# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread March 2009



## GAP (2 Mar 2009)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread March 2009 *               

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


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## GAP (2 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 2, 2009*

 FACTBOX-Security developments in Afghanistan
Mon Mar 2, 2009 2:21pm GMT
Article Link

HELMAND - NATO-led forces killed eight civilians and wounded 17 in an engagement with insurgents who had attacked their patrol in Sangin district, 490 km (305 miles) southwest of Kabul, on Feb. 23, NATO and the provincial governor's office said.

The joint statement was released following an investigation into the incident which also resulted in insurgent casualties.

NANGARHAR - U.S.-led coalition forces shot at a car when it failed to heed warning signals in Jalalabad city, 115 km (70 miles) east of Kabul, wounding one civilian passenger on Sunday, the U.S. military said.

NANGARHAR - A vehicle belonging to NATO-led forces rolled over after it swerved to avoid a collision with another vehicle, killing a civilian on a bicycle in Jalalabad city on Sunday, the alliance said.

HELMAND - NATO-led troops wounded one Afghan boy when they fired mortars at two men they say were planting a roadside bomb in Gereshk district, 530 km (330 miles) southwest of Kabul, on Thursday, the alliance said.

FARAH - NATO-led soldiers wounded two civilians when they shot at a car they say was travelling too close to their military convoy in Farah, 650 km (405 miles) southwest of Kabul, on Sunday, the alliance said. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Sugita Katyal) 
End

 Western forces alone can't beat Afghan insurgents: Harper
15 hours ago Article Link

OTTAWA — Western forces alone can never defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and President Barack Obama better realize that in shaping his strategy there, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In an interview aired Sunday on the U.S. cable news network CNN, Harper said he's "delighted" the president is sending more troops to the country in the short term.

Many of them will be deployed in the Kandahar region, where more than 2,000 Canadian soldiers already on the ground can use the help.

But in the longer run, said Harper, it's the government in Kabul that will have to run its own country and be responsible for its own security.

"We're not going to win this war just by staying," he told interviewer Fareed Zakaria.

"Quite frankly, we are not going to ever defeat the insurgency. Afghanistan has probably had - my reading of Afghanistan history (is) it's probably had an insurgency forever of some kind."

"What has to happen in Afghanistan is we have to have an Afghan government that is capable of managing that insurgency."
More on link

 Afghan children killed by old munitions, likely Taliban's: Canadian military
3 hours ago Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Military investigators in Afghanistan have determined the deadly blast that killed three Afghan children was caused by an improvised explosive, likely belonging to the Taliban.

Brig.-Gen. Jon Vance, the commander of Canadian troops, said the explosive did not belong to his soldiers, who held a range practice in the area the day before the tragedy.

"The burden of proof and experience in this part of the province places the likelihood of harming people with explosives squarely on the shoulders of the insurgency, not on the shoulders of Canadians," Vance said in a statement Monday at Kandahar Airfield.

The results of the investigation were announced to Afghan media in Kandahar earlier in the day - one week after the tragedy.

Kandahar governor Tooryalai Wesa and Vance held a roundtable with local journalists and took questions about the incident.

Speaking to journalists, Vance went into detail about the forensics of the investigation.

The children likely found the device in a field while on the way home from school and brought it into the village, where it detonated as they stood on a gravel pathway
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (2 Mar 2009)

Tactical Success, Strategic Defeat
Afghan Outrage at U.S. Raid Highlights Challenges Facing New Military Push
_Washington Post_, March 2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030102203.html?sid=ST2009030102381



> The U.S. soldiers entered the sleeping village in Logar province in the dead of night on Feb. 20, sure of their target and heavily armed. They surrounded a mud-walled compound, shouting commands, and then kicked down the gate as cries of protest erupted within.
> 
> Exactly what happened next is disputed, but shots were fired and a man inside fell dead. Four other men were grabbed and arrested. Then the soldiers departed, leaving the women to calm the frightened children and the rumors to spread in the dark.
> 
> ...



From a Fortified Base, a Different View of Afghanistan
_Washington Post_, March 2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030102380.html



> FORWARD OPERATING BASE ALTIMUR, Afghanistan, March 2 -- From the air, this U.S. Army camp in Logar province looks like a fortified gravel pit on a barren slope, surrounded by two-tiered sacks of dirt and razor wire.
> 
> But inside the wire, the hundreds of young sappers and scouts and cavalry troops from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, all newly arrived for a one-year deployment, have a pretty good life.
> 
> ...



Paween Mushtakhel is forced into hiding as Taleban return to Kabul
_The Times_, March 2
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5827879.ece



> Paween Mushtakhel was 19 and nervous when she made her stage debut in Kabul. She fell in love with acting and went on to become one of Afghanistan’s leading theatre and television actresses, a specialist in comic roles. Today, at 41, she says she wishes that she had never discovered the stage.
> 
> In December her husband was murdered by unknown gunmen outside their home after defying months of telephone warnings to stop his wife appearing on television. “I killed my husband with my acting,” Mrs Mushtakhel says, her face dark with fatigue and stress. She has spent the past three months in hiding, fearful for her life and those of her two young children. Her only option, she says, is to flee the country.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (4 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 4

Avoiding Pakistan, New Supply Route to Afghanistan Opens 
_NY Times_, March 3
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/world/asia/04supply.html?partner=rss&emc=rss



> A new route to take cargo to American and NATO forces in Afghanistan has opened, American officials said Tuesday, providing an alternative to the primary supply route — through the troubled border with Pakistan — as it comes increasingly under threat.
> 
> Some of the cargo, which is made up of commercial goods, was rolling by rail through Russian territory on Tuesday, said Capt. Kevin Aandahl, the spokesman for United States Transportation Command.  The cargo enters Europe at the port cities of Riga, Latvia, and Poti, Georgia. For now, the cargo will enter Afghanistan from Uzbekistan, but some is expected to travel through neighboring Tajikistan in the future, said Western diplomatic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, following normal diplomatic protocol.
> 
> ...



U.S. Strategy in Afghan War Hinges on Far-Flung Outposts 
_Wall St. Journal_, March 4
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123611818947423107.html



> SERAY, Afghanistan -- The attacks usually begin in the afternoon, just after the soldiers of Combat Outpost Seray return from patrol. One recent day, Taliban fighters shot at the base from a nearby mountain range. In response, Apache attack helicopters launched rockets at the mountain, kicking up plumes of mottled smoke.
> 
> "Day comes, day goes," said Spc. Trey Dart, taking shelter under a makeshift roof of green sandbags. "Firefights are just another part of the routine."
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (5 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 5

Kyrgyzstan says U.S. base closure is final
Reuters, March 5
http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSL590208



> BISHKEK, March 5 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan will not reverse its decision to shut down a United States military air base,
> http://www.manas.afcent.af.mil/
> which is key for Washington's war in Afghanistan, a spokesman for President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Thursday.
> 
> The BBC on Wednesday quoted Bakiyev as saying "the doors are not closed" for talks on the future of the air base, which Washington used to supply troops operating in Afghanistan.



Afghanistan: words and guns 
Conference of Defence Associations media round-up, March 5
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1236274606/

Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (6 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 6

Afghan Supply Chain a Weak Point
With Troop Buildup Coming, U.S. Is Challenged on the Ground and in the Air
_Washington Post_, March 6
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/05/AR2009030503368.html



> The U.S. military is laboring to shore up a vulnerable supply chain through Pakistan and Central Asia as it seeks to expand the flow of supplies into Afghanistan by at least 50 percent to support an influx of tens of thousands of troops, according to defense officials and experts.
> 
> One new link is now undergoing testing with the first shipment of U.S. military nonlethal cargo through Russia, officials said. That cargo has already crossed into Kazakhstan on its way to Afghanistan, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
> 
> ...



"All the News not Fit to Print" 
_The Torch_, March 6
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2009/03/all-news-not-fit-to-print.html



> The Canadian Minister of National Defence meets with the US Secretary of Defense in Washington to discuss Afghanistan. Something that should be given serious news coverage in Canada, right? Wrong. As far as I can find the meeting has barely been mentioned in our media--a decent CP story at the CTV and CANOE websites, and some paragraphs towards the end of this Canwest News piece carried by some of their papers. Note what the story considers to be the big Canadian news about Afstan...



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (8 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 8

Karzai approves August date for Afghan polls 
AFP, March 7
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090307/world/afghanistan_vote_politics_date_1



> Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday presidential elections would go ahead on August 20 and called for a "national consensus" to decide on who should rule the country after his term ends in May.
> ADVERTISEMENT
> 
> Karzai, under huge pressure from the United Nations, the United States and other Afghan allies to support the August date set by the election commission, caused a stir last week when he called for an April ballot.
> ...



U.S. Troops Face a Tangle Of Goals in Afghanistan
_Washington Post_, March 8
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/07/AR2009030702090.html



> BARAKI BARAK, Afghanistan -- It started out as a mission of diplomatic outreach, a get-acquainted visit to a village school principal. It ended with a far less comfortable encounter, as U.S. soldiers and Afghan police poked through haylofts and chicken coops, searching in vain for hidden weapons in a farmhouse full of silently staring people.
> 
> The five-hour patrol in Logar province two weeks ago, conducted by Army Lt. Steve Nepowada and his squad of 17 men, encompassed both the contradictory goals of the expanded U.S. military effort in Afghanistan and the mixed messages it is sending out to a jittery, confused populace that is not sure whom to trust.
> 
> ...



UK ex-commander: Afghanistan mission "worthless" 
Reuters, March 7
http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L7340539.htm



> A former British commander in Afghanistan has described the military operation in the south of the country as "worthless" and compared the campaign to the start of the Vietnam war.
> 
> Ex-SAS commander Maj. Sebastian Morley, who resigned last year in protest at the handling of the conflict, said operations were being undermined by a lack of troops and resources.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (9 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 9, 2009*

 Warm winter fuels rise in Afghan border violence
Fri Mar 6, 2009 12:12pm EST
Article Link

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - Violence has risen sharply this year along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan, where a warm winter is allowing militants freer movement through mountain passes, a U.S. Army officer said on Friday.

Colonel John Johnson, commander of the 101st Airborne Division's 4th combat brigade, said militants from the Taliban, al Qaeda and other groups have also shifted the target of their attacks from U.S. and NATO forces to the Afghan army and police.

"Over this past year, there's been roughly a 20 percent increase in overall enemy activity. And over the past two months, compared to 2008, roughly about 30 percent," he told Pentagon reporters by video link from a base in Khost province.

He did not disclose the number of attacks, but said "much of that increase has been in ineffective attacks."

Johnson commands a force of about 5,000 U.S. and coalition troops in an area that shares a 300 mile (500 km) border with Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where U.S. officials say militants operate from safe havens. His area of operation encompasses Khost, Paktika and Paktia provinces.
More on link

 US Army Captain Charged With Stealing Iraq Funds   
By VOA News  06 March 2009
   Article Link

A U.S. military officer has been charged with stealing nearly $700,000 of funds intended for humanitarian relief in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Captain Michael Dung Nguyen is accused of stealing the money while on duty in Iraq, from April 2007 until last month.

Nguyen was arrested after the U.S. Internal Revenue Service tracked large deposits made by Nguyen in U.S. banks.

The army captain is charged with theft of government property, money laundering and illegally structuring financial transactions. 
More on link

 Eliminate Afghan grievances, not Afghans with grievances  By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target Mon. Mar 9 - 5:50 AM  
  Article Link

WHEN I visited Kabul last May, I arranged an interview with Amrullah Saleh, the director of the Afghan National Directorate of Security.

I first met Saleh in the spring of 2007 when he invited me to join him on a mountain hike and picnic.

Fit and intelligent, Saleh impressed me immensely with his knowledge of Canadian issues and politics.

Given that there are 41 countries contributing troops to the NATO mission, not to mention the pressing and complex nature of the Afghan insurgency, one could easily forgive Saleh if he gave Canada short shrift. 

However, such was not the case. Former chief of defence staff Rick Hillier made a lasting impression on Saleh and it was evident he continued to follow our domestic politics quite closely. 

At the time of our last meeting, the Conservative government had managed to enlist the support of the Liberal party in order to extend the Afghanistan mission beyond the original deadline of February 2009.

In order to achieve this consensus, the Conservatives agreed to include the new termination date of December 2011. This compromise solution flew in the face of John Manley’s much-ballyhooed independent commission on Afghanistan that clearly specified that an arbitrary end date should not be set and Canada’s withdrawal from Afghanistan should instead be objective driven.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (10 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 10

U.S. Halted Some Afghan Raids Over Concern on Civilian Deaths
_NY Times_, March 9
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/asia/10terror.html?ref=todayspaper



> The commander of a secretive branch of America’s Special Operations forces last month ordered a halt to most commando missions in Afghanistan, reflecting a growing concern that civilian deaths caused by American firepower are jeopardizing broader goals there.
> 
> The halt, which lasted about two weeks, came after a series of nighttime raids by Special Operations troops in recent months killed women and children, and after months of mounting outrage in Afghanistan about civilians killed in air and ground strikes. The order covered all commando missions except those against the highest-ranking leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, military officials said.
> 
> ...



‘Accomplishing the mission’ in Afghanistan
_Jacksonville (N.C.) Daily News_, March 9
http://fromafghanistan.encblogs.com/?p=789


> ...
> As 8,000 Marines and sailors prepare to deploy to southern Afghanistan as part of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, the commander of the Camp Lejeune-based infantry unit that has been serving in southern Afghanistan since November says they have made important gains even while suffering difficult losses.
> 
> “Counterinsurgency is a sustained commitment that will take time here in Afghanistan; however, we feel we are accomplishing our mission daily and ‘moving the ball’ down the field here,” 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment commander Lt. Col. David Odom told The Daily News via e-mail.
> ...



Marines complete Operation Pathfinder
_Jacksonville (N.C.) Daily News_, March 9
http://fromafghanistan.encblogs.com/?p=795



> FARAH PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Afghan National Police and U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan completed Operation Pathfinder March 7, in Farah Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
> 
> Pathfinder, or “Rah Nawa” in Pashto, was a strategically planned joint operation conducted by the ANP and 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment (Reinforced), the ground combat element of SPMAGTF-A.
> 
> ...




Pakistan Regains Control of Remote Area, for Now
_NY Times_, March 8
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/world/asia/09bajaur.html



> INAYAT KALAY, Pakistan — After a six-month campaign, the Pakistani military is claiming victory over the Taliban in Bajaur, a northern sliver of the tribal areas, saying the militants have suffered heavy losses and have been pushed over the border into Afghanistan.
> 
> As evidence, the military this month showed off the once-busy, mile-long marketplace here, captured from the militants and pulverized to bits of concrete and mounds of dust. A tank was still parked in the remains of a shop.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


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## a_majoor (10 Mar 2009)

Poland steps up:

http://www.military.com/news/article/poland-going-on-offense-in-afghanistan.html?col=1186032310810



> *Poland Going on Offense in Afghanistan*
> March 05, 2009
> BBC
> 
> ...


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## GAP (11 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 11, 2009*

Canada to upgrade troops weapons  
Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:18:34 GMT 
  Article Link

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon speaks on Canada AM from CTV's studios in Ottawa, Tuesday, March 10. 
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon says military equipment for the troops in Afghanistan will be dramatically upgraded. 

Cannon told CTV on Tuesday that the government wound not put Canadian troops "into the theatre to go out there in equipment that is not completely up to sniff." 

"Of course the military will take care of that situation," he said. "Defense budgets are there to be able to take care of it." 

Earlier on Monday, Defense Minister Peter MacKay said that Ottawa was working to get the Leopard tanks into action for its Afghan mission as fast as possible. 

"Those Leopard tanks are lifesavers," MacKay said. "They are game changers and we want to get those tanks where they can be used to save lives and to further the aims of the mission." 

The promise of upgraded military equipment comes amid increasing number of death among Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan since the start of their combat mission in 2002.  
More on link

 Getting boots on, off will be snap for Canadian soldiers  
ON THE MOVE Tue. Mar 10 - 6:09 AM 
  Article Link

CANADIAN SOLDIERS on duty in Afghanistan will soon be receiving four pairs of Halifax-made QuickSnap clips. The simple plastic clips ensure that boot and shoe laces never come undone. Riad Byne, president and CEO of QuickSnap, who also served in Afghanistan, said consistent tension and the ability to get boots on and off much more quickly can improve a soldier’s response time and overall safety. The snaps are part of a care package sent to the troops recently that also included socks endorsed by TV contractor Mike Holmes, and a CD by recording artist Beverley Mahood.

•The Bragg Group of Companies, Floors Plus and Miller Tire have been named as finalists for the Canadian Association of Family Enterprises (Nova Scotia) Family Enterprise of the Year competition. The winner will be announced at a luncheon at Brightwood Golf & Country Club in Dartmouth on Thursday.

•Privateers Harley-Davidson in Halifax has been named Canadian Harley-Davidson Retailer of the Year for the third year in a row, an unprecedented feat for any store within the network. The Trev Deeley Award is presented to the store that rates most highly in sales, promotions, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and on-the-job training.

•Three Nova Scotians were among six business students to recently receive $10,000 Frank H. Sobey Awards for excellence in business studies. The recipients were Halifax native Ashley Hannon, a fourth-year bachelor of business administration student at Acadia University; Hubbards native Aaron Murphy, a fourth-year bachelor of commerce student at Saint Mary’s University; and Katie Brewer, of Howie Centre, a fourth-year bachelor of business administration student at Cape Breton University.
More on link

 Afghan reporter gunned down in Kandahar city
Violent death shocks Western journalists who relied on man known as 'Jojo' for camera work, translation and sourcing information
GLORIA GALLOWAY AND GRAEME SMITH  March 11, 2009 Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- A young man who helped Canadian reporters gather news in Afghanistan and was imprisoned by U.S. forces for nearly a year of self-described "hell" was gunned down yesterday in the centre of Kandahar city.

Jawed (Jojo) Ahmad was driving near the governor's palace when a car pulled up on his passenger side. A man in the vehicle fired into Mr. Ahmad's car, hitting him in the chest. He was declared dead on arrival at Mirwais Hospital in the city.

The violent nature of Mr. Ahmad's death sent waves of disbelief and anger rippling through the tight-knit community of Afghan journalists in Kandahar. The killing also came as a shock to the many Western reporters who relied on him for camera work, translation and help in finding sources of information. He worked frequently for CTV News, among other foreign news organizations.

"Jojo was a courageous young Afghan journalist who worked tirelessly to bring his country's story to the rest of the world through organizations like CTV News," said Robert Hurst, president of CTV News. "We at CTV are deeply saddened by the news of his passing."
More on link

 Afghan women seek inclusion in Taliban talks
16 hours ago
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Advocates for women's rights in Afghanistan urged world leaders to move forward with talks with the Taliban and insisted that women have a place at the negotiating table.

"We need to talk with the Taliban," Najia Zewari, the Gender and Justice Unit Manager for the Afghanistan branch of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) told scores of US lawmakers, rights workers and reporters at a briefing in Washington.

"Our worry is that so far we have not received any message if women would be part of the discussions or if women's issues are part of the agenda of the Taliban," she added.

Western leaders from US President Barack Obama and his vice president, Joe Biden, to Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon have raised the possibility of sitting down with moderate Taliban to seek a way of ending the renewed fighting in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said his government has long supported dialogue with those members of the Taliban who are not connected with the "terrorists" waging an increasingly bloody insurgency in Afghanistan.

"We don't know if women's participation or women's rights are preconditions for the talks," Zewari said. "But what we do know is what we want: women want peace, and we need to talk with the Taliban to bring peace."

Afghan women want "a peaceful transfer of power, away from the men with the guns," said Wenny Kusuma, head of UNIFEM Afghanistan.
More on link

 A Canadian Helicopter Makes History in Afghanistan
Posted on March 10, 2009 by corsullivan 
Article Link

Last weekend marked a small milestone in Canadian military history: we moved troops into a “combat zone” in our very own helicopter, for the first time ever. The helicopter was a Chinook, the soldiers were 30 in number, and the pilot, for the record, was one Major Jonathan Knaul. The combat zone was, well, some “compounds” in Zhari district, west of the city of Kandahar. Here’s how the Globe and Mail described the action:

A large quantity of fertilizer and diesel fuel was found in one of the compounds and detonators were discovered in another along with small arms and ammunition.

There was no confrontation with Taliban fighters during the 11 hours the troops were on the ground, but two Afghan men were detained after being found in a compound with the explosive material.

High drama indeed.

It’s hard to take too much pride in the fact that Canada has just acquired a capability that the American military, for one, has had since its Vietnam days. Even on this “historic” mission, our Canadian Chinook was accompanied by two British ones carrying additional troops. Nevertheless, our newfound ability to swoop down in force on the compounds of the enemy is useful, and important. Moving troops by helicopter is much faster than using the roads, so we’re more likely to have the element of surprise. Better yet, this mode of transport avoids the roadside bombs that have claimed four more Canadian lives in recent days. The helicopters will help us accomplish our newly, and wisely, reformulated goal of reducing the insurgency to manageable proportions.
More on link

 Officials: Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo
By PAMELA HESS – 15 hours ago 
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan is a former prisoner at the Guantanamo detention center. Pentagon and CIA officials say Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul was among 13 prisoners released to the Afghan government in December 2007. He is now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a name officials say is used by the Taliban leader in charge of operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (11 Mar 2009)

Officials: Taliban ops chief once held at Gitmo
AP, March 11
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gepueqQ9a2V5zxXES7DoGnVhSFHwD96RM5GG0



> Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, formerly Guantanamo prisoner No. 008, was among 13 Afghan prisoners released to the Afghan government in December 2007.
> 
> He is now known as Mullah Abdullah Zakir, a nom de guerre that Pentagon and intelligence officials say is used by a Taliban leader who is in charge of operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



Al Qaeda's Afghanistan presence increasing, U.S. official says
_LA Times_, March 11
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-intel11-2009mar11,0,4218559.story



> Al Qaeda has expanded its presence in Afghanistan, taking advantage of the sinking security situation to resurface in the country it was forced to flee seven years ago, the top U.S. military intelligence official testified Tuesday.
> 
> Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, described Al Qaeda's efforts as one of the reasons for the Obama administration's decision last month to order additional troops to Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (12 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 12, 2009*

 Obama picks U.S. ambassadors to Iraq, Afghanistan
Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:58pm EDT
Article Link

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is choosing diplomat Christopher Hill to serve as U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry as ambassador to Afghanistan, the White House said on Wednesday.

Hill is currently Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and was most recently ambassador to the South Korea, where he represented the U.S. delegation in six party talks on North Korea's nuclear program.

Those talks included Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea.

Eikenberry previously worked as Commander of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan and is currently deputy chairman of the NATO military committee in Brussels, Belgium.

The White House said in a statement Obama planned to nominate the two men.

It also said Obama would nominate Ivo Daalder as the U.S. permanent representative to NATO and Alexander Vershbow as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
End

MacKay dismisses nationality requirements for NATO chief

'I don't believe that a person's nationality, given the number of NATO counties there, should ever be a bar to ascendancy to any role in NATO'

By Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News ServiceMarch 9, 2009
Article Link

OTTAWA — The next secretary general of NATO does not have to come from Europe, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Monday.

MacKay is rumoured to be in the running for the top civilian job at NATO, which will be formally filled at the alliance's summit next month. His latest remarks are the strongest indication to date of his interest in the position.

NATO insiders in Brussels have told Canwest News Service that MacKay is a long shot, because a European is favoured to be the political boss of the 26-country alliance to balance the fact that NATO's military commander comes from the United States.

"I don't believe that a person's nationality, given the number of NATO counties there, should ever be a bar to ascendancy to any role in NATO," MacKay said Monday.
More on link

 Afghan Envoy Assails Western Allies as Halfhearted, Defeatist
By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 12, 2009; A14 
Article Link

Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States attacked Western governments fighting in and providing billions in aid to his country, saying that those who claim the international community is not winning the war against extremists there "should know that they never fully tried." 

"We never asked to be the 51st state," Ambassador Said T. Jawad said, a reference to a suggestion last month by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) that the United States should concentrate on "realistic goals" and its "original mission" of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. 

"To suggest that Afghans do not deserve peace, pluralism and human rights is wrong and racist," Jawad said. 

He said negotiations with the Taliban should be conducted by the Afghan government and should be withheld until it was in a "position of strength." President Obama, in a New York Times interview last week, echoed numerous administration and U.S. military officials in suggesting that the United States seek negotiations with "reconcilable" Taliban elements. 

Obama also said the United States and NATO were not winning the war in Afghanistan and spoke favorably of U.S. military plans to bolster Afghan tribal forces to participate in the war against extremists -- a policy seen as successful in Iraq and being tried in pilot programs in Afghanistan. Jawad said yesterday that such plans "will not work" and would undermine the country's stability. 

Jawad's remarks, in an address last night at Harvard University, were a forceful public expression of issues privately raised here last month with the Obama administration by a top-level national security delegation from President Hamid Karzai's government. 

Jawad accused those aiding Afghanistan of "total negligence" in building the Afghan police force and judicial system, "under-investment" in the national army, and providing "meager resources" devoted to helping the Afghan government deliver services and protect its citizens. 

U.S. military expenditures in Afghanistan have totaled more than $173 billion since 2001, with an additional $35 billion spent in reconstruction aid. U.S. military deaths total more than 660, with 431 NATO troops killed. 

Many of Jawad's complaints echo assessments made by the Obama administration, which lays much of the blame for the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan on what it sees as its predecessor's obsession with Iraq at Afghanistan's expense. But the ambassador's tone and rejection of any Afghan responsibility for the situation reflected an escalating tension between the Obama and Karzai governments as Obama's national security team forges a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Karzai "doesn't seem to be ready to take any responsibility for the problems," an administration official said. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (12 Mar 2009)

Bring tanks: Canadians to Americans headed to Kandahar
CP, March 11
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/03/11/8710421.html



> PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Three years of fighting in the dust-choked lanes and tangled grape fields of Panjwaii district have taught Canadian soldiers some hard, bloody lessons.
> 
> As the U.S. prepares this spring to surge 17,000 fresh troops into Afghanistan, they have two words of advice for their American colleagues: Bring tanks.
> 
> ...



Afghanistan's Uruzgan province
The Dutch model 
The flower-strewers partly vindicated
The Economist, March 12
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13279199



> AMID the gloom of recent assessments of the progress of its war in Afghanistan, NATO has seen a flicker of light in an unexpected province: Uruzgan. This 8,000 square-mile (20,000 square-kilometre) tract of the starkly beautiful Afghan central highlands is fast becoming its star performer. If the optimism is justified, it would be a vindication for the Netherlands, which took control of Uruzgan in 2006, deploying 2,000 soldiers, and has faced sniping from NATO’s bigger powers ever since.
> 
> Uruzgan was the birthplace of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and is dominated by the conservative ethnic Pushtuns from whom the Taliban draw their strength. Yet the Dutch forces lost only six soldiers killed in 2008, while the British in neighbouring Helmand lost 51 dead and Canadian forces in Kandahar lost 32 soldiers. Critics claim the Dutch are good at being a “best friend” to local people, but less convincing as a “worst enemy” to the Taliban: “flower-strewers”. Dutch commanders put it differently. Brigadier-General Tom Middendorp, the Dutch commander, denies his soldiers avoid combat. They have been in more than 1,000 firefights since 2006. But Dutch priorities are to engage local people and help them with development.
> 
> ...



U.S. Seeks New Afghan Supply Routes, Even in Iran 
_NY Times_, March 11
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/washington/12military.html?ref=world



> The United States is seeking new supply routes for the war in Afghanistan that would bypass Russia, and has even had logistics experts review overland roads through Iran that might be used by NATO allies, according to military planners and Pentagon officials.
> 
> The effort is aimed at developing reliable alternatives to routes through the Khyber Pass in Pakistan, where convoys have come under increasing attack by the Taliban, and to prepare for the possible loss of an important air base in Kyrgyzstan. The planning also reflects growing concern that Russia could use its clout to restrict American and allied shipments that would be passing in greater amounts through its territory on the way to staging areas in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan en route to Afghanistan.
> 
> ...



Demonstrators in Pakistan Defy Ban 
_NY Times_, March 12
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/world/asia/13pstan.html?_r=1&hp



> Police officers in riot gear used force to disperse some of the thousands of Pakistanis who assembled for opposition marches on Thursday in defiance of a government ban on public gatherings, increasing the fury of political activists who have begun drawing comparisons between the actions of the civilian government and the sweeping security restrictions of the former military dictator, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
> 
> In the southern port city of Karachi, lawyers and opposition political party activists who gathered to march to Islamabad, aiming to converge with others from around the country on Monday, were immediately confronted by heavy contingents of police officers. The police used batons to disperse the protesters and arrested several lawyers and political activists, bundling them in police vans.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (13 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 13, 2009*

 The weapons of death  
KINGSTON IN KANDAHAR: Improvised explosive devices a constant threat 
Posted By IAN ELLIOT  Posted 3 hours ago
Article Link  

Laid out on pallets in a tent under the Afghanistan sun lie the raw materials of death: Russian and Chinese mortar rounds, ammunition, rusty but still lethal hand grenades and land mines. 

Awaiting disposal at Camp Nathan Smith, these are munitions turned in to coalition forces by Afghan citizens, tired of being the victims of the sort of roadside improvised explosive devices that kill soldiers, but also take a disproportionate toll on the locals who travel the roads far more than the foreign soldiers. 

A few rusty, 20-year-old Russian tank shells have enough raw material to build a deadly IED. 

The fact that local Afghans regularly turn up at the gates of Nathan Smith and the other forward operating bases bearing armloads of these lethal presents or instructions to where they can be found is taken as a sign of progress by the troops, evidence that the locals are growing as tired of war as soldiers who leave the safety of the base only in heavily armoured personnel carriers. 

"We've got AK-47 rounds, land mines, grenades, just about everything you can imagine," explains a Canadian Forces bomb squad member, who for security reasons, won't allow himself to be photographed or his name to be used. 
More on link

 Taliban demand $375,000 to free captive Canadian
REHMAT MEHSUD BANNU AND MARK HUME From Friday's Globe and Mail March 12, 2009 at 9:38 PM EDT Article Link

PAKISTAN and VANCOUVER — Taliban insurgents active in Pakistan's lawless tribal region have offered to free a Canadian woman held since November in return for a $375,000 (U.S.) ransom.

The demand came in an interview near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with Qari, a man who preferred to identify himself only by his first name.

Qari says he's a close aide of Gul Bahadur, the Taliban head in the volatile North Waziristan region who is alleged to be responsible for the kidnapping of Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who was in the area working as a freelance journalist.

Ms. Giesbrecht, 52, also goes by the name, Khadija Abdul Qahaar, after converting to Islam in 2002. She is the publisher of a pro-Islamic website, Jihad Unspun.
More on link

AFGHANISTAN: Female Marines provide 'access to half the population'  
Article Link

Marines in Afghanistan are now using a strategy deemed successful in Iraq: an all-female unit to inter-act with women and children.

The 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment has begun to use the unit as it deploys into villages in hopes of winning hearts and minds. Cultural taboos would largely keep male Marines from speaking to Afghan women and girls.

The female Marines give the U.S. "access to half the population that we normally do not have access to," said Capt. Mike Hoffman, a company commander with Three-Eight.

On their first mission, the women wore head scarves as a sign of cultural respect, Marines said.

"If the women know we are here to help them, they will likely pass that on to their children," said 2nd Lt. Johanna Shaffer, the team leader.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (13 Mar 2009)

US and British diplomats scramble to defuse Pakistan crisis
_The Times_, March 12
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5897202.ece



> US and British diplomats were scrambling to broker a truce between Pakistan’s feuding political leaders tonight as thousands of black-suited lawyers defied a government ban to launch a mass protest across the country.
> 
> Richard Holbrooke, the new US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, telephoned Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s President, to discuss the unrest, which has *raised fears that the army could take power once again* [eimphasis added].
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## MarkOttawa (14 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 14

70 countries to attend Afghanistan summit
Radio Netherlands, March 13
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/zijlijn/6214792/70-countries-to-attend-Afghanistan-summit



> The Netherlands has sent out official invitations for the Afghanistan summit due to be held on 31 March in The Hague. Over 70 countries and nine organisations, including the UN and NATO, have been invited. Among them are Afghanistan's neighbours, *including Iran, which has confirmed it will attend* [emphasis added]. Latin American countries, Gulf States and Libya are also sending delegations. The summit will tackle Afghanistan's administration, security and future development. A number of small leftist groups have announced demonstrations against the summit.



Mark
Ottawa


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## MarkOttawa (15 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 15

Troops Face New Tests in Afghanistan
Battalion's Experience Outlines Issues in South (lengthy article)
_Washington Post_, March 15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/14/AR2009031402178.html?sid=ST2009031500691



> MAYWAND, Afghanistan -- Lt. Col. Daniel Hurlbut rolled into this dusty Taliban stronghold in September with a battalion of U.S. Army infantrymen and a detailed, year-long plan to combat the Taliban.
> 
> The first quarter was to be devoted to reconnaissance. The next three months would involve military operations to root out insurgents. By now, his unit should have been focusing on reconstruction and building up the local government.
> 
> ...



Taliban chief backs Afghan peace talks
Mullah Omar approves talks aimed at ending war in Afghanistan and is participating in Saudi-sponsored peace negotiations
_Sunday Times_, March 15
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5908498.ece



> THE TALIBAN leader, Mullah Omar, has given his approval for talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan and has allowed his representatives to attend Saudi-sponsored peace negotiations.
> 
> “Mullah Omar has given the green light to talks,” said one of the mediators, Abdullah Anas, a former friend of Osama Bin Laden who used to fight in Afghanistan but now lives in London.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (16 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 16, 2009*

 FACTBOX: Security developments in Afghanistan, March 16
Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:07am EDT  
Article Link

(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 0900 GMT (5 a.m. EDT) on Monday:

HELMAND - A suicide bomber on foot killed 11 people, including nine police officers, outside the main police headquarters in Lashkar Gah district, 555 km (345 miles) southwest of Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.

Another 29 people, many of them police, were also wounded.

HELMAND - Two British soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Sangin district, 490 km (305 miles) southwest of Kabul, on Sunday, the British Defense Ministry said. Next of kin have been informed.

FARAH - A would-be suicide bomber armed with a grenade killed a police officer guarding a compound in western Farah province, an official said. The bomber was shot dead by police as he tried to enter the compound and blow himself up. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Alex Richardson))
end

 US, NATO supplies attacked in Pakistan
4 hours ago Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A witness and a police officer say militants have attacked a terminal for trucks carrying supplies to US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The attack early Monday was the second on Afghan-bound military supplies in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar in as many days.

A security guard at the al-Fasil terminal on the outskirts of the city says up to 50 armed people entered the termimal.

He says they threw gasoline over 10 container trucks carrying supplies and then set off explosions.
More on link

Suicide Attacks Kill 12 in Afghanistan  
By TAIMOOR SHAH and PIR ZUBAIR SHAH  March 17, 2009
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber struck a police station in southern Afghanistan on Monday morning, killing 11 people and wounding 28, the police said. Most of the casualties were members of a counter-narcotics squad. 

The attacker, who was on foot, had approached a convoy at police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, according to officials. The officers in the convoy were about to head out on a poppy eradication mission in what is the world’s largest heroin-producing region.

“This was a work by Taliban and drug smugglers,” said Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman for governor of Helmand. He said the success of recent efforts by security forces to destroy opium-poppy crops had angered local drug barons and insurgents. 

In another suicide attack, a man in the southwestern province of Farah detonated an explosive vest Monday, killing himself and a police officer, news agencies reported.
More on link

 Afghanistan holds mineral treasure: minister
Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:28am EDT By Sayed Salahuddin
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan sits on one of the largest mineral deposits in the region, the country's mines minister said, urging foreign firms to invest in oil, gas and iron ore sectors.

A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) had shown that the war-torn nation may hold far higher amounts of minerals than previously thought, Mohammad Ibrahim Adel said.

"In the field of minerals, Afghanistan is the richest country in the region, much more, hundreds of times more. Except for diamond, you have all the other minerals that you find in nature, in Afghanistan," Adel told Reuters in an interview late on Sunday.

Based on the USGS survey, he said, Afghanistan's north is estimated to hold between 600 to 700 billion cubic meters of natural gas and the country has some 25 million tonnes of oil in four basins.

"We are a people who don't have money, food or clothes. But we are sleeping on gold," he said. The country's iron deposits were estimated at between five to six billion tonnes, he added.

Adel will travel next week to Dubai, Britain, the United States and Singapore to drum up foreign interest in the country's oil, gas and iron ore sectors.

Security has deteriorated in Afghanistan in recent years as a resurgent Taliban fight against foreign forces, but Adel said it would not deter foreign investors.

China's top integrated copper producer, Jiangxi Copper Co (0358.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and China Metallurgical Group Corp, were interested in going ahead with the exploration of the vast Aynak Copper Mine, south of Kabul, he said.

The two companies won the contract through a tender last year to develop the Aynak Copper Mine, as Chinese companies accelerate a search for minerals abroad to feed the world's fastest-growing major economy

The Afghan government had launched an operation to rid the area of landmines, Adel said.

Afghanistan, which relies Western cash and support, will be a self sufficient nation if its natural resources were developed, he said.

"If we can allocate money for the exploration, for oil and natural resources, I think after five to 10 years, Afghanistan would be in a very good position,."

Exploiting the country's mineral resources will also provide jobs for ordinary Afghans and discourage them from joining the Taliban-led insurgents, he said.
end

 Russia backs US ops in Afghanistan
3 hours ago Article Link

KABUL (AFP) — Russia supports US operations in Afghanistan and is ready to contribute to stabilising the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published Monday during his visit to Kabul.

Lavrov however criticised "indiscriminate" Western air raids in the war-torn country in comments published in an Afghan government newspaper, a transcript of which was distributed by the foreign ministry in Moscow.

"At this stage the presence in Afghanistan of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), uniting basically the US military contingent and NATO allies, is a factor restraining terrorism and in this regard is in Afghanistan's interests," Lavrov said according to the transcript.

"On this basis Russia decided to allow the use of its territory for over-land transit of non-military supplies to ISAF," he said.

Earlier this month, Russia allowed a first shipment of US equipment bound for Afghanistan to cross its territory in support of Western operations here.

The minister visited Afghanistan 20 years after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union following a bitter resistance to its 10-year occupation which left about 1.5 million people dead and many more in exile.

He added that "together with the United States, we are examining the possibility of carrying out in Afghanistan projects in the energy and transport sphere."
More on link


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## Yrys (16 Mar 2009)

Article found March 16, 2009

French face tough Afghan reality, BBC News

The French government faces a confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday following 
President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to rejoin Nato's integrated military command.

France is already among the top five contributors to Nato operations and has almost 
3,000 troops in Afghanistan. The largest contingent is in the eastern province of Kapisa, 
where our Paris correspondent, Emma Jane Kirby, has spent two weeks embedded 
with the troops for Newsnight.







In a low lying village in Nijrab district, crowds of bewildered Afghans struggle to take 
the blankets, kettles and toys the French soldiers hand out from their armoured vehicles.
It is only just above freezing and the air, trapped by the surrounding mountains, is crisp 
and thin. An elderly woman, whose vision is obscured by cataracts, is crying because she 
cannot find the start of the queue.

Instantly, a young French captain, laden down with body armour and rifle, takes her arm 
and leads her to the front. "Make way for grandma!" he tells his colleagues. "This old lady's 
tired - let grandma go first please."

*'Very tough contacts'*

Until recently, this was the kind of soft image of soldiers that the French government 
preferred to promote at home to appease a public hostile to this war. Very few French 
understand why their country is involved in a conflict more than 5,000km (3,100 miles) 
away. During his presidential election campaign in 2007, Mr Sarkozy hinted he might 
even have withdrawn French forces. But a year later, he sent an extra army battalion 
to Afghanistan's rugged and troubled east as part of the Nato-led International Security 
Assistance Force (Isaf).

With the porous border of Pakistan just over the Hindu Kush, the elite brigade of 
"Chasseurs Alpins" or mountain infantry, is tasked with trying to stop insurgents 
coming into the valleys and blocking the supply routes to Kabul. The insurgent 
attacks are frequent and brutal - sometimes the battles last for four hours.

A suggestion by the UK and US militaries that the French do not shoulder their fair 
share of the war's risk irritates Colonel Nicolas Le Nen, commander of the 27th 
Regiment de Chasseurs. "I don't get the impression we're peacekeeping here," 
he tells me with a polite smile. "The contacts are very tough... we are definitely 
not on a peacekeeping mission. "We are also in the east to show to our allies that 
France is also in the front line against the insurgents," he adds.

*Difficult dilemma*

France only really woke up to the fact that it was engaged in a real war in Afghanistan 
when 10 of its soldiers were killed and 21 others injured in an ambush last August. At 
that point, more than half of France's population said the troops should be brought home, 
according to nationwide opinion polls.

But President Sarkozy insists France will remain in Afghanistan until the end. He also plans 
to bring his country back into Nato's integrated military command, 44 years after Charles 
de Gaulle removed it, claiming US dominance would compromise national independence.

Mr Sarkozy argues that rejoining Nato's core will give France a bigger voice not only in 
the military alliance, but also in the realm of European defence. "When we are among 
our family, we have more leeway to discuss with the others because they do not question 
where France stands," he once said. But many French do not interpret the decision in 
quite the same way - they fear it will mean their country will be stuck in the conflict and 
will find itself at America's beck and call.

France has had soldiers in Afghanistan since 2001 and there are now around 3,000 of them.
But US President Barack Obama claims that is not enough, and is putting pressure on the 
government to send more. That throws up a difficult dilemma for Mr Sarkozy - if he does 
send extra troops it will certainly please Nato, but it will cause a backlash at home.

*Changing priorities*

For now, Paris is resisting US requests to send more troops but momentum on the ground 
is building too.

"I think France has to send more soldiers," 19-year-old Private Beranger tells me as he 
stands guard high up in the mountains, training his binoculars on the rocky valleys below. 
"Afghanistan is a big country and there are Taleban all around. America sends a lot of soldiers 
- and France has to do the same."

France's armed forces are still among the strongest in Western Europe, but over the past 
year the army has been downsized considerably and hundreds of soldiers have been withdrawn 
from traditional French posts in Africa.

The government believes military priorities have changed and the greatest threat facing France 
today is a terrorist attack. Mr Sarkozy says that fighting terrorism on the other side of the world 
helps keep it from your own doorstep.

In the valley, the soldiers are packing up the tables at the collection point. A couple of them 
ask the interpreters to explain to the scores of people who are still patiently sitting in rows 
like school children for their turn, that there is nothing left. There is no outcry, no shoving, 
not a word of abuse - the crowd just stands up and resignedly, turns quietly for home.

Up in the mountains again, I ask Pte Beranger if he thinks France will win this so-called "war 
on terror". "In Afghanistan?" he asks. "Really I don't know… It's a dangerous area, a difficult 
country." "It will be very long, it will be very long to win the war."


----------



## MarkOttawa (16 Mar 2009)

Pakistan president Asif Zardari 'mortally wounded', says party 
Senior figures in President Asif Zardari's Pakistan People's Party have said he has been "mortally wounded" by the reinstatement of the country's chief justice.
_Daily Telegraph_, March 16 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/5001708/Pakistan-president-Asif-Zardari-mortally-wounded-says-party.html



> They warned he had been left vulnerable and could be ousted amid growing demands for his sweeping powers to be transferred to the prime minister.
> 
> Members of his own party publicly celebrated the climb-down and said it was a victory for democratic forces in the country.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (16 Mar 2009)

U.S. plans hardware withdrawal from Iraq
Article Link

BAGHDAD, March 16 (UPI) -- The Pentagon says military equipment withdrawn from Iraq will be shipped to Afghanistan and to huge U.S.-run warehouses throughout the Middle East.

Troop withdrawals from Iraq mark the beginning of an enormous relocation of hardware but not much of it will return to the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Some of the equipment will remain with Iraqi security forces, some will ship to Afghanistan and millions of tons of armor and weaponry will restock U.S. warehouses in the Persian Gulf in case it is needed in the future, Pentagon sources told the Times.

Restocking the warehouses is a sensitive subject with some countries in the Middle East wanting the U.S. protection and others, such as Kuwait, saying the military may only store equipment needed for the defense of Kuwait.

"What nobody wants to do is see the U.S. posture for an attack on Iran," Anthony H. Cordesman, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Times. "The rhetoric here is, 'We would love for you to stay but we don't want to be the springboard for some sort of idiotic exercise in Iran.'"
More on link

 Kandahar buildup precedes Americans' arrival
Airfield changes since 2002 staggering; Airfield changes since 2002 staggering
Matthew Fisher, National Post  Published: Monday, March 16, 2009
Article Link

After Barack Obama made clear during his election campaign last fall that there would be a U. S. troop surge in southern Afghanistan this year, it was probably inevitable McDonald's would be part of the big buildup.

To do battle against Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway and Tim Hortons, which are already here, the iconic U. S. hamburger chain is building a restaurant on a prime piece of real estate at this crowded air base a few kilometres south of Kandahar City, headquarters for troops from Canada and several other NATO countries.

There are also rumours that there will very soon be an Italian sit-down restaurant where it is hoped soldiers will be able to forget for a few hours the increasingly brutal war outside the wire.

KAF, as the airfield is called, has been a work in progress since a brigade of U. S. paratroopers from the 101st Airborne and an infantry battalion from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry took it over from conquering U. S. Marines in the winter of 2002. At the time, there was no real security perimeter, no running water and a runway so badly damaged by bombs only part of it could be used.

The changes since then have been staggering. As well as fast-food emporiums, there is a Dutch restaurant with romantic lighting, a boisterous British cafe, a beauty salon offering pedicures, manicures, and massages and a spanking new almost Walmart-sized American PX.
More on link

Don't forget Afghan helpers: senator  
Posted By JORDAN PRESS Posted 9 hours ago
Article Link  

Kingston's senator is calling on the government to help make immigrating to Canada easier for Afghans who have worked with Canadian troops. 

Hugh Segal said the country shouldn't forget those who have aided troops and want to come to Canada once the armed forces leave Afghanistan in 2011. 

Those Afghan workers should receive speedy approval to come to Canada based on national security or humanitarian concerns, Segal said. 

Doing so would send a message for future military operations that Canadians don't forget those who help them. 

"It is important for us to signal as a country ... that we understand that a lot of Afghans have taken a lot of risks to help our forces," Segal said. 

"It's very important they know we have no intention of leaving them behind." 

Although the proposal from Segal comes two years before the end of the mission, the Conservative senator said the wheels of the federal bureaucracy can move slowly. 

Having political approval of the proposal now would speed immigration efforts, he said. 

At the close of Senate business this week
More on link


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## GAP (18 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 18, 2009*

 Pakistan: attack stops traffic on NATO supply line
By NAHAL TOOSI – 4 hours ago 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Two men on a motorcycle threw a bomb at a truck carrying an excavating machine to NATO troops in Afghanistan, halting traffic Wednesday along a supply route through Pakistan's southwest, officials said.

No one was injured in the blast near the Pakistani frontier town of Chaman, but the machine was damaged, area police chief Gul Mohammed said.

Meanwhile in the northwest, dozens of assailants opened fire at a university, killing three police officers and a security guard. A top official said the Taliban later detained some of the gunmen.

U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan rely heavily on two major supply routes running through Pakistan. The main one goes through the Khyber Pass in the northwest, and trucks that use it have frequently been attacked.

The smaller route through Chaman has attracted less attention from militants, but has not been exempt from violence.

Wednesday's attack happened as the driver awaited security clearance to cross into Afghanistan, Mohammed said. Police closed the crossing and began searching other vehicles, he said. The route was expected to reopen later Wednesday
More on link

U.S. Weighs Taliban Strike Into Pakistan  
By DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT  March 18, 2009
Article Link

WASHINGTON — President Obama and his national security advisers are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan. 

According to senior administration officials, two of the high-level reports on Pakistan and Afghanistan that have been forwarded to the White House in recent weeks have called for broadening the target area to include a major insurgent sanctuary in and around the city of Quetta. 

Mullah Muhammad Omar, who led the Taliban government that was ousted in the American-led invasion in 2001, has operated with near impunity out of the region for years, along with many of his deputies. 

The extensive missile strikes being carried out by Central Intelligence Agency-operated drones have until now been limited to the tribal areas, and have never been extended into Baluchistan, a sprawling province that is under the authority of the central government, and which abuts the parts of southern Afghanistan where recent fighting has been the fiercest. Fear remains within the American government that extending the raids would worsen tensions. Pakistan complains that the strikes violate its sovereignty. 

But some American officials say the missile strikes in the tribal areas have forced some leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda to flee south toward Quetta, making them more vulnerable. In separate reports, groups led by both Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of American forces in the region, and Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, a top White House official on Afghanistan, have recommended expanding American operations outside the tribal areas if Pakistan cannot root out the strengthening insurgency.
More on link

 Kandahar villagers protest deaths, claim U.S. troops responsible
1 day ago
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — For the second time in as many months, angry Afghans have paraded through the streets of Kandahar the blood-splattered bodies of civilians allegedly killed by NATO forces.

The latest protest, involving people from the village named China, happened Monday and was quickly shut down by the Afghan Uniformed Police.

The villagers claimed that U.S. troops in Maywand, the western-most district of Kandahar, conducted a raid Saturday night in which five people were killed and two others went missing.

American special forces along with Afghan commandos were operating in the area, but a statement from the U.S. military said only insurgents had been killed.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian army said no Canadian troops were involved in the incident last weekend in Maywand.

Three corpses of bearded men were displayed in the open back of white Toyota pickup trucks at a traffic circle in a suburb of Kandahar.

"I think foreigners came to Afghanistan to kill innocent people, not to kill Taliban," said Haji Mohammed, one the village elders.
More on link

 French face tough Afghan reality - Video & Story
Article Link

French soldiers have been carrying out a mission against the Taleban in eastern Afghanistan to improve security and keep supply routes to Kabul open. 

The 700 troops are part of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan, even though France left the command structure of the alliance 40 years ago. 

The French Parliament will debate plans for the country to formally rejoin Nato this week. Emma Jane Kirby reports. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (19 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 19

Nato calls for 4,000 extra troops to safeguard Afghanistan poll
_The Times_, March 19



> Nato appealed to its member states for up to 4,000 extra troops for Afghanistan yesterday [March 18], amid fears that the Taleban will step up operations to try to sabotage elections there this summer.
> 
> Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary-General, said that the alliance needed four more battalions in addition to the 60,000 troops already in the country — and on top of the additional 17,000 personnel pledged by President Obama — to provide security for the voting in August.
> 
> ...



More troops headed for Afghanistan
Polish Radio Press Review, March 18
http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/news/artykul104569_More_troops_headed_for_Afghanistan.html



> Poland’s plans to send another four hundred soldiers to Afghanistan is a top story in several papers. GAZETA WYBORCZA quotes a Polish general as saying: ‘We have to react in a situation in which our patrols are attacked every day’. The daily says that as of next month the Polish contingent will number 2, 000 troops, of which *1, 200 will be involved directly in combat operations* [emphasis added]. RZECZPOSPOLITA writes that the Polish contingent – in control of Ghazni Province – is *likely to be reinforced by two hundred Mongolian troops* [emphasis added]...



Tough spring for Polish troops in Afghanistan
Polish Radio Press Review, March 16
http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/news/artykul104564_Tough_spring_for_Polish_troops_in_Afghanistan.html



> A planned American offensive is to push the Taliban away from Kabul and from the south of the country. This will force them to withdraw through the Ghazni province controlled by the 1600 strong Polish contingent. The Poles shall have no other choice than to directly face the retreating Taliban forces. It will be a tough task for the Polish troops, but there's not much that can be done to help them as my soldiers will simultaneously be engaged in other combat operations, frankly admits the US commander in the region, colonel David Haight...



FACTBOX-Breakdown of troop numbers in Afghanistan
Reuters, March 18
http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSISL19955


> ...
> The United States is sending a combat aviation brigade of some 3,500 soldiers with more than 100 helicopters over the next six weeks, doubling the number of U.S. helicopters in the country.
> 
> A further 8,000 U.S. Marines with another 50 helicopters will arrive over the next two months followed by a Stryker brigade of some 3,500 to 4,000 troops, the U.S. military said.
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (21 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 21, 2009*

 Afghan officials in drug trade cut deals across enemy lines
Corrupt politicians are safeguarding traffickers who then help the Taliban, Globe investigation finds
GRAEME SMITH March 21, 2009
Article Link

KABUL -- In the shadow of the craggy mountains overlooking the road between Kabul and the eastern city of Jalalabad, a specially trained unit of police conducted a nearly perfect ambush of a drug dealer.

Officers surrounded Sayyed Jan's vehicle so quickly that his two bodyguards never had a chance to fire their weapons, and he was caught moving at least 183 kilograms of pure heroin.

But the Counternarcotics Police of Afghanistan realized they had a problem when they discovered that Mr. Jan's powerful friends included their own boss. The drug dealer was carrying a signed letter of protection from General Mohammed Daud Daud, the deputy minister of interior responsible for counternarcotics, widely considered Afghanistan's most powerful anti-drug czar.

That document, along with other papers and interviews with well-placed sources, show that Gen. Daud has safeguarded shipments of illegal opiates even as he commands thousands of officers sworn to fight the trade. Some accuse the deputy minister of taking a major cut of dealers' profits, ranking him among the biggest players in Afghanistan's $3-billion (U.S.) drug industry.
More on link

 Suicide Car Bomber Kills 6 in Eastern Afghanistan   
By VOA News 21 March 2009
Article Link

Afghan officials say at least eight people are dead following two bombings in the country's east.

In Nangarhar province, police say a suicide bomber in a car blew himself up at a police checkpoint Saturday, killing six people, including a policeman. Officials said at least four other people were wounded.

Another bombing in Khost province killed at least two people near a shrine as they celebrated the Persian New Year. Authorities say the blast wounded at least four others.

Separately, NATO says one of its soldiers was killed Friday during a "hostile incident" in the south.

The military alliance did not give details of the incident or the soldier's nationality.
More on link


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## a_majoor (21 Mar 2009)

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_33079.aspx



> *Four Canadian Soldiers Killed In Two Separate Bombings In Afghanistan*
> Friday March 20, 2009
> Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press
> 
> ...


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## MarkOttawa (21 Mar 2009)

Study: Afghans feel more threatened
Harper not surprised by new findings
CP, March 21
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1112499.html



> A new study that finds Afghans feel more threatened by violence than they did in 2004 comes as no surprise given the serious security issues in the war-torn country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday.
> 
> The findings in the research by human-rights and aid agencies that ordinary Afghans are losing hope reinforce the need for Canada and other countries to help make the country safer, he said.
> 
> ...



British forces train Pakistan's Frontier Corps to fight al-Qaeda
_The Times_, March 21http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5946916.ece



> The Viceroy of India founded the Frontier Corps in 1907 to control unruly tribesmen in the mountains that now form the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Also known as the Scouts, the corps united the Khyber Rifles and other militias recruited from the Pashtun tribes but was trained and led by British officers in search of adventure.
> 
> For the first time since Pakistan's independence in 1947, British soldiers are training the Frontier Corps again in an effort to transform it into a strike force against al-Qaeda and Taleban militants on the Afghan frontier.
> 
> ...



CIA chief visits Pakistan for talks: official 
AFP, March 21
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090321/world/india_us_attacks_intelligence_pakistan_afghanistan?printer=1



> New CIA chief Leon Panetta was in Pakistan Saturday for high-level talks focused on a massive review of US strategy in the war against Islamist militants in South Asia, a Pakistani official said.
> 
> Panetta, who was sworn in as head of the CIA last month, held talks with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and would meet President Asif Ali Zardari during the short visit on Sunday.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (22 Mar 2009)

*Articles found February 22, 2009*

 One dead in Afghanistan bomb blast
1 hour ago
Article Link

KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) — A bomb ripped through a vehicle carrying labourers to work in volatile eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing one worker and wounding 11 other people, police said.

The bloodshed follows a string of deadly attacks in recent days with US President Barack Obama poised to unveil a new strategy hoping to turn the tide in a war that has dragged on for more than seven years.

The bomb struck labourers from a private construction company as they were travelling to work in Khost province early Sunday, provincial police chief Abdul Qayoom Baqizoi said.

Twelve people were wounded and one died later in hospital, he said.

There was no claim of responsibility but the attack was similar to scores of others blamed on Taliban insurgents.

The US military said five militants were killed and four suspects detained in an operation waged with Afghan forces in northeastern Kunduz province.

The operation targeted "a terrorist network" near the Afghan-Tajik border early Sunday, it said in a statement.
More on link

 Australia to consider more troops for Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Sunday, March 22, 2009 
Article Link

SYDNEY: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Sunday that he would consider sending more Australian troops to Afghanistan if the U.S. asks for them, and that he backs a stronger role for China in the International Monetary Fund.

Rudd was speaking in a television interview before leaving for his first visit to Washington since President Barack Obama was elected. He will also attend other top level meetings in Europe on ways to ease the global financial crisis.

Australia is a staunch U.S. ally and has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan's south, where a Taliban insurgency is raging. Two Australian soldiers were killed in combat last week, taking the country's death toll to 10 and putting the war back in the domestic political spotlight.

Top Australian officials say the war in Afghanistan is going badly and that more troops are needed. But Canberra says those extra troops should come from European countries first because Australia is already doing its part.

Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. troops to bolster the 38,000 American forces already in Afghanistan. He is widely expected to ask Australia to also do more.
More on link

 CIA chief in Pakistan amid missile strike furor
By STEPHEN GRAHAM – 19 hours ago 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The new director of the CIA held high-level talks in Pakistan on Saturday after a provincial leader warned against expanding U.S. missile strikes on al-Qaida and Taliban targets inside the country's thinly policed border with Afghanistan.

Leon Panetta arrived in Pakistan on his first overseas trip since taking office as the Obama administration seeks a strategy to turn around the faltering war against Taliban militants in neighboring Afghanistan.

The United States is concerned that political turmoil in Pakistan is distracting its government and army from combating Islamist insurgents threatening the stability of the nuclear-armed country and the surrounding region.

Panetta arrived from New Delhi, where Indian officials said they discussed the November terrorist attack in Mumbai, which has been blamed on a Pakistan-based militant group.

In a meeting with the CIA chief Saturday evening, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani stressed the need to resolve his country's 60-year dispute with India over the divided Kashmir region so that Pakistan can "singularly focus its attention in eradicating the menaces of extremism and terrorism," Gilani's office said in a statement.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (22 Mar 2009)

Britain to join 'civilian surge' in Afghanistan
Britain is to join a "civilian surge" in Afghanistan that will result in more diplomats and aid experts joining the fight against the Taliban alongside combat troops.
_Sunday Telegraph_, March 22
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5028442/Britain-to-join-civilian-surge-in-Afghanistan.html



> British officials have played a central role in helping President Obama's National Security Council devise the plan, designed to win the allegiance of local Afghan leaders by showing that Nato countries are committed to rebuilding the country.
> 
> But in an admission that Britain's reputation as a world leader in counter-insurgency warfare has suffered a setback in Iraq and Helmand province, UK military chiefs will also take lessons from the Americans in how best to conduct "hybrid" operations that blend military and civilian power.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (23 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 23, 2009*

 NATO Kills 10 Insurgents in Southern Afghanistan   
By VOA News 23 March 2009
  Article Link 

NATO says its troops have killed a senior insurgent and nine of his associates in southern Afghanistan.

The international force announced Monday that Maulawi Hassan was killed Saturday in a raid on his compound in Helmand province.

Also Monday, Afghan officials say Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol in neighboring Kandahar province, killing eight officers.

Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban insurgency. Two NATO troops were killed in a hostile incident in the same region Sunday.
More on link

 2 NATO-led soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Article Link
     
(CNN) -- Two NATO-led soldiers were killed on Sunday in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

ISAF said the deaths came during "a hostile incident." It didn't say what province the incident took place in and didn't disclose the troops' nationalities.

"Our thoughts and support are with the family, friends and comrades of these soldiers today," said Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, ISAF spokesman. "As ISAF grieves with them, we find in our hearts the will to forge ahead in our mission in support of the Afghan people."

ISAF also reported a Friday evening rocket attack at Kandahar Airfield in the south. A contract worker was killed and six employees of the same company were wounded. Five people were detained and were being questioned.

There have been other rocket attacks on the airfield, but this was the first death there caused by so-called indirect fire, the term used for mortar, artillery and rocket fire. Indirect fire describes fire on a target that can't be seen from the point of fire.
end

 Training Afghan police a matter of incremental steps
Canada sending increasing number of police to help train Afghan force 
 Article  Comments (7)  GLORIA GALLOWAY Globe and Mail Update March 22, 2009 at 6:54 PM EDT
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — When a man from Kandahar city was kidnapped last week, a crime that occurs with startling regularity in this city heavily infiltrated by Taliban and drug lords, the suspect was a policeman.

Two days earlier, the police searched a truck used by the Afghan Border Police and found 25 kilograms of hashish. Canadian officers who are in Kandahar to mentor their Afghan counterparts termed that a success. They point out that the Afghan National Police made the arrest.

And while the Afghan National Army is making clear strides toward becoming a professionally organized and trained force, the progress of the police in this country is measured by the smallest of victories.

William Elliott, the RCMP commissioner who visited Afghanistan this week to tour police-training facilities in Kabul and Kandahar, told reporters Sunday that advances are being made.

There are currently 34 Canadian police officers in Afghanistan to teach their Afghan counterparts how to conduct investigations, document their work, handle suspects and other components of good policing. Seventeen are members of the RCMP; the rest are volunteers from other provincial and municipal forces.

And the number is increasing, Mr. Elliott said. Until recently, there were just 29 Canadian officers on the ground, he said, and the aim is to have 50 in place by September.
More on link

 Military hangs `Help Wanted' sign in Afghanistan
By ANNE FLAHERTY – 1 day ago 
Article Link

WASHINGTON (AP) — The military buildup in Afghanistan is stoking a surge of private security contractors despite a string of deadly shootings in Iraq in recent years that has called into question the government's ability to manage the guns for hire.

In recent online postings, the military has asked private security companies to protect traveling convoys and guard U.S. bases in troubled southern provinces such as Helmand and Kandahar. And if truckers hired to transport fuel for the military want protection, they can hire their own armed guards, the military says.

The Bush administration expanded the use of such companies with the onset of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because it can save the military time and money. But the practice lost much of its appeal with Congress after September 2007, when five guards with what was then called Blackwater Worldwide (the company recently changed its name to Xe) opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square and killed 17 Iraqis.

Those killings followed a 2006 incident in which a drunken Blackwater employee fatally shot an Iraqi politician's bodyguard.

Now, as President Barack Obama plans to send more U.S. personnel to Afghanistan to boost security and diplomatic efforts, more contractors are preparing to deploy, too.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (23 Mar 2009)

NEW NATO COMMANDER
Obama Choice Surprises Europeans
Spiegel Online, March 19
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,614258,00.html



> _US Admiral James Stavridis is expected to take command of NATO forces soon. Obama's decision to appoint him has astounded many in Europe, but the nominee brings important experience to the Afghanistan mission._
> 
> For Europeans at least, President Barack Obama's choice for the new NATO commander comes as a surprise.
> 
> ...



Critical Mass in Afghanistan
_Washington Post_, March 23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/22/AR2009032201526_pf.html



> MAYDAN SHAR, Afghanistan -- Though the president has yet to formally spell out his strategy, the Obama administration's attempt to turn around a failing war is already beginning here, at a dusty crossroads 25 miles southwest of Kabul.
> 
> Thanks to a late decision by the Bush administration, U.S. forces based here and in surrounding Wardak province have just increased by a factor of 10. Consequently, the counterinsurgency strategy that rescued the U.S. mission in Iraq -- and that President Obama is betting on in Afghanistan -- is being fully applied for the first time in this bigger, poorer and increasingly violent country.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (25 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 25, 2009*

 Seven die in Afghanistan attack   
  Article Link

Nine people were wounded in the attack 

Seven people have been killed after a roadside bomb exploded near a van carrying civilians in eastern Afghanistan, officials said. 

Nine others were wounded in the attack - blamed on the Taleban - which happened in Sabari district of Khost province, officials said. 

Khost is a province which has seen frequent clashes between the US-led coalition forces and the Taleban. 

Last month, two Nato soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in Khost. 

Roadside attacks 

Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP news agency that an it was an "improvised explosive device planted by the enemies of the people of Afghanistan that hit the vehicle". 

"As a result seven civilians, including a woman, were killed and nine other civilians wounded" in the attack, he said. 
More on link

 Comic run out of town for jokes about Canada
  Article Link

Local comedy club cancels gig of entertainer who ridiculed our military on late-night TV

By Jodie Sinnema, The Edmonton Journal; With files from Canwest News ServiceMarch 24

The owner of an Edmonton comedy club has cancelled an appearance by American comedian Doug Benson, saying he received hundreds of phone calls and threatening e-mails due to controversial remarks about Canada's military Benson made on a Fox News program.

The controversy began with the March 17 airing of the Red Eye program, during which panel members mocked comments from Canada's commander of land forces, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie.

Leslie had been widely reported as saying that Canada's military would need a year to recover from its Afghan deployment because of the wear and tear on its equipment and personnel.

Red Eye host Greg Gutfeld suggested the Canadian military will use the year to "do some yoga, paint some landscapes and run on the beach."

"Isn't this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country?" Gutfeld asked. "They have no army."

"I didn't even know they were in the war," said Benson, who had been slated to perform at the Comedy Club in West Edmonton Mall on April 2-5. "I thought that's where you go if you don't want to fight."

Gutfeld apologized Monday for what he called satire.

He said it was not an attempt to make light of efforts by Canada's troops.

"However, I realize that my words may have been misunderstood," Gutfeld said.

"It was not my intent to disrespect the brave men, women and families of the Canadian military, and for that I apologize. Red Eye is a satirical take on the news, in which all topics are addressed in a lighthearted, humourous and ridiculous manner."

Canada has lost 116 soldiers and one diplomat since the war in Afghanistan began in 2002, including four soldiers who died last Friday in two separate bomb blasts in Kandahar province.

However, a military major who lost both legs to a land mine in Afghanistan said the furor that has swept across Canada since the broadcast -- prompting the minister of defence to demand an apology -- is an overreaction.

"If anybody was to be insulted, it should be people like myself, and I'm not," Maj. Mark Campbell said from his home in St. Albert.

"I have no legs anymore because of my service in Afghanistan, twice. I realize it was a lame attempt at comedy and it was lame attempt by people who don't know what Canada does, obviously."

Campbell, who didn't the see the original broadcast, called the statements ignorant.

"It aired at 3 a.m. There's probably a reason for that," he said. "Certainly, I've heard far worse things that were meant in a serious manner in the past."
More on link

 Poland will send 400 more troops to Afghanistan: PM
Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:55am EDT 
Article Link

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will bolster its 1,600-strong contingent in Afghanistan with 400 more troops to help improve security in the leadup to an August election there, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said recently the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan will need some 4,000 extra soldiers to secure Afghanistan's presidential poll.

"We have taken today a decision to formally ask the president to increase our contingent by 400 soldiers," Tusk told a news conference.

"It is related to the elections in Afghanistan and we are all aware the situation there will not be any easier over the weeks to come. Sending more troops is justified from the point of view of our own forces' security there," Tusk added.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (25 Mar 2009)

Poland will send 400 more troops to Afghanistan: PM
Reuters, March 24
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52N4TC20090324



> Poland will bolster its 1,600-strong contingent in Afghanistan with 400 more troops to help improve security in the leadup to an August election there, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
> 
> NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said recently the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan will need some 4,000 extra soldiers to secure Afghanistan's presidential poll.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## PMedMoe (26 Mar 2009)

*Afghan police killed in Taliban attack*
Article Link

KABUL — Insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing nine policemen, the Interior Ministry said. 

The attack in Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand province is another example of expanding violence in Afghanistan, especially in the Taliban’s heartland in the south. 

The U.S. is sending thousands of new troops to counter resurgent Taliban militants, who have made a comeback following their initial defeat by U.S.-led forces in 2001. 

The Interior Ministry said the police checkpoint was attacked by “enemies of Afghanistan,” a common reference to Taliban militants. 

Lightly armed police bear the brunt of militant attacks across the country, and their training is part of measures the U.S. and other international partners have identified as key to battling the insurgency. 

The attack came a day before U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to announce the results of his administration’s review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is also embroiled in an insurgency. 

More on link


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## GAP (26 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 26, 2009*

 Netherlands to stick to its Afghanistan pullout plan   
 www.chinaview.cn  2009-03-26 20:44:29      Print 
  Article Link

    BRUSSELS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has said the Netherlands will stick to its plan to withdraw troops from the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan by the end of next year, Dutch paper De Volkskrant reported Thursday. 

    Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday about next week's international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, Verhagen said the decision to end the mission in Uruzgan in 2010 is "final" and the Netherlands will not yield to Washington's pressure to keep its forces there. 

    The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who is to attend the conference next Tuesday, is also aware of the Dutch position, the Dutch minister said. 

    The Netherlands has some 1,700 troops deployed in Uruzgan, one of the volatile provinces where the NATO-led International Security Assistant Force (ISAF) is directly confronted with the Taliban fighters. The Dutch mission started in August 2006 and has been extended once. 

    Verhagen was positive about the security situation in Uruzgan. It is improving "a little at a time," but the progress "is not irreversible," he added. 
More on link

Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan Kill 9 Police Officers  
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA  March 27, 2009
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan — Nine Afghan police officers were killed and six others were wounded in two attacks by Taliban insurgents in southern and central Afghanistan on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.

The attacks came one day after the police said an explosive device ripped through a minibus on Wednesday, killing nine civilians and wounding seven on a road frequently used by Afghan security forces and international troops in eastern Afghanistan.

The attacks seemed to underline the gathering pace of the war in Afghanistan as the Obama administration plans to bolster NATO and American forces battling the resurgent Taliban.

The first fatalities on Thursday came in an attack before dawn by Taliban insurgents on a police checkpoint in the Nehr-e-Saraj district of Helmand Province. Nine policemen were killed in that attack. Later, an ambush on a police vehicle in Ghazni Province, southwest of Kabul, wounded six policemen and two civilians.
More on link

 Rudd Tells Obama Australian Forces in Afghanistan for Long Haul  
Article Link

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Kevin Rudd pledged Australian troops will remain in Afghanistan “for the long haul,” even as more than two-thirds of voters said in a poll this week they were against sending more soldiers there. 

Rudd, visiting Washington, held his first meeting with President Barack Obama two days ago. The U.S. leader had been expected to ask one of his country’s closest allies to expand its 1,100-strong force in Afghanistan. 

Asked on the PBS television show “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” whether Obama made the request, Rudd said: “No he did not,” according to an audio file. “Our discussion was about the American thinking as it’s unfolding through America’s own review of its long-term strategy.” 

Rudd withdrew Australian combat troops from Iraq last year and, like Obama, has said Afghanistan is the front line in the international campaign against terrorism. He acknowledged in the interview that the war in Afghanistan is “increasingly unpopular” both in Australia and elsewhere. 

“But the bottom line is this: It’s the right place to be,” he said. 

Australia has also said it is prepared to consider increasing its troop presence if other nations with forces in Afghanistan do so. 
More on link

 Potential Afghan Reconstruction Challenges Cited
By Ellen Nakashima Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 26, 2009; A16 
Article Link

Government auditors sounded a warning yesterday for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan as they outlined to lawmakers how a lack of security, coordinated planning and effective oversight has hobbled the United States' $50 billion effort in Iraq. 

They pointed to American-built projects that Iraqis cannot run themselves as an example of an issue that could be even more problematic in Afghanistan, where three-quarters of the population is illiterate, the average annual income is $800, and the country has few paved roads, no railway and only a handful of airports with paved runways. By contrast in Iraq, 74 percent of the population is literate, the average annual income is $4,000, and the nation has a network of roads, railways and airports. 

"Afghanistan has a much lower absorptive capacity for investment," Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. "Any investment has to be aimed at [their] capacity. You build above that, you lose it." 

Similarly, Pentagon officials have expressed a key concern that the Afghan national security forces they are training lack the capacity to perform the intelligence and data gathering necessary for national security, said Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers, managing director for international affairs and trade at the Government Accountability Office. 
More on link

 Afghan Strikes by Taliban Get Pakistan Help, U.S. Aides Say
By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT Published: March 25, 2009 
Article Link

WASHINGTON — The Taliban’s widening campaign in southern Afghanistan is made possible in part by direct support from operatives in Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, despite Pakistani government promises to sever ties to militant groups fighting in Afghanistan, according to American government officials

The support consists of money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance to Taliban commanders who are gearing up to confront the international force in Afghanistan that will soon include some 17,000 American reinforcements. 

Support for the Taliban, as well as other militant groups, is coordinated by operatives inside the shadowy S Wing of Pakistan’s spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, the officials said. There is even evidence that ISI operatives meet regularly with Taliban commanders to discuss whether to intensify or scale back violence before the Afghan elections. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (27 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 27

Afghanistan: strategy & effect
Conference of Defence Associations' media round-up
http://www.cdaforumcad.ca/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1238169030

British Army chief ready to send 2,000 more troops to Afghanistan
_The Times_, March 27
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5983582.ece



> The head of the Army is ready to send up to 2,000 extra troops to Afghanistan amid fears that the US-led mission will struggle without significant reinforcements.
> 
> General Sir Richard Dannatt told The Times yesterday that elements of 12 Mechanised Brigade — which had been training for deployment to Iraq but were later stood down — had been “earmarked for Afghanistan”.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (28 Mar 2009)

*Articles found MARCH 28, 2009*

 Militants attack NATO supply terminal in Pakistan
Updated Sat. Mar. 28 2009 7:23 AM ET The Associated Press
Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Dozens of suspected militants fired rockets early Saturday at a transport terminal in northwest Pakistan that is used to ship supplies to NATO troops based in Afghanistan, police said. 

At least 12 shipping containers were damaged in the attack at the Farhad terminal in Peshawar, capital of troubled North West Frontier Province, local police official Zahur Khan told The Associated Press. He said police opened fire at the insurgents but they managed to flee. 

The attack came less than a day after a suicide bomber blew up in a packed mosque in the Khyber tribal region, killing 48 people and wounding scores more in the worst attack to hit Pakistan this year. 

Afghan-based U.S. and NATO forces get up to 75 per cent of their supplies via routes that pass through Pakistan's Khyber region and a southwestern Chaman border crossing -- areas where Taliban militants are believed to be operating. 

Islamic militants were suspected in Friday's deadly mosque attack, apparently to avenge recent military operations in the area aimed at protecting the NATO supply route, authorities said. 
More on link

Afghan soldier kills two coalition troops, U.S. says
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- An Afghan soldier reportedly shot and killed two coalition service members in northern Afghanistan on Friday, U.S. forces in Afghanistan said.

The military, which calls the incident the first of its type "in recent memory," said the shooter also wounded another service member and then killed himself. A fourth service member appeared to be unharmed but was taken to a medical facility for evaluation.

The military passed along comments from Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, who expressed his condolences for the service members killed and wounded. He said that he was "saddened and deeply regretful this tragedy occurred" and that the incident was under full investigation.

Wardak said that "it is too early to speculate, but the investigation will bear out the truth" and that "full corrective action will be taken."
More on link

 2 arrested over Pakistan mosque bombing
Article Link
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two suspects were arrested in connection with the bombing of a mosque that killed at least 51 people, Pakistani authorities said Saturday.
The two were arrested about 30 minutes after the Friday bombing after police spotted them fleeing the scene, said local official Rahat Gul.

The suspects were being questioned about the deadly blast that also wounded more than 100 people.

The blast occurred at Jamrod in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border.

This is the latest assault in a region populated by Islamic militants in Pakistani safe havens along the Afghan border, where NATO and the U.S.-led coalition have been battling Taliban and al Qaeda militants. 

The bombed-out mosque had been frequented by Pakistani security officials who work at checkpoints along the route used by NATO to carry supplies from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
More on link

2,000 more British troops for Afstan?  
The Chief of the General Staff says it could be done:
 Friday, March 27, 2009
Article Link

The head of the Army is ready to send up to 2,000 extra troops to Afghanistan amid fears that the US-led mission will struggle without significant reinforcements.

General Sir Richard Dannatt told The Times yesterday that elements of 12 Mechanised Brigade — which had been training for deployment to Iraq but were later stood down — had been “earmarked for Afghanistan”.

Downing Street is involved in discussions about a surge. An increase of about 2,000 would take Britain’s troop strength to 10,000 [emphasis added]. Any decision would require Cabinet approval...

General Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, said that there were no plans to send the whole brigade of about 4,000 troops, which would take the British presence to more than 12,000. He indicated that the increase, subject to political approval, could take the total to “somewhere in between” that figure and the present troop strength of 8,300. Defence sources said that a rise of 1,700 to 2,000 troops was viewed as “the uppermost ceiling”...

He added: “Improving security in Afghanistan will be dictated by having more boots on the ground. I don’t mind whether the boots will be American, British or Afghan.”
More on link

 Troops kill 12 militants in southern Afghanistan
By SEBASTIAN ABBOT – 9 hours ago 
Article Link

KABUL (AP) — Afghan and coalition troops killed 12 militants during a gunbattle that erupted during a raid on a compound in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Saturday.

The troops encountered gunfire from in and around the compound as they approached late Friday in the Nahr Surk district of Helmand province, a U.S statement said. The troops returned fire and called in support to counter the threat from militants who were concealed in a line of trees and maneuvering in a field, it said.

Some of the militants inside the compound tried to use women and children as shields during the battle, and calls by the troops for civilians to leave were not heeded, said the military. One child received a minor injury during the battle and was given immediate treatment by coalition troops, it said.

Afghanistan has experienced rising violence in recent years from Taliban militants who went into hiding after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and have been staging cross-border attacks alongside al-Qaida against Afghan and coalition forces from sanctuaries in Pakistan.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (31 Mar 2009)

ARTICLES FOUND MARCH 31

More troops for Afghanistan after expected US request
_The Australian_, March 31
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25267124-31477,00.html



> THE federal Government is paving the way to increase its effort in Afghanistan in preparation for an expected request from the US to send more troops to the conflict-ravaged country.
> 
> Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said any US request for more troops would be considered on its merits, and Australia was "in the market" to increase its training role for police and the Afghan army.
> 
> ...



Insurgent Threat Shifts in Pakistan
Assault on Police Academy Indicates Risk Has Moved Beyond Tribal Areas
_Washington Post_, March 31
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/30/AR2009033000098.html



> The brazen occupation of a Pakistani police academy Monday by heavily armed gunmen near the eastern mega-city of Lahore was the latest indication that Islamist terrorism, once confined to Pakistan's northwest tribal belt, now threatens political stability nationwide.
> 
> The precisely orchestrated assault by a squad of young men, which left at least 11 people dead and took security forces nearly eight hours to quell, was also a likely sign that Islamist militant groups in Punjab province, once tolerated and even supported by the Pakistani state to fight in India and Afghanistan, have turned openly against the government.
> 
> ...



The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan
_Foreign Policy_, March 2009
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4782



> *CHEAT SHEET*
> 
> After eight years of a White House that often seemed blinkered by the threats posed by Pakistan, the Obama administration seems to grasp the severity of the myriad crises affecting the South Asian state. The media has followed suit and increased its presence and reporting, a trend confirmed by CNN’s decision to set up a bureau in Islamabad last year.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## George Wallace (31 Mar 2009)

*Articles found March 31, 2009*

 Canada brokers Afghan-Pakistani border security deal
Updated 31/03/2009 8:17:31 PM ET CBC News 
Article Link

*
Canada has brokered a deal to improve security along the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Tuesday.
*

Cannon made the announcement at a 72-country meeting on Afghanistan in The Hague, where all eyes were on the new U.S. administration and its beefed-up commitment in the region.

The border has been a source of tension between the neighbours for generations ? most recently with back-and-forth movements by insurgents.

Canada has been hosting meetings between Afghan and Pakistani officials in Dubai since 2007. Cannon said the most recent meeting last weekend produced the agreement.

He said the plan identifies customs, movement of people, counter-narcotics and law enforcement as priorities, and that the countries will create working groups to tackle problems in those areas.

Officials say the sides have agreed to meet several times this year to set objectives along with target dates.

"Ultimately what we want is a functional border between two countries," Cannon said.

Cannon said he was encouraged by the new American approach to the region, including the idea of viewing Afghanistan and Pakistan as an integrated challenge.

Some delegates at the seven-hour strategy session on Afghanistan were hoping to split the Taliban and get help from neighbours such as Pakistan and Iran.

Most Taliban 'not committed to cause'

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that most Taliban fighters are in it for the wages ? "not committed to a cause so much as acting out of desperation" ? and could be brought over to the government side.

The CBC's David Common, reporting from The Hague, said no one expected the United Nations-sponsored meeting to solve Afghanistan's many problems, including political instability, drug trafficking and unrelenting violence.

The aim was to bring together the neighbours ? a relatively new idea even after more than seven years of war ? as well as countries such as Canada that have soldiers fighting in the country, he said.

The meeting brought American and Iranian officials into rare interaction, although Iran did not warm to the U.S. approach of sending more troops to Afghanistan.

Medhi Akhundzadeh, a deputy foreign minister leading the Iranian delegation, said Afghans hold the key to the future of their nation, not the international force fighting the Taliban, the Associated Press reported. 

"The presence of foreign troops can't bring the peace, security and stability to the country," he said in comments translated from Farsi.

Even so, U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke had what was described as a brief, cordial, face-to-face exchange with Akhundzadeh, and Iran offered to help combat the Afghan drug trade, perhaps partly to cut supplies to Iranian addicts.

Much of the attention focused on the U.S. secretary of state, who signalled a changing U.S. strategy.

"What she?s articulating now is that moderate members of the Taliban need to be broken off and need to be rehabilitated and brought into a national unity government," Common reported.

Some, Clinton allowed, are "hard-core committed extremists with whom there is not likely to be any chance of any kind of reconciliation or reintegration."

"But it is our best estimate that the vast majority of Taliban fighters and members are people who are not committed to a cause so much as acting out of desperation."

She told the conference that those fighters should be given a chance to abandon extremism.

She also joined the pleas for neighbourly help.

"If we are to succeed, we will need the co-operation of all nations here," she said. "As President [Barack] Obama has pointed out, the world cannot afford the price that will come due if Afghanistan slides back into chaos."

With files from the Associated Press and the Canadian Press


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