# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread July 2012



## The Bread Guy (25 Jun 2012)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread July 2012 *               

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


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## GAP (1 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 1, 2012*

 Afghans face mass deportation from Pakistan
  Article Link
'Most protracted refugee crisis in the world,' UN says
 By Joris Fioriti, Agence France-Presse June 30, 2012

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans face the threat of deportation back to their war-torn country from Pakistan once a deadline expires Saturday, but Afghanistan is crying foul over the move.

Pakistan is home to 1.7 million refugees and hundreds of thousands more unregistered migrants from its neighbour, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

However, Islamabad says it cannot be expected to tolerate illegal migrants, and 400,000 undocumented Afghans in Pakistan's northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the bulk of the Afghan community live, face the imminent prospect of removal.

The UNHCR describes the situation of Afghans in Pakistan as the "largest and most protracted refugee crisis in the world" and warned that the question of how to deal with it was becoming "increasingly politicized."

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's information minister, said law enforcement agencies had been told to compile lists of illegal Afghans and, once the June 30 deadline passes, orders will be issued for their arrest, appearance in court and subsequent deportation to Afghanistan.

"No country allows illegal immigrants, how it is possible to legalize something which is illegal?" Hussain said.

"We have been accommodating Afghan immigrants for 32 years. The provincial government cannot take their burden any more. They should go back to their country."
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 Logistics trainers hold conference in Kabul
2012/07/01 •  Capt. Monika Comeaux DCOM-SPO PAO
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan – More than 70 coalition forces and contracted logistics trainers attended a conference, June 19, to share information about ongoing training programs and discuss way ahead in training logisticians in the Afghan National Security Forces.

The conference was organized by the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan Deputy Commander of Supporting Operations (DCOM SPO) Operations Section (J3).

“It was identified some months ago that we have a number of organizations, both contracted and military, working in Afghanistan, and teaching logistics and maintenance to the ANSF, said Royal Australian Air Force Maj. Dean Bruce, the commander of the Mobile Training Team under the J3 of DCOM SPO . “The training that everybody is doing is similar but it is different. We needed the conference to get everybody together in one room, to identify the training that everyone was doing, and in a short period of time try put together a consolidated plan for training for the ANSF.”

During his opening remarks, Brig. Gen. Clark W. LeMasters Jr., DCOM SPO commander, identified the same issue. “What I continually bump into is finding out that somebody else is out here doing training in the area of logistics. With my task being to build logistics capacity in the ANSF I think it is absolutely critical that we get all the right people in the room to kind of figure out where all these excellences are at, and make sure they are doing what we want them to do.”

All invitees who currently provide contracted logistics training for the ANSF gave a brief rundown on their services and training programs. The briefs prompted a lot of questions and remarks from both coalition partners and contracted trainers.

As the briefs went on, similarities amongst the programs became clear. Some companies create training records for the ANSF partners and refer to them as “job handbooks” or “job books.” They essentially serve the same purpose: document trained tasks and create permanent records of the individual’s level of training, which records are then shared with the individual’s unit. Several contractors are also maintaining unclassified online portals with all of their training materials.
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 How applicants are stumbling on the final step to becoming Canadians
Article Link
CARYS MILLS The Globe and Mail Friday, Jun. 29 2012

Dozens of immigrants from Afghanistan began asking Anisa Sharifi for help two years ago. After failing the citizenship test, they all had the same question: How could they pass so they could become Canadians after living here for years?

“They’re trying hard, they want to be in Canada, they’re happy here,” said Ms. Sharifi, a settlement worker with the Afghan Women’s Organization in Toronto, one of the many organizations across the country that help prepare immigrants for the test.

Every year, about 170,000 immigrants become Canadian citizens, a title that comes with more than just the citizenship certificate handed over after taking an oath. It’s the final step in immigrating to Canada and, as opposed to permanent residency, allows people to vote and carry a Canadian passport.

But obtaining that status has become more difficult in recent years. In 2010, the Conservatives overhauled the test, requiring a higher score to pass, emphasizing a need to speak English or French and making questions about Canadian history, identity and values more challenging.

The changes have hit some immigrant communities much harder than others, according to pass-rate data kept by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and obtained by The Globe and Mail. The new test appears to have widened the divide that separates successful and unsuccessful test takers by homeland, putting citizenship further out of reach for those who didn’t speak English or French before or have familiarity with Canada’s roots and customs.
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## GAP (2 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 2, 2012*


 NATO says man in Afghan uniform kills 3 service members
Article Link
By: Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press

KABUL - A man in an Afghan police uniform on Sunday shot and killed three foreign troops in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.

It did not give any other details, including the nationalities of the three. The statement said the man was wearing the uniform of the Afghan National Civil Order Police and that the incident was under investigation.

Their deaths bring to 218 the number of foreign troops killed so far this year.

Earlier, Afghan police said a roadside bomb killed five civilians in the eastern province of Ghazni.

Deputy provincial police chief Maj. Mohammad Hussain said a bus full of people struck the explosives Sunday morning while driving near Ghazni city, capital of the province of the same name.

He said another 11 people were wounded, and the dead included women and children. The bus was travelling from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar.
end


 Ministers celebrate Canada Day in Afghanistan
By QMI Agency 
Article Link

Canada's Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Julian Fantino, associate defence minister, celebrated Canada Day with Canadian Forces members in Afghanistan Sunday.

"It is with the utmost pride that I have the opportunity to celebrate Canada Day with the brave men and women of the Canadian Forces," MacKay said in a statement. "Our personnel serving in Afghanistan continue to make great strides in their mission.

"Their strength, perseverance and leadership are a source of pride and inspiration for Canadians everywhere, and remind of the greatness that our country can achieve."

Fantino echoed McKay's sentiment, adding that "the effort, integrity and unparalleled dedication of all Canadian Forces members to the fulfillment of their mission whether at home or abroad is truly remarkable." 
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## GAP (3 Jul 2012)

NATO truckers fear Taliban attack after Pakistan reopens supply lines
ISLAMABAD — The Associated Press Tuesday, Jul. 03 2012
Article Link

NATO truckers late Tuesday welcomed Pakistan’s decision to reopen supply lines into Afghanistan but said they feared Taliban attacks, demanding security guarantees before the resumption.

Mir Mohammad Yousuf Shahwani, head of the largest oil tanker owners association in Pakistan, told AFP that supply trucks and tankers could be en route in “days” but insisted they needed protection first.

“It is a sudden decision but even then we can start supplies in days. The thing is, who will protect us,” Mr. Shahwani said.

“We need security, we need protection. Taliban have killed dozens of our drivers and torched hundreds of vehicles,” he added.

Pakistani Taliban have carried out dozens of attacks, disrupting supplies for 130,000 U.S.-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan, and have repeatedly warned of more if Pakistan reopened supply routes.

Ehsanullah Ehsan told the AFP the Taliban “will not allow any truck to pass and will attack it,” hours after Pakistan confirmed it had decided to reopen vital NATO supply routes into Afghanistan that have been closed since November.

Pakistan closed its Afghan border crossings to NATO convoys on Nov. 26 after botched U.S. air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that Pakistan was reopening the border to NATO supplies and said the United States was “sorry” for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military.

Earlier, Pakistan’s new prime minister acknowledged that continuing the seven-month blockade was negatively affecting relations with the United States and other NATO member states.
end


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## GAP (6 Jul 2012)

*Articles found June 6, 2012*

 Pakistani border open, but Canadian military gear still stuck in Afghanistan
  Article Link 
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press July 5, 2012

Logistical chaos on the ground at Pakistan's largest seaport along with truckers' demands for more money mean hundreds of tonnes of Canadian military equipment remain stranded in Afghanistan despite the opening of the border to NATO traffic after a seven-month closure.

The first truck carrying NATO supplies finally crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan Thursday but 446 sea containers of Canadian Forces material stored in Kabul and Kandahar won't be moving any time soon, according to the contracted freight company.

"Things are very chaotic," said Alda Rodrigues, president of Montreal-based A.J. Maritime.

"Nothing is happening right now — it's quite a nightmare."

Moving the "low priority" equipment depends on Pakistani truckers, who first have to clear a backlog of some 2,500 NATO Afghanistan-bound containers at the port in Karachi.

Before that can happen, however, the Pakistanis first have to sort out issues with payments, demurrage, and customs-clearance, the chairman of Karachi's Port Qasim said Thursday.

Adding to the headache are demands for more money from the truckers idled by Pakistan's closure of the border, which came in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani border troops.

Pakistan relented after the U.S. government apologized this week.

Now, concerned their lucrative work will soon be drying up as the NATO mission winds down, the truckers are demanding as much as 25 per cent more — potentially adding several thousand dollars to the cost of retrieving a container from Afghanistan.
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 ‘Over 200 tonnes of heroin is smuggled via Pakistan a year’
Article Link
From the Newspaper | Bhagwandas

KARACHI, July 5: Anti-drug smuggling agencies here seize only a small fraction of the heroin smuggled from Afghanistan through Pakistan and trafficked in the global market, it emerged on Thursday.

Between 210 and 240 tonnes of heroin was smuggled from Afghanistan and reached the global market after passing through Pakistan last year, said a customs official, Habib Ahmed, while speaking to Dawn on the sidelines of an international conference, titled “Control drugs — control crimes”, organised by Pakistan Customs.

Even the global figures of heroin seizures were not very encouraging, he said, adding that out of every 500 tonnes produced, 58 tonnes (11 per cent) were seized in 2009.

He said that while consolidated figures for seizures of heroin in Pakistan were not readily available with him, the total figure was well below one tonne.

Regarding heroin production, he said that 6,000 tonnes of opium, which was over 90 per cent of the global produce last year, was grown in Afghanistan, while 610 tonnes of opium was produced in Myanmar, 25 tonnes in Laos, 10 tonnes in Mexico and nine tonnes in Colombia.

Since conversion ratio of opium to heroin was around 10 to 1, it was roughly estimated that Afghanistan produced 600 tonnes of heroin last year, he added.

He said that over 85 per cent of the heroin produced in Afghanistan was grown in the provinces — Hilmand (66 per cent), Kandahar (nine per cent), Farah (10 per cent) — neighbouring Pakistan.
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 Photos of U.S. and Afghan Troops Patrolling Poppy Fields June 2012
June 29, 2012 in Headline 
Article Link
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## GAP (8 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 8, 2012*

 Artistic impressions from soldier's Afghan service
Article Link
By: Robin Booker  07/7/2012

BRANDON -- One week after Jessica Wiebe graduated from Brandon's Vincent Massey High School, she signed up in the Canadian Forces reserves. By the time she was 20, she was doing a tour in Afghanistan.

Now 24, Wiebe is enrolled in the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and is using her experiences in the Canadian Forces as inspiration for her art.

A collection of Wiebe's work titled Dust Series has recently been accepted into a national art competition for emerging artists called Defining Moments.

There were more than 700 entries in the contest, but only 12 to 14 are being shown in each of the exhibits in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Halifax, where Wiebe's entry is being exhibited.

Dust Series is a collection of gestural drawings (a drawing technique defined by rapid execution) based on photos of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and from her own personal experiences.

The images are created by using layered ink washes that are lightly gone over with just enough line to give the shapes form.
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Canadian gear on Afghan soil  
July 6, 2012 - 4:14am By COLIN PERKEL The Canadian Press 
Article Link

Border with Pakistan reopened but trucking clogged

Logistical chaos on the ground at Pakistan’s largest seaport along with truckers’ demands for more money mean hundreds of tonnes of Canadian military equipment remain stranded in Afghanistan despite the opening of the border to NATO traffic after a seven-month closure.

The first truck carrying NATO supplies finally crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan Thursday but 446 sea containers of Canadian Forces materiel stored in Kabul and Kandahar won’t be moving any time soon, according to the contracted freight company.

“Things are very chaotic,” said Alda Rodrigues, president of Montreal-based A.J. Maritime.

“Nothing is happening right now — it’s quite a nightmare.”

Moving the “low priority” equipment depends on Pakistani truckers, who first have to clear a backlog of some 2,500 NATO Afghanistan-bound containers at the port in Karachi.

Before that can happen, however, the Pakistanis first have to sort out issues with payments, demurrage, and customs-clearance, the chairman of Karachi’s Port Qasim said Thursday.

Adding to the headache are demands for more money from the truckers idled by Pakistan’s closure of the border, which came in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani border troops.

Pakistan relented after the U.S. government apologized this week.

Now, concerned their lucrative work will soon be drying up as the NATO mission winds down, the truckers are demanding as much as 25 per cent more — potentially adding several thousand dollars to the cost of retrieving a container from Afghanistan.
More on link

Top soldier: Troops eager for new missions
By Bill Graveland July 7, 2012
Article Link

CALGARY – When it comes to future missions for the Canadian Forces, Canada’s top soldier has to battle to keep his eager troops satisfied with staying out of major combat zones for now.

Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan will come to an end once the current training mission concludes in 2014 and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk acknowledges that’s a disappointment for many soldiers, sailors and air personnel.

“We have some men and women who have had two, three and four tours and what they’re telling me is ‘Sir, we’ve got that bumper sticker. Can we go somewhere else now?’” Natynczyk said in an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press in Calgary.

“You also have the young sailors, soldiers, airmen and women who have just finished basic training and they want to go somewhere and in their minds it was going to be Afghanistan. So if not Afghanistan, where’s it going to be? They all want to serve.”

But Natynczyk is unsure about what is in store for the Canadian Forces or even himself for that matter.

He has been on the job for four years, which is past the normal tenure for someone in his position, and if he knows what is going to happen next, he isn’t providing any details.

“I’ll just keep on sprinting in this job until I’m told to get off the playing field and recognizing that I’m living in a pretty good time to be in the military,” he said.
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Canada Reaffirms Support for Afghanistan
Article Link
 July 8, 201

TOKYO, JAPAN,  -- Today, Chris Alexander, Parliamentary Secretary for National Defence, on behalf of the Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of International Cooperation, announced an important investment to support development efforts in Afghanistan until 2017. Mr. Alexander made the announcement during the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan, which focused on international development over the next decade.

"Canada has already contributed significantly to progress in Afghanistan, providing millions of children with access to education and assisting in the transfer of responsibility for security and governance to the Afghan government. However, we must continue working with the people of Afghanistan to build a better, brighter future for people in need," said Minister Fantino.

"Today's announcement reaffirms Canada's commitment to enhancing the well-being, security, and long-term prosperity of the Afghan people", said Mr. Alexander. However, Canada's development assistance hinges on the performance of the Government of Afghanistan on key reforms in areas such as strengthening the rights of women and girls, reduction of endemic corruption, and significant improvements in governance and upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections."

Canada's contribution, which focuses on long-term prosperity and security, will help Afghanistan build on the gains it has made in the last decade. The investment will help ensure respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens, equal treatment for women and men, and development opportunities that benefit all of Afghanistan's people. 
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 Taliban execute woman accused of adultery: Officials
Violence against Afghan women on rise: rights activists
By Hamid Shalizi and Amie Ferris-Rotman, Reuters
Article Link

A man Afghan officials say is a member of the Taliban shot dead a woman accused of adultery in front of a crowd near Kabul, a video obtained by Reuters showed, a sign that the austere Islamist group dictates law even near the Afghan capital.

In the three-minute video, a turban-clad man approaches a woman kneeling in the dirt and shoots her five times at close range with an automatic rifle, to cheers of jubilation from the 150 or so men watching in a village in Parwan province.

“Allah warns us not to get close to adultery because it’s the wrong way,” another man says as the shooter gets closer to the woman. “It is the order of Allah that she be executed”.

Provincial Governor Basir Salangi said the video, obtained on Saturday, was shot a week ago in the village of Qimchok in Shinwari district, about an hour’s drive from Kabul.

Such rare public punishment was a painful reminder to Afghan authorities of the Taliban’s 1996-2001 period in power, and it raised concern about the treatment of Afghan women 11 years into the NATO-led war against Taliban insurgents.

“When I saw this video, I closed my eyes ... The woman was not guilty; the Taliban are guilty,” Salangi told Reuters.

When the unnamed woman, most of her body tightly wrapped in a shawl, fell sideways after being shot several times in the head, the spectators chanted: “Long live the Afghan mujahideen! (Islamist fighters)”, a name the Taliban use for themselves.

The Taliban could not be reached for comment. 
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## GAP (14 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 14, 2012*

Afghanistan suicide bomb kills prominent MP at wedding
 14 July 2012 
Article Link

A well-known Afghan politician and around 20 other people have been killed in a suicide attack in the northern province of Samangan, police say.

Ahmad Khan Samangani, an ethnic Uzbek MP, was attending a wedding party for his daughter in the provincial capital, Aybak, when the blast happened.

The attacker, posing as a guest, embraced Mr Samangani before detonating his explosives, a witness said.

A Taliban spokesman denied involvement in the attack.

Ahmad Khan Samangani was a commander in the mujahideen militia during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1980s.

He was known as a supporter of President Hamid Karzai and a rival of Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, a powerful civil war commander in the north and currently one of Afghanistan's most prominent Uzbek politicians, the BBC's Bilal Sarwary, in Kabul, says.

Mr Samangani became a member of parliament last year, replacing one of several sitting MPs expelled by the Independent Electoral Commission for alleged electoral fraud in the 2010 parliamentary election.
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 Canada’s Afghan legacy: Failure at Dahla dam
 Saturday July 14, 2012 
Article Link

SHAH WALI KOT, AFGHANISTAN—Heavy snow falling high in the Hindu Kush lifts the spirits of farmers far to the south as they scrape out a living in the Taliban’s desert heartland.

The harder winter pounds the distant peaks, the happier they are.

Their fate rides on the rivers of meltwater that flow south each spring, winding through a parched land, filling a network of canals that bring new life to dust-blown furrows.

Kandahar’s dirt-poor farmers feel blessed this year: winter was harsh in the mountains, so spring brought lots of water to give their crops a good start. But now the water is running low as the scorching summer heat rises.

And the farmers worry that most of God’s fleeting gift will hurry past them along the province’s main irrigation system, as it has for decades, leaving crops to shrivel under a punishing summer sun.

Canada had committed $50 million to cleaning up and repairing the irrigation network and the dam that supplies it, but Afghan farmers and officials complain that the project wasted money, taught villagers to expect handouts and lined corrupt people’s pockets.

And after all those costly mistakes, the outdated Dahla Dam’s reservoir is so full of silt that it can’t hold enough water to get crops through the driest months.

“I just want to say to Canadians that if you pave our canals with gold, what can we do with it?” chided Meerab Zakirya, 52, a Mandisar village canal manager. He has to answer to about 1,000 angry Daman district farmers when water runs out.
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  Afghanistan funding: Local media already feeling the pinch
Article Link
World leaders meeting in Tokyo pledged $16 billion in more aid to Afghanistan today. But an overall decline in foreign spending is already squeezing efforts like independent journalism.
By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / July 8, 2012 

Kabul, Afghanistan

International leaders' pledge this weekend to provide $16 billion in aid to Afghanistan over four years comes as a relief to many Afghans who have long worried that the international community would turn its back on them as happened after the Soviet war. 

Though a substantial commitment, $4 billion a year in aid represents a drop in the level of assistance Afghanistan has become used to since the US-led invasion in 2001. Already, the United States has scaled back reconstruction spending in the country by 34 percent, causing a number of Afghan organizations to reconsider their strategies and future sustainability. 

Among those already affected is the Afghan news industry. News agencies have been forced to make cuts, cancel programming, and reduce coverage as the tide of international funding recedes. The agencies that remain unaffected are predominantly those backed by political groups, often ethnically based, which predictably produce news with an agenda and protect party elites from scrutiny.

How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz. 

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, independent Afghan media was all but nonexistent. For international donors looking to establish an open political culture, supporting a nascent independent media was a clear choice.

“It’s a reality that after 2001, most of the media outlets were established or started through the funding of foreign countries. Until now, they were just looking after foreign funding and they never thought about standing on their own two feet,” says Professor Mohammad Wahid Gharwal, head of the journalism department at Kabul University. “I’m worried that if the international community decreases or stops funding the Afghan media, there won’t be a vibrant situation for the Afghan media in the future.”

One of the most respected new outlets has been Pajhwok Afghan News, an agency with reporters across the country, many of whom international journalists would tap in dangerous areas.
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Once the conflict's center, Kandahar City calms
Article Link
The province has seen a 75 percent drop in insurgent attacks and activity compared with the same time last year, according to the Kandahar governor's office in Afghanistan.

By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / July 9, 2012 Kandahar, Afghanistan

Taliban insurgents attacked the police headquarters and several parts of Kandahar City on Monday afternoon in the sort of attack that's grown less frequent in this once turbulent southern city.

Police managed to kill all 14 suicide bombers involved in the attack, but the fighting left three policemen dead and 18 injured. Six civilians were also injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which was part of the group’s regular warm weather offensive, said Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban. He added that the date of this attack was also meant to come near the one year anniversary of the assassination of President Hamid Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmad Wali, formerly one of the most prominent figures in southern Afghanistan. Ahmad Wali was killed by someone from his inner circle on July 12 of last year.

In the wake of Ahmad Wali's death, many Kandaharis were concerned his absence would create a power vacuum that would increase violence here. So far, however, the security apparatus, namely the new police chief, Abdul Raziq, has stepped in to fill the void. While a controversial figure, many locals have attributed Mr. Raziq's aggressive approach with bringing a measure of calm to Kandahar.

How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz. 

During the past several months, though security incidents remain a part of regular life for residents, most say they have seen a marked improvement in security and now enjoy much greater freedom of movement. Still, residents say that it remains unclear if the security gains will endure beyond the end of the US and NATO combat mission in 2014.

“Compared to last year there is no doubt that the situation is better, but still there are problems. It’s not long-term security. As soon as foreign troops leave, I’m sure there will be insecurity again,” says Ahmad Shah Spar, an independent political analyst in Kandahar. Mr. Spar says that his biggest concern after international forces leave is a civil war.
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 Another $16 billion in aid, but Afghan businessmen say help us
Article Link
World leaders in Tokyo pledge more aid to Afghanistan. But Afghan businessmen worry that the country is too aid dependent and want help with the private sector. 

By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / July 8, 2012 Kandahar, Afghanistan

International donors representing about 70 countries and organizations met in Tokyo on Sunday to pledge $16 billion to Afghanistan’s reconstruction over the next four years.

The announcement was welcome news for many in Afghanistan, but nearly 11 years into the US-led war many Afghans and international officials have expressed considerable disappointment with an aid effort that they say has fallen short thus far. With these new pledges in place, there is hope that lessons learned will be applied to improve aid spending in the coming years.

Among complaints of fraud, mismanagement, waste, and missed opportunities that Afghans want addressed, many say they would like to see foreign assistance work harder to adequately develop Afghanistan’s private sector so it can begin to create jobs and a sustainable economy.

“The government does not have the capacity to create more jobs. The only way to create more employment opportunities is to support the private sector,” says Mohammad Rahim Rahimi, director of the Ministry of Economics in Kandahar. “We are still asking the international community for support, but if they had spent development money appropriately I’m sure we would be self-sufficient and we would be able to support our economy.”

How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz. 

Despite the improvements foreign aid has brought to Afghanistan, it’s also managed to place the economy in a perilous position where it is dependent on aid for its existence. Presently 90 percent of the Afghan government’s budget depends on foreign aid and money from the international donor community and military spending makes up about 97 percent of the country’s GDP.

In this climate, a generation of young professionals has come of age only knowing employment in the lucrative non-governmental organization (NGO) sector and is now struggling to find work as donor spending decreases.
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## GAP (15 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 15, 2012*


 Canada’s Afghan legacy: Shoddy school buildings and sagging morale
 July 15, 2012 
Article Link

BAQI TANAH, AFGHANISTAN—The Pakistan border is a short walk through the desert from this village, and the rutted road that winds past it is a main thoroughfare for smugglers, Taliban insurgents and corrupt Afghan border police.

They all compete for the villagers’ loyalties, which shift as easily as the sand beneath their dusty feet, depending on who presents the biggest threat, or holds out the most alluring promises.

Canada hoped to win them over by building a new school just two years ago. Village elder Haji Abdul Raziq, an overbearing greybeard, named the school after himself.

He also took full credit for the gift from Canadians, at least until it quickly began to fall apart. Now, he tells his people that Canadians bungled the project because they didn’t give enough money.

The concrete walls are cracked and crumbling around the flimsy wooden door frames.

The paint, actually a thin splash of whitewash, is rubbing off where it isn’t covered with grime and graffiti.

There isn’t a stick of furniture in any of the classrooms, and a single, metal-framed blackboard sits propped against the front wall, the rough concrete floor covered in a layer of dirt that blows in through cracked windows.

The best-equipped side of the school is actually a health clinic.

A classroom in what was one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “signature projects” in the Taliban’s birthplace has been turned into a curtained maternity ward. 
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 Once the conflict's center, Kandahar City calms
Article Link
The province has seen a 75 percent drop in insurgent attacks and activity compared with the same time last year, according to the Kandahar governor's office in Afghanistan.
By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / July 9, 2012 

Taliban insurgents attacked the police headquarters and several parts of Kandahar City on Monday afternoon in the sort of attack that's grown less frequent in this once turbulent southern city.

Police managed to kill all 14 suicide bombers involved in the attack, but the fighting left three policemen dead and 18 injured. Six civilians were also injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which was part of the group’s regular warm weather offensive, said Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban. He added that the date of this attack was also meant to come near the one year anniversary of the assassination of President Hamid Karzai’s half-brother, Ahmad Wali, formerly one of the most prominent figures in southern Afghanistan. Ahmad Wali was killed by someone from his inner circle on July 12 of last year.

In the wake of Ahmad Wali's death, many Kandaharis were concerned his absence would create a power vacuum that would increase violence here. So far, however, the security apparatus, namely the new police chief, Abdul Raziq, has stepped in to fill the void. While a controversial figure, many locals have attributed Mr. Raziq's aggressive approach with bringing a measure of calm to Kandahar.

During the past several months, though security incidents remain a part of regular life for residents, most say they have seen a marked improvement in security and now enjoy much greater freedom of movement. Still, residents say that it remains unclear if the security gains will endure beyond the end of the US and NATO combat mission in 2014.

“Compared to last year there is no doubt that the situation is better, but still there are problems. It’s not long-term security. As soon as foreign troops leave, I’m sure there will be insecurity again,” says Ahmad Shah Spar, an independent political analyst in Kandahar. Mr. Spar says that his biggest concern after international forces leave is a civil war.

By the numbers, Kandahar looks much better than it has in the past. According to officials in the office of Kandahar’s governor, so far this year the province has seen a 75 percent drop in insurgent attacks and activity compared with the same time last year.
More on link


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## GAP (18 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 18, 2012*

 NATO chopper crashes in Afghanistan
by The Canadian Press Jul 17, 2012 
Article Link

A NATO helicopter crashed Wednesday in western Afghanistan, injuring two troops serving with the U.S.-led military coalition, NATO said.

No other information was disclosed about the crash in the relatively peaceful west. The crash is under investigation.

Separately, NATO reported that a service member was killed Tuesday during an insurgent attack in the south. Insurgents are trying to regain territory they've lost during the past two years when tens of thousands of coalition and Afghan forces routed them from their strongholds in the south.

The trooper's nationality has not yet been released.
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 How millions in Canadian aid have failed to bring justice to Afghanistan
 Tuesday July 17, 2012 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN—Noorullah Mohammad was riding his bike through one of the Taliban’s most strategic corridors, on what he claimed was an innocent visit to see his sister, when the farmer’s son fell into the dark hole of Afghan justice.

Afghan National Army troops stopped Mohammad, 25, at a checkpoint on February 19 in Zhari district, where U.S. and Afghan forces are battling a relentless insurgency on the north bank of the Arghandab River, just east of Kandahar City.

The soldiers frisked Mohammad. That was nothing out of the ordinary. War has made roadside searches as much a ritual of life for young men in Kandahar’s countryside as ablutions before prayers.

But they found a cellphone SIM card from Pakistan in his pocket. Mohammad was immediately thrown in jail while the SIM card was analyzed at the Kandahar office of the National Directorate for Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.

“In his message box, different messages from the Taliban side and messages sent to them, showed he was giving information to them,” according to an Afghan prosecutor’s charge sheet. “He was also under the observation of an intelligence unit before, meaning he was being followed earlier too, and finally he was arrested.”

Mohammad insisted the SIM card wasn’t his, that he had been sitting in front of his home in Salwagha village, minding the family sheep, when “a guy riding a motorbike” stopped and told Mohammad to hold onto the cellphone card.

“I did not know him and did not have any kind of link or contact with him in the past,” Mohammad told investigators, according to the charge sheet. “He left and disappeared. After a few minutes, I wanted to go to my sister’s home for a visit.” 
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  PHOTO ESSAY 
Life Inside Little America in Afghanistan
Photos from a time when tiki bars and afternoons at the pool dominated the lives of Americans in Afghanistan.
BY RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN | JUNE 26, 2012
Article Link

 In the 1950s and 1960s, when the residents of Little America wanted to escape the stifling summer heat, they headed north along narrow, rutted dirt roads into the foothills of the Hindu Kush. The American-built dam in Kajaki, near the chilly headwaters of the Helmand River, was a popular destination. Families spent long weekends in stone-walled cottages that had been constructed for American engineers when they erected the dam. An Italian caretaker and his wife had transformed the buildings into holiday villas with trellised gardens, gazebos, and sidewalks inlaid with elaborate designs fashioned out of colored pebbles. 

  Afghan prison chief jailed for rape
By MIRIAM ARGHANDIWAL, Reuters 
Article Link

KABUL - An Afghan prison chief was jailed for 16 years on Tuesday for raping a teenage girl, a rare show of justice for women in a country where they are suffering increased violence and offered scant protection from the law.

Sayed Nasir Ahmad was found guilty of raping Meena Asifa during the holy month of Ramadan three years ago in eastern Logar province, when she was 15.

She had been detained at the prison where he was director after she ran away from home.

“He raped Asifa and threatened to kill her if she told anyone,” her lawyer Mohammad Mujahid Moram told a Kabul courtroom. Asifa and her family did not attend the hearing.

Ahmad, who had previously worked as a judge, denied the charges. “I am being framed by the local government because I stopped them unlawfully obtaining land,” he said.

A spokesman for Logar’s provincial government declined to comment on his allegation.
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## GAP (18 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 18, 2012*

Afghanistan minerals fully mapped
Article Link
  18 July 2012 

Afghanistan has become the first country whose surface minerals have been mapped from the air.

The US Geological Survey released the results of a "hyperspectral imaging" effort, in which reflections of light shone from an aircraft are analysed.

Different minerals - as well as snow or vegetation - reflect specific colours, resulting in a "mineral map".

The map comprises more than 800 million data points corresponding to an area of 440,000 sq km, some 70% of the country.

Afghanistan is known to have vast reserves of oil, gas, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. In late 2011, a consortium of Indian companies inked a deal to begin mining some of the country's large stores of iron.

But the country is known to have a wider array of mineral resources; in 2010, the Afghan ministry of mines claimed a value of its reserves of nearly a trillion dollars, then carrying out tours to promote investment in them.

But it remains to pin down which economically viable minerals are where, an effort for which the USGS's hyperspectral imaging expertise was enlisted.

In a series of 28 flights over 43 days, the USGS gathered the data by shining visible and infrared light from a height of 15,000m and using a camera to capture the reflections. Each "pixel" of the camera was analysed and correlated with the materials that reflect at a given colour.

The USGS public release of the data includes two maps: one of iron and iron-bearing minerals, and one of minerals principally containing carbon, silicon, or sulphur.

The survey was funded by the US Department of Defense's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) as well as the Afghan government.
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Russia and China eye role in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Article Link
  6 June 2012 

With the United States and Nato set to leave Afghanistan over the next two years, power is the region is shifting. Writer Ahmed Rashid reports on Russia and China's attempts to capitalise on the decline of American influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As United States troops prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, a major regional shift is underway.

With the prospect of a decline in US influence in the region in sight, Russia and China are reaching out to Pakistan and Afghanistan in a bid to improve economic ties and to secure their southern borders against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, are in Beijing this week for the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is led by China and Russia.

With the US set to leave Afghanistan and bad relations between Islamabad and Washington DC continuing to fester, the SCO has taken on a new lease of life.
Economic help

China and Afghanistan will sign a strategic agreement at the SCO, elevating their relationship as China shops for raw material and oil exploration contracts in mineral-rich Afghanistan. China has already secured some oil and copper mining concessions.

Until now, China has carried out few development projects in Afghanistan and is unlikely to help fund the country's army and police, as the US would like.

But all that could change once the Americans leave. Xu Feihong, China's ambassador to Kabul says that ''China is the most reliable friend of Afghanistan".

Likewise Russia, both through the SCO and bilaterally, is willing to offer major help to Afghanistan such as improving the Salang Tunnel highway, the critical link road between Kabul and the north which the Soviets built in the 1970s. 
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Afghanistan: Taliban bomb destroys 22 Nato fuel tankers 
Article Link
  18 July 2012

A bomb planted by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan has destroyed 22 Nato fuel tankers carrying supplies to coalition forces, local officials say.

The vehicles were hit by a pre-dawn explosion which triggered a huge fire that engulfed them in flames, they say.

At the time, the trucks were parked overnight in Samangan province, as they headed from Uzbekistan towards Nato forces in the south.

Police told the BBC that the fire caused by the bomb is still burning.

An intelligence official said the device was attached under one of the trucks, which were parked close together.

"Since it was early in the morning, there were not a lot of people around. Otherwise, it could have caused a lot more casualties,'' the official told the BBC.

In a statement, the Taliban said they carried out the attack, which officials say is the first of its kind in northern Afghanistan.

The trucks were attacked in the same province where well-known Afghan politician Ahmad Khan Samangani was killed in a suicide attack on Saturday while attending his daughter's wedding.

Nato has relied heavily on overland supplies from Central Asia since last November when Pakistan banned Nato convoys after US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border. 
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Nato grapples with rogue elements in Afghan ranks
By Quentin Sommerville BBC News, Helmand Province, Afghanistan   1 May 2012
Article Link

Through thick mud in Helmand province, a joint Afghan and British patrol snakes its way through fields deep in opium poppies and wheat.

They march in single file in the hope of reducing the chances of triggering a Taliban roadside bomb.

But the Taliban are not the only threat to British soldiers.

In this year alone, 18 foreign soldiers have been killed by the Afghans they serve alongside.

A dramatic jump in so called green-on-blue killings, amounting to an average of one a week this year, has led to a serious erosion of trust. Only Taliban bombs have killed more international soldiers.

Maj Bev Allen of the Royal Anglian Regiment, who is leading the British advisers on this patrol, acknowledges that "there are moments when we are vulnerable".

"We live out in austere locations, we have procedures. We remain vigilant at all times, and we try to keep that risk to a minimum," he said.

"But it's one of the most important elements of the job we do here. We demonstrate to the Afghans that we trust them, and that we are in the fight and we share the danger with them."
Convivial atmosphere

The soldiers on the patrol say they never fully let their guard down. 
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## GAP (20 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 20, 2012*

 Canadian military lost 34 vehicles in Afghanistan, 359 damaged
Article Link

OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces have paid a heavy price during more than 10 years in Afghanistan: 158 soldiers killed; more than 2,000 others wounded; and an untold number suffering from the hidden effects of PTSD and other mental injuries.

A new document obtained by Postmedia News shows the military paid a heavy price in equipment as well.

The two-page report shows 34 Canadian Forces vehicles were destroyed during the mission, and another 359 damaged.
Canadian military lost 34 vehicles in Afghanistan, 359 damaged

Details are scant, and in some cases it is difficult to tell which vehicle the report is referring to, but the army’s light armoured vehicles — which served as the workhorse in Afghanistan — suffered the most attrition.

The report indicates 13 of the army’s LAV-IIIs were destroyed and 159 damaged.

The report does not say how each vehicle was destroyed or damaged, but the LAV-IIIs were instrumental in ferry Canadian soldiers around the country, and many of the worst days came when a roadside bomb or other improvised-explosive device crippled one of the vehicles and killed or wounded those inside.

In addition, despite massive amounts of armour and weaponry, three Canadian Leopard C2 tanks were destroyed in Afghanistan and 15 damaged.

As well, dozens of trucks of various sizes and models were damaged and another seven destroyed.

Interestingly,  the list of damaged vehicles also include a floodlight assembly trailer and a kitchen trailer, possibly from a rocket attack against Kandahar Airfield — or simply through wear and tear in the harsh terrain.
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## GAP (21 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 21, 2012*

 Two NATO Soldiers Killed In Separate IED Attacks In Afghanistan
 7/20/2012 
Article Link

(RTTNews) - Two service-members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistanhave have been killed in separate roadside IED (improvised explosive device) attacks in the country's south and east, the ISAF said on Thursday.

It, however, did not disclose the identity or nationality of the deceased, leaving identification procedures to the respective countries.

A day earlier, two other NATO soldiers were killed in an IED attack in the country's east, where mostly U.S. troops are stationed.

Of late, Taliban is increasingly using IEDs against NATO forces, as it avoids direct confrontation with the foreign troops while raising casualties.

It is now estimated that more than 240 ISAF soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year, mostly in IED attacks. 
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Afghan interpreter Sayed Shah Sharifi wins fight for visa to Canada
Published on Friday July 20, 2012 
Article Link
  By Watson, Paul Star Columnist

VANCOUVER—Battlefield interpreter Sayed Shah Sharifi’s long fight for protection from the insurgents he helped Canadians battle in Kandahar is almost over.

Sharifi received a visa Friday and was told by the International Organization for Migration, which acts as a middleman for Canadian immigration in Kandahar, that he has a seat reserved on a flight to Canada later this month. He is waiting for details on his resettlement in Canada.

“Hello sir hope every one is doing very well,” Sharifi wrote in a breathless email. It announced the long-awaited breakthrough to several Canadian veterans of the Afghan war, whom Sharifi served with in Kandahar, the Taliban’s power base.

“my flight is on 28th of july from Kandahar . . . and i am coming to Toronto. thanks. see u soon.”

Sharifi suffered a final humiliation before Canada granted his visa.

He wasn’t able to satisfy immigration officials that he had divorced his wife, despite sworn affidavits from the mullah who oversaw the breakup in accordance with Islamic sharia law. Other witness statements backed up the mullah.

The immigration department told Sharifi to go with his ex-wife to the Supreme Court of Afghanistan to certify their divorce. He says she hates him and refuses to talk to him, let alone travel from Kandahar to the court in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

And Afghanistan’s justice system is known worldwide as hopelessly corrupt anyway.

So, at immigration’s insistence, Sharifi signed a final statement confirming not only that he cannot sponsor his divorced wife to come to Canada, which he has no intention of doing, but that he also can’t try to bring any new spouse later.

Sharifi’s statement says: “I may not be able to sponsor any other person as my spouse until and unless I have provided relevant and credible evidence that my divorce is lawful according to the civil law of the country where it was obtained . . . .”
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 Taliban polio vaccination ban uses children as weapons
Article Link
The Globe and Mail  Tuesday, Jul. 17 2012

The reputation of the Taliban was already well-established and did not require the use of child hostages to convince anyone of the extremists’ venal nature. Even so, the ban on polio vaccination in northwestern Pakistan – and the attacks on health workers who defy it – is a remarkable example of the Taliban’s inhumanity, one that not only risks the health of some 280,000 of Pakistan’s children but also hampers the world’s ability to eradicate the disease.

The Taliban say they will lift the ban once the United States agrees to stop the use of drone attacks against the extremists. That undermines the logic of those who would excuse the Taliban their act of blackmail by suggesting it is logical fallout from the CIA’s use of a vaccination campaign as a ruse to establish the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

That was a reckless tactic by the CIA. It gave extremist leaders in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) the pretext to declare that the locally run polio vaccination program is also a cover for American spies. Of course, it is not a broken trust with medical personnel that underpins the vaccination ban.

The Taliban simply see the health of children – even their own children – as a weapon to be used against the U.S. Their commitment to lift the ban once there is a halt to drone strikes illustrates as much. If the Taliban truly believed the local health workers, or the World Health Organization for that matter, were legions of U.S. spies, they would hardly be prepared to let the vaccinations resume.
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Pakistan blast 'kills nine' in Kurram at Nabi compound
Article Link
  21 July 2012 

A suicide bomb attack has killed at least nine people in north-western Pakistan, officials say.

The blast went off at the entrance to an anti-Taliban commander's compound in Kurram, part of the tribal regions which border Afghanistan.

The compound is used by a local militia and also contains residential units, reports the Reuters news agency.

Pakistan's military has been carrying out operations against militant groups in the tribal regions for months.

Three children were among the dead, tribal police officials told the Associated Press (AP). At least 15 people were injured.

The compound belongs to a militant commander, Mullah Nabi, who split from the Pakistani Taliban.

He has been involved in clashes in the past with other commanders loyal to the Taliban, says BBC Asia analyst Jill McGivering.

The bomber tried to enter the guest quarters in Nabi's compound, tribal police official Amjad Khan told AP.

When the bomber was challenged by guards outside, the explosives were detonated, he said.

Mullah Nabi was unhurt, residents said.

It is unclear who carried out the attack. 
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## GAP (23 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 23, 2012*

 Withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan halfway done, top commander says
 July 23, 2012 Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan –  This year's pullout of 23,000 American troops from Afghanistan is at the halfway mark, U.S. Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces, said Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press.

It's a kind of milestone toward wrapping up the U.S. and NATO combat role after a decade in the war-torn nation - but Allen cautioned against putting too much emphasis on the U.S. troop drawdown, because the U.S.-led coalition's campaign is continuing.

Still, Allen said that he knows the clock is ticking on the NATO coalition's combat mission, which is to end at the close of 2014 - just 29 months from now.

In a wide-ranging interview in his office at NATO headquarters in Kabul, Allen also said that while Afghan security forces were increasingly taking the lead, more work needs to be done to shore up their confidence in planning and executing operations. He said this summer's coalition operations were aimed at pushing insurgents farther from population centers, expanding the security zone around the capital, Kabul, and getting more Afghan forces into the lead in the east, which borders Pakistan.

The Afghan army and police force are battling low levels of literacy, corruption within their ranks and lack of equipment and experience, but Allen said they were showing themselves to be increasingly capable on the battlefield. Getting them into the lead is an essential goal of the next 29 months, he said.

"We haven't even recruited the whole Afghan national security force. That's not going to happen for another couple months, but by Oct. 1, we hope to be at 352,000," he said. "We don't finish completely fielding the Afghan forces until December 2013. So just at that level alone there is significant work remaining to be done."

About 90 percent of coalition operations now are partnered with Afghan forces, and Afghan forces are in the lead more than 40 percent of the time, he said.

"We want to get that number higher, and that will come from battalion and higher units being able to take the lead with respect to planning," he said. "Planning is really the hallmark of any large military formation, and it's typically a weakness in new formations and new armies. So we are putting a lot of effort into teaching them how to plan, execute, recover from the mission and then re-cock and go back out again."
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The Perilous Pushtun Paradox
Article Link
July 23, 2012

 Over the last few years the Taliban have adopted a new strategy that emphasizes avoiding contact with foreign troops and concentrating attacks, and bribery efforts, on Afghan soldiers, police and politicians. The latter includes senior tribal leaders and local strongmen in general. As they did in the 1990s, the Taliban use a carrot and stick approach to controlling the country. Those who are willing to make a deal, to share control, are accommodated, even if it includes bribes. Areas that refuse to submit are subjected to terror attacks, mainly directed at the local leadership. But ordinary civilians are victims as well, in order to generate popular pressure against the local leadership to make a deal with the Taliban. It's not working as well as it did in the 1990s, when the population was destitute and worn down by fifteen years of war with the Russians and after the Russians left in 1989 each other (civil war). The last decade has been one of growing prosperity fueled by more economic activity, foreign aid and drug (heroin/opium) profits. In some parts of Afghanistan the new tactics have worked. That means the Taliban and drug gangs are left alone. The bribed/intimidated security forces and local leaders will still go after bandits and shake down local citizens who do not have powerful friends. That includes foreign aid operations, which have always been the target of thieves and corrupt officials.

The problem the Taliban have is that they lose all control in areas where foreign troops operate and have a very hard time in places occupied by non-Pushtuns (meaning most of Afghanistan) and the growing number of Pushtun tribes that are fed up with the Taliban and drug gangs and fighting back. The Taliban maintain the illusion of success (at least among themselves) by killing and bribing more Afghan police, soldiers and leaders. Back in Pakistan (Quetta, Baluchistan, south of Helmand and Kandahar) the Taliban leadership knows better.  Areas of Taliban influence are shrinking and the number of Afghans actively resisting, or organizing militias and fighting the Taliban are increasing. Most Afghans do not see the Taliban as religiously inspired nationalists (as the Islamic radicals view themselves), but depraved hired guns for the drug gangs. Despite strict orders to behave, many Taliban use their power to loot and abuse the women (and young boys). The Taliban are not building support after two decades of effort, but instead a more intense hatred.

Increasingly, Taliban leaders are questioning their chances of eventual victory. 
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 Italian Jedi Arrives In Afghanistan
Article Link
July 22, 2012

 An Italian firm (AMI) is testing a new electronic warfare (EW) system (JEDI, for Jamming and Electronic Defense Instrumentation) that was developed based on years of AMI experience providing support for EW operations in Afghanistan.

JEDI is mounted on a pallet that is currently being tested aboard an Italian twin-engine transport (C-27J). Once the pallet is loaded, antennae are mounted on the bottom of the aircraft and connected to the pallet equipment (which includes seats for two equipment operators). JEDI provides electronic surveillance and electronic attack capabilities. If JEDI detects a threat (like cell phones or radios being used by the enemy, and the operators confirm that), the jammer is turned on to block certain frequencies.

AMI NATO customers used equipment and tactics like this on the ground. AMI realized that having this stuff inexpensively and quickly airborne was a big advantage. Thus putting JEDI on a pallet that can turn quickly a cargo aircraft into an EW plane is seen as a popular product, and the wave of the future. AMI has designed JEDI so that it can quickly accommodate new hardware and software. For that reason, the JEDI hardware was mostly commercial stuff. 
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## GAP (24 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 24, 2012*

 Afghan policemen defect to Taliban in Farah province
Article Link
  24 July 2012 

An Afghan police commander and 13 junior officers have joined the Taliban in the western Afghan province of Farah, in what correspondents say could be the biggest defection by police.

They say the commander, named as Mirwais, was in charge of a 20-man checkpoint when he defected on Sunday.

The men are said to have taken heavy weaponry, radios and police vehicles including US-made armoured Humvees.

Farah is one of the most insecure areas in the relatively peaceful west.

The commander was based in Shewan village in the district of Bala Bulak, which was until recently considered a Taliban stronghold.

The insurgents were driven out of the area following a series of operations carried out by Afghan security forces. But local officials say insurgents have regrouped in the area recently.
Rarely reported

Police and intelligence officials deployed in the province said the commander poisoned seven policemen in his charge who had refused to defect along with him. 
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 Ugly realities gain spotlight
  Article Link
 The StarPhoenix July 24, 2012

Although Afghanistan was ignored by the international community in the first years after the Taliban took power there, brutalizing women and children and destroying its cultural heritage, the country has played a large role in politics over the past decade.

Perhaps nowhere more so than in Canada, where the former Liberal government promised our country's allies that it would help rebuild Afghanistan and the current Conservative prime minister insisted, at least for a while, that Canadians would never cut and run until the job was done.

Even in his final mandatory report to Parliament on the mission in Afghanistan, released last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrote of Canada's glowing record in Afghanistan, particularly in its three signature areas of education, irrigation, and justice. But there is a growing sense that Canada's Afghan chickens are coming home to roost.

Over the past few months at least three highly critical books have been written by close allies, two from Great Britain and one from the United States, about Canada's military record in Afghanistan. To be sure, there is much to criticize about both British and American efforts in Afghanistan, as well.

Britain's tactics in the Hellman province were a calamity, and the U.S. pulled out of Kandahar in 2005 to focus on its disastrous war in Iraq, leaving the Taliban an opportunity to rebuild. Despite the eagerness with which visiting Canadian politicians donned fatigues and body armour for Afghan photo ops, there was never enough resolve by those in charge to put adequate resources to the task.

After years struggling to hold down the toughest campaign in Afghanistan, Canada could never muster more than 2,800 of its soldiers in the theatre, only 600 to 800 of whom could get outside the wire to police the entire Kandahar province.
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 “Afghan good-enough”: enough for a respectable exit? by Alistair Edgar
Article Link
 July 23, 2012  Alistair Edgar - Acuns, LCMSDS  

Visiting Canadian troops and various Afghan social and political representatives in Kandahar and Kabul in 2010, I had the opportunity to see first hand the first-rate professionalism, dedication and determination of the Canadian men and women serving there, both at the main base at Kandahar Airfield, and in several smaller sites. They were, and are, some of the very best examples that Canada as a nation has to offer, as they sought to combat the Taliban and other opposition forces, while trying to help bring political freedoms, social rights and economic development to the population of Kandahar province and to Afghanistan generally. I begin this blog with that very simple and clear statement, because the rest of the piece about Afghanistan is much more about recognizing the limits of Western states’ interests than about such admirable individual character traits.
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## GAP (26 Jul 2012)

*Articles found July 26, 2012*


 Afghan war: Did US commanders cover up 'horrific' conditions at hospital?
Article Link
A House subcommittee hears testimony of 'horrific' conditions at the US-funded Dawood Military Hospital in Afghanistan, including bribery and surgery without anesthesia. Retired officers say there was an attempt to block an investigation.
By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / July 25, 2012 

Are Americans getting a clear picture of just how war in Afghanistan is going?

In bracing testimony before a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee this week, top US military officials warned that they are not.

The hearing centered around the US-funded Dawood Military Hospital in Afghanistan. It’s hardly a household name stateside, but evidence of the “Auschwitz-type” conditions, as one lawmaker put it, and allegations that US military commanders covered it up to put a better face on the Afghan war have caused a firestorm of controversy.

The medical care of patients at the hospital includes “some of the most horrific, horrendous things I’ve ever seen,” raged Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R) of Utah, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform’s Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations. “Allowing surgery to go on without anesthetics, gangrene, open wounds that aren’t being dressed.”

Afghan hospital staffers reportedly demanded bribes in order to treat patients, which included Afghan soldiers fighting alongside US troops in the war. If staffers were denied payments by the families, the patients did not receive care.

Representative Chaffetz leveled yet another grave charge: “That there was an effort to not allow the inspector general to get in there because the generals and others on the ground really wanted a positive story coming out of Afghanistan, rather than solving the problem.”

This was the testimony of two retired colonels Tuesday. “What this hearing should be about are attempts to over-control the message,” said retired Army Col. Gerald Carozza, Jr., who was chief of legal development assisting the Afghan Army and Defense Ministry. “It is about some leadership that puts the best foot forward and relies on the hard-built reputation earned by the military.”

But that was a reputation that was misused, says another officer who charged that a top US commander, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, sought to conceal revelations surrounding the hospital rather than launching an investigation.

Lt. Gen. Caldwell, who headed the training mission in Afghanistan, “was visibly upset” about the possibility of a US military inquiry into the hospital, says Col. Mark Fassi, then-inspector general for the training command. “His first response to me was, ‘How could we make that request with the election coming?' ” he told the subcommittee.

The US military is currently investigating allegations against Caldwell, who was not invited to testify at the hearing. A spokesman for Caldwell says he would “welcome the opportunity to respond to any inquiry” and that “all allegations will be proven false.”

It is not the first time that US military commanders have been accused of painting a too-rosy picture of the US war effort.
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 Canada’s Afghan legacy: Plan for Kandahar dam was dropped when mission ended, U.S. says
Published on Wednesday July 25, 2012
Article Link

Canada had a plan to increase the water supply to desperate farmers in the Taliban heartland, but dropped it because Ottawa ended the Kandahar mission before the Dahla Dam could be restored, the U.S. military says.

Water flowing from the dam’s reservoir is critical to the irrigation of thousands of desert farms, the backbone of the only economy Kandahar has outside of foreign aid and military spending, which is fast drying up as troops withdraw.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared the effort to restore the dam, and the irrigation canals snaking through the battleground of the Arghandab River valley, the top of Canada’s three “signature projects,” followed by school building and vaccinations against polio.

Canada spent $50 million on the dam and irrigation canals before Ottawa pulled all Canadian troops and civilian staff from Kandahar last fall. Much of the budget went to private security and other expenses, sums Ottawa refuses to disclose.

Afghan officials claim millions of dollars were wasted on security firms that operated like protection rackets, along with needless studies, leaving them without the solution they wanted — a higher dam wall — when the Canadians left.

“The Canadian forces had a two-part plan. The second part of the plan was to raise Dahla by five to eight metres to increase the amount of water that the dam can hold,” Mark Ray, chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kandahar, wrote in an email.

“They departed the theatre before they could implement the second part of their plan. The United States has taken on the responsibility for funding and executing this work and is moving forward with it.”
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## The Bread Guy (31 Jul 2012)

Taliban happy Pakistan reopened NATO supply line
Article link
_Stars and Stripes_
Published: July 31, 2012

As the United States trumpeted its success in persuading Pakistan to end its seven-month blockade of supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, another group privately cheered its good fortune: the Taliban.

One of the Afghan war's great ironies is that both NATO and the Taliban rely on the convoys to fuel their operations - a recipe for seemingly endless conflict.

The insurgents have earned millions of dollars from Afghan security firms that illegally paid them not to attack trucks making the perilous journey from Pakistan to coalition bases throughout Afghanistan - a practice the U.S. has tried to crack down on but admits likely still occurs.

Militants often target the convoys in Pakistan as well, but there have been far fewer reports of trucking companies paying off the insurgents, possibly because the route there is less vulnerable to attack.

Pakistan's decision to close its border to NATO supplies in November in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops significantly reduced the flow of cash to militants operating in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the convoys travel up from Pakistan, said Taliban commanders.

Pakistan reopened the supply route in early July after the U.S. apologized for the deaths of the soldiers.

"Stopping these supplies caused us real trouble," a Taliban commander who leads about 60 insurgents in eastern Ghazni province told The Associated Press in an interview. "Earnings dropped down pretty badly. Therefore the rebellion was not as strong as we had planned."

A second Taliban commander who controls several dozen fighters in southern Kandahar province said the money from security companies was a key source of financing for the insurgency, which uses it to pay fighters and buy weapons, ammunition and other supplies.

"We are able to make money in bundles," the commander told the AP by telephone. "Therefore, the NATO supply is very important for us."
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