. 

The U.S. has praised the military offensive in Bajur, but it has also led to a major humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. 

Many are in refugee camps in Pakistan, but some 20,000 Pakistanis have sought crossed the border into eastern Afghanistan, according to the United Nations. 

Meanwhile, a three-day ultimatum from the government for Afghans living illegally in Bajur to leave was due to expire later Sunday. But of an estimated 80,000 Afghans, only about 15,000 had left, said Abdul Haseeb, a local government official. 

He said the exodus appeared to be continuing, and that "the administration may be lenient and give them another couple of days." 

"They are leaving with all their belongings and cattles and hopefully most of them will leave in another two days, but if they don't there would be a massive crackdown," Haseeb said. 

It was unclear, however, whether the Afghans were all heading back across the porous, disputed border to Afghanistan or simply going to other parts of Pakistan.

Ghulam Jan, an Afghan who said he came to Pakistan years before as a child with his parents, was preparing to head across the border to Afghanistan's Kunar province with 13 members of his family, a cow and two calves. 

"My parents are buried here. I consider this my homeland, but suddenly we are being uprooted to build our home anew in a hostile situation," he said.


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## The Bread Guy (6 Oct 2008)

geo said:
			
		

> French troops: We won't go to Afghanistan
> 
> Press TV
> Sat, 04 Oct 2008
> ...



Caveat:  I haven't been able to find any French media corroboration yet for this one (been looking since the weekend) - will share if I find any, or if I find source where IRN TV got the story.  I did find this web log posting (French) about a 27th Alpine infantry unit which appears to be frustrated because another unit is deploying instead of them (Google English version of web post) - there's also other postings discussing desertion/not showing up to deploy rates, but my French is even worse than Google's.  

_- edited to add a bit of BLOGINT -_


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## GAP (6 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 6, 2008*

Afghan mission needs big rethink  
By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target Mon. Oct 6 - 5:23 AM 
Article Link

THROUGHOUT the election campaign, the mission in Afghanistan has rarely been a topic of discussion, and whenever the subject was broached, it was reduced to a simplistic debate over the Conservative party’s pledge to terminate our military commitment by December 2011. 

The pro-war tub-thumpers claimed that setting a timetable for withdrawal was tantamount to cutting and running and therefore, a complete reversal of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s previous promises to stay the course. However, both Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay denounced their critics and began singing a new tune about how there has to be a limit on how much blood and gold Canada should be willing to contribute towards the reconstruction of Afghanistan. MacKay reread his same, well-worn talking points about switching the emphasis from a combat role to training the Afghan National Army.

In one clever little bit of political gymnastics, MacKay claimed that by adhering to the stipulated pullout deadline, the Conservatives were, in fact, respecting Parliament and honouring our soldiers’ sacrifice to uphold Canada’s democratic principles. The only things missing from his touching soliloquy were a fluttering flag and the national anthem.

For those who may have forgotten the sequence of events, a little recap may be in order. First, the Conservative government commissioned an independent panel under the leadership of former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley. When Manley’s report was tabled last March, it listed a number of criteria that should be met before Canada agreed to extend the mission beyond February 2009. That list included having a NATO ally commit an additional 1,000 troops and acquiring heavy-lift helicopters to reduce the casualties from roadside bomb attacks. 

Despite a great deal of backroom browbeating and public berating of our NATO allies, Manley’s conditions were met with casual indifference. 

Ultimately, it took some slick number crunching by the Harper government to twist a deployment of 750 additional French troops to eastern Afghanistan into the 1,000 NATO soldiers we said were necessary to reinforce Kandahar. 

The acquisition of helicopters also required some fancy dancing by MacKay and Harper. Unable to speed up the delivery of the new Chinook choppers we have on order, the Canadian military arranged to lease some used U.S. Air Force Chinooks already deployed in Afghanistan. Those helicopters will unfortunately not be available in time to meet Manley’s deadline of February 2009, so to fill in the gap, Canada is borrowing Polish helicopters and renting old Soviet choppers from a private company. 

When it came to Manley’s primary recommendation, however, the Conservatives never even put up a pretence of compliance. The Manley report stated that any future pullout from the mission should be objective-driven, rather than based on an arbitrary deadline. Harper wanted the extension approved, and the Liberals were opposed in principal, but unwilling to head to the polls. As a face-saving gesture, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion insisted that his party would vote in favour of the extension, but only if the termination date of December 2011 was included. Harper was thereby able to get the Afghan mission extended with bipartisan approval, then promptly dragged Dion’s disorganized Liberals into an election anyway. 

It was a clever bit of politicking on the part of Harper whereby he not only took the controversial mission out of the election debate, but also made Dion appear weak and indecisive. 

That being said, December 2011 is still three years and three months away. If we maintain our current troop levels in Kandahar, that means another 17,500 Canadian soldiers will be dispatched to southern Afghanistan. If the level of security does not change, and our casualties continue at the same rate, our army will suffer another 100 fatalities and an additional 700 injured or wounded.
More on link

Troops get fix for free
Fundraisers treat soldiers in Afghanistan to Tim Hortons
Article Link

HALIFAX -- Canadian soldiers arriving in Kandahar have at least one thing in their personal arsenal that other forces don't - a stack of certificates to buy as many double-doubles or Boston creams as they can stomach. 

"Those guys never have to buy a coffee," boasts Calgarian Dave Murphy, one of the people behind an effort to give soldiers serving in Afghanistan their Tim Hortons fix. 

Members of the Royal Canadian Legion and a website with a similar theme have raised at least $223,000 for the cause. 

Legion branches across the country have placed cans on their counters labelled Troop Morale Fund. 

"People throw in their spare change," said Brad White, a spokesman for the legion's national head office. 

That change adds up. Since the campaign started in March 2007, more than $200,000 has been raised, White said. 

On a smaller scale, a Facebook page called Tim Hortons for Our Troops has raised at least $23,000 in two years. 

Murphy, a technical support rep for a communications firm, got the idea after a friend was injured in Afghanistan. 

One of the first things his friend asked for in hospital was a cup of Tim Hortons coffee. 
More on link

Afghanistan begins registering voters for 2009 election
Mon Oct 6, 2008 7:26am EDT By Jon Hemming
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan began registering voters on Monday for elections due next year that will test support for President Hamid Karzai and democracy itself which is threatened by a virulent Taliban insurgency in which thousands have died.

The lack of security could well derail the election process depending on how much the Taliban decide or are able to intimidate the people against participating, but early signs were the militants have already begun campaigning against the polls.

"Just now we have received some information that in some areas anti-government elements were trying to stop people from registering themselves as voters already," Zekria Barakzai, deputy head of the Independent Election Commission, told Reuters.

"They are preaching at the mosques asking people not to vote or register themselves," he said.

One truck carrying registration forms has already been torched in the northeast, but that may have been due to criminal activity, a security expert said.

Some 3,800 people, a third of them civilians, were killed in Afghanistan by the end of July this year, according to the United Nations, which says 40 to 50 percent of the country is now inaccessible to its aid activities.

For security reasons, registration is taking place in four phases, starting with 14 provinces in central and northeastern Afghanistan, then a month later in the north, then the more troublesome east and finally in the southern hotbed of the insurgency in January.

The recognition of old voter registration cards could also somewhat ease security problems as only new voters or those who have lost their old cards have to register themselves.
More on link

Taleban fury as US strike kills 20
 06 October 2008 By Shtiaq Mahsud 
Article Link

THE Taleban response to an apparent US missile strike in Pakistan indicates a senior militant may be among 20 people killed.
The US has ramped up cross-border strikes that target alleged al-Qaeda and Taleban hideouts in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. 

In the case of Friday's alleged US strike in North Waziristan tribal region, which was believed to hADVERTISEMENTave killed several Arab fighters, government officials have been notably quiet. 

The Taleban, however, were reportedly responding with fury. 

Pakistani intelligence officials said insurgents are moving aggressively in the militant-plagued area and threatening local residents, calling them "saleable commodities" – a reference to people serving as spies. 

The intelligence officials, whose information came from informants and field agents, said the anger was a sign that a senior militant may have died.

Two area residents said Taleban fighters warned people not to discuss the missile strike or inspect the rubble at the site.

Taleban and top Pakistani government spokesmen either could not be reached, did not return calls or declined to comment on the strike yesterday. 

Pakistan's chief army spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, said yesterday that at least 20 people died, eight of them foreign militants.
More on link

Crime up in Afghanistan, as is nostalgia for Taliban
Mirza Kunduzai, 58, a slight man with a short white goatee, had almost reached his house after a day of trading in the capital's open-air...
By Pamela Constable The Washington Post 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — Mirza Kunduzai, 58, a slight man with a short white goatee, had almost reached his house after a day of trading in the capital's open-air currency market when his taxi was forced to a stop by six heavily armed men dressed in Afghan National Army uniforms.

For the next week, Kunduzai recounted, he endured one horror after another — beaten unconscious, hooded and handcuffed, strung up by his wrists and ankles, dumped in a filthy latrine — while his family frantically tried to raise the kidnappers' astronomical ransom demand of $2 million.

"I was 95 percent sure I was a dead man," Kunduzai said recently. "They said if my family went to the police, they would chop off my fingers and send them to my wife. I begged them to be reasonable. I offered them my house and my farmland back home. Finally, they agreed to settle for $500,000 and released me. I am poor again, but I am thankful to be alive."

While Taliban insurgents stage increasing attacks in the Afghan countryside, equally fast-expanding violent crime — kidnappings, carjackings, drug-related killings and highway robberies — is plaguing the capital of 5 million and the vital truck and bus routes that connect major cities. It is making some Afghans nostalgic for the low-crime days before 2001, when the Taliban sternly ruled most of the country.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (6 Oct 2008)

Can King David bring order to the mountains of Afghanistan?
The troop surge in Iraq was a great success. But General David Petraeus will find pacifying the Taleban a tougher job still
The Times, Oct. 6, by Michael Evan, defence editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4887371.ece



> Can the Petraeus magic work in Afghanistan? is the question being asked in military circles. General David Petraeus, the architect of the surge, has left Baghdad to take over as commander of US Central Command at the end of the month. The new bailiwick of the man known affectionately as King David includes the hotspots of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan. But perhaps the greatest immediate challenge is Afghanistan; yesterday Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the British Forces commander in Afghanistan, said decisive victory against the Taleban was unrealistic.
> 
> General Petraeus, one of the most committed and experienced counter-insurgency experts after his four and a half years of top command in Iraq, will not be in a position to mastermind day-to-day operations in Afghanistan as he did so effectively in Baghdad, especially during the surge period when 30,000 extra American troops were drafted into the Iraqi capital and elsewhere to protect the people from al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents.
> 
> ...



THE AFGHAN MISSION: GRIM PROGNOSIS
'We're not going to win,' British commander says of bid to quash Taliban
_Globe and Mail_, Oct. 6, by Graeme Smith and Doug Saunders
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081006.AFGHAN06//TPStory/Front



> KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN; LONDON -- Britain's top commander in Afghanistan says the war will not end in victory, the latest indication of soul-searching as Canada's allies grapple with how to handle the rising power of the Taliban insurgency.
> 
> The blunt statement from Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith - "We're not going to win this war" - came just days after a leaked diplomatic cable hinted that the British ambassador in Kabul has a similarly dark forecast. The brigadier suggested that a negotiated settlement will be necessary.
> 
> ...



Taliban, Afghan officials meet in Saudi Arabia, but deny peace talks held
CP, Oct. 6
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8v0dulttRPAD7oQIVPRJuEy60Ew



> KABUL, Afghanistan — A former high-level Taliban official met last month in Saudi Arabia with representatives of the Taliban, the Afghan government and a powerful Afghan warlord, the official said Monday.
> 
> But Abdul Salam Zaeef - the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan - said the meeting could not be construed as a peace negotiation.
> 
> ...



Afghanistan needs more than military action: defence minister
AFP, Oct. 5
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jrSSStzNCwOkCNJVkXyp_F2_hucA



> KABUL (AFP) — Military action alone will not solve Afghanistan's conflict, which must also be tackled on the political front, the defence minister said Sunday amid fresh talk about negotiations with Taliban.
> 
> "The war that we are fighting now does not have only a military solution," Defence Minister Mohammad Rahim Wardak told reporters.
> 
> ...



Afghans must decide on Taliban talks: Harper
_Globe and Mail_/CP, Oct. 6



> HALIFAX — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said it's up to the Afghan government to decide if it wants to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents there.
> 
> “Ultimately, how to bring about political reconciliation and who to talk to -- these are decisions the Afghan government has to take,” he said during a campaign stop in Ottawa today.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (7 Oct 2008)

*Ontario soldier on the mend*
Canwest News Service, 06 Oct 08
Article link

A Windsor, Ont. soldier injured by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Sunday is out of intensive care and has been walking and talking.  "He's doing very well. His words are still slurred a little bit, but they've completely fixed the skull fracture," said a grateful Dana Gobbato, eldest sister of 23-year-old Cpl. Michael Farrah.  "The doctors are very excited about the improvement that he's had so far."  Farrah was on a routine mission in southern Afghanistan near Kandahar City when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle, leaving him with a head wound.  Gobbato said her brother has been calling the family from hospital to give them updates on his situation ....


*Afghanistan - Martin explains the mission in Kandahar *
Le Devoir, 6 Oct 08
Google English - Original in French

....In this autobiography to be published by Fides in a few weeks (including Le Devoir obtained a draft copy) Paul Martin is going after his predecessor for having suggested that it was because of his chronic indecision that Canada 's is found in the region so dangerous Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Mr. Martin said that Canadian troops returning from Kabul.  "It would have been impossible to deploy our troops earlier, because our exhausted soldiers needed an" operational pause "to recover and recycle. In addition, there were logistical advantages in Kandahar because of its proximity to Kabul, which allowed us to benefit from the supply chain that we had already installed on the premises, "he says.  In short, if there was delay, it's not his fault ....


*Harper says talks with Taliban up to Afghanistan*
Canadian Press via CTV.ca, 6 Oct 08
Article link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says it's up to the government of Afghanistan to decide if it wants to embark on a negotiated peace with the Taliban.  The Conservative leader says Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government has been willing to talk to the Taliban, but under certain conditions.  "President (Hamid) Karzai has always been open to talking to the Taliban at various levels, provided these people are willing to participate in the democratic and constitutional process," he said Monday while campaigning for the Oct. 14 federal election.  "That's very different than simply throwing down arms and letting the Taliban take over the country -- which is certainly not what we're proposing." ....


*West messed up Afghan mission: US Marine Corps expert*
Jessica Smith, "The Hook" Tyee.ca web log, 6 Oct 08
Blog entry link

If you thought the director of Middle Eastern studies for the U.S. Marine Corps University would have nothing bad to say about how and why the war in Afghanistan is being waged, think again. Dr. Amin Tarzi, speaking to UBC journalism students last Friday, said NATO nations stumbled into war with “no idea what they were doing” and now risk failure without better focus and coordination. Canada, he said, has some lessons to teach American strategists.  “NATO needs to change its tactics or go out of business,” Tarzi said. “Our politicians have no idea what is going on in Afghanistan, they have no clue – they go there for photo-ops.”  There is a “disconnect” in the communication between political leaders and the military, he said. “But without the politicians we cannot do it. Military cannot be politicians.”  Tarzi acknowledged that Canadians, like citizens of other NATO countries losing soldiers’ lives in the conflict, are experiencing “fatigue among ‘the good’. You have to be, as Canadians, extremely proud of what your country is doing over there. Your country is actually building bridges, building dams, talking to people.”  Tarzi said he prefers Canada's triple-D policy of diplomacy, development and defense over the approach of the U.S. and said Canada isn't getting the support it deserves from bigger NATO countries who are “sitting on the sidelines.”  But Tarzi warned pulling out of Afghanistan now would only “enable” the Taliban ....


*UN Appeals to Taliban to Allow Afghan Food Aid*
Steve Herman, Voice of America, 6 Oct 08
Article link

The United Nations chief in Afghanistan is making an appeal to the Taliban not to disrupt food aid heading to hungry Afghans. The representative of the world body on Monday also lashed out at the increasing number of pessimistic voices predicting that the seven-year-old international military and humanitarian campaign in the country is doomed to failure. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman in Kabul has details.  With millions of Afghans expected to confront hunger this coming winter, the United Nations' top representative in Kabul is calling for food aid from the international community not to be impeded by the Taliban.  Kai Eide, the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary General to Afghanistan, says insurgents in the country should understand the food shipments are purely humanitarian, not a political effort "to win hearts and minds."  "I will take this opportunity to appeal to the Taliban and to the appeal to its leaders to ensure access for food distribution," he said. "There are disagreements on so many things but let us demonstrate that we can share this humanitarian agenda." ....


*Insecurity Looms As Afghans Register For 2009 Presidential Vote*
Ron Synovitz, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 6 Oct 08
Article link

Officials in Afghanistan have begun registering voters for next year's presidential election, in which Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he will seek a second five-year term.  The vote in autumn of 2009 will also include elections for the 34 local provincial assemblies and councils in Afghanistan.  Experts are already warning that the vote is likely to be the most dangerous and challenging in the country since the Taliban regime was ousted from power in late 2001, due to insurgent violence, which has increased dramatically since the presidential election of 2004 and the parliamentary elections of 2005.  Violence across Afghanistan has increased by some 30 percent just since last year -- making 2008 the worst year for security in Afghanistan since U.S. troops entered the country seven years ago ....


*U.S. Asks Allies To Fight In Afghanistan, Or Share Cost *
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 6 Oct 08
Article link

The United States has asked Japan and NATO allies who have refused to send troops to Afghanistan to pay the estimated $17 billion needed to build up the Afghan National Army, according to U.S. defense officials.  The push to quickly increase the size of Afghanistan's army and spread the cost of the initiative underscores the financial and military strain the war has placed on the United States and NATO members, many also operating in Iraq and elsewhere.  "The faster we get the [Afghan Army] to the size and strength they need to be, the less they depend on us for providing security, and God knows we operate far more expensively than the Afghan national security forces do," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.  "At a minimum it's going to cost $17 billion. That's a hefty price tag and someone's got to pay it," Morrell said.  "This may be one of those cases where countries that have had a reluctance to contribute forces, in particular combat forces, may be able to take part in this mission through a financial contribution to the development of the Afghan National Army." ....


*Afghan Insurgent Leader Protected By Iran - Spanish Radio*
Lloyds.com, 6 Oct 08
Article link

MADRID (AFP)--A confidential military report made public Monday charges Iran offered protection to an Afghan insurgent leader who claimed responsibility for an August ambush that killed 10 French soldiers.  The report by Spain's CIFAS military intelligence agency, which was obtained by Cadena Ser radio and posted on the station's Web site, said Gulbuddin Hekmatyar enjoyed "total freedom" when he lived at a Tehran hotel in 2005 - with his security provided by the Iranian government.  He met daily with many unidentified individuals while in Tehran, added the report which was dated Aug. 9, 2005, according to Cadena Ser ....


*Uprising against Taleban spreads*
Arab News, 7 Oct 08
Article link

Pressed by military and partly disgusted by brutality exercised by Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters, Pakistani tribesmen are rising up against militancy in some parts of the tribal region along Afghan border and other areas.  Three ethnic Pashtun tribes in Bajaur district — the Salarzai, Tarkhani and Utmankhel — raised a “Lashkar,” or private army, of around 10,000 tribesmen to drive Taleban out of their area, after weeks of fierce fighting between security forces and militants resulted in heavy civilian casualties and property losses.  “We have been told very clearly by the authorities that the only way to avoid collateral damage is that we clear our areas of Taleban and bring stability here,” said tribal elder Fazal Karim, who leads the Lashkar ....


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## GAP (7 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 7, 2008*

Pakistan to deport Afghans from tribal area
Article Link

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistan ordered the deportation of about 50,000 Afghan refugees in an insurgency-wracked tribal region amid a major military offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters

The government said it was expelling all Afghan refugees in the Bajur tribal region, alleging many of them have links to militant groups. Police in the town of Khar in Bajur arrested 25 Afghans and said they would soon be deported.

"The orders have been issued to the tribal police to push all of them [refugees] out," said local government official Abdul Haseeb on Monday, adding that their homes would be bulldozed to keep them from returning.

A government offensive in Bajur that began in early August has claimed some 1,000 lives. It comes amid increased U.S. pressure on the government of President Asif Ali Zardari to crackdown on militants in the restive border region where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

Washington has long complained Pakistan is unwilling or unable to take strong action against the extremists.

Zardari has pledged his cooperation in the fight against terrorism, but must tread carefully given strong domestic opposition to his country's alliance with Washington.

This balancing act has become increasingly complicated by an upswing in U.S. missile strikes against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban hide-outs in the northwest and more recently by Zadari's comments to The Wall Street Journal suggesting he had consented to the strikes.
More on link

OUR SECRET WAR IN PAKISTAN  
Posted: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 8:29 AM Filed Under: Islamabad, Pakistan By Richard Engel, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent
Article Link

 JALALABAD, Afghanistan – U.S. military officials don’t talk about our secret war in Pakistan.  

Don’t even ask, I was told, on U.S. military bases in Afghanistan at Bagram and Jalalabad.

Don’t ask about the remotely-controlled American drones armed with missiles that are now hunting across the Pakistani border, searching through the mountain peaks, valleys and dusty villages inside Pakistan for the leaders of a few dozen networks of al-Qaida fighters, Taliban militants, warlords, weapons smugglers and opium traffickers.

And certainly don’t ask about the troops on bases here in Afghanistan who don’t wear uniforms, have long beards (so they can better blend in during covert operations), tattoos and don’t mingle with regular soldiers.  

They eat in their own chow halls, plan their own missions and don’t talk much. They don’t talk at all to the media.  They’re the men who have been called in to cross into Pakistan when the drones can’t get deep enough to find and kill their targets.  

They are elite Special Operations Forces, the most-highly trained and covert of the U.S. military. They are America’s ghost warriors. According to Pakistani villagers who claim to have witnessed their operations, the "Special Ops" work in small teams, fast roping out of helicopters, air assaulting their objective before the enemy can re-group.

Their strengths are rapid violence, stealth, mobility and surprise. The Special Operations Forces don’t receive much attention or credit in the media, but they’re leading America’s secret war inside Pakistan, at least for now.
More on link

German cabinet backs extra troops for Afghanistan
10.07.08, 6:16 AM ET
Article Link

BERLIN, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed on Tuesday to extend Germany's participation in a NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and raise the number of troops it can send there by 1,000, a government official said. 

Under the current parliamentary mandate, Germany can send up to 3,500 soldiers to Afghanistan as part of the NATO force, which currently numbers just over 50,000. But it has been facing pressure from its allies to boost troops to help fight a Taliban insurgency. 

Merkel's conservatives and their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners agreed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to seek a new mandate that would allow Germany to send a total of 4,500 troops, said the official, who requested anonymity because the cabinet meeting was not yet over. 

Germany has expanded its role in overseas missions over the last decade, but the deployment to Afghanistan is unpopular with some left-wing politicians and many voters who remain uneasy about the emergence of a strong army. 

The lower house of parliament is set to vote on the new Afghanistan mandate this month. 
More on link

Victory in Afghanistan need not be total
October 7, 2008 at 1:13 AM EDT
Article Link

The reported remarks of Britain's top commander in Afghanistan should not be taken as defeatism, but as an opportunity to clarify the West's war aims. It is important to be clear on what Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said. He did not say Britain, Canada, the United States and the rest of the NATO and non-NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan should withdraw, or that a secure Afghanistan is no longer vitally important to the West. He told the Sunday Times, “We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army.” That is hardly a surprising statement after nearly seven years of fighting Taliban insurgents, with no end in sight.

It echoes what a panel headed by John Manley, the former Liberal MP, told the Canadian government in a report commissioned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “In the end,” the Manley panel wrote in January, “the counterinsurgency war will have to won by Afghans. Few counterinsurgencies in history have been won by foreign armies, particularly where the indigenous insurgents enjoy convenient sanctuary in a bordering country.” Canada's mission is focusing increasingly on training Afghan forces to take on the job.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (8 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 8

Afghan Observations 5
_david frum's diary_, Oct. 8
http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODg3MTE0NWM3NGM5MTlhMTUwYTg1MjY0YmQ3NzNhOTI=



> The best news from Afghanistan is the coalition success in building a credible Afghan army.
> 
> Some 65,000 men have now completed basic training and taken the field. The eventual goal is a force of almost 130,000.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (9 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 9

U.S. Urgently Reviews Policy On Afghanistan
_Washington Post_, Oct. 9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100900019.html?sid=ST2008100900021&s_pos=



> The White House has launched an urgent review of Afghanistan policy, fast-tracked for completion in the next several weeks, amid growing concern that the administration lacks a comprehensive strategy for the foundering war there and as intelligence officials warn of a rapidly worsening situation on the ground.
> 
> Underlying the deliberations is a nearly completed National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan and the Pakistan-based extremists fighting there. Analysts have concluded that reconstituted elements of al-Qaeda and the resurgent Taliban are collaborating with an expanding network of militant groups, making the counterinsurgency war infinitely more complicated.
> 
> ...



Gates Seeks European Troops for Afghanistan
_Washington Post_, Oct. 9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR2008100803535.html



> OHRID, Macedonia, Oct. 8 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Wednesday asked defense ministers from southeastern Europe to send more troops to Afghanistan, a message that he is likely to forcefully echo at a meeting with other NATO defense officials this week.
> 
> "As the situation on the ground in Iraq continues to improve, I urge you to consider sending your military forces to Afghanistan, where there is an urgent need for trainers as they expand their army," Gates said at a meeting of the South-Eastern Europe Defense Ministerial, a 12-member organization composed of NATO members and countries such as Macedonia that want to join the military alliance.
> 
> ...



NATO faces calls for more Afghan troops
Reuters, Oct. 9
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4980BC20081009



> NATO allies face calls on Thursday to send more troops to fight Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and boost military spending, despite the prospect of budget cuts due to the global financial crisis.
> 
> Defense ministers of the 26-nation alliance hold a two-day meeting in Budapest against a backdrop of a rise in violence in Afghanistan even though there has been a big increase in the size of the NATO-led international force in the past two years.
> 
> ...



Military Justifies Attack That Killed at Least 33 Afghan Civilians
_Washington Post_, Oct. 9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR2008100803876.html



> A military investigation has concluded that U.S. forces acted in legitimate self-defense in launching an August air assault against Taliban militants in Afghanistan that it said left 33 civilians dead, including at least 12 children.
> 
> A summary of the classified report, released yesterday by the U.S. Central Command, said the military's initial conclusion that only five to seven civilians died in the Aug. 21-22 raid was erroneous. The Afghan government and human rights organizations, as well as the United Nations, have said at least 90 civilians were killed by U.S. and Afghan ground forces and a U.S. AC-130H gunship in the village of Azizabad in western Afghanistan.
> 
> The discrepancy led to sharp tensions between the U.S. and Afghan governments and resulted in a decision by Central Command to send a senior officer from outside Afghanistan to reinvestigate the initial military findings...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (10 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 10

U.S. plans to train Afghanistan tribal militias
Military leaders see Kabul's influence as weak amid growing violence and consider working with warlords.
_LA Times_, Oct. 10
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-usafghan10-2008oct10,0,6743460.story



> Confronting the prospect of failure after seven years in Afghanistan, the U.S. military is crafting a new strategy that is likely to expand the power and reach of that country's tribal militias while relying less on the increasingly troubled central government.
> 
> Under that approach, U.S. forces would scale back combat operations to focus more on training Afghan government forces and tribal militias. The plan is controversial because it could extend the influence of warlords while undermining the government of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, the capital.
> 
> ...



NATO strikes deal for tougher Afghan drug action 
Reuters, Oct. 10
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081010/n_top_news/cnews_us_nato



> BUDAPEST (Reuters) - NATO allies reached a deal on Friday to allow direct attacks on the Afghan drugs trade that the United States says are vital to bringing security to the country in the face of a worsening Taliban insurgency.
> 
> NATO operations commander Gen. John Craddock has asked for the alliance force in Afghanistan to be allowed to attack laboratories, trafficking networks and drug lords to stem a trade that helps fund the Taliban insurgency.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## Rodahn (10 Oct 2008)

Canadian troops find massive Taliban stash of weapons, supplies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

at 12:19 on October 10, 2008, EDT.
By THE CANADIAN PRESS 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan have seized a series of major Taliban supply depots containing everything from winter clothing and medical supplies to bomb-making equipment and anti-tank weapons. 

The discoveries came after three days of patrolling in a village long believed to be an important staging point for insurgents. 

The operation was intended to increase security in Kandahar City by disrupting the flow of Taliban fighters into the region. 

Together with soldiers from the Afghan National Army, the Canadians found dozens of homemade explosives, mines, mortars, radios and an 82-millimetre recoilless rifle - a weapon capable of taking out an armoured vehicle. 

The soldiers also found what appeared to be a Taliban infirmary, complete with IV bottles, bloodstained clothes and two 50-kilogram sacks of dried peas from the United Nations, originally donated by Canada. 

Insurgents declined to tangle directly with the heavily-armed battle group from the Royal Canadian Regiment, although the operation did encounter several improvised explosive devices. 
Article link

http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n101049A.xml


Well done MMRP and the remainder of the Troops!


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## MarkOttawa (10 Oct 2008)

Afghanistan: turbulent times
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1223663958

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (11 Oct 2008)

*Articles found Oct 11, 2008*

 NATO to Target Afghan Drug Lords Who Aid Taliban
By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service  Saturday, October 11, 2008; Page A16 
Article Link

BUDAPEST, Oct. 10 -- NATO defense ministers reached a compromise agreement Friday that allows forces operating in Afghanistan to target heroin networks funding the Taliban. The deal, viewed by the Pentagon as critical to beating back a resurgent Taliban, essentially allows some members of the military alliance to opt out of counternarcotics operations. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, backed by Britain, had called on NATO allies to begin striking drug traffickers, who are a key source of funding for the Taliban's increasingly lethal insurgency. Gates estimated this week that as much as $80 million a year flows into the Taliban's coffers from the drug trade. 

But some European countries, including Germany and Spain, said drug interdiction was beyond their mandate in Afghanistan and could incite Afghans who depend on income from growing opium poppies. 

The agreement "allows some to do things that others did not want to do. It's better than nothing," Gates told reporters on a military flight to Washington after the two-day meeting in Budapest, the Hungarian capital. "You will see more willing to do this in the south than in other parts of the country. . . . I think obviously the United States and the U.K. are interested in doing this. I think there are several others who would
More on link

 Bomber Strikes Anti-Taliban Meeting, Killing More Than 40  
By QAZI JAWADULLAH and PIR ZUBAIR SHAH Published: October 10, 2008 
Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle laden with explosives during a meeting of elders in Pakistan’s tribal territories on Friday, killing more than 40 people and wounding more than 100, according to a government official, television accounts and witnesses.

Elders in the Orakzai tribal area, vowing to push Taliban extremists out of their area, were planning the details of how to wipe out a Taliban headquarters, said Kamran Zeb, the government’s senior official in Orakzai.

As the armed elders gathered outdoors, a pickup truck loaded with explosives drove into the meeting, participants said. The explosion was so powerful that the pickup truck carrying the bomb was buried in the ground after it blew up, they said.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, attacked the headquarters of the antiterrorism police, which is supposed to be a crucial force in protecting the city.
More on link

 Pakistan Tribes Raze Taliban Houses After Bombing  
By REUTERS Published: October 11, 2008
Article Link

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) - Angry Pakistani tribesmen traded fire with Taliban militants and demolished their houses in a northwestern tribal region after a car suicide attack killed at least 40 people, residents and officials said on Saturday.

Television channels put the death toll at as high as 70.

The bomber drove his explosive-laden car into the middle of a tribal council meeting in Orakzai tribal region on Friday where hundreds of tribesmen were discussing a government-backed plan to raise a lashkar or tribal militia to evict militants.

Pakistan's tribal areas on the Afghan border are regarded as safe havens for al Qaeda and Taliban militants, and the government is under tremendous pressure from the United States to take stern action to stem the flow of insurgents to Afghanistan.

"Everyone is angry and upset here. The tribesmen attacked houses of the Taliban in Khadizai after the bombing. Two houses have been demolished," Noorzad Orakzai, a resident of the Khadizai area where attack took place, told Reuters by telephone.

"There have been exchanges of fire throughout the night. It's still going on," he added.

Jehanzeb Siddique, a senior government official dealing with tribal areas, told Reuters that they had confirmation of 40 deaths from the car bombing.

Other officials said the death toll could rise further as many of the nearly 100 wounded people were in critical condition while several bodies were still unidentified.

The attack in Orakzai came a day after a suicide blast inside the heavily guarded police headquarters in the capital Islamabad in which eight policemen were wounded.

Orakzai has been the most peaceful of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions. Unlike most of the others, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan.
More on link

 Talk to the Taliban? Later, maybe, but not now
David Frum, National Post  Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Article Link

KABUL -Talk to the Taliban? That's the big policy question everybody asks about Afghanistan. After an eight-day NATO-sponsored tour of the country, I can report that the best minds at work on the country all give the same answer: "Maybe later. Not now."

Here's why: 1. The current push to talk to the Taliban comes from Afghanistan's Karzai government for short-term electioneering advantage.

The Taliban are most active in Pashtun areas of Afghanistan. If the Taliban are still fighting, the Pashtun may not be able (or willing) to come out to vote in the presidential elections scheduled for 2009. President Karzai comes from a leading Pashtun family, and low Pashtun turnout would threaten Karzai's re-election hopes.

Karzai's government is not well liked in the other areas of Pakistan, where it is perceived as corrupt and incompetent. So Karzai badly needs a deal that will allow voting to proceed in the Pashtun areas.

Last weekend, The New York Times published a thickly sourced story in which half a dozen current and former U. S. officials accused Karzai's brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, of massive involvement in Afghanistan's huge heroin industry. This accusation represents a devastating challenge for the Karzai government. (I was in the presidential palace to meet Karzai's official spokesman on the day the story broke. He arrived looking as if a bomb had just gone off in the building.)

Obviously, Karzai cannot sustain the war without American backing. Threatened with the loss of American support, he may be seeking to try to end the war -- transferring his base of support from the ethically fussy Americans to the more understanding Pashtun tribes. You can see why he'd want to do that. Harder to see why the Western world should endorse it. 2. Right now, the Taliban are looking strong; the West is looking weak. But 2009 will see substantially more NATO forces in the country than at any time since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. Up to four U. S. combat brigades will be arriving. The Germans are sending 1,000 more troops. Other NATO forces have reached peak strength.
More on link

 'Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please'
 KEEBLE McFARLANE Saturday, October 11, 2008
  Article Link

A few days ago a senior British military officer made a comment which reminded me of an old Hans Christian Andersen children's story. In the tale, some very persuasive salesmen met the king and told him they had a suit made from a magic fabric which was invisible to fools. Not wanting to appear a fool, the king accepted their story and convinced the queen and court, who all went along with the scheme to avoid being thought of as fools. The word went out across the land, and people came out one day to see the king modelling his new clothes. It took a little boy who hadn't heard the story to burst the bubble by pointing out, loudly and publicly, that the king wasn't wearing any clothes.

The officer in question is Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the British commander in Afghanistan, who told the Sunday Times newspaper that "We're not going to win this war." 
Instead, he offered a more realistic prognosis for ending what seems an open-ended affair: "If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this." He added that no one should be uncomfortable with the idea.

As of June this year, Britain has more than 8,500 military personnel in the country, principally in the south, where it shares responsibility with Canada and the Netherlands. Generals from these three countries rotate in command of the southern region from their headquarters in Kandahar. This is perhaps the most dangerous region for the occupiers, who daily face attacks from the Taliban as they patrol the small towns and settlements in the harsh terrain. These troops make up the International Security Assistance Force, an operation organised and run by NATO. In all, there are about 53,000 personnel from 43 countries, with the largest contingents from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Australia.
More on link

 Dyer: Unwinnable Afghanistan: A negotiated settlement is needed
Gwynne Dyer Article Launched: 10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
Article Link

The main purpose of British generals, it sometimes seems, is to say aloud the things that American generals (and British diplomats) think privately but dare not say in public. Things like: "We're not going to win this war." 
    That was what Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the senior British commander in Afghanistan, said last week at the end of his six-month tour in command of the 16 Air Assault Brigade. 
    His force saw a great deal of combat and lost 32 killed, but it didn't lose any battles. Regular troops rarely lose battles against guerrillas. But there were no lasting successes either - which is also typical of wars where foreign troops are fighting local guerrillas. 
    Carleton-Smith did not say that the foreign forces in Afghanistan will lose the war. He said that they could not deliver a "decisive military victory." The best they might do, over a period of years, would be to reduce the Taliban insurgency "to a manageable level . . . that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army." 
    This will not be news to any professional soldier who knows the conditions in Afghanistan. The question is whether it comes as a surprise to American and British politicians (including Barack Obama) who still promise "victory" in the Afghan war. Because if victory is not possible, then in the end the Afghan government will have to talk to the Taliban and negotiate a peace 
settlement. 
More on link

 Pakistanis shelter in Afghanistan as battles rage
Article Link

SHULTAN, Afghanistan (AFP) — Things are bad back home, says school director Said Nabi Said, one of thousands of Pakistanis who have fled into Afghanistan to escape an offensive against Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

"The Pakistani government bombed us with airplanes and artillery strikes to punish the people of Bajaur for having good relations with the militants," said the 27-year-old just across the border in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province.

"Since the start of the fighting two months ago, the situation is critical: thousands of houses have been destroyed and hundreds of civilian people, mostly women and children, were killed," he claimed.

Around him in the village of Shultan, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from Pakistan, several hundred people -- not a woman among them -- gathered for food handouts from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

They are among about 20,000 people whom the United Nations refugee agency says have fled the Pakistan military operation against Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked Islamic militants in the Bajaur tribal region.
More on link

 Coalition forces kill al-Qaeda, Taliban commanders in central Afghanistan   
 www.chinaview.cn  2008-10-11 13:33:18
  Article Link

    KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led Coalition forces on Friday killed four militants, including an Al-Qaeda commander and a Taliban commander, during an operation in Ghanzi province of central Afghanistan, said a Coalition statement released here on Saturday. 

    The al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders were known as weapons and foreign fighter facilitators in Andar district of Ghazni province, both of whom were also believed to have coordinated and directed militant activities against interests of Afghan government and international troops, the statement said. 

    "Two suspected militants were detained during the operation," it said. 

    An AK-47, 600 blasting caps, 6,000 rounds of ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades, rolls of detonation cord and a mine were discovered in the further search, it added. 

    Conflicts and spiraling insurgency so far this year have claimed the lives of over 4,000 people, mostly militants, despite over 70,000 foreign troops stationed in the war-torn Afghanistan.
End

 Free coffee, doughnuts for Canadian soldiers
Posted By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link

Canadian soldiers arriving in Kandahar have at least one thing in their personal arsenal that other forces don't -- a stack of certificates to buy as many double-doubles or Boston creams as they can stomach. 

"Those guys never have to buy a coffee," boasts Calgarian Dave Murphy, one of the people behind an effort to give soldiers serving in Afghanistan their Tim Hortons fix. 

Members of the Royal Canadian Legion and a web-site with a similar theme have raised at least $223,000 for the cause. 

Legion branches across the country have placed cans on their counters labelled Troop Morale Fund. 

"People throw in their spare change," said Brad White, a spokesman for the legion's national head office. 

That change adds up. Since the campaign started in March 2007, more than $200,000 has been raised, White said
More on link

They came, they saw, then left the Afghan war without a single mission
 09 October 2008 By Jerome Starkey in Kabul
Article Link

GERMANY has admitted its Special Forces have spent three years in Afghanistan without doing a single mission, and are now going to be withdrawn.

More than 100 soldiers from the elite Kommando Spezialkrafte regiment, or KSK, are set to leave the war-torn country after their foreign minister revealed they had never left their bases on an operation.

The KSK troops were originally sent to Afghanistan to lead counter-terrorist operations.
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## MarkOttawa (11 Oct 2008)

Same story, different headlines and editing:

'A big morale booster' in Afghanistan
_National Post_, Oct. 11
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=873899



> Nakoney, Afghanistan -- The Afghan soldier rustled vigorously about in the grape vines, then jumped back and jubilantly held up his find. "Alahu Akbar!" -- God is great! -- he cried, as cheers erupted from fellow troops scattered throughout the vineyard.
> 
> In the soldier's hands was an 82-millimetre recoilless rifle: an anti-tank rocket launcher that is one of the Taliban's most fearsome weapons. It was the pinnacle of a major find by Canadian and Afghan troops of insurgent arms, ammunition and bomb-making supplies hidden innocuously in a farmer's field.
> 
> ...



Soldiers unearth Taliban arms, medicine cache
But Canadian patrol fails to find enemy
_Ottawa Citizen_, Oct. 11
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=ac748288-62e0-4824-ba0f-dda3821422b1



> The Afghan soldier rustled vigorously in the grape vines, then jumped back and jubilantly held up his find. "Alahu Akbar!" -- God is great! -- he cried, as cheers erupted from fellow troops scattered throughout the vineyard.
> 
> In the soldier's hands was an anti-tank rocket launcher that is one of the Taliban's most fearsome weapons.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (12 Oct 2008)

*Articles found Oct 12, 2008*

 More than 100 Taliban killed in Afghan clashes
Updated Sun. Oct. 12 2008 7:09 AM ET The Associated Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants launched a surprise attack on a key southern Afghan town, sparking a battle that killed some 60 insurgents, an Afghan official said Sunday. A second clash in the same region killed another 40 militants. 

Taliban fighters used rockets and other heavy weapons to attack Afghan forces on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, said Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand's governor. 

Militants attacked the city from three sides starting just after midnight and were pushed back only after a battle that involved airstrikes, Ahmadi said. Rockets landed in different parts of the city but there were no civilian casualties, he said. 

NATO said its aircraft bombed insurgents after they observed them gathering for a major attack, killing "multiple enemy forces," the military alliance said in a statement. 

"If the insurgents planned a spectacular attack prior to the winter, this was a spectacular failure," said Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, the spokesman for the NATO-led force. 

Authorities recovered the bodies of 41 Taliban fighters on the city's outskirts, from where the attack was launched, he said. He estimated the bodies of another 20 fighters were taken from the battle site by the militants, citing intelligence reports. 

British forces are responsible for protecting the area around Lashkar Gah. 

In a second battle in Helmand province, Afghan and international troops retook the Nad Ali district centre -- which had been held by militants -- during a three-day fight, Ahmadi said. That battle, which also involved airstrikes, ended Saturday, Ahmadi said. 

Afghan police and soldiers were now in control of the district centre. There were no casualties among Afghan or NATO troops, Ahmadi said. 

Ahmadi's death tolls could not be verified independently
end

LETTER TO THE EDITOR 
TheStar.com | Opinion | Troops need resources to do their job 
Troops need resources to do their job 
 Oct 12, 2008 04:30 AM 
Re:Afghan costs stir uproar
Article Link

I am a little annoyed about the $18.1 billion budget for the war in Afghanistan till the end of 2011. This is an example of the media only telling people what they want them to know and not the whole story.

As a mother of a son who has just gone there I was amazed at the figure, but I took the time to understand why it was costing so much. I started to go down a list of things where there would be expenses incurred whether the troops were in Afghanistan, Canada or in any other country. The military must pay for salaries, food, equipment and ammunition, no matter where the soldiers are posted.

So, if you break it down over the eight to nine years that they have been involved in Afghanistan, it would be approximately $2 billion. In order for our military to work properly, you have to put money into it to provide the resources necessary for the troops to do their job.

Instead of tearing our military apart, people need to remember that the soldiers are doing their job in helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild their country by building schools and roads, and training their police and military.

Please, we need to support our soldiers. When I talk to any of my son's military friends, they are all of the opinion that if they pull out now, then their fallen comrades have died in vain.
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 US drones fly after missile strike in Pakistan: residents
5 hours ago
Article Link

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) — US pilotless spy planes on Sunday flew over a Pakistani tribal town bordering Afghanistan just hours after a missile strike killed at least four people, residents said.

Two missiles from suspected US drones overnight struck a compound just outside Miranshah, the main town in the restive North Waziristan district, which is seen as a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

The targeted compound was the residence of Taliban militant Omar Daraz, a security official told AFP, giving no further details.

There was no reaction to the attacks from the Pakistan government, though the military said they were aware of the strike.

"We have reports about an explosion incident in Miranshah," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.

He said he could not confirm whether the missile attack was launched by US aircraft.

Residents on Sunday said they could see three drones overhead as they sifted through the remains of the destroyed compound searching for further casualties.

Some tribesmen fired at the drones, but there was no damage to the aircraft or any return fire.
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## MarkOttawa (13 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 13

General Says He’s Hopeful About Taliban War
_New York Times_, Oct. 12, by John Burns
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/world/asia/13afghan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin



> Less than 12 hours after NATO troops in Afghanistan defeated an ambitious attempt by the Taliban to storm a provincial capital in the far southwest, killing dozens of the fighters, the top American commander in the country urged doubters Sunday to believe that the war against the Taliban would be won.
> 
> The commander, Gen. David D. McKiernan, who leads more than 65,000 troops from about 40 foreign countries, including 33,000 Americans, said at a news conference in Kabul that there had been “too many” reports in the media recently asserting that the foreign forces and their Afghan allies were losing the war.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (15 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 15, 2008*

Taleban raid on key Afghan town 
Article Link

At least 18 Taleban militants have been killed while attacking a police checkpoint in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, officials say. 

Police say dozens of insurgents took part in the attack - the second major assault on Lashkar Gah this week. 

At least six policemen died in fighting elsewhere in the area, officials say. 

On Tuesday, UN special envoy Kai Eide said attacks on troops, civilians and aid workers in Afghanistan were at their highest level for six years. 

'Worrying development' 

Provincial police chief Assadullah Sherzad said that three policemen were also wounded in the latest fighting around Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, which took place on Tuesday. 

He said the authorities had been able to recover the body of only one militant because the others had been carried away by their fighters
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Charges against Canadian soldier dropped
Leader-Post Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Article Link

REGINA -- A Regina father who sought to have charges dropped against the soldier accused of killing his son in Afghanistan got his wish on Tuesday. 

Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, 33, was killed by a bullet from an assault rifle inside the troop carrier on Aug. 9, 2006, while on routine patrol in Afghanistan. Following his son's death, Ben Walsh circulated a petition for charges to be dropped against Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser, who was accused of fatally shooting the Regina native.

On several occasions, Walsh voiced frustration about the lack of information the family had received about Jeffrey's death from the National Investigation Service, an independent military police unit. Last year, Walsh told the Leader-Post, "All I want is the truth from this organization ... the truth of what happened in my son's death."
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UN warns against expecting lull in rebel attacks in Afghanistan
Article Link

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN special envoy for Afghanistan warned Tuesday not to expect a lull in attacks by Taliban rebels and Al-Qaeda extremists this winter as was the case in previous years.

Briefing the UN Security Council on the latest developments in the strife-torn country, Kai Eide confirmed a "deteriorating (security) situation in last few months."

"In July and August, we witnessed the highest number of insecurity incidents since 2002," he said, with attacks up 40 percent compared with the same period last year.

He cited a decrease in attacks last month during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan but quickly added: "We now see an increase again in the number of incidents and we must expect that this number ... will continue to climb further over the next weeks."

In this regard, Eide noted that the insurgents had spread their influence of insurgents beyond the traditional areas in southern and the eastern Afghanistan.

He also pointed to a hike in "asymmetric (unconventional warfare) attacks (by insurgents), some of them very sophisticated" and to more "and sometimes deadly attacks against aid-related and humanitarian targets, including against NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and UN personnel."
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3 NATO soldiers, 16 Afghans killed in bomb blasts   
 Oct 14 09:01 AM US/Eastern By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer
  Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. military successes in Iraq have forced sophisticated and well-trained insurgents to pour into Afghanistan instead, part of the reason violence has spiked in Afghanistan, the Afghan defense minister said Tuesday. 
In a demonstration of the increasingly deadly attacks, a roadside blast in the east where U.S. soldiers operate killed three NATO troops, while two separate roadside bombs in the south killed 16 Afghan civilians, officials said. 

The Afghan defense minister, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, said terrorists who would have once fought in Iraq have been "diverted" to Afghanistan. 

"The success of coalition forces in Iraq and also some other issues in some of the neighboring countries have made it possible that there is a major increase in the foreign fighters," Wardak told a news conference. "There is no doubt that they are (better) equipped than before. They are well trained, more sophisticated, their coordination is much better." 

The top U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, told The Associated Press last month that he is seeing a spike in the number of foreign militants—including Arabs and Chechens—flowing into Afghanistan. He said militant Web sites have been encouraging fighters to go to Afghanistan instead of Iraq. 

"I can't prove they are coming from Iraq to Afghanistan, but I've seen it on Web sites that that's what they're being told to do," Schloesser said. 

The Iraqi insurgency at its height drew Arab extremists and other jihadi leaders who were once focused on Afghanistan, including the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri, believed to be the current leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. Iran also stepped up aid to Shiite militias as sectarian strife grew after 2006. But the precise number foreign fighters in Iraq was never clear and many U.S. commanders believe local Iraqis comprise the bulk of the al-Qaida and other jihadi forces. 

In Afghanistan, militant attacks have turned deadlier and more sophisticated this year, part of the reason more U.S. and NATO troops have died there in 2008 than in any year since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. 
More on link


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## GAP (15 Oct 2008)

Four-legged heroes saving lives in Afghanistan
Bomb-sniffing dogs can be Canadian soldiers' best friends
Tom Blackwell ,  Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - When Canadian and Afghan troops unearthed a major cache of Taliban weaponry and medical supplies last week, the unsung hero of the day was a "soldier" with four legs and the Florida-based private contractor that trained him.

Heading into a grape field as others looked elsewhere, Ouzo the German shepherd quickly zeroed in on a mound of dried twigs. A Canadian soldier pulled away the debris and discovered a bag packed with lethal anti-personnel mines. The vineyard was full of such booty.

The find by Ouzo and his Peruvian handler was no shock, however. The pair are among 16 explosive-sniffing dog teams that the Canadian Forces have increasingly turned to in their fight against the IED menace. 
More on link


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## GAP (16 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 16, 2008*

Afghan police officer kills U.S. soldier
Last Updated: Thursday, October 16, 2008 CBC News 
Article Link

An Afghan police officer shot and killed a U.S. soldier on patrol in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, said the U.S. military.

The Afghan officer opened fire and tossed a grenade at the coalition patrol from a watchtower in the Bermel district of the eastern Paktika province, said the military statement.

Coalition troops returned fire on the tower, killing the Afghan officer.

Provincial governor Akram Akhpalwak said he didn't know why the attack took place.

The U.S. military said it is investigating the incident.

It was the second time in less than a month that an Afghan officer has killed a U.S. soldier. An Afghan policeman opened fire on U.S. troops at a police station in Paktika province in August, killing an American soldier and wounding three other troops.

U.S. forces shot and killed the Afghan police officer.
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Germany backs extra troops for Afghanistan
ReutersPublished: October 16, 2008 By Kerstin Gehmlich
Article Link

Germany's lower house of parliament voted Thursday to increase the number of troops Berlin can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 soldiers.

The extension of Berlin's participation in the NATO peacekeeping mission follows a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition, but is unpopular with many voters wary of rising violence in Afghanistan.

A large majority of 424 out of 570 parliamentarians voted in support of the new mandate, which allows Germany to send up to 4,500 troops to Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led force that includes more than 50,000 troops overall.

The new mandate is valid for 14 months. Previously, Germany was allowed to send up to 3,500 troops to Afghanistan.
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Afghan soldiers transfer allegiance to their country
Published Thursday October 16th, 2008
Article Link

NAKONEY, Afghanistan - Canada's military exit strategy from Afghanistan sprawls on tarps spread out over the desert dust just outside this village southwest of Kandahar.

Some clean their weapons; some sip sweet, apple-flavoured tea by garbage-fuelled fires. A few wrestle playfully like wolf cubs and at the far end of the camp, some toss around a borrowed football in spirals that are wobbly at best.

Throwing the unfamiliar, oddly shaped ball may baffle the soldiers of the Afghan National Army, but they are quickly learning to take a handoff.

In 2011, Canada plans to withdraw its combat troops and leave this murky conflict to Afghan government troops.

Six days patrolling a Taliban stronghold with these former farmers, taxi drivers and labourers revealed plenty of weaknesses -- field discipline that can resemble six-year-olds playing hockey, logistics problems that force them to consider enemy caches as resupply opportunities, and a life so harsh that even these tough men last only a few years.

But during Operation Array earlier this month, the ANA also showed the stirrings of what may become Afghanistan's most functional and trusted national institution. Here, men from a warlord culture are learning to transfer their loyalties to a nation, and each other.

"We are brothers," said Sgt. John Mohammed, a three-year veteran who says he joined the army because he liked the vehicles and thought the uniforms looked snappy. The comrades squatting beside him include a Hazara, a Tajik, a Pashtun, an Uzbek and a Turkman, but something larger has brought them together.

"There are not any differences between us," Mohammed said through a translator.
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Pakistan's plight the focus of Ottawa conference
Mike Blanchfield ,  Canwest News Service Published: Thursday, October 16, 2008
Article Link

OTTAWA - The young man was a fully trained suicide bomber, but his future plans included something perhaps more devious - spying on the terrorists who recruited him.

His job application stood out from the hundreds the Pakistani government received recently after running a series of newspaper advertisements seeking "human intelligence" from their lawless tribal regions along the Afghanistan border - the new home of the Taliban and al-Qaida insurgency that threatens the Canadian Forces and their allies across that border.

He wanted the government to pay his admission and board to a college near the capital, Islamabad. In return he would go back to his home village on weekends, keep his ears peeled and report back to the government.

Hassan Abbas, a Harvard University scholar, author and former Pakistani government official under both Benazir Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf, said the young man's attitude showed that terrorism's recruitment cycle could be breached, that some ensnared by it "see there is a way out."

"Their demand, of course, is opportunity - education, economic opportunity," said Abbas, noting that Pakistani authorities were still mulling the young man's offer.

Abbas and other Pakistani analysts say bringing economic opportunity as well as strengthening traditionally weak democratic institutions are the key to wrestling back control of their country from the terrorists that have set up shop there. Islamist terrorists now use the country's lawless west as a launch pad for attacks in Afghanistan, as well as for brazen acts of violence on their own soil such as the recent Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad that left more than 50 dead.

Abbas joined several dozen experts from his country, foreign embassies, and the Canadian government at a recent symposium in Ottawa sponsored by the Canadian International Council.
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## MarkOttawa (16 Oct 2008)

A surge of pessimism
America worries about Taliban advances and British despondency
_The Economist_, Oct 16
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12437731&fsrc=nwlptwfree



> THE Taliban have been brave and brazen this fighting season. They have used more “asymmetric” tactics, such as suicide bombings, but have not shied away from direct combat. In July, they tried to overrun a new American outpost in Nuristan province, killing nine Americans. In August, they attempted to fight their way into a big American base outside Khost, a town that for a year had been a model of stability. Earlier this month they made a three-pronged stab at Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province.
> 
> All these attacks were repelled. But despite heavy losses for the insurgents, they sent a powerful message: the Taliban are getting stronger and areas once deemed safe are under threat. Provinces around Kabul are more violent and roads leading out of the capital are frequently cut off. Though there are fewer bomb attacks than a year ago, the capital feels besieged, prompting some to recall the days when the anti-Communist mujahideen moved to take over the city in 1992, and again when the Taliban rode in four years later.
> 
> ...



To fight Taliban, US eyes Afghan tribes
Some tribes have forced insurgents from their area, but many risks remain.
_CS Monitor_, Oct. 16
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1016/p01s04-wosc.htm



> JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN
> 
> With sticks, knives, and 600 men drawn from his own tribe, Hajji Malik Zahir did what the armies of Afghanistan and America could not: He drove the Taliban from his district.
> 
> ...



Petraeus Mounts Strategy Review
Team to Focus On Afghanistan, Wider Region
_Washington Post_, Oct. 16
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/15/AR2008101503685.html



> Gen. David H. Petraeus has launched a major reassessment of U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the surrounding region, while warning that the lack of development and the spiraling violence in Afghanistan will probably make it "the longest campaign of the long war."
> 
> The 100-day assessment will result in a new campaign plan for the Middle East and Central Asia, a region in which Petraeus will oversee the operations of more than 200,000 American troops as the new head of U.S. Central Command, beginning Oct. 31.
> 
> ...



Afghan co-ordination must improve, Gates says
Reuters, Oct. 15
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081015.wafghangates/BNStory/International/home



> NATO and its partners need to get better at co-ordinating efforts to defeat a “ruthless and resilient” insurgency in Afghanistan, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.
> 
> Mr. Gates said America's security depended on being able to combine military, political, and economic endeavours to stabilize failing states and he cast Afghanistan as the ultimate test of that approach.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (17 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 17, 2008*

Boots on the ground, Canadian style  
By Drew Brown, Stars and Stripes  Mideast edition, Friday, October 17, 2008 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Spend a few weeks working with the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, and you’ll notice that while they share a lot of things in common with U.S. troops, they also have their differences. Some of them are subtle, others are more distinct. 

For instance, most of the basic small arms, equipment and vehicles are the same. Both militaries use the same rifles, squad machine guns and general purpose machine guns. But the Canadian version of the M-240 is called the C-6, the M-16 is known as the C-7, the M-4 is called a C-8, the M-249 SAW is the C-9, and all of them are made in Canada. 

The workhorse vehicles of the Canadian infantry are the Light Armored Vehicle, or LAV, and the Bison. They’re basically the same vehicle, but the LAV has a turret on top with and 25 mm gun, and the Bison is a troop carrier. U.S. Marines use a variant of the LAV, calling it by the same name. The U.S. Army uses a version of the Bison, but calls it the Stryker. 

Canadian troops refer informally to their LAVs and Bisons as "boats." 

Both armies use the MRAP and Buffalo, mine-resistant vehicles. Canadian engineers also use the old U.S. M113 armored personnel carrier, but they call it the TLAV, for Tracked Light Armored Vehicle. 
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Afghanistan chief is new Army head
Article Link

A former commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan who recently called for more troops to be sent to the country has been named as the next head of the Army.

Sir David Richards, the current Commander-in-Chief Land Forces, will succeed the outspoken General Sir Richard Dannatt as Chief of the General Staff in August next year.

At the same time, it was announced that Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope is to become the next head of the Royal Navy while Air Marshal Stephen Dalton will become the head of the Royal Air Force.

Both will take up their posts next July.

Gen Dannatt, the current head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, and the head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, will all retire when they stand down next year.

The announcement means that the next overall head of the services, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), will be drawn from the new generation of service chiefs.

It was confirmed earlier this year that the current CDS, Sir Jock Stirrup, will remain in post until 2011. The move was widely seen as a sign that ministers did not want Gen Dannatt to succeed to the top job.
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Canadian terror messages worrying officials
Stewart Bell, National Post   Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Article Link

 Quebec man has posted messages on the Internet encouraging al-Qaeda to attack Canada, the latest in a series of similar sentiments that are worrying counterterrorism officials.

The author of the messages, who uses the pseudonym Altar, praised terror leader Osama bin Laden and asked why al-Qaeda was focusing its efforts only on Europe instead of Canada.

"Allah is great and may Allah bless Sheikh bin Laden. That the sword held by the hand of al-Qaeda hits not only Europe, but that is hits all our enemies. Wherever they are," he wrote in a Sept. 25 posting.

"Me, I live in Canada and the Canadian government supports the Americans. The government of Canada supports Israel. Canadian soldiers are sent to Afghanistan and Iraq. 

"Now it's Canada's turn." 

A copy of the message, posted to a French-based Internet forum called Minbar-sos, was found by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist Web sites.

In his online biography, Altar writes that he is a Sunni Muslim who lives in Quebec and that: "I want to chase the non-Muslims from Canada. Only their deaths will make Islam triumphant. God is Great."

The message concludes: "May Allah guide us to always defend our religion. That the Crusaders whether in Iraq or in Ottawa, the sword of Islam will fall on their head. God is Great."

This kind of rhetoric has been appearing increasingly on the Internet, often the work of young radicals who join online forums that promote al-Qaeda.

"Don't forget, these al-Qaeda sites, normal people can't get onto them," said terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman, a professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

"They're password protected; you have to be vouched for personally. So the access is controlled, so you have to take something like this somewhat seriously."

The RCMP in Quebec could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Canadian counter-terrorism police have already investigated several similar cases involving online activities. 

The RCMP arrested a Moroccan man in Trois-Rivières, Que., last September for allegedly posting messages on the Internet threatening terrorist attacks in Germany and Austria. 
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Glance at Islamic terror money
By The Associated Press – 19 hours ago 
Article Link

A look at the ways analysts say al-Qaida and other Islamic terrorist groups get money and how it has changed over time:

_ Soviet war in Afghanistan:

Many Islamic terror groups have their origins in the Soviet war in Afghanistan that started in 1979. During the war, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other countries funded Islamic militants who eventually drove the Soviets to withdraw in 1989.

_ Al-Qaida's early years:

Saudi Arabia denied Osama bin Laden access to much of his inherited wealth in the early 1990s after he became critical of the Saudi royal family. He then relied more heavily on wealthy donors and Islamic charities in the Gulf.

A U.S. investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks said it cost al-Qaida an estimated $30 million per year to sustain its activities before the attacks — with almost all the money raised through donations.

A 2004 U.S. investigation found banks in the United Arab Emirates had unwittingly handled most of the $400,000 spent on the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

_ Post-Sept. 11 attacks:

Crackdowns on banks and other financial institutions by the U.S. and its allies disrupted terrorist financing networks in the wake of Sept. 11.

The groups continue to rely heavily on wealthy donors and Islamic charities in the oil-rich Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia.

The groups have also benefited from the drug trade in Afghanistan that boomed after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Former U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey estimates al-Qaida and the Taliban are principally funded by some $800 million from the drug trade.

_ Related groups and sympathizers:

Spanish officials have said illegal drug sales funded the Madrid train bombings in 2004. The U.N. estimated those attacks cost only about $10,000.

British officials say the terrorists who carried out the 2005 London subway bombings financed themselves by defaulting on a personal loan and overdrawing bank accounts. The British estimated those attacks cost about $15,000
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Military preparing reserves for Afghanistan experience
Derek Putz, Leader-Post Published: Thursday, October 16, 2008
Article Link

REGINA -- Soldiers are to invade the city of Moose Jaw this weekend.

Before the alarm bells sound and mass panic ensues, Moose Javians can relax, because it's completely safe and just an exercise.

Saskatchewan army reserve units will be training in the Moose Jaw area today until Sunday. They will be practising scenarios on civilian secondary road networks based out of 15 Wing Moose Jaw ranging from Pense/Drinkwater in the east to Mortlach in the west.

According to Maj. Brad Hrycyna, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Dragoons and the exercise director, army reservists from across Saskatchewan will be taking part in the training exercise.

"We're training in what we call the contemporary operating environment. We're training for tasks that we could be faced with in the immediate future, such as what we could (face) in Afghanistan," he said.

Hrycyna will have the troops practising convoys and convoy escorts. He will be conducting a scenario where 15 Wing Moose Jaw is a coalition air base that is under siege from insurgents in the surrounding area.

Officer Cadet Donna Riguidel, public affairs officer for 28 Canadian Brigade Group, ensures that residents of the area will not face any danger and have nothing to worry about.

"It's absolutely safe," Riguidel said. "Any ammunition they use will be blank ammunition and they are going to pick up anything after. They are not going to be using any live fire (or explosives) at all."
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US plan to help Pakistan fight insurgents
The Pentagon wants to send more F-16 fighters. Critics say the jets could threaten India.
By Gordon Lubold | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor  from the October 17, 2008 edition
Article Link

Washington - The American military is beginning a training effort inside Pakistan this week that holds promise as the US helps Pakistan fight tribal militants blamed for much of the increase in violence there as well as in neighboring Afghanistan. 

But a separate initiative to provide jet fighters to the Pakistani Air Force that Bush administration officials believe will be instrumental in the fight has been held up over concerns that Pakistan will use the planes against India, not against extremist elements in its border with Afghanistan. 

The US deployed a small unit of about 30 special forces personnel into Pakistan this week to bolster the ability of Pakistan's Frontier Corps to fight its own insurgency. 

The team, which also includes some British special forces, is significant, not for its size, but for the expectation that it can give Pakistan the tools to fight militants on its own. That is key to American defense officials who are desperate to reverse violence in the region but say any counterinsurgency there must have a Pakistani face. 

That is why a long-proposed sale of new and refurbished F-16 jet fighters to Pakistan has become so critical to the Bush administration, which believes the old fleet of fighters the Pakistani Air Force is using now aren't effective. 

The older planes aren't able to fly night missions, and they aren't equipped to drop the kind of precision munitions that could be instrumental in the ground fight against militants. 

"Right now, they're basically dropping dumb bombs in the daylight, a fact that does not escape the enemy," says one defense official. 

But Congress isn't so sure the Pakistani government can be trusted to use the planes against the tribal militants thought to be responsible for violence in Pakistan as well as in neighboring Afghanistan. 

Members of Congress want to know why Pakistan would need a jet fighter that has "air-to-air" fighter capability when all the Pakistanis really need to fight militants from the air is a plane or helicopter with "air-to-ground" or "close air support" capabilities to support its efforts against militants on the ground. 
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Afghanistan investments offer risk but also reward
Updated Fri. Oct. 17 2008 11:23 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A Canada-Afghanistan matchmaking effort is underway in Markham, Ont., with the goal of teaming Canadian businesses up with partners in the war-torn region. 

It's a land ripe with opportunities for Canadian investors, and the time has never been better to buy-in, said Aziz Amiri, the president of the Canada Afghanistan Business Council, which organized the event. 

He told CTV's Canada AM there are dangers to investing in Afghanistan, but companies that take that "calculated risk" stand to make high returns. 

"There are challenges as well as opportunities. Canadian companies are in places that aren't safer than Afghanistan. It's a calculated risk," Amiri said. 

The primary areas of opportunity, Amiri said, are in reconstruction and mining, so the conference has targeted Canadian and Afghan companies that work in those industries.

Governments around the world have committed to helping rebuild Afghanistan, and money is available to finance appropriate projects, he said. 

Mining is also is a major resource in Afghanistan, with largely untapped resouces of copper, aluminum and oil. The nation also has an iron mine worth $60 billion, Amiri said.

"Afghanistan is located very strategically, close to China, we have a border with China, and close to India. So a lot of these raw materials from Afghanistan have a good market in that area becuase of the emerging markets in China and India and Central Asia." 

There is also room for development in the export of Afghanistan's natural gas resources, agricultural products and hand crafts, he said. 

And while investing in Afghanistan has the potential to be financially rewarding, it is also a vital part of helping the nation emerge from the shadow of the Taliban, Amiri said. 
More on link

Article Link

More on link


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## MarkOttawa (17 Oct 2008)

Petraeus seeking broad support for U.S. strategy
Reuters, Oct. 16
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49F8SL20081016



> Even before he takes command of U.S. military strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Gen. David Petraeus is reaching beyond the military sphere to encourage international support for stabilizing the region.
> 
> Petraeus, whose innovative thinking is credited with helping save Iraq from civil war, *met International Monetary Fund and World Bank representatives* [emphasis added] last week in preparation for new efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, officials said.
> 
> The move, unusual for a military commander, underscores the Pentagon's emphasis on unifying military, economic, political and diplomatic aid to help the two countries cope with militant violence and economic dislocation, officials said...



Afghan Officials Say Airstrike Killed Civilians 
_NY Times_, Oct. 16, by John Burns
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/world/asia/17afghan.html?pagewanted=1&ref=todayspaper



> KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO airstrike on Thursday on a village near the embattled provincial capital of Lashkar Gah killed 25 to 30 civilians, Afghan officials in the area said. While NATO confirmed that an airstrike had taken place in the area, where Taliban fighters have been battling NATO forces, it said that the reports were being investigated and that the command was “unable to confirm any civilian casualties.”..
> 
> The strike occurred at a time when General McKiernan, who took command here in June, had made curbing civilian casualties a high priority. At the moment when the airstrike in Nadali was said to have taken place, 1 p.m. Thursday, senior officers on the general’s staff were holding a briefing in Kabul, 340 miles away, at which they laid out for reporters and Western aid groups the new measures that General McKiernan had ordered for the purpose of “protecting the civilian population” during combat operations.
> 
> ...



6,000 Indian troops to protect missions in Afghanistan Special Correspondent
_The Frontier Post _(Peshawar and Quetta), Oct. 17
http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=2594&ad=17-10-2008



> KABUL: India has agreed to send up to 6,000 paramilitary troops to Afghanistan by the end of this year, for boosting up security of the Indian diplomatic missions and on-going projects, a top ranking Afghan intelligence source disclosed this to The Frontier Post here. India decided to send its paramilitary troops, after receiving formal request from Afghan government in July, this year. After thoroughly considering the invitation, India finally, reached an agreement with Afghan government this year in August, to send 6,000 paramilitary troops to Afghanistan, the source disclosed while giving details of the agreement between the two governments . India has largest share in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan and 4,000 Indian nationals are engaged in different projects in many areas. Some mega Indian projects are said to be Zarange Della Ram Road Project, and the construction of a dam in Herat. Besides its reconstruction activities, India has a chain of diplomatic missions in various cities of Afghanistan, whose security is the major concern for Afghan government, particularly after attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul. India was reluctant to send its regular troops to Afghanistan because it has a stance that Indian troops can only operate in UN peace keeping activities outside India. Indian military chief, Deepak Kapoor while visiting Kabul in August this year, had said India was not considering the option of sending its troops to Afghanistan . However, Indians after repeated requests from Afghan government and its allies in Afghanistan, agreed to send 6,000 of its paramilitary troops called ITBP (Indian Tibitain Border Police), and sources in the Afghan capital confirmed its first contingent will reach Kabul by mid-December this year, whereas another presidential source said, it will be next year in January. About 3500 to 4000 Indians are working in Afghanistan for whose security, already some 500 security personnel from the same Tibitain squad are there. Last year the United States, *Canada* [emphasis added] and Afghanistan had jointly requested Indians to send troops to Afghanistan...



Afghanistan: no time to go wobbly
Conference of Defence Associations' media-round up, Oct.17
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1224259474/

Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (18 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 18

Senior U.S. commanders to assess Afghanistan mission
_International Herald Tribune_, Oct. 17
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/17/america/17military.php



> The commander of the United States' Special Operations forces is meeting this week with the senior American commander in Afghanistan, as well as top Special Operations officers there, to assess the mission in Afghanistan, senior military officials said Thursday.
> 
> The commander, Admiral Eric Olson [interview ShadowSpear.com here], was in Pakistan on Thursday to meet the new leader of Pakistan's Frontier Corps paramilitary force, Major General Tariq Khan, and to observe a new American-led training program for the Pakistani corps.
> 
> ...



U.S. Strike Is Said to Kill Qaeda Figure in Pakistan
NY Times, Oct. 17
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/world/asia/18pstan.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin



> A missile attack from a remotely piloted American aircraft is believed to have killed a senior member of Al Qaeda in South Waziristan on Thursday, a former member of a militant group in the region said in an interview.
> 
> The operative, Khalid Habib, an Egyptian who was chief of operations in Pakistan’s tribal region, is described by the Central Intelligence Agency as the fourth-ranking person in the Qaeda hierarchy.
> 
> ...



Pakistani army 'kills 60 Taleban' 
BBC, Oct. 18
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7677492.stm



> At least 60 militants have been killed after the Pakistani army launched air strikes on two Taleban training camps in north-west Pakistan, the army says.
> 
> The operation in the Swat Valley occurred late on Friday shortly after troops found a Chinese engineer alive who had been kidnapped by the Taleban.
> 
> ...



Pakistan army arrests 168 foreign militants in tribal regions 
Xinhua, Oct. 18
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/18/content_10214561.htm



> Pakistan's security forces have arrested about 168 foreign militants from the northwestern tribal regions in the past two days, military sources said on Saturday.
> 
> The foreign militants have been arrested from Darra Adamkhel of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and other tribal regions, said a military statement.
> 
> ...



Create A Desert And Call It Peace
_Strategy Page_, Oct. 17
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20081017.aspx



> Largely out of the media spotlight, at least in the West, the Pakistani army has taken on the most numerous and aggressive part of the Taliban organization, and is tearing it to pieces. For the last two months, the Pakistani Army has been moving through the Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), killing Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who have largely controlled the rural parts of the 1,300 square kilometer district for years. There were only a few thousand armed men working for the Taliban, and several thousand more who have come in since the fighting began. Over a third of these Taliban have been killed or wounded, and they have been driven from one compound (the fortress like groups of houses that are favored in this part of the world) after another. The army has used air power (mostly armed helicopters) and artillery to do most of the killing, using infantry to guard the roads and urban areas. The Taliban have had a hard time moving around, and have not been able to inflict many casualties on the army. Most of the civilian population has fled, as trying to use civilians as human shields does not work against the Pakistani army...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (19 Oct 2008)

*Articles found Oct 19, 2008*

 Taliban kill around 30 people after stopping bus
By NOOR KHAN – 1 hour ago 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban militants stopped a bus traveling on Afghanistan's main highway through a wild and dangerous part of the country's south, captured some 50 people on board and slaughtered around 30 of them, officials said Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman said the militia's fighters carried out the attack but that the insurgents killed 27 Afghan army soldiers riding on the bus.

Militants stopped one bus in a two-bus convoy in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province — a Taliban-controlled area about 40 miles west of Kandahar city, said Matiullah Khan, the provincial police chief. Around 50 people were taken hostage, though several were freed, he said.

Officials offered varying death tolls from the attack, which occurred in an area of Afghanistan that government forces cannot safely travel to without heavy military protection. That may explain why news of the Thursday hijacking did not emerge until Sunday.

The Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, said 31 people were killed. Six of the dead were beheaded in a separate area of Maiwand from where the other 25 bodies were found, he said.
More on link

Afghanistan - Suicide attack wounded 5 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
October 18, 2008 by  
Article Link

Suicide attack wounded 5 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan (Reuters via Yahoo! News) 
A suicide car bomber struck international troops near the western Afghan city of Herat Saturday, wounding five soldiers, officials said. 

17 Afghan civilians reported killed (The Philadelphia Inquirer) 
KABUL, Afghanistan - With public anger running high over alleged civilian deaths in air strikes by Western forces, Afghan authorities said yesterday that at least 17 civilians had been killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan. 

Tribal elder, 22 insurgents killed in Afghanistan attacks (IANS via Yahoo! India News) 
Kabul, Oct 18 (DPA) Gunmen killed a tribal elder and his son in southern Afghanistan, while elsewhere in the country at least 22 insurgents were killed and eight were detained in separate operations by Afghan and international forces, officials said Saturday. 

Rallies held across Canada to call for end to Afghan war (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News) 
OTTAWA - Anti-war activists are taking to the streets in more than a dozen cities across the country this weekend to demand an end to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan. 

Former Karzai bodyguard killed in Afghanistan (USA Today) 
Taliban gunmen fatally shot a tribal elder and his son, a former presidential bodyguard, inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said. 

Afghan elder, ex-Karzai bodyguard gunned down (AFP via Yahoo! Canada News) 
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Men on motorbikes shot dead a prominent pro-government Afghan tribal elder and his son, a former bodyguard for President Hamid Karzai, as they left a mosque Saturday, authorities said. 
More on link

 Taliban offers fresh talks with Pak govt
19 Oct 2008, 1244 hrs IST,
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: Amidst the ongoing military offensive against Taliban in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, the militants have re-offered talk 
s with the government but said that they will not lay down their weapons. 

Responding to the Taliban's offer to hold an unconditional dialogue if the government halted military operations against them, top Pakistani leaders including President Asif Ali Zardari have said that talks can be held only with militants who laid down their weapons. 

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omar told journalists in Peshawar on Saturday that negotiation is the best option for the resolution of disputes. 

Repeating the Taliban's offer of peace talks made on October 15, Omar said the government should stop operations against the militants before the talks. 

Replying to a question, he said the government had not yet responded to the talks offer. "We are waiting for the government's response and are also ready for talks through a mediator," he said. 

"Taliban are ready for talks with the government but we will never lay down arms," Omar said. The Taliban, he said, sincerely believed that talks are the best way to resolve issues because conflicts created complications. "Weapons will be retained for self-defence," he said. 

Omar said the Taliban were willing to hold talks with the government because Pakistan's tribal areas are directly under its control. The Taliban would also negotiate in the restive Swat valley in the North West Frontier Province. 

The militants did not want to go to war with the government but "war has been imposed on the Taliban", he said. 
More on link


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## OldSolduer (20 Oct 2008)

I heard on the CBC last night that  the Taliban had taken two buses in the Maywand district and beheaded some of the passengers.

Where is Jack Layton? He should be denouncing this......as should all politicians..... :rage:


----------



## GAP (20 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 20, 2008*

Taliban kill dozens in brazen bus hijacking
JESSICA LEEDER  Globe and Mail October 19, 2008 at 11:06 PM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Police and government officials in Kandahar are accusing the Taliban of slaughtering nearly 30 civilians – some of whom were decapitated – in a brazen bus attack staged outside the city.

However, a spokesman for the Taliban, which yesterday took responsibility for the gruesome killings, said the attacks were made because passengers were members of the Afghan National Army.

“We found government documents on them and we killed 27 of them,” the Taliban spokesman said. “The rest, who were civilians, we freed.”

The attacks happened as the group was travelling west in a two-bus convoy in Maywand district, along the dangerous highway that connects Kandahar and Helmand provinces. The area is known as a hotbed for militants.

The attacks took place last Thursday, but officials learned of the attacks only yesterday.

Six bodies were discovered near the highway in Maywand and government officials denied that any of the victims were members of local army or police forces.

“We reject these claims,” said Zalmai Aybi, a spokesman for the Governor of Kandahar. “When we transport military guys … we use airplanes. Police … they use their ranger cars. They do not sit, dozens of them, in the middle of a civilian bus.”

Mr. Aybi's denial that soldiers have been killed was repeated by several government officials, including Defence Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, and local Kandahar Police Chief Matiullah Qateh. All three men dismissed the Taliban's claims as deliberate propaganda.

Mr. Aybi said officials are still working to confirm exactly how many passengers Taliban fighters killed.
More on link

Soccer replaces executions at Kandahar stadium
Updated Mon. Oct. 20 2008 9:34 AM ET The Canadian Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Muhamudullah Gulalai stands on the balcony overlooking the first row of bleachers and watches the soccer match below him. 

It's two of Kandahar's B-league teams, but still the young men pass the ball expertly, flying into the air for headers and whirling bicycle kicks. 

Slowly, afternoons like this are erasing the memory of what this stadium was under the rule of the Taliban -- a place of public execution. 

"If you ask each person of Kandahar, they know what the history of this place is," says Gulalai, who now manages the stadium. 

"The shooting of people ... Each child knows these things." 

Now, Canadian-funded renovations to the stadium may help those memories fade faster. 

A $25,000 project begun last spring and finished early this fall has freshened the paint, polished the marble, rebuilt the plumbing and electrical systems and generally restored Kandahar's soccer stadium to its place at the heart of the city's social life. 

"The place was in fairly rough condition," says Sgt. Kevin Stanford, a military engineer based in Equimalt, B.C. 

Marble cladding had fallen off. The kitchen facilities were unusable and the bathrooms unspeakable. The electrical systems were so makeshift that scorch marks from short-circuits covered the walls. 

"(Cables) were hanging everywhere," said Stanford. "If it was North American standards, you'd fire the guy on the spot." 

The Kandahari love of soccer was such that games were still being played on the pitted pitch. But the battle-scarred facility just wasn't up to hosting the kind of events that fans remembered from the old days, and the local government came to the Canadian-run Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar with a plan to renovate the stadium and hold a massive, 25-day tournament involving teams from a dozen provinces. 

Canada said yes. 
More on link

Afghanistan: Italian foreign minister rejects call for extra troops
Article Link

Islamabad, 20 Oct. (AKI) - On a visit to Pakistan, Italian Foreign Minister,Franco Frattini, announced no extra troops would be sent to war-torn Afghanistan."I do not think sending more troops is the right solution today," Frattini told the media on Monday, while en route to Pakistan. Frattini arrived in the country's capital, Islamabad, for talks on bilateral ties and regional issues with his counterpart, Makhdoom Qureshi.

Frattini's visit is his first official to Pakistan and he is due to meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, and Pakistan's army chief of staff.

Frattini said that Italy had recently made "a further effort sending four Tornado aircrafts to reinforce defence" and that "the troops that are present make Italy the fourth (largest) contingent in Afghanistan controlling a strategic province that the Taliban want to make, or make seem, less secure."

The Italian Tornado aircraft will carry out surveillance flights over the country's troublespots. 

"Italy's strategy is right because it does not respond (to aggression) with raids, instead, continues to cooperate with the people," he said. 

Frattini said Italy has set an example by using a combination of cooperation and peacekeeping, winning the sympathy and admiration of the people, an Italian model the other should follow.

Frattini also rejected the idea of dialogue with the Taliban.
More on link

2 German soldiers killed by blast in Afghanistan
3 hours ago
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says a suicide bomber in northern Afghanistan has killed two German soldiers and five children.

The governor of Kunduz province, Mohammad Omar, says two other German soldiers and two children were wounded in the blast Monday.

NATO confirms that some of its soldiers were killed and wounded in the attack in the province's Chahar Dara district.

Omar says the soldiers were patrolling on foot when the bomber riding a bicycle hit them.

Taliban militants regularly use suicide bombers to attack foreign and Afghan troops. But many of their victims have been civilians.
More on link

Pakistan muzzles its guns
By Syed Saleem Shahzad 
Article Link

KARACHI - Cash-strapped Pakistan, after the failure of operations against militants in Bajaur Agency and the Swat Valley, has had to call off an offensive in the North Waziristan tribal area, and instead negotiate ceasefire deals. 

Nevertheless, relentless pressure from the United States will not allow Islamabad to remain inactive for too long. This would have been the message relayed by US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who made an unscheduled visit to Pakistan at the weekend. The US is all too aware how militant strongholds in Pakistan's tribal areas fuel the Taliban-led insurgency across the border in Afghanistan. 

Pakistan is in a deep financial hole, however, and the best it cando is buy time with the militants until the crisis eases. 

Both China and the United States appear reluctant to bail out Pakistan, which is in danger of defaulting on debt worth US$3 billion in the next few months. Saudi Arabia, too, has not offered deferred payment on oil or any cash relief and at the weekend Pakistan said it might have to seek assistance from the unpopular International Monetary Fund. 
More on link

Taliban kill Christian aid worker in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH – 4 hours ago 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban gunmen on a motorbike killed a Christian aid worker in the Afghan capital on Monday, and the militant group said it had targeted the woman because she was proselytizing.

The woman, a British national, worked with handicapped Afghans and was killed in the western part of Kabul as she was walking alone around 8 a.m., police said. Najib Samsoor, a district police chief, originally said the woman was from South Africa, but the British government later said she was British.

The gunmen shot the victim in the body and leg with a pistol, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. Officials did not release her name.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the slaying, saying the woman was killed because she was spreading Christianity.
More on link

Paid and Played
October 20, 2008: 
Article Link

The Taliban appear to have 20-30 percent more gunmen in operation this year, largely because of greater earning from the drug business. They have adopted new tactics that emphasize operating in smaller groups, and trying to avoid the foreign aircraft and UAVs that appear to be everywhere. This year, the Taliban are leaving attacks on foreign troops up to terrorists (al Qaeda and Taliban). However, only about four percent of the victims of these attacks are foreign troops. Some 80 percent are Afghan civilians, and the rest Afghan police and soldiers. So far this year, 5,100 people have died in Taliban related violence. Most of the dead were Taliban or al Qaeda, killed by foreign and Afghan forces.. 

Most Taliban concentrate on trying to control the population around drug producing areas, and along the smuggling routes the gangs use to get the stuff out. All this work for the drug gangs brings in enough money so the Taliban can pay their gunmen twice what the soldiers or police get. Taliban commanders get paid more than police and army commanders, and there's plenty of money available to bribe government and military officials. The drug gangs back the Taliban because the Islamic zealots distract the police and army from disrupting drug operations. The drug lords don't think that the Taliban have much chance of regaining control of the entire country. All Afghans remember how widely reviled the Taliban were in the years before they were overthrown in late 2001. But if the Taliban should regain power, the pre-2001 deal with the drug gangs will be revived. That is, the Taliban will tax the drug trade while telling the world that they have banned it. To the drug gangs, the current government is much too dangerous. Although many senior members of the government have been bought, most are hostile to the heroin trade, and willing to work with NATO and the U.S. to attack the drug business. So the Taliban get paid and played by the drug gangs, who have a more certain future than their religious allies
More on link

NATO: 20 insurgents killed west of Afghan capital
8 hours ago
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The NATO-led force in Afghanistan says its troops assaulted an insurgent stronghold just west of the capital in a two-day battle that left 20 militants dead.

NATO said in a statement Monday that the battle took place in Wardak province. The province has become an insurgent stronghold at the gates of the capital just 40 miles west of Kabul.

NATO says its troops were flown into Wardak's Jalrez District on Thursday and were attacked by insurgents. That sparked a two-day battle in which airstrikes were used to kill more than 20 militants.

No NATO troops were killed in the clash.
More on link

Investigation drags even as more soldiers accuse Afghan allies of abusing young boys
October 19, 2008 Rick Westhead Staff Reporter
Article Link

The Canadian military's National Investigation Service is telling some witnesses it could take up to two years to investigate claims by Canadian soldiers that they've seen Afghan soldiers and interpreters raping young boys near Canadian bases outside Kandahar.

That would leave the problem unresolved until about 2011 – the year Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged to pull Canada's soldiers from the country – when the issue could well become moot.

"It's unconscionable," said Michel Drapeau, a retired Canadian colonel who practises military law in Ottawa. "It's completely unacceptable that they would take two years. How many more boys will be forced to go through this before we finally get around to looking at this seriously?"

Canadian investigators, who were initially slow to move on the claims, saying they lacked formal complaints, began reviewing the allegations in July at the request of military police.

That followed comments by Gen. Rick Hillier, then Canada's top soldier, who said in June that Canadian soldiers have a duty to intervene when they see abuse committed.

"We have all the authority we need," Hillier, who has since retired, told the Commons defence committee. "If somebody is being seriously abused and we are witness to it, we are not going to stand by ... no ambiguity from this chief of defence staff," Hillier told the committee, adding he'd just "reconfirmed that direction through the entire chain of command into Kandahar province."

Soldiers who allege they have witnessed assaults are continuing to return home from Afghanistan seeking trauma counselling. 

The latest soldiers to request counselling are from a group of about 30 based in Newfoundland, said a senior military source who asked not to be identified. A medical officer is scheduled to go to Newfoundland to help the soldiers later this month.

In June, the Star reported that several Canadian soldiers had complained about the abuse of Afghan children to military officers in Afghanistan and chaplains and medical staff in Canada.

The first soldiers to complain said their allegations were ignored.

John Pike, an analyst with GlobalSecurity.org, a Washington-based military think tank, said a two-year timetable is "preposterous."

"Two years is enough time to complete your doctoral dissertation."
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (21 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 21

Nato chief attacks lack of will on Afghanistan
• General points out failure to increase troop presence
• Call for reform of funding and decision making
_The Guardian_, Oct. 21
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/21/afghanistan-nato



> The failure of Nato countries to send more combat troops to Afghanistan revealed a "wavering" political will that raised fundamental questions about the relevance of the alliance, its supreme military commander warned yesterday.
> 
> In a scathing attack on member states for reneging on their promises, General John Craddock painted a depressing picture of Afghanistan while demanding reform of the Nato alliance and the way it took decisions. In a passage demonstrating growing US - and British - impatience with other allied countries, Craddock asked: "Do we really need to achieve consensus at every level" of Nato decision-making?
> 
> ...



Pakistani Legislators Show Little Appetite for a Fight
_NY Times_, Oct. 20
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/world/asia/21pstan.html?ref=todayspaper



> An unusual parliamentary debate organized to forge a national policy on how to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda has exposed deep ambivalence about the militants, even as their reach extends to suicide attacks in the capital.
> 
> In one of his first initiatives as president, Asif Ali Zardari called the session in an effort to mobilize Pakistan’s political parties and its public to support the fight against the militants, which he has now called Pakistan’s war.
> 
> ...



Saudis confirm push for Afghan-Taliban peace talks
AFP, Oct. 21
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=896964



> Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that the kingdom has been sponsoring talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban militia.
> 
> But Prince Saud warned that any further talks would require a readiness by the warring Afghan factions to lay down their arms and embrace the political process.
> 
> ...



France to host regional Afghan meeting by year-end 
Reuters, Oct. 21
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081021/n_top_news/cnews_us_france_afghanistan_meeting



> France will host an informal meeting between Afghanistan and its neighbors before year's end in hopes of stabilizing the violence-wracked country, the French foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
> ADVERTISEMENT
> 
> Attacks on Afghan government forces and NATO troops supporting them have been on the upswing this year, as have been fighting in neighboring Pakistan between government troops and insurgents who operate on both sides of the border.
> ...


 
Hit and miss with Afghan air strikes
_Asia Times_, Oct. 22, by Gareth Porter
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ22Df01.html



> The present United States policy in Afghanistan of using air strikes to target local Taliban leaders was rejected by the top US commander in Afghanistan in early 2004 as certain to turn the broader population against the US presence.
> 
> Lieutenant General David Barno, the three-star general who commanded the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, the overall US and coalition command for Afghanistan from October 2003 to mid-2005, recalled in an interview that he had ordered that such air strikes be halted in Afghanistan in early 2004. He said the decision did not prohibit air strikes for close support of US troops in contact with the Taliban.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (21 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 21, 2008*

Court Spares Afghan Journalist’s Life  
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — An appeals court sentenced a young Afghan journalist to 20 years in prison for blasphemy on Tuesday, overturning a death sentence ordered by a provincial court but raising further concerns of judicial propriety in the case. 

The defendant, Sayed Parwiz Kambakhsh, 23, was a student in journalism in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and worked for a daily newspaper there. He was arrested last October and accused of printing and distributing an article from the Internet about Islam and women’s rights, on which he had written some comments about the Prophet Muhammad’s failings on that issue.

While insults to Muhammad are anathema in Afghanistan, the decisions by both the lower court and appeals court shocked many of Mr. Kambakhsh’s supporters and outraged international journalism organizations, which suggested that neither of the trials had been fair. The defendant’s brother, also a journalist, said the proceedings had been prompted by his own critical writings about local militia and political leaders. 

Mr. Kambakhsh’s defense lawyer said he would appeal to the Supreme Court, and he called on President Hamid Karzai for help. 

“We request the president of Afghanistan to intervene and to not let the corruption in the judicial system violate the rights of Afghan citizens,” said the lawyer, Mohammad Afzal Nuristani.

Reporters Without Borders said, “Afghan justice has again failed to protect Afghan law and guarantee free expression.” In a statement on its Web site, it continued: “The appeal proceedings were marred by ideological distortion, a glaring lack of evidence and incomprehensible delays.” Mr. Kambakhsh’s brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, said the sentence was issued under pressure from local militia and political leaders he had criticized in his articles, according to The Associated Press. 

The court in Mazar-i-Sharif sentenced Mr. Kambakhsh to death in January, after a five-minute trial in which he was not allowed to offer any defense. The appeal was held in a Kabul court before a panel of three judges and involved several hearings over a number of months. 

John Dempsey, an American lawyer observing the trial in Kabul, said Mr. Kambakhsh was not accorded fair treatment. “He was detained far longer that he should have been legally held,” he said, according to The A.P. “The defense lawyer was not even allowed to meet the witnesses until a night before the trial.”
More on link

Canada must protest sentence of Afghan 'blasphemer,' brother says
Tom Blackwell, Canwest News Service Published: Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The brother of the Afghan journalism student who now faces 20 years in prison for blasphemy says countries like Canada must lobby hard against the harsh punishment if they care at all about justice and freedom.

On Tuesday, an appeal court overturned the death penalty meted out to Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh in January, sentencing him instead to 20 years in prison. His lawyers and supporters had expected him to be freed.

Kambakhsh's brother, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, told Canwest News Service he is sure Islamists pushed President Hamid Karzai and the appeal court to impose the stiff penalty. The judges, who are "living in the Middle Ages," did not understand the case and readily complied, he said.
More on link


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## GAP (22 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 22, 2008*

Exit date demands exit strategy
 TheStar.com - Opinion - Exit date demands exit strategy
 October 21, 2008 Martin Regg Cohn
Article Link

Remember Afghanistan?

Largely forgotten during the election, it may soon be impossible to ignore. Canada's 2011 withdrawal deadline, restated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in mid-campaign, will hang over the life of the next Parliament as more soldiers lose their lives in combat.

Now that we have an exit date, we need an exit strategy. For this country's biggest military operation in recent memory, this is just the beginning of the ending.

The clamour to cut our losses will grow louder when our 100th fatality is announced in the days or months ahead. 

Opponents of the war will argue that we need to recalibrate the 3D equation of development, diplomacy, defence. With more aid, better negotiations, less military might.

But when the 100th Canadian death comes, let's remember that one of the first to die was Glyn Berry. A veteran Canadian diplomat who volunteered for our Provincial Reconstruction Teams, he and other aid workers have been targeted by the Taliban.

This is a reminder that development and security are symbiotic. Without one, the other withers and dies. Reducing military spending wouldn't magically boost development aid, because a deteriorating security situation would swiftly leave NGOs even more exposed to Taliban fire. And Afghanistan's fledgling government lacks the capacity to absorb more funding just yet.

As for talking to the Taliban: Not so fast.

First, the Taliban are not of a mind to negotiate, because they are hardly of one mind. They are nowadays a loose coalition of tribal fighters, highway bandits, Islamist mujahideen and Al Qaeda partisans.

Second, even if the Taliban were chanting from the same prayer book as before, negotiation was never their forte. Nor mutual tolerance a ready tactic.

Remember Bamiyan?

The Taliban deemed the ancient Buddhist images of that isolated region to be idolatrous – and dynamited the colossal limestone statues. I can recall the despair on the streets of Kandahar after the Taliban defied the pleas of Muslim scholars from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to spare Bamiyan's priceless heritage.
More on link

Afghanistan. Slain worker's charity suspends operations
Canwest News Service Published: Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Article Link

The charity SERVE Afghanistan has suspended its operations in the country after one of its aid workers, Gayle Williams, 34, was killed in Kabul, its board chairman said yesterday. Ms. Williams, who held British and South African citizenship, was shot by two gunmen on a motorcycle as she walked to work. SERVE Afghanistan chairman Mike Lyth said the charity had closed its offices and told foreign workers to stay home, and was now considering whether to operate solely with Afghan staff or withdraw entirely from the country
End

The US vs. Pakistan: With Allies Like These
By Simon Robinson / Islamabad Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
Article Link

For one 34-year-old Pakistani soldier, it is a simple matter of respect. The soldier, a Major in the Frontier Corps in the mountainous badlands along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, says recent U.S. military incursions into Pakistan not only breach an agreement between the two countries, but call into question the very spirit of the alliance President Bush says is the most important in the war on terror. "As a Pakistani, nobody likes someone to enter their home. It raises doubts about American credibility and the sincerity of their alliance with Pakistan," says the Major, who asked not to be named because military rules discourage soldiers from speaking to the media. "We have clear territorial limits and when you cross them, it is humiliating for us. The Americans are pushing us against the wall." Far from helping in the fight against terrorist groups, the incursions hurt it, says the Major. Under the circumstances, he adds, "I have to ask myself: 'Why am I doing this?'"
More on link

Foreign troops kill nine Afghan soldiers
Wed Oct 22, 2008 1:13pm BST   
Article Link

FACTBOX- Security developments in Afghanistan By Elyas Wahdat

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Foreign troops killed nine Afghan soldiers in a mistaken air strike in the southeast of the country overnight, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

The U.S. military confirmed Afghan soldiers may have been killed and wounded in a case of mistaken identity but said it did not have any casualty figures.

Scores of Afghan civilians have been killed in air strikes by international troops in Afghanistan this year, Afghan officials say, feeding a perception that NATO-led and U.S. coalition forces do not take enough care when calling in air support.

But it is still rare for foreign troops to hit their allies in the Afghan security forces

Helicopter gunships pounded an Afghan army post on a road in Dowa Manda district of Khost province, a Taliban stronghold, district chief Lutfullah Babakarkheil said. Eight soldiers were killed and four wounded, he said.

The Afghan Defence Ministry in Kabul put the number of troops killed at nine.
More on link


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## GAP (23 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 23, 2008*

Editorial: A dangerous lack of consensus  
Article Link

After meeting the FATA and NWFP representatives on Tuesday, President Asif Ali Zardari has asked the political leaders of the country to “own” the war on terror because “military and security agencies cannot be left to fight the war alone”. He explained that “the fight against terrorism is part of a larger struggle to save the country, the federation and its democratic structure”.

The representatives of the Tribal Areas at the meeting reportedly insisted on ceasefire and negotiation. A similar effort to evolve a consensus in parliament is meeting with disagreement. An in-camera session of the parliament has tapered off without making a dent in the discord that prevails there. Therefore a 16-member “multi-partisan” committee is not expected to make great headway in arriving at an agreed text of a resolution aimed at “owning the war against terrorism”.

The opposition inside and outside the parliament is toughening. The plan to expand the “democratic principle” has run up against a clear politicisation of the subject under discussion. If the appeal was to set aside politics for a moment and focus on the danger to the state, it has not worked. The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ) has departed from its old stance under General Pervez Musharraf and has drafted a resolution to canvass the MQM against consensus, whittling down the majority which the coalition now enjoys. The JUI has already beaten a retreat with its leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman saying that he wants the military operation stopped and foreign policy changed on Afghanistan .

The situation denotes the following factors. The primary democratic principle of “majority in the house” is no longer tenable because of the weakness of the state institutions in Pakistan. All third world states suffer from this weakness but in the case of Pakistan it concerns particularly the acceptance on the part of state institutions of an order based on the majority principle. But democracy doesn’t promise consensus. The people can bestow majority on a party or a coalition but they cannot bestow consensus through elections. The present situation seems to be seeking a consensus that is both intra-parliamentary and extra-parliamentary, an impossible task.
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Afghanistan: Taliban fail to seize Lashkar Gah
Article Link

... for now, anyway, according to local reports from southern Helmand Province.

Elsewhere in this critical southern province, a shortage of Afghan National Army troops has forced a retreat by Danish and ANA forces, according to Danish press reports. Coalition forces reportedly will reconsolidate their operations in Helmand Province in Garmsir, Lashkar Gah, Sangin, Musa Qala and Gereshk, a strategy that holds faint echoes of the old Soviet idea of controlling Afghanistan from its main towns and the Ring Road.

The capital of Helmand and a center of Taliban activity, Lashkar Gah was the focus of a concerted but unsuccessful Taliban offensive this month. The Taliban's ability to mass and resupply its fighters around the outskirts of the city was surprising, given that a reinforced Marine battalion had just spent six months in central Helmand Province seeking to decimate Taliban forces and disrupt their supply network.

Intelligence analyst John McCreary notes that hundreds of Taliban were killed or wounded in wave attacks on the city and were beaten back by coalition air strikes. 

On Monday, for example, an Air force MQ 9a Reaper dropped a 500-pound GBU-12 on insurgents firing small arms and RPGs, and a B-1B bomber unloaded 500-pound GBU-38s onto insurgents attacking the city, according to U.S. CENTAF headquarters.

The Afghan National Police also took heavy casaulties defending the city. 
McCreary adds: "The fighting is continuing in adjacent districts, but at a lower level. It is not clear that the lull of the past five days is more than the prelude to another assault.

"The evidence for that is the torture and execution of 27 passengers kidnapped from a long-distance bus to Kandahar. Some were beheaded and mutilated. The Taliban insist they were Afghan National Army reinforcements for Lashkargah, but wearing civilian clothes.''

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, however, accused the Taliban of deliberate killing of civilians in that instance and others.
More on link

Journalist sentenced to die in Kabul lives to tell his tale
JESSICA LEEDER From Thursday's Globe and Mail October 23, 2008 at 12:07 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — On the morning of Oct. 27, 2007, Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh got the call that changed his life. 

The phone rang early, before Mr. Kambakhsh had started his day as a second-year journalism student. The caller identified himself as an official from the notorious National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's national intelligence agency.

“They said come to the NDS office,” Mr. Kambakhsh recalled. At the time, he couldn't fathom what the visit was about. “I arrived over there at 10 a.m. And I waited until 3 p.m., when I asked for the manager to see if I could go home,” he said. “It was my working time. They said to me, ‘You cannot go. You are under arrest.' Then, they arrested me.” 

This week Mr. Kambakhsh narrowly escaped the death penalty over alleged actions that – even had he committed them, which he denies – would be nothing more than a typical classroom debate for a journalism student in the West. 
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U.S.: Al Qaeda commander believed killed in Pakistan
Article Link

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A senior al Qaeda operational commander is believed to have been killed recently in Pakistan's South Waziristan region, several U.S. officials told CNN Wednesday.

The officials identified the man as Khalid Habib, who is considered to have been an operations coordinator for al Qaeda in the tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, are believed to be hiding.

One official described him as the "chief of external operations" for al Qaeda.

Officially, the U.S. intelligence assessment is that Habib was "probably" killed last Thursday, because there is no final DNA match, but there is every reason to believe he was killed, the officials said. Local groups in Pakistan also reported his death over the weekend.

The U.S. officials would not confirm Habib's apparent death was the result of a missile strike by a U.S. Predator unmanned drone.

But a Pakistani intelligence official and eyewitnesses reported October 16 that unmanned planes fired missiles over the village of Saam, in Wana -- the capital of South Waziristan -- killing at least four civilians and wounding seven others.

The United States, which has a presence in Afghanistan, is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from drones, which are controlled remotely.

At the time, U.S. Forces Afghanistan in Kabul had no comment on such strikes, as part of its standing policy.
More on link

FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan
Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07am IST
Article Link

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 0530 GMT on Thursday:

WESTERN AFGHANISTAN - A roadside bomb killed three soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, the U.S. military said. It did not give the nationality of the soldiers.

HELMAND - Soldiers from the NATO-led force shot dead a civilian when he failed to stop approaching a military patrol on Wednesday in Helmand's Sangin district, some 490 km (305 miles) southwest of Kabul, the alliance said.

URUZGAN - U.S.-led coalition forces killed 15 militants, including a Taliban commander, in an air strike on Tuesday in Deh Rawood district of Uruzgan province, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Kabul, the U.S. military said.

URUZGAN - U.S.-led and Afghan soldiers killed three militants in Uruzgan's Khas Uruzgan district, some 300 km (185 miles) southwest of Kabul, after their patrol came under attack, the U.S. military said.

FARAH - U.S.-led and Afghan soldiers killed three militants after coming under attack in the Bala Boluk district of western Farah province on Wednesday, some 660 km (410 miles) southwest of Kabul, the U.S. military said. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Valerie Lee) 
More on link

Secret American hostage in Afghanistan freed
From Mike Mount  CNN Pentagon Producer
Article Link
     
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. citizen who was held hostage for ransom in Afghanistan since mid-August was freed last week by U.S. special forces troops in a rare raid, according to Pentagon officials.

The unidentified American is a civilian who was working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on infrastructure projects when he was abducted. The U.S. government never announced the man's abduction, according to military officials who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to talk about the subject.

Officials would not say why the kidnapping was kept quiet, but speculated it was to prevent publicity that could notify captors of the search efforts.

The kidnapped American was held about 30 miles from Kabul in the Nirkh district of Wardak province, officials said. 

They would not talk about the intelligence or methods used by the military to discover and free the American, but the officials said his captors in the compound were killed in the raid.
More on link

Exclusive dispatch: Pakistan's hidden war
Thursday, 23 October 2008 
Article Link

War has come to the world's only Muslim nuclear state. Not just terrorist bombs, but pitched battles bringing refugees down from the mountains and even into Afghanistan. In a powerful dispatch, Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich report on the conflict which has left 200,000 people caught between the Pakistani Army, the Taliban and the tribal warlords

There was a loud, sharp sound followed by flames and massive blast of wind that threw the young boy twenty yards through the air. It felt as if he had fallen off the mountain. 


When he pulled himself to his feet, dazed and battered, he discovered nine members of his family were dead and that his mother was badly wounded. All were victims of a deadly artillery shell fired by the Pakistani military battling with Taliban fighters in the country's mountainous border region. As soon as they were able, the boy's remaining family and the rest of his village fled. 

That was two months ago. Now 12-year-old Ikram Ullah sits with thousands of others in a wretched, fly-ridden refugee camp close to the north-west city of Mardan, his face streaked with dirt and tears as he tells his story and wonders what will happen to him. The food is poor, there are few proper facilities and there is nothing to do. "Life here," he says, crouching in the dust among rows of canvas tents, "is filled with sadness and grief." 

Ikram is not alone. Aid agencies estimate up to 200,000 desperate people have been forced to leave their villages as a result of the fighting. Scattered in camps across northern Pakistan, they offer a glimpse into a deadly conflict largely overlooked by the West but which has created chaos and misery for the region's civilian population. All the while, as the Pakistan Army bends to pressure from the US to do more to confront the Taliban militants building strongholds and extending their influence in the tribal areas, so the fall-out for the civilians gets worse. Every day their lives are threatened both by the pounding jets that sweep into the valleys on bombing runs and by the clattering helicopter gunships that the Pakistan military is using to spearhead its assaults. The people sitting in the dust are the so-called "collateral damage" of Pakistan's own war on terror. 
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Pentagon sees fewer foreign fighters slipping into Afghanistan
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Fewer foreign fighters are slipping into Afghanistan since Pakistan launched its offensive in August against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in border tribal regions, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

In a media briefing, US Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell welcomed "stepped-up operations" by the Pakistani military in Peshawar, and in Swat in particular, over the past two months.

"It is stepped up not just in terms of tempo, but in terms of effectiveness," Morrell said. "As a result, we have seen some improvement in the flow of foreign fighters across the border into Afghanistan."

He said the assessment came from US sources, but he gave no figures as to how many fewer foreign militants might be crossing the frontier since the Pakistani offensive -- launched amid strong US pressure -- began.

It appears that Pakistani operations are not only more frequent, but also "more effective," with "more forces, more resources, perhaps a better strategy" being dedicated to the mission, he said.

The Pakistan military said in late September that more than 1,000 militants -- including Al-Qaeda's operational commander in the region, Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri -- have been killed in its offensive in Bajaur.

Washington and Kabul say Islamic militants use the remote border areas of Pakistan to launch attacks on US-led and NATO troops deployed in Afghanistan.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (23 Oct 2008)

Afghans rout enemy
Beat back militants under guidance of Canuck mentors
CP, Oct. 23
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/World/2008/10/23/7173491-sun.html



> The Afghan National Army has declared victory in defending a southern city from an attempted Taliban takeover after days of heavy fighting that tested the mettle of an Afghan battalion under Canadian mentorship.
> 
> "The enemy tried to occupy Lashkar Gah, but Afghan forces have defeated them very well, which perhaps they were not expecting," Afghan Gen. Sher Muhammad Zazai said through a translator in Kandahar yesterday.
> 
> ...



Obama favours U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan
'I'd send at least two or three additional brigades,' Democratic presidential candidate says
_Globe and Mail_, Oct. 23, by Paul Koring
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081023.CAMPAIGNSPEECH23//TPStory/International



> Sounding presidential, Senator Barack Obama said yesterday he would order a surge of U.S. troops - perhaps 15,000 or more - to Afghanistan as soon as he reached the White House.
> 
> "We're confronting an urgent crisis in Afghanistan," Mr. Obama, the Democratic contender and now clear front-runner to replace George W. Bush, said yesterday.
> 
> ...



Pakistan Will Give Arms to Tribal Militias
Plan Bolsters U.S. Faith In Ally's Anti-Extremist Efforts
_Washington Post_, Oct. 23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102203708.html?wpisrc=newsletter



> Pakistan plans to arm tens of thousands of anti-Taliban tribal fighters in its western border region in hopes -- shared by the U.S. military -- that the nascent militias can replicate the tribal "Awakening" movement that proved decisive in the battle against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
> 
> The militias, called lashkars, will receive Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles and other small arms, a purchase arranged during a visit to Beijing this month by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistani officials said.
> 
> ...



Afghanistan: challenging assumptions
Conference of Defence Association's media round-up, Oct. 23
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1224786966/

Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (24 Oct 2008)

*Bomb-disposal experts 'think through bomber's eyes' in Afghanistan*
Canadian Press, 23 Oct 08
Article link

The call came in to the small, highly trained and highly secretive Canadian team based on the outskirts of Kandahar - an unknown device had been found near a city school and it was thought to be a bomb.  The team jumped to it.  "Sometimes, between receiving the call and out-the-door is maybe 10 minutes," says John, whose real name can't be disclosed for security reasons.  When they arrived, they found a burlap bag tied off at both ends leaning against a bicycle.  "We carefully opened the bag," John says. "We saw what looked like a car door opener attached to a battery" - a classic way of triggering a bomb by remote control.  But something didn't seem right. The team took a closer look and realized what they were really dealing with.  "It was a come-on," John says.  The door opener was a decoy, sitting harmlessly on top of a 15-kilogram can of homemade explosive. If the team had moved it and then moved what they thought was the successfully defused bomb, they would have triggered the real detonator ....


*Canadian Mounties share skills with Afghan Police*
NATO news release PR# 2008-556, 23 Oct. 2008
News release link

The security of Afghanistan is dependant on an effective police force. The police spend more time with people in their communities, and are more familiar with the region than other national security forces.  The Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is helping the Afghan people achieve a peaceful and secure country through the training of the Afghan National Police and official government security details.  “The police are key to a stable government,” acting RCMP contingent commander Joe McAllister said.  “If the police are a trustworthy force, then the people will trust their security to the government and not turn to the Taliban.  If the police can improve their image in the community, then it will help improve the government’s image.”  More than three hundred police and other government forces have gone through training at the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team since they started the program in the spring of 2007.  At the PRT, Canadian police supplement the training given at the Afghan National Police that they don’t get at their academy ....


*Afghan activist says Cda should spread development funding across country*
Canadian Press, 23 Oct 08
Article link

Canada is doing a disservice to Afghanistan by spending the bulk of its development funds in Kandahar, a leading Afghan human rights activist said Thursday.  Sima Samar, chairwoman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said foreign countries like Canada are focusing their development and reconstruction budgets on more volatile areas where development is tougher.  Meanwhile, more stable parts of the country where significant development can take place are being ignored, she said during a visit to Montreal which included attending a board meeting for the group Rights and Democracy.  "Development money should be co-ordinated clearly with the Afghan government and should be distributed fairly to the different provinces," she said ....


*Military inquiry into Afghan prisoner treatment gets back to work*
Mike Blanchfield ,  Canwest News Service, 23 Oct 08
Article link

A controversial military board of inquiry into Canada's handling of Afghan detainees has reconvened after an adjournment of 14 months.  The Canadian Forces internal board of inquiry into the treatment of the prisoners in the Kandahar region on April 6-7, 2006, which went back to work this week, is one of several overlapping probes into the controversial incident that has caused political headaches for the Conservative government and sparked partisan acrimony on Parliament Hill.  Then-defence chief Gen. Rick Hillier announced in February 2007 that he was convening the internal board of inquiry to examine the incident.  In February 2007, Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association filed a complaint alleging the Forces military police had transferred Afghan detainees to Afghan authorities despite evidence they might be tortured.  In February 2007, Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association filed a complaint alleging the Forces military police had transferred Afghan detainees to Afghan authorities despite evidence they might be tortured ....


*Security concerns over voter registration process *
IRIN humanitarian news and analysis (UN), 23 Oct 08
Article link

The decision by the Afghan government to use hundreds of medical and educational facilities as voter registration centres has sparked concern about potential security risks to aid workers, students and other civilians.  Afghanistan is expected to hold presidential elections in 2009 with financial and technical assistance from the UN and other donors. President Hamid Karzai has said he will seek re-election for another five-year term.  In a bid to ensure peoples’ participation the government has designated schools, hospitals and mosques all over the country as voter registration stations ....


*Europe could boost NATO Afghanistan troop levels*
Reuters, 23 Oct 08
Article link

European nations could contribute more to NATO's mission in Afghanistan if Washington poured in more resources itself and provided a compelling strategy, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Thursday.  Violence in Afghanistan is at its highest level since U.S.-led forces toppled hard-line Taliban Islamist rulers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States for harboring al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden.  The Taliban and other insurgent groups are particularly strong in the south and east of Afghanistan and enjoy safe havens across the border in Pakistan, officials say ....


*Afghan anti-corruption efforts receive financial boost with UN grants*
UN News Center, 23 Oct 08
Article link

Three Afghan civil society groups working to combat corruption in the fledgling democracy will be able to boost their activities to promote accountability and transparency thanks to grants being provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  Integrated Approaches for Community Development, Integrity Watch Afghanistan, and Saba Media Organization will each receive grants of up to $50,000 to carry out activities in the areas of monitoring, awareness-raising and capacity development, media and access to information, and training on anti-corruption and ethics ....


*More on links*


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## GAP (25 Oct 2008)

*Articles found Oct 25, 2008*

 Survivor tells of harrowing escape from Taliban bus hijacking
JESSICA LEEDER From Saturday's Globe and Mail October 25, 2008 at 12:37 AM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Four gun-wielding Taliban forced their way onto the bus – two through the front door and two through the back – and tied the hands of all of the passengers so they could march the 24 hostages off.

Three dark, terrifying nights later, Bashar was the only one left, the lone survivor of a mass slaughter that was one of most brazen attacks in this country's war-ravaged south.

In an exclusive interview this week, Bashar, who goes by only one name, spoke with The Globe and Mail in his hospital room in Lashkar Gah, a small city 100 kilometres west of Kandahar. With one foot wrapped in bandages, he explained in detail how he witnessed the Taliban slaughter his friends, and how he pulled off his narrow escape.

The attack, which took place Oct. 16, went unnoticed by police until four days later, when clusters of dead bodies, some of them beheaded, were found by local residents in pockets along a rural section of highway that connects Kandahar city to far-flung Herat, a stretch that is virtually unpoliced.
More on link

 Hopeful signs from Pakistan
National Post  Published: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Article Link

The outcome of the war in Afghanistan will be determined as much in the madrassas, safe houses and training camps of Pakistan's north-western provinces as on the roadsides and battlegrounds of Afghanistan itself. The Taliban were an early-1990s creation of fundamentalist elements within the Pakistani secret service-- the ISI -- and they continue to be a force inside Afghanistan today only because they are constantly funded, resupplied and sent new recruits through Pakistan.

So it was encouraging to learn this week that the new Pakistani government has undertaken two new campaigns to eliminate Taliban activity on its soil. Pakistani military commanders have begun enlisting the help of local tribal militias, or lashkars, to battle pockets of Taliban within Pakistan's largely lawless territories. And the Pakistani military has accepted nearly three dozen U. S. special forces trainers to help improve the effectiveness of their own counterterrorist forces.

Both, admittedly, are but small first steps. But at least they are steps in the right direction.

During the past month, many Western leaders have doubted out loud our chances of winning the war against Taliban insurgency outright.

Earlier this month, the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier-General Mark Carleton-Smith, told London's Sunday Times that NATO troops may have to withdraw before the insurgents are entirely defeated. "We're not going to win this war," he said. "It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army."
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 2 foreigners shot to death in Kabul, police say
8 hours ago
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A shooting attack Saturday in front of the offices of an international shipping company in Afghanistan's capital killed two foreigners and an Afghan, police said.

The shooting took place in front of the DHL office in downtown Kabul. Kabul's deputy police chief originally said the two slain foreigners were German but another police official, Abdul Raouf, later said the two were South African and British.

The two foreigners were shot in their SUV as they were apparently pulling into the DHL office. Blood splattered the front windshield.

The shooting follows the slaying in Kabul of a dual South African-British citizen by Taliban gunmen earlier in the week.
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 US: Opium output falls in Afghanistan  
Sat, 25 Oct 2008 09:14:22 GMT 
  Article Link

US claims on Afghan opium production cut contradicts a recent UN report 
A US report estimates opium production in Afghanistan has fallen this year by almost one third, while UN numbers reflect only six percent. 

The report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy claims opium production has decreased by 31% this year, to 5,500 tons, compared to 8,000 in 2007. 

"We are very pleased to announce today the US government estimate of poppy cultivation and opium production in Afghanistan showed substantial declines," said John Walters, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. 

According to the UN report published in August however, Afghan opium production was reduced by 500 tons, or about 6 percent, from the 2007 season. 

A UN survey suggests the cutback in opium production in Afghanistan is a this-year-only occurrence. 

The UN also expressed concern that Afghanistan is still the world's biggest opium producer. 
More on link

 Troops will target Afghan drug labs
NATO effort to cut funding to Taliban
Dave ********, Canwest News Service Published: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Article Link

Canadian troops in Afghanistan will soon target opium-processing laboratories and high-level drug barons in an effort to cut off funding for the Taliban, Canada's top soldier said.

But Canadian Forces personnel will not conduct operations to eradicate poppy fields, said Gen. Walter Natynczyk, chief of the defence staff.

Earlier this month, NATO defence ministers agreed to target Afghan drug networks in an attempt to reduce the amount of money the Taliban has to fund its insurgency.
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 Former governor of Kandahar province lands Afghan cabinet post
18 hours ago
Article Link

Activists and political experts urged Ottawa to register its disappointment with the Afghan government Friday after learning of the decision to give a cabinet post to the controversial former governor of Kandahar province.

The end of Asadullah Khalid's tenure as governor in the province where Canadian forces are concentrated was put off in April when former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier publicly called for his ouster - a diplomatic faux pas.

Now, just two months after Khalid was quietly replaced by Rahmatullah Raufi, a former Afghan army general, President Hamid Karzai has named him minister of state for parliamentary affairs.

The charismatic former governor landed the position despite having led a provincial government that was dogged by whispers of corruption and accusations that he himself took part in the abuse of prisoners - a charge he has vehemently denied.

"Regardless of what position he holds within government, there are very serious allegations that have been made against him, including the possibility that he might have been quite directly involved in human rights violations," Amnesty International's Alex Neve said Friday.
More on link

 Killings rapped   
  Article Link  

KABUL: More than 1,000 people shouted anti-Taliban slogans in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, protesting the recent slayings of 26 young men from their community by militants in the south.

The unprecedented demonstration in the Alingar district of the eastern Laghman province was one of the largest anti-Taliban gatherings since the fall of the hard-line regime.

On Sunday, Taliban stopped a bus in southern Kandahar province's Maiwand district and killed 26 of the passengers. 

The protests came as France played down the capture by Taliban forces of two French anti-tank missiles seized after the insurgents launched a major attack on hundreds of its troops in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Herve Morin said in the French City of Annecy that Western forces in Afghanistan sometimes had to abandon weapons in the field and that the main concern had been to get the troops out of last Saturday's ambush alive.

A security official in Pakistan said Taliban militants beheaded two men in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt after accusing them of spying for Afghanistan.
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France plays down Taliban capture of anti-tank missiles
Article Link

ANNECY: France played down the capture by Taliban of two French anti-tank missiles seized after a major attack was launched on hundreds of its troops in Afghanistan on Friday.

Defence Minister Herve Morin said that western forces in Afghanistan had to abandon weapons in the field and that the main concern had been to get the troops out of last Saturday's ambush alive.

"It was an ambush in a narrow valley, with a lot of Taliban," said Morin as he visited an army unit in the eastern town of Annecy that was about to send some of its soldiers to Afghanistan.

"The essential thing is that everyone is alive," he said, adding that the abandoned Milan anti-tank missiles would be difficult to use for anyone without the proper training.

Fourteen Taliban were killed in the clash, according to NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (25 Oct 2008)

Army: Pakistan troops capture militant stronghold
AP, Oct. 25
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/25/AR2008102500336.html



> KHAR, Pakistan -- Pakistan's army captured a militant stronghold near the Afghan border, the military said Saturday, a breakthrough in an offensive against the Taliban and al-Qaida that has sent nearly 200,000 civilians fleeing for safety.
> 
> Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan said government forces captured Loi Sam, a strategic town in the Bajur tribal region, earlier this week "and killed the militants who were hiding there."
> 
> ...



US training Pakistani forces to fight Taliban
AP, Oct. 24
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081024/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_us_training_mission;_ylt=AmvqO1xHpfpm5vpO0JQFZvNvaA8F



> ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – U.S. special forces have begun teaching a Pakistani paramilitary unit how to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida, hoping to strengthen a key front-line force as violence surges on both sides of the border with Afghanistan.
> 
> The sensitive mission puts rare American boots on the ground in a key theater in the war against extremist groups, but it risks fanning anti-U.S. sentiment among Pakistani Muslims already angry over suspected CIA missile attacks on militants in the same frontier region.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (26 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 26

U.S. considers sending special ops to Afghanistan
Despite recent setbacks, a large-scale influx of conventional forces is unlikely because of troop commitments in Iraq. But special operations forces could narrowly target the most violent insurgent bands.
_LA Times_, Oct. 26
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-usafghan26-2008oct26,0,4379577.story



> Reporting from Washington -- In a sign that the U.S. military is scaling back its goals in Afghanistan, senior Pentagon officials are weighing controversial proposals to send additional teams of highly trained special operations forces to narrowly target the most violent insurgent bands in the country.
> 
> The proposals are part of an acknowledgment among senior brass that a large-scale influx of conventional forces is unlikely in the near future because of troop commitments in Iraq. It also reflects the urgency to take some action to reverse recent setbacks in Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



US chiefs plan troop surge in Afghanistan
_Sunday Times_, Oct. 26
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5014730.ece



> American military chiefs are to send up to 9,000 troops to Helmand next year, potentially sidelining the UK’s 5,000-strong force in the southern Afghanistan province. The first of three US brigade combat teams is expected to be operational by the spring. Their main base is under construction alongside the British headquarters at Camp Bastion.
> 
> The move comes amid US frustration that the British have insufficient soldiers and helicopters to maintain security and reconstruct Helmand, with the Taliban acting freely in large tracts of the province.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (27 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 27

NATO General: Negative Afghan Headlines Overblown
NATO Commander In Afghanistan On Media Offensive To Counter Negative Headlines
AP, Oct. 27
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/27/ap/asia/main4546772.shtml



> NATO's top commander in Afghanistan is tired of negative headlines, and he is on an offensive to counter what he sees as a wave of unwarranted pessimism in news reports coming out of the country.
> 
> U.S. Gen. David McKiernan's public relations push comes at a time when more U.S. and NATO troops have died than in any other year since the 2001 U.S. invasion, in part because Taliban militants are launching increasingly complex and deadly attacks.
> 
> ...



Gunfire brings down U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan
AP, Oct. 27
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081027.wafghanchopper1027/BNStory/Afghanistan/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20081027.wafghanchopper1027



> Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter after exchanging fire with its crew in central Afghanistan on Monday, while a suicide bomber in the north killed two U.S. soldiers inside a police station, officials said.
> 
> The helicopter was forced down in Wardak, one province west of Kabul, after insurgents hit it with gunfire Monday, said Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthew, a U.S. military spokesman. The crew survived and have been extracted from the area, he said.
> 
> ...



U.S. Takes to Air to Hit Militants Inside Pakistan 
_NY Times_, Oct. 26
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/washington/27intel.html?ref=todayspaper



> The White House has backed away from using American commandos for further ground raids into Pakistan after furious complaints from its government, relying instead on an intensifying campaign of airstrikes by the Central Intelligence Agency against militants in the Pakistani mountains.
> 
> According to American and Pakistani officials, attacks by remotely piloted Predator aircraft have increased sharply in frequency and scope in the past three months.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## OldSolduer (27 Oct 2008)

I reckon that some of these political "leaders" are as thick as BC pine. When will our politicians learn that in order to capture someone ground forces are required to be utilized? Predator drones are fine for finding things, but they can't capture anything.

My opinion.


----------



## MG34 (27 Oct 2008)

OldSolduer said:
			
		

> I reckon that some of these political "leaders" are as thick as BC pine. When will our politicians learn that in order to capture someone ground forces are required to be utilized? Predator drones are fine for finding things, but they can't capture anything.
> 
> My opinion.



If you blow them to pieces with a Hellfire in a "safe area" there is no need to commit ground troops while at the same time you force the leaders to move and expose themselves, allowing further strikes.


----------



## OldSolduer (27 Oct 2008)

Good points, but you may need to capture a few alive to interrogate. Just a thought.


----------



## GAP (27 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 27, 2008*

Attackers gouge out Afghan man's eyes
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- Armed assailants attacked a man and gouged out his eyes in front of his family during a gruesome assault in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

The man, Sayed Ghulam, is recovering in a hospital in the country's largest southern city, Kandahar.

Ghulam, 52, said three armed men knocked on his door in the Sangin district of Helmand province late Thursday. After he opened the door, they punched him in the face, put the barrel of a Kalashnikov rifle in his mouth and gouged out his eyes with a knife in the presence of his wife and seven children.

"I was crying, along with my children and wife, who was screaming for help, but they didn't listen," Ghulam told The Associated Press from his hospital room in Kandahar.

Ghulam, a farmer who said he raises wheat and popcorn, said he does not know why he was attacked. "I don't have any enemies. But they were not letting me talk. They put the AK-47 in my mouth and they were punching me."

Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand's governor, blamed Taliban fighters for the attack, saying that the militants often kill innocent Afghans.
More on link

Salmonbellies take lacrosse to Afghanistan
Kent Gilchrist, Canwest News Service  Published: Friday, October 24, 2008
Article Link

VANCOUVER -- By this time next week the Canadian troops in Kandahar should be playing box lacrosse under the lights in what will surely be a first for Afghanistan.

Lacrosse is, of course, Canada's national summer sport and even if it isn't summer over there it's darn hot. That's why they play things like ball hockey at night. It can get up to a toasty 40 in the mid-day sun. It's also what makes this such a wonderful story. Sports provide distractions from the heat and stress of putting their lives on the line the war-torn environment.

"It was a no brainer," said Dan Richardson, the president and general manager of the Western Lacrosse Association's New Westminster (B.C.) Salmonbellies who recently returned from Brampton, Ont., where they lost the Canadian senior lacrosse championship to the more experienced Excelsiors 4-0. 

The Bellies may have lost the Mann Cup, but they've gained a legion of new fans in a truly unlikely place. Not only do the troops have the Salmonbellies to thank for getting 30 brand new sticks and 50 balls - courtesy of Warrior Lacrosse, the manufacturer - but they'll be wearing New Westminster team T-shirts and pinnies (those armpit shirts in different colours to differentiate teams). 
More on link

Canadian soldiers rely on contacts, own instincts to assess Afghan security
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Dozens of smiling children skipped along behind the heavily armed Canadian soldiers as they walked slowly through Kandahar's dusty streets and muddy lanes, some trying out their hesitant English, some limited to a shy "hello" and a wave.

One of the soldiers, sweating in in full battle dress, glanced around with a wry smile.

"It isn't always this friendly. When we drive LAVs (Light Armoured Vehicles) down this road, we get pelted with rocks. Just pelted."

And that sums up the difficulty of trying to assess what's really going on in Kandahar's labyrinthine streets.

A patrol from Camp Nathan Smith, the centre of Canada's development efforts in the provincial capital's rapidly growing outskirts, set out this week to walk the roads and mud-walled alleys around their base in an effort to find out how their neighbours feel about security, development and the local government.

"It's difficult, there's no doubt," sighs Capt. Jean Breton of the Toronto Scottish Regiment, who's learned to balance what he's told with what he sees around him.
More on link

Turkish govt says 3 Turks kidnapped in Afghanistan
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Three Turkish citizens working on a communications project in Afghanistan have been kidnapped, Afghan and Turkish foreign ministry officials announced Saturday.

The Turkish nationals were kidnapped in the eastern province of Khost on Thursday, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta told a joint news conference Saturday with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

Afghan intelligence officials and the provincial governor were working to resolve the issue, Spanta said, adding that the three were believed to have been abducted by a criminal gang.

Turkish foreign ministry officials in Ankara did not reveal the identities of the kidnap victims or more details about the incide
More on link

Myriad militant groups operate on Pakistan border
By The Associated Press – 1 day ago 
Article Link

Key militant groups that operate in Pakistan's violent northwest. While all are anti-U.S., only some are anti-Pakistan.

TEHRIK-E-TALIBAN

Leader: Baitullah Mehsud

An umbrella organization that embraces several Taliban-style groups, including the Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law, a violent affiliate of al-Qaida with close ties to its No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri. Declared war on Pakistan in 2007 after its military operation against religious students holding a siege at the Red Mosque in Islamabad. Strong in Bajaur tribal region. Blamed for most attacks in Pakistan, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

ANTI-MEHSUD TALIBAN GROUP

Leaders: Gul Bahadar, Maulvi Naseer

This group has promised not to attack Pakistan. Pakistan praises the group for killing hundreds of Uzbek al-Qaida fighters earlier this year, but Washington says the group sent fighters over the border into Afghanistan to attack U.S. forces. Washington wants Pakistan to shut Nasser down.
More on link

Sisters in arms
Article Link
Bryan Patterson October 26, 2008 12:00am


NEVER before have Australian servicewomen been closer to harm's way. In Afghanistan and Iraq they are in the line of fire.

GENDER is irrelevant on the bloody battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Any soldier, male or female, is a target in a war with no frontlines and no safe zones. 

In theory, women in the Australian Defence Force are barred from frontline combat zones. 

Our women in Afghanistan and Iraq - about 100 serve there with the ADF - find that amusing, in a bittersweet sort of way. 

Day after day, they face physical and emotional crisis that would test the steel of any soldier. 

They have come to know that there’s no hiding from the roadside bombs, incoming mortars and sudden armed attacks. Death can be a second away for any soldier under the new, blurred rules of war. 

Most of our men and women in the war zones regard the front line in Afghanistan and Iraq as anywhere outside the base camps. In reality, anywhere can be a combat zone, no matter what sex you are. 

Last June, Sarah Bryant, a British intelligence officer, was on a secret counter-terrorism mission in Helmand province in Afghanistan when she was killed along with three reserve members of the Special Air Service when their armoured Land Rovers were hit by a roadside bomb. She was 26. 

Married to a fellow intelligence officer, Ms Bryant’s main work in Afghanistan involved monitoring Taliban telephone and walkie-talkie communications. 
More on link

EURASIA INSIGHT 
ARE THEOLOGICAL TENSIONS DISTANCING TALIBAN FROM AL-QAEDA?  
Jeffrey Donovan 10/26/08 A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL 
Article Link

Is this end of a beautiful friendship?

The Taliban and Al-Qaeda have enjoyed a long alliance in Afghanistan. Their relationship, based on a seemingly shared brand of severe and militant Islam, even survived the US-led toppling of the Taliban in 2001, which came after leader Mullah Omar famously refused to turn over to the Americans his Al-Qaeda ally, Osama bin Laden.

To this day, that relationship endures. But will it last? Rifts and tensions between the Taliban and Arab Al-Qaeda, as well as vastly different Islamic traditions, suggest that a basis for separation exists. Whether it occurs could determine whether peace negotiations between the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Taliban foes ever get off the ground.

Afghan Muslim traditions, including the Taliban, are culturally and historically distinct from Al-Qaeda’s Saudi-rooted Salafist Islam, says Francesco Zannini, an expert on modern Islam. In that sense, the two Sunni movements have always been awkward bedfellows.

"The whole Indian subcontinent, including Afghanistan, still lives an Islam that is profoundly rooted in local customs," says Zannini, author of the recently published "Islam In The Heart Of Asia: From The Caucasus To Thailand." "So they have always found themselves ill at ease with the strictly Arab Wahhabist doctrine and the entire Salafist movement."

With the Afghan war worsening, NATO officers and political leaders have made it clear that the seven-year conflict won’t be resolved militarily.
More on link

U.S. might employ special forces strategy in Afghanistan
Peter Spiegel / Los Angeles Times
Article Link

WASHINGTON -- In a sign the U.S. military is scaling back its goals in Afghanistan, senior Pentagon officials are weighing controversial proposals to send additional teams of highly trained special operations forces to narrowly target the most violent insurgent bands in the country. 

The proposals are part of an acknowledgment among senior brass that a large-scale influx of conventional forces is unlikely in the near future because of troop commitments in Iraq. It also reflects the urgency to take some action to reverse recent setbacks in Afghanistan. 

The idea of sending more special forces has intensified the debate over the best way to fight the Afghan war. As security worsens in the country, many military leaders are concluding that an Iraq-style troop "surge" and counterinsurgency plan would not work because of the country's rugged geography and a history of resistance to rule from Kabul, the capital. 
More on link


----------



## GAP (28 Oct 2008)

*Articles found September 28, 2008*

Tom Blackwell in Afghanistan: 'Reconstruction' efforts not reaching most Kandahari's
Posted: October 27, 2008, 5:32 PM by Shane Dingman 
Article Link

Mohammad Naseem is the kind of guy that foreign nations trying to fathom the mysteries of Afghanistan's Pashtun culture dream about. Born in Kandahar, the 33-year-old spent much of his youth in the United States, went to school in California and learned to speak idiomatic English. Then in 2002 -- his country suddenly freed of the yoke of Taliban repression -- Naseem headed back to his homeland, eager to help his people and make something of himself in what he saw as a new land of opportunity.

It worked out pretty well. The neophyte businessman's improbable first venture was a coffee house in downtown Kandahar, the conservative heart of a society that consumes green tea by the bucket load. Tea is such a part of the culture that people will ask you if you'd like a cup the same way we ask "How's it going?" And yet, the coffee house -- also famous for its cheeseburgers -- became such a success that it had to move into bigger quarters. He also started an advertising agency, Arokzia -- which Naseem calls the first in Afghanistan -- and a newspaper, Surgar (Red Mountain), which boasts a circulation of 10,000. Not bad in a nation with an 80% illiteracy rate. Unlike the druglords who form much of the elite in this part of the world, it would seem Naseem became a Kandahar mover and shaker by purely legitimate means. At the same time, the businessman admits he has a foot in both cultures. Still steeped in the somewhat reserved mores of the Pashtuns, he also absorbed a bit of the American can-do attitude.

Cultural go-betweens like him would seem a rare gift in a conflict that has thrown together two such different peoples. So, the Canadians who are responsible for Kandahar province and run the development-oriented Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the city, beat a path to his door, right? Not exactly. In fact, Naseem says he has never set foot inside the PRT base, and has never been contacted by a Canadian official. (Nor, it should be pointed out, has he approached them.) The official Canadian line is that they must work through local government figures -- who are appointed by the Kabul administration. It is the government the Afghan people have chosen, the Canadians say, and the foreigners have to respect that. And yet, is there not room for a little advice on the side?
More on link

Afghan army solidarity threatened by Taliban bribes
Oct 27, 2008 06:09 PM Murray Brewster THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link

OTTAWA–Cold, hard cash, along with cold hard steel, has now become part of the Taliban's arsenal against Afghan and NATO forces.

Flush with proceeds from the illegal drug trade, militants are apparently bribing newly trained but poorly paid Afghan soldiers, who are considered the key to Canada's 2011 exit strategy from Kandahar.

The Taliban have offered as much as US$300 per month – roughly three times the monthly salary of an ordinary soldier – to entice Afghans to switch sides, say defence officials.

They'll also fork over money if soldiers lay down their weapons or walk away from their posts, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Canadian soldiers, who mentor the fledgling Afghan National Army in Kandahar, are aware of the tactic and received reports as recently as two weeks ago of militants trying to recruit Afghan soldiers belonging to unit in the area.

In that case, no money was put on the table. A spokesperson for Canada's task force in Afghanistan played down the gambit.

"We have not seen indicators that the insurgents are using this tactic in a regular or systematic manner," Maj. Jay Janzen said in a statement from Kandahar.

The Canadian army "is only aware of isolated incidents of this tactic being used against Afghan soldiers."

A senior Afghan Army commander in Kandahar dismissed the notion that the loyalty of his soldiers could be bought.
More on link

Bigger role for US CIA drones in Pakistan
 Bruce Loudon, South Asia correspondent | October 28, 2008 
Article Link

TWENTY people were killed last night in a missile strike by CIA Predator drone aircraft inside Pakistan amid reports that Washington is intensifying its aerial bombardment of the country after being forced to back away from plans to send in ground forces.

The attack - the 18th in the past few weeks - targeted what was described as a "militant compound" close to Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan tribal agency that is the fiefdom of top jihadi commander Baitullah Mehsud - a man closely linked to al-Qa'ida and the Taliban. 

The latest strike and others carried out by the CIA were described last night by Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as "disastrous". 

"Such actions are proving counter-productive to (the Government's) efforts to isolate the extremists and militants from the tribal population which is involved in the formation of tribal lashkars (armies)," Mr Gilani said. 

In Islamabad yesterday, the first serious moves at peace talks with the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan began when a tribal jirga (assembly) convened at the instigation of both governments. 

The jirga brings together more than 50 tribal elders from both sides of the Durand Line that notionally divides the two countries, and is seen as a modest first attempt to begin negotiations with the militants. 

Participants said the viability of peace talks was likely to form the basis of the discussions, with strong opposition certain to emerge against US policy, including the Predator drone strikes, as well as the presence ofUS and other coalition forces in Afghanistan. 
More on link

New NATO offensive in Uruzgan
By our Security and Defence specialist Hans de Vreij 27-10-2008
Article Link

NATO has conducted one of its larger operations to date in Southern Afghanistan. In a secret operation, one thousand soldiers were deployed to chase Taliban fighters from a contested area in Uruzgan province. The operation lasted ten days and ended on Sunday, the Dutch ministry of Defence announced. 

Operation 'Bor Barakai' (or Thunder) took place in the Mirabad region, just east of the capital of Uruzgan Province, Tarin Kowt. Mirabad has been a known Taliban stronghold for years, and the fact that NATO deemed it necessary to deploy a thousand soldiers gives evidence to the presumption that stiff resistance could be expected. 

British marines
Another indication of this presumption is the fact that the bulk of the troops consisted of British marines. These are not permanently based in Uruzgan province, but are used on a temporary basis by NATO to fill gaps or provide support to operations all over Southern Afghanistan.

Besides 500 troops of '42 Commando Royal Marines', the Dutch deployed some 350 men from its battle group while the Afghan national army provided 150 men. Smaller contingents included Australian Special Forces, and members of the French Foreign Legion that coach Afghan units. 
More on link

Crew of U.S. helicopter is rescued in Afghanistan
Last update: October 27, 2008 - 9:06 PM
Article Link

Insurgents in Afghanistan on Monday downed a U.S. helicopter near the capital of Kabul. The crew was rescued, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The helicopter was flying over Wardak Province, about 40 miles west of Kabul, when it came under small-arms fire, said a U.S. military spokesman. He declined to say how many crew members had been aboard.

Wardak has become a Taliban stronghold in recent months, which has contributed to the choking off of road traffic in and out of Kabul.

In more than seven years of fighting, only rarely have insurgents managed to down Western helicopters. Choppers are a crucial mode of transport for troops and supplies because many of Afghanistan's roads are poorly maintained and dangerous, and Western bases are scattered widely amid extremely rough terrain.

Also Monday, a suicide bomber dressed as an Afghan policeman killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded several people at a police station in northern Afghanistan, provincial officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
More on link

SAfrican jailed in Afghanistan for heroin smuggling  
28/10/2008 09:00 KABUL, Oct 28 (AFP) 
Article Link

A South African man has been jailed for 16 years in Afghanistan for trying to smuggle out nearly six kilograms (13 pounds) of heroin in bottles for body-building supplements, a court said Tuesday.

The 42-year-old, whose name was not released, was arrested around September last year at Kabul International Airport and his conviction has been upheld by an appeal court, said the Criminal Justice Task Force, an anti-drugs court.

He has been sentenced to 16 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 1.05 million Afghanis (21,000 dollars), it said in a statement.

He was found trying to take the heroin out of the country in bottles for body-building supplements, the force's media officer told AFP. Another man had been arrested in South Africa in connection with the case, he said.

Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium and heroin.

The government and its international allies are trying to end drugs production by cracking down on traffickers and persuading farmers to grow other crops.
end


----------



## PanaEng (29 Oct 2008)

Canadians, Taliban battle in information war for hearts, minds of Afghans

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081029/world/afghan_cda_psyops

By Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - It's a familiar routine for local Afghan journalists: within seconds of a roadside blast or bomb attack, they get a boasting text message or phone call from the local Taliban information officer.

"They call right in to the radio presenter on the air," says Khan Mohammed Khadim, manager of Kandahar's Killid group of stations. "Much faster than the ISAF (western) information."

This is the front line in a different kind of fight in the struggle for Afghanistan. In their battle to win the hearts and minds of the local population, both the Taliban propaganda machine and Canadian information and "psyops" teams are ramping up their efforts.

"We've definitely put more resources into it," says Maj. Geoff Davis, in charge of Canadian information operations in Kandahar.

"It's grown progressively with every (troop rotation). It will continue to increase."

The Taliban clearly feel the same way.

"The Taliban has been remarkably successful in projecting itself as much stronger than it is," says a report released last summer by the International Crisis Group, a highly respected multinational think-tank. "The result is a weakening support for nation-building, even though few actively support the Taliban."

The insurgents exploit "the full range of media," the report says. 

more on link


----------



## MarkOttawa (29 Oct 2008)

No role for Taliban chief in Afghan talks: Pentagon 
Reuters, Oct. 29
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/081029/n_top_news/cnews_us_afghan_usa_pentagon



> Taliban leader Mullah Omar should not be involved in Afghan reconciliation efforts despite a renewed interest in talks with members of the Islamist movement, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
> 
> "We as a government do not believe that Mullah Omar is somebody you reconcile with," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
> 
> ...



Prospect of peace talks rises in Afghanistan
As would-be mediators emerge, the prospect of negotiations between Western and Afghan officials and the Taliban is not so readily dismissed.
_LA Times_, Oct. 29
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-taliban29-2008oct29,0,1646596.story



> Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- The Afghan war is at its highest pitch since it began seven years ago, growing daily in scope and savagery. Yet on both sides of the conflict, the possibility of peace negotiations has gained sudden prominence.
> 
> Among Western and Afghan officials, analysts and tribal elders, field commanders and foot soldiers, the notion of talks with the Taliban, once dismissed out of hand, has recently become the subject of serious debate.
> 
> ...



Support Sought In Afghan Mission
U.S. Generals Want 20,000 New Troops
_Washington Post_, Oct. 29
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/28/AR2008102803856.html



> U.S. commanders in Afghanistan now believe they need about 20,000 additional troops to battle a growing Taliban insurgency, as demands mount for support forces such as helicopter units, intelligence teams and engineers that are critical to operating in the country's harsh terrain.
> 
> The troop requests, made in recent weeks, reflect the broader struggles the U.S. military faces in the Afghan war. Fighting has intensified, particularly in the country's eastern region, where attacks are up and cross-border infiltration of insurgents from Pakistan is on the rise. U.S. troop deaths in 2008 are higher than in any other year since the conflict began in 2001.
> 
> ...



General's warning on more Afghan troops
_Guardian_, Oct. 29
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/29/military-afghanistan



> One of Britain's most senior military officers warned last night that there was no point in sending reinforcements to Afghanistan until the Afghans themselves were able to control the ground captured by foreign troops.
> 
> Lieutenant General Sir Peter Wall, who is responsible for overseeing British military operations, said the notion that "flooding" Afghanistan with a "whole load" more troops was the solution was misleading.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (30 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 30

Canadians, Taliban battle in information war for hearts, minds of Afghans
CP, Oct. 29
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/10/29/pf-7241206.html



> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - It's a familiar routine for local Afghan journalists: within seconds of a roadside blast or bomb attack, they get a boasting text message or phone call from the local Taliban information officer.
> 
> "They call right in to the radio presenter on the air," says Khan Mohammed Khadim, manager of Kandahar's Killid group of stations. "Much faster than the ISAF (western) information."
> 
> ...




Back in the UK: Paras tell how they fought Taliban in Afghanistan
Daily Telegraph, Oct. 28
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/3258889/Back-in-the-UK-Paras-tell-how-they-fought-Taliban-in-Afghanistan.html



> Soldiers from the 2nd battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 Para) have returned to the UK after six months of brutal combat in Helmand, southern Afghanistan. Sean Rayment spoke to some of those who fought in, and survived, some of the most ferocious battles fought by the British Army in southern Afghanistan.
> 
> The two Paras were dead before they hit the ground.
> 
> ...



Mayhem On Feroshgah Street: More 'Propaganda Of The Deed' From The Taliban 
_Terry Glavin - Chronicles & Dissent_  Oct. 30 (several links at the post itself)
http://transmontanus.blogspot.com/2008/10/mayhem-on-froshgah-street-more.html



> This was the scene I came upon this morning at the Ministry of Information and Culture headquarters here in Kabul. I took this photograph [at the post] about an hour after the bombing, and it was still a madhouse.
> 
> Local radio initially reported that five workers and a police officer were killed after two suicide bombers charged the building, shot the cop, and burst their way inside. One of the bombers detonated his vest, but the other was shot, and was arrested and hauled off. An hour or so later, reports were that three were dead. Last I checked, it's one dead, and several injured. I'd be surprised if the toll stays that low, because it was one hell of a blast (although this report looks reliable).
> 
> ...



Suicide bomber attacks Afghan ministry
Suicide bomber blows himself up inside Culture Ministry - five dead, police say
_Quqnoos.com_, Oct. 30
http://quqnoos.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1907&Itemid=48



> A SUICIDE bomber has attacked the Ministry of Information and Culture in Kabul, killing five people and wounding nine others, the Interior Ministry says.
> 
> The bomb exploded at 11am on Thursday in a busy part of the capital. Eye-witnesses said the gates of the ministry were blown open and its windows were blown out by the forces of the blast.
> 
> ...



COMMERCIAL CHOPPER PILOTS NEEDED FOR AFGHAN DUTIES
_David ********'s Defence Watch,_ Oct. 29
http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/defencewatch/archive/2008/10/29/commercial-chopper-pilots-needed-for-afghan-duties.aspx



> I’m told that Canadian Helicopters Limited could soon be awarded a contract by the U.S. Defense Department to provide Bell 212’s for Afghanistan (if it hasn’t all ready received it). The choppers would be for the transportation of supplies.
> 
> So the firm is looking for pilots. Here is an ad that recently went up:
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (31 Oct 2008)

ARTICLES FOUND OCT. 31

Canadians troops celebrate latest Afghanistan victories
_National Post_ online, Oct. 31
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=923771



> KANDAHAR -- Sounding much more upbeat than many of his international colleagues, the commander of Canada's Afghanistan mission insisted Friday that his troops have scored a series of important victories lately.
> 
> Canadians have eliminated Taliban commanders, seized bomb factories and broken up supply centres, said Brigadier General Denis Thompson.
> 
> ...



Kabul wants local militias to bolster security
In plan U.S. commander calls 'a mistake,' officials ask elders in volatile south to consider arming peasantry against resurgent Taliban
_Globe and Mail_, Oct. 31
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081031.AFGHAN31//TPStory/Front



> KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Tribal leaders with authority in some of the most dangerous border regions in southern Afghanistan have been asked by government officials to consider raising their own militias to fill security gaps insurgents are exploiting, tribal elders have told The Globe and Mail.
> 
> Struggling to turn the tide in the battle with a resurgent Taliban, officials with a commission set up in the Ministry of Interior have reached out to a handful of tribal leaders who are convinced they can offer better protection against the insurgents than the stretched Afghan police and army.
> 
> ...



Now more than ever, Britain needs a plan for Afghanistan 
_Daily Telegraph_, Oct. 31, by Con Coughlin



> One minute we are being told we must send more troops to Afghanistan if we are to stand any chance of securing victory; the next that the only option is to sit down and talk to the Taliban.
> 
> All the while, as our politicians and military commanders argue over how best to win the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban quietly, but effectively, get on with their deadly insurgency campaign to sap our resolve.
> 
> ...



Turkey hosts meeting of Pakistan, Afghanistan leaders in Istanbul
The Turkish prime minister hosted the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss efforts to bring peace to their region at a conference in Turkey.
_Hürriyet_, Oct. 31
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/10246962.asp?gid=244&sz=9155



> Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's "Europe and Central Asia" meeting in Istanbul on Thursday.
> 
> The leaders, referring to last year's trilateral summit in Ankara between the presidents of the three countries, reiterated their commitment to the encouragement of efforts for peace, security, stability and economic development in the region, Erdogan told in a final declaration released after half the hour meeting.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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