# The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (January 2007)



## GAP (1 Jan 2007)

*The Sandbox and Areas Reports Thread (January 2007)   * 

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

*War in Afghanistan overwhelming choice as Canadian news story of the year*
Canadian Press Monday, January 01, 2007
Article Link

(CP) - It's being waged half a world away, yet the war in Afghanistan is the overwhelming choice as Canadian news story of the year. 

In the annual poll of newspaper editors and broadcasters conducted by The Canadian Press and Broadcast News, the war easily outranked the Conservatives' federal election victory with a margin of 91 to 44. 

Last week, the Canadian Soldier was chosen Canadian Newsmaker of the Year in the same poll. 

For the first time since the Korean War, Canadian soldiers went into sustained, major combat and suffered hundreds of casualties, including 36 deaths this past year. 

Images of Maple Leaf-draped coffins returning home became crimson staples for front pages and newscasts, and delivered the reality of war to millions of Canadians. 

As historian and author Serge Durflinger put it, "nothing can bring it home like the faces of the dead." 
End

Harper praises troops in New Year's message
Last Updated: Monday, January 1, 2007 | 11:57 AM ET  CBC News 
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a visit to Canadian soldiers, aid workers and diplomats working in war-ravaged Afghanistan was his personal highlight in the past year.

"Through their selfless acts, these brave men and women are protecting our security interests and making a real difference in the lives of the long-suffering Afghan people," said Harper in his year-end message.

The prime minister visited the more than 2,000 Canadians serving in southern Afghanistan in March, just more than a month after the Conservatives won the federal election.

Harper urged Canadians to "reflect on the year that was and chart a course for the one to come."

Canadians have much to be thankful for, including a strong economy, a united country and a strong presence on the world stage, he said.

Borrowing a line from former prime minister Jean Chrétien, Harper said Canada isn't just a great country, but "the greatest in the world.
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*Media blind to Afghan civilian deaths  * 
by Dave Markland   January 01, 2007 
Article Link 

In early September, Canadian military personnel stationed in Afghanistan's Kandahar province spearheaded NATO's Operation Medusa, aimed at Taliban strongholds in the Panjwaii and Zhari districts of that province. Accustomed to seeing the Canadian Forces' role as that of peace-keepers, many observers were stunned by reports that the Medusa offensive had resulted in hundreds of enemy combatants killed along with five fatalities suffered by Canadian soldiers. Meanwhile, there was a largely unreported civilian exodus as some 80,000 people fled their homes while “at least 50 civilians were killed over several weeks of bombing” (New York Times, Nov 27, A12). 

Public concern here in Canada resulted in a surge of public debate and reflection, as evidenced by call-in radio programs, opinion polls and letters to the editor. All this has fuelled on-going organizing efforts across the country that continue to demand Canada's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

One might have expected our major national media to engage such an important discussion with in-depth news coverage of the conflict, along with critical and incisive editorials and opinion pieces. Instead, our most respected media went to considerable lengths to avoid negative portrayals of our military role and that of our NATO allies, even to the point of completely ignoring certain shocking and disastrous events which are of vital importance in understanding the role of our military in Afghanistan and its effects on the people of that country.

This article examines several recent instances of NATO forces killing Afghan civilians - all of which occurred well after the close of Operation Medusa - and the coverage which those events were given by our country's agenda-setting English newspapers: the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.

Double tragedy

At around 2am on October 18, NATO helicopters firing on houses in the village of Ashogo in Kandahar killed between nine and thirteen civilians, including women and children. Almost simultaneously, in neighboring Helmand province, another NATO air strike killed a reported thirteen civilians. Additionally, NATO revealed that just one purported Taliban insurgent was killed in the attacks. In fact, during the attack on Ashogo, there were no Taliban whatsoever in the village, according to local officials. NATO blamed the botched attacks on intelligence failures.

News of these two catastrophes was vividly related by a veteran Afghanistan reporter, Kathy Gannon, whose article was carried widely on the Associated Press wire. The Toronto Star (Oct 19) ran her AP report on page A7 with the title "NATO strikes kill villagers". That was pretty much the end of coverage in the Star: no editorials or opinion pieces weighed in on the killings. The paper did briefly revisit the events in a news article three days later (Oct 22, A14) in reporting on an Afghan father's accusations that during the Kandahar attack NATO troops had executed his wounded son when the soldiers had entered their house. (As for the allegation, NATO later announced that they had exonerated themselves on the matter. See "No evidence to support claim of execution-style killing of Afghan teen: NATO", Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, Nov 21.)

In terms of the Globe and Mail, that paper completely ignored the double tragedy when it came to light. Only when NATO air strikes killed more Afghan civilians the following week did the Globe even mention the earlier case. However, the Globe low-balled the body count when they did (belatedly) report the incident, stating on one day that twenty civilians had been killed by NATO in the October 18 attacks, only to state the next day that nine civilians had died. Evidently, the Globe chose to drop the Helmand province incident from their tally, and then opted to cite the lowest death estimate for the Kandahar attack by itself (Oct 26, A18; Oct 27, A17). Later, Human Rights Watch, in referring to these attacks, would surmise, “at least 22 civilians were killed as a result of NATO air operations in Kandahar and Helmand provinces.” (See HRW Letter to NATO, Nov 28.)
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Muslims pray for Canadian troopsCAROLINE ALPHONSO 
With a report from Canadian Press 
Article Link

HAMILTON -- Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan were honoured yesterday in a special Muslim prayer service, believed to be the first of its kind in Canada.

Despite their objections to Canada's role in Afghanistan, the Muslim Canadian Congress, a small, progressive, secular group, organized the service to remember those who have died and to pray for the families of these soldiers.

"We wanted to show our solidarity from a very humanitarian perspective. This is not political," said interfaith affairs director Raheel Raza, who led the prayer service.

About 70 people, Muslim and Christian, attended the service yesterday morning at the Eternal Spring United Church, a small church in Hamilton, Ont.
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (2 Jan 2007)

*The Secret War in Afghanistan*
James Dunnigan, Strategypage.com, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

The recent fighting in southern Afghanistan was reported in terms of American, British, Canadian and Dutch troops fighting the Taliban. But the most effective troops hardly got mentioned at all, and that's the way they like it. Among 20,000 or so American and NATO troops, there were nearly 2,000 commandos (about a third of them U.S. Special Forces). Afghanistan has been something of a commando Olympics for the past five years ....



*An Afghan follows his heart*
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 2 Jan 07
Article Link

Most young men in Afghanistan can only dream of Turialai Wafa's lifestyle. He survived the collapse of his society, saw stinking corpses in the streets, and got away. About to turn 35, he has a comfortable life in North America: a high-flying job based in Washington and an apartment in Toronto.  Nothing can force him to return to Afghanistan. His business degree, his status as a permanent resident of Canada and his flawless English leave him free to work almost anywhere.  At least, that's what his friends keep telling him, just before they repeat the question Mr. Wafa has heard many times in recent months: Why throw himself back into Afghanistan?  “One friend told me, ‘Okay, you want a medal? I'll buy you a medal, but please, don't go back,' ” Mr. Wafa said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban commander vows bloody 2007 in Afghanistan*
Saeed Ali Achakzai, Reuters (UK), 2 Jan 07
Article Link

The Taliban will step up attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan this year and kill anyone who negotiates with the government, a top rebel commander said on Tuesday.  Taliban fighters staged a surprise comeback last year with the bloodiest violence since U.S.-led troops forced them from power in 2001. More than 4,000 people were killed on both sides in 2006 including nearly 170 foreign troops.  Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah said the new year would see more attacks on NATO and U.S. forces.  "Suicide and guerrilla attacks on NATO, American and coalition forces will continue and increase this year. The Taliban will inflict heavy casualties on them," Dadullah told Reuters by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location ....



*Three school projects worth $185,000 in eastern Afghanistan*
ISAF news release # 2007-001, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

ISAF engineers operating in Orgun district completed three school projects in December worth $185,000, further building the educational capacity for the children of Paktika province.  The 27th Engineer Battalion, known as Task Force Tiger, completed the three projects by building two new schools and by refurbishing one school.  The engineers also hosted a training course to teach Afghans working on the projects skills such as advanced masonry, carpentry and concrete techniques.  The two new schools will provide learning opportunities for the children of Rabat village in Sarobi district and Shaykan village in Orgun district, while the refurbished school will serve school-aged children in Sarobi village, Sarbobi district.  The Sarbobi school, which is a six-room schoolhouse strictly for girls, replaces the former girls school comprised of a shed roof with no walls. The project was supported by the local tribal and municipal leadership, and followed a similar design to the new Rabat school for boys.  These three school projects were financed by the U.S. Commander’s Emergency Reconstruction Program, or CERP ....



*PRT Farah assists burn victim*
ISAF news release # 2007-002, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

Two ISAF military personnel assigned to the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) recently helped bring a young Afghan child to the United States for treatment to burns he sustained during a house fire.  The fire left six-year-old Mahsoom’s neck and jaw damaged, impairing his ability to chew or speak well. After meeting the boy at the PRT’s aid centre, U.S. Navy Doctor Lt. Afshin Afarin and U.S. Army Capt. Jay Berendzen coordinated Mahsoom’s treatment in the United States.  Dr. Peter Grossman, from the Grossman Burn Centre, Sherman Oaks Hospital near Los Angeles, Calif., is expected to perform the boy’s surgery. Working with several charitable organizations, Lieutenant Afarin and Captain Berendzen found a host family to support Mahsoom during his six-to-nine month stay in the United States. They also coordinated the funding to support his treatment and helped the boy’s family obtain the required legal documents and medical forms.  In addition, the service members coordinated the trip through the Afghan system, obtaining the required letter of permission from Mahsoom’s father and the village Shura. Unable to read or write, Mahsoom’s father signed his name using his thumbprint. “It is in God’s hands,” he said. “This operation will be good for his life. Everybody is going to fall in love with him.” Mahsoom arrived in the United States just before the new year.  Lieutenant Afarin said that despite the hurdles they encountered, he never doubted that things would work out in the end. “There is so much that doesn’t go right in this country. This gives us the opportunity to say some things do go well, and there are caring people out there,” he said. 



*ANA, ISAF help people in Paktika in their struggle against winter*
ISAF news release # 2007-003, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

On Thursday in the villages of Saturi and Khanjakay, Paktika province, Afghan National Army (ANA) troops and ISAF engineers delivered winter supplies to villagers.  ANA 2-203 Kandak and ISAF Task Force Eagle soldiers donated cold weather clothing, food and other supplies to the grateful local population. They also donated crayons, pencils and toys to the children.  “You won’t see the Taliban helping citizens in this way,” said Maj. Matt Hackathorn, spokesman for Regional Command South. “The legitimate government of Afghanistan works to improve conditions for the people, while the Taliban only rob, murder and destroy.”



*Worth of centuries old vehicles*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 26 Dec 06
Article Link

Due to lacking of companies to melt iron, skeleton of the centuries old mili bus, tanks and planes are losing worth in Kabul.  According to the Ministry of Mines the country had 2 million tons of iron, but there was no machinery to melt. The most vital iron is of the mili buses that have lost utility due to long wars or after elapsing pretty long time.  According to the relevant departments, 80 per cent of the mili buses have reduced to a heap of iron and their parts could only be used in manufacturing or repairing other things.  Officials of the mili bus corporation said the mili buses included Hindi Tata and Germany 302. By the same token, they said electric buses made by the former Czechoslovakia were operative in Kabul in the past, had now absolutely ruined.  Ghuas-u-din Wafa, head of the mili bus corporation, told Pajhwok Afghan News that during Dr Najibullah regime about 1600 mili buses were operative in Kabul and seven others provinces.  He said due to long wars 1300 vehicles were ruined, their machines and spare parts were detached and some buses were taken abroad. Wafa said skeleton of some 800 mili buses were stored in Khushal Mina, Siah Sang and some others were kept in other provinces ....



*1,373 miles into the heart of Afghanistan*
The Ring Road is meant to link the nation and connect its major cities. But traveling the route is no Sunday drive.
Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times. 31 Dec 06
Article Link

AS a hair-thin line on a map, Afghanistan's national Ring Road looks easy enough to conquer.  But tell war-hardened Afghans that you're going to travel its entire 1,373-mile length unarmed, facing winter and a raging insurgency, and they look at you like you're completely mad.  Five years after the fall of the Taliban, it shouldn't be such a challenge.  Rebuilding the two-lane highway that connects Afghanistan's major cities has been a centerpiece of the U.S.-led effort to transform the nation. It is so important that Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, said that President Bush once demanded daily updates on the roadwork from Kabul south to Kandahar, the seat of power under Taliban rule ....



*Conflicted and confused in `Viagra Alley'*
The stockpiles of sexual aids in shops outside the biggest coalition base in Afghanistan highlight the clash between conservative Islamic traditions and traditionally Western freedoms
Kim Barker, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan 07
Article Link

The tiny shops are known for selling knives, binoculars, hiking boots and ready-to-eat meals, the kind of merchandise commonly found outside a military base.  But the Bagram bazaar, less than 200 yards from the largest coalition base in Afghanistan, offers a little something extra. "Viagra?" the Afghan shopkeepers whisper hopefully, even shyly as they try to peddle the pills. Because this is "Viagra Alley," and every shop knows it must stock the diamond-shaped blue pills, along with an assortment of sexual sprays containing lignocaine, a widely used topical anesthetic that allegedly helps performance.  "This is the sickness of Afghans," said shopkeeper Khord Agha, 19, who sells one or two packs of four pills of Viagra or imitation Viagra a day but insists he never has tried it. "Some foreigners come and get it. But it's mostly Afghans." ....


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## GAP (2 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 2 January 2007*

Commander says Baaz Tsuka offensive a success
Updated Tue. Jan. 2 2007 12:38 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A recent offensive in southern Afghanistan against the Taliban has already accomplished its goals, says the man commanding Canadian forces in the war-torn nation.

Though NATO troops have been seen little combat with Operation Baaz Tsuka, Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant says it has been successful in disrupting the Taliban.

"Although Canadians have not been involved in close combat, at the end of the day, I'm very happy the objectives of Baaz Tsuka have been reached, that is we have disrupted the Taliban,'' Grant said.

"We have seen significant evidence that low-level Taliban have simply put down their weapons and run away,'' he said.

The goal of the mission has been to either kill or force hardline leaders to leave the Panjwaii-Zahre district, once a Taliban stronghold, where Canadian troops have been involved in deadly conflicts for the last several months. 

Launched more than two weeks ago, the offensive sent a combat team of Canadian troops, tanks, and armoured vehicles near the village of Howz-e Madad.

The troops have also sought to convince so called Tier-two fighters -- who have joined the Taliban simply for the relatively good pay -- to go back to their villages.

With the disarming of those so- fighters, the ideologically committed Tier-one hardliners would be left on their own.

Grant suggested the number of hardliners is more likely in the dozens than in the hundreds.

However, he rejected the notion that the Taliban had been defeated.

"There are still hardliners out there,'' Grant said. "There is no doubt and the operation is not yet over. We will continue to root them out and either capture or kill them.''

He said NATO strikes had killed a number of top-level commanders but refused to pinpoint how many.
More on link


*World of difference between front line and hospital for medics in Afghanistan*
BILL GRAVELAND Monday, January 01, 2007
Article Link

HOWZ-E MADAD, Afghanistan (CP) - The 45 kilometres from where Canadian troops sit here to the Role 3 hospital at Kandahar Airfield might as well be 1,000 kilometres if there's a medical emergency. But the goal is the same for medics here at the front line and those back at the base: finding a way to keep Canadian troops alive.

Last year was a bloody one in southern Afghanistan, with 36 Canadian soldiers dying. That made 2006 Canada's worst year on the battlefield since the Korean War. Since 2002, 44 soldiers have died in Afghanistan.

While soldiers fight the Taliban in day-to-day skirmishes or in major offensives like the Canadian-led Operation Medusa in September, it is the medics who are responsible for providing the initial care once someone is hurt.

"I've seen more trauma out here than I've ever wanted to see in my entire life," said Master Cpl. Brent Schriner, 41, a senior medic with the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Man.

"It literally is an eyeopener for medics. Back home you're within five or 10 minutes of definitive care where out here it can be 40 minutes," he explained.

Medics like Schriner must rely on soldiers doing buddy first aid while they take care of the more serious cases. The first minutes of care can mean the difference between life and death. Schriner, called "Doc" as a sign of respect from his patrol mates, joins them on foot patrols, carrying everything he needs in one large backpack. If there is a battle, he is there providing initial care. It's a job that's not for everyone.

"I'm out with the guys, out in the field where I feel a medic should be. Not everybody wants to be out in the field but we have a need for everyone right through the chain of care," Schriner said while on a foot patrol near the village of Howz-e Madad.

The Role 3 hospital back at Kandahar Airfield deals with the more serious cases after initial battlefield first aid is administered. Often wounded soldiers are airlifted in for emergency surgery.

"Priority 1 is immediate and life-threatening, Priority 2 seriously wounded but can wait for surgery and 3 is the walking wounded," said Master Seaman Eric Thiboutot, 39, a medical technician from 5 Field Ambulance, from Val Cartier, at the Role 3 Medical Inspection Room.

"There's a Priority 4 but that means there's nothing we can do," he finished. "We put them aside."

Thiboutot is on his fifth tour with the Canadian forces, having served in Croatia, Bosnia and Kabul.

"The reason I joined the military was I wanted to go on missions, to live the adventure. Back at home everything is routine and I feel I am really doing my job when I am out doing missions," said Thiboutot, who will return home in February.

But this current mission has been different. Dealing with a rising number of Canadian casualties dating back to August takes it toll on the caregivers as well.

"Each person has their own coping mechanism. There is mental health and if we have problems we can go talk to them, we talk among ourselves and we each have our own way," he said.

"But after a while you get used to it, even though it's not normal. As a med tech we are doing our job but we are actually dealing with people that are severely injured."

Thiboutot has his own way of dealing with the stress of the job. For the first time in his life he started writing every day in a journal.

"I maybe write it because the story has to be told at some point. For me it's like talking to myself and it allows me to vent out," he added.

"We are very proud of what we do mission-wise because we help the soldiers get home." 
End

*Medics face trauma on battlefield * 
By CP
Article Link

HOWZ-E MADAD, Afghanistan -- The 45 km from where Canadian troops sit here to the Role 3 hospital at Kandahar Airfield might as well be 1,000 km if there's a medical emergency. 

But the goal is the same for medics at the front line or those at the base: Keep troops alive. 

While soldiers fight the Taliban in skirmishes or in major offensives, medics provide the initial care if someone is hurt. 

"I've seen more trauma out here than I've ever wanted to see in my entire life," said Master Cpl. Brent Schriner, 41, a medic. 

"It literally is an eyeopener for medics. Back home you're within five or 10 minutes of definitive care where out here it can be 40 minutes," he said. 

Medics such as Schriner must rely on soldiers doing buddy first aid while they take care of the more serious cases. 

The first minutes of care can mean the difference between life and death. Schriner joins troops on foot patrols, carrying all he needs in one bag. 
More on link

A B.C. lawyer who needs bodyguards
Brian Hutchinson National Post Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Article Link

CREDIT: Brian Hutchinson /National Post 
Afghans displaced by war and drought live in tents and mud huts, on the fringes of Kandahar city. Norine MacDonald, a Vancouver lawyer living in the area, claims they number in the tens of thousands and that Canadians have let them down. 

KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan - She strides into a dingy hotel restaurant, a diminutive Canadian lawyer with hired guns following behind. One of her men is a burly Australian who packs an automatic rifle.

He installs himself at the hotel's entrance, his weapon hidden but at the ready.

It's not unusual for civilians in this dangerous city to protect themselves with private security. But rarely does a woman move about in such a manner -- commanding an armed guard and eschewing a burka, or even a shawl, for male Afghan clothes.

Norine Mac Donald is anything but typical. The 50-year-old Saskatchewan native and Vancouver resident is among the few Western relief workers left in Kandahar, and the only one not affiliated in some way with NATO and Afghan coalition forces.

Ms. MacDonald is founder and president of the Senlis Council, a controversial think-tank. For the past two years, Ms. MacDonald has lived in Kandahar and in neighbouring Helmand province, conducting drug-policy research and writing lengthy, contentious reports that advocate the legalization and regulation of poppy farming in Afghanistan.

Her reports also condemn American-led efforts to eradicate poppy crops, claiming this merely drives desperate farmers into the arms --and control--of Taliban extremists. (Afghanistan is among the world's largest poppy-growing countries, and produces up to 90% of its opium, much of which is refined into heroin and then peddled in Europe, Russia, and North America.)

In the process, Ms. MacDonald has annoyed Afghanistan's Interior Minister. In October, his department wrote the Senlis Council a letter, demanding it not engage in activities deemed "contrary to the constitution of Afghanistan."

She has also infuriated members of the Canadian military, especially those stationed here. Ms. MacDonald is sharply critical of how the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan is being conducted.

"I'm all for the military going after the bad guys," she told CanWest News Service. "I'm not for what we're doing to ordinary Afghans. Canadian troops are calling in [American] bombers, and villages are being destroyed. Civilians are buried in rubble. When did we have the conversation in Canada that this is an acceptable strategy?"

One high-ranking Canadian officer, posted at Kandahar Air Field, dismisses Ms. MacDonald as "a nutty dilettante" who "should just get out of here."

She has come under fire from some Conservative MPs back in Canada.

In October, following a presentation she gave to the Standing Committee on National Defence, Ms. MacDonald was grilled by Tory members. Her sincerity and the source of her funding were called into question.

In one remarkable exchange, Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant quizzed how the Senlis Council is funded, and then asked Ms. Mac- Donald whether she was familiar with current "anti-money laundering rules" and potential exemptions for lawyers. Ms. Gallant was promptly cut off by the committee chairman; her curious line of questioning was never explained.

But it upset Ms. MacDonald. "There was an insinuation that I was involved in something inappropriate, involved in illegal activities," she told CanWest News Service during an interview here. "I was attacked and so was my organization. It was unacceptable. It was mudslinging."

Ms. MacDonald says the Senlis Council receives all of its funding from a Swiss philanthropist named Stephan Schmidheiny.

Described by Forbes magazine as the world's 221st richest person, with a personal fortune of US$3.1-billion, Mr. Schmidheiny was an early investor in the trendy Swiss watchmaker Swatch. In 2003, he donated US$1-billion to support various "sustainable development" programs.

Ms. MacDonald will not disclose her council's annual budget, but it must be considerable. The Senlis Council has well-staffed offices in London, Paris, Brussels and Kabul, where it employs 50 Afghans. The council plans to open a fifth office, in Ottawa. It also operates smaller "field offices" in four Afghan provinces, including Kandahar and Helmand.

A litigation and tax lawyer who practised in Vancouver, Ms. Mac- Donald still keeps an apartment next to Stanley Park. She established the Senlis Council in 2002, after meeting Mr. Schmidheiny.

Two years later, she arrived in Afghanistan, "to do something on counter-narcotics and security issues."

Ms. MacDonald insists that legalizing and regulating the harvest of poppies would allow Afghan farmers a badly need source of income, and would prevent their sons of fighting age from joining Taliban militias. She argues that opium produced in Afghanistan could then be used to manufacture legal narcotics and painkillers. Such notions are completely at odds with current policies in Afghanistan. The national government under President Harmid Karzai wants the cultivation of opium-producing poppies to stop; so do Pres. Karzai's Western allies.

Among NATO coalition allies, the United States has taken the most aggressive anti-poppy stance; its soldiers have begun a crop eradication campaign in some Afghan provinces. Canada, on the other hand, has taken a more passive approach, preferring to let the Afghan government direct all anti-poppy initiatives in Kandahar, where 2500 Canadian troops are based.

But this doesn't placate Ms. MacDonald.

She accuses the Canadian military of participating in a widescale slaughter of innocent Afghans, and of ignoring the pleas of survivors and others displaced by NATO-led bombing campaigns.

In the latest Senlis Council report, released in mid-December, Ms. MacDonald alleges that as many as 80,000 Afghans have been left homeless thanks to the war against the Taliban. She claims that a number of large refugee camps have appeared in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. She says that most people in the camps have never seen a single Canadian or NATO soldier offering aid.

"The situation in southern Afghanistan is an unparalleled humanitarian crisis," she writes.

Canadian military sources counter that Ms. MacDonald exaggerates the situation in southern Afghanistan. One official accused her of "making it all up."

This week, CanWest News Service visited one of the refugee camps described by Ms. Mac- Donald in her December report, and found her account of conditions there to be mostly accurate.

The Boldak Ada camp lies just south of Kandahar city limits. It is, as Ms. MacDonald writes, a miserable place, where children dressed in rags crawl on the ground and their mothers huddle inside ramshackle mud huts, trying to keep warm.

The camp is filled with hundreds of people who fled their homes because their villages had become zones of combat.

CanWest spoke to a man named Daud. He owned a stove/ heater shop in Panjwaii District, where most of the fighting involving Canadian soldiers this year has taken place.

Two months ago, Daud's shop was destroyed in a NATO bombing raid.

"There were Taliban in the area and everything got destroyed," he said. Fortunately, his family survived.
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Aziz plans crucial visit to Afghanistan  
By Shahid Hussain, Correspondent 02/01/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)
Article Link

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will visit Afghanistan this week as part of the ongoing effort to mend fences with the country's western neighbour, sources said yesterday.

The two-day visit, likely on Wednesday and Thursday, is expected to focus on strains linked to persistent Afghan government claims of militant activity across the border from Pakistani tribal areas. 

A major topic during talks between Aziz and Afghan President Hamid Karzai will certainly be Pakistan's recent decision to mine and fence selected parts of the 2,400km Durand Line frontier to stop any cross-border militant movement.

Opposed

The Islamabad plan has however been strongly opposed by the Afghan government as an attempt to divide people of the border areas, while UN officials have said that the laying of mines may pose serious threat to human lives. 
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France's Significant Role in Afghanistan
Tuesday, January 2, 2007; Page A16
Article Link

Contrary to what Anne Applebaum wrote [" 'Old Europe' Can Gloat, but Then What?" op-ed, Dec. 19], France is not removing its troops from Afghanistan.

Subsequent to the recent NATO summit in Latvia, my country is reinforcing its deployment in the Kabul zone, currently under French command, by sending maneuver helicopters and two additional infantry sections while maintaining air support. President Jacques Chirac announced that French troops could, if needed, be deployed on a case-by-case basis outside of the Kabul zone, comparable to what is being done with British troops. At the same time, France's commitment to the training of Afghan armed forces is being strengthened.
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Afghani boy is brought to United States for surgery in New York
January 1, 2007, 3:12 PM EST
Article Link

NEW YORK (AP) _ An 8-year-old boy from Afghanistan stood in Times Square Monday welcoming a new year that will bring him corrective surgery thanks to the concerns of twin Army doctors who met him while they worked for six months in his war-ravaged country. 

"I'm happy. It's the first time I've seen something like this," Khatibullah Farqirzada said on a morning that also marked his birthday as he stood in the bright lights of one of the world's most famous landmarks. 

In Afghanistan, everybody celebrates in their homes. Here, everybody comes out to be together," he said. 

His father, Shafi, said: "My hope is my son (has) a new year and a new life." 

Within days, Farqirzada will undergo surgery to correct hypospadia, a rare condition that prevents him from urinating properly. 

The surgery at Westchester Medical Center was arranged after surgeons Vince and Vance Moss, U.S. Army reservists, met the boy in the village of Paghman while they were in Afghanistan on a relief mission, working in a small operating room at the Afghan Army National Hospital. 

While there, they performed the first stage of urinary constructive surgery on Farqirzada before increasing violence forced them to evacuate before they could complete the work. 

Vance Moss said the 34-year-old doctors, who live in Manhattan and practice in Lakewood, N.J., were heartbroken to leave early last year and vowed to try to help the boy. 
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Wounded soldier's superbug battleJan 1 2007
Article Link

 A SOLDIER shot in the neck as he led an assault in Afghanistan found himself in a deadlier fight when he allegedly contracted the killer MRSA bug in a Birmingham hospital.

Sgt David 'Paddy' Caldwell, 32, was diagnosed with the superbug while recovering from his injuries on a ward at Selly Oak Hospital soon after returning from duty.

The paratrooper was leading 5 Platoon of B Company in an assault on a Taliban compound when he was hit by machine gun fire.

After first being treated at a field hospital in Afghanistan, Sgt Caldwell was then transferred to the intensive care unit at Selly Oak's Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.

Most servicemen and women injured overseas are flown to the Birmingham centre for treatment.
End

Green Beans Comes Marching Home
Mobile Coffee Supplier To U.S. Troops Opening Retail Cafés Stateside
January 2, 2007; Page B6
Article Link

As chief of 55 coffee cafes located on U.S. military bases overseas, Jason Araghi has faced his share of obstacles, from learning to brew Espresso Chai Lattes with sketchy water and electrical supplies, to outmaneuvering Iraqi insurgents who use his mobile shops for target practice.

But one of the greatest tests yet for Mr. Araghi comes Tuesday when he opens his newest cafe -- in sunny California U.S.A. It will be the first leg of a domestic push for Green Beans Coffee Co., a name familiar to thousands of U.S. soldiers stationed in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait -- but unknown to most stateside consumers. Unlike its overseas ventures, the U.S. Green Beans cafes won't have the luxury of banking on a captive audience of servicemen and women. Instead the company seeks to wrest a piece of the $34.5 billion U.S. coffee market from bigger well-known players such as Starbucks Corp., Dunkin' Brands Inc.'s Dunkin' Donuts chain and Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc.
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Cdn. losses in '06 temper New Year's festivities  
December 31, 2006 By BILL GRAVELAND
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - There was one overwhelming New Year's resolution as Canadian soldiers said goodbye to 2006 here at a festive party in Canada House at Kandahar Airfield. 

It had nothing to do with losing weight, quitting smoking or doing charity work. The message was much closer to home. 

"I want to make it home safe," said Cpl. Jason Barss, 24, of Ottawa. "It was basically my first year of marriage. I missed my first anniversary and I've got that to look forward to this year. I've got more than enough time to make up for it when I get back." 

Cpl. David Parker, of Barrie, Ont. echoed the sentiment. In a country where one misstep triggering a landmine can change a life, good health is a lofty goal. 

"I want to make it home with all my body parts intact. I want to spend more time with the wife and kids," he said. 

The New Year's Eve gathering at the newly built Canada House at the airfield had all the makings of an ordinary party. Soldiers were allowed two beers, which is a rarity overseas. There was music, laughter and games including bingo, blackjack and roulette without any cash being involved, of course. 

"I think I'm going to go home and play well with others and I am going back to my civilian job and play it day by day," said Cpl. Devlin Bauer, 22, a reservist from Windsor, Ont. 

But this was a party with a darker side to it. Not far from the minds of many is the fact that 36 Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan in 2006, Canada's bloodiest year on the battlefield since the Korean War. 

"I don't normally make New Year's resolutions," said one soldier who sat nursing his Coors Light but didn't give his name. "I lost three buddies during Medusa so I guess my resolution would be to not lose any more friends." 

And with 2006 quickly slipping away, the thoughts of many soldiers were on the year and the triumphs and tragedies it contained
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Afghanistan to import Pak-made engines  
Article Link
   
LAHORE: Another high-level private sector trade delegation from Afghanistan will visit Lahore after Eid-ul-Azha to import Pakistan- made diesel engines for agricultural purpose.

CEO KAM Engineering Khalid Saeed told APP here on Sunday that the Pakistan-made KAM diesel engines have become very popular in Afghanistan, compared to all brands of those made in India, and are being successfully used for agricultural purposes.

He said the Afghan team will visit the plant and see the engine assembly process, using indigenous technical know how and expertise, which has helped to control the price of the product with minimum overhead expenses.

In their war-torn country, the Afghans are now inclined to bring maximum area under cultivation to meet the ever increasing need for food grains. For this purpose, they need quality agri inputs and implements, and Pakistan-made products offer the guarantee to compete in terms of quality and price, said the firm’s director marketing, Sh Amin Akhtar.

Khalid Saeed said we have already sold thousands of engines of different capacity to Afghan brothers on cash payment. He said we are also providing after sale service facility even in Afghanistan.

He said they have also successfully manufactured a mini-truck for agriculture purpose which he added will be much cheaper than all others in open market. He said this truck has been under trial for the last couple of year. He said that although we have given successful demonstration to Minister of State for Agriculture during his visit to plant, it will be marketed soon after its final clearance by our high-level team of technical experts and permission from government 
End

1,373 miles into the heart of Afghanistan
The Ring Road is meant to link the nation and connect its major cities. But traveling the route is no Sunday drive.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer December 31, 2006 
Article Link

Shahr-i-Safa, Afghanistan — AS a hair-thin line on a map, Afghanistan's national Ring Road looks easy enough to conquer.

But tell war-hardened Afghans that you're going to travel its entire 1,373-mile length unarmed, facing winter and a raging insurgency, and they look at you like you're completely mad.

Five years after the fall of the Taliban, it shouldn't be such a challenge.

Rebuilding the two-lane highway that connects Afghanistan's major cities has been a centerpiece of the U.S.-led effort to transform the nation. It is so important that Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, said that President Bush once demanded daily updates on the roadwork from Kabul south to Kandahar, the seat of power under Taliban rule.

U.S. grants have paid for rebuilding a third of the road, according to Afghan government figures. Japan, Saudi Arabia and Iran are responsible for repairing other sections, a rare case in which Washington and Tehran are working toward the same goal. Officially, the $1.05-billion project is almost finished.

But as with many things in Afghanistan, there is a chasm between the rhetoric and reality.

Some of the best stretches of the road are among the Taliban's favorite killing grounds. This fall, Canadian troops led the biggest ground battle in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 57-year history, in part to regain control of a stretch of highway west of Kandahar. The NATO offensive cleared the insurgents, but guerrillas and highway robbers still prey on travelers in many other places.
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Justice often carries a price in Afghanistan
Corrupt courts make the Taliban, weapons all the more appealing
Dec. 30, 2006, 7:06PM By PAUL WATSON Los Angeles Times 
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KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — In the halls of justice here, almost everything is for sale.

It can take one bribe to obtain a blank legal form and another to have a clerk stamp it.

Lawyers openly haggle in corridors and parking lots over the size of payoffs. A refrigerator delivered to the right official might help solve a long-running property dispute. Court dockets don't exist. The Quran, the basis of Islamic law and the Afghan legal code, is often the only book on the shelves of poorly trained judges.

As Afghans try to piece their legal system together after decades of war, many spend months shopping for justice in Kabul's central courts complex.

More than 90 percent of lower-court cases end up in the capital's appeals court — on Judge Muzafarddin Tajali's desk. A former Supreme Court justice, Tajali fled to Pakistan when the Taliban seized most of the country. Now he's back, sitting in a high-back swivel chair with the Chinese price tag dangling from the black upholstery.

"In the whole country, we may not have even two qualified defense lawyers," Tajali said. "Everybody has expectations, and of course they get upset. They don't threaten me inside the courtroom. But when their hopes are broken, they get mad and go and scream outside.

"This kind of justice system, which is not clean and transparent, threatens the government and democracy."

Systematic injustice stokes humiliation and resentment, turning many Afghans against President Hamid Karzai's government and his backers.

Nostalgia for the ruthless rule of the Taliban is growing as the line between judges and criminals blurs. When they can't find justice in court, Afghans are tempted to turn to what they've trusted most for a generation: their weapons.

Karzai's defenders maintain some of his worst mistakes in rebuilding the justice system, such as making former warlords police chiefs other top officials, were forced on him by foreign backers, led by the U.S.
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## The Bread Guy (2 Jan 2007)

*Words that can kill*
A radicalized ideology from Pakistan is threatening our troops
Adnan R. Khan, Macleans.ca, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

The war in Afghanistan has reached a gruesome stage. Since the axe attack on Capt. Trevor Greene on March 4, 2006, which left the Canadian soldier in a medically induced coma for 20 days, Canadian troops have begun to face an enemy that seems to know no bounds in its ability to strike at its adversary. That attack, in essence, was a suicide mission: the assailant entered a village filled with armed soldiers and struck the blow with the full knowledge that he would not come out alive (he was shot 14 times). But in cold military terms, that was a tactical shift: the Taliban, unlike their insurgent counterparts in the war in Iraq, were not famous for suicide missions. Evidently, the ideology of the Taliban is changing, and along with it the brutality of their tactics ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban capture district, but lose it back after one night*
Ahmad Quraishi and Najib Khilwatgar, Pahjwok Afghan News, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

Taliban fighters have captured Khak-e-Safid district in the western Farah province, but latest reports say government forces took back control of the district Monday morning.  Provincial officials said a group of Taliban fighters in several pick-ups attacked the district centre of Khak-e-Safid Sunday evening and captured it during a short clash. But, the government forces recaptured it after a heavy fighting earlier this morning.  Farah police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told Pajhwok Afghan News most of the police and army soldiers stationed in the area were on Eid holidays and the Taliban took the opportunity to take control of the district ....



*France worried about changing NATO role in Afghanistan*
Adrien Jaulmes, Le Figaro (FRA), 2 Jan 07
Article Link

Officially, everything is fine in Afghanistan. At the foot of the white-topped mountains of the Hindu Kush, two brand-new Caracal helicopters stood with their motors running at the top of the rocky cliff overlooking the road to Jalalabad, some 60 km east of Kabul.  Behind the fortifications of a small camp perched in the desert heights of Sarubi, [French Defence Minister] Michele Alliot-Marie inspected a section of French troops. Appearing as relaxed as she would for a routine visit to Mourmelon camp, the minister reminded them of the importance of their mission and posed smiling with soldiers, who rushed to be photographed alongside her.  In fact everything is going wrong in Afghanistan. The 1,200 French troops deployed since 2002 in Central Asia have not been engaged in the violent fighting against an insurrection trying to wrest from the Afghan Government control of entire provinces in the South and East of the country ....



*Insecurity dogs Afghans, foreign workers at every step *
Deepikaglobal.com (IND), 2 Jan 07
Article Link

"A trip to Southern Ghazni province? What an idea! Well, proceed, I will stay back waiting for you all," Omaidullah declared while backing out on the plea that he was the only son and could not afford to put his life at risk.  His parents and four sisters would cry themselves to death if anything happened to him, the affable Afghan youth said. His fears are not unfounded as security threat from Taliban and other elements opposed to the present regime are only too real to be ignored.  "Sir, do you want to be John Abraham of "Kabul Express" (Bollywood film shot in Afghan locales) who had gone in search of Taliban in the movie but faced a threat to his life. A number of journalists have risked their lives and American Daniel Pearl's execution in Pakistan is available on internet and CDs. So draw a lesson from such incidents," a local man warned this correspondent in the hotel lobby ....



*Attacks against United Nations personnel in 2006 go unpunished, Staff Union says*
United Nations Department of Public Information, 2 Jan 07
Article Link

Last year was another deadly year for United Nations civilian staff as well as peacekeepers, according to the United Nations Staff Union and its Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service, with at least 22 United Nations personnel killed in Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan, Afghanistan and southern Lebanon. There were also numerous violations of the independence of the international civil service around the world and staff members were detained or expelled in Eritrea ....



*New Croatian contingent to join ISAF mission in Afghanistan*
Chinaview.cn, 3 Jan 07
Article Link

A new 69-strong Croatian contingent would fly to Afghanistan in 10 days to join the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said reports reaching here from Croatia on Tuesday.  The send-off ceremony was held in the military barracks in the Croatian northern city of Varazdin for the contingent, the Croatian news agency HINA reported.  "Our soldiers are successful in that job, many of them have experience from the war and they are among those with the best equipment. Thanks to their ability and the know-how there have been no serious consequences so far," said General Josip Lucic, envoy of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic ....



*Insurgents torch newly-built refugee school*
The Mercury (Tasmania), 3 Jan 07
Article Link

INSURGENTS torched a newly built school for refugee children in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, in the first such attack in 2007 blamed on Taliban militants.  A spate of similar attacks last year on schools and teachers were mostly blamed on Taliban rebels conducting an insurgency to overthrow the Government and expel foreign troops trying to bring stability.  The school set alight in the eastern province of Nangarhar near the border with Pakistan was made up of tents from the UN children's fund, UNICEF, provincial spokesman Hazrat Hussain said.  “Five tents of a new UNICEF-built school were burned down last night in Behsud district,” he said ....



*Solve our land problem, or we leave domicile: warn Kuchis*
Abdul Majid Arif, Pajhwok Afghan News, 1 Jan 07
Article Link

Tired of long-standing land dispute with local tribes, Kuchi nomads in the southeastern Khost province have asked the government and the United Nations to solve their problem or find residence for them in other countries.  On Saturday, Kuchi representatives said 10 of their men were killed, 15 were wounded and nine were taken hostage in clashes with Babakarkhel tribe over a desert surrounded by mounts in Baak district. The dispute has claimed 30 lives so far from both the sides.  Haji Nader Khan, a Kuchi elder, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday they convened a meeting today in Sabrai district to ask President Hamid Karzai and the UN to solve their land problem or send them abroad ....


----------



## GAP (3 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 3 January 2006*

Good morning AfghanistanCanadian radio to hit airwaves in Kandahar  
By CP January 3, 2007  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan 
Article Link

The Canadian military will begin radio broadcasts in Kandahar this week, but forget about comparisons with the movie Good Morning Vietnam. 

In the movie, actor Robin Williams played an irreverent disc jockey with American armed forces radio who used his unorthodox style to boost morale among American troops. 

Canada’s RANA-FM, on the other hand, will specifically target Afghan residents, primarily those between the ages of 15 and 25. 

“(We) want to give them pretty much a progressive station that plays a lot of music and promotes the Afghan way of life,” said Capt. Robin Thibault, 32, of Montreal. 

“It allows us to demystify what we’re trying to do and accomplish in their area and help us to explain to people, better, who we are.” 

The station, 88.5 on the radio dial, is scheduled to hit the airwaves Jan. 6 and will also provide the commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, a means to talk to the people of Kandahar, although officials insist the station will not be a propaganda tool. 

It will play mostly Bollywood and modern Afghan music and would be considered “on the edge” by Afghan standards. And in a bit of a twist, the radio station itself is located in an unidentified city in Canada. 

“We have Canadian-Afghan presenters, mostly true-Pashto speakers so they’ll be recognizable to the people of Kandahar city,” he said. 

“We’re located in Canada but linked into Afghanistan by satellite and basically we just rebroadcast the transmission,” said Thibault. 

The station will also provide public affairs programming dealing with international sporting events and include features on Afghans living in other countries. Basing the radio station in Canada is simply part of security measures. 

“The station is safe back home. It’s because of the security threat that we’re facing right now. The reason we didn’t have the station here to begin with is because of the security aspect,” said Thibault, who notes BBC Pashto already broadcasts into Afghanistan from London along with Voice of America, which comes from Washington, D.C. 

“As you know, I think it was in April or May that an interpreters’ bus was blown up on the way to Kandahar Airfield and that’s what we’re trying to prevent,” he said. 

The 300-watt radio station will have limited reach by Canadian standards but should be strong enough to hit all of Kandahar city since it is “half the size of west island of Montreal but with a greater populace.” 

The call letters, RANA, is a Pashtun-Dari word that means light. 

“Our slogan is `Light in your life,’” he said. 

“We want to be a factual, unbiased radio station so we need to be credible, ... we cannot be western or push western views or values,” Thibault said. 

If the commander of the Canadian task force wants to address the people of Kandahar, it would be part of public affairs programming and with the use of a translator. 

RANA-FM is not competing with any local radio stations and will not sell advertisements, aiming instead for a target audience that nobody else has hit before. 

But by offering what the military calls progressive messages, modern music and a pipeline for the Canadian views, it is bound to attract the attention of the Taliban. And that is something Thibault acknowledges. 

“Once the people start to take sides and the Taliban realize people are not taking their side then chances are the Taliban are going to be very upset by what we’re trying to do,” he said. 
End


*Lives riding on wheels of war*
 TheStar.com - News - Lives riding on wheels of war 
Canadians learn to trust the vehicles that keep them moving through hostile territory
Oakland Ross Toronto Star
Article link

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan–It was a day of good luck and bad for Master Cpl. Andy Singh.

The 30-year-old soldier from Toronto was in his customary place – peering out at the passing Afghan countryside from the rooftop hatch of a Bison armoured personnel carrier. As usual, he was armed with a C8 automatic rifle.

Singh's Bison was in second-to-last position in a 10-vehicle supply convoy that had just left Ma'sum Ghar, a satellite Canadian military base here in the far south of Afghanistan. 

It was early in the afternoon of Nov. 28, and the convoy was bound for Kandahar Airfield, the main staging area in the region for a NATO-led multi-national military force – including some 2,500 Canadians – fighting alongside the Afghan National Army against the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban.

Singh had made the jittery, two-hour trip many times. But on this occasion, the journey would be different.

The Canadian troops here – or those among them who are obliged to take their lives into their hands by venturing "outside the wire," or off the main base at Kandahar Airfield – are likely to ride in four main types of vehicles.

All four machines are armed and armoured to varying degrees, and serve somewhat different purposes. 

But it's risky travelling by road through southern Afghanistan, no matter what transport you have. The Canadians know it.

"When I first got here, I had that queasy feeling, of car sickness almost," says Master Cpl. Kellie Smith who, like Singh, is a Bison crew commander. "I feel apprehensive to this day."

The Bison, built by General Motors in London, Ont., is primarily a personnel carrier, a machine designed for moving people across hostile territory. And although technically amphibious, the Bisons operated by the Canadians Forces are rarely asked to demonstrate their seaworthiness any longer.

Capable of transporting up to eight passengers comfortably, Bisons also carry a two-person crew – the driver, who must peer through periscopes to see the way ahead, and the gunner, who's also the vehicle's commander and in a particularly vulnerable position, poking above the hatch in the roof.

"You are exposed," says Smith. "Anything suspicious, you get down low."

And nothing is more perilous than the prospect of an SVBIED – a suicide-vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.

Singh's convoy hadn't travelled far that November day before it confronted an oncoming black Toyota station wagon with a single occupant. That last detail – one car, one occupant – is a dead giveaway here. It's the hallmark of a car-borne bomb.

"The first vehicle called it up on the radio," Singh says now. "`Single occupant. Left-hand side.' We moved over to the right. I had my weapons on him. He had his head down."

Convoy vehicles currently in use by Canadian forces differ in their abilities to withstand various kinds of explosions, but embedded reporters are instructed not to reveal such details, as they might jeopardize troop security.

Suffice it to say that if you had to travel from Ma'sum Ghar to Kandahar by road, a Bison might not be your first choice, but it would also be a long way from your last.

"Bisons have been with the military for a long time," says Smith. "It's an excellent mode of transportation."

Perhaps the most potent and physically intimidating of Canadian vehicles in use here is the LAV-III, which resembles the Bison but is faster and more heavily armed. With a 25-mm cannon mounted on its turret, it is primarily a combat vehicle.

If a bomb went off nearby, says Smith, "I'd rather be in a LAV."

That day, however, Singh was in a Bison when the black Toyota passed with its lone occupant.

"He just looked up at me," remembers Singh. "Pop
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*DND pushes quick plane deal*
DANIEL LEBLANC  Globe and Mail Update
Article Link

OTTAWA — The Canadian Forces are preparing to spend billions of dollars buying search-and-rescue aircraft through a process that has excluded all but one bid.

The Italian-built Spartan C27J aircraft has been pegged by sources as the only aircraft ready for purchase to replace the Buffalo and Hercules aircraft that currently cover Canada's forests, mountains and coastline.

The old Liberal government announced funding in 2004 for new fixed-wing aircraft and the Department of National Defence is moving to launch the formal process to acquire the aircraft, which were due to be in service by last year.

A DND document obtained by The Globe and Mail confirmed that only one aircraft is being considered as a “viable bidder” for the search-and-rescue contract. The project is worth about $3-billion, including the maintenance of the aircraft over 20 years.

Defence contracts are among the most lucrative deals the government signs, and if the Spartan is bought, it will illustrate a growing government habit of signing multibillion-dollar deals without accepting competing bids.

Last year, Ottawa purchased 16 Chinook helicopters for $2.7-billion, four C17 cargo airplanes for $3.4-billion, and 17 C130J Hercules transport planes for $5-billion. In all these cases, only the winning bid was considered.

In the upcoming search-and-rescue competition, the builders of a rival aircraft, the Spanish C295, are engaged in intense lobbying in Ottawa to change the requirements in the hope of qualifying for the competition.

Their plane is used in a number of countries for search-and-rescue operations, but it cannot meet the current requirements established by the Canadian Forces. The company is frustrated that it has even been prevented from showing its C295 to Defence officials.

“We're interested in a fair, open and transparent competition,” said Martin Sefzig of EADS-CASA, the company behind the C295
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New Croatian contingent to join ISAF mission in Afghanistan 
 January 03, 2007         
Article Link

A new 69-strong Croatian contingent would fly to Afghanistan in 10 days to join the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said reports from Croatia on Tuesday. 

The send-off ceremony was held in the military barracks in the Croatian northern city of Varazdin for the contingent, the Croatian news agency HINA reported. 

"Our soldiers are successful in that job, many of them have experience from the war and they are among those with the best equipment. Thanks to their ability and the know-how there have been no serious consequences so far," said General Josip Lucic, envoy of Croatian President Stjepan Mesic. 

The task of the Croatian troops in Afghanistan was to maintain peace in that country, said Lucic, who is the chief-of-staff of the Croatian Armed Forces. 

Assistant Defense Minister Igor Pokaz said that currently 147 Croatians were deployed in three areas of Afghanistan, and his country was planning to raise the number to more than 200. 

Under the 2001 Bonn Treaty, the ISAF is deployed to help the Afghan government to create safe conditions for the reconstruction of the war-torn Asian country. Croatian contingents have been engaged in ISAF since February 2003. Apart from the military component, Croatian diplomats and police officers also joined the mission in January 2005. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Arizona Army National Guard Battalion Heads to Afghanistan
Jan 3, 2007 03:17 AM CST by J.D. Wallace, KOLD News 13 Reporter
Article Link

The military band said it in music and handmade posters put it into words: a farewell send off for the Arizona Army National Guard's 1st battalion of the 285th aviation regiment as it left for Afghanistan on Tuesday.

"They want to get their boots on the ground, they want to get some dirt on their boots, and start the clock ticking on their one year," said Maj. Gen. David Rataczak.

That year will be spent year flying and maintaining 24 Apache Longbow helicopters to support troops on the ground and provide cover for other aircraft.

"It's kind of like a 9-1-1 mission if you will.  We go in and help the ground guys as much as we can," said Chief Warrant Officer Dennis Banks.

It will be the first mission overseas for many of the more than 450 soldiers.

"I'm surprisingly excited to go do it, get it out of the way, come back and just pick up where I left off," said Spc. Geneve Mankel.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to help the Afghani people and support the United States," Sgt. 1st Class Russell Vanvranken.

"It's the first time we've been apart that long, and it will be difficult.  But I'm proud of him and I stand behind him, beside him, and if I could I'd be in front of him," said his wife Linda.

Even those who've been through this before say that previous experience doesn't make this any easier.

"It's a lot harder this time.  I have a two year old son here, Jonnie, so that made it quite more difficult this time," said Command Sgt. Maj. Patrick Powers.

"Our son will be three by the time he comes back and that's a whole year during the potty training and all that stuff and I'm going to have to do it alone," said his wife Stephanie.

Of course, "sacrifice" isn't a four letter word, and that couldn't have been clearer here at Pinal Air Park on Tuesday.
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Militants kill police officer in W. Afghanistan   
January 03, 2007          
Article Link

Anti-government militias killed a police officer in Khak-e-Safid district in Afghanistan's western Farah province, spokesman of Afghan Interior Ministry Zamarai Bashari said Tuesday. 

"The militants, after raiding Khak-e-Safid district, took away an officer of police in the district. Unfortunately, his body was found Monday,"Bashari told Xinhua. 

However, he refused to identify the name and rank of the police officer. 

Meantime, locals identify the deceased as Abdullah, the police chief of Khak-e-Safid district. They said Taliban militants took away Abdullah and killed him in Khushkaba area. 

Militants briefly captured Khak-e-Safid district Sunday night and the government troops regained its control Monday morning. 

Taliban-linked insurgency had claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 people mostly militants according to officials in 2006 while U.S. military predicts more militants attack in 2007. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Pakistani Prime Minister to Visit Afghanistan 
By VOA News 02 January 2007
Article Link


Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is expected to visit Afghanistan this week in an effort to mend strained relations between the neighboring countries.

Officials say Mr. Aziz will hold talks with several Afghan authorities in the capital, Kabul. The leaders are likely to discuss security issues following accusations by Afghanistan that Islamabad is not doing enough to prevent attacks by suspected Taleban fighters. 

Mr. Aziz is also expected to discuss a recent Pakistani proposal to mine and fence selected parts ot the border to cut back on cross-border terrorism.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has denounced the plan. He says it would have little impact on deadly cross-border raids, but would seriously disrupt local communities.

Pakistan says the mines would only be planted on its side of the 25,00 kilometer long border.
More on link

AFGHANISTAN: FORMER KING ILL 
Article Link

Kabul, 2 Jan (AKI) - The former king of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah, is ill, said a spokesperson for the king's family on Tuesday. Reports quoting the spokesman, Fazl Ahmad Popal, said that the king is unable to hold any meetings as he is "under the care of doctors in bed." The former monarch, who lives in Kabul, holds no power but was given the honorary title of "Father of the Nation" when he returned to his home country in 2002 after the hardline Taliban regime was ousted. Zahir Shah, 92, had spent decades of exile in Italy. 

The king's family spokesman, Popal, said the Zahir Shah had recently travelled to a Gulf country for a medical check-up.

Zahir Shah became king in 1933 after his father was assassinated by a deranged student. He was overthrow in a bloodless leftist coup led by a cousin in 1973.
End

Rebuilding Buddhas has become symbol in rebuilding Afghanistan  
2007-01-02 By Peter Schurmann New America Media 
Article Link

For more than a millennium Afghanistan's lush Pamir valley lay beneath the benevolent gaze of two colossal standing Buddhas, monuments to an efflorescent history of pilgrims and merchants, of religion and culture. In 2001, the statues were destroyed by the ruling Taliban, some say out of religious fanaticism, others as a political statement against the West. What's left are fragments of stone and wood strewn across the war-torn land like broken pieces of a once resplendent past.

The statues were built sometime in the 6th century as part of a larger Buddhist monastery, itself the center of a major religious and trading post on the Silk Road connecting Europe to the Tang Dynasty capital in China. Much of the area, as well as present-day Pakistan and parts of North India, belonged then to the rulers of the Kushan Empire, an Indo-European people ancestral to the present-day Pashtuns that inhabit the valley. The Kushan empire thrived from the wealth of culture and trade that flowed across the Silk Road.

Unlike today, Buddhism in the 6th century was also a major proselytizing faith, sending missionaries far and wide to convert rulers and thereby entire peoples to its doctrine. Kings and emperors alike saw in Buddhism a powerful tool to unite, and in many ways subjugate, a people to the royal will. The rulers of Kushan were no doubt of this mind, and the building of the mammoth stone Buddhas would serve as a testament to the spiritual and political power of the state. It was a project born of faith and politics, state and religion.

In 2001, when the Taliban set their rocket launchers on the still, serene faces of the two Buddhas, the world stood up in outrage, aghast at the callous and wanton destruction of such valuable treasures of ancient human history. For many, it was further proof of the inhumanity of Afghanistan's Islamic rulers.

Wanton, yes! Inhuman, maybe. One has to remember that in 2001 Afghanistan was experiencing a severe drought, with thousands suffering from starvation. In March of that year, the New York Times reported that in the midst of famine-like conditions, a foreign delegation had offered money to renovate the Bamyan statues, and had refused to allocate a portion to relieve hunger. Outraged, the Taliban's clerics sealed the fate of the Bamyan Buddhas. Or did they?

Since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, a host of countries including Japan and Thailand have offered to rebuild the statues. Today teams of Afghans under the direction of a German architect and Italian engineers work to rebuild the two Buddhas. It strikes me as ironic since a century ago, it was Europeans who led in the looting of Afghanistan's cultural relics, bringing back the heads of stone and marble Buddhas to be put on display, a symbol of Europe's preeminence in all things, past and present. And yet it was exactly these stolen treasures that first introduced Westerners to the beauty and elegance of Afghanistan's Buddhist art. Which brings us back to Bamyan.

Bamyan's Buddhas stood in the midst of war, of oppression and religious fanaticism. Obscured by the dust and smoke of gunfire, they seemed a dim recollection of a more glorious period now far removed. One has to wonder, in light of this, what the symbolic significance of these two Buddhist statues can be for an Islamic country desperate to rebuild itself, and for the larger world which shares in a piece of the country's past and present. The destruction of these statues by the Taliban is certainly not the first time a government has attempted to erase history in order to create a new nation with a new ideology. And yet, as with the shards of the two Buddhas, history remains, broken but powerful.

An interesting feature of the two statues was their Greek influence, a reflection of the highly cosmopolitan world of the Silk Road. The statues were a blending of East and West. Today, as Europeans and Afghans work to reclaim the splendor of Bamyan piece by piece, painstakingly putting back together the fragments of a shattered past, perhaps the statues will symbolize a new Afghanistan, one that embraces a diverse and inspiring past, gazing, like the Buddha, at a more prosperous future. Copyright NAM
end

Heroin from Afghanistan surges through America  
More potent drug resulting in more addictions, deaths
Garrett Therolf Los Angeles Times Jan. 1, 2007 12:00 AM
Article Link

LOS ANGELES - The amount of high-quality heroin throughout America is surging because of an increasing supply from Afghanistan, and with it the fear that record-breaking poppy harvests after the U.S. invasion are fueling more addictions and overdose deaths back home.

Heroin-related deaths in Los Angeles County soared from 137 in 2002 to 282 in 2004 before dropping to 239 in 2005, still a jump of nearly 75 percent in three years, a period when other factors contributing to overdose deaths remained unchanged, experts said.

The jump in deaths was especially prevalent among users older than 40, who lack the resilience to recover from an overdose of unexpectedly strong heroin, according to a study by the county's Office of Health Assessment and Epidemiology. advertisement  

"The rise of heroin from Afghanistan is our biggest rising threat in the fight against narcotics," said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. "We are seeing more seizures and more overdoses."

According to a Drug Enforcement Administration report obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Afghanistan's poppy fields have become the fastest-growing source of heroin in the United States. Its share of the U.S. market doubled from 7 percent in 2001, the year U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban, to 14 percent in 2004, the latest year studied.

Another DEA report, released in October, said the 14 percent actually could be significantly higher.
More on link



Latest offensive in southern Afghanistan disrupting Taliban: Canadian general
Bill Graveland Canadian Press Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The latest and much heralded offensive in southern Afghanistan known as Operation Baaz Tuska has met its main goals despite NATO's inability to engage the Taliban in major combat, a top Canadian general said Tuesday. 

Launched amid a great hue and cry more than two weeks ago, the offensive sent a powerful combat team of Canadian troops, tanks and armoured vehicles into the Panjwaii district near the village of Howz-e Madad. 

Despite intelligence suggesting there were hundreds of Taliban in the area, there has been little contact with insurgent forces and no significant combat. 

Still, Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said Tuesday that things were going well. 

"Although Canadians have not been involved in close combat, at the end of the day, I'm very happy the objectives of Baaz Tsuka have been reached, that is we have disrupted the Taliban," Grant said. 

"We have seen significant evidence that low-level Taliban have simply put down their weapons and run away," he said. 

One of the goals of the offensive has been to convince so-called Tier-two Taliban - those that NATO claims fight simply for the relatively good pay being offered by the rebels - to disarm and go back to their villages. That would leave the ideologically committed hardliners, known as Tier-one, on their own. 

Grant suggested that the number of hardliners was "in the dozens as opposed to the hundreds," and explained the lack of contact by saying many may have returned to Pakistan. 
More on link

Too many civilians killed by NATO in Afghanistan in 2006, official says  
The Associated Press Wednesday, January 3, 2007 KABUL, Afghanistan 
Article Link

NATO acknowledged Wednesday that the number of civilians killed by its forces in Afghanistan last year was too high, but said the Western alliance was working to change that in 2007.

"The single thing that we have done wrong and we are striving extremely hard to improve on (in 2007) is killing innocent civilians," Brig. Richard E. Nugee, the chief spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said.

Nugee said the alliance has been reviewing for several weeks measures to bring down the number of civilian casualties.

However, he said NATO forces have killed far fewer civilians than the Taliban, which launched a record number of roadside and suicide bombs last year.

"There is absolutely no comparison to be made," he said. "The Taliban are killing significant numbers of their own people and showing no remorse at all."
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (3 Jan 2007)

*What’s next in Afghanistan?*
Canadian forces need new mission that focuses more on peacekeeping, two MPs state
Vern Faulkner, Oak Bay News (BC), 3 Jan 07
Article Link

The mission in Afghanistan will fail if changes aren’t made, and adding more troops will solve nothing.  So say former Soviet military commanders, peace activists in Afghanistan and two of three Capital Region MPs.  Last year was a gruesome one for Canadian forces serving with the NATO alliance in Afghanistan, with 36 soldiers slain (as of Dec. 28) and many more injured. Casualties increase as hope of success diminishes, according to a report delivered to the NATO by Col. Oleg Kulakov, a Russian officer and veteran of the former Soviet Union’s 10–year occupation of Afghanistan.  Alliance forces there must understand, said Kulakov in his report, that “battlefield victory can be almost irrelevant.”  Innumerable Soviet military victories did not, he said, lead to an overall victory in Afghanistan.  “Achievements at the battalion and brigade level could not be translated into a general political success,” he wrote ....



*Aid ineffective due to corruption: MP*
Warlords siphon Western aid, stall redevelopment 
Vern Faulkner, Esquimalt News, 3 Jan 07
Article Link

Aid – both resources and money – is vital to effect change in Afghanistan, NDP MLA Denise Savoie (Victoria) said.  Yet what little money going to Afghanistan is largely pocketed by a corrupt regime and warlords, charged Zoya, a representative of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan – a group trying to secure peace and women’s rights in the war-torn country.  In October, Zoya told a gathering in Los Angeles that “democracy cannot be practised in a country infected by the germ of fundamentalist terrorism ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Afghan, NATO troops kill 11 militants in southern Afghanistan*
People's Daily Online (CHN), 4 Jan 07
Article Link

Afghan and NATO forces have killed 11 militants including a Taliban key commander in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil said Wednesday.  "In a joint clean up operation conducted by Afghan and NATO forces in Kajaki district of Helmand province three days ago, so far 11 Taliban insurgents including Mullah Maroof have been killed, " Mullahkhil told Xinhua.  Mullah Maroof was a senior commander of Taliban militias in the restive Helmand province, he added.  Taliban militants have yet to make any comment .....



*Army retakes control of district from Taliban*
Pak Tribune (PAK), 4 Jan 07
Article Link

Taliban militants have stepped up their activities in Khak-e-Sufaid district of Farah Province.  Bakhtar News Agency quoted a Defence Ministry statement as having said that enemies of people attacked Khak-e-Sufaid district on Sunday evening and captured it for a short while.  The militants disrupted the normal life in the district, killing innocent people and burning property during their short siege ....



*Special deals and raw recruits employed to halt the Taliban in embattled Helmand*
Fight for hearts and minds leads to unproven tactics and new local leadership
Declan Walsh, The Guardian (UK), 4 Jan 07
Article Link

Sayed Lal has few reasons to love the British. A Nato bomb ripped through his house during a bruising battle with the Taliban, he said.  Eleven relatives - sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces - were killed. "Why did the British need to do this?" said Lal, a 24-year-old with a beard and blazing green eyes.  Unlikely as it may seem, Lal is a key player in a controversial British scheme for a lasting peace in a corner of Helmand. Last October British generals agreed to a peace pact in Musa Qala, a small but strategic district centre in northern Helmand, that ended months of fighting.  Under the terms of the deal, which was negotiated by the provincial governor, British troops and Taliban fighters withdrew from the town. In return local elders were to provide tribesmen for a new police force that would secure the town and keep the Taliban at bay ....



*
NATO downplays Taliban threat in Afghanistan*
People's Daily Online (CHN), 4 Jan 07
Article Link

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Wednesday downplayed Taliban's threat to step up attack on foreign forces in Afghanistan.  Mullah Dadullah, a key commander of Taliban in south Afghanistan and a close aide to Taliban's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, vowed recently that the hard-line militants would intensify their attacks against Afghan and foreign forces stationed in the post-Taliban land this year.  He also warned that the year of 2007 would be the bloodiest year for foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.  "If you look at the past, Taliban's chief Mullah Omar in his Eid message suggested that he would make us retreat in shame and disgrace from the region. They achieved nothing and the violence has been reduced," spokesman of NATO forces here Richard Nugee told newsmen here ....



*Aziz, Karzai to review all aspects of Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: FO*
Maria A Khan, Pakistan Times, 3 Jan 07
Article Link

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will review all aspects of Pakistan-Afghan bilateral relations during talks with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Thursday.  He is visiting Afghanistan on the invitation of President Karzai, Foreign Office spokesperson Ms. Tasneem Aslam told a weekly press briefing here on Wednesday.  “The relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan is unique and the frequent interaction between leaders of two countries is hallmark of this relationship,” he said.  The Prime Minister said there have been many high level visits between the two countries.  The spokesperson said that President Karzai has made nine visits to Pakistan including the visit in March 2005 when he was chief guest at Pakistan Day function.  President Karzai’s last visit to Pakistan was in February 2006, she said and added that the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan have visited Afghanistan six times ....


*Fencing, mining of border with Afghanistan started: Pak*
Pak Tribune (PAK), 4 Jan 07
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has started the process of fencing and mining the 2400 kilometer Pakistan -Afghan border and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visit to Afghanistan would focus on how to overcome challenges faced by the two countries.  Foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said while giving weekly press briefing here on Wednesday ....



*Saving Afghanistan*
Barnett R. Rubin, Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007
Article Link - Blog review

Summary:  With the Taliban resurgent, reconstruction faltering, and opium poppy cultivation at an all-time high, Afghanistan is at risk of collapsing into chaos. If Washington wants to save the international effort there, it must increase its commitment to the area and rethink its strategy -- especially its approach to Pakistan, which continues to give sanctuary to insurgents on its tribal frontier.

_Barnett R. Rubin is Director of Studies and a Senior Fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation and the author of The Fragmentation of Afghanistan. He served as an adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the UN Talks on Afghanistan in Bonn in 2001._


----------



## GAP (4 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 4 January 2007*


*Roadside blast kills five Afghan security forces*
Updated Thu. Jan. 4 2007 6:37 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A roadside bomb killed five Afghan security forces and wounded four as they patrolled with NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, an army chief said Thursday. 

The blast happened in Uruzgan province on Wednesday evening, said regional Afghan army commander Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi. He blamed Taliban militants. 

The explosion wrecked a vehicle carrying Afghan forces and no NATO troops were hurt, he said. 

In a text message to an Associated Press reporter, purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said its militants had launched the attack using a remote-controlled landmine. 

Militant supporters of the Taliban have recently stepped up attacks on Afghan and western forces, sparking the bloodiest fighting since the fall of the hardline regime five years ago. 
End

*In-laws savage Pakistani groom*
 TheStar.com - News - In-laws savage Pakistani groom 
Claim marriage without their okay caused `dishonour'
Khalid Tanveer Toronto Star
Article Link

MULTAN, Pakistan–Outraged in-laws slashed the nose and ears of a college student who married a woman without the consent of her higher-caste family, and then fractured his legs with blows from an axe, police and the victim said yesterday.

Mohammed Iqbal told The Associated Press about 30 male relatives of his wife stormed into his mother's village home during the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, demanding vengeance since the marriage brought "dishonour" on their family.

Iqbal, 22, speaking from his hospital bed, said the attackers chanted, "You have mixed our honour with dirt," as they assaulted him with a dagger and axe on Monday night. They also slit his brother's ears and shot his mother in the thigh, he said.

Police officer Manzoor Ahmed in the city of Multan, where the three victims are recuperating, said seven men suspected of involvement in the attack in the village of Inayatpur Mahota have been arrested. Police were hunting for 22 other suspects.

Iqbal's wife, Shahnaz Bibi, 19, has stayed in another town after an assault against Iqbal two months ago at the end of the holy month of Ramadan in which he suffered broken fingers.

Iqbal said the two did nothing wrong when they wed last year. Islam, he said, "gives us permission to marry out of our own choice."

He said the couple, who have an infant daughter, fell in love after they met in a mango orchard where he used to buy fruit from Bibi's father. Her family, considered to be a higher caste clan of land owners, was against the union.


In deeply conservative rural areas in Pakistan, many men consider it an insult if their female relatives marry without their consent. Killing or attacking women and their partners in such cases is thought to restore family honour.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, citing government figures, reported last year that 1,000 women die annually in honour killings
End

The Law Catches Up To Private Militaries, Embeds
Article Link

Since the start of the Iraq war, tens of thousands of heavily-armed military contractors have been roaming the country -- without any law, or any court to control them. That may be about to change, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow P.W. Singer notes in a Defense Tech exclusive. Five words, slipped into a Pentagon budget bill, could make all the difference. With them, "contractors 'get out of jail free' cards may have been torn to shreds," he writes. They're now subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the same set of laws that governs soldiers. But here's the catch: embedded reporters are now under those regulations, too.

Over the last few years, tales of private military contractors run amuck in Iraq -- from the CACI interrogators at Abu Ghraib to the Aegis company's Elvis-themed internet "trophy video" —- have continually popped up in the headlines. Unfortunately, when it came to actually doing something about these episodes of Outsourcing Gone Wild, Hollywood took more action than Washington. The TV series Law and Order punished fictional contractor crimes, while our courts ignored the actual ones. Leonardo Dicaprio acted in a movie featuring the private military industry, while our government enacted no actual policy on it. But those carefree days of military contractors romping across the hills and dales of the Iraqi countryside, without legal status or accountability, may be over. The Congress has struck back.
More on link

Catching up with The Kite Runner
Finding a place to shoot epic about Afghanistan wasn’t easy but then it became clear — China was the spot
By HOWARD FRENCH The New York Times
Article Link

KASHGAR, China — The sun is setting fast and early over Yarbeshe, a hillside neighbourhood of crumbling brick houses, dark alleys and a creaky wooden drawbridge that sways uneasily over a stream in this fabled gateway city that links far western China to the recesses of central Asia.

It is early November, and one can already feel winter arriving. You would know it instantly by looking at the director Marc Forster, who is bundled in a parka as he paces the chilly interior of a smart two-storey villa built specially for his film in one of the poorer parts of town.

But winter is not arriving fast enough for the demands of this evening’s scene, which is set in Kabul, Afghanistan. So a crew on the villa’s rooftop busies itself operating an artificial snow machine that blows out a respectably thick simulacrum. The lights go on, and for the next few hours — indeed long into the night — the cameras roll.

There are many challenges involved in turning a runaway best-selling novel into a Hollywood film. But when the novel is largely set in Afghanistan, and ranges widely over that country, which after Iraq is perhaps the second most dangerous place in the world for Americans, making snow is the least of the filmmakers’ problems.

Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, has the added complication of being an epic, once a staple of big-budget Hollywood productions but nowadays an increasingly lost art. The story, about the doomed friendship between two Afghan boys, sprawls over generations, and roams well beyond Kabul, notably to parts of Pakistan and to San Francisco, where Afghan exiles live bound and haunted by a common sense of loss.
More on link

Microfinance in Afghanistan
03 Jan 2007
Article Link

Introduction 

Mercy Corps has continuously been working in Afghanistan since 1986. In recent years, the agency has assisted two and a half million Afghans with programs to help rehabilitate lives and livelihoods after decades of conflict, political instability and a multi-year drought. 

To date, Mercy Corps has completed over 50 programs throughout Afghanistan's urban and rural areas. These programs focus on agricultural and economic development to empower citizens, and initiatives that provide access to services and opportunities for marginalized Afghans. 

As the country struggles to move toward a brighter future, Mercy Corps programs strive to ensure that Afghans at the household, community and institutional level are able to build sustainable livelihoods and productive communities in an environment in which the government is accountable to the people. 

This series highlights the Ariana microfinance program started in Kabul City in May of 2003. Ariana Financial Service Group provides fair priced savings and loan products to poor clients to help increase their incomes, expand their businesses and improve their quality of life. 

Since the program inception, Ariana has supported nearly 17,000 clients with a total of over three million US dollars in loans. 82% of Ariana's clients are women, who represent one of the most vulnerable social groups in Afghanistan. Ariana's clients run micro-enterprises in all areas of Afghan life; i.e. weaving, carpentry, tailoring, hair dressing, food processing, florists, kite production, knitting, leather working or animal husbandry. Ariana has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and from MISFA (Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan). 
More on link

Small Loans Make a Big Difference  
BY SHIRINE PONT | January 3, 2007 
Article Link

Five years after September 11th, 2001 the challenges Afghanistan faces remain formidable. 

After decades of destruction, drought and under-investment, poverty is wide spread and deeply entrenched. 70% of Afghans live on less than 2 USD a day and the average income per year lies at about 300 USD . Sustained economic growth is necessary to address this great level of poverty and to provide Afghan people with a better, and more secure future. 

Achieving economic growth for the poorest of the poor in Afghanistan is not easy. Most Afghans make a living with small-scale agriculture or with informal family-owned micro enterprises engaged in trading or basic services. They have few ways of accessing the capital necessary to start a business or expand it. The banking system in Afghanistan has been slow to establish itself since 2001, and remains heavily concentrated in Kabul and larger cities. Even if Afghans have access to a bank, most of them are too poor to qualify for conventional bank loans.
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AFGHANISTAN: MULLAH OMAR THREATENS TO INTENSIFY WAR, RULES OUT TALKS WITH GOVT.
Peshawar, 4 Jan. (AKI/DAWN) 
Article Link 

 The reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has said he will never hold negotiations with the US-backed Karzai government in Afghanistan and warned that "the war" will be escalated to such an extent that foreign troops are compelled to leave the strife-torn country and institutions established by them are dismantled.

"Foreign troops should at once leave Afghanistan and then the institutions they created should be dismantled. Unless this happens, war will heat up further. It will not recede," the Taliban supreme leader said in response to written questions sent to him through his media spokesperson.

In what his spokesperson said was his first interview with a Pakistani newspaper since the puritanical militia were driven from power in 2001, Mullah Omar also responded to criticism of the hard-line Taliban rule, his stated aversion to negotiations with the Karzai government, provision of shelter to -- and subsequent refusal to hand over – Osama bin Laden to the United States, a clampdown on girls education, his whereabouts and alleged support from Pakistan.

Careful not to criticise Pakistan's policy vis-a-vis the Taliban, Mullah Omar also denied that the Taliban resurgence was a Pashtun uprising.

He made a distinction between the ultimate goals of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. According to him, jihad is the goal of the former. And, he said, the Taliban were determined to drive American troops out of Afghanistan. He said the Taliban never felt the need for a permanent relationship with al-Qaeda.
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (4 Jan 2007)

_- Edited 042211EST Jan 07 to add Rand Study material - _

*Soldier’s parents say faith keeps them strong while son fights Taliban*
Mary Riley, mykawartha.com, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

Within five days of arriving in Afghanistan for his first tour of duty last August, Corporal Robert Hepburn’s military base was attacked twice.  The next time his parents saw him, it was on television.  “He was helping to carry his buddy’s casket,” said his mother.  Lee McInnis and her husband, Randy, are part of a unique and special group - the parents of soldiers fighting the war against the Taliban.  “Rob always wanted to be in the military,” his mother said. “I wanted him to have his dream.”   But, I never really thought he’d actually end up fighting a war. I thought it would be a good life: a good education, a career, a chance to travel.”  “This is real.”  Cpl. Hepburn, 24, has been serving with his regiment since 1999. Now a gunner with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, his military career began as an army cadet in Lindsay ....



*Operation Baaz Tsuka yields weapons cache*
ISAF news release # 2007-013, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

During joint security patrols in support of Operation Baaz Tsuka yesterday, Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and ISAF forces discovered a large weapons cache in Panjawayi district.  The weapons cache consisted of 20 boxes of 14.5-mm linked ammunition, 10 82-mm recoilless rifle rounds, 20 107-mm rocket fuses and 40 82-mm mortar fuses. An assortment of hand grenades were discovered at the bottom of a well in a village approximately two kilometres east of Talukan.  The weapons cache will be transported to an ISAF base and be disposed of.  “This is another example of Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF working together during Operation Baaz Tsuka to provide long term security for the people of Afghanistan,” said Sqn. Ldr. Dave Marsh, Regional Command South spokesman. “Any day a large weapons cache is found and disposed of appropriately is a benefit to everyone.” 



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Cdn wheelchairs delivered to help Afghan civilians*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

It's a scene that's becoming more common: a Canadian politician arriving to bring humanitarian aid and a photo opportunity is arranged to record the event.  The gift this time was something desperately needed in this country torn by war and littered with landmines - a donation of 560 wheelchairs.  It is common to see Afghan people of all ages walking with crutches, having lost a leg after stepping on an improvised explosive device. There are thousands of undetected landmines in Afghanistan, many dating back to the 10-year war against the Soviets that ended in 1989 ....



*ISAF forces deliver military assistance to two villages in Panjawayi District*
ISAF news release # 2007-010, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

Yesterday, ISAF forces, including a French Civil Military Co-operation (CIMIC) Team from Regional Command Central, conducted military assistance operations in two village in the Panjawayi district as part of Operation Baaz Tsuka.  ISAF conducted two shuras with local elders within the two respective villages to discuss concerns and security related issues. Afterwards, soldiers donated food, blankets, school supplies and tools to approximately 100 families in order to help prepare them for winter.



*Taliban Leader Promises More Afghan War*
ISMAIL KHAN and CARLOTTA GALL, New York Times, 5 Jan 07
Article Link

In what appears to be the first exchange with a journalist since going into hiding five years ago, the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, said that he had not seen Al Qaeda’s chief, Osama bin Laden, in five years and that he would never negotiate with the United States-backed government of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. He also threatened to continue the war until foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan.  The statements were made in written response to questions sent by e-mail to the Taliban spokesman, Mr. Muhammad Hanif, who often speaks to journalists by telephone from an undisclosed location. Mr. Hanif said that Mullah Omar had written the replies himself and that a courier had returned the answers on a USB computer drive ....



*Taliban chief says hasn't seen Laden*
Associated Press, via China Daily.com.cn, 5 Jan 07
Article Link

Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar said he has not seen Osama bin Laden since the hard-line Afghan militia lost power five years ago, a newspaper reported Thursday.  Omar also said the Taliban and al-Qaida still share the joint goal of driving US forces out of Afghanistan, a newspaper reported Thursday. The authenticity of the comments, reported by Pakistan's influential Dawn daily, could not be confirmed. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who often speaks for the Taliban, told The Associated Press that the remarks were from the militia but did not come directly from Omar.  Dawn described it as Omar's first interview with a Pakistani newspaper since his fall from power in late 2001, saying that he had answered written questions conveyed by e-mail through another of his spokesmen.  Omar's whereabouts have been a mystery since he went into hiding after the Taliban was toppled in a US-led invasion after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks ....



*NATO correct to recognize Afghans killed, now must provide families with aid*
Humanitarian organization calls for immediate assistance to war victims
News release, Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), 4 Jan 07
Link

 Following yesterday’s acknowledgement by NATO that 2006 military operations killed too many civilians in Afghanistan, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) today called on the multinational force to go further to aid those civilians harmed.  “When innocent people are harmed by military operations and when President Karzai repeatedly pleas for the lives of his citizens, it is time for NATO to do the right thing,” said CIVIC’s executive director Sarah Holewinski.  “NATO must dignify the suffering of the Afghan people with aid to help them rebuild their lives.”  The Associated Press yesterday quoted Brig. Richard E. Nugee, chief spokesman for NATO forces in Afghanistan, as saying, "The single thing that we have done wrong and we are striving extremely hard to improve on (in 2007) is killing innocent civilians.” According to media reports, NATO forces have killed dozens of civilians last year as they battled the Taliban.  CIVIC noted NATO’s lack of any official program to help those civilians harmed in those operations. “NATO officials deserve credit for taking a critical look at their procedures and working to reduce civilian deaths,” said Holewinski. “Now, they must help where they’ve hurt.” ....



*Pashtuns on both sides of Pak-Afghan border show opposition to fencing plan*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 3 Jan 07
[http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=29745]Article Link[/url]

Tribal elders and influential people on two sides of the Pak-Afghan border have warned they will take away any barriers installed on the joint border.  Pakistan has recently announced it will fence the joint border and plant mines along the 2,500 kilometers long border to put an end to accusations by the Afghan government of letting Taliban militants to cross the border and conduct attacks in Afghanistan.  The elders have warned they would destroy the fence and take out the mines if Pakistan goes ahead with the fencing and mining plan.  Residents on both sides of the border believe that Pakistan want to stamp the Durand Line as an official border line between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This, they say, will further separate the one community of Pashtuns who have already been divided.  Maulvi Abdul Rahim, an elder and religious scholar in Koot frontier district of Nangrahar considers Pakistans action a drama, saying that Pakistan want to trick the world with this action ....



*Pak-Afghan talks in vain unless security improves: Karzai*
Borhan Younus, Pajhwok Afghan News, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

President Hamid Karzai said Thursday negotiations and other efforts to enhance Pak-Afghan relations will go in vain if incidents like blasts and burning of schools continued in the future.  Talking to journalists after meeting Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Kabul, Karzai said only serious and sincere cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan could bring peace to the region. He added Afghanistan's stance on important issues of the region, particularly the war on terror, regional security and relations with neighbors, was clear and that Afghans were now looking for Pakistan to meet its promises.  "We will see now, if torching schools, killing our religious scholars and explosions continue to happen, it means that the negotiations (with Pakistan) did not yield any result," President Karzai said in the joint press conference with Shaukat Aziz, who is visiting Kabul on a one-day official trip.  He said bilateral talks and meetings were aimed to eliminate extremism in both the countries ....


*In the Borderlands*
Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters use the Afghan-Pakistani border regions as a haven. Changing that situation will take more than either country realizes.
Jason Motlagh, American Prospect, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

On the heels of the bloodiest fighting season in Afghanistan since the Taliban was ousted by the U.S.-led Northern Alliance five years ago, Pakistani authorities signed a September truce with tribal elders in the semi-autonomous North Waziristan province. The reaction in the Western press was alarmingly muted, given that a resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda militants are known to enjoy safe haven in that Pakistani region as well as other ethnic Pashtun areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border. But the opportunity to chastise arch-rival Pakistan was not lost on Afghan President Hamid Karzai ....



*US urged to suspend aid to Pakistan security forces*
Dawn (PAK), 4 Jan 07
Article Link

The United States should consider suspending financial aid to Pakistan's internal security forces because of their failure to respect human rights, a leading US think-tank said in a report on Wednesday.  The RAND Corp. study evaluated US assistance to security forces in Afghanistan, El Salvador, Uzbekistan and Pakistan since the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, examining whether police performance improved as well as human rights practices.  “The United States should significantly restructure or even withdraw its assistance to repressive regimes if their internal security agencies fail to improve transparency, human rights practices and overall effectiveness,” said Seth Jones, one of the lead authors of the study .....


RAND EVALUATES EFFORTS TO IMPROVE EFFECTIVENESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS PERFORMANCE OF INTERNAL SECURITY FORCES IN 4 NATIONS
Rand Corporation news release, 3 Jan 07
News Release - Access to full downloadable report

....  In a report looking at the four nations, researchers concluded that assistance to states transitioning from authoritarian to democratic systems – such as Afghanistan and El Salvador – has been more effective in improving their internal security forces than assistance to governments that remain repressive, such as Pakistan and Uzbekistan.  The report suggests that the United States should rethink the type and amount of assistance it provides Pakistan's law enforcement agencies.  Despite American assistance, the study found that Pakistani security forces continue to inflict “highly draconian punishments such as home demolition, the seizure of businesses, and the forfeiture of other properties and assets.”  “We found little evidence that the United States has paid very much attention to human rights issues in its programs of security assistance to Pakistan,” said Olga Oliker, one of the two lead authors of the study. “Moreover, there is little evidence of improvement in Pakistan's accountability and human rights practices over the last five years.”  ....


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## The Bread Guy (5 Jan 2007)

*Alexander gives us an invaluable asset*
Peter Worthington, Sun Media, 5 Jan 07
Article Link

....   So what should Prime Minister Stephen Harper do?  By all means have a debate when Parliament reconvenes.  First, he should call upon Chris Alexander to deliver a speech to Parliament, and to talk to parliamentary committees and to subject himself to questions from the various political parties -- all open and attended by the media and the public.  Who is Chris Alexander, you might ask?  At 34, he was Canada's youngest ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-05) and is today the UN secretary general's deputy special representative in Afghanistan and arguably the most knowledgeable diplomat (if not foreigner) when it comes to understanding that unusual country.  Alexander was interviewed by CBC radio's Anna Maria Tremonti -- no slouch when it comes to foreign issues.  Alexander feels positively about Afghanistan's future, and says the opium poppy trade doesn't make farmers rich; that headway is being made to reduce that evil trade. Profits from Afghanistan's opium don't help the small producer, but those up the distribution line.  As for the resurgence of the Taliban, he feels they must be soundly beaten before peace and security reign. He says they are being beaten -- largely by Canadian forces who've gone after them in the field and have kicked the Taliban's ass ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Toy guns a concern to ISAF troops*
ISAF news release # 2007-014, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (4 January) – ISAF troops are reporting an increase in the number of replica or toy guns being played with by children around military patrols which is concerning patrol commanders.

During the celebration of Eid, it would appear that many children have been given toy guns as presents. Playing with them and pointing them at patrolling ISAF troops is a dangerous practice, which could result in troops mistaking the replica weapons for real ones, and reacting to protect themselves.

“I would urge parents to ensure that their children do not play with toy guns around patrolling troops. Some of the toy guns are very life like and can easily be mistaken by troops as the real thing,” said Maj. Dominic Whyte, ISAF spokesman.

We advise all parents to educate their children in the dangers involved with playing with toy guns in public.


*Kids with toy guns worry Afghan NATO force*
Reuters (UK), 5 Jan 07
Article Link

NATO troops in Afghanistan have reported seeing lots of children with toy guns, apparently given as presents at a recent Muslim holiday, raising fears of an accident if troops mistook a toy for a real gun.  "We've had a lot of reports since Eid from troops on the ground of a lot of kids with toy guns," said a spokesman for the NATO force, Major Ian Clooney.  Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Adha festival at the weekend marking the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, when children traditionally get presents.  "This is being taken seriously," Clooney said. "We've tried to get the message out so parents can educate their children. We can't afford to let accidents happen." ....



*And They Have a Plan*
Strategypage.com, 5 Jan 07
Article Link

NATO commanders believe that the Taliban are planning a more aggressive operation in the Spring, using groups of up to a hundred men to attack small towns, especially local government headquarters. These towns often have only a dozen or so policemen, and some armed locals. Coming in at night, the Taliban can take over, get some propaganda videos, and have a chance of getting away before government or NATO reinforcements show up. The Taliban are fighting a media war, as they have no chance of winning a military victory at this point. The Taliban believe that, in the long run (years, a decade or more) they will win. After all, God is on their side. But in the meantime, the Taliban use terror to eliminate those who oppose them, or scare their Afghan opponents into silence ....



*Karzai tells Pakistan's PM ties worsening*
Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters, 4 Jan 07
Article Link

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated sharply over the past year, underscored by a lack of trust, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday.  Ties between the countries, major U.S. allies in the war against terrorism, have been hurt largely due to the help resurgent Taliban rebels get on the Pakistani side of the border, Karzai said after meeting Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.  "I explained ... about terrorism, about the burning of schools," Karzai told a news conference with Aziz in Kabul.  "And that, unfortunately, the gap in ties is increasing between Afghanistan and Pakistan ... It is with a lot of regret that relations face a lack of trust," he said ....


*Pak, Afghan Differences Remain*
Azhar Masood, Arab News (SAU), 5 Jan 07
Article Link

A one-day visit by Pakistan’s prime minister to Afghanistan failed to bridge differences between the neighbors over how to fight terrorism.  At a joint news conference in the Afghan capital yesterday, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan were clearly at odds over some fundamental issues affecting relations between the two countries.  Pakistan wants to lay mines and build a fence at parts of the Afghan-Pakistan border to keep terrorists from crossing over to Afghanistan. Afghanistan opposes the idea.  Aziz said fencing and mining the border had become imperative for Pakistan and for maintaining security of NATO and US soldiers operating in Afghanistan.  The prime minister also said Kabul should not object to the project as “we will build a secure fence and mine our own territory.” ....


*Pakistan Premier Wants Afghan Refugees to Return Home*
Carlotta Gall, New York Times, 5 Jan 07
Article Link

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said Thursday that he wanted the three million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan to go home as one way to end the problem of insurgents using the country as a haven.  It is the first time Pakistan has been so blunt in demanding that the Afghans, to whom it has served as host for more than 20 years since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, leave.  Mr. Aziz arrived here for talks with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, in an effort to smooth tensions between the neighbors, but after more than two hours Mr. Karzai acknowledged that relations were only growing worse.  “Unfortunately, the gulf in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan is getting wider, and it is not getting narrower,” Mr. Karzai said after their meeting.  The two leaders emerged with no agreement on the main areas of contention, namely Pakistan’s plan to fence and mine the border, and Afghanistan’s project to convene two tribal gatherings, or jirgas, of national representatives from both countries, to try to foster peace between the countries ....


----------



## Colin Parkinson (5 Jan 2007)

Fifteen suspected Taliban killed in southern Afghan fighting, police say
  

Canadian Press 


Friday, January 05, 2007



CREDIT: CanWest News Service/Shaughn Butts 
Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant. 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - NATO and Afghan forces fought a three-hour ground battle with suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghan mountains, killing 15 of them, police said Friday. 

No NATO or Afghan forces were hurt in Thursday's fighting in Helmand province's Kajaki district, said provincial police chief Ghulam Nabi Malakhel. 

NATO could not immediately confirm the clash. 

Malakhel said the troops recovered bodies of some militants, assault rifles, heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. A Taliban group commander, Mullah Azizullah, was among the dead, he said. 

Also in Helmand, three suspected Taliban died when a land mine they were planting late Thursday on a highway in Grieshk district exploded prematurely, Malakhel said. 

Militant supporters of the hardline Taliban regime ousted from power in late 2001 have stepped up attacks in southern Afghanistan this year, setting off the bloodiest violence in five years, that left about 4,000 people dead during 2006. 

© The Canadian Press 2007
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=d0b30279-d46a-4a91-b44d-b3ec4f10c15b&k=60224


----------



## GAP (8 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 6th & 7th January, 2007*


*UK ’at odds with NATO allies’ in Afghanistan *  
Article Link

LONDON: Nato diplomats are alarmed that British policy in Afghanistan is seriously damaging Western efforts against the Taliban, according to a UK newspaper on Saturday. 

The Daily Telegraph said it had been told by officials from the US and European members of NATO that Britain is increasingly at odds with its coalition partners over its policy of making arbitrary peace deals with the Taliban. 

At the same time, the UK was declining to put pressure on Pakistan to stop providing sanctuary to the Taliban leadership," the diplomats in Kabul and Islamabad were also quoted saying. 

The warnings also included that Britain’s "go it alone policies" were threatening military preparations for a major Taliban offensive expected next month. 

Western officials have already been strongly critical of a peace deal in Musa Qala, Helmand, where thousands of British fought daily battles with a resurgent Taliban. 

British commanders have insisted that the deal was struck with tribal elders, but it has been claimed that the agreement was actually made with the Taliban, who controlled the town. 

Even though the truce is now reported to be breaking down with large numbers of heavily-armed Taliban returning to Musa Qala, Britain was said to be wanting more such deals, but the idea has been rejected by the US and some Nato allies. 

Lt Gen David Richards, the British commander of the 32,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan is being replaced next month by Lt Gen Dan MacNeil from the US, who according to the diplomats, is expected to cancel all such agreements. 

Europe’s alarm was said to also relate to Britain’s close relations with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at a time when NATO is trying to put pressure on the country to end sanctuary provided to Taliban by elements within Pakistan’s intelligence services. 

The Telegraph said the issue is of critical importance in the next few weeks as the Taliban are expected to recruit thousands of men and collect armaments and other supplies for their spring offensive. 

But Britain was reported to be resisting such pressure after Tony Blair lavished praise on Musharraf when he visited Islamabad last November. 

The diplomats said the reason was because of the co-operation between the UK’s MI6 and Pakistan’s Interservices Intelligence (ISI) agency on Britain’s domestic terrorist threat from British- born extremists of Pakistani origin. 

"Even though British troops in Helmand are facing attacks from Pakistan-based Taliban, London is willing to sacrifice that issue in exchange for getting ISI help on its home-based terrorist problems," one senior European official was quoted saying. 
End


Exodus a warning of attack on Canadians
Sat Jan 6 2007 By Bill Graveland
Article Link 

LACOOKHAL, Afghanistan -- The long line of vehicles heading north from the area around this tiny village in Panjwaii district was a dead giveaway that something was not right. 
Two hours later, a barrage of rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars rained down upon Canadian and Afghan troops here, who had been going from compound to compound looking for the Taliban. On this day they found them. 

"The locals knew something was up and that the Taliban were here," said Capt. Josh Major, 31, of Chelmsford, Ont. "They know what is going on," he added. 

Major and other members of OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liason Team) had been on patrol with the Afghan National Army. After combing through a number of the vast mud compounds that dot this region came word that seven armed men had been spotted to the south. 

As the troops moved further south, walking through the deep, dusty ditches of grape fields, the sound of a large explosion could be heard. Moments later, a plume of black smoke was on the horizon. 

A series of rockets and rocket-propelled grenades whistled overhead, landing and exploding in a cloud of smoke and dust about 250 metres away. A mortar landed 50 metres away causing Canadian soldiers to duck for cover while their Afghan allies seemed undaunted by the noise and confusion. The deep, throaty rat-a-tat-tat of the machine-guns on the Afghan trucks replied after every salvo.    
"No problem. It's cool," said one Afghan soldier flashing a grin as he walked by, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. 

The attack came to a standstill once air support was called in. Once the drone of the F-16 was heard overhead, the Taliban stopped firing and headed west on foot. 

An air strike wasn't possible because there were still civilians in the area. But the plane flew low through the valley, firing off some flares in a show of force. 

Operation Baaz Tsuka is in its third and final stage and is seeking to clear out pockets of Taliban in this region
End


MacKay makes surprise two-day Afghanistan visit
Updated Sun. Jan. 7 2007 9:25 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link


Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is in Kabul, Afghanistan, on a surprise two-day visit to assess and highlight Canadian efforts in the country. 

He paid an earlier visit to Afghanistan in May of last year. 

MacKay met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, then visited newly established vocational training institutes in Kabul. 

During a teleconference from Kabul, MacKay said the purpose of his trip is to highlight progress that is being made in the country. He mentioned areas such as infrastructure, micro-credit projects for small businesses, wells being dug and the construction of new schools as tangible proof that efforts are moving ahead. 

MacKay countered claims that Afghanistan is sliding into chaos, and said the opposite is happening. He argued that the military is playing a key role by providing a shield, but the centrepiece of the mission is the development work that is happenning around the country.

"There's a lot of on the ground advancement that is often overlooked," MacKay said. 

"All this shows the Afghan people and the government have moved ahead considerably and the pace is only going to increase, in my opinion, as we're able to bring about greater stability." 

During his one-hour meeting with Karzai, MacKay said he urged the president to focus on strengthening the Afghan National Army and police force. 

He planned to meet with aid workers and Canadian troops during his visit, which he said was evidence of Canada's continued support for the work in Afghanistan.

CTV's Murray Oliver, reporting from Kandahar, said there is a close link between development in Afghanistan and a successful conclusion to the mission. 
More on link



Two babies, two women killed in roadside blast in eastern Afghanistan

Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan In Afganistan, a roadside bombing has claimed family members of three generations.

An official says the explosion ripped through a vehicle in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing a woman, her two newborn babies and the children's grandmother.

The father of the twins and the vehicle's driver also were wounded in the blast.

The official says the twins were born on Saturday and the family was taking them back to their village.

It was not immediately clear why the vehicle was targeted. Militants usually use roadside bombs to attack Afghan and foreign troops on patrol.

Meanwhile, in southern Afghanistan today, two assailants on a motorbike gunned down a high school principal.

Taliban militants have warned teachers that they will be killed if they continue to work for the government of President Hamid Karzai (HAH'-mihd KAHR'-zeye). Some 20 teachers were killed in 2006.
More on link


Canadian soldier wounded in Afghanistan attack
Updated Sat. Jan. 6 2007 12:12 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

A Canadian is among five NATO soldiers to be injured in two attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday. 

The Canadian, whose identity has not yet been released, was wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near the soldier's convoy in southern Afghanistan, said CTV's Murray Oliver, reporting from Kandahar. 

"What I can tell you is that a Canadian soldier has been wounded in a roadside bomb attack about three kilometres west of the town of Howz-e Madad. If that name sounds at all familiar it's because it was the objective of Canadian forces during the early stages of Operation Baaz Tsuka," Oliver told CTV Newsnet. 

The town was taken easily by NATO forces during the campaign late last year, also known as Operation Falcon's Summit, without a shot being fired. Since then, however, the area around the town has become somewhat of a "hot zone," Oliver said. 

On Friday about 20 Taliban members attacked Canadian and Afghan troops, and a 45 minute firefight ensued, with no Canadian casualties. 

The Canadian soldier wounded on Saturday is a member of Quebec's Vandoos regiment. 

"These were soldiers travelling in a convoy actually on a dirt track, not even on a highway, and these soldiers were in a Bison armoured vehicle which is one of the more heavily armoured vehicles in the Canadian Forces here, when this roadside bomb exploded and injured this fellow," Oliver said. 

The soldier is being flown to Germany for treatment at the U.S. military hospital but is considered to be in stable condition, Oliver reported. 

Four more injuries

Also on Saturday, in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber drove his car into a NATO convoy, wounding four soldiers, said Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak, governor of the province. 

It was a mixed convoy that included both NATO and Afghan forces, the governor said. 

A NATO spokesman wouldn't confirm the number of soldiers injured, but did acknowledge the attack had occurred and that some soldiers were wounded. 

The troops stationed in the Bermel region where the suicide bombing took place are mostly American. 

The area borders Pakistan, and it is thought that militants often cross the border to launch attacks in Afghanistan, targeting Afghan and NATO troops. 
More on link

Overhauling our mission to Afghanistan  
Article Link

OTTAWA: Prime Minister Harper’s Christmas message was, don’t expect any improvement on the ground in Afghanistan over the next year, and expect that our troops will be in the country longer than promised. This is not welcome news. 

Indeed the territory controlled by the Taliban has increased. Support for the NATO mission within Afghanistan has decreased. President Karzai’s government is widely seen as corrupt. The insurgency coming from outside Afghanistan is increasing and becoming more violent. 

The poorly paid and ill-trained Afghan police are resorting to thuggish tactics against their own people in order to survive and are seen to be as much of a problem on the ground as the Taliban. 

The border with Pakistan is porous and arms shipments are flowing into the country unimpeded. The poppy crop, which fuels the Taliban and Al Qaeda, is larger now than ever and is these groups’ number one source of revenue. Previously quiet areas in the north and east are now seeing an upsurge in violence
More on link

Canadian Forces Operations in Afghanistan - Why Are we There?  
Backgrounder Canadian Forces Operations in Afghanistan
BG–07.009 - January 5, 2007
Article Link

Why are we there?
Canada is in Afghanistan at the request of the democratically elected government, along with 36 other nations, and as part of a UN-sanctioned mission to help build a stable, democratic, and self-sufficient society.

About 2500 members of the Canadian Forces (CF) are currently serving as part of Joint Task Force Afghanistan (JTF AFG). They play a key role in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission whose goal is to improve the security situation in Afghanistan and assist in rebuilding the country.
More on link



Afghan mission 'doomed to fail'
Report says military action can't solve country's woes; more economic aid, help from Pakistan needed
Richard Foot, The Ottawa Citizen Saturday, January 06, 2007 
Article Link

As Canadian soldiers traded fire with Taliban insurgents west of Kandahar yesterday, a new article in the prestigious international journal Foreign Affairs warned that Afghanistan is "sliding into chaos" and that the NATO-led coalition is doomed to fail without a dramatic change in strategy.

Author Barnett Rubin, a respected global authority on Afghanistan, says no amount of military sacrifice by NATO countries can produce dividends in Afghanistan without a substantial and co-ordinated infusion of economic aid and a willingness to dismantle Taliban command centres in Pakistan.

Mr. Rubin says fighting battles against the Taliban will achieve nothing in the long run unless the NATO coalition can solve the problems of Afghan poverty, corruption and meddling by Pakistan, Afghanistan's neighbour to the east.

"Even as Afghan and international forces have defeated insurgents in engagement after engagement," Mr. Rubin writes in the January/February issue of Foreign Affairs, "the weakness of the government and the reconstruction effort -- and the continued sanctuary provided to Taliban leaders in Pakistan -- has prevented real victory."

Mr. Rubin is a professor of political science at New York University. In 2001, he served as special adviser to the United Nations during the talks that led to the Bonn Agreement, which re-established the Afghan state following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Begin Optional Cut

He travelled to Afghanistan four times in 2006, and was there last summer, when Canadian soldiers spearheaded a bloody campaign to rout Taliban forces in Panjwaii. Altogether, 36 Canadian soldiers died and nearly 100 were wounded in Afghanistan last year, mostly in fighting around Panjwaii.

End Optional Cut

In a telephone interview, Mr. Rubin praised the "sacrifices" of Canadian troops and of diplomat Glyn Berry, whom he met before Mr. Berry was killed by a Taliban bomb last year.

Mr. Rubin credits Canada's military for turning back "a frontal offensive by the Taliban" in Panjwaii last summer and for rescuing Afghanistan from what he considers "a tipping point."
More on link


Dion crafting strategy for Afghanistan  
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, NATIONAL BUREAU January 6, 2007 
Article Link

OTTAWA -- Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is crafting a proposal to revamp Canada's mission in Afghanistan so it can lend military help to other hot spots around the world. 

Dion said the current mission is off the rails, with the bulk of Afghanistan's economy based on the illegal poppy trade. 

Details of his plan are still in the works, but he said it will rest between the "blinded" approach by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the "dishonourable" one of NDP Leader Jack Layton. 

"If a state is not functional and half the economy is illicit ... no matter how many soldiers you have, whatever the money you put in, I think it will be mistaken," he said in an interview with Sun Media. 

"You need to work with the world. If we are stuck in Afghanistan, we are unable to be as helpful as we may be elsewhere. So Canada will do its share, but our share as a partner of a problem that is beyond Afghanistan." 

Dion recalled recent comments from Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, who insisted Canada's forces are too tapped out to fulfill any further deployments. 

But despite dropping heavy criticism on Harper's leadership, Dion said he would not be "comfortable" toppling the Conservative government over the mission. 

"To put this government out of a job ... and to start an election on Afghanistan is not a healthy situation," he said. 

Dion accused Harper of "blackmailing" the MPs' vote on a two-year extension, a move that politicized the issue and polarized the nation. 

The Liberal strategy will be to build a secure Afghanistan state so Canada can assist in other regions, like Somalia, Haiti and Lebanon. 

Dion said he is also working on a proposal on Darfur. 
End

'Kabul Express' banned in Afghanistan
Reuters Saturday, January 06, 2007  19:41 IST
Article Link

KABUL: Afghanistan has banned the Bollywood film 'Kabul Express' about journalists in the war-ravaged country because parts of it were deemed offensive to one of Afghanistan's ethnic minorities, a government official said on Saturday.    

'Kabul Express' charts a 48-hour journey by three journalists in post-Taliban Afghanistan. It opened to mixed reviews in India last month.    

"The film has some sentences which were very offensive towards one of Afghanistan's ethnicities, namely the Hazara," said Minister of Culture adviser Najib Manalai.    

"For this reason it has been banned."    

Hazara people are believed to make up about 10 per cent of the Afghan population. A Shi'ite Muslim minority, Hazaras are thought to be descended from remnants of Genghis Khan's invading army and have at times faced persecution.    

'Kabul Express' was filmed on location in 45 days under heavy security provided by the Afghan government. It was inspired by director Kabir Khan's numerous trips to the country after the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001.    

Some Indian critics called it a muddled political documentary while others welcomed its insights into post-Taliban Afghan society.    

Afghans involved in the film including the actors who uttered the sentences deemed offensive would be questioned by a prosecutor, Manalai said.    

The prosecutor would decide if further action would be taken. The producers of the film had apologised, he said.    

"Even if it's fiction, some phrases are hurtful to some people. It's playing with people's feelings and pride," he said.    

Very few people in Afghanistan have seen the film. Bootleg film sellers in the Afghan capital said authorities had confiscated their copies.
More on link

Bombs target NATO convoys in Afghanistan, 5 troops wounded
Canadian Press Saturday, January 06, 2007
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A roadside bomb struck a NATO vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, wounding one soldier, while a suicide car bomber wounded four soldiers in the country's east, officials said. 

The roadside bomb hit the NATO vehicle in Zhari district in Kandahar province, wounding one soldier, said Capt. Andre Salloum, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. He did not disclose the nationality of the wounded soldier. 

A suicide bomber, meanwhile, plowed his car into a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province on Friday, wounding four soldiers, said Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak, the province's governor. 

The bomber struck the convoy, which also included Afghan security forces, in Bermel district, he said. 

A NATO spokesman confirmed the blast and said some soldiers were wounded but he did not disclose the number. Most of the troops in that region are American. 

The Bermel region borders Pakistan, and a U.S. base there sees frequent rocket attacks. Afghan and Western officials say that militants cross the border to launch attacks against Afghan and foreign troops in the country.
End

NATO-led soldiers wounded in attacks in Afghanistan  
Article Link 

KABUL: Bombings targeted at NATO troops in Afghanistan wounded a number of soldiers in the latest insurgency-linked unrest while gunmen shot dead an Afghan intelligence officer Saturday, officials said. 

Winter has seen a scaling down in attacks linked to a Taliban-led insurgency, but there is still regular violence blamed on the militants who were driven from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001. 

A suicide attacker exploded a bomb-filled car he was in near International Security Assistance Force soldiers in the eastern province of Paktika Friday, wounding a number of the troops, an ISAF spokesman said. 

Major Dominic Whyte would not confirm the provincial governor's report that four of the soldiers were hurt. 

"A number of ISAF soldiers were wounded," he said without being able to immediately provide more details. Governor Mohammad Akram Khepelwak said the attacker, who struck in the volatile Barmal district, detonated bombs in a pick-up truck as he approached an ISAF vehicle. 

"Four NATO soldiers were slightly wounded. The attack took place close to an Afghan army military post," he said while talking to an international news agency. 

In another attack on the NATO-led foreign soldiers, a roadside bomb exploded and struck an ISAF convoy on Saturday in the southern province of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement in the early 1990s, a spokesman said. 

One soldier was slightly wounded. The attack was in the Zahri area, not far from the city and was included in some of the most intense anti-Taliban action last year. 

In the eastern province of Khost meanwhile an investigation chief in the provincial intelligence branch was shot dead on his way to work Saturday, the department's deputy director, Mirajan, said. 

The officer, Mursal Mangal, was killed by gunmen on a motorbike, he said, adding that the motive appeared to have been criminal. Taliban-linked militants have been blamed for many similar assassinations. 

The insurgency was its deadliest last year with 4,000 people said to have been killed in the violence, most of them insurgents. 

The usual upsurge of violence in the spring in a few months time is expected to be at least as intense as it was last year. 
end

Ariz. Bushmasters off to Afghanistan  
Erin Zlomek The Arizona Republic Jan. 6, 2007 12:00 AM 
Article Link

It has been 65 years since the Bushmasters shipped out to the Philippines during World War II, but the storied unit is leaving again today, this time for eventual deployment to Afghanistan.

More than 600 members of the Arizona National Guard's 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment are departing Sky Harbor International Airport this morning for Fort Bragg, N.C., in preparation for a year's overseas deployment. 

"It is the largest single deployment from the Arizona National Guard unit since World War II," Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre said

The men are from units in and around Maricopa County and are joined in their mission by about 450 Guard troops from the Marana unit who left for Fort Hood, Texas, on Tuesday. 

The group likely will land in Afghanistan sometime in the spring, said Command Sgt. Maj. John Bauer. 

When that happens, there will be more Arizona Guard troops, both Army and Air Guard, stationed in Afghanistan than in Iraq. 

"Most of our unit strength has gone to the Iraq operation up until now," Aguirre said.

With the Dec. 30 execution of Saddam Hussein, Bauer said, many civilians have recently focused on U.S. operations in Iraq. Statewide, that may soon change, he said.

"With the number of soldiers we have from the Arizona National Guard . . . I think, locally, people will probably shift their attention to Afghanistan," Bauer said.

The Guard's primary mission will be to rehabilitate some of the Afghani communities that are trying to adjust to a new government amid ongoing violence, he said.

Since 2005, violence in Afghanistan has increased, according to the Defense Department. 

Arizona's deploying soldiers will replace the Connecticut National Guard and help maintain the total of 22,000 service men and women in Afghanistan.
More on link

Strong, stable Afghanistan in interest of its people, Pakistan: Shaukat Aziz  
06 January, 2007 by admin 
Article Link

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday said that a strong and stable Afghanistan is in the best interest of its people, Pakistan and the region.He was talking to Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Jadoon, Minister for Privatization Zahid Hamid, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Maj (Retd) Tanveer Hussain Syed and MNA Javaid Mumtaz Joiya who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House. 

The Prime Minister said that his visit to Kabul was very useful and productive as it provided the opportunity for exchanging views with the Afghan leadership.
He said the agreement between the two countries for the return of the Afghan refugees will prove to be highly beneficial for both the countries. 
The Prime Minister said that during his visit he also announced 50 million dollar assistance for Afghanistan to accelerate the process of economic development there.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan has announced formation of a jirga commission to finalise the modalities of convening jirga process with Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan will also be hosting a conference for Afghanistan’s assistance in Islamabad to arrange necessary funds to contribute to the ongoing reconstruction process in Afghanistan. 
Pakistan, he said, believes that Afghanistan needs a Marshall type plan to bring about a socio-economic transformation in the country. Pakistan fully supports its efforts to improve its economic and human development. 
The Prime Minister said that the agreement to connect Chaman with Spin Boldak by rail will facilitate the transportation of goods to Afghanistan and help add to the economic activities in that country. 
Turning to developments in the country, the Prime Minister said that the PML and its coalition are resolved in promoting democratic values in the country and participate in next general election on the basis of unprecedented political and economic stability achieved by the government in the last seven years, especially the empowerment of women and minorities.
The Federal Ministers and MNA appreciated the unprecedented development programme undertaken by the PML government for provision of gas, roads, electricity, and clean drinking water in urban and rural areas. 
More on link

War to free Afghanistan will continue, says Mullah Omar  
Article Link 

NEW YORK: In possibly his first interview since his ouster in 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar told the US daily that he has not seen Osama bin Laden in five years, and vowed to continue fighting to free Afghanistan from foreign troops.

"I have neither seen him nor have made any effort to do so, but I pray for his health and safety," Omar said of the Al-Qaeda leader with whom he said he shares the "common goal" of driving US troops from Afghanistan.

In the interview published Friday, Omar said he had not seen or contacted bin Laden since he left Kandahar in December 2001 fleeing a US-led coalition that avenged Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

In answer to questions sent through a Taliban spokesman , Omar said he had no regrets in having harbored the terrorist mastermind in Afghanistan. 

"Our stand to grant refuge to Osama bin Laden was based on principles," he said.

"If there were people who were opposed to us giving refuge to him, they should have done so with logic and reason, and not using bullying or threats," Omar said referring to the US-led coalition that deposed the Taliban. 

He denied reports that his Taliban fighters were receiving assistance and safe haven from Pakistan.
More on link

South/Central Asia: Think Tank Says U.S. Aid Helped Afghanistan, Not Uzbekistan  
By Golnaz Esfandiari
Article Link

January 5, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The RAND Corp., a leading U.S. think tank, says in a report that Washington's security assistance to states that are transitioning from conflict to democratic systems -- like Afghanistan -- has been more effective than assistance to governments that remain repressive, such as Uzbekistan.

The RAND study evaluates U.S. assistance to security forces in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and El Salvador since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, examining if human rights and police performance improved. RFE/RL spoke to Olga Oliker, a senior international policy analyst at RAND and one of the authors of the report.

RFE/RL: In your report you evaluated U.S. security assistance to four countries, including Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Could you first briefly tell us about the main conclusions of the report?

Oliker: What we were trying to do with study is begin the process of evaluating the extent to which U.S. assistance -- specifically to internal security forces in countries that are undergoing transitions or that are repressive -- is effective in improving the capacity of these structures to respond to the security threats facing these countries, and also the capacity of these structures to become more accountable, to become more respectful of human rights. One of the things that we found is that these are interlinked; that improving accountability, transparency, respect [for] the people actually does make the security structure -- we feel -- more effective against a variety of security threats in the broad, long-term sense. What we found is that the current programs that are under way are not terribly effective, A, and B, what we found is that oversight of these programs may be insufficient, that we are not doing enough to measure and assess and determine what works and what doesn't work and, as a result, we are potentially not improving these programs or potentially not ending things that don't work, we are potentially overlooking possibilities to make this effort more effective because we're continuing a program that may not be working. 
More on link


Change needed to address Afghanistan corruption 
By Vern Faulkner Esquimalt News Jan 05 2007 
Article Link

Aid — both resources and money — is vital to effect change in Afghanistan, NDP MP Denise Savoie (Victoria) said. 

Yet what little money going to Afghanistan is largely pocketed by a corrupt regime and warlords, charged Zoya, a representative of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan [RAWA] — a group trying to secure peace and women’s rights in the war-torn country. 

In October, Zoya told a gathering in Los Angeles that “democracy cannot be practiced in a country infected by the germ of fundamentalist terrorists. 

“By compromising with infamous fundamentalist warlords, and appointing them to high governmental posts,” she said, the current regime has failed to bring about change. 

“Now we have a parliament full of warlords,” Zoya charged. 

Those warlords, she suggested, have their own agenda: and the promulgation of continued violence serves those private agendas very well. Therefore, NATO forces can expect little support from Afghanistan’s fractured and corrupt leadership, Zoya argued. 

Indeed, more than 30 seats in Afghanistan’s parliament are held by Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan (the Islamic Party of Afghanistan or HIA), a group directly linked to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar — a man ranking highly on the U.S. terrorist list. 

Savoie has no problem believing the charges of rampant corruption in Afghanistan, and said the corruption is a major obstacle to brokering change in the war-torn nation. 

“I think they’re more than allegations — there’s lots of indications that’s happening, the aid isn’t getting to the people it’s intended for.” 

Similar laments from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai support charges of internal corruption from those like RAWA, Savoie said. 
More on link


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## GAP (8 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 8 January, 2006*

*Awful, evil mix’ funding insurgency*
Canadian officer sees connection between Taliban and drug lords
By BILL GRAVELAND The Canadian Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — An "awful, evil mix" of Taliban hardliners, drug lords, black marketers and corrupt officials are funding the insurgency that Canadian troops are battling in the Panjwaii and Zhari districts of southern Afghanistan, a senior Canadian officer said Sunday.

"I call them the predators," Col. Fred Lewis, deputy commander of the task force in southern Afghanistan, told The Canadian Press in an interview in which he discussed efforts to uproot the insurgency in the Arghandab River Valley area.

Despite years of drought, the region remains one of the country’s bread baskets, with plentiful grape orchards — along with huge marijuana and poppy fields that have developed into a major cash crop for farmers.

As Canadian troops continue to push ahead with Operation Baaz Tsuka in this former Taliban heartland, there seems to be a never ending supply of money to fund the hiring of more rebel fighters or for training suicide bombers brought in from Pakistan.

"I think more people are more and more convinced there’s a pretty close connection (between the Taliban and the drug lords), which is pretty ironic because in 1996 when the Taliban took over the country one of their platforms was ‘we’re not doing drugs anymore,’ " Lewis said.

"Why would the Taliban fight so hard for this Arghandab Valley triangle area that we’re all so familiar with now? The fact is that valley has water and it’s green," he said.

Lewis said probably a third of the marijuana and opium crops under cultivation in the Arghandab Valley are Taliban-related.

"So why do you fight for that? Lewis said. "Well if you’re a drug lord who is making millions and millions and millions of dollars, is it worth paying guys $200 to fight so that the coalition doesn’t come into your valley?"

The Taliban pay their fighters about US$200 a month.

"Yeah, I think there’s a pretty close connection between the Taliban and drug lords. Is it about financing? Maybe. It’s just putting two and two together and it’s not based on any secret intelligence reports or anything." 

Lewis said using the term Taliban to describe all the forces fighting Canadians is likely inaccurate. A number of groups: religious, political and criminal have a stake in the ongoing instability
End

Soldier likely to make full recovery
Article Link

QUEBEC (CP) — The Canadian soldier seriously injured in a roadside bomb attack in Kandahar over the weekend is expected to make a complete recovery, a Canadian Forces spokesperson said Sunday.

Cpl. Francois Malboeuf — a member of Quebec’s Royal 22nd Regiment, the Valcartier-based Vandoos — suffered leg injuries Saturday when the Bison armoured vehicle he was riding in was rocked by an explosive device.
End

*Canada giving $10M to fund Afghan police: MacKay*
Updated Mon. Jan. 8 2007 7:59 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

On the final day of his visit to Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay announced $10 million in funding for Afghan police officers. 

"Canada's new government believes that providing a national civilian police force with an adequate and regular salary is critical to helping restore security and the rule of law in Afghanistan," MacKay said in a press release. "Our contribution will help further this objective, resulting in a more professional police force to better serve the people of Afghanistan." 


MacKay also presented the provincial chief of police with approximately 1,500 police jackets and 2,500 pairs of winter gloves. 


"The equipment that we are providing today will similarly enable the Afghan National Police to more effectively perform their duties." 


Canada will make its contribution through the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA). LOTFA has helped institute a payroll system that, for the first time, allows officers to regularly receive their salaries directly from banks instead of through unreliable and irregular payments. 

Later Monday, MacKay will fly to Pakistan for talks with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on border security and cracking down on Taliban living and training in the country. 

"The visit to Afghanistan is second in priority on this visit... it's the meeting with President Musharraf that's so bloody important because Pakistan holds the key to improving the situation in Afghanistan," Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Lewis MacKenzie told Canada AM on Monday. 

"You're fighting an enemy whose head is constantly being re-supplied by the tail parked across the border in the northwest frontier of Pakistan, that's the critical problem and the reason why there has to be an industrial-strength diplomacy (push) and a full court press by the international community, not just Canada." 

MacKenzie said it's too easy for Taliban fighters to get weapons from Pakistan. 

"When the Taliban needs to be re-supplied some of them are just driving across the border on the backs of trucks and they're not even stopping it." 

On Sunday, MacKay pushed the message that the Afghanistan mission is going well and Canada's support is firm. 
More on link

Taliban prepare offensive against US, NATO troops
By David Wood, Baltimore Sun  |  January 8, 2007
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taliban forces, shattered and ejected from Afghanistan by the US military five years ago, are poised for a major offensive against US troops and undermanned NATO forces. This has prompted US commanders here to issue an urgent appeal for a new US Marine Corps battalion to reinforce the American positions.

NATO's 30,000 troops in Afghanistan are supposed to have taken responsibility for security operations. But Taliban attacks have risen sharply, and senior US officers here describe the NATO operation as weak, hobbled by a shortage of manpower and equipment, and by restrictions put on the troops by their capitals.

The accelerating war here and the critical need for troops complicate the crumbling security picture across the region -- from Afghanistan, where the United States chose to strike back after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, to Iraq, where US troops, in almost four years of fighting, have been unable to establish basic security and quell a bloody sectarian war.

President Bush is expected to announce this week the dispatch of thousands of additional troops to Iraq as a stopgap measure. Such an order, Pentagon officials say, would strain the Army and Marine Corps as they man both wars.

A US Army battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks to deploy to Iraq.

Army Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata and other US commanders say that will happen as the Taliban is expected to unleash a campaign to cut the vital road between Kabul and Kandahar.

The official said the Taliban intend to seize Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city, where the group was organized in the 1990s.

"We anticipate significant events there next spring," Tata said.

At stake, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is the key US strategic imperative of preventing Al Qaeda and Taliban forces from establishing terrorist havens, as Afghanistan was in the late 1990s when Al Qaeda launched operations to bomb US embassies and warships, and eventually hatched the Sept. 11 plot.

"This could be a pivotal year" for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said General James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, after a series of recent briefings here. "I don't think they see that they are near defeat or anything. I just think they sense they are vulnerable to inroads being made" against what had been a relatively stable country.

Despite the presence of about 30,000 NATO troops -- roughly 10 percent short of what its member nations had pledged to provide -- Taliban attacks on US, allied, and Afghan forces more than tripled in the past year, from 1,632 in 2005 to 5,388 in 2006, US officials say.

Suicide bomb attacks increased from 18 in 2005 to 116 in 2006. Direct-fire attacks also more than tripled, from three per day in 2005 to more than 10 per day in 2006.

With NATO unable or unwilling to stem the rising violence, the Taliban are pressing their advantage.
More on link

*Afghanistan not in chaos: MacKay*
The Canadian Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Jan 8, 2007) 
Article Link

Afghanistan is not sliding back into chaos despite an ongoing insurgency and escalating drug trade, says Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

He made the comments yesterday at the start of a two-day visit to the war-torn country "to talk about a lot of the good work that's being done."

MacKay said that while he respected the opinion of critics, "I don't see a factual basis for a commentary suggesting that this country is sliding into chaos."

His comments came a day after another Canadian soldier was seriously wounded by a roadside bomb. The soldier, identified as Corporal Francois Malboueuf of the Valcartier-based Royal 22nd Regiment, was later flown to hospital in Germany.
End

The Waziristan Factor: A brief Critique of the so-called Taliban militancy in Tribal pockets of Pakistan
by Abid Ullah Jan (Monday January 08 2007)
Article Link

"It must be clearly understood that there can be no independent tribal region policy of Pakistan without having an independent and moral Afghan policy. Whatever is happening in tribal areas is only fallout of Pakistan’s twisted, weak and flawed Afghan engagement under U.S. duress. It is time that Pakistan stand on its own two feet, else forget about lasting peace in tribal regions."


Pakistan is in a mess along with its troubled spots, including Waziristan. Only Pakistan military can clean up the mess which has created it in the first place with the ability to put together the extraordinary combination of arrogant but scared leadership and total lack of judgment which went into its making.

Those who claim that there is a militant problem in Pakistan must look into the history of this region and Pakistan. Oppression never goes without an equal and opposite reaction. The sledgehammer hasn’t worked in Iraq. It isn’t working in Afghanistan. And it has suffered serious reverses in Pakistan with more than 3000 Pakistani soldiers killed in two years.

The Waziristani tribes have stood guard on the Frontier for over fifty years. They went to Kashmir in 1947 and what we have of Kashmir we owe largely to their enterprise and valour. Before jumping the bandwagon of justifying all crimes with the Taliban boggy, we need a period of reflection and understanding the root causes of the problem before making the culprits accountable.

From the following analysis we should learn to do our own thinking for brining Musharraf and his cronies to justice and be able to tell the Americans where to get off.

Background:  

Since 1947 to 1979, there was no problem of militancy and rebellion in the tribal areas despite their martial and semi-autonomous status. Despite presence of strong pockets of pro-Afghan communists like ANP who constantly demanded “Pashtunistan”, the tribals never saw any cause to rise in an uprising against any Pakistani government. Globally, the U.S. and its allies were engaged in undermining the former Soviet Union and had no time to exaggerate the threat of Muslim movements. There was an absence of mass media like VCR, audio tapes, multiple TV channels, Cable and internet were also not present.
Even during the Afghan war between 1979 to 1992, there was no rebellion against Islamabad in the tribal areas despite presence of millions of Afghans and thousands of armed Mujahideen using these regions as base area to fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. But globally, those were the times of awakening for the Muslim movements and thousands of volunteers from all over the world came to participate in Jihad against Soviets. This was the era of political awakening and the creation of new Islamist political leadership not just in Afghan Jihad but also within the Muslim world. During this era, the status quo of Maliks and Elders was broken in Afghanistan and all Mujahideen leaders challenged the traditional hold of tribal elders in their society. Media was used in massive way to propagate message of Jihad and effectively use Muslim sentiments against oppression and occupation to defeat the Soviet Union. All the energies of the Afghan and Arab militants were directed against the Soviets forces and later against the regime that it installed in Kabul. It is interesting to note that even during this era, there was no mass call of Jihad within Pakistani tribal areas and the war was basically fought by Afghans or Arabs who came from outside and backed by the United States and many Muslim states. Pakistani tribals were few in the war.
During civil war between Mujahideen in from 1992 to 1996, still there was no problem of armed uprising or rebellion against Pakistan in these regions. Pakistan and Islamic movements were appalled and disgusted at the infighting amongst Afghans and most of them either withdrew. Osama bin Laden went to Sudan and others went back to their countries. Very few were settled in tribal areas and married amongst local tribes. But a global Muslim political awakening against direct and indirect occupations of Muslim countries had taken place which now could not be stopped. Pakistani tribal areas remained totally indifferent towards developments in Afghanistan and there was absolutely no participation of Pakistani tribals during this era.
During Taliban era – 1996 to 2001, still there was no military uprising in any of the tribal pockets of Pakistan and the tribals were peaceful in all agencies. Local tribals never supported Taliban and no tribe or tribal elements ever went in to fight alongside Taliban against Masood or northern alliance. By 1999, the Northern Alliance was almost non-existent, except in the books of all anti-Taliban forces, which relentlessly sought those who would oppose the Taliban in Afghanistan. The so-called Northern Alliance was in control of just 5% of the total landmass in Afghanistan. The geographical location and mountain enclave had given them the much needed protection they needed to continue resistance to the Taliban government.
Osama had come back into Afghanistan by then and U.S. had started a campaign of propaganda and character assassination against Osama and former Arab Mujahideen, even attacking their base with Cruise missiles. A general anger against U.S. had begun to grip the Muslim world especially after the first Gulf war in 1991 and now Osama and associates were more vocal and open against U.S.
The Bosnian war (1992-95) had generated extreme anger amongst Muslims against the Western indifference in general and their involvement in occupations and genocide of Muslims in particular. The global environment was ripe for a confrontation between U.S./West and Muslims struggling against the U.S. and its allies-sponsored repressive regimes. Still, there was no uprising or insurgency or unrest within Pakistani tribal areas. Pakistan government had maintained the policy of engagement with Taliban and there was no hostility amongst Taliban, Islamic movements or local tribals against Islamabad.
Then, 9/11 happened….

The Problem:  

Since 1979 till today, no study had ever been carried out in Pakistan based on above factors and environments in tribal areas. Pakistan never had an independent Afghan policy and everything that was being done was either dictated by U.S. or done under the doctrine of necessarily as stop gap arrangement without any serious historical, military, social or religious understanding of the melting pot Afghanistan and its possible impact on Pakistan’s national security. Pakistan had lost all its assets in Afghanistan which it had cultivated after decades of investment when Taliban came into power. All former Mujahideen leaders like Hekmatyar, Sayyaf, Khalis, Haqqani, Masood etc were either angry with Pakistan or openly hostile as it was widely presumed that Pakistan had created and sponsored Taliban at the cost of former Mujahideen leaders. So, neither Taliban were under Pakistan control nor former Mujahideen leaders when 9/11 happened. It is naïve to assume that the Taliban were under Pakistan’s influence. They were prone to manipulation by the CIA agents within the circles of religious clerics. Other than that, the Taliban were not ready to go under anyone’s influence — not even the United States. That’s what dampened all hopes in Washington which had assumed that manipulating and using the Taliban, like the present day Shia’s in Iraq, would pave the way for having a strategic grip on Afghanistan for military and financial purposes.
More on link


PM announces for formation of ‘Jirga Commission’ with Afghanistan 
Article Link

KABUL: Pakistan and Afghanistan Thursday agreed to speed up the process of sending over three million Afghan refugees living in camps in Pakistan to their homes. 

It was decided during the meeting of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Afghan President Hamid Karzai held here at the Presidential Palace. 

At the joint press conference after the talks, Prime Minister Aziz said the repatriation of refugees will be through a phased process. He said modalities will be finalised soon to repatriate over three million Afghan refugees with the assistance and cooperation of world community and the United Nations.

The one on one meeting between President Karzai and Prime Minister Aziz, which lasted well over two and half hour -- longer than expected -- with a view to promote these relations. 

The meeting was followed by delegation level talks. 

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Hamid Karzai stressed the need to address all aspects of the problem to bring peace, security and stability to the region. 

Prime Minister Aziz said although Pakistan is not an aid giving country, but ready to help its brother Afghanistan in its reconstruction and announced increase in the assistance for rehabilitation from 250to 300 million dollars. 
More on link


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## The Bread Guy (9 Jan 2007)

*MacKay talks tough on Pakistan*
Safe haven for Taliban exposes 'weak underbelly' of security in Afghanistan
Oakland Ross, Toronto Star, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

After a two-day visit to this tortured land – a country beset by drugs, thugs, and war – Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay departed for the capital of neighbouring Pakistan last night with two words uppermost in his mind.  "Security first."  MacKay used the phrase himself at a media conference here, and the subject recurred again and again during meetings he conducted with Afghan and foreign officials over the past two days, both in Kabul, the capital, where he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and here in the troubled southern province of Kandahar ....


*Canadian foreign minister meets Kasuri*
The International News (PAK), 9 Jan 07
Article Link

Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri and Foreign Minister of Canada, Peter Gorden MacKay in a meeting here exchanged views on bilateral relations and discussed regional and international situation.  The formal meeting between the two foreign ministers was underway on Tuesday at foreign office in Islamabad.  The two sides are discussing to boost bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, energy, defence, education and health sector.  The foreign ministers also expected to discuss regional and international affairs including Afghanistan, proposed fencing and mining of the Pak-Afghan border, setting up Pak-Afghan Jirga and NATO military activities.  Mackay would also meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during his visit.  


*UN, Canada press Pakistan to drop border mines*
Daily Times (PAK), 9 Jan 07
Article Link

The United Nations and Canada added to the pressure on Pakistan Monday to shelve a plan to plant landmines on parts of its border with Afghanistan in a growing row about Taliban fighters crossing the frontier.  “This will not contribute to better security in either country,” UN deputy representative in Afghanistan Chris Alexander told reporters in Kabul, urging all nations to persuade Pakistan to abandon the use of landmines.  “We hope all the nations of the world can convince Pakistan and the other countries that haven’t signed the convention of the threat and dangers to ordinary human beings that landmines present,” Alexander said.  Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay, on a visit to the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, said he intended to tell Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad Tuesday that the mining of the border was unacceptable.  “I do not accept the use of landmines,” MacKay told reporters after he met some of the 2,500 Canadian soldiers facing some of the worst violence of the Taliban insurgency here ....



*A smart move for Afghanistan*
Robert Howard, Hamilton Spectator, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

....  As Hollywood westerns have been reminding us for most of a century, the fundamental difference between the Wild West and a safe and prosperous community is the presence of someone who will protect citizens and their property and make other people accountable to the law. In Tombstone or Dodge City, it was the sheriff. In Kabul or Kandahar -- or 1,000 tiny tribal villages -- it is police officers.  Ten million dollars provides a lot more policing in Afghanistan than it does in Canada. It will mean police -- and the rule of law -- are more visible to Afghan citizens.  A larger and functioning police force gives legitimacy and authority to the government. That's particularly important in remote rural regions and tribal villages where the strongest force and authority often emanates from the Taliban ....


*The way forward in Afghanistan*
While MacKay celebrates 'untold success,'the evidence points to a long, costly effort
Victoria Times Colonist, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

.... The West can help Afghanis to better lives and protect them from the excesses of a religious dictatorship, while reducing the global threat from terrorists based in the country.  But Canadians don't need cheerleading or sales efforts.  We need -- and our Forces deserve -- a real debate about the cost of the commitment required and the willingness of Canada and our allies to face that challenge.



*Six Afghan troops wounded in suicide blast*
Two suspected Taliban killed in the south
Noor Khan, Associated Press, 8 Jan 07
Article Link

A suicide car bomber wounded six Afghan soldiers Monday in the east, while NATO-led troops and Afghan police killed two suspected Taliban militants and detained four others in the south, officials said.  The bomber approached the Afghan soldiers patrolling in Paktika province's Bermel district before blowing himself up, said Gen. Murad Ali, the regional deputy commander.  The Bermel region borders Pakistan, hosts a U.S. base, and is the scene of frequent rocket attacks. Afghan and Western officials say militants cross the border to launch strikes.  In the south, the suspected Taliban militants were killed and captured after ambushing a joint NATO and Afghan patrol in Mizan district in Zabul province on Sunday, said Younis Akhunzada, the police district chief.  There were no casualties among NATO or Afghan troops, he said ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban prepare offensive against US, NATO troops: US commander*
Pak Tribune (PAK), 9 Jan 07
Article Link

Taliban forces, shattered and ejected from Afghanistan by the US military five years ago, are poised for a major offensive against US troops and undermanned NATO forces. This has prompted US commanders here to issue an urgent appeal for a new US Marine Corps battalion to reinforce the American positions.  NATO's 30,000 troops in Afghanistan are supposed to have taken responsibility for security operations. But Taliban attacks have risen sharply, and senior US officers here describe the NATO operation as weak, hobbled by a shortage of manpower and equipment, and by restrictions put on the troops by their capitals.... 



*Afghan war needs troops*
Taliban expected to push against thin U.S., NATO forces
David Wood, Baltimore Sun, 7 Jan 07
Article Link

Radical Islamist Taliban forces, shattered and ejected from Afghanistan by the U.S. military five years ago, are poised for a major offensive against U.S. troops and undermanned NATO forces, prompting American commanders here to issue an urgent appeal for a new Marine Corps battalion to reinforce the American positions.  NATO's 30,000 troops in Afghanistan are supposed to have taken responsibility for security operations across the country. But Taliban attacks have risen sharply, and senior U.S. officers here describe the NATO operation as weak, hobbled by a shortage of manpower and equipment and by restrictions put on the troops by their home capitals.  The accelerating war here and the critical need for troops vastly complicate the crumbling security picture across the region - from Afghanistan, where the United States chose to strike back after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, to Iraq, where American troops have been unable in almost four years of fighting to establish basic security and quell a bloody sectarian war ....




*How the Taliban keep their coffers full*
Syed Saleem Shahzad, Asia Times Online, 10 Jan 07
Article Link

Just as the Taliban move across the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan with impunity, so does the money needed to sustain the Taliban-led insurgency flow unrestricted between the countries.  In the wake of September 11, 2001, the financial squeeze instigated by the United States and its allies in the "war on terror" severely disrupted the flow of funds for al-Qaeda and the Taliban, mainly through closer international scrutiny of bank accounts.  However, as the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq testify, the money has certainly not been stopped. The major reason  for this is that Washington and its allies made the mistake of looking for and applying high-tech solutions.  Had the focus been more on the "unschooled wisdom" prevalent in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the deserts of Iraq, the US might not be in such a poor position as it is now ....


----------



## GAP (9 Jan 2007)

*Article found 9 January 2006*

*The Taliban's biggest fear... An educated populace:*
Article Link

Layeha (book of rules) for the Mujahideen

24) It is forbidden to work as a teacher under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels. True Muslims should apply to study with a religiously trained teacher and study in a Mosque or similar institution. Textbooks must come from the period of the Jihad or from the Taliban regime.

25) Anyone who works as a teacher for the current puppet regime must recieve a warning. If he nevertheless refuses to give up his job, he must be beaten. If the teacher still continues to instruct contrary to the principles of Islam, the district commander or a group leader must kill him.

Yet, in the face of open threats such as the ones above, brave Afghani teachers continue their work, and many pay the price.
More on link
Drug mafia, CIA blamed for sacking of Afghan governor
Article Link

KABUL: In a country flooded with narcotics traffickers and corrupt government officials, one of Afghanistan's few remaining 'clean' governors, Mohammed Daud, has been removed from his position, and many are blaming the drug mafia and the CIA for his abrupt dismissal. 

Daud was appointed at the request of the British government in order to oversee Helmand province, the country's largest opium producing region. 

The former governor of Helmand, Sher Muhammad Akhunzada, whom Daud replaced earlier this year, has been widely implicated in the drug trade. 

Contrary to Akhunzada, "British officials regarded Mr Daud as the cleanest governor in Afghanistan and hoped that his extensive experience in development would help to win over Helmand's population," The Times reported. 

Last month, however, the British government expressed frustration with the effort, pointing to the fact that Afghan President Hamid Karzai continued to meet with the former governor, Akhunzada. Adding further strain on the situation, Karzai appointed Akhunzada as a senator and made his brother, Amir Muhammad Akhundzada, Daud's deputy. 

"The president is undermining his own governor," one British official told The Times. "It doesn't help what we're trying to do." 

It would appear U.S. officials, particularly from the Central Intelligence Agency, were influencing Karzai's actions, undercutting the efforts of their British counterparts. Moreover, as The Independent reported, "British sources have blamed pressure from the CIA for President Hamid Karzai's decision to dismiss Mohammed Daud as governor". 

"The Americans knew Daud was a main British ally," one official explained to The Independent, "yet they deliberately undermined him and told Karzai to sack him." 

The U.S. apparently favors the brother of Daud's predecessor and purported drug lord, Akhunzada. 

As The Times reports, "British officials fear that Mr Daud will be replaced by his deputy, Amir Muhammad Akhunzada, the brother of Sher Muhammad Akhunzada. He is thought to have links to the drug trade and has been banned from running in elections because he refuses to disband his personal militia." 

"For the moment," as one official told The Times, "before a new governor is named, the governor of Helmand is a drug-dealing warlord who was banned from the elections by the UN for keeping a militia and his connection to narcotics, and with whom the British have said they cannot work. Nice." 
More on link


Poppy crop destroyed in Ghor, Nimroz
Article Link


HERAT CITY: Security forces the other day destroyed over 450-acre of poppy crop in two provinces of Ghor and Nimroz, officials said. 

Police chief of the western Ghor province Brig Gen Shah Jehan Noori told Pajhwok Afghan News that over 300-acre of poppy crop was destroyed in Tulak district of Ghor province during anti-poppy campaign in the last two weeks. 

He said the farmers showed no resistance to the law enforcers during the anti-poppy drive. Noori said due to heavy snowfall they had no access to the hard hitting areas to eliminate the poppy farms. 

Ikram-ud-din Raza Zada, secretary to the provincial governor, said the district officials would be terminated if they failed to eradicate poppy crop in their respective areas. 

Citing examples, he said police and district chiefs of Dolina, Pasaband and Charsada districts had already been sacked from their positions as they failed to clean their areas with the poisonous plant. Separately, over 150-acre of poppy crop were destroyed in Khashrod and Chakhansor districts of the Nimroz province. 

Mohammad Hashim Noorzai, district chief of Khashroad district, told this news agency that over 200 hundreds of poppy farms were uprooted in this district in the last two days. By the same token Ghulam Sarwar Nazari, district chief of Chakhansor, said over 50-acre of poppy crop were eliminated in this province the other day. 
End

British troops destroy Taliban camp
Article Link

LONDON: British troops have destroyed a Taliban training camp in Afghanistan, killing dozens of the enemy, in a victory the military said would help bring electricity to nearly two million people, Guardian reported on Monday. 

About 110 Royal Marines swept through northern Helmand targeting insurgent boltholes to pave the way for much-needed repairs on a hydroelectric dam in the north of the restless province. 

Launched on New Year's Day, Operation Clay saw troops from Plymouth-based 42 Commando engaged in four days of ferocious firefights. 

The raids resulted in the deaths of a senior Taliban commander and "tens" of his henchmen. Amazingly, only one marine was injured during the deadly battles. He was shot through the hand. 

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, who is championing the scheme to fix the Kajaki Dam, has sent a personal message of thanks to Operation Clay's commanders. 

Marauding Taliban fighters had been stalling repairs on faulty turbines at the dam, which is situated at the source of the Helmand River, but the work can now begin next month. 

Once it is fixed, the facility, which was built in 1953, will bring electricity to 1.8 million people and treble the area of irrigated farmland in the fertile province. 

Speaking from the British base at Lashkar Gah, military spokesman Major Oliver Lee said: "We needed to sort out the insurgency that there has been in the environs of Kajaki. And we very successfully did that over this past week or so with some very focused targeted military operations which included killing the key insurgency commander at that location. 

"It involved running firefights for three of four days up against fairly coherent sustained attacks of small arms, rockets and indirect fire. It was a very meaningful fight, rest assured." 
More on link


Displaced Afghans return to their hometowns in Kandahar  
Tuesday January 09, 2007 (0447 PST)
Article Link


KANDAHAR: Thousands of Afghans who left their hometown due to conflicts between militants and NATO forces in mid 2006 have began returning their homes in southern Kandahar province. 
These people had left their houses for safer places due to bloody conflicts between Taliban operatives and the alliance forces last year in the restive Panjwai and surrounding areas in Kandahar. 

According to a deal with local tribal leaders, the displaced people will be allowed to pass through a safe passage to the Panjwai and surrounding areas. Nearly 100 civilians including women and children had been killed in the fighting months ago in Panjwai district. 
More on link

Starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides  
Monday January 08, 2007 (0951 PST)
Article Link

LONDON: Azizgul is 10 years old, from the village of Houscha in western Afghanistan. This year the wheat crop failed again following a devastating drought. Her family was hungry. So, a little before Christmas, Azizgul's mother 'sold' her to be married to a 13-year-old boy. 
'I need to sell my daughters because of the drought,' said her mother Sahatgul, 30. 'We don't have enough food and the bride price will enable us to buy food. Three months ago my 15-year-old daughter married, Guardian limited reported. 

'We were not so desperate before. Now I have to marry them younger. And all five of them will have to get married if the drought becomes worse. The bride price is 200,000 afghanis [?2,000]. His father came to our house to arrange it. The boy pays in instalments. First he paid us 5,000 afghanis, which I used to buy food.' Azizgul is not unique. Hers is one of a number of interviews and case studies collected by the charity Christian Aid - all of them young girls sold by their families to cope with the second ruinous drought to hit Afghanistan within three years. 

While the world has focused on the war against the Taliban, the suffering of the drought-stricken villagers, almost 2.5 million of them, has largely gone unnoticed. And where once droughts would afflict Afganistan once every couple of decades, this drought has come hard on the heels of the last one, from which the villagers were barely able to recover. 

While prohibited by both Afghan civil and Islamic law, arranged marriages have long been a feature of Afghan life, particularly in rural areas. What is unusual is the age of some of the girls. And the reason: to buy food to survive. 
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Kabul Exp runs through Afghanistan   2007-01-09 
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New Delhi: In spite of an official ban on Kabul Express in Afghanistan, the video market of Hindi movies in Kabul is flooded with videos of the Bollywood film and it is witnessing huge demand among the Afghans.

Agency reports say rentals of Kabul Express videos have registered a sharp increase as compared to other Bollywood stuff thanks to high demand among the Afghans. The demand has shot up especially in the past few days in the wake of the government's decision to ban the movie in the country..

The Afghan Government has decided to ban the film as parts of it were "deemed offensive" to one of Afghanistan's ethnic minorities. Kabul Express is all about a journey by three journalists through the war-ravaged country. The government fears certain derogatory remarks in the Kabir Khan film about Shia Hazaras might offend the minority community. 

Four days after the Afghan government banned the film's screening in the country, the rental for the movie has shot up to 30 Afghanis as against 10 Aghanis for other films in the local market, the reports said. The price of a DVD of the film has jumped from 50 Afghanis () to 100 Afghanis, but people said getting hold of copies was no problem.

Afghan citizens say when it was easy to grow and buy opium in the country, it was 'ludicrous' to believe that the sale of a film can be stopped. Some also pointed out the official curb on public screenings is meaningless as Afghanistan does not have many cinemas and as the film is yet to be released in the country.
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Why Europeans Don't Kill in Afghanistan?  
Posted on : Tue, 09 Jan 2007 Author : Ehsan Azari
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There is a strategic difference between non-Anglo Europeans and the US over war in Afghanistan. The Europeans are wary about the aims of the US in the ongoing fight in this country between the Taliban and NATO, for the Bush administration has virtually failed to address the real cause of terrorism and violence in Afghanistan. Pursuit of military solution and indulgence in protracted guerrilla warfare in this central Asian country produced very dangerous conditions on the ground for both Afghan innocent civilians and Western forces.

Germany stationed its troops in the north of Afghanistan where about 35% of Afghans are living, and French troops play a peace-keeping role in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Italian, Spanish, and Danish troops are also deployed in the non-Pashtun areas. Despite pressures from the US and NATO, many European countries refrain from killing and bombing civilians. 

There can be seen wisdom and humanitarian concerns in European attitude. Firstly, there is a pathetic lack of transparency in US's relation with Pakistan, which is the major factor in the growing violence and bloodshed in Afghanistan. Pakistani northern-western province which is virtually run by religious extremist groups, sympathizers of Al-Qaida and Taliban, has provided a safe haven to the insurgence and Islamic terrorist groups. Insurgency and terrorist operation of the Taliban is directly being planned, supervised, and run by Pakistani infamous Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Pakistan's Waziristan is awashed with Taliban training camps and Al-Qaida centers. Still, the US and its allies see Pakistan as a valued ally and partner in war against terrorism. No one knows what is behind the US and Pakistan's love affairs. The Europeans knows this very well, if the last Taliban be killed in Afghanistan, the US cannot win this war, because the Taliban is only a production a perverted ideology that was spawned and nurtured by Pakistani generals and mullahs. All relevant political analysts, journalists, the Afghan government, NATO's officials, and Think-tank groups have been crying for years that Pakistan is the real source of both the ideology and physical infrastructure of terrorism and the Taliban, but the Bush administration turned blind eyes to this. The US must come clean with its policy. The US continues killing the Taliban and supporting its source, Pakistan, at the same time.

Secondly, foreign military presence with no end to it in sight brought about a condition most favorable for the insurgency, which manipulates Afghani proverbial xenophobia for escalating violence. The souring civilian casualties add to the dilemma. Thirdly, another dangerous trend is the rapid disintegration of political authority and legitimacy of Mr Karzai's government. The government in Kabul is hold hostage by former communist and Islamic warlords, drug-lords, and a corrupt administration. Mr Karzai is only a cloak to the notorious gangs of the Northern Alliance. Last and fourthly, the US and Mr Karzai failed to initiate division among the Taliban, and isolate the heart of darkness, Mullah Omar and his perverted Islamic values. To be honest and fair, Pakistani generals and mullahs with their luciferous duplicity block the slightest reform among the Taliban. They left no stone unturned to keep the Taliban explosively radicalized. For the retrograde and the darkest core of the Taliban has been seen by Pakistani ISI as a strategic national asset that can be used for their regional claims in future. 

In such conditions on the ground everyone see the futility of military solution and double-standard of the US. The Europeans are right to refrain from killing and bombing innocent civilians that will only give rise to the Taliban. The US's various policy circles need to listen to the Europeans and Afghans, to bring war against terror to its source. Afghan war can only be won in Pakistan. The US must deal with Pakistani generals and mullahs that have been fooling the West into believing that it is its loyal ally. Pakistan has the key to the problem, it hides Taliban leaders in Quetta, Karachi, and Peshawar, to use them once the West washes its hands from Afghanistan and leave this unfortunate country.
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Afghan Security Forces Becoming Competent, Capable, General Says
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA American Forces Press Service
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2007 – The continued support of the U.S. and international community to building a strong Afghan army and police force is essential as that country moves forward with social and economic progress, the U.S. general in charge of training Afghan forces said today. 
“Our ultimate goal here is to assist the nation by building Afghan capacity and capability to secure Afghanistan's territory and provide an Afghan shield for the nation's continued development,” said Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, commander of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan. Durban spoke in a news conference via satellite from Afghanistan. 

“This transition process will take time, but with steadfast U.S. and international support, it will happen,” he said. 

The Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police continue to make progress and demonstrate self-reliance in planning, preparing and executing security operations, Durbin said. The Afghan National Army is 36,000 strong and on its way to an end-strength of 70,000, he said. The police force is at 50,000 and will grow to 82,000. The country will reach those manpower goals by the end of 2008, he said. 

As the Afghan National Army conducts successful operations each day, its soldiers gain confidence and competence, Durbin said. Improved living conditions in the field and in garrison, combined with pay reform and leadership improvements, have resulted in more recruits entering the security forces and lower rates of unauthorized absences, he said. 

Under a reform program led by the U.S. and Germany, the Afghan National Police have made great progress, Abdul Hadir Khalid, first deputy minister for security, said at the news conference. The police have had a history of corruption, Khalid acknowledged, but the Interior Ministry has launched several initiatives to eradicate that corruption. 

Pay reform has made police salaries more appropriate to the dangerous work they do, and ensures the officers receive every dollar they earn, Khalid said. The newly established internal affairs department enables citizens to report wrongdoing and holds police accountable for their actions, he added. Also, the newly drafted code of conduct reinforces the professional, legal and moral requirements found in the Afghan national constitution, penal code and police regulations. 

To further prevent corruption, police recruits are thoroughly screened for past criminal activity and involvement with insurgent organizations, Khalid said. 
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*Afghanistan: monthly review, Dec 2006*
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- At least 120 civilians killed or injured in terrorist attacks. 

- Afghan Government takes steps to weaken power base of the Taliban. 

- Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalate. 

- Asian Development Bank funds electricity transmission line from Tajikistan to Kabul. 

- The Afghan public voices its anger over civilian casualties. 

Security 

After a relative lull during November, suicide attacks have again become significant. Many of these were targeted at international forces but, as in previous months, caused casualties among passing civilians as well as the soldiers targeted. The specific incidents include the following: 

- On 2nd December, two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers were killed in a suicide car bomb attack outside Kandahar. 

- On 3rd December, at least three civilians were killed, and many others were injured, in the city of Kandahar when a suicide bomber attempted to ram an ISAF convoy. Three ISAF soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously. Two civilians were reported to have been killed and up to 14 injured following the attack. Some of the casualties were said to have occurred when ISAF soldiers fired on two civilian cars and a motor cycle thought to contain other suicide bombers. Others may have been caused by warning shots fired by ISAF forces, aimed to keep other vehicles away. 

- On 5th December, two civilians were killed and at least three others were injured when a suicide bomber drove his car into another ISAF convoy in the city of Kandahar. 

- On 6th December, five Afghans and two US citizens employed by the US security company, US Protection and Investigation (USPI), were killed and many others were injured, including passers-by, when a suicide bomber on foot detonated explosives outside the USPI office in Kandahar. 

- On 7th December, two civilians were killed, and seven injured, in a further suicide car bomb attack on an ISAF convoy in the city of Kandahar. 

- On 12th December, six people were killed, and eight others were injured, when a suicide bomber managed to enter the office of the Governor of Helmand and detonated explosives strapped to his body. Most of the casualties were security personnel. The Governor was thought to be in the building but escaped injury. 

- On 14th December, four people were killed and over 25 were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police convoy outside Qalat, the administrative centre of the southern province of Zabul. The casualties were reported to include both police officers and civilians. President Karzai had visited the town two days earlier, travelling by air, and a convoy of his bodyguards had just passed through on its return to Kabul. 

- On 15th December, at least one person was killed and several were injured when a suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a convoy of Afghan National Army and ISAF forces in the south-eastern province of Paktia. 

- On 17th December, a civilian was killed and three others were injured when a suicide bomber drove his vehicle into a convoy of international troops in the south-eastern province of Khost. 

- On 22nd December, one civilian was killed, and eight others were injured, in a suicide attack in Kabul. The attack was apparently targeted at a member of the Afghan Parliament, Pacha Khan Zadran, who was thought to be in a vehicle leaving his home. Those injured included his son and grandson, together with a driver, bodyguard and four passers-by. Mr Zadran has played a prominent role in the power dynamics of Paktia in recent years. 

Civilian deaths and injuries have occurred as a result of other terrorist attacks on international forces. The specific incidents include the following: 

- On 8th December, two Afghan interpreters were killed when a roadside bomb hit a vehicle which was part of an ISAF convoy on patrol in the southern province of Uruzgan. 

- On 14th December, an Afghan civilian was wounded when a remote-controlled explosive device, targeted at an ISAF convoy, was detonated in the city of Kabul. 

There has been a further serious attack on education personnel. On 8th December, two female teachers were killed, along with their mother, grandmother and a male relative, when armed men broke into their home in Narang District, in the eastern province of Kunar. Another male relative was wounded. The Provincial Education Director stated, in response, that the two teachers had been warned, through a letter sent by the Taliban, to stop teaching. 

Government officials have been further targets. The specific incidents include the following: 
More on link
  
 Taliban walk right in, sit right down ...  
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Jan 5, 2007  
Article Link

KARACHI - Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was due in Afghanistan on Thursday to meet with President Hamid Karzai, primarily to discuss a Pakistani plan to seal the notoriously porous border between the two countries by planting mines and building fences. 

Karzai opposes the idea, saying that it would inconvenience civilians and would not prevent the cross-border flow of Taliban. 

Karzai is dead right. It will take more than barricades to prevent the Taliban from going about their business in either country. Moulvi (cleric) Abdul Jalil serves as a shining example of how the Taliban move around right under the eyes of officials. 

A life without borders 
With his light-brown skin, long black beard and a white cap, it took me some seconds to recognize Jalil standing in the bustling Lea Market of Karachi. He looked just like any other Pashtun selling goods, but he is a Taliban commander. 

I had met him recently in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and now, after a formal exchange of greetings, we sat in one of the hotels near the market to chat over a cup of green tea. 

Lea Market, not far from downtown Karachi, is severely congested, with flashy new Japanese cars jostling for space with pedestrians and camel-drawn carts. People of all backgrounds work here, from Gujaratis (originally from Indian Gujarat 200 years back) to Pashtuns, operating diverse businesses ranging from selling fruit on pushcarts to peddling the latest electronic gadgetry. 

It is common knowledge that the narrow streets around Lea Market provide a safe haven for people wanted by the government, from Baloch insurgents to members of outlawed sectarian organizations. Thus such outfits as the Intelligence Bureau and the Police Intelligence Department maintain a strong proxy network in the area. 

Nevertheless, Jalil seemed quite content to be seen in public, and to talk with me. The reason is simply that Jalil, a native of Kandahar, does not have a price on his head and he has no record to make the security agencies suspicious. In his appearance, language and mannerisms, he is much like the more than 1.5 million other Pashtuns living in Karachi. 

Yet appearances could not be more deceptive as Jalil is one of the main cogs in the Taliban-led insurgency in the Punjwai district of Kandahar. 

When I met him in November in the city of Kandahar, he came across as well balanced and completely at home in his environment. Then, he was roaming the markets, buying commodities as part of his responsibilities as a logistics official for the Taliban. In addition, Jalil coordinates with pro-Taliban elements in the Afghan establishment, and he happens to be an expert in making improvised weapons, especially by using unexploded US bombs. 

Jalil explained that he did not even have to cross the border illegally between Afghanistan and Pakistan to reach Karachi; he simply crossed at the regular Chaman border post, passing through all checkpoints like Pashtuns from both sides of the Durand Line that separates the countries. He can do this because he is not yet a marked man
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Pakistan police tactics spark ire
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A RAND report released last week accuses them of human rights abuses and suggests that the US suspend aid.
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor 

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Amina Masood Janjua recalls the date as if it were her own name: July 30, 2005 - the day intelligence agents took her husband from a Rawalpindi street. She hasn't heard from him since. 
Like hundreds of others, Ms. Janjua has taken to protesting on the streets, bringing international attention to what some say is the dark side of Pakistan's lauded counterterrorism efforts: the arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of hundreds, if not thousands, of suspects

There's no option for me but to protest on the roads. I think in terms of seconds - how long will I be kept from my husband," Janjua says. 

As these families wring their hands, developments in Pakistan's court system highlight a different but equally troubling trend. Alleged militants, many considered top Al Qaeda recruits, are being released from jail, their sentences having been overruled - a result, apparently, of Pakistani police resorting to methods of incrimination that don't stand in court.

The two trends show how, a world away from the restive tribal zones where the Taliban hold sway, the war against terrorism may be faltering on another key battleground: within the ranks of the Pakistani police.

"The United States should significantly restructure or even withdraw its assistance to repressive regimes if their internal security agencies fail to improve transparency, human rights practices, and overall effectiveness," reads a RAND Corp. assessment of Pakistani police published last week.

The report's authors, who also evaluated security forces in El Salvador, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, recommend that the US government should "rethink the type and amount of assistance it provides Pakistan's law enforcement agencies."
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## The Bread Guy (9 Jan 2007)

*Canada offers help to control Afghan border without mines*
* Canadian FM says Musharraf agreed to Canadian offer of assistance
* Kasuri says mining plan was made following Afghan accusations
* PM wants stable Afghanistan
Daily Times (PAK), 10 Jan 07
Article Link

Canada on Tuesday opposed Pakistan’s idea of mining its side of the Pak-Afghan border and offered technological assistance that could provide an alternative method to check unwanted cross-border movement.  Both counties agreed to discuss options to control cross-border movement without laying mines, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his Canadian counterpart Peter Gordon MacKay said at a joint press briefing at the Foreign Office.  “We are not in favour of mines. I have offered to President General Pervez Musharraf and Kasuri our share to man the border, using our vast experience of managing the long Canadian-American border. The president has agreed that he would be open to any such idea. Groups from both countries will sit together to discuss proposals like use of biometric technologies, unmanned drones and mutually acceptable documentation between Pakistan and Afghanistan at crossing options,” MacKay said. He termed the option of fencing the border a “part of the solution” ....


*Pakistan Will Reconsider Plan to Mine Areas of Afghan Border*
Paul Tighe, Bloomberg wire service (USA), 10 Jan 07
Article Link

Pakistan will reconsider a plan to mine areas of its border with Afghanistan to stop terrorists crossing the frontier, after Canada offered to help find alternative controls, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said.  Pakistan is ``happy to receive suggestions,'' Kasuri said after meeting Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay yesterday in Islamabad, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan. The government ``will give due consideration'' to proposals for an effective border control system without the use of mines.  Canada has long experience managing its border with the U.S., Mackay said, adding it is willing to provide technical support, including improving aerial surveillance, training for border guards and satellite telephones ....


*Musharraf tells MacKay: Pakistan for Peaceful, Stable Afghanistan*
Aziz Malik, Pakistan Times, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

President General Pervez MusharPrime Minister Shaukat Aziz listens to Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay during a meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007.raf on Tuesday said Pakistan was committed to work with international partners to promote shared objective of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.  Talking to Foreign Minister of Canada Peter Gordon MacKay the President outlined Pakistan's perspective on various aspects of the Afghanistan situation besides exchanging views on bilateral relations.  The President however underlined that securing the Afghanistan-Pakistan border was a joint responsibility of all sides.  Foreign Minister MacKay offered to share Canada's experience of managing the long Canada-U.S. border and indicated Canada's readiness to extend assistance to improve controls along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.  It was agreed that experts would further deliberate on this issue.  The President laid particular emphasis on deepening economic, trade and investment ties. The importance of expanding cooperation in the fields of education and science & technology was also affirmed.  The President noted that Pakistan and Canada enjoyed friendly and long-standing relations ....


*Joint press conference by foreign ministers of Canada, Pakistan *
Pakistanlink.com, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

Pakistan on Tuesday after assurances from Canada for technical assistance in monitoring and prevention of unwanted movement of people across the Pak-Afghan border said it might consider its proposal of mining of some sections.  Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri and his Canadian counterpart Peter Gordon Mackay addressing a joint press conference after "wide-ranging discussions" on a host of issues including the fencing of Pak-Afghan border said both sides expressed their point of view on the issue.  Foreign Minister Kasuri said "Pakistan was fed up with accusations" about illegal movement across the border and said Canada has assured to help it in border management by creating an effective system, without laying of the mines on certain sections of the 2500 kmlong border.  Canada showed its reservations over mining of the border, as it was a signatory to the Ottawa Convention, however it pointed that fencing was "part of the solution" in high traffic areas.  The Canadian Foreign Minister offered to bring in a group of experts to make concrete proposals to achieve the objective to "stem the flow of Taliban and combatants" across the Pak-Afghan border.  He mentioned his country's long experience of managing its border with the United States and said Canada will support Pakistan by providing technical support including aerial surveillance, biometrics at entry and exit points, training of border guards, satellite telephones and "mutually acceptable documentation" with Afghanistan ....



*Canada's New Government Invests in Afghanistan's Minefield Clearance and Community-led Development*
Canadian International Development Agency news release, 9 Jan 07
Release link

The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, today announced that Canada will provide $8.8 million dollars for demining activities in Kandahar Province and across Aghanistan as well as $1.9 million dollars to promote community-led development in Kandahar Province. The Minister made the announcement during a visit to CFB Valcartier.

"Today, Canada's New Government is investing in two important programs that strengthen reconstruction in Afghanistan and ensure the Afghan people can live safely and prosper in a democratic and free environment," said Minister Verner. "We are investing in clearing land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXOR) to open up more land for agriculture, pasture and housing. And our investment in the creation of 12 new democratically-elected Community Development Councils will lead communities to establish shelter, electricity, roads, drainage and sewers, and improve water and waste management services."

Canada's contribution will support activities undertaken by the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA) across the country, including minefield survey and clearance, stockpile destruction, mine risk education, victim assistance and capacity building and co-ordination. The objective of the UNMACA and the Government of Afghanistan is to reduce by 70 percent the land area contaminated by mines and UXOR - estimated at 720 million square metres - by the end of 2010. Over the past 17 years, more than one billion square metres of land has been cleared of mines and UXOR in Afghanistan.

A portion of Canada's funding, $3.8 million dollars, will support Operation Hamkari ("hamkari" being the Dari word for assistance and partnership) in the Kandahar districts of Panjwai and Zherai. Over a 12-month period, approximately 2.9 million square metres of contaminated land will be cleared, and 27,000 Afghans in the districts, including children and youth, will be educated about the dangers of mines and UXOR. Awareness and advocacy activities will also be undertaken to ensure social opportunities and equal rights for landmine survivors and people with disabilities.

In a separate initiative, Canada will contribute $1.9 million to UN-HABITAT's activities in Kandahar City. Working with the Afghanistan Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, UN-HABITAT will establish 12 new democratically-elected Community Development Councils (CDCs). It will work with these and existing CDCs within Kandahar city to empower communities to implement their own neighbourhood development projects. Some 6,000 households will benefit from this project which seeks to rebuild neighbourhoods destroyed by the conflict in Kandahar. The project will rehabilitate local infrastructure including shelter, electricity, roads, drainage and sewers, while also improving services such as water, health and sanitation, and waste management. In addition, infrastructure upgrades will create jobs.

Today's announcement is part of Canada's total contribution of nearly $1 billion over 10 years aimed at reconstruction, reducing poverty and strengthening Afghanistan's governance, all of which are key elements in stabilizing the country and the region. For more information on Canada's programming in Afghanistan, please refer to CIDA's website at www.cida.gc.ca/afghanistan-e 



*Military Ombudsman Visits Canadian Troops in Afghanistan*
Department of National Defence news release, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman Yves Côté arrived in Kandahar today to tour the Canadian military operation and to meet with a broad cross-section of Canadian Forces personnel, and support staff, serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to spend time with our military members in Afghanistan and to listen to any concerns that they may have,” said Mr. Côté. The Ombudsman added, “This is an extremely challenging operation for our men and women in uniform and I want to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to support them and their families back in Canada."

The Ombudsman will be pleased to address any questions related to his travel to Afghanistan upon his return to Canada during the week of January 15, 2007.

Additional information on the Office of the Ombudsman can be found online at the following address: www.ombudsman.forces.gc.ca.



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Conflicting claims about clashes in Zabul, Kunar*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 8 Jan 07
Article Link

Local officials and the anti-government Taliban have issued conflicting statements about clashes in southern and eastern parts of the country during the previous 24 hours.  Chief of the Mezan district of the southern Zabul province Mohammad Younus said two fighters were killed in a clash with government forces on Sunday.  Younus said Taliban ambushed an ANA convoy, which triggered the fighting. Later, the government forces besieged the attackers and killed two of them while the rest managed to escape.  But a Taliban commander, who did not disclose his identity, told this correspondent over the telephone that several soldiers had been killed in the ambush.  The unnamed caller said none of their men was killed or injured in the fighting. He added two tanks had also been destroyed by the fighters ....



*State-of-the-art water plant opens in Afghanistan*
ISAF news release # 2007-027, 8 Jan 07
Article Link

A state-of-the art, Afghan built, owned and operated, bottled water plant opened yesterday at Bagram Airfield.

The Aria Bottled Water Plant is a project that will provide long term benefits to both the Afghan people and Coalition forces.

“The plant demonstrates the will of the Afghan people to improve their country,” said Army Col. Larry D. Wyche, commander of the Joint Logistics Command here.

“The fact that this plant was started and completed in six months speaks volumes about the improved security situation in Afghanistan,” said Wyche. “You have an Afghan investor, investing several million dollars and creating hundreds of jobs. Every person that works in the plant now has a legitimate job, which ties directly into improving the stability and security of the country.”

When operating at full capacity, Aria’s four production lines will be able to produce nearly 400,000 bottles of water a day, said Army Maj. Tom Devine, the Joint Logistics Command civil affairs officer. The plant will also be able to produce much needed ice. The water and ice will be purified to meet or exceed the most stringent bottling standards in the world set by the International Bottled Water Association.

The equipment in the plant is like few others in this part of the world. The technology being used is currently used in only a handful of plants around the world and is the first in Asia to be IBWA certified, said Devine.

Construction of the 4,700-square-meter facility took just over five months. The total investment spent on the construction and equipment in the plant is over $10 million (USD).

When operational, Aria will employ hundreds of Afghans, pumping much needed job revenue into the economy, said Devine. This doesn’t include the secondary jobs created from the distribution, marketing and sale of the product.

Aria will also bring a certified training team to Bagram to train their employees in water bottling operations.

The plant is the brainchild of the Ramin brothers. These three Afghan brothers were living in the U.S. before the terrorist attacks of 9-11. After the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, they returned to their homeland with a little bit of money and a big dream of helping to rebuild their homeland. They chose the name Aria from the ancient name of the area that is now Afghanistan. 



*Governors oppose border fencing*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

Governors of the nine provinces, sharing border with Pakistan, have rejected the fencing and mining proposal and said the step would divide the people and tribes straddling the border instead of proving helpful in discouraging cross-border infiltration of terrorists.  They believed any unilateral effort on part of the Pakistani government might jeopardise relations between the two countries as well as sabotage the efforts to convene the Peace Jirga agreed upon between President Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf in Washington in September last.  Instead of erecting the fence and dividing the people living alongside the Durand Line, Pakistan should destroy sanctuaries and training camps of terrorists on the other side of the divide, suggested the governors.  Shalizai Didar, Governor of the eastern Kunar province, believed to be the hideout of fugitive Taliban and al-Qaeda elements, said people on both sides of the border were against the fencing and mining ....



*De-mining agency sweeps out 17 percent of mine-fisted lands in Afghanistan*
Xinhua News Agency (CHN), via Reliefweb.int, 9 Jan 07
Article Link

A leading de-mining agency, the Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA), had cleared 17 percent of contaminated lands throughout the war-ravaged Afghanistan last year, a report released by the agency said Tuesday.  "The current data shows that the MAPA cleared more than 126 million square meters of contaminated land from January through November 2006. This represents more than 17 percent of all the contaminated land thought to exist in Afghanistan," the report added.  The aim of the project, the report said, is to see an Afghanistan free from the threat of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).  With having 8,000 employees across the post-Taliban nation, the MAPA had destroyed 12,877 anti-personnel mines, 476 anti-tank mines and more than 700,000 pieces of UXO in 2006 ....



*Dostum accused for insecurity in Jawzjan, Faryab*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 8 Jan 07
Article Link

 Rivals have accused General Abdul Rashid Dostum for causing insecurity and distributing weapons amongst his followers in Jawzjan and Faryab provinces.  However, officials of the Junbish-i-Mili have denied the accusations by saying this was a hatched conspiracy of the neighbouring country particularly Pakistan against Abdul Rashid Dostum.  Mohammad Akbar Bai, head of the Turkmen Tribal Council of Afghanistan, in an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News said Gen Dostum had recently distributed 2,000 guns in the northern provinces to his supporters in Jozjan and Faryab provinces to prepare them for another clash.  He claimed Dostum had deployed 500 soldiers in front of his guest house which was illegal. Bai said: "Gen Dostum misused his power in northern provinces and destroyed Uzbek and ethnic Turkmen."  He accused Junbish former leader for killing Uzbek and Turkmen leaders. Bai demanded Dostum should be brought to justice. A day later hundreds of Junbish supporters demonstrated in Sheberghan against the council and destroyed its office and some of its vehicles.  The marchers were chanting slogans in support of Dostum and demanded Akbar Bai should apologize for his allegations. According to sources, Bai was a staunch supporter of Gen Dostum and even favoured him in election campaign.  Gen Malik, the president of Liberty party and a rival of Gen Dostum, said people always opposed Dostum but he used various means such as democracy and constitution to seek his fortune ....


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## GAP (10 Jan 2007)

*Article found 10 January, 2007*

*Canadian medic brings compassionate approach during patrols in Afghanistan*
Bill Graveland Canadian Press Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Article Link

A physicians assistant gives an examination to an Afghan soldier at Camp Shirzai, Afghanistan. (CP PHOTO/Bill Graveland) 

LACOOKHAL, Afghanistan (CP) - A little kindness can go a long way. 

Sgt. Kevin Dickson of Edmonton was on foot patrol in this tiny village as members of the Afghan National Army and Quebec's Vandoos searched for signs of the Taliban. The medic had his heart set on saying hello to two tiny Afghan girls, who were visible on the other side of the mud wall where a group of women and children, wearing brightly coloured burkas, were huddled in a circle away from the prying eyes of the soldiers. 

But as with most children the lure of the unusual was too much. They peeked shyly through the hole in the mud wall. 

He called out a greeting in Pashto, prompting squeals of delight and caused them to run back to their mothers. The game lasted about five minutes until finally the children came out and watched the tall medic as he stood patiently waiting, leaning against the mud wall. 

"I just said 'Salam o lakum' which is 'God be with you' and 'sing ayes' which is 'how are you?' I know about seven words and it usually gets a laugh everywhere I go," chuckled Dickson, the only anglophone serving with the Vandoos here. 

"They're kids. It's fun," he added. 

Life in the mud compounds is a struggle. Various livestock often live amongst the residents. In this case there were goats, chickens and even rabbits. An adjacent compound was home to a cow and according to the soldiers "a very large and very vicious dog." 

Having men come to your home carrying guns, wearing helmets and body armour on a regular basis is something most people, especially children, could do without. 

"Mostly I think every day we go out is a little bit of hearts and minds-I know it sounds like a real party line," Dickson said, rolling his eyes. "But it's true. We're walking around with guns, all geared up and we look like we're ready to destroy their village but nothing could be further from the truth." 

"We're here to fight the Taliban and part of that is smiling at them and making them glad to see us a little bit because they don't have a clue what we're doing here," he said. 

In a world where the Taliban rule with terror, the reassurance of a smile and kindness from strangers can go along way. It's something Dickson does when he's not taking care of soldiers in his company. The Afghan people are "unique" he noted and "incredibly tough." 

"They've survived incredible things. Even this where we're sitting in now took them a long time to make," he said pointing to the mud structures. "They're admirable and I like them." 

But he is also realistic. Trust of strangers is not something that comes easily in this country, torn by war for the past 30 years. And the presence of armed men in an area where Canadian troops are still hunting for the Taliban is not a ringing endorsement. 

"They know that even though we mean well, by us being here, the fight is now on their doorstep and that can't be a good feeling for them." 

Dickson has earned the respect of his fellow soldiers who aren't surprised he has a soft spot. 

"He is one of the best medics I've ever seen," said Master Cpl. Luigi Ouellet of Quebec City. "He's a great guy." 
More on link

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPEAFGHANISTANAFGHANISTANAFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan: Day in the life of an addict
10 Jan 2007 12:24:54 GMT Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
Article Link

NAIROBI, 10 January (IRIN) - Kabul has an estimated 30,000 opium addicts Credit: IRIN/Chris Horwood It's dawn in Chendawul's twisting tiny streets, southeast of the capital Kabul. In the isolated ruins of an old building, Suhail, a 28-year-old drug addict, sits on piles of rubbish surrounded by hundreds of flies. 

He is preparing to smoke his first 10-gram heroin dose of the day. "This is my palace. No disturbance from the police or passers by," says Suhail. He heats the heroin powder on the foil of a cigarette pack and sucks its smoke through a plastic pen tube. "There are many ways of smoking it," says Suhail with closed eyes and shivering smiling lips. 

Suhail recalls his former days when he was a high school student and poppy grower in the eastern city of Jalalabad, one of the leading poppy growing provinces of conflict-ravaged Afghanistan. "I used to harvest poppy fields. I started to eat opium just for fun which later turned to disaster," says the homeless Suhail, who fled home when his family discovered his addiction three years ago. 

Suhail gets out of his "palace" after an hour of being "high", and looks for menial jobs to fund his next supply. "I have to work for two days to support my daily habit," he says. It costs Suhail 250 afghanis (US $5) to buy his daily supply of heroin powder. "I often steal or beg for money if there is no work," he says. 

For drugs addicts like Suhail, who live in the world's leading opium producer country, finding the drug is not a problem. "It's abundant, you can get it as easy as buying Coca-Cola," he claims. "The drug dealers are known to addicts and to the police as well. We are however treated as criminals while they are regarded as respected members of this community." 

Drug addiction in conservative Afghan society is more than just an illegal act. Suhail says he is judged guilty of offending against law and order, culture and religion. "There's nowhere to take refuge. The people hate us, the police hate us and hospitals hate us," says the young peasant. 

"Just recently, the police caught me red-handed while buying heroin from a local drug dealer. The drug dealer was released on the spot and I was detained for several days," he maintained. "I had to do hard manual work and clean all the toilets of the police station for three days before I was released." 

But still Suhail prefers detention in a police station to spending nights on the streets of Kabul. "At least there is a bed to sleep on," he says. "I often sleep in mosques or cafés but sometimes they kick me out when they realise that I am an addict." 
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TERRORISM: U.S. MOVES TO CALM PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN
Article Link

Washington, 10 Jan. (AKI/DAWN) - The United States has sent its pointman for South Asia to Kabul amid growing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan that threaten to undo the US-led alliance against terrorism. Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, last met Afghan President Hamid Karzai at Ashkabad on 28 December during the funeral of Turkmen President Sapramurat Niyazov.

According to Afghan officials, Boucher extended his support to the Afghan proposal for holding peace jirgas (meetings of tribal leaders) along the Pakistan-Afghan border and urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to launch a joint campaign to eliminate terrorism.

But since that meeting, the already tense relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated. The latest dispute revolves around Islamabad’s decision to fence and mine parts of the border with Afghanistan.

Last week, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz visited Kabul and defended the decision to fence the border during a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He also told the Afghan leader that Islamabad wanted the three million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan to go home.
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Pakistan installs first biometrics system at border crossing with Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Wednesday, January 10, 2007 CHAMAN, Pakistan 
Article Link

Pakistan on Wednesday opened its first biometrics system to screen travelers at a land border point with Afghanistan as a measure to curtail cross-border movement of militants, an official said.

The sophisticated identification system was inaugurated at the main border crossing between southern Afghanistan and Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, near the Pakistani town of Chaman, said Brig. Akhtar Hussain Shah, an official with the government National Data and Registration Authority that issues identity cards to Pakistani nationals.

After it was inaugurated, some 40 people were screened through the system that records a person's fingerprints, retinas or facial patterns, for identification, Shah said.

Pakistani authorities will issue biometrics compatible "border passes" to residents of Chaman and the surrounding Qila Abdullah district, to help them travel to Afghanistan after being identified through the system, he said.

Shah said the new measure at the border crossing near Chaman was an effort in the fight against terrorism. "This is a step that we have taken to stop terrorism and to stop any illegal movement," he said.

Ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in Pakistan and Afghanistan, living close to the Pakistan-Afghan border, are allowed to travel across the frontier without passports but with special identity permits under an arrangement between the two countries to help members of the divided tribes visit each other.

The Afghan-Pakistan border runs through rugged mountains, deserts and is not clearly demarcated at places where it splits tribespeople.

In recent months, Pakistan has faced repeated accusations by Afghan officials that leaders of the Taliban militia are present in or near Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, and orchestrate attacks inside Afghanistan.
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Pakistan to complete border fencing with Afghanistan by July   
Article Link

Islamabad, Jan 10: After introducing sophisticated biometric system to regulate the movement of people at Chaman Border Point with Afghanistan, Pakistan said it will complete fencing in parts of its border with Afghanistan by July 2007 to prevent cross border infiltration of Taliban militants. 

The biometric system that regulate the entry and exit points was inaugurated at Chaman border yesterday by Pakistan Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. 

Without commenting on objections from Afghanistan and the United Nations, Sherpao said that the fencing of the Pak-Afghan border would be completed by July this year, TV networks reported here today. 

Talking to newsmen at a ceremony, he said the fencing of the border and the installation of a biometric system on the entry and exit points in the Chaman area had been completed, while the same would be done in the remaining three areas of Balochistan. 

To a question, he said it was true that Afghanistan and the UN have raised objections to the fencing of the border, but it was vital to stop incidents of terrorism. 

Bureau Report 
End 


Weapons Expert is On The Move in Afghanistan (VIDEO)
DISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN
Tim King, in Afghanistan, for Salem-News.com 
Article Link
When it comes time to provide security in a hot area, Shaunesie is on the move and ready to protect his men, sometimes in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan.

(KABUL, Afghanistan) - Weapons of war only work with proper maintenance. A veteran of many wars, Kevin Shaunesie knows them all like the back of his hand, including former Soviet weapons which the U.S. and coalition forces now share the use of. As Tim King reports, these skills are coming in handy in Afghanistan.

It isn't every day that a reporter gets a chance to know men like Army Sergeant First Class Kevin Shaunesie. He has survived four wars and his life has been dedicated to the study of military weapons.

This veteran has been traveling through Afghanistan to lend advice and drop rifle cleaning kits off with soldiers at remote combat outposts.

To say that Shaunesie “knows his stuff” is an understatement. 

And his knowledge of soviet type weapons is a real benefit right now, because unlike the Vietnam War, Americans and coalition forces are working side by side with soldiers who carry the Russian AK-47 assault rifle. 
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Afghanistan a journey of spirit for chaplain from Norwalk
By CAROL HARPER Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:58 AM EST
Article Link


The Rev. Kevin Winemiller leads morning prayer on the flight deck somewhere in Afghanistan. "I am thankful that many of our soldiers are making good choices and getting right with God," he said. (Provided photos)
NORWALK

Bags of rice stacked on the ground in August 2005 in a refugee camp in Polecharki, Afghanistan were stamped, "USA, McAllen, TX."

Army National Guard Capt. Kevin Winemiller, 46, a rural Norwalk native, had arrived two days earlier in the barren, mountainous country. Though converting to Christianity is illegal in Afghanistan, a cross insignia on Winemiller's uniform designated his role as a Christian chaplain. He played soccer with children, then stood unarmed beside the bags of rice and talked with some men, who were refugees returning from Pakistan to Afghanistan after the United States overthrew the Taliban, Winemiller said.

One refugee focused on the cross, and seemed offended by it. He approached Winemiller and said, "Zinzabad (long live) Islam. Zinzabad Islam. Zinzabad Afghanistan." About a dozen Muslim men surrounded Winemiller and also chanted the phrases.

"Instead of moving back, I advanced toward them and repeated the phrase, 'Long live Afghanistan,'" Winemiller said. "This seemed to ease the tension a bit. As I looked into their eyes, I wanted them to see that 'perfect love casts out fear.' I was not afraid, but only wanted to befriend these men and let them see that a Christian man was standing before them and that I had come to help."

In civilian life, the Rev. Kevin Winemiller has been a youth pastor since 1981, when he began at Norwalk Baptist Church, and a missionary evangelist since 1991. He has traveled to 40 countries, including short trips in 2006 to Romania, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Cuba and Peru, where he distributed Bibles to a Quecha tribe living 15,000 feet above sea level. Normally he spends about three months -- spread out over a year -- away from home on mission trips, he said.
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Canada's new government invests in Afghanistan's minefield clearance and community-led development
Press Release - CIDA Jan 9 2007
Article Link

The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, today announced that Canada will provide $8.8 million dollars for demining activities in Kandahar Province and across Aghanistan as well as $1.9 million dollars to promote community-led development in Kandahar Province. The Minister made the announcement during a visit to CFB Valcartier. 
"Today, Canada's New Government is investing in two important programs that strengthen reconstruction in Afghanistan and ensure the Afghan people can live safely and prosper in a democratic and free environment," said Minister Verner. "We are investing in clearing land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXOR) to open up more land for agriculture, pasture and housing. And our investment in the creation of 12 new democratically-elected Community Development Councils will lead communities to establish shelter, electricity, roads, drainage and sewers, and improve water and waste management services."

Canada's contribution will support activities undertaken by the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA) across the country, including minefield survey and clearance, stockpile destruction, mine risk education, victim assistance and capacity building and co-ordination. The objective of the UNMACA and the Government of Afghanistan is to reduce by 70 percent the land area contaminated by mines and UXOR - estimated at 720 million square metres - by the end of 2010. Over the past 17 years, more than one billion square metres of land has been cleared of mines and UXOR in Afghanistan.

A portion of Canada's funding, $3.8 million dollars, will support Operation Hamkari ("hamkari" being the Dari word for assistance and partnership) in the Kandahar districts of Panjwai and Zherai. Over a 12-month period, approximately 2.9 million square metres of contaminated land will be cleared, and 27,000 Afghans in the districts, including children and youth, will be educated about the dangers of mines and UXOR. Awareness and advocacy activities will also be undertaken to ensure social opportunities and equal rights for landmine survivors and people with disabilities.

In a separate initiative, Canada will contribute $1.9 million to UN-HABITAT's activities in Kandahar City. Working with the Afghanistan Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, UN-HABITAT will establish 12 new democratically-elected Community Development Councils (CDCs). It will work with these and existing CDCs within Kandahar city to empower communities to implement their own neighbourhood development projects. Some 6,000 households will benefit from this project which seeks to rebuild neighbourhoods destroyed by the conflict in Kandahar. The project will rehabilitate local infrastructure including shelter, electricity, roads, drainage and sewers, while also improving services such as water, health and sanitation, and waste management. In addition, infrastructure upgrades will create jobs.
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Afghanistan going to plan - Hoon  
Article Link

Foreign office minister Geoff Hoon has responded to claims British forces in Afghanistan are "overstretched" and said the mission is going as planned. 
Mr Hoon, defence secretary in the 2001 invasion, said the resistance curently being faced in the south had been anticipated and "always...planned for". 

Tory MP Sir John Stanley had told MPs in a Westminster debate that UK troops were "more than pulling their weight". 

But, he said, they were undermanned and lacked vital equipment. 

Sir John, who visited Afghanistan six weeks ago with two other members of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told MPs during the Westminster Hall debate that Britain was "right" to be in the country. 

"We are right to have removed the Taleban, we are right to be there, but we have got to do more in terms of deploying resources there to make certain we win on security grounds and we have got to be prepared to be there for the long haul." 
More on link

Military Ombudsman Visits Canadian Troops in Afghanistan  
Article Link
  
News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ottawa, January 9, 2007

Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman Yves Côté arrived in Kandahar today to tour the Canadian military operation and to meet with a broad cross-section of Canadian Forces personnel, and support staff, serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.


"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to spend time with our military members in Afghanistan and to listen to any concerns that they may have,” said Mr. Côté. The Ombudsman added, “This is an extremely challenging operation for our men and women in uniform and I want to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to support them and their families back in Canada."

The Ombudsman will be pleased to address any questions related to his travel to Afghanistan upon his return to Canada during the week of January 15, 2007.

Additional information on the Office of the Ombudsman can be found online at the following address: www.ombudsman.forces.gc.ca.

For additional information, please contact:

Darren Gibb
Director of Communications
Office of the Ombudsman
Tel.: 613-992-6962

Michelle Laliberté
Communications Advisor
Office of the Ombudsman
Tel.: 613-995-8643

End

AFGHANISTAN: UN rejects landmines along border
KABUL, 9 Jan 2007 (IRIN) 
Article Link

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

 The United Nations has rejected Pakistan’s decision to fence and mine the border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border militancy. 

The UN’s call follows a similar rejection by the Afghan government of the Pakistani plan to plant landmines and build a fence in ‘selected places’ along its 2,400 km border with Afghanistan.

“We regret the decision of the government of Pakistan to proceed with the laying of landmines and we call upon both governments to strengthen their commitment to cooperative solutions to the security problems that this region faces,” Chris Alexander, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, said on Monday in the capital, Kabul. 

Alexander said fencing would not help security in Afghanistan. 

“In fact, the UN and most countries of the world are convinced that laying landmines is a very serous threat to the security of the population that live near the places where the mines are laid,” he maintained.

There has been mounting pressure from the international community on the Pakistani government to do more to prevent the infiltration of Taliban militants, who are believed to be hiding along the porous border. 

The Taliban, ousted by the US-led coalition in late 2001, are waging a deadly insurgency against the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, analysts say.
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An abrupt Iraq pullout would add risk to our soldiers in Afghanistan
Alan Ferguson, Special to The Province Published: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 
Article Link

Soon, perhaps as early as tomorrow, U.S. President George W. Bush will trigger "the surge" -- a massive infusion of men and money into a last-ditch attempt to win the war in Iraq.

In what many will regard as the ultimate triumph of hope over experience, Bush will attempt one final push to quell Iraq's mounting sectarian violence, and in so doing rescue his battered reputation as commander-in-chief.

Against a background of growing domestic discontent with the war, Bush will try to convince Americans that all will be well if he deploys another 20,000 combat troops.

As it dawns on the world that Bush is serious about this plan -- that it is not some satirical skit from

Saturday Night Live -- it is also apparent that no one seems likely to prevent it.

Canadians might think that, after the mid-term elections in which the Republican Party took a bashing, Bush is a lame duck doomed to go down in history as a failed president.

In the Canadian parliamentary system, such a result would have meant the fall of his government and his own resignation.

But that's not the American way. As Joseph Biden, Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put it on Sunday: "(Bush) will be able to keep the troops (in Iraq) forever, if he wants to. As a practical matter, there is no way to say, 'Mr. President, stop'."

Not that the Democrats themselves have had much of substance to contribute to the debate over Iraq in the four years since the invasion -- four years in which 3,000 Americans troops have been killed and $450 billion US poured down the drain.

The best they can come up with since being restored to power in Congress and the Senate is some vague form of "phased withdrawal," which would amount to little more than ignominious retreat.

Many in Canada will argue that an ignominious retreat might be the best America can hope for to escape the quagmire of Iraq.
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Channel 4 viewers get a taste of British experience in Afghanistan  
Posted on : Tue, 09 Jan 2007 08:16:00 GMT | Author : Peter Goodyear
Article Link


LONDON: Britain's Channel 4 has broadcast a first hand account by a journalist of the hazards of being a British soldier in Afghanistan, fighting the wily Taliban and encountering the protagonists of the jihad.

In a two-part dispatch, titled Dispatches: Fighting the Taliban, the journalist, Sean Langan, captures the involvement of the British soldiers as part of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, in keeping the country together and fighting the insurgents to bring in a semblance of stability. 

The footage in the first part aired by the channel Monday shows the British army had only little control of mainly isolated pockets in Helmand, the southern province in Afghanistan, where the troops were deployed to defeat the insurgents. 

Langan ignored the U.K. ministry of defense orders and moved with the Afghan army, along with the British soldiers, to be a witness a mission to regain control of a strategic town, Garmser, in Helmand province. He spent a week with the soldiers and sent the dispatches to the channel. What he has captured on his camera, from the real battlefield, shows the extent of hardships faced by the troops, especially shortage of food. The British soldiers are seen eating corn cobs from the nearby fields as there was no food transported to them for want of any transportation facilities.
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The Human Failure of the Afghanistan Mission
Article Link

A recurring theme in the situation in Afghanistan is the desperate manpower situation: there are so few troops to do the job that European countries like Germany had been criticized (by me, but also policy makers) for not allowing their troops enough leeway in joining combat operations. Indeed, NATO commanders have practically begged member countries to contribute more troops, especially the hard-fighting Canadians.
Now comes the kicker: in the face of a well-documented surge by the Taliban from their Pakistani sanctuaries, our own troop ’surge’ in Iraq is poised to siphon off critical U.S. military units from the critical battlegrounds in the east for ’strategic redeployment’ to Iraq. What’s worse, many member countries, who once saw the mission in Afghanistan as a critical and necessary response to the 9/11 attacks, have lost faith: Canada, for example, which has lost almost 45 soldiers to combat (a high percentage, given the size of their deployment), overwhelmingly wants its boys to return home. Many European countries, in various opinion polls, feel the same.
The security situation is simply unacceptable.
A recent study by the RAND Corporation delves into the (dare I say) quagmire in Afghanistan, and though there has been improvement, it’s not terribly hopeful—basically, anything was better than the Taliban, though right now the seeds are being sown for their triumphant return. The whole thing is worth reading.
Of particular interest is the talk of how warlords and the drug trade have seriously, possibly fatally, undermined the central government. (Not to toot my own horn, but this was the subject of a paper I wrote last year.) In a similar vein is how the U.S. is shouldering far more than its share:
More on link

Japan's Abe To Focus On Afghanistan In "historic" NATO Visit
January 10th 2007 by News Staff
Article Link

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's discussions with senior NATO officials in Brussels this week will focus on Afghanistan as well as Alliance plans for stronger partnerships with Japan and other Asia-Pacific nations, NATO officials said Wednesday. 

Talks on January 12 between NATO chief Jaap de Hoof Scheffer and Abe - who will be the first-ever Japanese premier to visit NATO - could involve military and non-military support for NATO troops in Afghanistan, said Alliance spokesman James Appathurai. 

Describing Abe's visit to NATO as "historic," Appathurai said non-military Japanese personnel engaged in demobilization and demining operations in Afghanistan were already working side by side with Alliance troops in the country. 

As such Abe's talks with Scheffer would be a "conversation of equals" focusing on how Japan could contribute more to NATO operations in Afghanistan, he said. 

No new cooperation structures with Japan were planned but the Alliance was seeking a further deepening of contacts with Tokyo, Appathurai added. 

NATO leaders in the Latvian capital Riga agreed last November to expand relations with non-Alliance members including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. 

Abe's visit to NATO headquarters comes at a time when Japan is increasing its global security role. 
More on link


----------



## GAP (11 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 11 January, 2007*

Canadian soldier injured in Afghan land mine blast
MURRAY BREWSTER Canadian Press
Article Link

Kandahar — A Canadian soldier suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries Thursday after stepping on a land mine in southern Afghanistan.

The unidentified soldier, part of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment battle group, was evacuated to hospital at Kandahar airfield, the main coalition base in southern Afghanistan.

The improvised explosive attack came on the same day as NATO claimed to have killed as 150 Taliban militants in a separate, large-scale battle in the eastern portion of this war-torn country.

The Canadian soldier was part of a routine pre-dawn patrol in the western Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, where the last major engagement was fought with militants during the Canadian-led Operation Medusa last September, said Lieutieutenant Sue Stefko, a spokeswoman for Task Force Afghanistan.

The patrol was being conducted as part of a new, ongoing offensive, Operation Falcon Summit, which has been targeting the Taliban leadership and bomb-making facilities in the district since mid-December.

The soldier, who asked that his name not be released, was reported in stable condition late Thursday with wounds to the lower portion of his body. It's expected he'll be repatriated to Canada.

“It's not been determined entirely what will happen,” said Lt. Stefko, “but it's likely he will go to Germany for follow-on medical care.”
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NATO says 'as many as 150' insurgents killed in Afghan battle
JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL — NATO on Thursday said as many as 150 insurgents were killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan after two large groups of fighters crossed the border from Pakistan.

The fighters were attacked with ground fire and air strikes, NATO said.

Gen. Murad Ali, the Afghan army regional deputy corps commander, said the insurgents had travelled into Paktika province with several trucks of ammunition.

A NATO statement said "initial battle damage estimates" indicated that as many as 150 fighters were killed. Gen. Ali said more than 50 fighters were killed late Wednesday and early Thursday.
More on link

Forces Strike Insurgents Near Afghan-Pakistani Border
Special to American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2007 – Troops from NATO's International Security Assistance Force and Afghan National Army soldiers engaged and killed a significant number of insurgents last night in Afghanistan's Bermel district, in Paktika province, NATO officials reported. 
Initial post-battle assessments indicate as many as 150 insurgents were killed, officials said. 

Two large groups of insurgents were observed infiltrating Paktika province from Pakistan. The insurgents were monitored, tracked and subsequently engaged after they entered Afghanistan, through the coordinated use of both air and ground fire in a series of engagements along the sparsely populated border region of Bermel district, officials said. 

The insurgents had been observed gathering in Pakistan and had crossed the border prior to launching an attack against ANA and ISAF forces in the region. Pakistani military liaison officers were kept fully informed throughout the operation, officials said.

“The enemy cannot hide from Afghan and ISAF forces,” said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, ISAF Regional Command-East commander. “Day and night, we’re employing every available means to search for, identify and destroy the enemies of Afghanistan. 

“Last night was a good example of the effects the combined efforts of ISAF and Afghan forces can bring to bear on the enemy,” the general said. 
End 



AM - Prosecutor says US has strong case against Hicks  
AM - Thursday, 11 January , 2007  08:11:00 Reporter: Michael Rowland
Article Link


PETER CAVE: The chief US military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay says the Australian terror suspect David Hicks is a hardened al-Qaeda operative who'll be held accountable for his actions.

Colonel Moe Davis has confirmed to AM that Mr Hicks, who's now been held for five years, will be among the first charged when the new military commission structure is unveiled within the next week.

He told our Washington Correspondent, Michael Rowland, the US Government has a strong case against David Hicks.

MOE DAVIS: Yeah, he was charged previously, under the old military commission rules, and the charge sheet is still available on the military commission's website, which gives a pretty good narrative description. But in essence it's, you know, he chose to take up arms against the Americans and the Coalition forces, and to support Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, you know, in their fight against the West.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Your account is starkly different from the account put forward by the Hicks' legal team. 

MOE DAVIS: Right.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: That he was simply a naive, young adventurer who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

MOE DAVIS: Right. You know, I'd certainly say, you know, I hope the Australian people aren't so gullible as to step in everything that Major Mori's been spreading. You know, if they do step in it they need to wipe their feet before they go back in the house, because we would contend a lot of it has been half-truths.

But he certainly to try and depict him, I think he's been referred to as a young man that was just looking for adventure. You know, he was over 26 years of age at the time he was apprehended in Afghanistan. He had two children back in Australia. He had experience in Kosovo, he had experience in Kashmir, he'd been to a number of combat and terrorism training courses put on by al-Qaeda, and my understanding is that when 9/11 happened he was out of the country, but once he saw that the US had been attacked he made a conscious choice to turn around and go back to Afghanistan, report in to a senior al-Qaeda leader, and in essence say, you know, "I'm David Hicks, and I'm reporting for duty".

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Major Mori says that he was simply going back to Afghanistan to retrieve some personal possessions.

MOE DAVIS: Well, unless his personal possessions were an AK-47 and a sack of grenades, I would take exception to that.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: David Hicks has now spent five years at Guantanamo Bay. When can he expect to face a military trial?

MOE DAVIS: Well, certainly, as I said, once we get the rules, the rules for military commissions, which should be out next week, I anticipate within two weeks of the rules coming out we'll start charging some of the individuals, and David Hicks, I believe, will be among the first that we charge.

I would expect shortly after that we'd probably have a hearing on motions, and we're hopeful that by summertime that we can actually get the jury assembled, go to a trial on the merits, and let the facts speak for themselves. And if the jury determines that we've proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he's guilty, then they can also determine an appropriate punishment.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: It has been five years. Can you understand the mounting frustration, particularly by the Australian Government, about the delays in the Hicks case? 
More on link

Troops in fiercest Afghanistan fight so far
JASON CUMMING (jcumming@scotsman.com) Thu 11 Jan 2007
Article Link

BRITISH troops encountered some of the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan so far yesterday as they launched an offensive against Taleban forces that were terrorising a market town. 

About 100 Royal Marines - including members of Arbroath-based 45 Commando - clashed with militants in a four-hour desert firefight after setting out on a dawn mission dubbed Operation Bauxite. 

At times, they were only 40 metres from black-turbaned Taleban fighters as the Marines brought the battle to the "doorstep" of the insurgents. 

Two laser-guided 1,000lb bombs were dropped on insurgents holed up in 10ft deep irrigation ditches near Gereshk in southern Helmand. Anti-tank weapons, 105mm artillery guns and mortars were also used. 

Apache attack helicopters targeted Taleban positions in walled compounds, while some of the new breed of £1 million Viking armoured personnel carriers took direct hits from rocket-propelled grenades. 

Troops led by Major Ewen Murchison, a former Scotland under-21 rugby internationalist, also found a cache of assault rifles and grenade launchers as well as explosives, wires and batteries that could be made into roadside bombs. 

British forces were confronted by about 50 insurgents employing Taleban "shoot and scoot" tactics at around 6:45am local time yesterday near the village of Habibolah-Kalay. 

Speaking after returning from the battlefield to Forward Operating Base Price, Major Murchison said he had set out to "neutralise" Taleban forces. 

"This is one of the fiercest firefights we've been in to date in terms of weight of fire and proximity to our troops," he said. 

"We went out there at first light. During the course of four hours, I used the full range of military weapons available to me - namely air attack helicopter, mortars and artillery, machine guns and a couple of anti-tank weapons. A couple of 1,000lb bombs were dropped by GR7 Harriers on what we considered to be a trench system. 

"I was trying to stop these men from shooting at my men. They can run away if they want, but if they continue to fight I have to kill them." 

From a 40ft observation tower at the joint US-British outpost at around 10am, a huge mushroom cloud could be seen erupting after Harrier jump jets were called in to dislodge Taleban fighters from their positions about 10km from the base. 

The contingent was mostly made up of J Company of Plymouth-based 42 Commando, but about 100 Estonian troops and some Danish units provided backup. Afghan National Army soldiers were also involved. 

British military officials could not say last night how many militants had been killed. 

Major Murchison, 38, from Bearsden, near Glasgow, said: 

"We're trying to create a buffer zone to essentially take Gereshk town centre out of the range of mortars." 

No British personnel were injured, but one member of the fledgling Afghan National Army suffered a gunshot wound.
More on link

Rebel: 'We aided bin Laden escape'
POSTED: 1429 GMT (2229 HKT), January 11, 2007 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Afghan insurgent leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar claimed in a television interview broadcast Thursday that his fighters helped Osama bin Laden escape from the mountains of Toro Bora five years ago.

Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister and leader of the Hezb-e-Islami militant group, told Pakistan's private Geo TV network that when the United States began its assault on the Tora Bora mountains in late 2001, some of his fighters moved bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and other associates to "a safe place" where he met them later.

He did not say where they found the shelter.

Hekmatyar was speaking in Pashto language. Only fragments from Hekmatyar's comments were audible under a voiceover translated into Urdu, Pakistan's main language. Geo did not disclose when or where the interview was made.
End


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## The Bread Guy (12 Jan 2007)

*Canadian soldier injured in landmine blast as fighting rages in Afghanistan*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 11 Jan 07
Article Link

A Canadian soldier suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries Thursday after stepping on a landmine in southern Afghanistan.  The army identified the wounded man as Master Cpl. Jody Mitic, who is based in Petawawa, Ont., as part of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment. Mitic was evacuated by helicopter to hospital at Kandahar airfield, the main coalition base in southern Afghanistan, but military doctors decided late Thursday to transfer him to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.  "After assessing his condition, it was determined he will be sent to Germany and eventually back to Canada for treatment," said Capt. Joanne Blais, a spokeswoman for Task Force Afghanistan.  Mitic's age and hometown were not released.  The explosion of the improvised device came on the same day that NATO claimed to have killed a significant number of Taliban militants in a separate, large-scale battle in the eastern portion of this war-torn country.  The Canadian soldier was part of a routine pre-dawn patrol in the western Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, where the last major engagement was fought with militants during the Canadian-led Operation Medusa last September, said army spokeswoman Lt. Sue Stefko ....



*Winning hearts and minds, in Afghanistan and Canada*
Spreading the word at home is commander's latest mission
ESTANISLAO OZIEWICZ, Globe & Mail, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

After nine months commanding NATO forces in battled-scarred southern Afghanistan, Brigadier-General David Fraser is back home selling the Canadian mission -- with gusto.  When the veteran infantry officer wasn't directing the fierce fight against Taliban insurgents, he was engaging the hearts and minds of Afghans.  Now, he's talking to any Canadian who will listen about what he maintains is a vital role in Afghanistan.  In his media and lecture circuit, the main message, carefully scripted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, is that Canadian troops are turning back the Taliban and helping to rebuild a shattered and destitute country.  "It's a little of both," Gen. Fraser said in an interview when asked whether spreading the word was his idea or that of his political and military masters in Ottawa.  "This is a great Canadian story that has to be told. This is about Canada helping those less fortunate than us, helping those in Afghanistan build a nation. Canada is owed a progress report, what it is we're doing over there."  Gen. Fraser, who was a key figure in developing a program to "embed" reporters and photographers with Canadian combat troops, said he has done his own poll about whether Canadian soldiers ought to remain in Afghanistan, notwithstanding last year's long list of casualties and the prospect of more to come.  "In 26 years, I've learned soldiers don't lie. If soldiers like something or don't like something, they will tell you. Well, the soldiers I've talked to all believe in what they're doing over there ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Taliban Hit Hard in Helmand and Paktika*
Afgha.com (AFG), 11 Jan 07
Article Link

UK forces launched their largest pre-planned operation against Taliban positions in Helmand thus far, killing between 60 and 100 Taliban. The operation targeted two compounds in Kostay, a village south of Garmser city starting at about 3:30 A.M. local time.  100 UK troops from the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (3rd Commando Brigade) surrounded the compound which lay across the Helmand river. Troops began a probing attack by using snipers to pin down and harass Taliban militants. When the Taliban returned fire, Apache gunships were called upon to bomb both compounds. According to local police officials wanted Taliban commander Mullah Faqir Mohammad was killed in the strike ....


*British troops kill up to 100 Taliban in attack*
Daily Mail (UK), 11 Jan 07
Article Link

British troops were said to have killed up to 100 Taliban fighters and destroyed a key base from which guerrilla attacks were being launched in Afghanistan on Thursday.  The fighters were believed to be in a compound in lawless Helmand province which was destroyed when 100 UK soldiers backed by air support launched the assault - the biggest pre-planned operation yet by British forces in the region.  The pre-dawn battle, which raged for four hours, saw the destruction of two buildings military intelligence had pinpointed as key to those involved in anti-British operations. No British soldiers were injured.  The attack came as Nato and Afghan soldiers killed up to 150 insurgents in unrelated ground and air strikes in southeastern Afghanistan. The insurgents were attacked as they crossed into Afghanistan from the safety of camps in neighbouring Pakistan ....



*Afghan women and children: the left's moral blind spot*
J. L. GRANATSTEIN, Globe & Mail, 11 Jan 07
Article Link

....  to judge by the silence of Canada's left and its feminists, there are worse sins occurring out there than the repression of Afghan women and children. What could be worse? The whole "War on Terror," the American and NATO interventions in Afghanistan, and Canadian complicity in Washington's many and varied sins. In other words, the silence of the Canadian feminist lambs suggests strongly that this is a classic case in which anti-Americanism and anti-Bush sentiment, combined with anger at Stephen Harper's Conservative government and its policies, easily outweigh the harm done to Afghan females by a fundamentalist cabal ....



*NATO, Pakistani army battle Afghan militants along border*
Jason Straziuso Associated Press, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

NATO said Thursday its forces killed scores of insurgents who had crossed from Pakistan in the biggest battle of the Afghan winter, while Pakistan's army fired artillery at trucks supplying militants on the other side of the border.  NATO tracked the suspected Taliban militants through air surveillance while the fighters were still in Pakistan. Once they crossed the frontier, NATO and Afghan soldiers attacked the two separate groups with ground fire and airstrikes during a nine-hour battle that began Wednesday evening.  Gen. Murad Ali, the Afghan army regional deputy corps commander, said the insurgents traveled into Afghanistan's southern Paktika province with several trucks of ammunition. Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, a U.S. military spokesman, said it was likely they were going to carry out an immediate attack, given the size of the groups.  Taliban militants last year launched a record number of attacks in Afghanistan, and an estimated 4,000 people died in insurgency-related violence, the bloodiest year since the U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban regime in 2001. Afghan and Western officials say the militants operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan, but Islamabad insists it does all it can to stop them.  The overnight offensive in Paktika province was the first major engagement of 2007 and appeared to be the largest battle since a multi-day operation killed more than 500 Taliban fighters in southern Kandahar province in September ....



*Viking Vehicles Are Saving Lives in Afghanistan*
UK Ministry of Defence, 12 Jan 07 
Article Link

The new Viking amphibious all terrain vehicles, whose bodies are constructed from armored steel, are being credited with saving British Forces lives in Afghanistan.  The Viking is on its first operational tour and British Service personnel speaking to the media, have said that considerably more troops would have died if it had not been for the introduction of the vehicle.  Despite weighing 10 tonnes the Viking’s 5.9 litre turbo-diesel engine is capable of producing speeds of 50 mph (80 kph) on roads. And they maintain excellent mobility on soft terrain, such as snow, mud or sand, because of the even load distribution over its four tracks. The vehicle retains mobility even if a track is damaged by a mine. And it can operate in temperatures from -46°C to +49°C ....



*China Donates Unmilitary Items to Afghan Army*
China.cn.org, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

China donated unmilitary items worth US$2 million to Afghanistan National Army (ANA) on Thursday.  The stuffs include 10 trucks, 12 Jeeps, 17 cars, 100 computers, 30 photocopy machines, 100 printers, 100 air conditioners, 140 TV sets and a large numbers of electric fans, refrigerators, diesel generator, shoes, tents, engineering axes and engineering shovels.  At a ceremony attended by Afghan, Chinese and US officials and soldiers in Afghan Defense Ministry, Liu Jian, the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, said that the Chinese government has consistently supported Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction and provided assistance in its power.  "For six days, the air force of the People's Liberation Army has been transporting the 200 ton goods from China to Afghanistan. China attaches great importance to helping Afghanistan in its postwar reconstruction process," he said ....



*Refugee repatriation agreement during PM visit to Kabul important development: FO spokesperson*
Government of Pakistan, via Reliefweb.int, 11 Jan 07
Article Link

The Foreign Office spokesperson has said that an important development during the visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Kabul was the agreement on the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.  In a telephonic interview to PTV, Tasneem Aslam said the government of Pakistan plans to repatriate maximum number of Afghan refugees during 2007 with special focus on dismantling of refugees camps close to border areas.  She also said that whatever measures are being taken by Pakistan to ensure check on the movement of undesired elements in areas on the Pak-Afghan border are limited to its own territory ....


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## MarkOttawa (12 Jan 2007)

Excerpts on Afstan from three stories Jan. 12 mentioning US intelligence chiefs Congressional testimony:

_NY Times_
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/washington/12intel.html



> He [outgoing DNI Negroponte] also warned of the successes that a resurgent Taliban is having in Afghanistan in its attempts to destabilize the government of President Hamid Karzai.
> 
> The intelligence chief said the Taliban “*probably*” [emphasis added] does not directly threaten the viability of Mr. Karzai’s government. At the same time, he said the Taliban is achieving more limited goals of impeding economic development in southern and eastern Afghanistan and undermining popular support for the government in Kabul.



AP:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Pakistan-US-Terrorism.html



> The statements Thursday by U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte that Pakistan is a haven for al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists are ''incorrect,'' Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said...
> 
> In his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Negroponte said that ''eliminating the safe haven that the Taliban and other extremists have found in Pakistan's tribal areas is not sufficient to end the insurgency in Afghanistan, but it is necessary.''....



AP:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-National-Threats.html



> The DIA believes attacks in Afghanistan from the Taliban-led insurgency will increase this spring. ''Nearly five years after the Taliban's fall, many Afghans expected the situation to be better by now and are beginning to blame President (Hamid) Karzai for the lack of greater progress,'' [DIA Director Lt. Gen.] Maples said...



Mark
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (13 Jan 2007)

*Canadian loses feet to Afghan landmine*
Overnight patrol helps clear area of insurgents
Doug Schmidt, Calgary Herald, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

The land-mine blast Thursday that badly injured Master Cpl. Jody Mitic from 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment put the spotlight on a unique Canadian surveillance and patrol squadron that is performing a pivotal task in the international military effort to rid this strife-torn and impoverished area of armed insurgents.  Mitic, who is based in Petawawa, Ont., is one of the 88 men and women of ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) squadron. A sniper, Mitic stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) while on an overnight patrol, and suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries to his legs.  Three of the squadron's members have been killed and six others wounded since September ....



*Canada hopes U.S. won't shift troops from Afghanistan to Iraq - minister*
Michael Tutton, Canadian Press, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

Canada's defence minister is hoping the United States won't shift combat troops from Afghanistan to boost its war in Iraq, although America's top military official says it has no intention of doing so.  Gordon O'Connor said Friday that the possibility of fewer troops in Afghanistan was the main question he had regarding U.S. president George W. Bush's plan to boost forces in Iraq by 21,500 troops. "I don't know if there will be any impact," he said after a speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.  "My hope is they won't draw any troops away from Afghanistan to reinforce Iraq. . . . That's the only thing I'd think about."  However, the chair of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff said Friday there's no plan to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan.  U.S. General Peter Pace, speaking at the Senate armed services committee, said the units going into Iraq "were already in the pipeline and they will be moved forward in the pipeline in a couple of months."  He said there are about 22,500 troops in Afghanistan right now and that won't change, adding: "We will be able to maintain that."  Pace also testified that if it's necessary, the U.S. military could draw from the National Guard and reserves to send more troops to Afghanistan ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*A road cuts to heart of NATO's troubled Afghan campaign*
Carlotta Gall, International Herald Tribune, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan:  The road that cuts through the heart of this district tells all that is going wrong with NATO's war in Afghanistan.  To fight their way into this area and clear it of Taliban insurgents, NATO troops bulldozed through orchards, smashed down compound walls and even houses, and churned vineyards and melon fields to dust.  Reconstruction projects were planned, but never materialized. Even after NATO forces plowed through the area, the Taliban were able to wage a guerrilla campaign with roadside bombs and suicide attacks, keeping aid workers at bay.  Now, without any other reconstruction aid, NATO forces are championing the $5 million thoroughfare as their primary gift to local people. But displaced and buffeted by both the Taliban and NATO forces since May, they are homeless, fearful, and far from being won over. They say the road was forced on them, at the cost of their land and livelihoods ....



*Germany eyes sending Tornado planes to Afghan south*
Reuters (UK), 12 Jan 07
Article Link

Germany, under pressure to offer more help to NATO forces in violent south Afghanistan, will decide soon whether to send Tornado aircraft to the region for reconnaissance duties, its foreign minister said on Friday.  Frank-Walter Steinmeier denied earlier remarks by a top official in Germany's coalition government that the decision had already been taken, which had prompted criticism from coalition allies and rivals alike who insisted parliament be consulted.  "We shall study this request and take a decision in good time," Steinmeier told reporters in Brussels, adding that he would discuss a NATO request made in December for reconnaissance planes at an alliance meeting due on January 26.  Steinmeier's party ally Peter Struck, parliamentary chief of the Social Democrats who share power in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel, earlier said the aircraft would be deployed ....



*Afghan army "unfit to take over security role in 2009"*
Pak Tribune (PAK), 13 Jan 07
Article Link

British troops may not pull out of Afghanistan by 2009 as planned, an Army commander warned.  Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Dewar told newsman the other day the withdrawal depended on the progress of the Afghan National Army.  And if the ANA are not ready to battle the Taliban fanatics in Helmand province within two years, British troops will have to continue providing back-up.  There are currently 4000 British soldiers in the war-torn province and huge efforts are being made to prepare the ANA for their pullout. But it may take longer to ensure the fledgling army are up to the job, said Dewar ....



*Taliban urge tribesmen to attend funerals of 25 militants*
Daily Times (PAK), 13 Jan 07
Article Link

The bodies of 25 militants killed in a fierce battle with NATO-led troops in Afghanistan were repatriated on Friday to their tribal villages in Pakistan, where Taliban activists urged mass attendance at their funerals, residents said. NATO on Thursday reported killing or wounding 130 suspected Taliban who had crossed from Pakistan to mount attacks in eastern Afghanistan. The Pakistan Army also said it attacked militant supply trucks on its side of the border in North Waziristan. On Friday, the bodies of 25 guerrillas killed in the fighting were brought to Miran Shah. Funerals were to be held in different villages in the region later in the day, according to local intelligence officials and residents ....



*General: Canuck farmers can help*
Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

 It may not just be NATO soldiers who will help end Afghanistan's dependency of the poppy trade, a Canadian general and former NATO commander in the region said yesterday.  Canadian farmers and agriculture experts may also play a key role, he said.  "It's the infrastructure and how to market their traditional products that they need," Gen. David Fraser said of Afghan farmers' desire to get out of supplying drug lords and instead feeding their own people.  Fraser, who was in Toronto yesterday, said he has confidence Afghanistan will one day be a bustling democracy. "Patience," he said, is the key ....



*CENTAF releases airpower summary for Jan. 11*
Air Force News, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Jan. 11.  In Afghanistan Jan. 10, Air Force B1-B Lancers and Royal Air Force GR-7s provided close-air support to International Security Assistance Force troops in contact with enemy forces near Gereshk. The B1-Bs expended guided bomb unit-38s and GBU-31s on enemy positions. The GR-7s expanded Enhanced Paveway II munitions on enemy positions.  Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Khowst.  A B-1B provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Musah Qal'eh.  The B-1B is no longer a Cold War combatant. Today, its strength lies in long-range, high-payload, multi-task operations and the ability to employ in all environments, day/night, or any weather conditions.  A B-1B and A-10 Thunderbolt IIs provided close-air support for ISAF troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Orgun-E. The B-1B expended GBU-31s and the A-10s expended general-purpose 500-pound bombs, a GBU-12 and cannon rounds on enemy positions.  A-10s, a B-1B and Royal Air Force GR-7s provided close-air support for ISAF troops in contact with Taliban extremists near Now Zad. The A-10s expended GBU-12s, MK-82s and cannon rounds on enemy positions. The B-1B expended GBU-31s and GR-7s expended rockets on enemy positions.  An Air Force B-1B provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Lashkar Gah. The B-1B expended GBU-31s and GBU-38s on enemy positions.  Royal Air Force GR-7s provided close-air support to International Security Assistance Force troops in contact with enemy forces near Sangin.  In total, 33 close-air support missions were flown in support of ISAF and Afghan troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols ....



*Winter humanitarian missions help many*
ISAF news release # 2007-039, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Humanitarian missions taking place throughout Afghanistan are focused on helping villagers, teachers and children make it through the winter more comfortably.  ISAF soldiers who are part of Bravo Battery, 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment recently conducted a mission for the teachers of Kor Baugh in Nagalam district, Khost province.  The mission was scheduled after the Kor Baugh teachers requested assistance in preparing for their new school season. The regiment distributed several blankets, sweaters and coats, plus two teacher starter kits for the new school year. The ISAF soldiers asked the Government of Afghanistan for additional supplies and help with missions like this one in the future.  In Barkanday village, also located in Khowst Province, another group of ISAF soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry distributed a variety of items to the local people. Donations included rice, beans, flour, sugar, oil, coats, sweaters, gloves, coal, stoves, and tarps.  Finally, a civil assistance mission conducted in Narang district, Kunar province provided 28 bundles of coats, toboggans and children’s headgear to needy families, as well as bags of rice and beans.



*MEDCAP held in Mushai Valley, donations provided*
ISAF news release # 2007-038, 12 Jan 07
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (12 January) – Regional Command-Capital’s Italian Battlegroup Civilian Military Cooperation (CIMIC) team held a Medical Civil Affairs Programme (MEDCAP) on Wednesday and provided winter relief supplies to the people of Mushai Valley.  Approximately 75 men and children in the village of Surjay were treated by two doctors and two nurses during the three-hour MEDCAP. The team treated and provided medicine to patients suffering from such ailments as colds and coughs to Leishmaniasis. An 11-year-old boy received minor surgery to remove shrapnel from his arm.  The CIMIC team coordinated the distribution of 110 food and fuel packages to local families selected by the village chiefs as being most in need throughout the winter months.  A second donation of 60 food packs, stoves and water containers, as well as 30 tons of wood, was also made in the nearby village of Hosain Khail.


----------



## GAP (13 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 13 January, 2007*


NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan
Associated Press Saturday, January 13, 2007
Article Link

First NATO death of 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan -- NATO troops fought insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Saturday in a battle that left one Western soldier dead -- NATO's first fatality of the year.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said the soldier died during an operation and that air support was used against insurgent positions.

The nationality of the soldier was not released. NATO refused to release any other details until the next of kin were notified.

Most of Canada's troops in Afghanistan operate in the south, but Canadian military officials in Kandahar said the dead soldier was not a Canadian. 

Taliban militants stepped up attacks last year, and insurgent-related violence killed some 4,000 people in the bloodiest year since the US-led coalition ousted the Taliban in late 2001.
More on link

Afghan mission support rebounds slightly 
Published: Saturday, January 13, 2007 Peter O'Neil, CanWest News Service
Article Link

Support for Canada's mission in Afghanistan has grown over the winter as memory of a wave of bloodshed during the summer and early autumn fades, according to a new national poll provided exclusively Friday to CanWest News Service.

The online Jan. 8-10 survey of 2,206 Canadians by Innovative Research Group found 58 per cent of respondents support the military action compared to 38 per cent who are opposed.

The numbers are in line with a previous Innovative survey done last June, but up from a follow-up October poll that had just 54 per cent of Canadians backing the mission and 42 per cent opposed.

Of the 37 Canadians who died in Afghanistan last year, 26 perished during the July-to-October period.

Innovative Research president Greg Lyle said his research shows Canadians are prepared to support the dangerous overseas mission as long as they are convinced Canadian soldiers are providing critical assistance and bringing peace and democracy to the war-plagued country.

"The idea that we're a bunch of pacifists sitting around singing Kumbaya just isn't the way Canada is."

David Bercuson, programs director for the Calgary-based Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, said the expected fighting lull in Afghanistan during the winter months isn't the only likely reason for the increased public support.

He said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government's stepped-up communication efforts, combined with generally positive media coverage of the conflict over the holiday season, have illustrated to Canadians that the military is engaged in reconstruction as well as combat.
More on link

U.S. Air Assets Support Strike in Afghanistan’s Bermel District
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2007 
Article Link

 Numerous air assets from U.S. Central Command supported NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan’s Paktika province Jan. 10, killing as many as 150 insurgents, U.S. Central Command officials said. 

U. S. Central Command Air Forces supported International Security Assistance Force and Afghan National Army forces with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, air refueling and strike aircraft. They also expended precision munitions, missile and cannon rounds on a significant number of insurgents in the Bermel district of Paktika province, officials said. 

ISAF battle damage estimates indicate as many as 150 insurgents were killed. 

“The use of our combined air assets with their persistence, precision and lethality is a perfect example of the flexibility and combat capability of our coalition forces. We find and track the insurgents with our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and then target them with precise effect,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. William L. “Dutch” Holland, U.S. Central Command Air Forces deputy commander. 

Holland also serves as commander of U. S. Central Command’s Deputy Combined Forces Air Component. 

Two large groups of insurgents had been observed infiltrating Paktika province from Pakistan. The insurgents were monitored, tracked and subsequently engaged in Afghanistan, through the coordinated use of both air and ground fire in a series of engagements along the sparsely populated border region of Bermel district, U.S. officials said. 

The insurgents had been observed gathering in Pakistan and had crossed the border before launching an attack against ANA and ISAF forces in the region. According to an ISAF press release, Pakistani military liaison officers were kept fully informed throughout the operation. 

“Air strikes in support of this operation were a success because of the combined efforts of our aircrews and the ISAF and ANA ground forces working in concert to shut down the insurgents’ ability to operate in the Bermel district,” Holland said. 

“U.S. CENTAF and the combined air component commander forces are committed to helping the Afghan people establish a safe and secure country,” he said.

(From a U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news release.)
More on link

Hillary pushing for troop surge in Afghanistan
BY GLENN THRUSH Newsday Washington Bureau January 12, 2007, 10:17 PM EST
Article Link

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton presses to add troops in Afghanistan, which she'll visit, along with Iraq over the weekend.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is heading to Iraq and Afghanistan this weekend -- and calling for a troop "surge" in Afghanistan even though she opposes a similar measure in Iraq.

Clinton's surprise trip isn't surprising politically. As the top Democratic contender in 2008 who voted for the war -- and hasn't recanted -- Clinton needed to emphasize her foreign policy strengths: gravitas, affection for the troops and on-the-ground experience in a war zone.

On Wednesday, as President George W. Bush delivered his address on his plan for a 21,500-troop increases in Iraq, Clinton was about the only serious contender in either party to turn down an invitation to dissect the speech on TV.

Clinton landed in Kuwait on Friday night with Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and upstate Rep. John McHugh and will meet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Shia cleric Ayatollah Abd Al-Aziz Al-Hakim in Baghdad Saturday.

She also plans a Saturday sit-down with Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who is training Iraqi security forces; a visit to the New York-based Army 10th Mountain Division; and a meeting with a delegation of Iraqi women.

Before leaving, Clinton, who voted to authorize the Oct. 2002 Iraq invasion, cautioned against paying too much attention to Iraq at the expense of the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"I wish we were discussing additional troops for Afghanistan. We are hearing increasingly troubling reports out of Afghanistan and we will be searching for accurate information about the true state of affairs both militarily and politically," she told the Associated Press.
More on link

Afghanistan a source of worry
Sen. Clinton says more troops needed to fight Taliban, not in Iraq.
By Julian E. Barnes and Peter Spiegel, Times Staff Writers
January 13, 2007 
Article Link

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed deep concern Friday over the stability of Afghanistan, and a top U.S. military official said additional troops might be needed to strengthen the government in Kabul, which is under growing pressure from Taliban forces.

Gates plans to travel soon to the region to look for ways to aid the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gates appeared worried by the rising violence in Afghanistan, where military commanders have warned that the spring thaw may bring one of the most brutal fighting seasons since the 2001 U.S. invasion.

"We mustn't let this one slip out of our attention and, where we have had a victory, put it at risk," Gates told senators in describing his upcoming trip. "One of the things that I am focused on particularly is, what will it take to reverse the trend line in Afghanistan and to strengthen the Karzai government?"

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated that he was open to raising troop levels in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Despite concerns that U.S. land forces are overstretched by their growing commitment in Iraq, the Pentagon could sustain an increase of forces in Afghanistan as well, he said.
More on link

Pakistan takes issue with Negroponte over Qaeda  
Publish Date: Saturday,13 January, 2007, at 10:58 AM Doha Time 
Article Link

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz shakes hands with US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Richard Boucher prior to their meeting in Islamabad yesterday

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said yesterday the US had not given it any information about the presence of Al Qaeda leaders, following remarks from US intelligence chief John Negroponte that they were holed up in Pakistan.

"We have no such information nor has any such thing been communicated to us by any US authority," Pakistan’s military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said.

Washington’s ally has always contended that Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri could be either side of the rugged, porous border with Afghanistan.

But in an unusually direct statement, Negroponte on Thursday named Pakistan as the centre of an Al Qaeda web that radiated out to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

In a testimony to a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Negroponte wrote, without naming bin Laden or Zawahri, that Al Qaeda leaders are holed up in a secure hide-out in Pakistan.

He said they were rebuilding a network that has been decimated by the capture or killing of hundreds of Al Qaeda members since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

"We have captured or killed numerous senior Al Qaeda operatives, but Al Qaeda’s core elements are resilient," said Negroponte, the director of national intelligence (DNI).
More on link

Czech government plans to send field hospital to Afghanistan
Prague, Jan 11 (CTK) 
Article Link

The new Czech government of the Civic Democrats (ODS), the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the Greens plans to send the 6th field hospital to Afghanistan, Defence Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek has said, adding that minister Vlasta Parkanova will propose this to the cabinet on Wednesday.

If the government and parliament approve the hospital´s mission, it could leave for Afghanistan in March. The hospital is to be stationed near the Kabul airport, Cirtek told CTK.

The mission should involve about 70 soldiers and it should last one year.

According to Cirtek, members of the mission should rotate, therefore the 7th field hospital staff could also take part in it.

NATO allies asked the Czech Republic for sending in a field hospital in November.

The 6th field hospital ranks among the Czech military´s elite units. It operated in Afghanistan in 2002 already, and in Iraq one year later.

Since December 2006, Czech soldiers have been in command of the Kabul international airport within NATO´s ISAF mission. During their four-month command they are in charge of the airport´s operation and security. A part of the Czech contingent assists in the meteorologic and engineering works and mine clearing.

Apart from the Czech contingent in Kabul, 83 Czech troops operate near Faizabad, north Afghanistan, as part of a reconstruction team also including German and Danish ISAF units.
More on link

82nd paratroopers head for volatile Afghanistan
By Kevin Maurer Staff writer 
Article Link

Hours after President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq, about 150 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division climbed on a plane for the other war zone: Afghanistan.

While Iraq is dominating the news, Afghanistan is growing more volatile.

The paratroopers are part of a 5,000-soldier task force that is replacing the 10th Mountain Division.

Spc. John Sheck, an intelligence analyst from Philadelphia, knows Afghanistan is overshadowed by Iraq.

“It is not as televised, but operations go on day after day,” he said.

The 82nd will likely face a re-energized Taliban in the coming year.

Brig. Gen. Anthony J. Tata, 10th Mountain Division deputy commanding general, told the Baltimore Sun earlier this week he expects a significant Taliban offensive later this year.

The number of attacks against coalition forces has tripled since 2005. CNN reported last year that the Taliban had more fighters on the battlefield this past summer than it had in the previous five years.
More on link

Pak-Afghan border closed after protests
Press Trust of India Islamabad, January 12, 2007|14:31 IST
Article Link  
      
A main border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan was closed after demonstrations by Afghans against Islamabad's decision to introduce biometric identification system at the Chaman border point.

Demanding that the new system be immediately abolished, a large number of Afghans living in Vesh, a business centre across the border, stoned the newly-built Friendship Gate and smashed windowpanes of several departments of Pakistan on Thursday.

A complete strike was observed in Vesh against the Pakistan government's move.

Pakistan has introduced the new system to check illegal border crossing and to curb Taliban movement.

The border was later reopened in the afternoon to facilitate women and children after negotiations between officials of Pakistan and Afghanistan

In another development a tripartite meeting of the top military officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan and NATO forces appeared to have ironed out differences over allegations that Pakistan failed to crackdown on Taliban.

Head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander in Afghanistan, Gen David Richards said that with an enhanced deployment of Pakistani troops in the border region, cross-border activity of insurgents had come down.

"This step has helped considerably in bringing down the graph of insurgency in Afghanistan as compared to last winter," he said.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (13 Jan 2007)

NATO’s Afghan Struggle: Build, and Fight Taliban
_NY Times_, Jan. 13, by Carlotta Gall
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/world/asia/13afghan.html?ref=todayspaper



> SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan — The road that cuts through the heart of Panjwai district here tells all that is going wrong with NATO’s war in Afghanistan.
> 
> In Pashmul, southwest of Kandahar, residents survey what had been their home. NATO troops, in building a new road to improve security in the area, razed homes and plowed under orchards and melon fields.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


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## The Bread Guy (13 Jan 2007)

*Afghan mission support rebounds slightly*
Peter O'Neil, CanWest News Service, 13 Jan 07
Article Link

Support for Canada's mission in Afghanistan has grown over the winter as memory of a wave of bloodshed during the summer and early autumn fades, according to a new national poll provided exclusively Friday to CanWest News Service.  The online Jan. 8-10 survey of 2,206 Canadians by Innovative Research Group found 58 per cent of respondents support the military action compared to 38 per cent who are opposed.  The numbers are in line with a previous Innovative survey done last June, but up from a follow-up October poll that had just 54 per cent of Canadians backing the mission and 42 per cent opposed.  Of the 37 Canadians who died in Afghanistan last year, 26 perished during the July-to-October period.  Innovative Research president Greg Lyle said his research shows Canadians are prepared to support the dangerous overseas mission as long as they are convinced Canadian soldiers are providing critical assistance and bringing peace and democracy to the war-plagued country.  "The idea that we're a bunch of pacifists sitting around singing Kumbaya just isn't the way Canada is." ....



*Noise of war gives way to the sound of rebuilding*
With Canada and NATO's help, a battlefield's residents return in droves
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 13 Jan 07
Article Link

ZANGABAD, AFGHANISTAN -- A landscape blasted by some of Afghanistan's heaviest fighting in recent years has started returning to life, as hundreds of families straggle back to houses that served as Taliban hideouts just a few weeks ago.  The rutted dirt track that leads to the village of Zangabad was impassable during a visit to the area in November, when sporadic thuds of Canadian mortars and Taliban rockets could be heard booming across this ruined farmland.  Now Canadian soldiers and their allies have conquered the area with last month's Operation Baaz Tsuka, and the road is open for traffic, guarded by only a handful of Afghan soldiers lounging in the golden winter sunlight. A trip to the village 40 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city showed no sign of the insurgents who recently controlled Zangabad and threatened the provincial capital.  While Zangabad's shops remain shuttered and many houses padlocked, the roads are full of trucks and vans piled high with household goods as people return home and start cleaning up after months of war.  "Now we are free," said Mohammed Naeem, 37, who moved his extended family of 60 people back to Zangabad last week, after escaping two months ago. "We are happy the government came back to our village." ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*First British soldier killed this year in Afghanistan*
Reuters (UK), 13 Jan 07
Article Link

Insurgents attacked NATO troops in southern Afghanistan on Saturday and killed a British marine, the first foreign soldier killed in Afghanistan this year, the alliance and the Ministry of Defence said.  The ministry said the marine was killed during a mission to clear Taliban positions in northern Helmand province.  Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001 ....



*Afghan ’Mess-Up’*
Crossed signals lead each side to mistake the other for the enemy
Associated Press, via Boston Herald, 13 Jan 07
Article Link

DARNAMI, Afghanistan - When blasts of gunfire woke Mohammad Shafik at 1 a.m., he was sure the attackers were Taliban or al-Qaida, out to punish his family for its close ties with the Afghan government.       Huddled with nine close relatives in their mud-brick compound in eastern Khost province, he heard a man with an accent from the southern city of Kandahar - the Taliban’s former stronghold - order them to step into the icy winter night.  “Come out and be safe,” the man said.  Shafik’s father, Mohammad Jan, an official with the Agriculture Ministry, grabbed a gun.  “I told my father, ’Don’t go out, it’s al-Qaida,”’ Shafik, 23, said. “When he opened the door the shooting started. Bullets flew in through the windows and doors. I could hear in my father’s voice that he was injured.”  Shafik’s 13-year-old sister, Khadijah, rushed to her father’s aid, but just then an explosion blasted open the door, fatally wounding her. The father lay bleeding in the cold for hours, was eventually evacuated but later died ....



*Top Afghan insurgent leader operating in Pakistan, U.S. general says*
Associated Press, 13 Jan 06
Article Link

An Afghan insurgent leader operating from inside Pakistan sent some 200 ill-equipped fighters, some wearing plastic bags on their feet, into Afghanistan where most were killed in a major battle this week, a U.S. general said Saturday.  Maj.-Gen. Benjamin Freakley said Jalaluddin Haqqani recruited and sent unemployed and untrained men to fight in Afghanistan.  U.S. forces killed about 130 fighters moving in two groups in the eastern province of Paktika late Wednesday and early Thursday, one of the largest winter battles in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.  "There's Taliban leaders in Pakistan," Freakley said. "We know that this group . . . were from Jalaluddin Haqqani and we believe, though we don't know exactly where, that Jalaluddin Haqqani is operating from inside Pakistan and sending men to fight in Afghanistan."  Western and Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of not doing enough to stop Taliban fighters using Pakistani soil as a training ground from crossing the border into Afghanistan. Pakistan says it does all it can to stop the fighters.  No officials in Pakistan could immediately be reached for comment ....



*Osama not seen in Pakistan: Taliban leader*
Daily Times (PAK), 14 Jan 07
Article Link

A top Taliban leader in Pakistan said in remarks aired on Saturday his group would protect and guard Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri if they turned up in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. “I have not met Osama or Zawahri and they did not come to our region. We hope to see them and if they show up in our area we will protect them with our bodies and souls,” Mullah Mohammad Nazir told Al Jazeera television in remarks dubbed into Arabic ....


----------



## GAP (14 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 14 November 2007*



*Afghan diary*
January 14, 2007 Oakland RossStaff reporter
Article Link

This country could break your heart.

Spend enough time here and it almost surely will.

Or someone will – a small boy perhaps, about 8 years old.

He emerges along with several adult men from a mud-walled abode perched by itself upon a vast expanse of dirt that stretches, the colour of gun metal, toward a blue-streaked backdrop of mountains.

The boy wears a dainty brocaded cap, as many males here do. The rest is rags – a zipperless red jacket, tattered brown robes, a pair of black plastic sandals. His face is worn raw from the high desert air and cold winter wind.

He watches as a Canadian platoon commander – Capt. Steve MacBeth of Toronto – confers with the adults in the oblique, late-afternoon sunshine that casts a coppery light but provides no heat.

MacBeth has come to keep a promise made to this family – the delivery of a small, plastic, hand-powered radio.

Now, like some glorious wizard from another world, he produces the device.

Made in China by the Jin Kong company, the radio is a modest thing, worth a few dollars at most and likely to malfunction before long. But it comes in a cardboard box of almost iridescent green, and it is brand, spanking new.

When the package is placed in the boy's hands, his eyes practically double in size.

For several moments, he is frozen where he stands – stunned to be holding something so rare, so unexpected, so new.

He darts beyond the slouching mud walls that form the shell of his family's home to uncase this treasure in secret.

Outside, the sun continues to sink, and you think you will not see this boy again.

But several minutes later, he reappears. 

With his left hand, he is balancing a tin tray upon which are perched several small pots for tea and some upturned glasses. In his right, he clutches a kettle of boiling water. He has come to serve chai to these otherworldly visitors
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Prices of gold down, firewood up in Kabul  
Sunday January 14, 2007 (0943 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Prices of gold decreased while those of the firewood jumped during the outgoing week in Kabul. 
Price of one gram of Arabic gold dropped to 900 afs and the same quantity of Iranian gold to 770 afs compared to the last week prices of 980 and 810 afs respectively. 

Jewellers attributed the downward trend to the decrease in gold prices in the international market. 

Rates of firewood, on the other hand, registered upward trend as the chill in weather continue to hit Kabulis. Prices of best quality wood went up to 4,000 afs per kharwar (560 kgs) while price of the same quantity of second quality firewood reached to 3,700 afs as compared to the last week prices of 3,800 and 3,400 respectively. 

As for the kitchen items, rates of most of the edibles stayed stable. Only rates of rice registered slight increase. Rate of 50 kilograms sack of Pakistani rice increased by 20 Afghanis from 1,680 of the last week to 1,700 afs during the outgoing week. 

Prices of all other kitchen items remained unchanged. A quick survey of the market revealed that 100 kilograms sack of Pakistani flour was sold for 1,380 afs, price of 50 kilograms sugar was 1,330 afs, one kilogram of green tea 130 afs, five kilograms of cooking oil 280 afs and one kilogram of green tea was available for 145 afs. 
More on link

Suicide attack leaves attacker dead, wounds civilian in S. Afghanistan 
January 14, 2007          
Article Link

A suicide bomber killed himself and wounded a civilian when he targeted vehicles of western construction company Contract in Afghanistan's southern Zabul province Sunday morning, local police said. 

"The incident occurred at around 8: 30 a.m. this morning when a man striped explosive device in his body exploded minutes after the vehicles of Contractor passed through provincial capital Qalat city, killing himself and wounding a civilian," a policeman at the site of incident Mohammad Asif told Xinhua. 

There were no casualties on Afghan army or foreign forces, he added. 

Contract builds accommodation and barracks for Afghanistan National Army (ANA) in different parts of the country. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

Brit, 16 Taliban killed in Afghanistan
Sunday, January 14, 2007 By MANISH SWARUP ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Article Link

KAJAKI, Afghanistan -- British troops crawled up a dusty, barren hill in pre-dawn light to launch an attack on a Taliban position that left 16 suspected insurgents and one British Marine dead.

Snipers set up positions on the hilltop Saturday as troops crept close to a mud-brick compound where NATO commanders said insurgents were staying.

Dutch and British Apache attack helicopters swooped over villages and hills, firing missiles into the compounds believed used by the militants. Troops engaged in rolling duels with militants; American aircraft joined in the battle, dropping 500-pound bombs.

Troops opened canisters of billowing smoke to flush out the fighters, and red and black smoke later rose into the air as troops moved away from the engagement site.

A British soldier and 16 suspected Taliban were killed during Saturday's six-hour operation, said Maj. Martin Collins, commanding officer of the 42 Commando Royal Marines at the British outpost at Kajaki in the southern province of Helmand.

For the past few months the British camp in Kajaki, set up to provide security for the upcoming repair work in the nearby Kajaki dam, was getting attacked by mortars regularly, British officials said.

The decision to go after militants was made after observing them for almost a month, officials said. The troops pinpointed a location on a hilltop next to the village of Khak-e-Hajannam, which they targeted during the raid.
End


Military showing 'no interest'
 TheStar.com - News - Military showing 'no interest' 
Canadian Forces admits recruitment of minorities may be falling through cracks
Rick Westhead Toronto Star
Article Link

Twenty-three-year-old Ramis Jamali seems like the ideal Canadian Forces recruit. 

The fourth-year York University psychology student speaks English and Dari, a language common throughout much of Afghanistan, where several thousand Canadian soldiers are deployed. 

What's more, he said he's entertained thoughts of a military career.

Trouble is, years after the first Canadian troops arrived in Afghanistan to help overthrow the Taliban, prospective Afghan-Canadian recruits like Jamali – who are familiar with both the language and culture of the crippled Middle Eastern country – say they remain overlooked by Canada's military. "We really don't see very much interest from the Canadian military in our community," Jamali said.

A Canadian Forces spokesperson says the military doesn't track how many troops speak languages like Dari or Pashto, common in southern Afghanistan, but one Afghan-Canadian in the armed forces says there are fewer than a half dozen. 

Capt. Holly Brown, a Canadian Forces spokeswoman, conceded prospective Afghan-Canadian recruits may have fallen through the cracks.

"When you look at Toronto, we have one recruiting centre with only two full-time diversity recruiters," she said. "The problem is there are so many different communities in Toronto that it's hard to cover them all."

Canadian soldiers typically hire local interpreters in Afghanistan, she said. But military experts say Canadian officers would prefer to rely on uniformed, enlisted translators who are subject to a more rigorous security check and can't refuse dangerous assignments.

Soldiers also rely on expensive gadgetry. The Canadian Forces bought $9,000 worth of translation equipment in May 2005 from Integrated Wave Technologies, according to a copy of a paid invoice obtained by the Star. The Washington company sold the Forces a device that allows a soldier to speak a common English phrase into a headset and a translation booms out of an ammo clip-sized speaker. Canadian Forces spokesman Lt. Adam Thomson declined to comment on the purchase.

The dearth of Canadian troops with first-hand knowledge of Afghanistan's culture and languages is troubling, said Wahid Monawar, consul general of Afghanistan's consulate in Toronto. As many as 70,000 Afghans live in Greater Toronto, he said, adding many are unemployed or working in low-income jobs and would probably be receptive to the Canadian Forces.

The Sabawoon Afghan Family Education and Community Centre in Scarborough held a career day in August and invited the Canadian military. The invitation was accepted, but the military failed to show and offered no explanation
More on link

Warlord Hekmatyar Tells Germans To Get Out Of Afghanistan
January 14th 2007 by News Staff
Article Link

In an interview published in the German media Sunday, former Afghan prime minister and powerful warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to withdraw German troops from Afghanistan. 

"We had hoped from the German chancellor that she wouldn't sacrifice German sons for American interests," said the warlord, who has gone into hiding and who has called for a "holy war" against all foreign troops in Afghanistan, in an online interview with stern.de. 

"Unfortunately she has not done it. Withdraw your troops from Afghanistan!" Hekmatyar said. 

Hekmatyar added that the US government has started "a dangerous game" with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

"With close to one-and-a-half billion Muslims who are prepared to sacrifice their lives for Islam, it is no easy game. If they kill some, then many others will grow from them to carry on the fight," Hekmatyar said. 

The US had failed in Afghanistan and was not in the position to check the resistance of the radical Islamists, he said. 

"It seems to me that the conditions are the same as at the time when the Soviet Union decided to leave Afghanistan," Hekmatyar said. 

Hekmatyar said that his militant group had no organizational connection to the Taliban or to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. 

The radical Islamic fighters had to support anyone "who fights against the occupiers and who would like to set up an Islamic state in a free Afghanistan," he said. 

Stern.de said that the questions for the interview had been sent to the warlord in written form in advance and that he had then recorded the answers on video and sent them back.
End

ROUNDUP: British Soldier, 30 Taliban Killed In Southern Afghanistan
January 14th 2007 by News Staff
Article Link

Afghan and British forces attacked an insurgent compound in southern Afghanistan, leaving one British soldier and 30 Taliban dead and 20 rebels wounded, officials said Sunday. 

The operation supported by air forces started on Saturday morning in the Kajaki district of southern Helmand province, provincial spokesman, Gholum Nabi Mullahkhail, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 

Mullahkhail said that 30 Taliban fighters were killed and some 20 wounded, but a British spokesman merely confirmed the firefight and said that there were "Taliban fatalities" but could not confirm the exact number. 

The spokesman also said that one British soldier was killed in the firefight which marked the first western soldier killed in Afghanistan this year. 

The spokesman explained that British forces conducted a "deliberate operation" supported by a contingent of Afghan Army forces and NATO air forces on Saturday morning on a compound in the north of Kajaki district from where the British base had been attacked regularly by mortars for the past several days. 

Saturday's attack was a continuation of an operation that started last week and was aimed at clearing the area out of insurgents and allowing a safe passage for contractors who were repairing Kajaki's dam, the spokesman said. 

He said that after the completion of the project, 1.8 million people in the region would benefit from electricity generated by the dam. 

Over 5,000 British forces are deployed to Afghanistan, the majority stationed in the volatile Helmand province the rest based in the capital Kabul. 

In other news, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled vest near some foreign contractors in southern Afghanistan Sunday, wounding one civilian, a provincial official said. 

The incident happened at 8:30 a.m. in Qalat, the capital city of the southern Zabul province when a vehicle from a foreign construction company was passing by, Golub Shah Alikhail said. 

Alikhail said that the attacker was blown to pieces. Only one civilian passerby was slightly injured and was in stable condition in a local hospital, he said. 

He did not identify the company, but a witness said the vehicle belonged to Contrack International, a US-based construction and logistics company. 

The attack came two days after another suicide attack against foreign targets south of capital Kabul that wounded one US citizen and two Afghan colleagues. The attacker died. 

Over 120 suicide attacks occurred in Afghanistan in 2006, killing hundreds of Afghan civilians and over a dozen international troops. 

In another incident, a border police vehicle in Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province struck a roadside mine on Saturday, wounding two police constables, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. 

The spokesman blamed Taliban rebels for planting the mine in the district bordering Pakistan.
End


----------



## GAP (15 Jan 2007)

*Articles 15 January, 2006*

British soldier killed in Afghanistan during attack on insurgent base
15.01.07 
Article Link

Another British serviceman has been killed in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. 

The Ministry of Defence said the soldier was taking part in an attack on an insurgent base in the troubled southern province when he died, Nato officials said

A spokesman for the MoD said it was "with profound regret that we must confirm the death of a British serviceman in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

"Next of kin are in the process of being informed," he said.

The soldier is the second British serviceman to die in the country in the past three days after 21-year-old Royal Marine Thomas Curry, from east London, was killed during a battle to clear Taliban positions on Saturday. Two NATO soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year.

Several other soldiers were wounded in the fighting in Helmand province, NATO said.

"Close air support was requested and targeted the insurgents," who had attacked the NATO troops from various positions, it said.

Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.
More on link

NATO soldier dead after fight with Taliban
Updated Mon. Jan. 15 2007 7:23 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

One western soldier is dead and several others are wounded after NATO forces attacked a rebel base in southern Afghanistan on Monday, confirmed an alliance spokesperson. 

The soldiers were attacking the base when they were "engaged from several insurgent positions,'' NATO said. 

The rebel fighters were later bombed by aircraft. 

A Canadian military spokesperson has confirmed that the dead soldier is not a Canadian.

However, the nationalities of the soldiers have not been released. No details were given regarding the rebel casualties. 

Roadside bomb attack 

In a separate incident, two NATO soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb attack, southwest of Kandahar. 

The blast struck a convoy of soldiers in Sanzary, near the Panjwaii district. 

The injured soldiers were not Canadian, confirmed Lieut. Sue Stefko, a spokesperson for the Canadian Forces. 

The wounded are believed to be American soldiers. 


Stefko said Canadian troops did provide a security cordon after the blast as they were operating in the area. 
More on link

Two NATO troops wounded in roadside blast in southern Afghanistan
January 15, 2007 - 3:53 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Two NATO soldiers have been wounded in a roadside bomb attack, southwest of Kandahar.

The blast hit a convoy of soldiers in Sanzary, near the Panjwaii district. Lieut. Sue Stefko, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces, says the injured were not Canadian. Although she could not confirm it, the wounded are believed to be American soldiers. Stefko said Canadian troops are operating in the area and provided a security cordon after the explosion. They also helped evacuate the injured.

The two wounded troops were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, said Squadron Leader David Marsh, a spokesman for the NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan.

Militants often use remote controlled explosive devices in their fight against foreign and Afghan security forces.

The level of violence has gone down recently during Afghanistan's winter, but in 2006 the country went through its most violent period since the ouster of Taliban in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
More on link

Afghanistan tops agenda as new U.S. defence secretary visits NATO
Canadian Press Monday, January 15, 2007
Article Link

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - New U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates was making his first visit to NATO headquarters Monday with Afghanistan topping an agenda that also includes the crisis in Darfur and fears of renewed tension in Kosovo. 

Alliance officials will be keen to hear if U.S. plans to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq will lead to reductions in the American contribution to the NATO-led military mission in Afghanistan, which currently numbers around 32,000 troops. 

The United States has about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half serving with the NATO force, while the rest run a separate counterterrorism operation. 

In London, on the first leg of his European visit on Sunday, Gates stressed the importance of Afghanistan. 

"My first priority is making sure that we preserve the gains that we achieved in Afghanistan, and then talking about the way forward in Iraq," he told reporters travelling with him. He said he would be travelling to Afghanistan "in a few days." 

A senior official on Gates' flight to London said the defence secretary wanted to consult with Afghan officials and U.S. commanders there to see if they had adequate resources at a time when some fear that Afghanistan is in danger of reverting to a haven for terrorists. 
More on link

30 militants killed in Afghanistan
Jan 14, 2007 - 6:31:17 PM   
Article Link

More than 200 militants, according to officials, have been killed so far this year.  

By Xinhua, [RxPG] Kabul, Jan 14 - Afghan and NATO forces killed 30 Taliban in the troubled Helmand province of south Afghanistan, provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil said here Sunday.

'In an operation launched by Afghan and NATO troops against insurgents in Kajaki district Saturday, 30 enemies were killed and 20 others were wounded,' said Mullahkhil. 

The operation was carried out in the wake of militant's attack and the killing of a NATO soldier in the restive province. 

Meantime, Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi disputed the claim, saying militants in the engagement had killed three NATO and Afghan soldiers, injuring eight others. 

Militancy has been on rise as three bomb attacks shocked Qalat and Spin Boldak towns in the south and Mimana in northwest of post-Taliban Afghanistan in a single day on Sunday. 
More on link

Afghanistan: Major Battle Reignites Pakistan Border Controversy 
Monday , 15 January 2007
Article Link


Afghanistan saw its bloodiest battle in months overnight when NATO and Afghan troops spotted two groups of militants mainly within Pakistan and then tracked them as they crossed into Afghanistan's southeastern Paktika Province. 

The NATO alliance says as many as 150 insurgents were killed during an overnight battle in southeastern Afghanistan after the insurgents crossed into the country from neighboring Pakistan.

Infiltration From Pakistan 

NATO spokesman Major Dominic Whyte told RFE/RL that both NATO and Afghan government troops witnessed two groups of militants concentrating inside of Pakistan. He says the militants were tracked from the air and by ground forces as they crossed the border into the Bermel district of Afghanistan's Paktika Province.

"It's very unusual to have had so many insurgents gather into one place on the other side of the border and then to cross over. So one assumes that they had commanders.""It's very unusual to have had so many insurgents gather into one place on the other side of the border and then to cross over. So one assumes that they had commanders.""Initial battle damage estimates indicate that as many as 150 insurgents were killed," he said. "The insurgents were observed congregating together in a large number in several trucks and they were armed and appeared to be gathering for a potential attack. The insurgents had been observed gathering in Pakistan itself and, indeed, had actually crossed the border [into Afghanistan.]"
More on link

Tributes to soldier killed in Afghanistan
By Ruth Holmes
Article Link

Thomas Curry is the 45the member of the British forces to die in Afghanistan. 
TRIBUTES have been paid to a member of the Royal Marines who died in action in Afghanistan on Saturday.

His regiment, the 42 Commando Royal Marines, was involved in an operation to defend the Kajaki hydroelectric dam, which was built to provide power across southern Afghanistan.

'Courageous' 

The soldier had been "courageously" leading his comrades from the front when he came under fire, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) said.

His Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Matt Holmes Royal Marines, said: "Tom died displaying the qualities so typical of him, which had rapidly earned him the respect of his colleagues.

"He was at the front, courageously closing with the enemy, with no thought for his own safety, just that of his colleagues who were close by."
More on link


Rome to host international conference on Afghanistan in the spring  
The Associated Press Monday, January 15, 2007 
Article Link

Foreign donors and international organizations will gather in Rome in the spring for a summit on Afghanistan, Italy's Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The ministry confirmed a report in daily Corriere della Sera, which quoted Undersecretary Gianni Vernetti as saying in Kabul that the summit had been agreed upon in meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Tom Koenigs, the U.N.'s special representative to Afghanistan, and was scheduled for early April. Karzai is also scheduled to visit Rome on Feb. 16, Corriere said.

Vernetti said the conference will focus on security, justice and law issues, as well as efforts to combat drug trafficking in what is the world's biggest producer of opium.
More on link

Gates Talks With British Allies About Afghanistan, Iraq  
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press ServiceLondon, Jan. 14, 2007 
Article Link

 Continued progress in Afghanistan and details of President Bush’s new way forward in Iraq were the topics of discussion today as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates met with British leaders here.  

Recognizing Britain’s tremendous contributions to the war on terror, Gates met with Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street and Defense Minister Des Browne at the Lancaster House here. 

The British have more than 7,000 troops in Iraq and more than 5,000 in Afghanistan. Over the weekend, British forces lost soldiers in both Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Gates said in his previous government service he had a good, close working relationship with America’s British allies and that he looks forward to the same sort of relationship as defense secretary. 

The secretary, who announced during a short statement following his meeting with Browne that he will travel to Afghanistan in a few days, wants to speak with British and NATO leaders about what the allies there can do to thwart the Taliban’s threatened spring offensive, a senior defense official said on background. Gates also wants to discuss what further steps can be taken to strengthen the Afghan government, the official said. 

Gates wants to make sure NATO stays on top of the situation in Afghanistan. The Afghan people and the allies have “had a real victory there,” and “don’t want to – through negligence – see the situation deteriorate,” the official said. 

There is a threat of a Taliban offensive against Afghan and NATO forces. Recently, Afghan and NATO forces killed more than 150 Taliban fighters trying to come into Afghanistan from Pakistan. Officials said they see a “fair amount” of Taliban activity in the southern portion of Afghanistan. And historically, the Afghans fight in the spring, summer and fall and regroup during the very harsh winter. 

Although the Taliban suffered severe setbacks in 2006, there was a higher level of activity and violence during the year, the official said. “We just want to ensure we can put them back in the box,” he said. 
More on link

Reform Association Works With Coalition to Promote Afghan Reconstruction  
American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2007
Article Link

 Coalition representatives met Jan. 12 with members of the newly formed Khost Reform Association at a forward base in Khost province, Afghanistan, to discuss the group’s focus on national unity and reconstruction. 
The association was formed in November 2006, founded by retired military commanders, university professors and former provincial governor. Its goal is to increase cooperation, education and reconstruction throughout Khost province. 

Association officials said the organization will accept people from any religious or ethnic background, as long as they support democracy, desire to help reconstruct Afghanistan and do not participate in terrorist, antigovernment or anti-coalition activities. 

“Scholars only join the academic groups. Only mullahs join the mullah groups. The former mujahideen have their groups, but only former mujahideen join,” said Fazil Jan, the association’s chief, former governor of Helmand province and now a university professor. “Anybody can join us; our organization does not have a flavor of politics.” 

Coalition officials say they welcome the desire these Afghan citizens have taken to help secure their country’s future. 

“The meeting was a productive discussion between a diverse group of people who want to help rebuild Afghanistan,” said Col. Tom Collins, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan spokesman. “These gentlemen offer a clear indication that the Afghan people are willing to put aside differences to work for the future of Afghanistan through education and reconstruction.” 

Wazir Badshah, a university professor, noted that democracy in Afghanistan will take time until people are educated enough to defend themselves. He said the people of Khost “are very upset” about suicide bombers being trained to carry out attacks against their citizens. Only education, reconstruction and jobs can counter such extremism, he said. 
More on link

Advances Have Cut Combat Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan
Article Link

Newswise — Advances in several different areas—including armored vests and other protective gear, streamlined systems for evacuation and casualty management, and new medical approaches—have combined to produce significant improvement in the chances of survival for U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Special Editorial in the November/December issue of The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

For soldiers injured in combat today, the survival rate is 90 percent or higher—a significant improvement even since the Gulf War in the early 1990s, according to Col. W. Bryan Gamble, M.D., Commander of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Dr. Gamble credits advances in three key areas with improving the outcomes of combat injuries:
• Personal Protective Equipment: Incorporated into vests, new composite material plates are capable of stopping high-velocity rounds, making previously fatal chest wounds survivable. Standard equipment for each solider now includes an individual "one-handed" tourniquet, allowing prompt action to reduce blood loss. New bandages impregnated with clotting products are also being used to stop bleeding from severe injuries.
• Casualty Treatment and Evacuation: Forward Surgical Teams provide life-saving surgical treatment, often reaching injured personnel within minutes. In addition to saving soldiers who would otherwise bleed to death, the rapid response provided by these teams sets the stage for further damage control, surgery, and rehabilitation.
Once their condition has stabilized, casualties are efficiently and systematically transferred to the next level of care and more specialized treatment. Critical Care Air Transport Teams provide rapid evacuation of injured personnel—most reach Landstuhl within 24 hours, and are on their way to U.S. military treatment facilities within 48 to 72 hours.
• Medical Care Advances: Specific medical advances include "directed and purposeful" use of blood products, measures to protect against hypothermia, aggressive surgery to prevent damaging compartment syndromes, and improvements in ventilator design and technology. Weekly video teleconferences allow close and ongoing communication between doctors on the battlefield, at Landstuhl, and in U.S. treatment facilities. In addition, a trauma registry system has been set up to record and analyze the types of injuries that occur, thus allowing improvements in management.
More on link

Peace Still Elusive After Five Years in Afghanistan
Article Link

German soldiers began patrolling the streets of Kabul as part of the UN's peacekeeping mission on Jan. 14, 2002. Five years later, the Bundeswehr is still active in Afghanistan and peace seems far off.

Representatives from four of Afghanistan's political groups met with United Nations officials outside Bonn on Nov. 27, 2001 to discuss democratic reconstruction in the war-torn country. The following week, the group of diplomats signed the Bonn agreement, setting the future course for the international cooperation in Afghanistan.

The architects of the treaty agreed it was impossible to attain stability without international involvement. 

While the US-led mission Enduring Freedom was conceived primarily to counter the Taliban militias and the al Qaeda terror organization, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was put in place by the UN in late December 2001 to contribute to security in Kabul and surrounding areas. 

Mission expanded, mandate extended

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:  Thirty-seven countries have sent soldiers to be part of ISAF
At the outset, ISAF was comprised of 4,000 soldiers from 18 countries, including Germany, and mandated for one year. 
The residents of Kabul had lived with violence for years and many were ambivalent toward the ISAF mission, which quickly extended its initial mandate. 

"My feeling was that the international community had decided to put an end to the continuous war in Afghanistan," Karim Wahidi, a civil servant in Kabul, said about the first ISAF troops in Kabul. "We were hopeful that we would never see the war criminals in power again." 
More on link

Paintball ranges used to prepare for Afghanistan
Nelson Wyatt Canadian Press Sunday, January 14, 2007
Article Link

MONTREAL -- Most people see a day at the paintball range as a bit of recreational fun, but for Canadian troops it's a deadly serious tool to prepare them to fight Taliban insurgents in war-torn Afghanistan.

All major militaries, including U.S. and British forces, have used training on paintball ranges to supplement combat training for their soldiers for the past few years.

Canada has facilities on its bases but in recent months soldiers in Quebec turned to a public range because the ramped up intensive training schedule and the number of troops getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan had tied up the military ranges.

The Valcartier, Que.,-based members of the Royal 22nd Regiment turned to a civilian range near Trois-Rivieres, Que., in November because it had a variety of both forest and urban-type settings.

Capt. Sebastien Hebert, who is the training officer for 5 Service Battalion, said another paintball session is being considered for this month although that would be done at a Canadian Forces facility. More traditional training follows.

"It's two sequences of training," Hebert explained. "After they do the paintball training, they do the exact same thing firing live weapons."

A first group of 300 support troops - cooks, administrative staff, truck drivers and maintenance workers - went through November's session
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Pakistan's PM denies country is al-Qaeda haven
Associated Press
Article Link


Washington — Pakistan's prime minister on Sunday rejected claims by the U.S. intelligence chief that al-Qaeda leaders have secure hide-outs in his country.

Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan aggressively was fighting terrorism and committed to hunting down members of Osama bin Laden's network.

“Any doubts about Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorism, we totally reject,” Mr. Aziz said.

National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told a Senate committee last week that leaders of both al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia are finding shelter in Pakistan's lawless frontier areas.
More on link


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## NL_engineer (16 Jan 2007)

Pakistan Strikes Alleged Al Qaeda Camps

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/16/terror/main2360217.shtml



> he Pakistani military launched a missile strike Tuesday against three suspected al Qaeda hideouts in a remote region along the Afghan border, using missiles and helicopter gun-ships to bombard a group of 25-30 militants.
> 
> The attack was the most intensive of its kind this year, and drew immediate suspicion from western diplomats who questioned the timing — on the heels of top U.S. officials voicing concerns over Pakistan’s failure to go after militants in the region.
> 
> ...


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## GAP (16 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 16 January, 2007*

Afghan civilians stop terror attack at U.S. base
POSTED: 2229 GMT (0629 HKT), January 16, 2007 
Article Link
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two civilians thwarted an attempted terrorist attack Tuesday when a vehicle loaded with explosives attempted to crash through the front gate of a U.S. base in the Afghan capital, according to the U.S. military.

The two men, an interpreter and a security guard, dragged the apparent suicide bomber from the vehicle before he could detonate explosives, said Col. Tom Collins, the chief spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

"I think it's a pretty amazing and heroic event," Collins said.

He said that at about 9 a.m. Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET Monday) a driver crashed his vehicle into Camp Phoenix, the base where the Afghan National Army and police are trained. The driver reached for what appeared to be a cord to detonate a bomb, he said. 

"Amazingly, a couple of Afghans who just happened to be on the scene there realized what was happening," Collins said.
More on link


UPDATE: Bomb defused at Finnish base in Afghanistan
16.1.2007 at 10:39
Article Link

A bomb attack against a military base in Afghanistan housing Finnish peacekeepers was foiled on Monday.

The peacekeepers said Tuesday the bomb, consisting of a 150mm artillery round hooked to a timer, was discovered in time and defused.

"The shell would certainly have damaged the base's wall if it had exploded, but it is unlikely that anybody would have been wounded," Lieutenant-Colonel Veli-Matti Rintala, the deputy head of the Finnish Defence Forces international centre, told the Finnish News Agency 

The incident occurred at the Maimana base in northern Afghanistan a day before Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian foreign minister, was scheduled to visit the base. Mr Store's visit is to go ahead as planned on Tuesday.

Some 200 Finnish, Latvian and Norwegian troops, all part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), are housed at the base in Maimana.
End

Pakistan strikes Taliban, al Qaeda camp
By Kamran Haider  |  January 16, 2007
Article Link

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Pakistan army launched an air strike on Tuesday killing up to 25 to 30 militants living at a camp close to the Afghan border, in a tribal region regarded as a hotbed of support for the Taliban and al Qaeda.

"The operation was carried out at around 6:55 a.m. (0155 GMT) in Zamzola in South Waziristan, based on information that 25 to 30 miscreants, including foreigners were present there," Major General Shaukat Sultan, Pakistan's military spokesman, said.

Sultan said there was a precision air strike, and helicopter gunships mopped up. No ground troops were used. A military statement later said three out of a cluster of five mud-walled compounds housing the militants were destroyed.

"I can't tell you the exact number of casualties, but most of them were killed," Sultan said.

The attack came hours after Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

A resident of Zamzola raised the possibility that U.S. drone aircraft helped identify the target in the forested mountains, 60 km (40 miles) north of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, and close to the boundary with Afghanistan and North Waziristan.

"It is a small forest where the bombing took place. We noticed a drone hovering early in the morning and then a few helicopters came and bombed three houses there," villager Mohammad Ali told Reuters.

A Reuters reporter in North Waziristan saw seven helicopters including at least two U.S.-built Cobras leave from Tochi Fort's helipad in Miranshah less than an hour before the attack and returned shortly after.

An intelligence official in Wana, South Waziristan's administrative headquarters, said 10 bodies had been found at the attack site, two of them appeared to be local men but the others were too badly damaged to identify.
More on link



Foreign Minister Gahr Stoere visits Afghanistan
16.01.2007 07:51 
Article Link

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere on Tuesday began a three-day visit to Afghanistan, for talks with Afghan authorities and international representatives.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister will meet President Hamid Karzai, Foreign Minister Dr Rangeen Dadfar Spanta and other central ministers of the Afghan government. 
He will also have talks with leaders of NATO's ISAF force. 

In addition, Stoere will visit the Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), part of the regional stabilizing force, stationed at Maimana in Northern Afghanistan, as well as a Dutch PRT unit in Southern Afghanistan, both PRTs are integrated in the ISAF force. 

In connection with the visits to the PRTs, Stoere will also meet representatives of local authorities. 

An explosives charge was on Monday discovered on the outside of the wall surrounding the Norwegian PRT camp at Maimana. 

The charge was rendered harmless by bomb disposal experts. 

The incident is not tied to the Norwegian Foreign Minister's visit. 
More on link

Taliban step up cross-border attacks-U.S. military
16 Jan 2007 08:43:05 GMT Source: Reuters By Andrew Gray
Article Link

KABUL, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Taliban fighters have stepped up attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan and are taking advantage of a deal between the Pakistani government and local tribes that was billed as an effort to reduce the threat, U.S. military officials said on Tuesday.

U.S. officials also say the commanders of Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency reside in Pakistan. The Taliban were resurgent in 2006, increasing attacks on NATO troops and Afghan government forces.

"Our military relations, our dialogue between Afghanistan, NATO, the United States and Pakistan is good but I'd also emphasise that we do have a challenge right now with command and control of the Taliban forces that has to be addressed," said Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates began a visit to Afghanistan on Monday, aiming to ensure military commanders have the resources to counter an expected spring offensive by the Taliban.

"The enemy does use both sides of the border, they use the inside of Pakistan as well for command and control," Eikenberry told reporters travelling with Gates.

"And they have senior leaders that operate on both sides."

Pakistan sealed an agreement in early September with tribes in the area of North Waziristan under which Pakistani troops would withdraw to garrisons on the understanding the tribes would not tolerate incursions into Afghanistan.
More on link

U.S. military moves linked to Iran threat
By Robert Burns The Associated Press Article Launched: 01/16/2007 01:00:00 AM MST
Article Link

Brussels, Belgium - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that new U.S. military moves in the Persian Gulf were prompted in part by signals from Iran that it sees the United States as vulnerable in Iraq. 

"The Iranians clearly believe that we are tied down in Iraq, that they have the initiative, that they are in a position to press us in many ways," Gates told reporters at NATO headquarters before flying to Kabul, Afghanistan, to meet with President Hamid Karzai and visit U.S. soldiers and commanders. 

It was Gates' first trip to Afghanistan since he took over for Donald Rumsfeld last month. He had said several times recently that he is worried that U.S. gains in stabilizing Afghanistan could be in jeopardy as the radical Taliban movement makes a comeback in some parts of the country, particularly the south. 

In Brussels, Gates indicated that Iran's perception of U.S. vulnerability was part of the reason the Pentagon decided last week to send a second aircraft carrier battle group and a Patriot anti- missile battalion to the Persian Gulf area. Patriots defend against shorter-range missiles of the type that Iran could use to target U.S. forces in the area. 

The second aircraft carrier gives the U.S. more flexibility and serves as a reminder of U.S. firepower
More on link

AFGHANISTAN: MORE AID TO 15,000 FAMILIES DISPLACED IN SOUTH
Kabul, 16 Jan. (AKI) 
Article Link

United Nations agencies have launched a month long emergency operation to provide humanitarian aid to more than 15,000 Afghan families displaced by the insurgency in Kandahar province. "We are glad to report that this operation is currently running smoothly and there have been no security or weather concerns so far," UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) spokesman Aleem Siddique told a news briefing in Kabul, the capital, on Monday. 

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing nearly 1,500 tons of mixed foods including wheat, rice, cooking oil and pulses, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the intergovernmental International Organisation for Migration (IOM) are providing 4,000 blankets, 2,000 plastic sheets, and 2,000 family kits with cooking stoves, kerosene lamps and other cooking utensils. 

Also on Monday, UNHCR announced that, together with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, it had helped over 1 million returned refugees to build their own homes since 2002, as part of initial reintegration efforts to help the most vulnerable returnees. 

Since Afghan voluntary repatriation started in 2002, more than 160,000 returnee families have received UNHCR construction kits and have completed building their homes. Despite security constraints in the south and south-eastern provinces, UNHCR has provided more than 24,000 shelter units to build homes for nearly 170,000 Afghans. Some 18,000 shelters countrywide were completed ahead of winter in 2006 alone. 

Overall some 4.7 million Afghans, who fled the country during more than two decades of Soviet occupation and subsequent factional fighting, have returned home since the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime in 2001. There are still an estimated 3.5 million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan.
More on link

Sen. Clinton: More forces needed in Afghanistan 
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes Tuesday, January 16, 2007 
Article Link


LANDSTUHL, Germany — U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Monday that Afghanistan has made some progress, but the country is “tottering” and needs more troops to finish off Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

Clinton, D-N.Y., was in Germany on Monday with Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and U.S. Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., after traveling to Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan over the weekend.

The congressional delegation met with wounded servicemembers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and Ramstein Air Base before heading back to the United States. 

“I’m encouraged by the progress in Afghanistan, but Afghanistan is tottering,” Clinton said. “We’ve got to get more support there to make sure we try to finish off the Taliban and al-Qaida that are regrouping, coming across the border. We expect a big spring offensive.”
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US Warns of Spring Taliban Offensive in Afghanistan  
Josh Pringle Monday, January 15, 2007 
Article Link

The US military is warning Taliban militants will be going after the "Holy Grail" in Afghanistan this spring. 

American commanders in Afghanistan and the Pentagon say Kandahar will be the central objective of an anticipated spring offensive by militants. 

But the senior Canadian commander in Afghanistan doesn't believe the province of Kandahar will see the brunt of a spring offensive if one materializes. 

Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant admits Canadian and NATO officials haven't seen the end of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. 

Last fall, Canadian troops led a major offensive to break the back of militant strength in the farmland west of Kandadar. 

Grant says the success of Operation Medusa "dealt some severe blows to the senior leadership of the Taliban in this province, so from that standpoint it will take them some time to recuperate." 
More on link

Pakistan air raid on 'militants'  
Article Link

The Pakistani army says it has carried out air strikes on camps used by militants in the tribal area of South Waziristan near the Afghanistan border. 
Army spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said most of the 25-30 militants in the camps had been killed. 

The army had used combat helicopters to attack the camps in the Zamzola area in South Waziristan, he said. 

Much of the border region is outside government control and is believed to be a base for al-Qaeda and its leaders. 

'Survivors'  

The army carried out the operation in South Waziristan early on Tuesday after receiving information that militants were hiding in five mud-walled compounds, Maj Gen Sultan said. 

"We believe most of them were killed, but we don't have a body count," he said. 

He said the militants included some foreigners, but "no high-value target was believed to be there". 

Eyewitnesses say 10 bodies have been dug up so far. Three of them have been identified as local Mahsud tribesmen. 

At least six other bodies have been identified as those of Afghan nationals, administration officials in South Waziristan say. 

Other bodies are unidentifiable as they have been so badly mutilated in the attack. 

Witnesses say that between eight to 10 people appear to have survived the attack with injuries, but no other details are available at the moment.
More on link

Afghanistan: Aid for Stepped Up Displaced Families
Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 3:29 pm Press Release: United Nations  
Article Link

Afghanistan: UN Agencies Step Up Aid for 15,000 Families Displaced by Fighting in South
New York, Jan 15 2007 6:00PM

United Nations agencies have launched a month long emergency operation to provide humanitarian aid to more than 15,000 Afghan families displaced by the insurgency in Kandahar province. 

“We are glad to report that this operation is currently running smoothly and there have been no security or weather concerns so far,” UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) spokesman Aleem Siddique told a news briefing in Kabul, the capital, today. 

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing nearly 1,500 tons of mixed foods including wheat, rice, cooking oil and pulses, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the intergovernmental International Organisation for Migration (IOM) are providing 4,000 blankets, 2,000 plastic sheets, and 2,000 family kits with cooking stoves, kerosene lamps and other cooking utensils. 
More on link

Soldier dies in Afghanistan in attack on insurgent base  
By Emily Beament, PA Published: 16 January 2007 
Article Link

A Royal Marine was killed today during a mission to oust Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said. 

The serviceman, from 45 Commando Royal Marines, died during an operation targeting known Taliban positions and firing points near Garmsir in Helmand province, the MoD said.

Nato officials said soldiers were attacking a militant base when they were "engaged from several insurgent positions".

He is the second British serviceman to die in the country in the past three days, after 21-year-old Royal Marine Thomas Curry, from east London, was killed during a battle to clear Taliban positions on Saturday.

Commander of the UK Task Force in Afghanistan Brigadier Jerry Thomas said the latest death occurred during a "substantial" and "important" operation, and that his thoughts were with the serviceman's family.

"Sadly, one of our marines was killed during an important operation in southern Helmand.
More on link

Blood in the Snow: The Taliban’s ‘Winter Offensive’
Afgha.com By Matt DuPee and Haroon Azizpour
Article Link

The infamous Afghan winter has long served as the logical pausing point in country-wide conflict ever since warfare first graced this mighty mountainous nation. 

Incredible snowstorms sometimes dump 11 feet of fresh snow on mountain passes making them impractical to forge without camel trains and infallible mountain winds coupled with subzero temperatures make flying aircraft over the mountain passes unbelievably treacherous. These attributes plagued both sides in the Soviet/Afghan war and during the current ‘War on Terrorism’ conflict. 

On the indigenous Afghan fighting side, the harsh winters typically slowed the pace and intensity of combat and allowed volunteer fighters to return home for a few months while others sought refuge in milder areas of Pakistan. Still, some stuck it out in the mountains and barely made it by.

Since the US invasion in October of 2001, this tradition largely remained in tact, sending fighters back over the border into Pakistan to focus on strategy and recruitment efforts. This year’s momentous ‘spring offensive’ has delivered a typhoon of violence across the entire southern and eastern areas of the country; making it the deadliest year since the Taliban's ouster.

The momentum of violence caught NATO by surprise and left British positions besieged for most of the summer. Once again Afghanistan captured international headlines. The Taliban successfully exploited the fissures in the fragile NATO alliance by instituting an Iraqi-inspired wave of suicide attacks. One of the most dreaded and hardest attacks to thwart, the Taliban has struck at least 97 times this year alone with suicide bombings. Countries like Germany, Italy and Spain whose troops are positioned in relatively calm sectors in western and northern Afghanistan have blatantly refused to commit their troops to such violence plagued areas in the south. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (16 Jan 2007)

Ending an Opium War: Poppies and Afghan Recovery Can Both Bloom
_Washington Post_, Jan. 16, by Anne Applebaum
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011500967.html



> ...NATO is fighting a war to eradicate opium from Afghanistan. Allegedly, the goals this time around are different. According to the British government, Afghanistan's illicit drug trade poses the "gravest threat to the long term security, development, and effective governance of Afghanistan," particularly since the Taliban is believed to be the biggest beneficiary of drug sales. Convinced that this time they are doing the morally right thing, Western governments are spending hundreds of millions of dollars bulldozing poppy fields, building up counternarcotics squads and financing alternative crops in Afghanistan. Chemical spraying may begin as early as this spring...
> 
> ...At the moment, Afghanistan's opium exports account for somewhere between one-third and two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product, depending on whose statistics you believe. The biggest producers are in the southern provinces where the Taliban is at its strongest, and no wonder: Every time a poppy field is destroyed, a poor person becomes poorer -- and more likely to support the Taliban against the Western forces who wrecked his crops. Yet little changes: The amount of land dedicated to poppy production grew last year by more than 60 percent, as The Post reported last month...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## Colin Parkinson (16 Jan 2007)

Top Taleban spokesman 'arrested' 
Afghan intelligence agents say they have arrested a leading spokesman for the Taleban near the Pakistan border. 
Intelligence service spokesman Sayed Ansari named him as Dr Muhammad Hanif, who has been speaking for Afghanistan's former rulers since October 2005. 

Mr Ansari told the Associated Press the spokesman had been detained on Monday. He did not say where he is being held. 

Dr Hanif's capture, if confirmed, would be a notable success for the Afghan government as it battles the Taleban. 

The authorities say more than 3,500 people were killed in Afghanistan in 2006 as bombings by the Taleban and their allies and operations by Nato-led troops soared. 

'Confessed' 

Mr Ansari said Dr Hanif had been detained in the border town of Towr Kham in Nangarhar province soon after entering Afghanistan from Pakistan. 

Two others travelling with him were also apprehended. 

The spokesman first gave his name as Abdulhaq Haqiq, Mr Ansari said. 

"But during the investigations we discovered that he is Dr Hanif," he told AP. "He also confessed to it himself." 

Dr Hanif has been highly active over the past year, regularly e-mailing news organisations with the Taleban's versions of events in the east of the country. 

A man called Qari Mohammad Yousuf has performed similar functions for the Taleban in the south. 

The two men were appointed after the capture in Quetta, Pakistan, of former Taleban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi in October 2005. 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6267411.stm


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## tomahawk6 (16 Jan 2007)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070116/ap_on_re_as/us_afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - The top U.S. commander in 
Afghanistan said Tuesday he wants to extend the combat tours of 1,200 soldiers amid rising violence, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was "strongly inclined" to recommend a troop increase to 
President Bush if commanders believe it is needed. 

Gates also said Pakistan must act to stem an increasing flow of Taliban fighters into Afghanistan as U.S. military officials cited new evidence that the Pakistani military, which has long-standing ties to the Taliban movement, has turned a blind eye to the incursions.

The prospect of a troop increase in Afghanistan, at the same time Bush is ordering 21,500 more troops into 
Iraq, raises new questions about the military's ability to sustain its war-fighting on two major fronts. There now are about 24,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, which Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the senior American commander here, said is the highest since the war began in October 2001.

It also raises questions about the future course of the war in Afghanistan, which the United States is increasingly handing off to 
NATO forces. Of the 31,000 troops here under NATO command, about 11,000 are American. The United States has an additional 12,000 or 13,000 to hunt down al-Qaida terrorists and to train the Afghan army.

The number of insurgent attacks is up by 300 percent since September, when the Pakistani government put into effect a peace arrangement with tribal leaders in the north Waziristan area, along Afghanistan's eastern border, a U.S. military intelligence officer told reporters traveling with Gates. The officer discussed the matter on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Eikenberry told reporters he has recommended to the 
Pentagon that 1,200 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division — which is about halfway through a scheduled four-month tour in eastern Afghanistan — be ordered to stay through the end of the year.

That battalion is already scheduled to deploy to Iraq later this year, an illustration of how stretched U.S. forces are by the two wars.

Eikenberry, who is due to leave his post on Jan. 21, said it appears the Taliban is readying a spring offensive to focus mainly in areas of southern Afghanistan, particularly in the city of Kandahar and other urban centers. He also said he believed the Taliban would make renewed efforts to "get inside Kabul" and to attack border posts held by NATO and Afghan national forces.

He asserted that despite the Taliban's resurgence, "The enemy is not strong militarily. A lot of this has to do with the attempt to get psychological effects" — to persuade ordinary Afghans that the U.S.-backed government cannot deliver necessary services.

"Although it's going to be a violent spring and I would expect that we're going to have more violence into the summer, I'm absolutely confident that we're going to be able to dominate," Eikenberry said.

On his second overseas trip since taking over at the Pentagon last month, Gates was briefed on the problem of cross-border incursions by the Taliban and their use of havens in Pakistan to direct growing numbers of attacks across the border.

"The border area is a problem," Gates told a news conference after meeting with President Hamid Karzai. "There are more attacks coming across the border, (and) there are al-Qaida networks operating on the Pakistani side of the border. And these are issues that we clearly will have to pursue with the Pakistani government."

Karzai acknowledged the upswing in Taliban attacks and vowed to deal them a heavy blow in the months ahead.

The U.S. intelligence officer disclosed for the first time full-year statistics on insurgent attacks in Afghanistan. Suicide attacks in 2006 totaled 139, up from 27 in 2005, and the number of attacks with roadside bombs more than doubled, from 783 in 2005 to 1,677 last year. The number of what the military calls "direct attacks," meaning attacks by insurgents using small arms, grenades and other weapons, surged from 1,558 in 2005 to 4,542 last year.

The officer noted that some of the increase can be explained by the fact that U.S., NATO and Afghan forces conducted more offensive operations in more areas last year, but the officer said the insurgents also have begun to launch more sophisticated — and in some case, more coordinated — attacks.

The intelligence officer said U.S. forces have collected firsthand evidence of Taliban fighters crossing the border unimpeded virtually within shouting distance of a Pakistani-controlled border post that American forces call Red Castle.

U.S. troops at a nearby post known as Forward Operating Base Tillman contacted the Pakistanis at Red Castle numerous times to alert them to the Taliban moving on foot and to request they be stopped, but the Pakistanis did not act, two military intelligence officers said.

Such situations are common, one of the intelligence officers said. 

On a cold but mostly sunny afternoon, Gates flew by Black Hawk helicopter to the Tillman outpost, named for Pat Tillman, the Army Ranger and former pro football player who was killed by U.S. gunfire in a battle near the outpost in April 2004. An Army investigation concluded that U.S. soldiers shot Tillman after mistaking him for the enemy. 

Gates, dressed in a brown bomber jacket and tan slacks, shook hands with some of the 160 U.S. soldiers stationed at Tillman, which rests between a series of 6,000-foot mountain ridges. On the ground for only about 20 minutes, Gates was shown the view eastward, across the border, and then he climbed back into his chopper and flew to Kabul.


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## GAP (17 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 17 January, 2007*

NATO: Taliban commander captured
POSTED: 0629 GMT (1429 HKT), January 17, 2007 
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan troops and NATO forces captured a "prominent" Taliban commander in an overnight raid in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said Wednesday.

The Afghan National Police wanted to question the man "in relation to a large number of criminal acts," according to the statement released by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The operation took place in the Gereshk district of Helmand province.

"This seizure of a Taliban commander once again shows that there is nowhere to hide for insurgent leaders," said Regional Command-South Squadron Leader Dave Marsh. "Despite trying to hide within the community, he has been arrested without resistance."

The Associated Press further reported that the commander, whom NATO did not name, is the first Taliban leader captured by NATO-led and Afghan troops, and is wanted for questioning by Afghan security forces, NATO said in a statement. He managed to flee the latest offensive operation by Afghan and foreign security forces in the south, NATO said.

The operation came a day after Afghan agents arrested Mohammad Hanif, a purported militant spokesman, as he crossed through a border checkpoint from Pakistan.

Hanif, one of two spokesmen who often contacts journalists on behalf of the militia, was arrested at the border town of Torkham on Monday, said Sayed Ansari, the spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service. Two people traveling with him were also detained, he said.
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MARINE KILLED AS HE STORMS FANATICS' FORT 
17 January 2007 By James Lyons
Article Link

Scots-based soldier died a hero

A HERO Marine died leading a fearless assault on fanatics in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Mathew Ford, 30, showed "complete disregard for his own safety" as he took on the Taliban, commanders said.

He was involved in a major operation along with comrades from Arbroath-based 45 Commando.

His company stormed a terrorist fort near the frontier town of Garmsir in the lawless Helmand province.

They crossed a river under heavy fire in Viking armoured carriers before breaking into the walled compound.

There, the Marines were involved in furious close-quarters fighting.

Defence chiefs said Mathew "led his section with complete disregard for his own safety and was closing with the enemy when he was shot".

Commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Dewar said Mathew - who lived in Dundee with his fiancee Ina - was a "popular and gregarious young Royal Marine".

He added: "Professionalism, reliability, selflessness and his sharp wit marked him out from the crowd.
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British troops stage daring helicopter rescue in Afghanistan    
 London, Jan 17
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 Four British soldiers in Afghanistan strapped themselves to the wings of fast-moving apache attack helicopters in a daring attempt to rescue a comrade shot by the Taliban, the Defence Ministry said Wednesday. 

"This is believed to be the first time UK forces have ever tried this type of rescue mission ... It was an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery of our airmen, soldiers and marines who were all prepared to put themselves back into the line of fire to rescue a fallen comrade," said UK task force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rory Bruce. 

Royal Marine lance corporal Matthew Ford, 30, was shot yesterday when more than 200 British troops attacked the Islamist militia's Jugroom Fort in southern Helmand province. 

When Ford was discovered to be missing, the marines first planned a rescue attempt with armoured personnel carriers, but when the apaches became available they decided the fast attack helicopters provided the best opportunity to rescue him. 

But the helicopters can only carry a pilot and a gunner, although according to The Guardian newspaper there are attachments on the wings that soldiers can harness themselves to in emergencies. 

Two troops each were strapped to the wings of two apache helicopters, with a third apache and several ground units providing covering fire. 

After landing at the site of the earlier battle, the four soldiers found Ford dead, but were able to recover his body. 
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Blair signals UK will send more troops to Afghanistan
MICHAEL SETTLE, Chief UK Political Correspondent January 17 2007 
Article Link

The prospect of more British troops being sent to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan was signalled by Tony Blair yesterday.

The move followed an exclusive report in The Herald in which it was revealed that during a private meeting in No 10 on Sunday, Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, asked the Prime Minister for additional British forces to keep up the military momentum against the insurgents.

While Downing St had previously refused to comment on what it termed "private discussions", Mr Blair, in response to the reports about the request, said: "In respect of Afghanistan, it depends on what our military are saying to us. We take the decisions basically about the resource . . . but in terms of what is necessary to do the job in terms of force generation we very much take advice from the people on the ground, so it depends on what they come forward to us with."

continued...
He added at his monthly press conference: "It is very important that the Taliban are defeated. One of the reasons why these fights have been going on in past two days is precisely to degrade Taliban capability and are forces are doing a very good job."

Military sources have suggested that the US request could result in as many as 1000 extra British troops being sent to Afghanistan. If it happens, then it will put further pressure on a stretched - some say overstretched - army, which is already struggling to cope with a rolling deployment of 5800 soldiers to Afghanistan and 7100 to Iraq every six months.

The Americans have 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and are about to take command of all Nato forces, including the British, next month. The Pentagon is keen to reduce its commitment there to create reserves for Iraq.
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British Occupation Soldier, 13 Taliban Resistance Fighters Killed in Southern Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer Jan 16, 2007, 2:28 PM EST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- 
Article Link

AP Headline: Purported Taliban Spokesman Arrested 

Afghan intelligence agents arrested a purported Taliban spokesman after he crossed into the country from Pakistan, an agency official said Tuesday. Dr. Muhammad Hanif, who often contacted the news media claiming to speak for the hard-line militia, was arrested at the border town of Torkham on Monday, said Sayed Ansari, the spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service. Two people traveling with him were also detained. 

NATO-led occupation forces, meanwhile, thwarted a bombing Tuesday at their base in Kabul after a man with an explosive-laden car tried to enter, an alliance spokeswoman said. 

The bomber was arrested and NATO occupation forces ordnance experts destroyed the vehicle outside the base, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of alliance rules. 
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Pakistan army targets al-Qaida in Afghanistan
By Munir Ahmad, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, January 16, 2007 1:10 PM PST
Article Link 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's army destroyed suspected al-Qaida hideouts in an airstrike near the Afghan border today, killing 10 people, officials said.

The army and a senior local official said the dead were militants, and included some foreigners, but a resident said the slain men were Afghan laborers.

The raid in South Waziristan came days after the U.S. intelligence chief said leaders of both al-Qaida and Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia were finding shelter in Pakistan's lawless frontier areas.
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Afghan Army Making Tremendous Progress; Police Trail
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 16, 2007 – The Afghan National Army is making tremendous progress and is a factor on the battlefield, officials here said today. Progress has been slower for the country's national police, however.
Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, said that the progress of the army is truly impressive, particularly given the status of Afghanistan when officials began forming this force in 2002. 

Afghanistan had a 20 percent literacy rate, and the country had limited infrastructure and no political structures or army. 

“I was here in 2002-2003 when we began this process,” Eikenberry said. “I used the expression in 2003 that we, the United States, wanted the Afghan army more than the Afghans did. I came back in 2005, and I was using the expression that we wanted the army about as much as the Afghans did. 

“Now I will firmly tell you in 2007 that the Afghans want this army more than we do,” he continued. “And that’s the critical metric. We can help train and army, we can help equip an army, we can help build facilities for the army, but only the Afghan people can breathe a soul into that army.” 

The Afghan soldiers are resilient, and they believe in themselves, Eikenberry said. The soldiers believe in Afghanistan and realize they are working for their future.
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## GAP (19 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 19 January, 2007*

O'Connor gives troops an emotional send-off
Updated Fri. Jan. 19 2007 7:42 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Hundreds of soldiers and their families gathered at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown on Friday, for a patriotic pep rally that celebrated the military and its mission in Afghanistan before the troops depart for six months.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Canada's military leaders were on hand at the New Brunswick base to give the latest wave of troops headed for Afghanistan an emotional send-off.

O'Connor gave the crowd an rousing speech, saying the government is supporting the Afghan mission and that they are serving the needs of the people in that country.

"You are there so that women are not restricted to their homes, often without any means of support, so that public floggings and beheadings are not used to keep everybody in line. You are there because Afghans want a different future," he said.

The defence minister said the government has yet to decide whether Canada's contribution into the mission in Afghanistan will be extended beyond 2009.

"It depends on how much success we determine we've had there, whether there are other missions to do and the state of the Armed Forces,'' O'Connor said.

"We have to look at a whole lot of factors.''

O'Connor said that by 2009, the Afghan war will have cost Canada close to $4 billion.

But he dismissed claims the expenditure is emptying the military's coffers so that it cannot afford other commitments.
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*Afghanistan troop level at its limit: Gauthier*
Updated Fri. Jan. 19 2007 9:49 AM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Canada is likely to continue to boost its military commitment in southern Afghanistan over the coming months, but will not be increasing troop numbers, said Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier. 

Gauthier, who leads the Ottawa-based Canadian Expeditionary Force, said it's possible that more equipment will be sent over, such as artillery guns and even aircraft. 

But Gauthier, who is wrapping up a two-day visit with Canadian troops in Kandahar, said Canada won't be increasing the number of boots on the ground. 

"We're at about the limit of what we can sustain," said the officer, who reports to Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier. 

The news comes amid indications from U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates that the U.S. may add to the 24,000 American troops already stationed in Afghanistan. 

"I think it is important that we not let this success here in Afghanistan slip away from us and that we keep the initiative," Gates told reporters on Wednesday. "There's no reason to sit back and let the Taliban regroup." 

Gauthier welcomed the possibility of increased commitments from other NATO members. 

"More NATO troops, more Afghan troops, more Afghan National Police, less NATO caveats -- all those things, above all, determine the pace of progress, they don't determine whether we'll win," he said in Kandahar. 

Gauthier, who has travelled to Afghanistan on 15 occasions, said he has seen more evidence on this trip, than in all the previous visits, that the mission is progressing. 

CTV's Paul Workman, reporting from Kandahar, said Gauthier was impressed with the troops' commitment to the mission, despite the losses they have experienced. 

"Now, remember, of course, that the Canadians went through a very, very difficult time during the summer and during the fall, when a lot of soldiers were lost, a lot of soldiers were wounded," Workman told CTV's Canada AM. 
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Afghanistan's efforts to boost women falter
By Kim Barker Chicago Tribune Fri, Jan. 19, 2007
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan - Sharifa Hamrah does not go to work much anymore. Her job is just too dangerous, considering the rocket attacks, the threats on her life and the would-be suicide bomber who disguised himself as a woman in an attempt to get to her office.

She is no soldier. She carries no gun. Yet Hamrah, 48, a short woman with a sly smile and a head scarf, has become an unwilling participant in a war, a potential target like the other women who work for the Women's Affairs Ministry in Afghanistan.

"Our problem is we cannot go out," said Hamrah, who is head of women's affairs in troubled southern Paktika province but spends much of her time in Kabul. "We cannot go to the districts. We cannot go to the villages. We cannot talk to village elders. We cannot even talk to women."

The Women's Affairs Ministry, charged with defending women's rights in a country where they have few, cannot cite many accomplishments. It has no executive power. It cannot enforce any laws. But it has increased awareness of the problems women face, with anti-violence campaigns on radio and billboards. And it is now known as a place where women can vent their complaints, which is more than they could do during the harsh regime of the Taliban.

But the ministry, created by the post-Taliban government, is in trouble. The head of women's affairs in Kandahar province, who had criticized the Taliban's treatment of women, was gunned down in front of her home in September. Some women working for the department started staying home. And the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for that attack, is hardly the only threat.

In its last session, the fledgling Afghan parliament discussed dismantling or downgrading the Women's Affairs Ministry, saying it was not effective. The move to get rid of the ministry, along with others deemed unnecessary, failed late last year. But several members of parliament are threatening again to abolish the ministry in the upcoming session.

"It's not a good idea to have a ministry with a gender in the name," said Mohammed Khan, one of the parliament members who voted to get rid of it. "The Women's Affairs Ministry has not done anything so far. It's just for the name. It's nothing else."

After the Taliban regime fell in late 2001, Afghanistan's new government vowed to improve the lives of women. The Taliban forced women to quit their jobs and made them wear all-encompassing burqas when they left home.

But the Taliban was only the harshest embodiment of the oppression of women in Afghanistan. Under earlier regimes, women were considered subservient to men. Girls were forced to marry old men; outside of major cities, women did not work away from home.

Now, women have more freedom, more jobs. In the streets of Kabul, many women have stopped wearing burqas, favoring business jackets, long skirts and head scarves. They work in government offices. More than 25 percent of the parliamentary seats are reserved for women.
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AFGHANISTAN: CAPTURED SPOKESMAN REVEALS RIFTS WITHIN TALIBAN
Article Link  

Kabul, 19 Jan. (AKI) - The recent arrest of Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif, has led to further revelations about the divisions and differences within the Afghan militant group. According to Afghan security sources, cited in the Saudi newspaper 'al-Watan', after having revealed that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was living in the Pakistani city of Quetta under the protection of the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, Hanif has reportedly also explained the workings within the Taliban. 

According to the report, Hanif said that the Taliban is divided into three groups. The first group is made up of former members of the Taliban regime in Kabul who are fighting only to prevent from being caught and are probably not close to Mullah Omar. A second group, Hanif said, is composed of people linked to Islamic extremists in Pakistan and a third group is close to al-Qaeda and is said to be the most agressive and violent. 

It is not clear which group is close to Mullah Omar, but it also emerged that in the course of a war within the group, some important leaders or mullahs have been killed. 

Hanif also said that Mullah Omar ordered the killing of Mullah Dadallah accused of having indirectly helped the Americans of killing one of his adversaries last month, Mullah Othmani, among the most important military commanders within the Taliban, in the course of an attack in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. 

These internal divisions within the Taliban have added to the unprecedented level of violence and will also see a cross-section of revenge attacks being carried out. 

Hanif also admitted that the American pressure on the Pakistani government also led to the arrests of various Taliban leaders in the past few months.
End



Suicide bomber targets NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan, no troops hurt
The Associated PressPublished: January 19, 2007
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up next to a NATO convoy in southern Afghanistan Friday, an official said. No troops were hurt.

The blast occurred north of Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, said Mohammad Qasem, the provincial police chief.

The bomber was killed in the explosion, but there were no other casualties, he said.
End

Four Atlantic Canadian padres off to Afghanistan next month
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
Article Link 

It’s an old adage that there are no atheists in foxholes.

Four military padres from Atlantic Canada will get a chance to see whether that’s true when they head to Afghanistan next month. They’ll accompany 1,160 soldiers based in this region who will be part of Canada’s 2,500-member contingent in the devastated country. 

"Above all, the chaplain, as the sign of the divine presence, is a comfort for people," Brig.-Gen. Stan Johnstone, chaplain general of the Canadian Forces, said Thursday.

"Sometimes people say that they’re not religious. But the chaplain is above any particular sense of what people might call religious. We are representative of the divine, and people understand us that way."

Forty-four soldiers, including seven Nova Scotians, and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002. The majority of those casualties came last year, and some are now are expecting the Taliban to unleash another bloody campaign this spring in Kandahar, where the Canadians will be stationed.

"There’s a wide range of emotion that people feel on deployments," Brig.-Gen. Johnstone said.

"There’s tremendous stress, there’s a low-grade anxiety, I think, just being in a dangerous place surrounded by people who don’t particularly want you there. And it’s difficult to diffuse that. 
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Gates: Success Must Be Sustained in Afghanistan
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2007 – The U.S. must stay committed to Afghanistan and do what’s necessary to maintain the success that has been achieved there, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in Afghanistan yesterday. 
If U.S. commanders on the ground decide they need more troops to sustain that success, Gates said he would make that recommendation to President Bush. 

“I’ve been concerned in the short time I’ve been in this position, to ensure that the success that we have had in Afghanistan, together, remain success and not be challenged,” Gates said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “I think it’s important for us to take the initiative in dealing with security threats (and) that we act together on this.” 

Gates was in Afghanistan for a three-day trip to meet with commanders on the ground and hear their recommendations as they prepare for a possible Taliban resurgence in the spring. 

Gates said his meetings with U.S., NATO and Afghan officials were helpful. He also said he was impressed by the Afghan security forces he met earlier in the day. “The Afghan army is increasingly taking the lead in combat operations, and the force continues to grow in size, strength and confidence,” he said. 

The Afghan people have made significant progress in the years since they were under Taliban rule, Gates noted. Women who were once repressed are now serving in the parliament, helping decide the country’s future, and 80 percent of the Afghan people have access to health care. He said he is confident that the U.S., NATO and the Afghan people working together will continue to make progress. 

“We are helping rebuild a country and a society with roots stretching back to the beginning of human history,” he said. “The United States, members of NATO and other allies, and the Afghan people understand the importance of success here in Afghanistan. We have had much success; we must build on that and make it enduring.” 

Speaking at the news conference, Karzai said that U.S. and Afghan forces will be ready to deal with any potential Taliban resurgence in the spring 
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More evidence of Taliban leader hiding in Pakistan
January 19, 2007 edition
Article Link

A captured spokesman says Pakistan is harboring Mullah Omar, stirring international uproar.
By David Montero | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - Mullah Muhammed Omar, the Taliban's one-eyed leader, eluded capture when American bombs ended his fundamentalist regime in Afghanistan in 2001. But a new report of his location is stirring an international uproar.

A captured Taliban spokesman says Mr. Omar is hiding in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan Province, under the protection of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
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Seven killed in Afghanistan, 20 Taliban arrested
Article Link

KABUL: At least seven people were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan on Thursday. 

An Afghan district governor survived an assassination attempt blamed on Taliban insurgents on Thursday, while a suicide attacker blew himself up near an army patrol, killing a soldier, officials said. A bomb ripped through a vehicle carrying a district chief in the eastern province of Nangarhar, police said. Gunmen opened fire on the vehicle just after the blast. Mohammad Ali, the chief of Kama district, and his driver were wounded, provincial police spokesman Ghafoor Khan said. He blamed the attack on the Taliban. 

A man claiming to be a Taliban commander told police by telephone that the group was responsible. Meanwhile, a suicide attacker walked up to Afghan soldiers on foot patrol in the capital of the southeastern province of Paktika and blew himself up, provincial governor Mohammad Akram Khepelwak said. “One soldier was martyred and three other soldiers and two civilians were wounded in the suicide blast,” he said.
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Bush picks new ambassador to Afghanistan
Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:39pm ET
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday nominated William Wood to be ambassador to Afghanistan, the latest in a shuffle of top diplomats in a region the United States considers central to fighting terrorism.

Wood, currently ambassador to Colombia, was chosen to replace Ronald Neumann in Afghanistan where U.S. forces are fighting the Taliban and hunting for al Qaeda leaders.

Neumann was leaving the post he has held since July 2005 as part of the changes Bush is making in his foreign policy team heading into his last two years in office.

"They just want to make sure they have got a team in place now that can go through the rest of the term and I don't think anyone would expect someone to serve four plus years in Afghanistan," said an U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Appoint US envoy to resolve Pakistan, Afghanistan issues, says Hillary
Article Link


WASHINGTON: Senator Hillary Clinton has called for the appointment of a high-level US envoy to help address “difficulties” between US allies Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent the resurgence of Taliban militants along the border. 

The Democrat senator, who is considering running for president in 2008 elections, was addressing a news conference with Senator Evan Bayh and Representative John McHugh at Capitol Hill upon the delegation’s return from a four-day visit to the region. 

Hillary said she discussed the idea of a high-level US envoy on a permanent basis with both President Pervez Musharraf and President Hamid Karzai during meetings with them. 

She said that on her return to Washington she spoke with National Security Adviser Steve Hadley to urge that President George Bush consider such a high-level presidential envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan. 
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Troop surge, and more, needed to save Afghanistan  
Thu Jan 18, 8:22 AM ET
Article Link

What's the difference between Iraq and Afghanistan? The answer, unfortunately, is: less and less.

The post-9/11 successes in Afghanistan - toppling the Taliban regime that harbored        Osama bin Laden, holding elections, setting up a pro-U.S. government, getting girls back to school - are unraveling.

The Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies are making a ferocious comeback, operating from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area. Violence escalated sharply last year. The Taliban militia is adopting tactics, including suicide attacks and roadside bombings, used by Iraqi insurgents.

With the conflict in Iraq continuing to dominate the news and policymakers' time, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan requires urgent attention before an expected spring offensive by the Taliban.

New Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a trip to Afghanistan this week, said he may ask for extra forces to shore up the 24,000 U.S. troops already there. Sen.        Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., just back from the region on Wednesday, endorsed sending more troops.        NATO, which has more than 20,000 peacekeeping forces in the country, has increasingly been involved in combat and is also considering adding troops.

More troops would help, but Afghanistan, like Iraq, can't be won through military force alone. It will also require skillful diplomacy and the winning of people's hearts and minds.

Afghanistan expert Barnett Rubin, in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, describes corrupt officials and police, high unemployment, a lack of electricity and rising crime rates that are pushing many poor Afghans into the arms of the extremists. Attacks by U.S. and NATO forces on suspected insurgents often kill innocent Afghans or destroy their property, stirring resentment. The picture is further complicated by a booming opium trade that farmers rely on, and that helps fund corrupt officials and the Taliban.
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## tomahawk6 (19 Jan 2007)

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/01/at82ndtoAfghanistan070118/

82nd heads to Afghanistan starting Saturday
Staff report
Posted : Friday Jan 19, 2007 13:15:34 EST

About 5,000 paratroopers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, will deploy Saturday for Afghanistan from their home at Fort Bragg, N.C.

According to an Army press release, the paratroopers deploying are part of a task force that also includes the division’s headquarters, combat aviation brigade and special troops battalion.

The 4th BCT is the newest addition to the 82nd and began standing up in January 2006 as part of the Army’s modular transformation.

The scheduled rotation is expected to last one year.

The 10th Mountain Division, which has comprised the bulk of Combined Joint Task Force 76 for the past year, has begun returning to its home at Fort Drum, N.Y., but it’s unclear if the 82nd is intended as its replacement.

The South Carolina Army National Guard’s 218th Enhanced Separate Brigade will be deploying in April as the latest rotation of Task Force Phoenix outside Kabul. The task force will have about 5,000 soldiers, with 1,500 from South Carolina.


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## GAP (20 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 20 January, 2007*


Five NATO soldiers injured in Afghanistan  O-ACCIDENT 
Kuwait New Agency Link

KABUL, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- Five NATO soldiers have been wounded in a car bomb attack followed by firing from Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, NATO and local officials said on Saturday.

NATO spokesman in Afghanistan's southern region Dave Marsh said the NATO convoy came under attack in the Tirinkot City of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province Friday afternoon.

He said the injured soldiers were rushed to an ISAF medical facility and their condition was stated to be moderate.

Police chief of the province Mohammad Qasim, in a statement to KUNA, confirmed the blast but said he did not know about the casualties. A resident of the area and eyewitness Rahimullah said the bomber rammed his Surf Jeep into the NATO convoy. He said the area was surrounded by foreign troops soon after the explosion and no one was allowed to go near to the site. He said they saw smoke rising from the area but would not say about the number of dead or injured. Meanwhile, a bomb explosion at a goods trailer in Afghanistan's Kandahar province caused huge inferno which resulted in burning of three trucks along with the goods loaded on it. Rahmatullah Raufi, a military official in Kandahar, told journalists the blast took place close to the Kandahar airfield, which is used by the NATO troops as its headquarters. Logistic goods were loaded on the three burned vehicles, he said, adding it was brought from the neighbouring Pakistan for the foreign troops. He said the explosives were fitted on one of the vehicle. There are no reports about casualties in the blast.(end) gk.
End

Canadian 'Prince of Panjwaii' helps local Afghans
Updated Fri. Jan. 19 2007 11:31 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Warrant Officer Dean Henley could be the most popular man in southern Afghanistan, thanks to a silver suitcase that has earned him the nickname "Prince of Panjwaii." 

The suitcase is packed with money for locals, who are paid $5 a day to clean schoolyards, or dig out ditches and canals. 

Officials have employed about 500 so far. 

"I think almost everybody knows who I am, they give me big smiles and waves," Henley told CTV News. "Everybody calls me Dean." 

While five dollars a day isn't much, for many it makes a difference about what their families can eat for a week. 

The idea is to give Afghans just enough money that they won't become dependant on the Canadians for work. 

On one occasion, Henley passed 3,000 Afghani bills to a local supervisor for 10 days of labour. 

The supervisor then handed over a share to a peasant named Safula, who gladly took it in his rough hands. 

"People are really poor here," Safula said. "We got hurt a lot by the bombing so we need more work." 

Henley, a reserve soldier, works as a school teacher in Canada. He's in Afghanistan for half a year, but says he'll stay longer if he's needed. 

"I gave up six months of my life to come here," he said. 

"I lost friends in the fighting. I think we're doing a really good job." 

Meanwhile, Canadian troops are trying to get funding from NATO to repair a dilapidated school near Kandahar Airfield. 
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*Afghan suspected in killing is again locked up*
GRAEME SMITH Globe and Mail
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A suspect in the death of a Canadian diplomat is back in Afghan custody after escaping police scrutiny for almost a year, in a case that illuminates the difficult struggle to bring the rule of law to a feudal land.

Pir Mohammed was first arrested about a year ago, when police traced him as the last documented owner of a minivan that exploded in Kandahar city on Jan. 15, 2006. The attack killed Glyn Berry, political director of the provincial reconstruction team, and was a shocking introduction for Canadians to the violence to come as the military geared up its mission in the volatile south. Since then, 44 Canadian soldiers have died fighting the Taliban.

Mr. Mohammed, who walked out of jail less than two days after his initial arrest after calling in favours with influential members of his tribe, was taken into custody again last month after being stopped at a checkpoint in Kandahar city. His vehicle — a black Toyota Surf, with plate number 599 — was listed as a potential bomb threat in a bulletin from Afghan intelligence.

“When we caught him again, we thought, maybe now we can investigate him properly,” said Captain Sher Ali Farhad, the Afghan National Police officer who led the initial criminal investigation of Mr. Mohammed. “We thought maybe now the police are strong.”
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*Bomb wounds 5 Nato soldiers in Afghanistan*
January 20 2007 at 12:30PM  
Article Link

Kandahar - A car bomb exploded near a Nato convoy in a volatile area of southern Afghanistan, wounding five soldiers, a spokesperson for Nato's International Security Assistance Force said on Saturday.

Squadron Leader David Marsh said the Taliban rebels also opened fire on their convoy in the Uruzgan province shortly after Friday's bomb attack.

He did not give the names or nationalities of the wounded soldiers, and only said they were being treated at a Nato-run hospital in Kandahar.

The soldiers from ISAF were on a routine patrol when the attack happened, he said, adding that they then called for air assistance. 

 ISAF helicopter gunships bombed the enemy position, Marsh said.

However, Marsh said ISAF was still checking if the rebels had sustained any damage.
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Aid failures are killing UK soldiers in Afghanistan, think tank claims
GERRI PEEV  POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (gpeev@scotsman.com) 
Article Link

BRITISH troops are dying in Afghanistan because the government's aid department is failing to get food to the poor in the southern provinces, an international security and development think tank claims. 

Angry Afghans are turning to the Taleban for support, said the Senlis Council, a French think tank which has staff in the volatile Helmand province. 

Its founder told The Scotsman it spent its research budget on food after it found thousands starving in refugee camps and in the province's hospital. 

Norine MacDonald said: "The international community has abandoned its military and it is abandoning the people of Afghanistan." 

The United States plans to strengthen its poppy eradication programme by spraying large swathes of the countryside, but Senlis warned that stamping out the livelihood of farmers will fuel further violence. 

Ms MacDonald's accusations raise questions about how the Department for International Development (DfID) has spent £390 million in Afghanistan. 

Ms MacDonald said the Taleban was winning the battle for hearts and minds in southern Afghanistan where the British and Canadian governments and their development agencies had "abandoned their troops". 
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French troops to stay in Tajikistan until Afghanistan stable: deputy FM  
January 20, 2007         
Article Link

A senior Tajik official said on Friday that the French troops will stay in the country until stability is restored in neighbouring Afghanistan, according to reports from the Tajik capital Dushanbe. 

Saimumin Yatimov, Tajikistan's first deputy foreign minister, said that the French troops could keep on using the airport of Dushanbe, and the length of their deployment will depend on the stability of Afghanistan. 

France has deployed an air force contingent in Tajikistan since 2001 to back the NATO-led operations in Afghanistan. The Central Asian country currently hosts about 350 French troops and several aircrafts, including four French Mirage fighter jets. 

Last December, France agreed to give Tajikistan 24 million euros to help renovate the Dushanbe airport. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

O'Connor gives troops an emotional send-off
Updated Fri. Jan. 19 2007 7:42 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff
Article Link

Hundreds of soldiers and their families gathered at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown on Friday, for a patriotic pep rally that celebrated the military and its mission in Afghanistan before the troops depart for six months.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Canada's military leaders were on hand at the New Brunswick base to give the latest wave of troops headed for Afghanistan an emotional send-off.

O'Connor gave the crowd an rousing speech, saying the government is supporting the Afghan mission and that they are serving the needs of the people in that country.

"You are there so that women are not restricted to their homes, often without any means of support, so that public floggings and beheadings are not used to keep everybody in line. You are there because Afghans want a different future," he said.

The defence minister said the government has yet to decide whether Canada's contribution into the mission in Afghanistan will be extended beyond 2009.

"It depends on how much success we determine we've had there, whether there are other missions to do and the state of the Armed Forces,'' O'Connor said.

"We have to look at a whole lot of factors.''

O'Connor said that by 2009, the Afghan war will have cost Canada close to $4 billion.

But he dismissed claims the expenditure is emptying the military's coffers so that it cannot afford other commitments.
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William Wood new US envoy to Afghanistan
Article Link

WASHINGTON: President George Bush on Thursday nominated William Wood to be ambassador to Afghanistan, the latest in a shuffle of top diplomats in a region the US considers central to fighting terrorism. 

Wood, currently ambassador to Colombia, was chosen to replace Ronald Neumann in Afghanistan. Neumann was leaving the post he has held since July 2005 as part of the changes Bush is making in his foreign policy team heading into his last two years in office. reuters
End

Lowry: The good war: A double standard for Afghanistan
By Rich Lowry  Article Last Updated: 01/19/2007 08:05:22 PM MST
Article Link

If a weak, sectarian-tinged government is struggling to maintain itself in the midst of an intensifying insurgency, Democrats are eager to help. So long as that government is in Kabul instead of Baghdad. 
    Democrats consider Afghanistan the good counterinsurgency, never mind that the Afghan war is almost a replica, albeit on a smaller scale, of the Iraq war. One can believe that the Iraq war is lost and the Afghan war is still winnable, and want to proceed on that basis. But some Democrats appear to think that, politically, they have to be in favor of at least one of America's counterinsurgencies, and so they pick Afghanistan. 
    Hillary Clinton just returned from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan that was a transparent excuse to recalibrate her position on the Iraq war. She came out in favor of a cap of U.S. troops in Iraq, but for 2,300 more troops in Afghanistan because ''commanders expressed their concern that there would not be enough U.S. troops to conduct all necessary counterinsurgency operations.'' The troop surge in Iraq is meant to address exactly the same concern, since counterinsurgency operations there are just as necessary, indeed urgent. 
    Clinton says that in contrast to Iraq, in Afghanistan we are ''fighting the enemy that brought us September 11.'' That would have been a reason to oppose the Iraq war at its inception (Sen. Clinton voted for it), but can't be a reason to oppose fighting it now since 
al-Qaida is there on the ground. Does Clinton believe that we should fight al-Qaida everywhere except inside the borders of Iraq, and doesn't that constitute the kind of safe haven we are fighting to prevent in Afghanistan? 
    The costs of the Iraq war, of course, are much higher. Roughly 10 times as many American troops have died in Iraq as in Afghanistan. But the stakes in Iraq are much higher, too. It is a more strategically central country, sitting atop perhaps the world's second-largest oil reserves. In Iraq, we are fighting not only to beat back al-Qaida, but the radical regime in Iran, whose ambition is to be the nuclear-armed hegemon of the Middle East. 
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AFGHANISTAN: CAPTURED SPOKESMAN REVEALS RIFTS WITHIN TALIBAN
This post was written by shantanudutta on 19 January, 2007 (20:22) |
Article Link

The recent arrest of Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif, has led to further revelations about the divisions and differences within the Afghan militant group. According to Afghan security sources, cited in the Saudi newspaper ‘al-Watan’, after having revealed that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was living in the Pakistani city of Quetta under the protection of the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, Hanif has reportedly also explained the workings within the Taliban.
According to the report, Hanif said that the Taliban is divided into three groups. The first group is made up of former members of the Taliban regime in Kabul who are fighting only to prevent from being caught and are probably not close to Mullah Omar. A second group, Hanif said, is composed of people linked to Islamic extremists in Pakistan and a third group is close to al-Qaeda and is said to be the most agressive and violent.
It is not clear which group is close to Mullah Omar, but it also emerged that in the course of a war within the group, some important leaders or mullahs have been killed.
Hanif also said that Mullah Omar ordered the killing of Mullah Dadallah accused of having indirectly helped the Americans of killing one of his adversaries last month, Mullah Othmani, among the most important military commanders within the Taliban, in the course of an attack in the southern Afghan province of Helmand.  These internal divisions within the Taliban have added to the unprecedented level of violence and will also see a cross-section of revenge attacks being carried out. Hanif also admitted that the American pressure on the Pakistani government also led to the arrests of various Taliban leaders in the past few months
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1,160 soldiers ship out from Atlantic Canada for Afghanistan
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
Article Link


An Amherst soldier is anticipating a hot reception when he arrives in Afghanistan at the end of the month.

Capt. Dave Nixon is one of 1,160 soldiers based in Atlantic Canada who will be part of Canada’s 2,500-member force in Kandahar.

"At this point, there’s not much in the way of hostilities," Capt. Nixon, 40, said Friday.

"But we’re just getting into the warmer season, so we’re expecting things to possibly heat up."

This is his second tour of Afghanistan but he knows Taliban tactics have changed considerably since he was last there in 2003. 

There will be some overlap with Canadian troops who have been on the ground for the past six months.

"We don’t go in blind," said Capt. Nixon, who is with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment. 

"They’ll hold us by the hand, basically, for the first little bit until we get to see what’s going on."

Forty-four soldiers, including seven Nova Scotians, and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002. The majority of those casualties came last year, and some expect insurgents to unleash another bloody campaign this spring in Kandahar, where the Canadians will be stationed.
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More for Afghanistan
Stronger commitment planned, but won't include front-line forces, military says 
By MURRAY BREWSTER, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article Link

KANDAHAR -- Canada's military commitment in southern Afghanistan is expected to increase in the coming months, but it will not involve the deployment of more front-line infantry, the general commanding the country's overseas operations said yesterday. 

More support elements, such as heavy artillery and, possibly aircraft, are expected to find their way to the battlefield, said Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier, who is in charge of the Ottawa-based Canadian Expeditionary Force. 

Last fall, as Canadian troops fought vicious, pitched battles with the Taliban west of Kandahar, the Conservative government approved a plan to send reinforcements, including C-2 Leopard tanks, an extra company of Quebec-based infantry and an anti-mortar platoon. The additions boosted Canada's commitment from 2,300 to 2,500 soldiers and support personnel in Kandahar province. 

It now appears those were just the first components in what may be a multi-staged ramp-up. 

"Decisions were made some time ago, in the September time frame based on analysis at that time, as to what needed to be done to set our troops up for success here," Gauthier said at the end of a two-day visit.
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Military Channel Broadcasting Servicemembers' Stories
By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2007 - The Military Channel is asking servicemembers across the armed forces to submit videotaped stories about their service in the global war on terrorism for broadcast on television, company officials said. 

"We want to give a voice to the troops to allow them to tell their stories," Jill Bondurant, Military Channel publicist, said during an interview with American Forces Press Service today. 

The Military Channel plans to use servicemember-submitted video for broadcast during nightly one-hour blocks of programming starting in early February, Bondurant said. The dates and times haven't been specified yet, she said. 
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----------



## GAP (21 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 21 January, 2007*

Canadians get wary welcome
 TheStar.com - News - January 06, 2007 Oakland Ross Staff Reporter
Article Link

A reconnaissance platoon encountered no hostilities on a journey into unknown Kandahar territory, but our soldiers did have to fend off a few complaints from the local villagers, Oakland Ross writes 

LWAR SOHBAT, Afghanistan–"If we come under fire, get under cover – behind a wall, whatever you can find."

Capt. Steve MacBeth, commander of 1 Royal Canadian Regiment reconnaissance platoon, is addressing a lone Canadian civilian who has hitched a ride out to this windblown, mud-walled corner of a country at war.

MacBeth turns to the dozen soldiers under his command, ranging in age from 23 to 30 or so. "If we have to," he tells them, "we'll pull back to the LAVs and try to suppress fire."

The LAVs are the three light armoured vehicles that have borne MacBeth and his men across a broad sweep of treeless badlands to the edge of this dirt-poor farming village in the southern Afghanistan province of Kandahar.

The village is called Lwar Sohbat, and it is terra incognita for an international NATO-led force fighting alongside the Afghan National Army against a determined band of Islamist zealots known as the Taliban.

This is the account of one Canadian reconnaissance platoon, a single Afghan village, and yet another ambiguous chapter in a stubborn and uncertain war, a competition more for the hearts and minds of human beings than for places that can be marked upon a map.

Some 2,400 Canadian troops are part of the NATO coalition, and most are based here in Kandahar province, where bearded men in turbans and long flowing robes seem to come striding straight out of Old Testament tableaux, most of them in peace, but some of them carrying AK-47s or rocket launchers, while others are strapped with makeshift explosives.

It is all but impossible to distinguish the innocent from the enemy – until it is too late.

Here in Lwar Sohbat, no one knows what to expect, because no one among the NATO forces has yet to venture among the local people this far west in Kandahar province.

What's more, earlier this afternoon MacBeth learned that a "high-level" Taliban target resides in the town – a hard-core official of the authoritarian warriors who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when they were overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion. Now the Taliban are fighting again, to restore themselves to power.

"We recognize there's still a high threat in the area," says MacBeth. "No matter how benign it seems, there's still a significant level of danger."

He and his men set out on foot, tracing a path along a network of low mud dikes interspersed by occasional tree breaks. They all keep a prudent distance apart from each other – at least five metres.

"That way, a single RPG can't take us both out," a corporal tells the civilian behind him, when he gets too close. RPG means rocket-propelled grenade.

It is late afternoon, and the sun is already low in the west, casting a frigid coppery glow across the cracked terrain.
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Diggers win hearts and minds in Afghanistan
Mark Dodd and Bruce Loudon  January 22, 2007 
Article Link

AUSTRALIAN troops serving on a Netherlands-led reconstruction operation in war-battered Afghanistan are making a big difference with their work and winning the hearts and the minds of local people.
The mission for the 500-strong taskforce based in south-central Oruzgan province has changed from a combat deployment last year involving special forces troops to one of civil reconstruction and trade training, said the Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Houston. 
It was an example of the work that earned the Digger -- all 51,000 men and women in the Australian Defence Force -- The Australian's 2006 Australian of the Year award on Saturday. 

Air Chief Marshal Houston's comments follow a week-long visit to Pakistan and India by federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who received assurances of ongoing Pakistani efforts to crack down on insurgents based in its lawless northwest. "The Government of Pakistan has told me that it is maximising its efforts to control the movement of terrorists and insurgents across its border with Afghanistan," Mr Ruddock said yesterday. 

Mr Ruddock said that in his discussions with Pakistani officials he had not pursued reports that former Australian soldier Matthew Stewart may be training with al-Qa'ida on their soil, but said if there had been any substance to the reports the matter would have been raised with him. With its poor, unpaved roads and narrow, remote mountain passes, Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province has long been considered Taliban heartland. 

Oruzgan, the Afghan province dominated by hardline ethnic Pashtuns where the Australians are operating, is the birthplace of the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Omar. 

Named Operation Slipper, the Australian deployment comprises about 400 combat engineers and a 100-strong security detachment. 

Work has ranged from improvements to provincial infrastructure -- including roads, bridges and drains -- to helping renovate mosques, schools and hospitals. 
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Schools for girls come out of shadows
 OAKLAND ROSS / TORONTO STAR January 21, 2007 KABUL
Article Link

Grade 9 students in the Parwan-e-dou section of Kabul crowd into a tiny classroom at a school for girls and women denied an education during the Taliban regime. Afghanistan | The brave teachers who defied Taliban edicts have a new challenge – finding the necessary resources to educate vast numbers of young women who crave the schooling that was forbidden by the clerics. By Oakland Ross

Any day that the thought police don't come around to thrash her with a steel cable counts as a good day for Gulghota Hashimi.

"When the Taliban came, they beat me up," says the soft-spoken but evidently iron-willed mother of two young sons. "My boys were screaming and crying."

Hashimi is referring to the cabal of fundamentalist clerics and their acolytes who tyrannized this country from 1996 till 2001, especially the dunderhead thugs from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue who patrolled the streets here, ensuring that men wore beards, women wore burqas, no kites flew and nary a girl attended school.

But Hashimi is a teacher.

She taught prior to the dark days of the Taliban. She continued to teach, albeit clandestinely, even after the Taliban came to power and promptly outlawed formal education for girls. And she teaches now.

In fact, she is a principal – and not just any principal.

The school Hashimi now runs was set up to provide an education to the girls and women who could not go to school while the Taliban regime was imposing its stern and suffocating rule.

The school occupies a two-storey, yellow-stucco house in the Parwan-e-dou section of the capital, employs 20 teachers and daily attends to the dreams and ambitions of 263 girls and women, ranging in age from 13 to 35.

"This year, we have our first class of 11th-
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*Troops involved in 3-hour gunfight with Taliban*
Updated Sun. Jan. 21 2007 10:59 AM ET Canadian Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian soldiers manning a fortified position west of Kandahar came under intense attack Saturday night, but suffered no casualties and apparently inflicted none. 

The three-hour firefight with Taliban militants happened near Route Summit, the paved road being built near Panjwaii, said Lt. Sue Stefko, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces. 

She says the attack happened at a fortified position known as Strong Point West, which is one of several positions designed to defend the roadway. 

Insurgents used small arms and rocket propelled grenades, pinning down the Canadians to the point where heavy artillery, tanks and air support were called in. 

Stefko says a compound near the Canadian position was bombed. 

"There was no indication that anyone was injured in that, Taliban or otherwise,'' she said. 

A daylight patrol was sent out to sweep the area Sunday and found no evidence of dead or injured in the ruins of the compound, she said. 

"There was nothing found in the area.'' 

The attack, one of several throughout southern Afghanistan over the last two days, shattered a relative calm in the province that has held for the last several weeks. 

A tanker truck carrying oil was destroyed Saturday when it hit what's believed to be an improvised explosive devise while on the way to Kandahar Airfield, the main NATO base in the region. Two other tankers, travelling with the stricken vehicle, were also damaged. 
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NATO commander confident of victory against Taliban  
Sunday January 21, 2007 (0245 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan Lt General David Richards has expressed the confidence that they would soon defeat the Taliban as they were heading towards the ultimate victory. 
"I don't say that we have won the war, but I can say that we have secured the conditions for winning the war against the Taliban," said the top NATO commander in an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News. 

He said Taliban had been given a decisive blow during the Operation Medusa in the south-west of Kandahar last year and the militants had yet to recover from that blow. 

The operation was concluded last year in the two troubled districts of Panjwayee and Zherai of the southern Kandahar province and the NATO forces claimed killing more than 500 of Taliban in the battle. 

He admitted the year 2006 was worse than 2005 as for as insurgency in Afghanistan is concerned, but said there was a significant drop in militants' attack after the month of August.
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Canadian troops in Afghanistan as 9/11 'retribution
' O'Connor: Attack on New York killed 25 Canadians
Andrea Sands  Edmonton Journal Sunday, January 21, 2007
Article Link

EDMONTON - Canada is fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan in "retribution" for the 9/11 attacks that killed at least 3,000 people, including 25 Canadians, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said yesterday.

The hard-hitting comments, which prompted a round of applause from Mr. O'Connor's Edmonton audience, came in addition to the government's usual reasoning about Canada's duty to help the Afghanistan people.

Speaking at a symposium about Afghanistan, Mr. O'Connor said Canadian soldiers are in the country because Afghanistan's democratically elected government wants them there, because Canada has a responsibility to help as one of the world's richest countries and because the war is in Canada's own interest.

"When the Taliban or al-Qaeda came out of Afghanistan, they attacked the Twin Towers and in those twin towers, 25 Canadians were killed. The previous government and this government will not allow Canadians to be killed without retribution," Mr. O'Connor told his audience of roughly 200 people, many of them military personnel.

In an interview after his speech, Mr. O'Connor said the word retribution doesn't necessarily mean punishment.

"What it means is, if our country is attacked, we are not going to stand blandly by and not do anything about it," he said.

"I don't believe the (former) Liberal government would have committed us to Afghanistan had there not been Canadians killed."
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Taliban Says it Will Open Schools in Afghanistan   
21 January 2007 | 13:58 | FOCUS News Agency 
Article Link

Kandahar. The Taliban movement said Sunday it will open schools in areas under its control, despite waging an insurgency that last year saw scores of attacks on Afghanistan's students. 
A spokesman told AFP the schools would open this year and follow a curriculum used during the 1996-2001 rule of the Taliban government. 
"From March to July this year, the Taliban movement will open all the schools in the districts under their control," the man identifying himself as Taliban political spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmayn said in a statement read over the telephone. 
"In the schools, all the textbooks and subjects which were being taught under the Taliban government will be taught. This will cost one million dollars and the Taliban movement will pay for that." 
The spokesman did not say which districts were involved. "There are lots of districts in southern and southeastern Afghanistan where the government has no presence and we are in control," he said. 
Taliban claims to control certain far-flung areas of Afghanistan are dismissed by military officials, who say they are only able to assert a presence for brief periods before being removed. 
The movement regularly uses propaganda and threats in its campaign. 
The Taliban government destroyed Afghanistan's already war-shattered education system. 
It prevented girls from going to school and women from working, which meant most teachers had to give up their jobs. 
Lessons were focused on the Taliban's extremist version of Islam. 
Since it was toppled, the group has launched scores of bomb and arson attacks on schools, destroying many. 
Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said in August suspected Taliban attacks had killed at least 41 teachers and students in the previous 12 months, and security concerns had forced 208 schools to close. 
Educating Afghanistan's mostly illiterate population is a priority for the new government, but not for many rural Afghans struggling to get by, especially where girls are concerned. 
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Are Pakistani intelligence agencies promoting Islamic insurgency?
By Carlotta Gall Published: January 21, 2007
Article Link

QUETTA, Pakistan: The most explosive question about the Taliban resurgence here along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is this: Have Pakistani intelligence agencies been promoting the Islamic insurgency?

The government of Pakistan vehemently rejects the allegation and insists that it is fully committed to help American and NATO forces prevail against the Taliban militants who were driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001.

Western diplomats in both countries and Pakistani opposition figures say that Pakistani intelligence agencies — in particular the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence — have been supporting a Taliban restoration, motivated not only by Islamic fervor but also by a longstanding view that the jihadist movement allows them to assert greater influence on Pakistan's vulnerable western flank.

More than two weeks of reporting along this frontier, including dozens of interviews with residents on each side of the porous border, leaves little doubt that Quetta is an important base for the Taliban, and found many signs that Pakistani authorities are encouraging the insurgents, if not sponsoring them.

The evidence is provided in fearful whispers, and it is anecdotal.
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MANY SOLDIERS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE ON REPEAT DEPLOYMENTS
BY GRAHAM RAYMAN Newsday Staff Writer January 21, 2007
Article Link

Last March, Marine Sgt. Julian Arechaga came to a crossroads in his young life.

The 23-year-old Baldwin native already had been a team leader in a platoon that spent months in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2004 in search of al-Qaida and Taliban members. In 2005, he served as a squad leader in Fallujah, Iraq - a city torn apart by firefights, car bombings and roadside explosions.

Arechaga, then at Camp Lejeune, N.C., could have walked away from the Marines when his enlistment was up. He spoke of returning to Long Island, becoming a police officer, going to college. But his squad was set to go once again to Iraq, and he was worried about whether they were ready, especially the newest ones.

"I don't think he felt confident that the unit was up to standards," said Justin Slep, 23, a former Marine who served in two deployments alongside Arechaga. "He didn't feel comfortable leaving his Marines. So he extended voluntarily."

On Oct. 9, just a few weeks into his third deployment, the man who survived firefights on the Afghan steppe and dragged wounded civilians off an Iraqi street shrouded in flames and humming with gunfire was killed by that most random of weapons - a roadside bomb.

As the war in Iraq nears the four-year mark, the stories of Americans like Arechaga returning to combat for second and third tours have become commonplace. One of every three GIs deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan has served more than one tour - a higher percentage than at any time since the Vietnam era. 

Nearly 800 Americans have died while serving at least a second tour of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, more than 25 percent of the total U.S. casualties, Pentagon figures show. Arechaga was one of 118 who died while serving a third.
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Time to say goodbye: About 300 head to Afghanistan
By Jennifer Calhoun Staff writer
Article Link

About 300 paratroopers from the82nd Airborne Division hugged their families goodbye Saturday and left for a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.

The deployment is part of a 5,000-soldier task force that is replacing the 10th Mountain Division. 

The group that left Saturday is made up of paratroopers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, the division headquarters, the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade and the division Special Troops Battalion. 

The deployment came at a time when the country has seen an upswing in fighting. The number of insurgent attacks against U.S., NATO and Afghan forces is up 300 percent since September, a U.S. military intelligence officer told The Associated Press last week.

Maj. Donald Korpi, a public affairs officer for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, said the paratroopers would see combat, but they also will help to stabilize the country by building schools and other facilities. 

Sean McCaffrey, deputy commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, said there was “a great amount of excitement” about the deployment. 

McCaffrey said the troops had trained for 4 weeks with members of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. 

“It takes away a little bit of the surprise of the culture,” he said. 

During the training, McCaffrey said U.S. troops learned to operate Afghan weapon systems and work on language barriers, among other things. 

While waiting to leave Saturday afternoon, paratroopers milled around bags of equipment and clothes, talking with and hugging family members.

Gabriela LaBoy, 13, stood close to her father, Sgt. Mario LaBoy, before his departure. 

Gabriela is used to her father’s deployments — it’s his fourth — but she said this year might just be harder than the others, even if her dad is “the best in the world.”
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Baitullah vows ‘bloodier’ spring offensive in Afghanistan  
Article Link

KOT KALAY: Tribal Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud has said this year’s spring offensive in Afghanistan will be even “bloodier” than last year.

“The mujahideen (holy warriors) will give a tougher fight this year than last year,” he told Daily Times at a secret location in South Waziristan, after taking this correspondent on a tour of Kot Kalay, where an airstrike on an alleged militant training camp killed eight people on Tuesday.

More than 4,000 people were killed in last year’s Taliban-linked insurgency in Afghanistan. Around 1,000 were civilians, more than 100 coalition soldiers and the rest were said to be insurgents.

“This year’s spring offensive will be fought harder than before as we want to build on last year’s successes,” said Baitullah, who struck a peace deal with the government in February 2005.

Baitullah vowed to avenge Tuesday’s airstrike. “They launch airstrikes on us and we respond with suicide attack,” he said amidst dozens of armed militants who were guarding him. More than 40 army recruits were killed in a suicide attack at Darrgai on November 8, following an airstrike on a madrassa in Bajaur on October 30 in which 83 people were killed. iqbal khattak
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PPP rejects ‘puppet cabinet’ attempt to re-elect Musharraf
Staff Report 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has rejected an attempt by what it called the “puppet cabinet” to propose a re-election of its military patron, General Pervez Musharraf, as president for the second time from an assembly, which is about to finish its constitutional term. 

Sherry Rehman, the PPP’s central information secretary, said in a statement on Saturday that her party, along with its partners in the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), would never countenance this illegal and unconstitutional re-election as anything but a dictator’s flagrant violation of democratic norms, laws and traditions. 

“We do not recognise General Musharraf as president as he had himself selected through an illegal process, and in legal terms, if the president’s term is seen as expiring in five years, it will not expire till December 31, 2008. This is because Gen Musharraf took his vote of confidence from his political surrogates in the assemblies in December 2003,” she said.

“If indeed the regime goes for this ill-advised and disastrous move, it will only add more chaos and instability to a nation, which stands at the edge of a dangerous political abyss,” she added. Rehman said that Pakistan was at a crossroads today and that the military regime and its henchmen were threatening to take Pakistan into another, more dangerous phase of uncontrollable instability. 

“Since all such actions will have a long-term impact on the credibility of all democratic processes and forums in Pakistan, the Election Commission of Pakistan should not only take notice of such irresponsible statements floated by cabinet ministers, but also seek a clarification from all those responsible for spreading the controversy regarding such potentially explosive issues,” said the PPP statement
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‘Don’t end Waziristan pact under US pressure’
 Fazlur Rehman opposes fencing and mining of Afghan border
By Akhtar Amin 
Article Link

PESHAWAR: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman has asked the government not to give up the Waziristan peace agreement “under US pressure”, adding that a fight between the army and tribesmen would lead to chaos in Pakistan. 

“I played a key role in making the agreement possible,” he told reporters after a Gaddafi Foundation programme at a hotel on Saturday, “and I will play a key role in sustaining it.” Rehman said he would not give the government “a free hand” to renounce the deal under foreign pressure. “The fight is neither in the tribesmen’s interest, nor in that of the government,” he said. “It is in the interest of the US, who wants us to fight against each other.” 

Expressing concern over the Pakistan Army’s air strikes, which he said killed innocent tribesmen, Fazl asked the government not to repeat the act and follow the “one hundred percent successful” peace deal. 

“The opposition is united against President Pervez Musharraf’s re-election from the current assemblies,” said Fazlur Rehman, who is also the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl), adding that he would reunite the opposition if it happened. 

To a question about resignations from parliament, he said it was an “extreme step” that would be taken only if the current assemblies elect President Musharraf for another term. 
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Damage to peace pact will be a disaster: Orakzai
Article Link

PESHAWAR: NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai warned on Saturday against “damage” to the peace agreement reached with pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan in September last year. “Any damage to the peace agreement would put the people back in an abyss of uncertainty and despair,” he told a 15-member peace committee from North Waziristan at Governor’s House. He said the peace agreement was “the last chance for ensuring a peaceful atmosphere in the area. Any harm caused to it either intentionally or unintentionally would surely be a big disaster, where the damage would be irreparable.” The governor’s warning to the peace committee underscored the fragile position of the peace deal with the militants that the US says has collapsed. Orakzai hoped that “prudent elements” would not let the opportunity slip out of their hands. He stressed the need to enhance security on the roads within the agency and extra vigilance on the borders to foil attempts by militants to cross the frontier. staff report
End

US Muslim magazine offers teens a cover girl shot
Article Link

CHICAGO: A new magazine launched this month is offering the 400,000 teen-aged Muslim girls in the United States a chance to be a cover girl. 

“The girls are eager to have their stories told,” said Ausma Khan, editor of Muslim Girl Magazine, which is out with a 25,000-copy premier issue and expects its circulation to be four times that in two years. 

It is, she said in an interview on Friday, an underserved market for both readers and advertisers. The first cover girl is Wardah Chaudhary, 16, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, where, Khan said, there was a relatively small but vibrant Muslim community. Her perseverance and energy won her the honour, the editor said, but the magazine and its website — http://www.muslimgirlmagazine.com — has invited other Muslim girls to vie for the cover. 

In her essay, Wardah Chaudhary talks about her Pakistan-born parents, her life growing up in Oklahoma and her activities. “One thing I know for sure is that I am not behind in anything just because I wear hijab,” she says referring to her Muslim style of dressing. “To all the girls that are reading this, I want them to know to be proud of who you are.”
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Two mosques demolished in Islamabad over security threat
By Shahzad Malik
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad district administration and Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Saturday demolished two mosques near the Islamabad Highway and Murree Road, after intelligence reports indicated they could be used to launch terrorist attacks.

Sources told Daily Times that the intelligence agencies had reported to the Interior Ministry that mosques in green areas near Murre Road and Islamabad Highway could be used by “miscreants” to target VIPs and foreign dignitaries, who use these roads often to travel between the airport and their offices in the capital. There was also a raised threat of terrorist attacks because of Tuesday’s air strike on a suspected militant compound in South Waziristan.

After receiving the intelligence reports, the Interior Ministry ordered the CDA and the district administration to demolish these mosques.

CDA Urban Planning Director Zafer Iqbal Zafer had issued notices to administrators of 10 mosques and their adjacent seminaries to remove unauthorised constructions from green areas within 15 days, sources said. Jamia Faridia is one of these seminaries. Consturction on green areas is against the rules, hence these mosques were built illegally
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Italian FM against pull out of forces from Afghanistan   
MIL-ITALY-AFGHANISTAN 
Article Link

ROME, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Massimo Dalima criticized the calls by some ruling coalition members to pull out his country's troops from Afghanistan.

He told newsmen here today that any pull out would mean "relinquishing our political role at the international community level and this would isolate Italy from Europe and the world".

Comparing he said that pulling out the Italian forces from Iraq was a robust and difficult political move but pulling them out from Afghanistan would mean relinquishing Italy's political role.

He downplayed the row created at the parliament by parties to refuse voting for refunding the Italian forces in Afghanistan.
end

 Romania committed to role in Iraq, Afghanistan  
  20 January 2007 | Source:AP 
Article Link
   
 BUCHAREST -- Romania will respect its commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, President Traian Basescu said.

Basescu made the pledge in a speech to foreign diplomats on Friday, outlining Romania's foreign policy for 2007.

Romania, which joined the European Union on Jan. 1 and became a NATO member in 2004, has 600 troops in Iraq, 800 in Afghanistan and 230 in the western Balkans. 

Last year, then-Defense Minister Teodor Atanasiu clashed with Basescu after he proposed withdrawing troops from Iraq. 

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who like Atanasiu is from the Liberal Party, backed the minister's proposal, but Basescu and Romania's top defense body, the supreme defense council, overruled them and decided the troops should stay. 

During the meeting with foreign diplomats at the presidential palace, Basescu also said Romania wanted to improve relations with Israel and Arab countries. 

"We want to rebuild ... the traditional relations that Romania had with Middle Eastern states," he said.  
end

Schools demand amendments to new registration law
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: The Private Schools Action Committee (PSAC), Islamabad, has termed a newly promulgated presidential ordinance regarding the registration of private educational institutions as “anti-education” and demanded the government amend it and delay its implementation.

PASAC President Chaudhry Ilyas Mehrban said that private schools, whether they were located in the urban or in rural areas of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), would have to pay a total of Rs 42,000, including Rs 25,000 in security fees, Rs 10,000 as registration fee and Rs 7,500 as inspection fee.

He said that there were 643 private schools in the ICT, 500 of which were in rural areas and 143 in urban areas, adding that urban schools charged average monthly fees amounting to Rs 2,000, while students in rural schools paid Rs 200 to 250 as tuition fee. He said that despite these differences, the ordinance required both the type of schools to pay an equal amount of money, which, he said, was a great injustice.

Ilyas said that the ordinance would force owners of schools operating on a smaller scale to shut them down, as they were not in a position to pay the registration fees. “If this happens, over 10,000 teachers and non-teaching staff will lose their jobs,” he said. 

He said that if the government did not reconsider its decision to implement the ordinance, the PSAC would challenge it in court. He said that though private schools were greater in numbers and their students performed better than those in public sector schools, the government was trying to discourage them by introducing various policies.
More on link

President, PM urge nation to shun sectarianism  
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: President General Pervez Musharraf has urged the nation to rise above petty differences, sectarianism and extremism, and adhere to the golden principles of Islam.

In his message to the nation on the advent of the new Islamic year, the President said, “We must rise above our personal differences and adopt the glowing principles of Islam, which are based on mutual fraternity and the welfare of humanity, and lead to the prosperity of the country and the Ummah.”

“In line with the holiness of Muharramul Haram and start of the new hijri year, we should try to live our lives in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) throughout the year,” he said.

“I pray that Allah Almighty may guide Pakistanis and the Ummah to spend the new year with a feeling of affinity and fortitude, and to respect the inter-religious principles,” said the president. 
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (21 Jan 2007)

*Women 'outside the wire'*
A small contingent of female soldiers is writing a new chapter in Canadian military history, taking on high-profile roles on the front lines in Afghanistan.
Liane Faulder, Edmonton Journal, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

When Cpl. Vanessa Larter of Edmonton trudged through the dun-coloured desert in 
Afghanistan, she was exploring unfamiliar terrain in more ways than one.  Larter is 
one of a tiny group of Canadian female soldiers who operate "outside the wire" in 
Afghanistan, that is, outside the relative safety of the provincial reconstruction team 
(PRT) at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City or the NATO coalition base at the 
Kandahar Airfield (KAF).  Some of these women are medics, like Larter. Others 
are in combat positions, including soldiers in the infantry and in artillery roles, 
as well as drivers of light armoured vehicles (LAVs) ....



*More News on CAN in AFG *here



*Airpower Summary for Jan. 21*
USAF News, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

In Afghanistan Jan. 20, Air Force B-1B Lancers and Royal Air Force GR-7 Harriers provided 
close-air support for International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, troops in enemy contact 
near Qurya. The B-1Bs expended guided bomb unit-31s and GBU-38s on enemy positions. The 
GR-7s expended rockets on enemy positions.  Air Force B-1Bs and RAF GR-7s provided 
close-air support for ISAF troops in enemy contact near Kandahar . The GR-7s expended 
rockets and a general-purpose 500-pound bomb on enemy positions.  In total, 21 
close-air-support missions were flown in support of ISAF and Afghan troops, reconstruction 
activities and route patrols.  Additionally, eight Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and 
Reconnaissance, or ISR, aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan ....



Frontline troops are refused kit to fight Taliban
Sean Rayment, Sunday Telegraph, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

British soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan have had dozens of urgent requests 
for operational equipment turned down on cost grounds, it can be revealed.  Demands 
by officers for attack weapons and vital tools, as well as night-vision equipment and 
thermal-imaging devices used to distinguish friend from foe, have all been refused by 
the Ministry of Defence.  The revelation has sparked accusations that Tony Blair has 
reneged on promises he made to British troops just four months ago, when he pledged 
that commanders would be supplied with whatever they needed to "get the job done".  
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that all four of the Army's mine protected vehicles 
(MPVs), used to extract injured troops from minefields in Afghanistan, have broken 
down. Officers have also complained that the shortage of Chinook helicopters, first 
raised by senior officers last summer, was still a fundamental problem for commanders 
in Helmand province, where 4,500 British troops are fighting the Taliban ....



*500 (UK) soldiers set for Afghanistan to counter spring offensive*
Ian Bruce, The Herald (UK), 22 Jan 07
Article Link

The government is expected to announce the deployment of reinforcements for Afghanistan 
this week ahead of a renewed Taliban spring offensive against British troops in the country's 
southern provinces, The Herald can reveal.  But military sources say the number sent will be 
less than half of what successive commanders have requested, since only one battalion of 
between 500 and 600 Cyprus-based soldiers is available as a ready-reserve for both Iraq 
and the undermanned garrison in Helmand.  As reported exclusively by The Herald last week, 
pressure has been growing on the government to add a battlegroup of 1200 to the 4000-strong 
garrison in Afghanistan to allow tactical flexibility in countering the Taliban across Helmand, an 
area four times the size of Wales.  At the moment, fewer than one in four of the troops in the 
province are being used in a combat role, partially because there are only eight Chinook 
transport helicopters to move them rapidly across vast distances ....



Nato general: we need one more year to defeat Taliban
British head of forces warns that more troops and more money will be required
Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian (UK), 22 Jan 07
Article Link

The head of Nato forces in Afghanistan warns today that the military effort needs more 
money and more troops for a year-long push that he believes will defeat the Taliban. While 
Nato troops had frustrated the Taliban's plans to mount a winter campaign for the first time, 
it had been "against the odds" and the result of "exceptionally skilled and brave fighting", General 
David Richards told the Guardian.  It had been achieved with fewer troops than were required, 
he said. "I am concerned that Nato nations will assume the same level of risk in 2007, believing 
they can get away with it. They might, but it's a dangerous assumption to believe the same 
ingredients will exist this year as they did last. And anyway a stabilised situation is not a good 
enough aim. We should and can win in Afghanistan but we need to put more military effort into 
the country ... We must apply ourselves more energetically for one more year in order to win." ....



*Afghan mission is shaken up after Blair tells envoys of his frustration*
Tom Coghlan, The Telegraph (UK), 22 Jan 07
Article Link

The Foreign Office is to carry out a major overhaul of its mission in Afghanistan, replacing 
the current British ambassador after less than a year and bringing in a second senior diplomat 
to front the British effort in Helmand.  Stephen Evans, the ambassador to Kabul since last May, 
is to be replaced by the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles.  Sir Sherard 
is seen as one of the Foreign Office's most accomplished diplomats and an expert on the Islamic 
world. He is being posted to Kabul in an attempt to galvanise the British diplomatic presence 
amid fears across the international community that Afghanistan's fragile democracy is sliding into 
the abyss in the face of a renewed Taliban insurgency and the burgeoning drug trade.  In addition, 
the Foreign Office is to increase its presence in Helmand with the appointment of David Slinn, until 
last year the ambassador to North Korea. Some see the shake-up as a response to concern 
expressed privately by Tony Blair on his last visit to Afghanistan in November ....



*Pace Says Colombia Model for Afghanistan*
Joshua Goodman, Associated Press, 19 Jan 07
Article Link

The United States' top military official said Friday that American-backed anti-drug and 
counterinsurgent operations in Colombia _ the world's largest producer of cocaine _ could 
serve as a template for Afghan efforts to fight drug production.  Gen. Peter Pace, chairman 
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Colombia's campaign to "rid certain areas of terrorists," followed
by relief and jobs programs for the poor, was a "good model for (Afghan) President Hamid 
Karzai to consider as he looks at how to reduce the amount of drug trafficking in his country."
Afghanistan has been plagued by skyrocketing heroin production. But critics say it would be 
a mistake for the country to duplicate Colombia's model, which they say has been ineffective ....



*Nato reveals dark arts of psy-ops*
Jerome Starkey, Times Online (UK), 22 Jan 07
Article Link

British troops in southern Afghanistan are battling to break the will of the Taleban by splitting 
hard-line commanders from their troops.  The psychological warfare, or “psy-ops”, experts 
work alongside the SBS and American special forces. During a recent operation to retake 
Taleban strongholds in Kandahar they preyed on the insurgents’ worst fears — such as being 
captured — to make them abandon strategic positions.  Major Kirsty McQuade _(see article 
on her experience in Bosnia below)_, the top Nato psy-ops officer in southern Afghanistan, said: 
“We exploit psychological vulnerabilities. Being captured is a big fear for the Taleban. 
Most of them want to live to fight another day. But they would rather die than be captured.”  
Psy-ops are normally shrouded in secrecy, but Major McQuade gave The Times an insight 
into Nato tactics.  Commanders believe that there are two types of Taleban insurgents in the 
war-ravaged south: Tier 1 Taleban are the leaders, some of whom are foreign; Tier 2 are
the rank and file ....


*Radio Oksigen:  If they aren’t listening you aren’t “PsyOping”*
Major Kirsty McQuade, GBR Army, First published in EUFOR Forum#3, April, 2005
Article Link

Fortunately one of the things that BiH has in common with most of the rest of the world, 
is that radio is one of the best ways to reach and, if you get it right, subsequently influence 
a Target Audience (TA).  Until 21 March, in MNTF(NW) we have run Radio Oksigen, 
a contemporary hit and dance youth radio that played only English language popular music 
and was aimed at 15 to 25 year olds. It was one of the more listened to radio stations in 
our AO and this was achieved by ensuring that Oksigen remained cutting edge and 
therefore of interest to its listeners ....



*Neighbourhood Watch for Afghan Schools*
Unable to combat the rash of arson attacks across the country, the government enlists the public’s help to safeguard schools and children.
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, Afghan Recovery Report, ARR No. 239, 19 Jan 07
Article Link

Mohammad Gul used to dream of becoming a teacher. The 13-year-old went to a high 
school in Maarja district, in the troubled southern province of Helmand, where he worked 
hard to get good grades so that he would be able to go to university.  That was before 
his school burned down last year - torched by insurgents seeking to undermine the 
provincial authorities.  “I don’t think I will fulfil my dream,” Mohammad Gul told IWPR.
“If the government rebuilds the school, the Taleban will just burn it down again. That’s 
how we all feel. The government has provided tents for the school, but we are afraid 
that we will be burned along with the tents.”  Mohammad Gul is just one of thousands 
of children whose futures are being jeopardised by the rising tide of attacks on schools 
in Afghanistan ....



*US Hearts and Minds Cash Goes to Taleban*
Funds distributed by US forces to civilians in a southern province find their way to the Taleban.
Mirwais Atal, Afghan Recovery Report, ARR No. 236, 28 Nov 06
Article Link

When United States troops in the southern province of Ghazni handed out cash to 
village elders, they must have thought they were winning friends. The money, intended 
for bridges, wells, drinking water, irrigation systems and other infrastructure projects, 
was supposed to convince the local Afghans that the foreign presence would benefit 
their country in general and themselves in particular.  After distributing the funds to 
villagers in Ghazni’s Andar district in early October, the US soldiers departed, having 
done their best to get the district on side.  Their hearts and minds campaign is part of 
a major anti-Taleban offensive codenamed Operation Mountain Fury, which US-led 
coalition forces launched in mid-September in conjunction with the Afghan National 
Army, ANA.  But the resources intended to combat Taleban influence ended up 
doing just the opposite. Local people in several parts of Andar district told IWPR 
that almost as soon as the coalition forces left their villages, the money found its way 
into Taleban coffers to finance the jihad against the foreigners ....



_- edited 220737EST Jan to fix formatting -_


----------



## GAP (22 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 22 January, 2007*

Fire from Afghanistan kills Pakistani
Jan. 22, 2007, 9:48AM By SADAQAT JAN Associated Press Writer 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan mistakenly fired at a Pakistani border post and killed a soldier, Pakistan's military said Monday after lodging a protest over the death.

A U.S. military spokesman said four precision-guided bombs were dropped on four suspected militants who were firing rockets at a U.S. military outpost at Bermel in Afghanistan's Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.

"I cannot confirm or deny loss or injury of Pakistani military," said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, the spokesman. "This all happened inside Afghanistan."

He also said the coalition was investigating.

But the Pakistani military said in a statement the post that was hit is located near Shawal, a mountainous area close to the Afghan border in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.

Pakistan, a key U.S. ally, has a long border with Afghanistan that straddles rugged mountain regions and is not clearly demarcated in places. It is under growing pressure to help contain Taliban and al-Qaida militants suspected to operate from its soil.

Pakistan strongly protested to the coalition authorities, asking them to investigate and take "necessary steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future," its statement said.

Fire by U.S.-led coalition forces has landed in Pakistan in the past. In January 2006, Pakistan protested to the U.S. military in Afghanistan over firing at a village in North Waziristan in which eight people were killed.
End



Afghanistan criticizes plan by Taliban to open schools
OUSTED PARTY APPEARS EAGER TO WIN SUPPORT IN SOUTHERN AREAS
By Noor Khan Associated Press KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Mon, Jan. 22, 2007
Article Link

The Taliban said it will open its own schools in areas of southern Afghanistan under its control, an apparent effort to win support among local residents and undermine the Western-backed government's efforts to expand education.

The announcement follows a violent campaign by the Islamists against state schools in the five years since the party's ouster by U.S.-led forces. The Taliban destroyed 200 schools and killed 20 teachers last year, and President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that 200,000 children had been driven from the classroom.

The Taliban's announcement that it will open schools ``is like putting salt into the wound,'' said Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan's education minister.

Abdul Hai Muthmahien, the purported chief spokesman for the militants, said the group will begin providing Islamic education to students in March in at least six southern provinces, funded by $1 million allotted by the Taliban's ruling council. He said textbooks would be the same ones used during Taliban rule.

He said education would be available to boys first and later to girls, but he did not explain if there had been a change in Taliban thinking about schooling girls. During its rule, it banned girls from schools in Kabul, the capital, although elsewhere it sometimes permitted their schooling until age 8 -- but only to study the Koran, Islam's holy book.

Muthmahien said the program had been approved by tribal elders in the region.

The U.S. and its allies are doing propaganda against the Taliban,'' he said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press from an undisclosed location late Saturday. ``The Taliban are not against education. The Taliban want Shariah education,'' he said, referring to the legal code of Islam.
More on link

Suicide car bomber kills five in Pakistan  
Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A rare suicide car bomb attack in North Waziristan killed four Pakistani soldiers and a woman passer-by on Monday, raising fears that government peace deals in the pro-Taliban region were disintegrating.

 In addition to the deaths, a military spokesman said nine soldiers had been wounded, some critically, when the car rammed an army convoy at Khajori checkpost, near the town of Mir Ali, where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have been active in the past.

"A white-colored car hit the convoy and it appears to be a suicide attack," spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told Reuters.

He said three soldiers had been killed outright and a fourth died in hospital. A local security official said a woman bystander had also died.

It was uncertain how many people were in the suicide car. No one immediately claimed responsibility.


The suicide attack came less than a week after a Pakistani air strike on a suspected Taliban and al Qaeda base in neighboring South Waziristan, raising the possibility that it was an act of revenge.

That strike killed up to 20 militants, intelligence officials said. Villagers said only the bodies of eight wood-cutters had been found.

Tensions have been running high since then in Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, and tribesmen in the area expected a breakdown in peace accords worked out by the government with militants and tribal elders.


SUICIDE ATTACKS RARE

Hundreds of people have been killed since late 2003 in Waziristan in clashes between security forces and militants.

Suicide attacks on the army, however, are extremely rare, although the Taliban regularly uses the tactic across the border against Afghan, U.S., and NATO-led forces.

Witnesses said people were fleeing their homes in parts of South Waziristan amid fears of renewed fighting.

Residents said militants had taken up positions on high ground near army posts in the Khaisor, Makeen and Laddah areas.

"This time, God forbid, if clashes break out, then no one can stop them. We can only pray for a lasting peace," Maulana Saleh Shah, a national senator from South Waziristan, told Reuters.

The government signed a peace accord with militants in North Waziristan last September, after a similar deal was struck in South Waziristan in February 2005.

U.S. officials say cross-border incursions into Afghanistan by Taliban fighters based in Pakistan increased significantly after the North Waziristan accord, although the tribal area itself has been relatively calm.
More on link

Taliban Chief Said Likely in Afghanistan
The Associated Press Monday, January 22, 2007; 7:23 AM
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Taliban leader Mullah Omar is likely based in southern Afghanistan and leading the resurgent Islamic militia from there, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Monday.

A spokeswoman for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said that Omar's exact whereabouts remain unknown.
More on link

Outgoing commander says US committed to Afghanistan
By DPA Jan 22, 2007, 9:30 GMT
Article Link

Kabul - The US is committed to Afghanistan and will remain the single largest contributor of troops to coalition forces, according to Lt Gen Karl Eikenberry, outgoing commander of the US troops since May 2005. 

  Besides the US, 26 NATO countries and 11 other nations are'fully committed to making Afghanistan a viable, self-sustaining country free from international terror,' Eikenberry said before departing Monday for his new post as the deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium. 

   NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has responsibility for security operations of international military forces throughout Afghanistan. 

    Currently, there are more than 23,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan, the highest level since the beginning of troop deployments in October 2001. 

   Great Britain, with more than 5,000 troops, and Germany with approximately 2,900 soldiers are the next largest contributors of troops to ISAF. 
end


ADB to study power trade potential to Afghanistan and Pakistan
Article Link


The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a US$3 million technical assistance grant to study the potential for regional electricity trading that would help optimize utilization of power resources in both Central and South Asia. 

The feasibility study will prepare a proposed power trading project that would, in its initial stages, earn revenues for the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan by allowing them to initially export 1,000 megawatts of electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where there are significant energy shortages. 

The ADB, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Islamic Development Bank, and World Bank along with bilateral and private sector stakeholders have been participating and assisting the Multi-Country Working Group in their consideration of the project. 

"The Multi-Country Working Group has taken important steps toward regional cooperation in power trade and ADB is pleased to contribute through this study to support their efforts to progress to the next stage in project development," says F. C. Kawawaki, an ADB Senior Investment Specialist. 

"Although there is some existing interconnection between Afghanistan and Central Asia, and additional bilateral projects are under development, there is considerable scope for expansion of regional cooperation in the power sector. This project marks the beginning of the process to bring the demand and supply sides together." 

The study will look into the feasibility and viability of the proposed project, including assessment of power availability and demand in the countries, possible transmission routes, economic and financial costs, and environmental and social safeguard assessments. 
More on link

Kandahar’s exiles  
New York Times Monday, January 22, 2007 
Article Link

The most explosive question about the Taliban resurgence here along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is this: Have Pakistani intelligence agencies been promoting the Islamic insurgency? 
The government of Pakistan vehemently rejects the allegation and insists that it is fully committed to help American and NATO forces prevail against the Taliban militants who were driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001. 
Western diplomats in both countries and Pakistani opposition figures say that Pakistani intelligence agencies — in particular the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence — have been supporting a Taliban restoration, motivated not only by Islamic fervour but also by a longstanding view that the jihadist movement allows them to assert greater influence on Pakistan’s vulnerable western flank. 
More than two weeks of reporting along this frontier, including dozens of interviews with residents on each side of the porous border, leaves little doubt that Quetta is an important base for the Taliban, and found many signs that Pakistani authorities are encouraging the insurgents, if not sponsoring them. 
The evidence is provided in fearful whispers, and it is anecdotal. 
At Jamiya Islamiya, a religious school here in Quetta, Taliban sympathies are on flagrant display, and residents say students have gone with their teachers’ blessings to die in suicide bombings in Afghanistan. 
Three families whose sons had died as suicide bombers in Afghanistan said they were afraid to talk about the deaths because of pressure from Pakistani intelligence agents. Local people say dozens of families have lost sons in Afghanistan as suicide bombers. 
One former Taliban commander said in an interview that he had been jailed by Pakistani intelligence officials because he would not go to Afghanistan to fight. He said that, for Western and local consumption, his arrest had been billed as part of Pakistan’s crackdown on the Taliban in Pakistan. Former Taliban members who have refused to fight in Afghanistan have been arrested — or even mysteriously killed — after resisting pressure to re-enlist in the Taliban, Pakistani and Afghan tribal elders said. 
“The Pakistanis are actively supporting the Taliban,” declared a Western diplomat in an interview in Kabul. He said he had seen an intelligence report of a recent meeting on the Afghan border between a senior Taliban commander and a retired colonel of the Pakistani ISI. 
More on link

Afghanistan rescue footage released  
Sunday, 21 Jan 2007 18:21 
Article Link

The body of Lance Corporal Matthew Ford, 30, was retrieved by his comrades from 45 Commando Royal Marines after he died during Operation Glacier, an attack on a Taliban fort in the south of Helmand province.

Four Royal Marines strapped themselves to the wings of two Apache helicopters in what was described by Lieutenant Colonel Rory Bruce as "an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery of our airmen".

New footage released today shows the pale outline of a Marine strapped to the outside of one of the Apaches as it flies above cloud, viewed from a second Apache flying nearby.

"It was a leap into the unknown. This is believed to be the first time UK forces have ever tried this type of rescue mission," UK task force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rory Bruce said.

"It was an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery of our airmen, soldiers and marines who were all prepared to put themselves back into the line of fire to rescue a fallen comrade."
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (22 Jan 2007)

*Canada expresses reservations about Afghan proposals to spray poppy fields*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 22 Jan 07
Article Link

Canadian diplomats are quietly trying to steer Afghan counter-narcotics agents away from a proposal to use chemical spraying to destroy opium-producing poppy fields, says a senior Canadian official.  Responding to international pressure, particularly from the United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government is seriously looking at instituting an aerial spray program to combat the explosion in the illegal narcotics trade.  "The Canadian position on eradication . . . is that it is one of the pillars of the Afghan national drug control strategy," said Gavin Buchan, the political director of the provincial reconstruction base in Kandahar.  "As such, we believe it has a role to play in the overall context. However, we have significant reservations about the advisability of chemical spray."  Ultimately, the decision is one for the Afghan government to make, he said.  Whatever the Afghans choose to do, it will have a significant impact on the 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in Kandahar province.  It's widely felt that a mass eradication effort against dirt-poor farmers, who have no other crops or livelihood, would drive them back into the arms of the Taliban....



*Canadians battle with Taliban near new road*
CTV.ca, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

Canadian soldiers slugged it out with Taliban insurgents near a remote Canadian outpost west of Kandahar.  The firefight occurred near Route Summit, a paved road being build near Panjwaii, said Lt. Sue Stefko, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces, on Sunday.  Canada's soldiers were at a fortified position known as Strong Point West, set up to defend the roadway.  The insurgents struck Saturday night with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.  Canadian soldiers eventually called in heavy artillery, tanks and air support. A compound near their position was bombed.  "There was no indication that anyone was injured in that, Taliban or otherwise,'' she said.  The road itself will cut a one-hour trip for villagers down to 15 minutes ....


*
A turn from burning to learning*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

The anti-government Taliban have announced that they are going to run schools with curriculum other than taught in the government-run educational institutions in ten districts of the southwestern zone.  In a statement released on Sunday, the militia singled out the presence of foreign military as the factor responsible for schools' closure in many areas of the country.  Without quoting any senior leader of the ousted militia, the statement said the educational programme had been planned for districts which, it said, were under the control of the Taliban. However, officials rejected the Taliban claim and said the government enjoyed full control over every nook and corner of the country.  It said a commission had already been formed to work out the procedures and other related issues and announce the new academic year. Those schools would teach the Taliban-era curriculum, added the statement ....



*Coalition forces in Afghanistan bomb Pakistani territory*
Afghanistan Sun, 22 Jan 07  
Article Link

The US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan Monday bombed Pakistani territory, killing one soldier and injuring two, a Pakistani army statement said.  'Today at 14:55 hours (9:55 GMT) in an unfortunate incident close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, coalition forces mistakenly fired on one of our posts near Shawal, North Waziristan Agency,' said the statement from the army's Inter-Services Public Relations.  It said one soldier was killed and two others were injured in this incident.  'A strong protest has been lodged with the coalition authorities about the incident asking them to investigate the matter and take necessary steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future,' the statement added.


*Pakistan says coalition fire killed soldier*
US Marine Corps Times, 22 Jan 07
Article Link]

U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan mistakenly fired at a Pakistani border post and killed a soldier, Pakistan’s military said Monday after lodging a protest over the death.  A U.S. military spokesman said four precision-guided bombs were dropped on four suspected militants who were firing rockets at a U.S. military outpost at Bermel in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.  “I cannot confirm or deny loss or injury of Pakistani military,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, the spokesman. “This all happened inside Afghanistan.”  He also said the coalition was investigating.  But the Pakistani military said in a statement the post that was hit is located near Shawal, a mountainous area close to the Afghan border in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region ....


*Pakistani soldier killed by allies*
Daily Times (PAK), 23 Jan 07
Article Link

NATO-led coalition forces in Afghanistan fired on a Pakistani check-post near the Afghan border on Monday, killing a paramilitary soldier and wounding two others, a military spokesman said. Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told Daily Times that Islamabad had lodged a strong protest with the coalition authorities for “mistakenly” firing on the Pakistani check-post near Shawal in North Waziristan. The Pakistani check-post was attacked at 2:55pm and the coalition forces told the Pakistani military establishment that the incident was the result of “similar fire from the direction” of the check-post, the army spokesman said. “A strong protest has been lodged with coalition authorities about the incident asking them to investigate the matter and take necessary steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future,” a military statement read ....


*FC man dies in coalition attack on Pak border post*
The News (PAK), 23 Jan 07
Article Link

A Frontier Corps soldier was killed and at least two others were wounded when helicopter gunships from the US-led coalition forces bombed a Pakistani border post in the remote Shawal area in North Waziristan on Monday afternoon.  The Pakistan government lodged a strong protest and asked the coalition forces to investigate the matter and take necessary measures that such incidents are not repeated. The statement termed the attack a mistake.  However, a US military spokesman earlier said the incident occurred in Afghanistan. Colonel Paul Fitzpatrick in a statement said he cannot confirm or deny loss or injury of Pakistani military. He said the incident was being investigated. He contended that four precision-guided bombs were dropped on four suspected militants who were firing rockets at a US military outpost in Bermal in Afghanistan’s Paktika province.  Official and tribal sources said the Frontier Corps (FC) border post was attacked by gunship helicopters from the US-led coalition forces in Zway Naray area in Shawal valley in North Waziristan at 2.55pm. They said the choppers intruded into Pakistani territory and bombed the post, which apparently was clearly marked. The FC border post is not near Bermal district in Paktika and it is, therefore, intriguing as to how a US military outpost there was being attacked by suspected militants with rockets from such a faraway place ....

*
'Friendly fire' death in Pakistan*
BBC News Online, 22 Jan 07
Article Link

Pakistan says US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have mistakenly killed one of its soldiers at a border post.  Two other soldiers were wounded when coalition forces opened fire in the Shawal area of North Waziristan region, a Pakistan military statement said.  It said a "strong protest" had been lodged with the coalition, which said it was investigating the incident.  Earlier, at least three Pakistani security personnel were killed in a roadside bombing in North Waziristan ....



*Ethnic differences great challenge to Afghan unity*
Pajhwok Afghan News, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

Ethnic differences and inflaming political hostilities are the serious challenges that threaten Afghanistan national unity and stability.  While addressing the second year inaugural session of the parliament, speaker of the lower house of the parliament Mohammad Younus Qanuni said ethnic differences and political hostility were the serious challenges for national unity and stability.  President Hamid Kazai, members of cabinet, chief justice, ambassadors and the representatives of donor organs attended the inaugural session. Qanuni said: "Beauty of Afghanistan is in racial difference and political differences is the sign of public involvement. Unfortunately, outside of Afghan border, there are groups want to deepen racial differences among Afghan tribes."  He said: "We hope by drafting the national strategy and holding negotiations, we will be able to root out the racial differences." Qanuni hoped in the first weeks of their session they would work on plans to strengthen national unity among Afghans ....



*Italy to stay in Afganistan but no more troops, PM says*
Reuters, 22 Jan 07
Article Link

Italy will keep soldiers in Afghanistan but will not increase their number, Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Monday, insisting he would not give in to hard-left government factions demanding a pull-out.  Pacifists in Italy's centre left have threatened to vote against re-financing the 1,900-strong force in Afghanistan -- something parliament must do every six months. That would be a potentially fatal blow to Prodi's 9-month-old government.  Prodi pulled Italian troops out of Iraq last year, a conflict he said Italy should never have entered, but he insists Italy should remain part of the NATO mission in Afghanistan.  Speaking to reporters during an official visit to Turkey, Prodi dismissed suggestions from coalition left-wingers that his administration was blunting the centre left's 'peaceful' 2006 election message ....


----------



## MarkOttawa (23 Jan 2007)

More troops for Afghanistan 
_Daily Telegrap_h, Jan. 23
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/23/wafghan23.xml&amp;DCMP=EMC-new_23012007



> The Government is preparing to send more troops to Afghanistan despite an admission from Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, yesterday that the Army is already being asked to do more than was originally planned.
> 
> Mr Browne was involved in heated exchanges in the Commons over Conservative claims that three Army battalions were being prepared to go to Afghanistan to replace the two already there – an increase of between 500-600 soldiers.
> 
> ...



Mark 
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (23 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 23 January, 2007*

Canadian Soldiers Involved in Civilian Shooting: Officials  
Josh Pringle  Tuesday, January 23, 2007 
Article Link

An Afghan man is being treated for injuries after being shot in the leg by Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan. 

The incident happened last night at a security cordon set up near a Canadian armoured vehicle outside Kandahar. 

Canadian officials say the man refused several orders to stop as he approached the security barrier. 

Lieutenant Sue Stefko says the troops hollered in Pashtun for the man to halt and fired three warning shots before taking aim at the motorcycle. 

The incident happened on a dirt road as a convoy of soldiers from the 1st battalion Royal Canadian Regiment was returning from the field. 

Canadian troops have been involved in a series of civilian shootings, two of which have resulted in fatalities. 
End

Suicide Bomber Kills 10 in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH The Associated Press Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Article Link


KABUL, Afghanistan -- A bomber blew himself up amid a crowd of workers outside a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing 10 and wounding at least 14 others in the deadliest suicide attack in four months, officials said.

The attacker triggered explosives strapped to his chest among the workers as they lined up outside the base in the city of Khost, said Jamal Arsalah, the governor of Khost province.

Maj. Matt Hackathorn, a U.S. military spokesman, said there was no immediate word of any U.S. military casualties.

The governor, who visited the scene shortly after the explosion, said the Afghan casualties were among hundreds of workers waiting to enter the base, known as Camp Salerno, through its main gate.

An Associated Press Television News cameraman saw the bodies of five men, drenched in blood, in the city's military hospital. Relatives of the dead and injured mobbed the hospital seeking news of their loved ones.
More on link


Commons defence committee lands in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 | 8:07 AM ET  CBC News 
Article Link

MPs charged with overseeing the Canadian mission in Afghanistan arrived in the war-ravaged country Tuesday, the group's first visit since the first wave of Canadian troops landed five years ago.

Appearing jetlagged, the all-party Commons defence committee arrived at Kandahar Airfield early Tuesday amid tight security aboard a Canadian Forces Hercules transport plane.

Members of the all-party Commons defence committee arrive in Afghanistan early Tuesday. 
(CBC) With a mandate to monitor Canada's mission, the committee is in the country to be briefed on all aspects of the war and reconstruction effort.

However, they won't be allowed to leave the southern base to see projects such as schools, medical clinics and roads being built in the Afghan countryside.
More on link

India-Minister-Afghanistan visit  
New Delhi, Jan 23, IRNA 
Article Link


Security of Indians in Afghanistan, which is a matter of concern here, will be among the issues of discussion during External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's two-day visit Kabul which starts today. 

Mukherjee, who is visiting Afghanistan primarily to invite President Hamid Karzai to the 14th South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit to be held here in April, will hold talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations. 

Discussions will also be held on ways in which India can step up its assistance to the reconstruction and development of the war-ravaged country. 

New Delhi has already announced an increase of USD 100 million in assistance from the present level of USD 650 million. 

With Afghanistan witnessing a resurgence of Taliban forces, security issues are expected to dominate the talks. 
More on link

Afghanistan dismisses Taliban vow to open schools
Article Link

KABUL: The Afghan government dismissed as “ridiculous” on Monday, a Taliban vow to open schools in Afghanistan, saying this was likely a pretext for moving “hate madrassas” into the country from Pakistan. The United Nations also said it did not take seriously the announcement. Education Minister Hanif Atmar scoffed at the claim, telling AFP the Taliban burned down 183 schools and killed 61 teachers and students in the past one and a half years.

Attacks by the insurgents had also closed down nearly 400 schools, most of them in the areas where they said they would open them up, he said in an interview.

Atmar also questioned the claim they would allow girls to go school. “During the years of their power in Afghanistan they did not allow even a single girl to go to public schools. How come their policy has now dramatically changed?” He said the government would have the “legitimate right” to attack Taliban schools that became centres of terrorism. The United Nations mission was also dismissive. “I don’t think we see this as being serious,” spokesman Adrian Edwards said. agencies
end


----------



## The Bread Guy (23 Jan 2007)

*Commons defence committee confined to Kandahar Airfield*
Doug Schmidt, CanWest News Service,  23 Jan 07
Article Link

A group of MPs charged with overseeing Canada’s mission in Afghanistan landed at Kandahar Airfield Tuesday to measure what progress is being made but was promptly told by its military hosts its three-day visit would be spent closeted inside the NATO base.  The eight members of the all-party Commons defence committee were told that, for security reasons, they wouldn’t be visiting any troops in the field, they couldn’t see first-hand any of the reconstruction efforts underway "outside the wire," and there were no plans for them to meet with any locals.  Instead, there would be plenty of in-camp briefings.  "The limitations of where they can go have been directed by the minister," said their host, Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, who is the commander of the 2,500 Canadian troops in Afghanistan ....


*Commons defence committee to assess successes, failures in Afghan mission*
MURRAY BREWSTER, Canadian Press, 23 Jan 07
Article Link

Parliamentarians, replete with flak jackets and helmets, stepped off a military transport Tuesday looking as though they were ready for battle, but theirs will be the battle of the briefing room.  Eight members of the all-party Commons defence committee, charged with examining Canada's role in this war-torn country, are not expected to meet any local Afghan officials, nor set foot off Kandahar Airfield to view reconstruction projects.  Their assessment of the Conservative government's deepening involvement in this nasty guerrilla war, which could shape party positions in an anticipated spring election, will largely be based on a barrage of prearranged briefings and PowerPoint presentations from Canadian military and government officials.  They will, however, tour various facilities at the NATO base, including a recreational boardwalk, a cement factory, a newly installed banking machine and the hangout of soldiers, dubbed Canada House.  "We're not going to see much, but maybe that will change," New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black said of the itinerary.  Black, whose party has called for Canadian troops to be withdrawn from fighting militant Taliban forces, has asked to meet with Afghan officials.  "It's not on the itinerary, but we'll see," she said as she wrestled to get out of her bulletproof vest. "I've got a number of questions to ask them."  ....


*Canadian MPs miffed at Afghan travel curbs; minister says it's for safety*
MURRAY BREWSTER, Canadian Press, 23 Jan 07
Article Link

 ....  Brig.-Gen Tim Grant, commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, said Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor made the decision about travel arrangements for the group in Afghanistan. "The movements of the party, the limitations on where they can go, have been directed by the minister," he said.  O'Connor had informed committee members before they left Canada that any travel outside Kandahar Airfield must be by air because road transport is too dangerous, said Isabelle Bouchard, the minister's spokeswoman. She mentioned roadside bombs as one of the dangers.  "The people on the ground, they must request helicopter support because Canada does not own this kind of helicopter in theatre," she said in a telephone interview.  At the moment, none of the allies could provide helicopter transport because of operational factors, she said. "Maybe the opposition members would support our procurement in this process" so that Canada could get its own helicopters, she added.  She denied that the minister was blocking committee members from seeing Afghanistan. "On the contrary, the minister wants them alive and well, back next week in the House."  "We were surprise to hear" their complaints, she said, "because they were well aware of what they were getting into." ....



*Pakistani soldier dies during engagement with insurgents on Paktika border*
ISAF news release #2007-066, 23 Jan 07
Article Link

On the afternoon of 22 January, a Pakistani soldier died during an engagement with insurgents in Bermal district, Paktika, on the Pakistani border. ISAF deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained by Pakistani forces, although the cause of these casualties, and who is responsible, is as yet unclear.  The incident happened following an insurgent rocket attack near an ISAF operating base in Bermel district, Paktika province. Shortly afterwards a group of insurgents was identified moving east towards the Pakistan border.  ISAF called in close air support (CAS) which tracked the insurgents and engaged them. ISAF believes that all ordnance fired landed on the target and one insurgent was killed and another injured.  The Pakistani authorities report, in addition, that one Pakistani soldier was killed and two others were injured during events associated with this incident.  A joint investigation into the incident, involving ISAF and the Pakistan military, has now been convened. ISAF very much appreciates Pakistan’s continued cooperation and assistance on the border.



*Joint Intelligence Operations Centre Opens Thursday*
ISAF Media Advisory #2007-MA12, 23 Jan 07
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (23 January) - Media are invited to attend the opening ceremony for the new Joint Intelligence Operations Centre (JIOC) at HQ ISAF on Thursday at 2:15 p.m.  The JIOC will facilitate joint intelligence operations between ISAF and the Pakistani and Afghan armies. It will be opened by Gen. David Richards, COMISAF, in the presence of senior representatives from the Pakistani and Afghan armies. The ceremony will be followed by a short tour of the facility and a press conference with COMISAF.  Media must confirm attendance to this event, as space is limited. To confirm attendance, please contact the ISAF Public Information Office.  On Thursday, media must arrive at the HQ ISAF main gate by 2:15 p.m. for a security check prior to being escorted to the JIOC.  Media arriving with cell phones and laptops will be asked to hand them in for the duration of the visit to the camp. All media must hold a valid ISAF press pass. Registration is held each Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. Registration requirements are posted on the lower right side of the ISAF Web site ....



_*NOTE:  This story has not appeared in any other MSM outlet as of 24 Jan 07, so take with grain of salt!*_

*Taliban kill 4 Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan*
Pak Tribune, 24 Jan 07
Article Link

Four NATO soldiers were killed in a clash between Taliban and NATO forces at a village near Tirinkot in Uruzgan province of Southern Afghanistan.  Taliban Spokesman, Qari Yousaf told Radio Tehran by telephone that four NATO-led Dutch soldiers were killed when they clashed with the Taliban fighters at a village near Tirinkot in Uruzgan province.  Qari Yousaf further claimed that five Afghan National Army, ANA's soldiers were either killed or wounded when they were attacked by their fighters in Bakwah 
district ....



*Fugitive warlord claims U.S. facing Soviet-style defeat in Afghanistan*
Associated Press, 23 Jan 07
Article Link

The United States faces a Soviet-style humiliation in Afghanistan, a fugitive Afghan warlord claimed in a video message while taunting Pakistan for aiding U.S.-led counterterrorism operations.  In a recording obtained by The Associated Press in Pakistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also accused Washington of fomenting conflict among Afghan ethnic groups on a scale comparable with the strife in Iraq.  "Everyone knows that the American aggressors are faced with defeat in every part of the country," Hekmatyar said. "They were unable to achieve their goals by bombing innocent Afghans, their villages and homes. They are preparing to leave like the Soviet troops." ....



*German Soldiers Admit They Guarded US Prison in Afghanistan*
As part of the investigation into the alleged abuse of terrorist suspects by German soldiers in Afghanistan, officers from the German Special Forces (KSK) are for the first time making official statements -- and they admit that they helped US soldiers guard detainees.  German Special Forces (KSK) soldiers are being investigating for the alleged mistreatment of Murat Kurnaz in Afghanistan.  
Holger Stark, Der Spiegel (DEU), 22 Jan 07
Article Link


Kandahar, January, 2002: It was so cold that the drinking water had frozen in its plastic containers. The German Special Forces (KSK) soldiers were dressed in desert uniforms and woolen hats and were armed with G36 rifles equipped with laser sights. Their mission? To help the US "accompany prisoners from the airplane to the American army prison camp."  The camp was flooded with light as military planes landed on the runway with more detainees, who were to be transported to the camp. "The prisoners were masked and tied together," recalls Master Sergeant L., who took part in the operation. He helped the American GIs lead the prisoners through the gate into the camp, past the clay outer wall and guardhouses. They were then put into one of the four wire cages, which only had a provisional awning for a roof. After transferring all the suspects into the camp, L. patroled up and down between the barbed wire fences ....



*Afghans determined to rebuild, no matter the obstacles*
UNICEF’s External Relations Officer Roshan Khadivi offers personal reflections on the progress she has seen for children in Afghanistan since her first assignment there more than five years ago.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), via Reliefweb.net, 23 Jan 07
Article Link

Prior to my first trip to Afghanistan in 2001, I remember a time when the horrible pictures of group killings of people in Kabul football stadiums reached the rest of the world. News reports spoke of oppressive restrictions and daily torture of innocent people. Worldwide, many wondered how things would turn out here.  I came to this country in late 2001 on a short assessment mission, followed by a two-year assignment in 2002. I have been back in Afghanistan for about month, and this most recent visit has been a real opportunity to see how things have changed ....



*Bridge to be built in Uruzgan*
Saeed Zabuli and Zubair Babakarkhel, Pajhwok Afghan News, 22 Jan 07
Article Link

Australian military will build a bridge in Tirinkot, capital of the southern Uruzgan to link three districts of the province.  The gubernatorial spokesman Gul Qayoom Qayoomi told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday the project worth $400,000 would connect Khas Uruzgan, Gezab and Chora districts with Tirinkot.  He said the governor Abdul Hakim Munib inaugurated the bridge during a ceremony held here. Tribal elders, local officials and other notable people attended the ceremony. He said the bridge would have 68 metres width. He said the project would be completed in three months.  Australian ambassador to Kabul Brett Hackett said the project was very useful and important for local people. He told this news agency: "Local residents will take part in construction work of the bridge that will also help in creating job opportunities." Task forces of the Australian based in Uruzgan have implemented the project ....



*Wardak PRT supports province’s religious schools*
ISAF news release #2007-061, 22 Jan 07
Article Link

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (22 January) – Since the Eid al Adha, the Wardak Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) has launched a humanitarian assistance programme for the province’s religious schools.  So far, 16 religious schools and approximately 2,000 students have received food and winter supplies in Maidan Shair, Nerkh, Jalrez and Saidabad districts. The PRT is working in coordination with the local administration and Provincial Education Department. The PRT is focusing on delivering supplies most in need such as food, firewood, blankets, teaching materials and holy books.  Wardak PRT teams, headed by civilian coordinator Abaci, stress the importance of religious education during their visits, as well as the correct teaching of Islam and the crucial role played by the religious scholars.  The PRT has also asked scholars of the unregistered schools to apply for registry with the education department so they may obtain salary and other state benefits. The religious school representatives have expressed appreciation for the visits and the assistance provided during the difficult winter months.



_- edited to include warning on reports of Dutch fatalities - _


----------



## GAP (24 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 24 January, 2007*

Three suspected Taliban killed in Afghanistan  
Updated Wed. Jan. 24 2007 6:29 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan police clashed with suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, killings three fighters and detaining four, a police official said. 

The militants were killed and captured between the provinces of Kandahar and Uruzgan, where nine border policemen were killed in a militant ambush on Tuesday, said Matiullah Khan, an officer with border police. 

Afghan and NATO-led forces also battled suspected militants for nearly five hours in Uruzgan province on Tuesday, leaving 12 Taliban and nine policemen dead, Uruzgan's police chief, Gen. Mohammad Qasem, said. Four militants and 10 Afghan troops also were wounded, he said. 

The southern clashes came after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of labourers outside a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing as many as 10 people in the deadliest suicide attack in four months. 

The suicide bomber struck as hundreds of Afghan workers lined up to enter the base, known as Camp Salerno, outside the city of Khost, said provincial Gov. Jamal Arsalah, who visited the scene shortly after the explosion. 

Meanwhile, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan warlord whose fighters operate in eastern Afghanistan's mountains alongside the Taliban and al-Qaida, said the U.S. faces a Soviet-style humiliation in the country. 

In a recording obtained by The Associated Press in Pakistan, Hekmatyar also accused Washington of fomenting conflict among Afghan ethnic groups on a scale comparable with the strife in Iraq. 

"Everyone knows that the American aggressors are faced with defeat in every part of the country,'' Hekmatyar said. "They were unable to achieve their goals by bombing innocent Afghans, their villages and homes. They are preparing to leave like the Soviet troops.'' 
More on link

An older link, but an excellent read
We went because we wanted to go, and we're glad we went
Why would four young men give up comfortable lives in the Lower Mainland to serve in the army in Afghanistan?
Michael Scott Vancouver Sun Saturday, November 11, 2006
Article Link 

Every six weeks or so, during the hellish, death-defying months that Bombardier Daniel Mazurek was dodging rocket-propelled grenades in the lawless wastes west of Kandahar, a package would arrive from his girlfriend back home in Canada.

In it there would be a pound of ground Starbucks coffee. Mazurek, a resourceful six-footer, would pull a battered hiking stove and a little Italian espresso pot from some hidey-hole in his armoured vehicle, blow the dust and spiders out of them, and brew a proper cup of coffee for himself and his buddies.

People loved Mazurek's field coffee. They loved it because it reminded all those dirty, dog-tired Canadian soldiers of home; and they loved it because Mazurek knew exactly what he was doing. Before he became a soldier manning a 105-millimetre howitzer, Dan Mazurek, who is 24 and grew up in White Rock, was a barista at Starbucks.

This morning, members of the Canadian Forces standing at cenotaphs across the country remembering fallen comrades won't all be silver-haired and thinking about Dieppe, Ortona and Juno Beach. A new generation of Canadian veterans, young people like Dan Mazurek, still in their 20s, have risked everything in the service of their country, and are returning from Afghanistan to our orderly world of Robson Street shopping and Kitsilano sunsets, forever changed.

This is the story of four young men who traded comfortable Lower Mainland lives for the duty and danger of military deployment in Afghanistan. Death was a daily possibility, but each of them says he would go back. They too will be at cenotaphs today, remembering their own fallen comrades.
More on link

More British diplomats for Afghanistan
Article Link

LONDON, Jan 24 (KUNA) -- The British Government is to send up to 35 extra diplomatic staff to Afghanistan, the BBC reported Wednesday.

The deployment will make the country one of the UK Foreign Office's biggest overseas postings.

Government sources said the move is an attempt to prevent the country suffering the same level of chaos and violence as Iraq.

Officials said staff will focus on tackling drug production and corruption as well as building institutions.

Currently there are between 50 and 100 UK-based diplomats in Afghanistan, including counter-narcotics specialists.

The new staff are expected to be deployed to the British Embassy in Kabul and to Lashkar Garh in the south of the country over the coming months.

Foreign Office officials say the priorities will be to combat corruption, help build government institutions in the south and to tackle the production of opium.

The newly enlarged embassy staff will be headed by one of Britain's highest profile diplomats Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, who is currently ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

A fluent Arabist, he was previously ambassador in Tel Aviv.
More on link

New irrigation canal opens in Nangarhar  
Tuesday January 23, 2007 (0134 PST)
Article Link

BAGRAM AIRFIELD: A new irrigation canal opened in Goshta district, Nangarhar province. 
The opening ceremony was attended by the district's police chief, elders from the community, Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) commander, Lt. Col. David Naisbitt. 

The project took eight months to complete and provided jobs to more than 150 local Afghans. The Goshta elders said the project was a great benefit to the district as many more farmers in the area will benefit from the water in the irrigation canal. 

The farmers were also appreciative of the Nangarhar Irrigation Department and the PRT's efforts. Prior to the opening ceremony, ANA soldiers along with the ANP helped the PRT's soldiers donate rice, cooking oil, beans, blankets, coats and other winter supplies. 

They were provided to the Goshta sub-governor and will be provided to the most needy people in the area.
End

Taliban kill 4 Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan  
Wednesday January 24, 2007 (0035 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Four NATO soldiers were killed in a clash between Taliban and NATO forces at a village near Tirinkot in Uruzgan province of Southern Afghanistan. 
Taliban Spokesman, Qari Yousaf told Radio Tehran by telephone that four NATO-led Dutch soldiers were killed when they clashed with the Taliban fighters at a village near Tirinkot in Uruzgan province. 

Qari Yousaf further claimed that five Afghan National Army, ANA's soldiers were either killed or wounded when they were attacked by their fighters in Bakwah district. 

He added that a NATO military tank was targeted in an overnight attack Sunday night at Shawandad in Kandahar province.
End

ANP instructors complete law-enforcement course  
Tuesday January 23, 2007 (0134 PST)
Article Link

BAGRAM AIRFIELD: Nine Afghan National Police (ANP) field training instructors graduated on from a Mehtar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) sponsored police course in Laghman province. 
During the week long course, security forces personnel from the PRT's Police Training and Assessment Team (PTAT) instructed the officers about police tactics, procedures and professionalism. 

The training is designed to better contribute to the security reforms being implemented by the Afghan government. "What we learned here was good because it coincided with the teachings of Islam," said Nawabdin, an ANP officer who graduated the course with distinguished honours. 

"The main thing this course stressed was being honest and honorable. We will pass on the lessons learned here to our fellow police officers back in the ANP compound," he said. 

That's exactly what the PTAT instructors hope the students will do with their training, said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. David Pacheco, Mehtar Lam PTAT non-commissioned officer in charge. "We ask them to apply the material and knowledge they have received and continuously share that with Afghan National Police (ANP) throughout Laghman province," he said.
more on link



Most Italians want to withdraw troops form Afghanistan  
January 24, 2007          
Article Link

The majority of Italians are in favor of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, according to a new poll published on Tuesday. 

Some 56 percent of those interviewed in the poll said they wanted Italian forces to be pulled out of the central Asian country. The percentage was even higher, 64 percent, among people who voted for Prodi's center-left alliance last year. 

The poll, carried out by IPR Marketing for the La Repubblica newspaper's website, highlighted a political problem that the premier has been grappling with in recent days. 

Three pacifist allies, the Communist Refoundation Party, the Italian Communists' Party and the Greens, have been pressuring Prodi to withdraw from Afghanistan. 

Prodi held a meeting on Sunday evening with the three parties. He emerged confirming the troop presence but promising not to send in more soldiers. 

Almost 2,000 Italian troops are serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led ISAF peacekeeping mission there. 

The IPR poll found that 48 percent of center-right opposition voters favored continuing the mission while 45 percent wanted a pullout. 
More on link

Zawahiri mocks Bush over Iraq in new video   
Article Link
  
DUBAI: Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri on Tuesday mocked US President George W Bush’s plan to send extra troops to Iraq, saying he should send his entire army to be annihilated. In an online video message, the al-Qaeda second-in-command also accused the United States of being behind the deployment of Ethiopian troops in Somalia and vowed that Islamist forces would “break the back” of the Ethiopians. 

“In his latest speech, Bush said in his ramblings that he would send 20,000 of his soldiers to Iraq. I ask him: why send only 20,000 soldiers? Why don’t you send 50,000 or 100,000?” Zawahiri said in the 15-minute recording. “Don’t you know that the dogs of Iraq are impatient to devour the carcasses of your soldiers?” taunted Zawahiri, regarded as the ideological powerhouse of al-Qaeda who carries a 25-million dollar US bounty on his head. 

“On the contrary, you must send your entire army to be annihilated at the hands of the mujahedeen so that the whole world will be rid of your wickedness.” 

Bush, facing mounting criticism of the nearly four-year war in Iraq, announced on January 10 that he would send an additional 21,500 troops in a bid to quell deadly sectarian violence in the war-wracked country. The US president has waged an aggressive public relations campaign over the past week to warn against pulling out of Iraq hastily, and Iraq is expected to be the focus of his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday. 

But US forces have suffered heavy casualties in Iraq this month, with 49 dead including 12 troops killed in a helicopter crash which the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda claimed in an Internet statement Monday. 

Zawahiri repeatedly poked fun at Bush’s plan for Iraq, as well as the US-led mission to rid Afghanistan of remnants of the extremist Taliban movement. “Iraq, the country of the caliphate and of jihad, is capable of being a tomb for 10 of your armies,” the Egyptian-born surgeon said in the video, wearing his trademark white turban and black cloak. 
More on link



Afghanistan: NATO Downplays 'Conventional' Threat In South  
By Ahto Lobjakas
Article Link

KANDAHAR/KABUL, January 23, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- NATO-led forces in south and central Afghanistan say that despite fears of increased violence, Taliban militants are in no position to mount conventional attacks in large groups.


Officials with NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) based in Kandahar and Kabul credit counterinsurgency offensives in late 2006 for curbing Taliban activities -- and options. They predict insurgent attacks are likely to be limited primarily to dispersed tactics like suicide bombings, improvised roadside explosives, and intimidation. 
  
NATO now says that in the movement's heartland around Kandahar, the nature of that threat has been irreversibly changed.
  
Squadron Leader Dave Marsh, the spokesman for ISAF's Regional Command South, based at the Kandahar airfield, told RFE/RL on January 22 that ISAF operations in September and December -- known as Medusa and Baaz Tsuka, respectively -- have eliminated the Taliban as a "conventional threat" -- that is, a force capable of carrying out large-scale military operations.
  
"What we've moved on from, from September to now, is from is a conventional threat that's been destroyed down to an insurgency where [insurgents] must target weak points," Marsh said. 
  
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said recently at NATO headquarters in Brussels that Taliban attacks in 2007 are likely to be worse than 2006. That warning was repeated on January 22 by the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Ronald Neuman. 
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (25 Jan 2007)

*MPs in Afghanistan may get off base O’Connor*
MARTIN O’HANLON, Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Visiting Canadian MPs confined to base in Afghanistan might be about to get a weekend pass.  Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor has relented a bit and announced that eight MPs visiting Kandahar may be allowed to leave the NATO base — provided the military can ensure their safety.  "The minister is supportive of every effort to maximize opportunities for members of Parliament to garner a better understanding of what Canadian soldiers, development workers, police representatives, and diplomats are doing for Canada in Afghanistan," spokeswoman Isabelle Bouchard said in an e-mail.  "Therefore, the minister has asked military authorities to see whether the Canadian Forces can safely support MP requests to see CF operations outside of Kandahar Airfield."  The MPs arrived in Kandahar on Tuesday to review the progress in the war against the Taliban.  But O’Connor barred them from leaving the base, citing security reasons — a decision that didn’t sit well with opposition MPs who noted that other dignitaries have been escorted outside.  Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh, one of the visiting members, accused O’Connor of trying to hamstring the committee ....



*Probe Afghan role, Dion urges*
Liberals will push to have Commons hearings on how reconstruction, military are faring
Sean Gordon & Les Whittington , Toronto Star, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

With Afghanistan looming as a major issue in the next federal election, Liberals are trying to carve out a position that allows them to be sharply critical of the government's conduct of the war. But at the same time, party leader Stéphane Dion wants to avoid being painted as an advocate of pulling out Canadian troops.  Dion announced yesterday that the Liberals will push for a probe by the Commons foreign affairs committee to shed new light on Canada's role in the Afghan conflict and to hold Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor to account.  "We want hearings about the situation in Afghanistan," Dion told a news conference wrapping up a three-day caucus retreat here.  The opposition has "no confidence at all in the capacity of this (Conservative) government" to construct a mission that balances military security with the need to rebuild Afghanistan, Dion said.  It's deplorable that Canada spent only $10 million in aid for the reconstruction effort last year, he said, especially when exactly how the money was spent is not known.  Liberals stressed their unified stance in demanding a full investigation of the conduct of the war ....


*Dion urges Afghanistan hearings*
Wants public discussion: 'What is really happening,' asks Liberal leader
Philip Authier, CanWest News Service, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

The federal Liberals yesterday called on the Harper government to hold public hearings into Canada's role in the war in Afghanistan, maintaining they still do not have enough information about the mission.  Liberal leader Stephane Dion said recent visits by members of the Commons permanent committee on defence -- the members were not allowed off the military base at Kandahar for security reasons -- were not sufficient for the Liberals and Canadian public to get a clear idea of what Canada is doing in the region.  The party has questions about what Canada's troops and aid agency workers are doing.  "We are not in Afghanistan for reprisals," Mr. Dion said in reference to recent controversial comments by Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor. "We are in Afghanistan to help the population live more securely and to give it, over the coming years, a functional government.  That is why we are there. To do that we have to know if the mission is working well. What is really happening? We want hearings from the Foreign Affairs committee to know how we can improve this mission." ....



*Afghan, Pak, NATO armies to open first intel hub*
Agence France Presse, via Khaleej Times (UAE), 25 Jan 07
Article Link

The first Afghan, Pakistan and NATO intelligence sharing centre is due to open formally in Kabul Thursday in a drive to improve coordination in the protracted fight against the Taleban and other extremists.  The joint intelligence and operation centre is staffed by six intelligence agents from each of the Afghan, Pakistan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) militaries—all fighting the resurgent Taleban.  “The centre will allow the sharing of information and reports to be able to better coordinate military operations,” Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP.  “Now how useful and significant it will be — we will wait for the results. Lots has been discussed in the past, lots of commissions and meetings were formed. We will wait and see if this will be useful,” he said.  Commanders of the three militaries already meet every two months in a Tripartite Commission ....



*Chief cracks down on Kandahar police*
Officer arrested, probe launched after rampage against civilians
Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail, 24 Jan 07
Article Link

Kandahar's crusading new police chief has arrested one of his own officers and launched an investigation into a shooting that killed a civilian in a highly unusual step aimed at showing that police are not above the law.  Police are looking into complaints from city residents that officers went on a rampage Friday morning, beating civilians and fatally shooting a bystander in the aftermath of an attack at a checkpoint.  It's the first time in recent memory that a Kandahar police officer has faced such serious consequences for his actions, according to local politicians and residents.  "The message for police is that they should be honest, work for our nation and respect people," said General Asmatullah Alizai, the police chief.  Jamal Udin, 43, a pharmacist, describes his encounter last week with rampaging police officers. The city's police chief has personally apologized for their behaviour.  The details of what happened remain unclear, Gen. Alizai said, and it's far too early to determine whether the officer was at fault ....



*Despite U.S. pressure, Afghan government won't spray heroin-producing poppies*
JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Afghanistan's heroin-producing poppies will not be sprayed with herbicide this year despite a record crop in 2006 and U.S. pressure for President Hamid Karzai to allow the drug-fighting tactic, a spokesman said Thursday.  Karzai's cabinet decided on Sunday to hold off on using chemicals for now, according to Said Mohammad Azam, spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Counter Narcotics. "There will be no ground spraying this year," Azam told The Associated Press.  However, Karzai told foreign and Afghan officials this week that if Afghanistan's poppy crop is not reduced this year he would allow spraying in 2008, according to a western official who requested anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.  He said there would be more pressure to destroy poppy crops with "traditional" techniques - typically sending teams of labourers into fields to batter down or plow in the plants before they can be harvested.  "If it works, that is fine," Azam said. "If it does not, next year ground spraying will be in the list of options." ....



*Bush Plans New Focus On Afghan Recovery*
Extra $7 Billion Would Go to Security, Roads
Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

After the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion, the Bush administration is preparing a series of new military, economic and political initiatives aimed partly at preempting an expected offensive this spring by Taliban insurgents, according to senior U.S. officials.  Even as it trumpeted a change of course in Iraq this month, the White House has completed a review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. It will ask Congress for $7 billion to $8 billion in new funds for security, reconstruction and other projects in Afghanistan as part of the upcoming budget package, officials said.  That would represent a sizable increase in the U.S. commitment to the strife-torn country; since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban, the United States has provided a little more than $14 billion in assistance for Afghanistan, the State Department says.  The U.S. military said yesterday that about 3,500 soldiers in the Army's 10th Mountain Division will have their tours in Afghanistan extended by four months, as part of an effort to beef up U.S. troop strength. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with other NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Friday to discuss Afghanistan, part of a new diplomatic offensive U.S. officials say is aimed at securing more international support for the government of President Hamid Karzai ....

*
U.S. to urge allies to boost Afghan support*
Mark John, Reuters, 24 Jan 07
Article Link

The United States will urge European allies to match it in injecting more development funds into Afghanistan at high-level talks set for Friday, a senior U.S. official said.  U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will tell NATO and EU counterparts that 2007 could emerge as a key year in efforts to subdue the stubbornly resistant Taliban-led insurgency and push forward with often patchy reconstruction work.  "We've got to kick up our investment. The U.S. is going to do that and we'd like to see our allies do that. 2007 is a year in which we can make a profound difference," the official, who requested anonymity, told reporters on Wednesday.  "We've made a lot of promises to Afghans and a lot of promises to ourselves."  The push reflects a U.S. policy review that concluded Afghanistan needs more resources from the United States and others both to fight the Taliban and to win local support with tangible benefits like roads, schools and electricity ....



*Pakistani Premier Faults Afghans for Taliban Woes on Border*
KATRIN BENNHOLD and MARK LANDLER, New York Times, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, acknowledged Wednesday that people sympathetic to the Taliban were active in the frontier regions near the border with Afghanistan. But he insisted that the root of the problem was the Afghan government’s weak authority, not Pakistani support of the Taliban.  “We believe the core of the problem is in Afghanistan,” Mr. Aziz said, in an interview at the World Economic Forum here in Davos.  Mr. Aziz also said three million Afghan refugees were crowded into Quetta, Peshawar and other Pakistani cities close to the 1,700 mile-border between the countries. Despite what he described as stepped-up Pakistani efforts to root out extremists, the refugee population remains a recruiting pool for the Taliban insurgency, Mr. Aziz said. But he dismissed allegations that his country was supporting the militants.  “This notion that Pakistan may be in some way or other supporting these people or giving them safe haven is ridiculous,” he said ....



*Conference on the Relationship Between State and Non-State Justice Systems in Afghanistan*
Project on the Role of Non-State Justice Systems in Fostering the Rule of Law in Post-Conflict Societies
December 10-14, 2006 | Kabul, Afghanistan
Posted to US Institute of Peace Site, 24 Jan 07
Article Link - Agenda

The Ministry of Justice of Afghanistan and the United States Institute of Peace, together with its partners the Fletcher School at Tufts University and the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) convened a conference on the relationship between state and non-state justice systems in Afghanistan on December 10-14, 2006. The conference brought together actors from the informal system, civil society, and the aid community, including representatives from 20 of Afghanistan's provinces ....


----------



## GAP (25 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 25 January, 2007*

The Waziristan Factor
by Abid Jan  January 24, 2007 at 21:36:21
Article Link

Pakistan is in a mess along with its troubled spots, including Waziristan. Only Pakistan military can clean up the mess which has created it in the first place with the ability to put together the extraordinary combination of arrogant but scared leadership and total lack of judgment which went into its making.

Those who claim that there is a militant problem in Pakistan must look into the history of this region and Pakistan. Oppression never goes without an equal and opposite reaction. The sledgehammer hasn't worked in Iraq. It isn't working in Afghanistan. And it has suffered serious reverses in Pakistan with more than 3000 Pakistani soldiers killed in two years.

The Waziristani tribes have stood guard on the Frontier for over fifty years. They went to Kashmir in 1947 and what we have of Kashmir we owe largely to their enterprise and valour. Before jumping the bandwagon of justifying all crimes with the Taliban boggy, we need a period of reflection and understanding the root causes of the problem before making the culprits accountable. 

From the following analysis we should learn to do our own thinking for brining Musharraf and his cronies to justice and be able to tell the Americans where to get off.
Background:  

• Since 1947 to 1979, there was no problem of militancy and rebellion in the tribal areas despite their martial and semi-autonomous status. Despite presence of strong pockets of pro-Afghan communists like ANP who constantly demanded "Pashtunistan", the tribals never saw any cause to rise in an uprising against any Pakistani government. Globally, the U.S. and its allies were engaged in undermining the former Soviet Union and had no time to exaggerate the threat of Muslim movements. There was an absence of mass media like VCR, audio tapes, multiple TV channels, Cable and internet were also not present. 
More on link

Afghanistan won't spray poppies
JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL — Afghanistan's heroin-producing poppies will not be sprayed with herbicide this year despite a record crop in 2006 and U.S. pressure for President Hamid Karzai to allow the drug-fighting tactic, a spokesman said Thursday.

However, Mr. Karzai told foreign and Afghan officials this week that if Afghanistan's poppy crop isn't reduced this year he would allow spraying in 2008, according to a Western official who requested anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.

Mr. Karzai's cabinet decided Sunday to hold off on using chemicals for now, according to Said Mohammad Azam, spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Counter Narcotics.

“There will be no ground spraying this year,” Mr. Azam told The Associated Press.

He said there would be more pressure to destroy poppy crops with “traditional” techniques — typically sending teams of labourers into fields to batter down or plow in the plants before they can be harvested.

“If it works, that is fine,” Mr. Azam said. “If it does not, next year ground spraying will be in the list of options.”

Fuelled by the Taliban, a powerful drug mafia and the need for a profitable crop that can overcome drought, opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 per cent to 6,700 tons — enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. That's more than 90 per cent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.
More on link

Chief cracks down on Kandahar police  
Officer arrested, probe launched after rampage against civilians 
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Kandahar's crusading new police chief has arrested one of his own officers and launched an investigation into a shooting that killed a civilian in a highly unusual step aimed at showing that police are not above the law.

Police are looking into complaints from city residents that officers went on a rampage Friday morning, beating civilians and fatally shooting a bystander in the aftermath of an attack at a checkpoint.

It's the first time in recent memory that a Kandahar police officer has faced such serious consequences for his actions, according to local politicians and residents.

"The message for police is that they should be honest, work for our nation and respect people," said General Asmatullah Alizai, the police chief.
More on  link


Pentagon says 3,200 soldiers face extended tour in Afghanistan
Article Link

WASHINGTON A Fort Drum spokesman confirms that the combat tour of 32-hundred soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade will be extended for four months in hopes of quelling violence in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon's decision comes a week after Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with commanders in Afghanistan and heard a request for more troops.

Already, President Bush's plan to send more than 21-thousand additional troops to Iraq is running into criticism on Capitol Hill.

The decision further stresses a military straining to wage major wars on two fronts. There are about 24-thousand U-S troops in Afghanistan, the most since the war began in October 2001.
More on link

U.S. preparing new offensive in Afghanistan
MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ The Washington Post Thu, Jan. 25, 2007
Article Link

WASHINGTON - After the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion, the Bush administration is preparing a series of new military, economic and political initiatives aimed partly at pre-empting an expected offensive this spring by Taliban insurgents, according to senior U.S. officials.

Even as it trumpeted a change of course in Iraq this month, the White House has also completed a review of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. It will ask Congress for $7 billion to $8 billion in new funds for security, reconstruction and other projects in Afghanistan as part of the upcoming budget package, officials said.

That would represent a sizable increase in the U.S. commitment to the strife-torn country; since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban, the United States has provided a little more than $14 billion in assistance for Afghanistan, the State Department says.
More on link

Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, cloud picture on US budget deficit, congressman says 
The Associated Press Wednesday, January 24, 2007 WASHINGTON 
Article Link

Newly released U.S. budget estimates showed some improvement in the deficit but gave little solace to Democrats struggling to match President George W. Bush's promise to balance the budget.

The new forecast released Wednesday by the Congressional Budget Office put the deficit for the current budget year reaching about $200 billion (€153.8 billion) after factoring in Iraq war costs. Last year's deficit was $248 billion (€190.7 billion).

Both the White House and the top Democratic budget writers welcomed the improved outlook, but difficult disagreements remain over how to close the gap.

The CBO, a nonpartisan agency that provides lawmakers with estimates of the budget and the costs of legislation, said the budget could run a $170 billion (€130.7 billion) surplus in the 2012 fiscal year.

That figure, however, assumes the U.S. Congress will let Bush's tax cuts expire at the end of 2010, effectively raising taxes on income, inheritances, married couples and parents.

The Bush administration releases its budget Feb. 5 and promises it will be balanced by 2012 without any such tax increases.

White House budget director Rob Portman met on Capitol Hill with a group of moderate House Democrats and claimed such lawmakers as allies in the president's effort.

"This notion that you have to raise taxes to achieve balance ... is no longer the environment or the scenario," Portman told reporters.

He said Bush's budget would achieve balance with improved but still "cautious" estimates of tax revenues. They probably will be more optimistic than the CBO's estimates.
More on link

3 ‘Taliban’ killed, 4 held in southern Afghanistan
Article Link

KANDAHAR: Afghan police clashed with suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killings three fighters and detaining four, a police official said. 

The militants were killed and captured between the provinces of Kandahar and Uruzgan, where nine border policemen were killed in a militant ambush on Tuesday, said Matiullah Khan, an officer with border police. 

Afghan and NATO-led forces also battled suspected militants for nearly five hours in Uruzgan province on Tuesday, leaving 12 Taliban and nine policemen dead, Uruzgan’s police chief, Gen Mohammad Qasem, said. Four militants and 10 Afghan troops also were wounded, he said. 

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Defence Minister Phil Goff assured NATO that his country was committed to the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan and was considering extending the participation of its around 140 soldiers and police officers beyond the scheduled end of the deployment in September. 

Goff on Tuesday made his first visit to NATO headquarters since October when New Zealand placed its troops in Afghanistan under the command of the alliance’s 32,000-strong force. 

NATO officials praised the role of the New Zealand troops based in the central province of Bamiyan for combining their security role with reconstruction work to help the economy and efforts to build up the local police. “Security is necessary for development, but development is equally necessary for security,” Goff said. “If we can make people’s lives better, that provides the greatest prospect of winning hearts and minds.” 
More on link

ADB fund for Pak, Afghanistan to buy electricity from Central Asia
Article Link

Islamabad, Jan 24 (ANI): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a three million dollar technical assistance grant to Pakistan and Afghanistan for facilitating the export of 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to overcome their growing energy shortages. 

The fund will be utilised for conducting a feasibility study on the project, including assessment of power, availability and demand in the countries, possible transmission routes, economic and financial costs, and environmental and social safeguard assessments.

The bank's Multi-Country Working Group will deal with the financial and technical aspects of the proposed project, the ADB said in a statement.

According to the Dawn, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Islamic Development Bank and World Bank along with bilateral and private sector stakeholders are also participating and assisting the Multi-Country Working Group in the proposed project.
More on link


----------



## The Bread Guy (25 Jan 2007)

_- edited 260653EST Jan to add link to ISAF Fact Sheet on new Joint Intelligence Ops Ctr - _

*Commons defence committee wraps Afghan trip with call for more diplomacy*
Canadian Press, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

 Members of the House of Commons all-party defence committee say more diplomacy has to be injected into Canada's mission in Afghanistan, but they disagree on where the focus of that effort should be.  New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black says Canada's role in the war-torn country is supposed to be what's called a three-D approach - defence, development and diplomacy.  She says they haven't heard anything about diplomacy in their visit to Kandahar, particularly when it comes to dealing with Pakistan, which provides safe haven to Taliban militants.  The committee chair, Tory MP Rick Casson, defended the government by saying Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay has been actively engaging countries in the region, but if there's to be diplomacy it should be aimed at convincing NATO allies to meet repeated calls for additions troops.  His sentiment was shared by Liberal Ujjal Dossanjh, who says the Conservatives need to be tougher with the alliance so they "cough up more resources, particularly more troops."  Dossanjh says Prime Minister Stephen Harper should have done that before Parliament voted to extend the mission by two years ....


*Afghans can't say enough about Canada: McGuire*
CBC Online, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

A delegation of Canadian MPs to Afghanistan is hearing a lot about the good work Canadians are doing in that country, Egmont MP Joe McGuire says.  The Liberal MP representing western P.E.I. is part of a group of MPs from the House of Commons defence committee visiting Canadian forces in Afghanistan. The group left the Canadian base in Kandahar Thursday. They didn't go far, but McGuire said they saw and heard a lot about what Canadian soldiers are doing in the region.  "We talked to a person who has been living in Kandahar the last five years and they said without the Canadians and what they're doing, there would be absolutely no economic development going on, and no community development going on, no hospitals being built," McGuire told CBC News in a phone call from Kandahar Thursday.  "They're really, really pleased with the role our soldiers have done here. And they can't express it really with enough enthusiasm." ....



*Duceppe calls for open debate on Afghanistan*
CBC Online, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe called Thursday for an open debate in Parliament on the role of Canada's troops in Afghanistan, one day after Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion made a similar plea.  Duceppe, speaking at a luncheon in Montreal, accused the Conservative government of not allowing an open discussion on the mission.  Every time any members of Parliament criticize the mission, they are shut down by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Duceppe said.  Harper replies to criticism with one answer, he said.  "He says, and I quote, 'We will not cut and run,' as if debating that question meant being a coward," Duceppe said. "Whenever there was a criticism, he said we don't support the military.  Of course we support the military." ....


*Gilles Duceppe wants Harper government to change focus of Afghanistan mission*
Peter Rakobowchuk, Canadian Press, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe says the Harper government should adjust the focus of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan to reconstruction.  Duceppe reiterated his support for the international intervention in the war-torn country, saying on Thursday that even a sovereign Quebec would take part in such a mission.  “I’ve got a lot of admiration for the men and women who are ready to risk their lives to serve their country and help others,” he said. “It’s for this reason we have to act responsibly and with a lot of determination to pursue our objectives of reconstruction.  “We’re asking for changes in the attitude of the Canadian government, so that it will propose a re-balancing of the mission,” he said.  Duceppe said Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper should recognize there’s an urgency to act because the situation is deteriorating.  “Afghanistan is not another Iraq and we will do everything we can so that Afghanistan does not become another Iraq,” Duceppe said during a speech to the Montreal Council on International Relations ....



*NATO readies combat brigade for Afghanistan*
Brian Knowlton and Helene Cooper, International Herald Tribune, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Ahead of a feared springtime offensive by a resurgent Taliban, NATO is sending an additional combat brigade to Afghanistan and the United States plans to extend the tours of more than 3,000 troops while sharply increasing financial aid to the country, officials said Thursday.  In Brussels, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration would ask Congress for an additional $10.6 billion in security and reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan, which in 2006 experienced its bloodiest year since the 2001 invasion ousted the Taliban.  "The challenges of the last several months have demonstrated that we want to, and we should, redouble our efforts," Rice said aboard her flight to Brussels.  U.S. assistance to Afghanistan has totaled $14 billion since the 2001 invasion, so the new package marks a substantial increase, meant partly to reassure allies that the United States remains heavily committed to success in Afghanistan, despite its problems in Iraq.  Rice, who flew to Brussels to confer Friday with other NATO officials on ways to stabilize Afghanistan, said that $8.6 billion of the total would go to training and equipping Afghan forces. It will help increase the national army by 70,000 and local police forces by 82,000, a senior U.S. official said.  An additional $2 billion would be spent on reconstruction projects, like building roads, laying electric power lines, developing rural areas and fighting the opium trade, administration officials said ....

*DoD Announces Afghanistan Force Adjustment*
DefenseLink (USA) news release No. 088-07, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

The Department of Defense announced today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates approved a request from commanders to extend for up to 120 additional days 3,200 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division currently operating in Afghanistan.  This extension will provide military capability for NATO to maintain the initiative and build upon the success achieved in promoting stability and security, while denying safe haven for the Taliban.  Force levels in Afghanistan continue to be conditions-based and will be determined in consultation with the Afghan government and NATO.  The United States remains committed to leading the counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan, training and equipping the Afghan national security forces and assisting with reconstruction.  The United States continues to be NATO-International Security Assistance Force’s largest troop contributor.  This request for forces by U.S. commanders as part of NATO’s forces in Afghanistan was endorsed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe as a commitment to the NATO-ISAF mission in Afghanistan as NATO continues to identify capabilities needed to meet enduring requirements.  The Secretary and department recognize the additional sacrifice and continued contributions of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and their family members.   Army leadership is diligently working with service members and their families to provide support and resources to meet their needs.


*
Afghanistan, Pakistan, NATO Open First Intelligence Hub*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 25 Jan 07
Article Link - http://tinyurl.com/3399ccISAF Fact Sheet on Joint Int Ops Ctr (MS Word doc)

Afghanistan, Pakistan and NATO today formally opened the first joint intelligence sharing center today in Kabul to boost cooperation against Taliban and other extremists.  The commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Richards, said the launch of the Joint Intelligence Operations Center (JIOC) represents "a historic day...in the war on terror and against the insurgents."  Richards also commented on additional NATO troops expected in Afghanistan.  "More ISAF troops are being committed to this campaign (Operation Enduring Freedom)," Richards said. "You will hear very good news formally very shortly on that. I anticipate at least another brigade of combat troops from ISAF nations coming here shortly, and more after that."  The center is staffed by six intelligence and operational officers from each of the Afghan and Pakistani armies and 12 ISAF staff members.



*Outgoing commander says U.S. commitment will live on in Afghanistan*
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN news release # 070121-001, 21 Jan 07
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan – The outgoing commander of Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan said the United States is committed to NATO’s success in Afghanistan and will remain the single largest contributor of troops to the mission.  “The U.S. is a member of NATO.  NATO’s success is the U.S.’s success, which is Afghanistan’s success,” said Army Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, commander of the U.S.-led Coalition since May 2005.  More than 23,000 service members are in Afghanistan, the highest level since Operation Enduring Freedom began in Afghanistan in October 2001.  NATO’s International Security Assistance Force has responsibility for security operations of international military forces throughout the country.  Twenty six NATO countries and 11 other nations are “fully committed to making Afghanistan a viable, self-sustaining country free from international terror,” Eikenberry said.  Eikenberry left today after a ceremony in which the command and its accomplishments were honored.  Eikenberry has been nominated to serve as the deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium.   The Coalition headquarters of CFC-A is expected to inactivate sometime in the coming weeks.  The Combined Joint Task Force 76, a two-star U.S. command headquartered at Bagram Airfield, will assume responsibility as the National Command Element for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.  Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, or CSTC-A, the other two-star U.S. command, is charged with training and mentoring the Afghan National Security Forces.  Army Gen. John Abizaid, U.S. Central Command commander, presented CFC-A with the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, its third since the command was created in October 2003.  CSTC-A also received the JMUA.  The honor is one of which “all of us can be justifiably proud. But the mission of U.S. forces in Afghanistan continues,” Eikenberry said.  That mission includes conducting counter-terrorism operations, continuing to help train the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, and executing billions of dollars in reconstruction projects.  “We are fighting a very different war,” he explained.  “In this war, we are trying to build schools and clinics, we are trying to build roads, and we are trying to help the Afghan people reclaim their middle ground of civil society.  What do we need most to succeed here?  We need more time, more patience, and more commitment.”  Some of these successes include building more than 11,000 kilometers of roads, more than 700 clinics, and hundreds of schools for more than 6 million children.  To view a comprehensive list of progress made in Afghanistan since 2002, visit the Defense Link special report “Five-year Afghanistan Report” here



*
Cabinet approves refinancing of Italy's mission in Afghanistan*
Associated Press, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

Italy's government on Thursday approved financing for the country's military mission in Afghanistan despite calls for a pullout by far-left parties in Premier Romano Prodi's coalition.  A Cabinet meeting approved a decree refinancing the mission, but three ministers from far-left parties left the room when the vote was called, Prodi spokesman Silvio Sircana said.  The decree includes financing for all of Italy's military missions abroad, from the Balkans to Lebanon, and must be approved by parliament within 60 days to remain in effect. The measure also allocates money for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, Prodi said at a news conference after the meeting.  Greens and communist lawmakers in the center-left have threatened to vote against more financing for Italy's 1,800-strong contingent in Afghanistan. They were further angered after Prodi said his government would not oppose a U.S. request to expand a military base in northern Italy.  A rebellion against the Afghanistan mission could put Prodi in a tight spot as his government relies on a slim parliamentary majority to pass legislation ....



*ISAF air strike targets insurgent command post*
ISAF news release #2007-071, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Today, ISAF conducted a successful precision air strike on a known insurgent command post in Helmand province.  The precision-guided munitions impacted on target, completely destroying the compound but causing no damage to the surrounding area. A senior Taliban leader and his deputies are believed to have been killed in this strike.  This successful air strike took place in the vicinity of Musa Qala but was outside of the area of the agreement between the Government of Afghanistan (GoA) and local elders. This is the latest in a series of operations, involving air strikes and arrests of senior Taliban commanders designed to bring security and stability to the inhabitants of the Musa Qala area.  “The message has been consistent and clear; the Taliban leaders have nowhere to hide and those who follow them should return to their villages and enter the reconciliation programme,” said Squadron Leader Dave Marsh, spokesperson for ISAF’s Regional Command-South.



*CENTAF releases airpower summary for Jan. 25*
Air Force News, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials have released the airpower summary for Jan. 25.  In Afghanistan Jan. 24, an Air Force B-1B Lancer provided close-air support for International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, troops in contact with enemy forces near Musa Qal'eh. The B-1B expended guided bomb unit-38s and a GBU-31 on enemy positions.  A B-1B and Royal Air Force GR-7 Harriers provided close-air support to ISAF troops in contact with enemy forces near Qurya. The B-1B expended GBU-38s on enemy positions. The GR-7s expended 1000-pound bombs and enhanced Paveway II munitions on enemy positions.  In total, 27 close-air-support missions were flown in support of ISAF and Afghan troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols.  Additionally, four Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan ....


----------



## GAP (26 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 26 January, 2007*


Welcome to Pretendahar
It's not Kabul, but the 'suicide bombers' of this local training centre seem terrifyingly real
Melissa Leong in Toronto National Post Thursday, January 25, 2007
Article Link

The Canadian soldiers are shopping in a marketplace under the shade of green tarps, speaking to vendors at tables cluttered with books, tires, clothes and strips of carpet.

The troops are approached by women peddling tiny socks and jumpers outside the local school. "Canada great," a woman veiled by a green scarf says repeatedly.

The appearance of a man carrying a box and walking into a nearby intersection goes unnoticed by civilians. He heads for a police officer at a checkpoint in the centre of the roundabout, ignoring orders to stop.

Pulling out sticks of explosives, he lobs them at the officer before detonating a bomb strapped to himself. They both disappear in a cloud of smoke.

The chaos of women wailing and locals fleeing is all part of a drill the soldiers are practising inside a new training facility in Toronto -- a local brigade's latest response to the changing way Canadian troops are fighting overseas.

This is Pretendahar: The Indoor Urban Operations Training Centre, which officially opens today inside one of the original aircraft hangars of the old CFB Toronto. It is designed to prepare Canadian troops for overseas deployment with actors, a mock "set" of a Kabul suburb and simulated gunfights and explosions.

Critics outside the military have charged that Canadian soldiers have not been sufficiently prepared for what military officials call the three-block war -- where peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts coincide with a high-intensity battle in which the enemy is often hidden within the local population.

However, Colonel Gerry Mann, commander of the 32 Canadian Brigade Group based in the Greater Toronto Area, said, "For years, we were incongruent with the kinds of things that we've been asking our soldiers to do. Our history has really not been war fighting. Where we've been going is assisting in failing states where humanitarian assistance is needed, where we've got a government that needs some form of assistance to provide stability."

For soldiers, that often means immersing themselves in the area, interacting with inhabitants while watching for insurgents.

"All of our training in our past has been about force on force," said Sergeant David Williams. "There was always a cut-and-dry good guy/bad guy scenario, and we had very little to do with the public or residents in the towns that we were operating in. What's going on overseas now demands that the guys [interact] with locals."
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Suicide blast near US-funded aid office in Afghanistan
Kandahar, Jan 26
Article Link

A suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday outside a US-funded aid office here while the NATO-led force said it may have killed a senior Taliban leader in an airstrike. 

Separately, police said 10 Taliban rebels and a policeman died in a battle near the border with Pakistan, which Afghan officials blame for fostering an increasingly deadly Taliban insurgency. 

The violence came as the United States announced an extra USD 10.6 billion of funding for Afghanistan as part of a fresh war strategy to counter fears of a surge in Taliban-led fighting as the weather warms. 

Police in Lashkar Gah, the capital of insurgency-hit Helmand province, were following the suicide attacker after a tip-off and asked him to surrender, provincial police chief General Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhail said. 

"The police called on him to stop and shot him after he refused. He detonated explosives strapped to his body after being wounded," Mullahkhail said. 

The blast happened close to the offices of the alternative livelihoods programme, a non-governmental organisation funded by the US Agency for International Development (Usaid), officials said. 

One of the policemen who confronted the bomber was wounded in the incident "but we luckily managed to prevent him from his evil attempts," the police chief said. 

A purported Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call from an unknown location. 
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Karzai becomes first-time father
POSTED: 1157 GMT (1957 HKT), January 26, 2007 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has become a father for the first time at the age of 49, palace officials said on Friday.

Karzai's wife, Zeenat, who he married in 1999 in exile in Pakistan, gave birth to their son on Thursday night in a Kabul hospital.

"The baby is named as Mirwais, after an old hero of Afghanistan," Karzai spokesman Karim Rahimi said.

"The president is very happy."

Officials said mother and son were healthy.

Zeenat Karzai was working as a doctor with Afghan refugees in Pakistan when the couple married. She rarely appears in public or at official functions because of conservative Afghan Islamic tradition.
End

ISAF in Afghanistan using some Pak airbases for emergency   
 Islamabad, Jan 26
Article Link

The Nato coalition forces in Afghanistan are using some Pakistani airbases for standby operations in the ongoing war on terror, the military said. 

The coalition forces had used different airbases of the country after the 9/11 terror attacks with the approval of the Pakistani government, Defence Secretary Lt Gen (Retd) Tariq Wasim Ghazi said here yesterday during a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee. 

The International Assistance Security Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan are still using some of the bases in emergency situations and standby operations, he was quoted as saying by the online news agency said. 

Nonetheless, he said the bases were under the control of Pakistan. 
end

NATO Attacks Taliban Post in Afghanistan 
By AMIR SHAH KABUL, Afghanistan Jan 26, 2007 
Article Link

A NATO airstrike destroyed a Taliban command post in southern Afghanistan, killing a suspected senior militant leader, the alliance said Friday, while 10 rebel fighters died in a clash with police in the east. 

An undisclosed number of the militant leader's deputies also were killed in Thursday's airstrike in Musa Qala district of southern Helmand province, a NATO statement said. It did not disclose the name of the leader killed. 

Later Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the offices of an aid group in the capital of Helmand province, Lashkar Gah. A policeman and two civilians were wounded, police said. 

NATO has claimed a string of successes against Taliban leaders including the killing last month of a top lieutenant of the militia's fugitive chief, Mullah Omar after a year of bitter fighting that has left thousands dead. 

The airstrike happened outside the town of Musa Qala, where a deal signed between local elders and the Helmand governor, with the support of the British task force based in the province, turned over security responsibilities to local leaders. The deal also prevents NATO-led troops from entering the town. 

Before the deal, which has been criticized by some Western officials as putting the area outside government control, the town was a center of fierce clashes between the British troops and resurgent Taliban militants. 

NATO said the airstrike did not violate the pact. 
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Afghanistan needs to fix the home from within: Shaukat Aziz         
Written by pub    Friday, 26 January 2007  
Article Link

      ISLAMABAD, Jan 25 (APP): Pakistan's prime minister,  Shaukat Aziz, insisted Wednesday that the problem of Afghanistan  came from the lack of control of its own side of the border. 

      "We believe the core of the problem is in Afghanistan," International herald tribune reported him  as saying.   
      The Prime Minister dismissed allegations that his country  was giving sanctuary to militants. "This notion that Pakistan may be  in some way or other supporting these people or giving them safe  haven is ridiculous," he said. 
  
      As for suspicions that elements  in Pakistan's  intelligence service might be acting independently  in support of the Taliban, he said: "That's equally ridiculous." 
  
      "The Pakistani intelligence service is a disciplined service  and they act in line with the government," he said. 

In a wide-ranging interview at the World Economic Forum in  Davos, the Prime Minister also said, the Pakistani government did  not know the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda leader, or  of Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban. But he said: "Certainly they  are not in Pakistan." 

      The overall theme of World Economic Forum, is 'The  Shifting Power Equation. But climate change will take the  centre-stage, with as many as 17 sessions on environmental  issues, including the economic and security implications of  global  warming. 
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Afghanistan role questioned
Fri, January 26, 2007 By MURRAY BREWSTER, CP
Article Link

The PM should use a diplomatic offensive, MPs on a Commons committee say.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Members of the all-party Commons defence committee say Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should engage in a diplomatic offensive over Afghanistan, targeting Pakistan and NATO allies. 

Canada's role in the war-torn country is supposed to be what's called a Three-D approach -- defence, development and diplomacy, said New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black. 

"We haven't heard much about diplomacy," Black said yesterday about the briefings laid on by the army since the eight Canadian MPs arrived at the coalition base at Kandahar Airfield Tuesday. 

The parliamentarians are reviewing Canada's mission in southern Afghanistan, but it appears their views will be shaded along party lines. 

Conservative committee Rick Casson defended the government's diplomat efforts, noting Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's recent protest over the possibility of mines being placed along the Afghan border with Pakistan. 

But Casson conceded more has to be done to engage Pakistan, where Taliban militants seek rest and refuge. 
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Bloc wants shift in focus in Afghanistan  
By CP January 26, 2007 
Article Link

MONTREAL -- Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe says the Harper government should adjust the focus of Canada's mission in Afghanistan to reconstruction. 

Duceppe reiterated his support for the international intervention in the war-torn country, saying even a sovereign Quebec would take part in such a mission. 

"I've got a lot of admiration for the men and women who are ready to risk their lives to serve their country and help others," he said. "It's for this reason we have to act responsibly and with a lot of determination to pursue our objectives of reconstruction. 

"We're asking for changes in the attitude of the Canadian government, so that it will propose a re-balancing of the mission." 

Duceppe said Prime Minister Stephen Harper should recognize there's an urgency to act because the situation is deteriorating. 

"Afghanistan is not another Iraq and we will do everything we can so that Afghanistan does not become another Iraq," Duceppe said. 
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 AFGHANISTAN'S HIGHWAY TO HELL  
Softly, softly in the Taliban's den
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Jan 27, 2007  
Article Link  

KABUL - In five years, US military might, from daisy-cutter bombs to high-tech weaponry, could not smoke out the Taliban, who retreated to the mountains of Afghanistan after being forced from power in 2001. 

They emerged last year of their own volition after being welcomed back into the community by various tribal groups, many of which are ready to join in a mass uprising planned for the spring. 

Seasoned British officers assigned in southern Afghanistan to clean up the mess created by the Americans can sense that big trouble is simmering, but they are convinced that any aggressive policy will aggravate the situation. 

They realize that they have to accept the Taliban's existence as a reality, strike peace deals with them and allow them into the political power-sharing apparatus. This, they argue, can be done through extensive reconstruction, which is the only way to isolate hardline insurgents. Military might, therefore, is to be used only for the security of the people, not for aggressive armed campaigns 
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MD denied insurance for Afghan mission  
Reservist wants full-time coverage because of wife, young daughters 
DAWN WALTON From Friday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

CALGARY — Andrew Kirkpatrick served as a general duty medical officer with the Canadian Forces in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Persian Gulf war. He was the camp surgeon in Kabul in 2004 when he served as a reservist mending both Canadian troops and Afghan people.

Now, the 43-year-old trauma surgeon from Calgary is thinking of heading back to Afghanistan, this time to Kandahar, to once again lend a hand in the fight against terrorism.

But with a young family at home -- a wife and two daughters -- he also started thinking about life insurance and recently applied for coverage.

"We just wanted to make provisions in case the unthinkable happens," Dr. Kirkpatrick said.
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Bombing at hotel in Pakistan kills 1
Updated Fri. Jan. 26 2007 6:34 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A man blew himself up outside the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital on Friday, killing at least one other person and wounding seven in what appeared to be a suicide attack, officials said.

The Marriott is frequented by Islamabad's expatriate community, but it wasn't clear if any foreigners were among the casualties.

Although Pakistan has suffered numerous bombings in recent years, often the work of Islamic militants angered by the government's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism, attacks are rare in Islamabad.

Rana Najam, a housekeeping manager for the hotel, said witnesses told him that they saw a man running toward a side entrance, where he was stopped by a security guard. The man then detonated explosives, killing himself and the guard, he said.

Police cordoned off the scene in downtown Islamabad, near Parliament and the president's office. The blast badly damaged the hotel around a side entrance that leads to the nightclub.
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Winning the peace in Afghanistan
With the war with the Taliban bogging down, Pakistan appears receptive to new ideas
January 26, 2007 Jonathan Power 
Article Link

ISLAMABAD–Pervez Musharraf, president and military strongman of Pakistan, opened his eyes wide, sat bolt upright on his sofa, and said, "I never thought of that." He repeated the phrase and looked, I dare to suggest, a little bewildered. In many years of interviewing top leaders I have never before felt the sensation of catching someone totally off balance. Yet all I had asked was:

"Why don't you talk to your enemies, the Taliban and Al Qaeda?"

In two hours of conversation there was no effort, as is usual with senior Pakistani officials, to persuade me that the Taliban and Al Qaeda were being defeated or that the war in Afghanistan was going well. Indeed, there was an absence of bravado and a receptivity to new, unconsidered, ideas. 

Pakistan is the hub of the Anglo-American/NATO war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. 

The British have here their largest embassy in the world. The city is full to the brim with American secret agents and senior military people.

But the truth is the war in Afghanistan is going badly. The Taliban is gaining the upper hand, financially fuelled by proceeds from poppy growing, which they now encourage in a reverse of policy when they were in power, when they ruled that it was unIslamic. Al Qaeda, too, high up in the mountains of Pakistan, is rebuilding its strength.

In different ways both the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan are besieged.

President Hamid Karzai appears to realize that the Western forces are losing ground to the Taliban and that he is unable to do much about the infiltration of fresh warriors from Pakistan. 

Musharraf, for his part, is throwing some 80,000 troops into the frontier areas. 

But with the militants finding it all too easy to hide in the refugee camps on Pakistani soil, where 2.5 million mainly Pashtun Afghan refugees live, and with both Afghanistan and the West pouring scorn on his suggestion that he mine and fence the border, the battle is uphill with heavy losses on the Pakistani side. 
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EDITORIAL TheStar.com - opinion -
Bungling O'Connor shackles MPs
January 26, 2007 
Article Link

It is ironic that a war ostensibly being fought for freedom of the Afghan people is taking on the appearance increasingly in Canada of a cover-up.

Since becoming defence minister, Gordon O'Connor has stumbled from one blunder to another. If it wasn't the attempt to ban media from reporting on ceremonies for the repatriation of dead soldiers, it was the issuing of military contracts outside the regular bidding process or – more recently and ominously – ordering that MPs on a visiting Commons committee be prevented from seeing what's happening in Afghanistan.

It is as if O'Connor, a retired general, considers Canada's military to be his personal militia. He couldn't do more to sow distrust among Canadians if he were taking his cues from the Taliban.

Canadians learned this week that the all-party parliamentary defence committee, making its first appearance in Afghanistan since Canada sent troops in 2001, would not be allowed off the base in Kandahar.

The eight MPs had been planning this trip for months and budgeted an estimated $156,000 for it. In response, O'Connor told MPs that they would be restricted to the base during their brief visit.

The minister's interference is no small thing.

Canadians are concerned that the federal government is ignoring Canada's responsibility to help Afghanistan become self-sufficient. Proof of the value of this mission only can be found off the base, in meetings with locals and those involved with reconstruction teams.

While there may be a credible risk to anyone who leaves the safety of the military compound, it should be up to the individual parliamentarians and soldiers there to determine what risk is acceptable. After all, there's an offsetting risk that Canadians will become even more concerned about the viability of a mission that can't even provide enough security to allow their elected officials to see what is going on.

And it's clear that O'Connor is much more confident about allowing off-base trips for those he considers political allies who support the mission.

In November, when the situation around Kandahar was more unstable than it is now, he authorized an open trip for retired general Lewis MacKenzie, a former Conservative candidate who has supported the war, retired colonel Alain Pellerin, head of a leading military lobby group, and Alex Morrison, president of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studi
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## The Bread Guy (26 Jan 2007)

*NATO sending more troops to Afghanistan, may ease Canada’s burden: general*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

More NATO military muscle is expected on the ground in southern Afghanistan this spring, including backup for battle-weary Canadians in Kandahar, the top alliance commander in the country said Friday.  The surge in allied troops follows a recent warning from U.S. generals that Taliban militants are poised to unleash a bloody spring offensive across the southern half of Afghanistan.  British Gen. David Richards downplayed the gloomy assessment even though three Kandahar-area police commanders were murdered by militants late Thursday and early Friday. Instead, Richards painted an upbeat picture of the war-weary province as he met with subordinates, Canadian parliamentarians and reporters.  “We’ve now got a stabilized (situation),” said Richards, who steps down as commander of the NATO force in Afghanistan on Feb. 4. “I’m not saying we’ve won. We have a stabilized security situation across the south and in the east. We have a lot more to do but we’ve set the conditions for that.” ....


*NATO troops may ease Canada's burden: general*
CTV.ca, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

More NATO troops will be on the ground in southern Afghanistan, including backup expected to ease Canada's burden in Kandahar, says the top alliance commander in the war-torn nation.  "We've now got a stabilized (situation),'' said British Gen. David Richards, who steps down as commander of the NATO force in Afghanistan on Feb. 4.  "I'm not saying we've won. We have a stabilized security situation across the south and in the east. We have a lot more to do but we've set the conditions for that.''  Richards also said it was "fantastic news" that NATO plans to deploy a mixed brigade of as many as 3,500 combat troops.  The boost in allied troops comes amid a recent warning from U.S. generals that Taliban insurgents are prepared to launch a spring offensive in southern Afghanistan.  Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced it was extending tours of 3,200 troops in Afghanistan.  At least one battalion, approximately 650 troops, of that group will form a so-called theatre reserve, said Richards.  Based in Kandahar, the soldiers will be called upon to respond to emergencies throughout the region.  In theory, this would allow Canadians to focus their attention on security and reconstruction ....



*Two police officers gunned down in Kandahar*
Ahmad Farzan, Pajhwok Afghan News, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

Unidentified armed men gunned down two senior police officers in Popal market of this southern city Friday afternoon.  Nani Agha, head of the ninth police station, and his brother Haji Ahmad, security in charge of foreign NGOs in the province, were sitting at a shop when two armed men opened fire at them.  Kandahar police chief Esmatullah Alizai told Pajhwok Afghan News the incident happened in the Charsoo square area around 1:30pm. Owner of the shop was also killed in the attack, the police chief added.  Alizai said the two slain officials were brothers of Haji Gulali, former intelligence chief of the province. He said one of the assailants was injured in firing from policemen, but the two managed to escape the scene ....



*Bloc wants rethink on Afghan poppies*
New strategy for opium farmers necessary for support of mission, Duceppe warns
DANIEL LEBLANC, Globe & Mail, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

The Canadian government has to work on an international strategy to purchase poppy crops from farmers in Afghanistan in order to stop the heroin trade and end the fighting in the war-ravaged country, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said yesterday.  In a speech in Montreal, Mr. Duceppe said a new strategy on opium is mandatory if the Canadian government wishes to continue enjoying the Bloc's support for the military mission in Afghanistan.  He said 80 per cent of Afghans live off agriculture, and a strategy has to be put in place to replace opium production with legal crops.  "For a transition period, we have to purchase the poppy crops directly from farmers and use it for medical purposes, to produce codeine or morphine," Mr. Duceppe said. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he added, "can only count on the Bloc's support if he firmly moves in the direction that I have laid out."  The Department of Foreign Affairs was asked yesterday for its current position on the eradication of poppy crops, and had not responded by the end of the day ....



*NATO to step up assistance to Afghanistan*
NATO News, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

On 26 January, NATO Foreign Ministers agreed to increase civilian and military assistance to Afghanistan, as part of a comprehensive strategy to reinforce gains made.  The United States, Denmark and several other NATO member countries gave indications of their intention to send additional troops, but also to increase aid and civilian personnel to boost reconstruction and development efforts.  Ministers, including from non-NATO countries that contribute to NATO’s operation in Afghanistan, also called for increased coordination between civilian and military efforts in the country, and among the civilian agencies involved in reconstruction.  “The international community intends to keep the initiative in Afghanistan,” said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, "that means more reconstruction, more support for the government, the Afghan national army, the security forces and the Afghan national police.” ....  Afghanistan was the focus of an informal meeting of Alliance Foreign Ministers at NATO Headquarters.  It was followed by a special meeting of the 37 countries that contribute to NATO’s Afghanistan operation, Afghan authorities, as well as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank, on ways of better coordinating international assistance.  “There was a call around the table that we do need a more concerted approach,” Mr. De Hoop Scheffer emphasized, “and the fact that we saw so many actors sitting around the table is already a key message.”  Priorities will include boosting reconstruction efforts, stepping up training assistance to the Afghan army, police and administration ....


*NATO Pledges To Boost Afghan Operations*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

NATO foreign ministers, meeting today in Brussels, pledged to increase efforts to confront an expected Taliban offensive in Afghanistan.  U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came to the meeting in Brussels with pledges of extra U.S. help for Afghanistan. On January 25, she said the new initiative would boost U.S. aid to Afghanistan by an extra $10.6 billion -- mostly for security, but including $2 billion for reconstruction.  Separately, the Pentagon said 3,200 troops already in Afghanistan have had their tours extended for four more months.  So when Rice arrived in Brussels for talks with her fellow NATO foreign ministers, she was expected to carry a clear message -- that Washington's European partners should do more, too.  Ahead of today's meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said this year would be key for the alliance's mission in Afghanistan. "To achieve results, the international community needs to provide both the necessary civilian and military resources, and I think you will agree with me that 2007 will be a very important year," he said ....


*U.S. says restrictions on NATO troops in Afghanistan are being eased*
Associated Press, via International Herald Tribune, 27 Jan 07
Article Link

The United States has been making progress with NATO allies in a "continuing battle" over restrictions on their troop deployments in Afghanistan, a top State Department official said Friday.  Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said troops from Canada, Britain and the Netherlands, along with the United States, have been doing most of the fighting in Afghanistan, and he said it is time for the other 22 allied countries to do more.  "It is right for us to ask the other allies to make a greater effort to remove the military restrictions so that everybody can be called upon to make the kind of sacrifices that need to be made," Burns told reporters.  He welcomed indications at Friday's NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels that some allies are willing to end or at least ease restrictions on their troops in Afghanistan.  Burns noted that the parliaments of some countries, Germany included, have placed "very detailed conditions" on their troop deployments.  "What we're saying is there should be no caveats, no restrictions whatsoever on the use, the tactical use, of NATO forces inside Afghanistan," he said ....


*Europe resists US pressure to boost presence in Afghanistan*
Ian Traynor, The Guardian (UK), 27 Jan 07
Article Link

Europe appeared last night to be resisting pressure from Washington to pour more money and troops into Afghanistan in expectation of a major campaign in the spring.  As the European commission announced it was cutting aid to Kabul, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, used a special meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels to demand greater input from the Europeans.  Her demand came after the unveiling of a muscular new policy in Washington, with the administration asking Congress to earmark more than $10bn for Afghanistan ....  European officials are to meet Afghan government figures in Berlin on Monday to discuss bigger aid pledges, but it looked last night as if Ms Rice would be disappointed by the response in Europe.  As well as pressing for more money, the Americans are looking to European Nato members "to share more of the burden" in the military missions in Afghanistan, with Nato planning a major spring offensive against a resurgent Taliban. There are fears the insurgents are also planning a big campaign.  The shift in US strategy, apparently based on the conviction the west cannot be seen to "lose" Afghanistan the way it has lost Iraq, was initiated a couple of months ago at a Nato summit.  With Britain and Canada fighting with the US mainly in Taliban strongholds in the south, there are calls for other European Nato members to make a more useful contribution ....


*NATO Allies Wary Of Bush's Afghanistan Proposal*
Free Internet Press (alternative media), 26 Jan 07
Article Link

America’s European allies remained noncommittal about sending additional troops to Afghanistan Friday, even as the Bush administration sought to inject new energy into the NATO mission against the Taliban by offering more American soldiers and money.  Officially, the language at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium, reflected resolve and commitment on Afghanistan. NATO “is stepping up its game in Afghanistan on all fronts,” the alliance’s secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, of the Netherlands, said. “The fact that you saw so many people from the international community sitting around the table is a strong message itself.”  But beyond the sound bytes, the realities that have troubled the NATO mission in Afghanistan since the 26-member trans-Atlantic alliance took command last year remained on display. France and Germany continued to limit their combat role; both countries have refused to deploy troops in the south of the country, where Taliban forces are strongest. Germany’s Parliament has yet to approve a proposal to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to southern Afghanistan ....


*Q&A on Afghanistan: Analyst Discusses Increased U.S. Effort*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

The United States will seek $10.6 billion for reconstruction and security in Afghanistan, a significant increase in funding, given that Washington has spent a little more than $14 billion for that country in the more than six years since the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban government. In the meantime, the U.S. administration is ordering 3,200 troops already in Afghanistan to stay there for at least four more months. The moves follow a year of increased fighting between NATO forces and a resurgent Taliban, and as allied forces await an expected Taliban offensive in the spring. RFE/RL spoke about U.S. policy on Afghanistan with James Phillips, a veteran foreign policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank ....



*Kabul Intel Center a Diplomatic Effort Amid War*
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, National Public Radio, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

A NATO-led "joint intelligence center" opens in Kabul, aimed at curbing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Afghan and Pakistani army officials will staff the center amid mistrust over Pakistan's stance on the Taliban ....


*Pak-Afghan-NATO joint intelligence centre opened*
Najib Khelwatgar, Pajhwok Afghan News, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

The joint Pak-Afghan-NATO intelligence centre was opened in Kabul on Thursday to share information and better coordinate efforts in the war against terror.  Lieutenant General David Richards, commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan, said the centre was important in the ongoing fight against militants as it would enhance sharing of intelligence from the three sides.  This is one of the useful steps during the combat against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, he said at the opening ceremony of the joint centre.  He added NATO member countries had recently pledged sending more troops to Afghanistan and that the Untied States had also promised to assist the Afghan government in formation of the national army.  Press office of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul told Pajhwok Afghan News the centre would be staffed by six military officers from each side.  It further said the three sides would be sharing intelligence on daily basis. 



*Gunman kills Afghan MP in Kabul*
BBC News, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

An unidentified gunman has shot dead a member of Afghanistan's National Assembly in the capital, Kabul.  Mohammad Islam Mohammadi was on his way to Friday prayers at a city mosque when he came under fire, officials said.  One of his bodyguards was injured in the shooting. No one has admitted carrying out the attack.  Mr Mohammadi was the governor of Bamiyan province when the Taleban destroyed two giant Buddhas there in 2001, sparking international outrage ....


*Politician gunned down*
News.com.au (AUS), 27 Jan 07
Article Link

AN unidentified man shot dead a member of Afghanistan's national assembly in Kabul today, a government spokesman said.  Mohammad Islam Mohammadi, a governor of Bamiyan province during the Taliban's rule, was killed walking to a mosque in an upmarket neighbourhood, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.  His bodyguard was also wounded in the attack.  "We do not know the motive behind this killing," Mr Bashary said, adding an investigation was underway.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack ....



*AFGHANISTAN: Returnees need urgent assistance*
UN News Centre, 25 Jan 07
Article Link

PANJWAYI, 25 Jan 2007 (IRIN) - Thousands of Afghans uprooted by the war against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have begun to return home, although many returnees find life in their devastated villages very hard.  According to the United Nations, 90,000 people fled Panjwayi and Zhari districts in Kandahar province in September 2006 when NATO-led forces launched a military operation against Taliban fighters. Afghan authorities say in recent weeks about 28,000 people have returned to the two districts.  Said Mohammad, 53, and his 17-member family were forced to flee Lakanai village in Panjwayi district, 30 km west of Kandahar city, when heavy fighting erupted. “I have lost everything, including a garden [full] of grape [vines], which was the only source of income for supporting my family, during the fighting,” Mohammad told IRIN in Panjwayi.  “We have received very little food and have a few blankets from the government which is not enough for us. We need shelter and more food [to survive on] until our houses and farming land are rehabilitated.”  Mohammad returned home after he heard from other villagers that the fighting was over and the government had started several relief and development projects for local people ....


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## The Bread Guy (27 Jan 2007)

*PM appoints point man for Afghan mission*
Foreign affairs adviser takes on new role
CAMPBELL CLARK, Globe & Mail, 27 Jan 07
Article Link

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is moving his foreign-policy adviser into a job as point man for Canada's initiatives in Afghanistan, signalling a shift in the tone of Canada's efforts in the country toward aid and diplomacy efforts.  David Mulroney, a career diplomat, was appointed yesterday as the No. 2 bureaucrat in the Foreign Affairs Department, but also handed responsibility for co-ordinating the Afghan initiatives of all government departments.  Analysts said that the unusual appointment of a senior foreign affairs official with Mr. Harper's imprimatur to lead Afghanistan initiatives clearly places diplomats at the forefront of an Afghanistan policy that had until now been led by the Department of National Defence.  "There has only been a single-pillar approach to Afghanistan up to now, and that had been through the Department of National Defence," said Fen Hampson, the director of Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.  He said that while much of the focus has been on the role of Canadian troops based in Kandahar, the appointment of Mr. Mulroney will send a signal inside Ottawa that greater attention is being paid "to both the development and the diplomatic-political side of it as well." ....



*Soldiers leave for Afghanistan*
MICHAEL STAPLES, Fredericton Daily Gleaner, 27 Jan 07
Article Link

There were no marching bands, balloons or fireworks at the Greater Fredericton Airport on Friday as the first major movement of troops from this area left for Afghanistan.  There were just yellow buses that transported more than 120 soldiers directly onto the airport's tarmac, where they boarded a charter aircraft.  Most were members of India Company from The Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR), part of the overall battle group which numbers 1,150.  Prior to that, there had been a private gathering at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown for the departing soldiers and their families.  "The hardest thing is leaving my family behind," said Cpl. Vincent Wilcox, 30, a member of the 2RCR. "I have three little girls - one who was born on Dec. 30." ....



*US troops to form flexible Afghanistan force*
Reuters, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

U.S. troops in Afghanistan whose tour of duty has been extended will form a long-sought NATO backup force which can be deployed anywhere in the country, a top U.S. commander said on Friday.  The Pentagon announced on Thursday that the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, would stay in Afghanistan for up to four months longer than planned as part of a U.S. drive to combat an expected spring offensive by Taliban militants.  Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley said some of those troops would form a "theater tactical reserve" -- a flexible battalion regularly requested by the commander of the country's NATO security force.  "It is in direct support of the commanding general of the (NATO) International Security Assistance Force," Freakley told Pentagon reporters by video link from Afghanistan.  "It will be used and employed where he best wants to make a difference in Afghanistan -- his force, his choice for where he employs it," said Freakley, the commander of the 10th Mountain Division.  A U.S. infantry battalion normally has around 1,200 troops.  The current commander of the NATO force, British Army Gen. David Richards, has said that such a reserve force was top of his list of priorities but alliance member nations did not come forward with the necessary troops ....



*Nato falls in behind US to step up aid to Afghanistan*
Devika Bhat. Times Online (UK), 26 Jan 07
Article Link

Nato members promised today to step up their military and economic aid to Afghanistan after the United States led the way by pledging $10.6bn to the campaign and urged its allies to assist with a fresh offensive against an emboldened Taleban.  Speaking at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, insisted that it was essential for Nato forces to pre-empt a likely attack from insurgents this spring by seizing the initiative and driving fighters out of their sanctuaries.  She added that Washington may also send more troops to Afghanistan, having already pledged to extend by four months the combat tour of 3,200 soldiers currently in the country.  "If there is to be a ’spring offensive’, it must be our offensive," she told the ministers. "It must be a political campaign, an economic campaign, a diplomatic campaign, and yes, a military campaign.  All of us will share the benefits of Afghanistan’s success, so we must also share the burdens of effort," Ms Rice added in a written statement. "Nations that have made pledges of support should follow through and deliver." ....


*Progress Quietly Proceeds in Afghanistan, General Says*
John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

More Afghan adults are employed; more of their children are attending school; and the Afghan government is expanding, the senior U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said today.  “The Taliban have not achieved any of their objectives in the last year,” Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76 and commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division, told reporters in the Pentagon via satellite connection from Afghanistan.  “By contrast, over the past year, U.S. forces and coalition partners have made great progress in the creation of a stable, secure and viable nation state in Afghanistan despite the Taliban’s attempt to impede that progress,” he said.  During a briefing on Afghanistan operations, Freakley discussed recent changes in the organizational structure of security operations. “In the past few months, we’ve experienced significant changes in Afghanistan,” he said. “On Oct. 6, Afghanistan completed its transition from the U.S.-led coalition to a NATO-led coalition headed by the International Security Assistance Force.  “Over the last two years, ISAF has assumed responsibility for security operations in five different provinces or regional commands: Center, North, West, South and now Regional Command East, which we command, which has 14 different provinces,” he said. “We now have 26 NATO countries and 11 other nations that have staked their national reputation to the outcome in Afghanistan,” he said.  Recent command changes will enlarge ISAF’s and the international community’s role in security operations, Freakley said.  In addition to expanded international effort, 3,200 U.S. Army soldiers with 10th Mountain Division have had their deployments extended to help continue progress in Afghanistan, Freakley added ....


*US cash brings hope to Afghanistan*
Alastair Leithead, BBC News Online, 26 Jan 07
Article Link

However committed the international community is to Afghanistan's future, it has to keep a firm eye on an exit strategy.  It will, of course, take years to bring stability after decades of war, and the primary concern is security - how hard international forces can hit the insurgents this year and how well Afghanistan's own police and army perform.  The announcement of new American money will certainly give the fledgling forces a serious leg-up.  The pledge of $8.6bn (£4.39bn/ Cdn $10.2B ) over just two years to build the Afghan security services is more than twice the entire budget America has come up with in the last five post-Taleban years.  It will buy arms and equipment, mentoring and training, and will attempt to create a force capable of securing Afghanistan itself, but that is a big ask ...


*Aid effort fails to impress war-weary Afghans*
Michael Evans, Tahir Luddin and Tim Albone, Times Online (UK), 27 Jan 07
Article Link

It is easier to buy a goat at the Friday market in Lashkar Gah than to sell Britain’s hearts and minds policy.  None of the locals in the provincial capital of Helmand seemed aware that the tin roofs protecting some of the stalls from the weather had been provided by British taxpayers.  All they wanted to know was why the British bombed their homes and killed their relatives. One death in the extended family caused by, or believed to have been caused by, bombers flown by a foreign power can undermine all the substantial efforts of Lashkar Gah’s British provincal reconstruction team (PRT).  This town is relatively safe compared with some parts of Helmand. But yesterday, soon after Nick Kay, head of the PRT, had said that there had been “only” seven suicide bombings in nine months, another attacker detonated a bomb near the Helmand governor’s house in the centre of town, killing himself and injuring several Afghans.  Amir Muhammad, 65, a farmer from Bolan in Helmand, was no supporter of the Taleban and blamed the insurgents as well as the British for “bringing fighting” to his area. But he claimed to have lost members of his family to British bombing. “I don’t care if they [the British troops] stay or leave but I just want to live in a safe area. A lot of innocent people are getting killed.”  He seemed unsure whether the British or the Government of President Karzai in Kabul could improve his life ....



*Taliban threatens bloody summer*
Reuters, via Al Jazeera, 27 Jan 07
Article Link

Taliban forces are gearing up for a massive summer offensive, with more than 2,000 suicide bombers ready for action and even more preparing, a senior commander has said.  The warning came a day after a US diplomat said Afghanistan was in for a dangerous spring after the bloodiest year since the Taliban was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.  Mullah Hayat Khan, the commander, said: "The Taliban will intensify their guerrilla and suicide strikes this summer. This will be a bloodiest year for foreign troops.  "Our war preparations have been completed to a large extent and we're waiting for summer to set in."  He said 2,000 suicide bombers were ready - about 40 per cent of the total suicide force - and that numbers were so high it was sometimes hard to find enough explosives and targets ....



*Is Pakistan serious about Taliban fight?*
Musharraf disparages Canadian troop losses and denies his country is backing Afghan militants while deadly cross-border attacks continue
BILL GRIMSHAW, Toronto Star, 27 Jan 07
Article Link

This month, two Canadian politicians have arrived in Pakistan for high-profile talks ranging from trade to the Taliban.  Premier Dalton McGuinty is the latest visitor, welcomed with spectacular hospitality a few days after an appearance by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. Both hailed the friendly ties between the two countries.  But, as the Taliban insurgents continue to weave their way across Pakistan's steep mountain passes to southern Afghanistan, attacking Canadian and other NATO troops, some critics are asking whether the politicians are pussyfooting while their soldiers are marching into danger.  They question whether President Pervez Musharraf, who disparaged Canadian losses in Afghanistan – saying "we have suffered 500 casualties. Canadians may have suffered four or five" – is taking seriously Ottawa's message that the Taliban network must be dismantled in Pakistan.  The doubts have deepened as reports emerge alleging that Pakistan's intelligence agency is actively backing the Taliban. The latest, from Afghanistan, claims Taliban kingpin Mullah Omar is living in the Pakistani town of Quetta, protected by the agency. Pakistan fiercely denies the allegations ....



*Pakistan probes Taliban link to Marriott bombing*
Agence France Presse, 27 Jan 07
Article Link

Investigators probing a suicide blast at a top hotel in Pakistan's capital have said they were looking at possible links to pro-Taliban extremists fighting government forces near the Afghan border.  Police said they were examining the head, a leg and an arm of the bomber who detonated explosives strapped to his body when he was prevented from entering the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on Friday, killing a security guard.  "Experts are examining the few remains of the bomber's body in a bid to identify him," said the interior ministry crisis management chief Brigadier Javed Cheema.  Officials said a sketch of the bomber could not be prepared as no witnesses had so far come forward, nor had hotel security cameras filmed the attacker.  Interior ministry officials said no group had yet claimed responsibility for the attack.  "We suspect (the attack) could be by militants opposed to the government's drive against Taliban elements in the tribal regions," a senior security official said on condition of anonymity.  The official said the bomber appeared to be ill-trained and poorly briefed, which suggested he was from the northwestern tribal belt rather than affiliated to better-funded sectarian groups ....



*Animal VC for Sadie, the heroine of Kabul*
Thomas Harding, The Telegraph (UK), 27 Jan 07
Article Link

A black Labrador who saved the lives of dozens of soldiers in Afghanistan by detecting a bomb has been awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.  Sadie will become only the 25th canine recipient when she receives the medal from Princess Alexandra at a ceremony next week.  The bomb had been planted underneath sandbags, yards from where a suicide car bombing had earlier killed a German soldier outside the United Nations headquarters in Kabul in November 2005.  Leaving a second bomb is a classic terrorist tactic, and about 200 people, including British, American, German and Greek soldiers, were within range of the device.  However, the booby-trap was discovered when Sadie suddenly "showed intention" by wagging her tail as her handler, L/Cpl Karen Yardley, took her on a search of the UN car park.  Bomb disposal experts then used a robot to make the device safe ....


----------



## MarkOttawa (27 Jan 2007)

More US troops for Afghanistan
_Daily Telegraph_, Jan. 26
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/26/wafghan26.xml



> The 3,500-strong 10th Mountain Division, currently deployed along the eastern border with Pakistan, is to have its tour of duty *extended by four months* [emphasis added].
> 
> The unit, on its third tour of the country since 2001, was due to have been replaced next month by men from the 82nd Airborne division, who will still be deployed...



NATO Allies Wary of Sending More Troops to Afghanistan
_NY Times_, Jan. 27
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/asia/27afghan.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin



> America’s European allies on Friday remained noncommittal about sending additional troops to Afghanistan, even as the Bush administration sought to inject new energy into the NATO mission against the Taliban by offering more American soldiers and money...
> 
> ...the realities that have troubled the NATO mission in Afghanistan since the 26-member trans-Atlantic alliance took command last year remained on display. France and Germany continued to limit their combat role; both countries have refused to deploy troops in the south of the country, where Taliban forces are strongest. Germany’s Parliament has yet to approve a proposal to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to the south...
> 
> ...While Mr. Prodi’s government passed a measure on Friday to renew financing for Italy’s troops in Afghanistan, it did so without the support of all of Mr. Prodi’s coalition partners, and Italian officials said it was unlikely that Mr. Prodi could rally support for any increase in troops...



Nato falls in behind US to step up aid to Afghanistan
_The Times_, Jan. 26
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2567780_1,00.html



> Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato Secretary-General, said that the issue of extra troops was likely to be discussed at a meeting of defence ministers in Seville, Spain on February 8. "The message has been clear that the international community intends to keep up the initiative in Afghanistan..."



British commander in Afghanistan says reinforcements on the way
CanWest, Jan. 27
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=e24d2dc6-c7c5-454e-9341-a9837a27714b&k=26127



> Thousands more international troops will soon pour into Afghanistan and many of them will come to Kandahar province to bolster Canada's military, British Gen. David Richards, the outgoing head of the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, announced Friday.
> 
> The bulk of the troops look like they will come from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division and have only been *pledged for the short term, however* [emphasis added].
> 
> ...



US Says Troop Coordination Critical to NATO, Afghanistan Mission
VOA, Jan. 26
http://origin.www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-26-voa80.cfm



> A top US State Department official warned Friday that NATO's future may hinge on alliance members dropping conditions they have placed on their troops' service in Afghanistan. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns says *the so-called "caveats" on what various contingents may do in that country are an "existential" issue for NATO* [emphasis added]...
> 
> [US Defense Secretary]Gates said if things go as anticipated, it will *not be necessary* [emphasis added] to further extend the tours of U.S. troops.
> 
> He has said in recent days that he would be receptive to increasing the overall U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan if that is the recommendation of field commanders.



NATO slow to respond on Afghan force level
_International Herald Tribune_, Jan. 26
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/26/news/afghan.php



> ...[Secretary of State] Rice added that in addition to extending the tours, Defense Secretary Robert Gates would expand the number of U.S. troops, "partly *through extra forces* [emphasis added]."..



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## GAP (28 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 28 January, 2007*


Worry follows soldiers to Afghanistan
Jennifer Taplin CanWest News Service; The Daily News Sunday, January 28, 2007
Article Link

HALIFAX -- As the next contingent of Canadian soldiers leaves for Afghanistan Monday, the ones they leave behind worry for their safety.

While fighting has come to a lull in that war-torn nation, experts predict a spring offensive by the Taliban is inevitable.

Some of the 2,500 soldiers have already started their journey to Afghanistan to relieve their comrades, who are ready to come home after six months of duty. The staggered flights will continue throughout the next six weeks.

Since Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002, 44 soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed in the country. The Canadians are currently stationed in the south, which has seen much more Taliban unrest than other regions of the country.

On Monday, 120 soldiers will leave from CFB Gagetown near Fredericton, N.B., mostly from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment battle group.

But before they go, the families of the soldiers have much to prepare for.

Sometimes those preparations involve trying to reconcile differences in political beliefs with wanting to support a loved one, said Bernie Mullin-Splude, who works in deployment services at the Military Family Resource Centre in Halifax.
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*The will, and the time, to win*
January 28, 2007 KABUL
Article Link

*Afghanistan | It is among the poorest countries in the world, with little infrastructure and widespread illiteracy. It has never known democracy, unity or stability. And on its forbidding ground, a desperate battle is being waged against poverty, corruption, the Taliban . . . and time. Will Canada and its NATO allies have the will to persist in a struggle that could last more than a generation? And will Afghans' patience with the presence of outsiders last equally long? Oakland Ross analyzes the volatile present and daunting future of this troubled land*
It is winter on the steppes of Central Asia, and the war on terror – a war that last year claimed 4,000 lives in Afghanistan alone – has lately been taking its annual respite from carnage and woe.

If you can call it a respite. 

Pauses in this conflict are never complete and death continues to taint the cold January air, even as a shroud of snow steadily thickens over the ramshackle, war-weary streets of Kabul.

This past Sunday, a car-borne suicide bomber – the first to detonate successfully in the capital in some weeks – rammed his vehicle into a NATO military convoy, managing to blow himself up, if no one else.

And several officials of the Afghan insurgent movement known as the Taliban were reported killed in a NATO air strike in the south of the country on Friday.

It was one more clash in a long and convoluted war, a contest that has no front lines, no clear territorial divisions, no easily defined measure of victory and little likelihood of concluding soon, if ever.

With some 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, based mainly in the volatile southern province of Kandahar, Canada is as deeply immersed in this drama as almost any country and bears more responsibility than most for the eventual outcome of a war that seems fated to exceed the lifespan of anyone currently waging it.
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Inside Afghanistan: The battle for Kajaki  
By Kim Sengupta in Kajaki, Afghanistan Published: 28 January 2007 
Article Link

The war in the open spaces of Afghanistan is very different from the one being waged by the Americans in the streets of Baghdad. But for British Royal Marines engaged in daily firefights with the Taliban, it is no less dangerous 

Royal Marine Andy Mason, on Sparrow Hawk ridge, sighted his heat-seeking Javelin anti-tank missile and squeezed the trigger. Eight seconds later it smashed into the target, a large house from which Taliban insurgents were firing at British forces. 

Half a dozen insurgent fighters jumped off the first-storey balcony just before it disintegrated. Others in the compound were trying to flee when air strikes were called in. A Tornado GR7 dropped a 1,000lb bomb, leaving the building a pile of rubble and billowing smoke.

This encounter took place on Friday night in Kajaki, one of the most ruggedly beautiful parts of Afghanistan, but also the most dangerous, with daily fighting between Royal Marines and insurgents. Just before our helicopter landed from Camp Bastion, the main British base in southern Afghanistan's troubled Helmand province, the Taliban had begun shooting at the British position, starting a firefight that went on into the night.

While violence has ebbed away at other flashpoints in northern Helmand such as Sangin and Now Zad, and a truce of sorts holds at Musa Qala, it has escalated at Kajaki. Flanked by mountains and a deep-water lake, the area has become a symbolic and logistical prize for both sides. At its heart is the Kajaki dam, the biggest United States aid project in Afghanistan, which, when fully operational, will supply power to the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
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Army probes wide-ranging contractor fraud
January 28, 2007 By JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press 
Article Link

WASHINGTON -- From high-dollar fraud to conspiracy to bribery and bid rigging, Army investigators have opened up to 50 criminal probes involving battlefield contractors in the war in Iraq and the U.S. fight against terrorism, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior contracting officials, government employees, residents of other countries and, in some cases, U.S. military personnel have been implicated in millions of dollars of fraud allegations.

''All of these involve operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait,'' Chris Grey, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, confirmed Saturday to the AP.

''CID agents will pursue leads and the truth wherever it may take us,'' Grey said. ''We take this very seriously.''

Battlefield contractors have been implicated in allegations of fraud and abuse since the war in Iraq began in spring 2003. A special inspector general office that focused solely on reconstruction spending in Iraq developed cases that led to four criminal convictions.

The problems stem in part from the Pentagon's struggle to get a handle on the unprecedented number of contractors now helping run the nation's wars. Contractors are used in battle zones to do nearly everything but fight. They run cafeterias and laundries for troops, move supplies, run communication systems and repair weapons systems.

Special agents from the Army's major procurement fraud unit recently were dispatched to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, where they are ''working closely and sharing information with other law enforcement agencies in the region,'' Grey said.
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Iraq, Afghanistan trouble U.S.  
 Sunday, January 28, 2007 
Article Link

A troubling congruity lingers over the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as American efforts escalate on both fronts.
In both nations, central in the fight against militant Islamists, the U.S. intervention leans for support on two unreliable allies. Success for the policy of committing 21,500 more combat troops in Iraq depends on the Shiite government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki confronting its own sectarian militias and transforming itself into a regime of national conciliation.
   
In Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been resurgent in the past year, an enlarged campaign is expected in the spring. While the U.S. gears up to send $10 billion in additional aid for reconstruction, it is becoming increasingly evident that the aggressiveness of the once-defeated Taliban is abetted by intelligence operatives and officials of Pakistan, America's much supported ally.

Both Iraq's and Pakistan's leadership say all the correct things about their commitments. But their actions indicate either duplicity on their part or inability to execute -- perhaps, a bit of both in the snarled and conflicted political realities in which they function.
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Italians Assess Participation in Afghanistan
January 28, 2007
Article Link

 (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Italy have a clear idea of what their country’s role in Afghanistan entails, according to a poll by Arnaldo Ferrari Nasi published in Il Giornale. 53.8 per cent of respondents think their troops are taking part in a peace mission.

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Italian voters renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in April 2006. The Union of centre-left parties, led by Romano Prodi, secured 348 seats in the lower house and 158 seats in the upper house. The victory put an end to a centre-right government headed by Silvio Berlusconi.

In May 2006, Prodi was formally appointed as prime minister. The Union leader had previously served as head of government from May 1996 to October 1998.
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US working for "win" in Afghanistan: Burns
Article Link

WASHINGTON: One of the major problems is of Taliban coming from Pakistan, attacking inside Afghanistan and then slipping back, a senior US official said the objective of the Bush administration is a "win" in that country. 

"The Taliban increased its insurgency in 2006. It is a real problem. There is a problem of forces coming from Pakistan into Afghanistan to attack and then to return to Pakistan to seek refuge and refitting," Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said. 

He said his government will be seeking nearly USD 11 billions from Congress in increased aid to Afghanistan over a two year period; over and above the USD 14 billions that has been given to that country over the last five years. 

Burns said Washington was in close consultation with Islamabad ensuring that Pakistani forces will "do more" and strike terrorist training camps in the tribal areas. 

"We are working very closely with President (Pervez) Musharraf and with the Pakistani military and the Pakistani intelligence services to see that Pakistan will do more and make a concerted effort to strike at those terrorist training camps in North and South Waziristan and in Balochistan. 
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Tornados forming in Germany - for Afghanistan?
This post was written by Clarsonimus on 27 January, 2007 (12:48) | European News, Germany News, The War on Terror, Humor
Article Link]http://www.bloggernews.net/14180]Article Link

No one has actually begun trying to drag them in kicking and screaming yet, but Nato Chief de Hoop Scheffer and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have repeated their request for Germany to send six Tornado surveillance jets to southern Afghanistan.

“Six,” said de Hoop Scheffer, holding up six fingers to journalists. “S-i-x as in five plus one? Here, let me write that down for you to avoid any further confusion.” “Planes,” added Condi as she wildly flapped her arms about like a big skinny bird, which she actually is. “Tornado surveillance-type jet planes, got it? Sie verstehen mich already?”
The two made their comments during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels yesterday. It was also announced here that NATO commanders are now planning an offensive against the Taliban in the coming weeks and that many of these military experts believe having a few of these German high-tech Wunderwaffen wonders would be “a way cool and wonderful thing.”
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Afghanistan: NATO Begins Fund For Civilian War Victims  
January 26, 2007 (RFE/RL) 
Article Link

 Millions of dollars in cash and relief aid have been given by the U.S. government in recent years as compensation to relatives of civilians accidentally killed by U.S. military strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan. But since NATO took command of operations in Afghanistan last October, far less compensation has been given for innocent civilians killed in combat-weary provinces like Helmand and Kandahar.

British forces recently called for air strikes at a village in the Garmser district of Afghanistan's Helmand's Province when they discovered Taliban fighters were sheltering there.

An RFE/RL correspondent who visited the village in mid-January found a man in shock after the battle

Collateral Damage  

"We lost six people in my family," he said. "They killed three cows, destroyed two houses and my car. This is a village and they are bombing the village -- even mosques and people's houses."

Other villagers in the district say they have yet to see compensation or promised reconstruction aid. Their complaints are taking on a political tone, with residents openly wondering whether life was better for them under the Taliban.
"I lost eight members of my family," said another. "[NATO forces] didn't come for reconstruction. If [Hamid] Karzai is president, how can we be in this miserable situation?"

Brigadier Richard Nugee, NATO's chief spokesman in Afghanistan, admits that the death of innocent civilians is hurting efforts by the alliance to win the support of the local population in provinces like Helmand and Kandahar.

"I believe the single thing that [NATO's ISAF has] done wrong [in 2006] -- and we are striving extremely hard to improve on next year -- is [accidentally] killing innocent civilians," he said.

Those remarks have been welcomed by nongovernmental organizations like Human Rights Watch and the U.S.-based Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC).
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Afghanistan: More Women Operating Their Own Businesses  
By Golnaz Esfandiari January 25, 2007 (RFE/RL) 
Article Link

 Women in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif have recently begun running their own businesses. The project is strongly supported by the country's Ministry of Women's Affairs, which hopes to get women into an area currently dominated by men and make them financially independent.

In Mazar-e Sharif in recent weeks, several women have begun operating their own shops and selling handicrafts, cosmetics, and clothing.

A New Beginning 

It is an unusual sight for Afghanistan -- where for years women were barred from public life -- and it is also a small step in bringing them into spheres previously considered to be reserved for men.

Among the new shopkeepers is Bibi Roghya, who has a small stall at a busy market. She sells traditional clothing that has been made by other Afghan women.

She says while there is some disapproval of her and her fellow women's work, most people hail the new trend.

"Maybe 10 percent of people don't agree with women being shopkeepers but the rest of the people, 90 percent, welcome us," she said. "A lot of women have expressed their happiness, they say they want a big market for women selling stuff."
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Denmark pledges USD10 m. additional aid for Afghanistan
POL-AFGHANISTAN-DENMARK-AID KABUL, Jan 27 (KUNA)
Article Link

A statement released from the Embassy of Denmark on Saturday said the government of Denmark would give an additional USD 10 million in assistance to Afghanistan.

Denmark has so far given USD 29 million in aid to Afghanistan for reconstruction and other welfare activities.

The announcement was made by Denmark Development Cooperation Minister Ulla Toernaes during the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels on Saturday, said the embassy statement.

The fresh amount pledged for Afghanistan by the Danish government would be spent on reconstruction and humanitarian relief activities in this landlocked country.

Quoting the Danish minister, the statement said: "It is not sufficient to send more soldiers. We need to accelerate the development process or Afghanistan will never achieve stability. Denmark would assist the Afghan government in showing that democracy was better than Taliban." The statement said Denmark assistance to Afghanistan was already amount to USD 29 million in 2007. It is mainly supporting the education sector, development in rural areas, human rights and public sector reforms.
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Afghanistan: Karzai just says no —to glyphosate
Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Fri, 01/26/2007 - 21:33. 
Article Link

The Pentagon recently posed Colombia as a "good model" for the war on opium in Afghanistan. But Hamid Karzai, to his credit, is displaying greater concern for the health of his own land and people than top US Latin American ally Alvaro Uribe. From Reuters, Jan. 26: 

KABUL, Afghanistan - Rebuffing months of U.S. pressure, Afghan President Hamid Karzai decided against a Colombia-style program to spray this country's heroin-producing poppies after the Cabinet worried herbicide would hurt legitimate crops, animals and humans, officials said Thursday.

The decision, reportedly made Sunday, dashes U.S. hopes for mounting a campaign using ground sprayers to poison poppy plants to help combat Afghanistan's opium trade after a record crop in 2006.

Karzai instead "made a very strong commitment" to lead other eradication efforts this year and said if that didn't cut production he would allow spraying in 2008, a Western official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The spokesman for Afghan-istan's Ministry of Counternarcotics, Said Mohammad Azam, said this year's effort will rely on "traditional techniques" - sending laborers into fields to trample or plow under opium poppies before they can be harvested. A similar campaign during 2006 failed.

Fueled by the Taliban, a powerful drug mafia and poor farmers' need for a profitable crop that can overcome drought, opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 percent to 6,700 tons - enough to make about 670 tons of heroin. That is more than 90 percent of the world's supply and more than the world's addicts consume in a year.

The booming drug economy, and the involvement of government officials and police in the illicit trade, compounds the many problems facing Afghanistan's fledgling democracy as it struggles with stepped-up attacks by insurgents loyal to the former Taliban regime.

Top Cabinet members - including the agriculture, defense and rural redevelopment ministers - pressured Karzai to reject the spraying plan, saying herbicide would contaminate water, hurt humans, farm animals and legitimate produce, officials said.

The ministers also feared a violent backlash from rural Afghans, the Western official said.
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EDITORIAL: Finally, turning to a thoroughly ruined Afghanistan
Article Link

The Bush Administration is going to ask the US Congress for an additional $10.6 billion in security and reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan in the next two years. Since 2001, when the invasion started, the US has spent less than two billion dollars a year in Afghanistan, mostly on maintaining its troops. In Iraq, it is spending $10 billion a month, but that is a different matter. The troops are paid out of the money and nearly 100,000 American contractors who serve the troops also take their share of it. In Afghanistan, there are other states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and they normally don’t spend money on wars they don’t want to fight.

After 2006 became the worst year of fighting in Afghanistan, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, thinks more effort should be made to “counter the Taliban resurgence in the country”. Over five years of neglect and lack of coordination among the NATO allies has done a lot of damage; Pakistan has been lumped with most of the blame for what has gone wrong. The US allies don’t want to put their troops in harm’s way and have attached many conditions to their engagement in battle. Last year’s summit of the NATO allies made it quite clear that Afghanistan was doomed as an operation which the world approved after 9/11.
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Pakistan boosts patrols after deadly bombing
Updated Sun. Jan. 28 2007 7:58 AM ET Associated Press
Article Link

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Heavily armed police and security forces patrolled streets in Shiite-dominated areas Sunday following a suicide bomb attack near a Shiite mosque that killed 15 people. 

The Saturday attack that wounded more than 30 others came as Pakistan's Shiites began ceremonies in connection with their most important annual festival, Ashoura, which often has been a target of anti-Shiite violence. 

Akram Durrani, the chief minister of North West Frontier Province, asked people to demonstrate "patience and maintain religious discipline," state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion will likely fall on Sunni extremists. 

Most Muslims from the majority Sunni and minority Shiite sects coexist peacefully in Pakistan, but militant groups on both sides are blamed for sectarian attacks that claim scores of lives every year
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Christian Ministries Combat Afghanistan's Biggest Killer
Sun, Jan. 28, 2007 Posted: 10:15:47 AM EST 
Article Link

In a land foremost known for harboring Taliban terrorists and suffering under almost continuous conflict since 1979, not many people know that Afghanistan has the second-worst infant mortality rate in the world. 

In a land foremost known for harboring Taliban terrorists and suffering under almost continuous conflict since 1979, not many people know that Afghanistan has the second-worst infant mortality rate in the world. 

"When World Vision asked me to go to Afghanistan, it was like God saying, 'Go to Nineveh,'” said Tim Pylate, a World Vision staff who recently completed his assignment in Afghanistan. 

Stories of women cutting the umbilical cord with a dirty knife and babies dying due to diarrhea and dehydration are common. 

Christian groups, some which have been in the country for decades, are helping to combat this avoidable problem by training local midwives and providing healthcare services to Afghan women. The international Christian humanitarian organizations World Vision and Interserve are among the groups working to overcome Afghanistan’s biggest killer. CURE International, a Christian ministry offering physical and spiritual healing to disabled children in the developing world, is also working to overcome Afghanistan’s high infant mortality rate through its CURE Hospital.

According to a UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) 2006 statistic, Afghanistan has 165 deaths for every 1,000 live birth. In other words, one in six babies dies before their first birthday. Moreover, six out of every 100 mothers die during childbirth. Afghanistan also has one of the world’s highest child mortality rates – one in four Afghan children die before they reach five years old. 

WV is providing a program at the Institute of Health Sciences in Herat in western Afghanistan to help combat the high death rates from the birth process. 

The two-year program allows young women from outside the cities to train as midwives to return and help their towns and villages. The students vary in age and background from single women in their early 20’s to older women who may be widowed. 
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## The Bread Guy (28 Jan 2007)

*Afghan leader Karzai calls for talks with Taliban to end bloodshed*
Associated Press, 29 Jan 07
Article Link

Afghan President Hamid Karzai renewed his call Monday for talks with the Taliban and other groups battling his government.  "While we are fighting for our honor and dignity against an enemy who wants our destruction and wants us to bleed, once again we want to open a way for negotiations," Karzai told thousands gathered at the main Shiite Muslim mosque in Kabul.  Karzai's call for talks with the resurgent Taliban militants comes at a time when U.S., NATO and other Western officials warn of a Taliban spring offensive, following the bloodiest year since the former hard-line regime was removed from power in 2001 by a U.S.-led force ....


*Karzai offers talks with Taliban*
Sayed Salahuddin, Reuters, 29 Jan 07
Article Link

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday offered peace talks with a resurgent Taliban after the bloodiest year since the hardline Islamists were ousted in 2001 and amid warnings of a violent spring offensive.  More than 4,000 people, including about 170 foreign soldiers, died in fighting last year, a year that saw a dramatic jump in suicide bombings as the Taliban and other militants copy tactics from insurgents in Iraq.  Karzai made the offer while speaking at a religious gathering in Kabul on one of the holiest days of the Shia Islamic calendar, but he did not specifically name the Taliban.  "While we are fighting for our honour, we still open the door for talks and negotiations with our enemy who is after our annihilation and is shedding our blood," he told the crowd at the main Shia religious compound in the capital.  Karzai also said he prayed for the "guidance" of those who plotted against Afghanistan, referring to neighbouring Pakistan where the Taliban and their Islamic allies have sanctuaries.  Karzai two years ago offered amnesty to those Taliban he and others regard as moderate, but on Monday made no such distinction.  No senior Taliban commander or leader has surrendered or joined the government as part of past efforts to bring them into the mainstream and senior rebel leaders have ridiculed such calls as a sign of weakness.  The Taliban have vowed to drive out foreign troops and overthrow Karzai and his government ....



*Document outlines Canada's military plans in Afghanistan*
CBC Online, 28 Jan 07
Article Link

The Canadian military effort in Afghanistan will be complete when Afghan security forces are established and the Afghan government gains full control of the area, says a new document from the military's chief of defence staff.  The document — authored by Gen. Rick Hillier and obtained recently by CBC News —stated that the military's job in Afghanistan is considered successful and completed:
    * when new Afghan security forces "are established" and "fully controlled" by the Afghan government.
    * when those forces are trained and can conduct their own "counter-insurgency operations."
    * when the forces can defend against foreign fighters and "effectively control borders."
    * and when "terrorist groups are denied sanctuary within Afghanistan."
The military plan is achievable, but not in the short term, said Rob Huebert, a military analyst at the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies ....



*Canadian troops ready for Taliban spring offensive, says defence minister*
Canadian Press, via Canada.com, 28 Jan 07
Article Link

As more Canadian soldiers prepare to leave for Afghanistan, Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor says the forces are ready for any new offensive launched by the Taliban.  “Traditionally the Taliban who are based in Pakistan come over the mountains in the spring and do their various insurgency activities,” O’Connor said Sunday on CTV’s Question Period.  “We can’t predict whether it’s going to be a large offensive or a small offensive this year (but) we’re well prepared to receive them.”  O’Connor welcomed news that at least one of a potential three extra battalions the United States plans to deploy to Afghanistan will be baased in Kandahar, a move that will likely take some pressure off Canadian troops in the region.  The minister said he discussed the Afghan situation last week at a meeting in Washington with Robert Gates, the new U.S. defence secretary ....



*Canadian aid and reconstruction arrives faster than UN help in rural Kandahar*
Murray Brewster, Canadian Press, 28 Jan 07
Article Link

It has become an all-too-common refrain these days in the parched pasture land west of Kandahar when farmers, driven from their homes by fighting last fall, are asked what aid they need most.  They tell you: tents, food and, in this arid region, water.  What they are getting at the moment in this small enclave of Zhari district - a former Taliban stronghold - are 12 wells, drilled by Afghan contractors and paid for by Canadian taxpayers.  "It's really important, we appreciate who did that," Ataullah, 35, a local wheat farmer, said through a translator.  With his home sitting in the shadow of a Canadian forward base, fighting last fall ebbed and flowed across his land and that of his neighbours. Ataullah, along with 12 members of his immediate family, packed up what belongings they could and fled, joining thousands of others in a rural swath west of Kandahar.  "We need everything (because) we moved with our families to escape to the city, but the robbers, the thieves came into our house and stole everything," he said.  "Now we need tents, food and water."  This scene has been repeated all across the Zhari and Panjwaii districts .....



*US team visits Kabul as Washington boost troops*
Reuters, 28 Jan 07
Article Link

New U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi met senior Afghan leaders on Sunday, days after Washington announced a major boost in troops and money to bring peace after the bloodiest year since the Taliban's ouster in 2001.  Pelosi met President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, as well as other officials and U.S. military commanders.  She did not speak to journalists.  Pelosi led a seven-member House delegation on a visit to South Asia that included Pakistan, which Afghanistan accuses of supporting a resurgent Taliban. Islamabad denies the charges ....


*Pelosi, Karzai Discuss Troop Increases*
Associated Press, 29 Jan 07
Article Link

The Afghan president told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that his security forces need to be stronger as the two discussed possible U.S. troop increases on Sunday, days after the Pentagon extended the tour of 3,200 soldiers, an Afghan official said.  President Hamid Karzai stressed his desire for increased training and equipment for Afghanistan's fledgling army and police forces, the Afghan official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information publicly.  Pelosi, D-Calif., and Karzai discussed plans announced last week by the Bush administration to ask Congress for $10.6 billion for Afghanistan, a major increase aimed at rebuilding the country and strengthening government security forces still fighting the Taliban five years after the U.S.-led invasion ....


*US Speaker Pelosi meets Afghan president*
Agence France Presse, 28 Jan 07
Article Link

The new Democratic Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), met President Hamid Karzai on a short fact-finding tour of Afghanistan focused on efforts to defeat the Taliban.  Pelosi, who arrived from Pakistan where she met President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday after earlier visiting Iraq, also met members of the cabinet, parliamentarians and commanders of the US-led coalition that toppled the Taliban in 2001, the US embassy said.  The Speaker and her delegation of other senior Democratic lawmakers would meet the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) before leaving Afghanistan Sunday, spokesman Joe Mellot told AFP.  "She came to see what is happening on the ground," Mellot said. Her visit was in the context of discussions about a new US strategy in Afghanistan, he said ....


*US House Speaker Pelosi Meets Afghan President Karzai*
Voice of America News, 28 Ja 07
Article Link

The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday while on a short visit to Afghanistan.  Earlier in the day, Pelosi and a delegation of other Democratic Party lawmakers ate breakfast with American troops at the Bagram airbase.  The Bush administration said recently it will ask Congress for more than ten and a half billion dollars in new spending for Afghanistan, with most of the money designated to help build up Afghan security forces.  Last week, the U.S. military said it is extending the tour of 3000 American troops in Afghanistan by four months to help fight a resurgent Taleban.  Pelosi went to Afghanistan a day after she met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.  Their talks focused on the war on terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan ....



*Pride, grief and anger at a Taliban recruiting area in Pakistan*
Associated Press. 28 Jan 07
Article Link

SHABQADAR, Pakistan: Near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, pride mixes with grief and anger over dozens of young men lost to a stepped-up recruiting drive for the Taliban.  Like the anti-Soviet rebels of the 1980s and the pre-Sept. 11 Taliban, the recruiters of today have turned to this cluster of about 25 ethnic Pashtun villages in search of volunteers.  The father of one dead enlistee says he feels honored, but with many of Shabqadar's young men dead or feared missing on the battlefield, mujaheddin recruiters are no longer welcome here.  A shopkeeper says 100 or more young men have gone missing, including his cousin, a high school student, who mysteriously left home during the summer vacation and is believed to have gone to fight.  People here are religious, and recruiters play on that sentiment, "recruiting the youth with raw minds," he said.  The shopkeeper, like many others interviewed, requested anonymity for his own safety.  Pressure from residents and the shooting and wounding of a local newspaperman who reported about the "martyrs" of Shabqadar compelled authorities in November to shut a local office of Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen, an outlawed Pakistani militant group. It had circulated jihadist literature and CDs and recruited mostly jobless young men to go to Afghanistan — like their fathers who fought the Soviet occupation of that country two decades ago ....



*Dam holds back force of the Taliban*
An Afghan reservoir built by the Russians carries hopes of reconstructing a nation, but standing in the way are the ever-evolving enemy
Jason Burke, The Observer (UK), 28 Jan 07
Article Link

High in the mountains of southern Afghanistan, above a plunging gorge ringed by sharp, bleached peaks, is a dam. On a spur overlooking its sparkling blue reservoir are the Royal Marines. 'Could be quite a nice area, this,' says Rob Case, from Taunton, Somerset, standing next to his mortar. 'I might come back for a holiday. In about 50 years.'  Many hope progress in Afghanistan might come more rapidly - and Kajaki dam, a Cold War creation built in 1955 by the Russians and upgraded to a major hydroelectric plant by the Americans in 1973, is key. Few have heard of the vast project, but they soon will. The bid to secure the area around Kajaki dam so that reconstruction can start is becoming a symbol of the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan, of its strengths... and of its weaknesses ....



*US Taliban-bill sword hangs over Pervez*
K.P. NAYAR, The Telegraph (Calcutta), 28 Jan 07
Article Link

Five years and four months after Pervez Musharraf abandoned the Taliban and tricked the Americans into enlisting him as a partner in the fight against terrorism, the wily general’s day of reckoning in Washington may be around the corner.  The new Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives has passed a bill which requires America’s President to certify that “the government of Pakistan is making all possible efforts to prevent the Taliban from operating in areas under its sovereign control”. Failure to do so will stop all US aid, including military assistance. The House wants the restriction to take effect from the 2008-09 financial year.  Yesterday, Musharraf protested against the new legislation at a meeting in Islamabad with the new House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, Tom Lantos, and five other powerful Congressmen, including the chairmen of the House armed services committee and permanent select committee on intelligence ....



*Reader, she married an Afghan warlord*
Christina Lamb, Times Online (UK), 28 Jan 07
Article Link

“HONEY, don’t come home now, we’ve got warlords in the living room,” is hardly your typical excuse for a husband who fears his wife interrupting a night in with the lads. But for Debbie Rodriguez it has become such a common refrain that she has set up Kabul’s first coffee bar as somewhere to wait.  The crimson-haired hairdresser from America’s Midwest who came to Afghanistan to train its women in highlights and Brazilian waxing, has ended up married to a key commander for one of the country’s most brutal warlords in the unlikeliest of post-Taliban alliances.  The “I’m a D girl” slogan emblazoned across her tight black T-shirt refers not to an ample breast but to General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the boss of her husband Sher. The whisky-drinking Uzbek warlord from northern Afghanistan is best known for running over his enemies with tanks, and his men were accused of suffocating hundreds of Taliban prisoners in shipping containers in 2001.  “The general has always been kind, gentle and sweet to me,” said Rodriguez, 46, brushing the Kabul mud and snow off her jeans and warming her hands on a latte in her cafe ....



_- last edited 290738EST Jan 07 to add two lead items - _


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## MarkOttawa (29 Jan 2007)

Major article in_ LA Times_:

Afghan war takes a toll on Canada
By Laura King and Maggie Farley, Times Staff Writers
January 29
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afcanada29jan29,0,7564605,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines



> In the wind-scoured high desert that was once the heartland of the Taliban movement, the will and determination of a little-heralded American ally have been undergoing a harsh test.
> 
> For the last six months, the task of confronting insurgents in volatile Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan has largely fallen to Canada, whose troops have participated in myriad peacekeeping missions in recent years but had not seen high-intensity combat since the Korean War.
> 
> ...



But the Conservative government is not, as the article later says, a "coalition".


Document outlines Canada's military plans in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Monday, January 29, 2007 | 7:49 AM ET
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/01/28/military-objectives.html



> The Canadian military effort in Afghanistan will be complete when Afghan security forces are established and the Afghan government gains full control of the area, says a new document from the military's chief of defence staff.
> 
> The document — authored by Gen. Rick Hillier and obtained recently by CBC News —stated that the military's job in Afghanistan is considered successful and completed:
> 
> ...



(The document is dated, I think, May 2006 from what I saw in the television story but the date is not mentioned in the online version.)

Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (29 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 29 January, 2007*


Circus comes to Afghan schoolchildren  
POSTED: 0423 GMT (1223 HKT), January 28, 2007 
Article Link

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- In a fantastical little school in Kabul, girls and boys leave behind their impoverished, war-torn world and enter a utopia where they laugh and sing, and learn how to juggle and ride unicycles.

More than 100 children mix regular schooling with art and acrobatics at the Mobile Mini Circus for Children, set up by a Danish performance artist to bring fun and color to the lives of youngsters more used to poverty and violence.

"Nothing negative should come here. We try to cut off the misery," said David Mason, 42, who moved to Kabul and founded the school in June 2002, just months after the fall of the Taliban. "The circus makes children enjoy life. It shocks them, moves them and makes them see how life can be."

The school's bright-colored buildings are a contrast to the drab, brown mudbrick of the Afghan capital, where menacing armored convoys travel the streets, and women and children often beg to survive.

Visitors with guns -- including foreign soldiers and Afghans with armed bodyguards -- are strictly forbidden, as are their donations. The circus school, which provides free classes, survives on money raised from its performances and donations from 15 countries.

Seventeen Afghan teachers give instruction in subjects like math, English and religion as well as theater, painting and circus tricks. There are about 120 permanent students, ages 4 to 13, but the number swells to 350 when state schools close for winter holiday.

One schoolroom -- a circular glass greenhouse -- is filled with a gaggle of girls, juggling tennis balls and bowling pins. In another room, boys stand on their hands and do acrobatic flips. Children sing to the accompaniment of teachers playing the harmonium and tabla drums.
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Afghan elders speak of war, not peace  
GRAEME SMITH From Monday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

Rhetoric reveals tough nature of mending fences with Pakistan, GRAEME SMITH reports 

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Hundreds of tribal elders gathered in Kandahar on the weekend, summoned to a cavernous hall with flickering electricity for what the government hoped would be a major step toward peace in this volatile region.

The idea sounded simple enough when described by Afghan President Hamid Karzai five months ago as he dined with his Pakistani counterpart, General Pervez Musharraf. They invoked the traditional concept of a peace jirga -- a tribal assembly of elders that takes decisions by consensus -- suggesting a group of respected people from both sides of the border should sit down to discuss ways of ending Taliban attacks.

At the Kandahar peace jirga Saturday, in preparation for the larger cross-border assembly to come, shouting, fist-waving and bitter words revealed the huge difficulties theprocess faces.

Almost every public figure in Afghanistan believes Pakistan is fomenting the insurgency in their country. Despite the government staffers handing out glossy posters featuring white doves and symbols of cross-border friendship, the Kandahar peace jirga sounded, at times, like a council of war.
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Planned projects will help children in war-torn nations like Afghanistanr
By GEOFF NIXON The Canadian Press
Article Link

TORONTO — The United Nations children’s agency says it needs $635 million to fund its emergency humanitarian programs this year.

In a document to be released today, UNICEF calls on member countries and individuals to donate money for its planned projects, which are expected to provide children in 33 countries with access to health care, education and clean water.

UNICEF receives no annual funding from UN member dues and must raise its finances through private donations and contributions by governments.

Among the nations listed in greatest need are Afghanistan and Sudan — two places that have been dealing with warring and unstable conditions for years, their children growing up in the crosshairs of conflict.

Afghanistan has been in a state of civil war since UN forces ousted the ruling Taliban party in November 2001.

Canada has about 2,500 troops on rotation in Afghanistan and has maintained a presence there since the war began.

According to UN indicators, the country is one of the worst — if not the worst — places to live in the world.

Nigel Fisher, president of UNICEF Canada, said although Afghans face a grim reality, there are also signs that things are getting better
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Opposition keen to debate Afghanistan, military purchases
The Conservatives? Not so ...
David ********, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen Published: Monday, January 29, 2007
Article Link

News about Afghanistan may no longer be front page or top of newscasts, but opposition politicians will make debate about the mission front and centre when Parliament returns.

MPs on both sides of the Commons are preparing for a political fight and positioning themselves in the public-relations battle.

In an attempt to boost support for Canada's Afghanistan mission, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has been out giving speeches that highlight the role Canadian soldiers are playing in road building, the construction of schools and improving health care for Afghans.
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Germans may restrict airborne data sharing in Afghanistan
Jan 29, 2007, 13:15 GMT 
Article Link

Berlin - Germany would impose 'rules' on its sharing of aerial reconnaissance data with allies fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, according to a German Defence Ministry spokesman in Berlin on Monday. 

Berlin is still mulling a NATO request for help from six German Tornado jets packed with cameras and intelligence-gathering equipment. Germany has deployed peacekeepers to Afghanistan, but insists they remain in relatively safe Kabul and the north. 

The ministry said that under existing international rules, the Germans were allowed to pass data to the NATO allies in the south, but he added that such transfers would be 'regulated restrictively.' 

Ulrich Wilhelm, the German government spokesman, said the German cabinet would decide at its meeting this week or next on the NATO request, while a vote would be taken in the German parliament at the end of February or the start of March on such a deployment. 
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Taliban recruiters look to Pakistan
By RIAZ KHAN; and MATTHEW PENNINGTON The Associated Press
Article Link

SHABQADAR, Pakistan -- Near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, pride mixes with grief and anger over dozens of young men lost to a stepped-up recruiting drive for the Taliban.

Like the anti-Soviet rebels of the 1980s and the pre-Sept. 11 Taliban, the recruiters of today have turned to this cluster of about 25 ethnic Pashtun villages in search of volunteers.

The father of one dead enlistee says he feels honored, but with many of Shabqadar's young men dead or feared missing on the battlefield, mujahedeen recruiters are no longer welcome here.

A shopkeeper says 100 or more young men have gone missing, including his cousin, a 10th-grade student, who mysteriously left home during the summer vacation and is believed to have gone to fight.

People here are religious, and recruiters play on that sentiment, "recruiting the youth with raw minds," he said.

The shopkeeper, like many others interviewed, requested anonymity for his own safety.
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Washington sending mobile taskforce for Afghanistan
* Force to arrive as NATO commander ends tenure Daily Times Monitor
Article Link

LAHORE: The US is sending to Afghanistan a mobile taskforce that the outgoing British commander of Nato forces, General David Richards, has been pleading for throughout his nine-month tenure, writes Christina Lamb.

According to The Sunday Times newspaper, the so-called theatre taskforce, which arrives as Richards ends his command next Sunday, will be based partly at Kandahar airport and partly in the east as a rapid reaction unit that can mobilise when troops are in difficulties. 

“It’s bittersweet,” said a senior British officer. “We’d been pleading for one all year and now an American general is taking command, they send one.” 

Last week has seen a flurry of activity from Washington, which has decided to focus its energies on what is being referred to as a “winnable war” in contrast to Iraq. 

Aside from the theatre taskforce, the newspaper reports, the Pentagon has instructed a brigade of 3,200 men from the 10th Mountain Division to stay on in Afghanistan. Their tour of duty was due to end next month. 
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## GAP (30 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 30 January, 2007*

Extreme heat in army tanks endangers troops
TORONTO
Article Link

Canadian Press — The Canadian government is urgently seeking a cooling system for Leopard tanks stationed in Afghanistan to protect troops from the sweltering heat, CBC's The National reported Monday.

Summer temperatures can reach 50 C, and inside the tanks, which have no air conditioning, they can reach 65 C.

Government documents warn that the summer heat could not only cook the tanks and the soldiers, but also cause electronic and hydraulic failure.

“Without a cooling system, it will endanger the crew,” said Maj. Trevor Cadieu. “And I'm confident the leadership right now are looking at a solution to that. I think they've identified that as one of the critical requirements.”
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Increased attacks feared in Afghanistan 
By AP January 30, 2007 
Article Link

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan -- The incoming commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan said yesterday he expects Taliban militants to launch more suicide attacks this year than in 2006, when militants set off a record 139 such bombings. 

Maj.-Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, said military leaders expect an increase in all kinds of attacks as the weather gets warmer. 

"We're expecting an increase in the suicide bombers and some of the other tactics that they have believed are successful," he said. "So we expect to see that as well as the normal standoff-type attacks and harassing kind of attacks on Afghan government officials, Afghan nationals, security forces, as well as coalition forces." 

Rodriguez, who takes command from Maj.-Gen. Benjamin Freakley on Friday, travelled to the eastern province of Paktika next to the Pakistan border yesterday to be briefed by military leaders and the provincial governor. 

Paktika Gov. Mohammed Akram Akhpelwak told Rodriguez that Taliban militants had bases across the border in Pakistan and that he hoped U.S. forces could help stop the flow of fighters crossing into Paktika. 

"If we just focus on one side of the border, we won't be successful," Akhpelwak told U.S. leaders. 

Rodriguez called the border situation "harmful" to both Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We will continue to strengthen the security on the border, which is an important issue because of all the infiltration that occurs," he told the governor. 

The Taliban last year launched a record number of attacks, and some 4,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence, according to a tally by The Associated Press. 
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Bring daughter home from Afghanistan
Kerri Drylie posted January 30, 2007 
Article Link

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a delegation of six other congressional Democrats showed up in Afghanistan this week to speak with President Hamid Karzai about plans for his country. This includes lots of money and more troops.

My daughter is among the 3,200 soldiers with the 10th Mountain, Third Brigade being kept an additional four months in Afghanistan. It was time for my daughter to come home. Her year was up. She is tired, physically and mentally. She misses her family. Because she was stationed in South Korea her previous tour, by the time she does get home -- safely, we pray -- she would not have seen her younger brother and sister in almost two years.

I hope Pelosi and other members of the House and Senate and, yes, even all of the citizens of this great country, appreciate the sacrifice my daughter and our family are making. I know my daughter is very proud of her country and is willing to serve -- even if that means being sent to Iraq. If my daughter needs to stay four more months to help reach our goals in Afghanistan, so be it. I have many, many pictures of the people, especially children, of Afghanistan, she has sent me over the past year. She says the country is beautiful, as are the people.

But after these four months, I want her back in the United States. I do not want her to go to Iraq.

Please, Ms. Pelosi, do what you can do to keep any more troops from going there -- especially those who have already served in Afghanistan.
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Dutch troops won't participate in destruction of poppy crops in Afghanistan
January 30, 2007 
Article Link

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Dutch soldiers serving in the NATO force in Afghanistan will not take part in the destruction of opium crops because it is counterproductive to efforts to build public support for reconstruction, a government minister said. 

The minister of development, Agnes van Ardenne, said late Monday that the ultimate purpose of Dutch participation in the NATO stabilization force in Afghanistan is to promote reconstruction. 

"That's only possible if the population is working with us, but the population won't do that if people see that we, as it were, are playing along with the game of destroying the income stream, the only income stream of very many farmers," Van Ardenne said on the television program Nova. 

The cultivation of opium poppies reached record levels in Afghanistan in 2006, and U.S. officials have focused attention on plans to destroy the crop. Opium sales are believed to help fund the Taliban. 

Opium production from poppies in Afghanistan last year rose 49 per cent to more than 6,000 tonnes, enough to supply 90 per cent of the world's heroin. 

In a blow to the U.S. anti-drug plan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said earlier this month he would not allow a Colombian-style spraying program to eradicate the poppies, ordering them plowed under instead. 

Afghan officials said the cabinet was concerned about the impact of herbicides on humans, legitimate crops and animals. 
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Suicide bomber targets Afghan army convoy in western Afghanistan, 5 wounded  
The Associated Press Tuesday, January 30, 2007  KABUL, Afghanistan 
Article Link

A suicide car bomber attacked an Afghan army convoy in western Afghanistan Tuesday, wounding three soldiers and two civilians, officials said.

The bomber blew himself up next to a bus carrying the soldiers near the airport in the western city of Herat, said Gen. Fazludin Sayar, deputy corps commander in western Afghanistan.

Three soldiers and two civilians were wounded, Sayar said. The bomber died in the blast.

Suicide bombings have so far been rare in western Afghanistan. Militants have mostly launched their suicide attacks in the country's south and east.

The new commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan warned Monday that militants are likely to launch a greater number of suicide attacks this year.
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Afghanistan Will Get 600 Million Euro EU Aid Package (Update2)  
By Ed Johnson
Article Link


Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union pledged 600 million euros ($777 million) during the next four years to tackle opium production in Afghanistan, overhaul the country's judiciary and improve health care. 

The package, presented at a meeting of the so-called EU ministerial troika yesterday in Berlin, followed the White House's pledge last week to seek $10.6 billion from Congress to train and equip Afghan soldiers and rebuild the nation. 

``The EU stands by Afghanistan,'' German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the EU presidency, said after yesterday's talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado. Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner also attended the meeting. 
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Latest wave of troops leave N.B. for Afghanistan
Updated Mon. Jan. 29 2007 11:11 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

CFB GAGETOWN, N.B. -- Relatives of the latest group of soldiers heading to Afghanistan say they're proud of their loved ones, but they are deeply concerned about what awaits them in the war-weary country. 

There were tears and hugs as 120 troops gathered in a drill hall at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown on Monday for a last goodbye before starting their six-month tour of duty. Some 1,200 soldiers from the New Brunswick base will be part of the current troop rotation, involving close to 2,500 soldiers. 

Husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters told reporters they support the mission to restore peace and stability to the Central Asian country, but they are afraid for the soldiers' safety. 

"He knows we love him, we're proud of him and to stay safe," said Faith Sharpe, whose 21-year-old son, Pte. Joel Trickey, is among the latest wave of troops to deploy to Afghanistan. 

"We're praying for him." 

Her husband, Cpl. Earl Sharpe, who is also a member of the military, said he is "concerned but proud" about his stepson's mission. 

Sharpe said he's confident the troops have been well trained. 

"They should be fine," he said. 
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New JTF2 site part of military overhaul
Revamped commando units to fight terror by land, sea and air
David ******** The Ottawa Citizen Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Article Link

The military will move its Ottawa-based Joint Task Force 2 counter-terrorism unit to Trenton, Ont., as it prepares to launch a further expansion of the country's special forces.

Besides moving the 600-member unit from its current location in Dwyer Hill, near Richmond, the military will position special forces equipment at sites around the country to allow for a quicker response to a terror attack.

It will also further expand the recently formed special forces regiment based at CFB Petawawa, as well as create a new Marine Commando Regiment to be based at Comox, B.C.

The plans will be announced when the Harper government releases its long-awaited "Canada First" defence strategy. No date has been set for its release.

JTF2 will complete the move to its new home at CFB Trenton by 2010. Until then, it will continue using its 80-hectare Dwyer Hill installation.

Positioning JTF2 at one of the country's main airbases allows it immediate access to aircraft for domestic and overseas missions, military officers say.
More on link

Extended Afghan mission planned, critics say
Opposition cites plans as proof troops will stay until 2011
GLORIA GALLOWAY 
Article Link

OTTAWA -- Opposition MPs say documents generated by the Department of National Defence prove that the government intends to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan long after the current commitment to the NATO-led force ends in 2009.

A communications plan drawn up by General Rick Hillier, the Chief of the Defence Staff, in May of last year outlines Canada's "five-year information strategy" for Afghanistan. 

The opposition charges that the duration of the strategy indicates an intent to maintain a Canadian presence in the war-torn country until 2011.

And while Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said "we never leave until our work is done," briefing notes supplied to Defence Minister Dennis O'Connor suggest that the job won't be finished until late 2010.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (30 Jan 2007)

The big Afghanistan push comes to shove
January 30, _The Guardian_ 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/story/0,,2001620,00.html



> Overshadowed by President George Bush's controversial, last-chance bid to salvage American honour in Iraq, the US is mounting a parallel military and reconstruction "surge" in Afghanistan ahead of an anticipated Taliban spring offensive. But Washington is also encountering some familiar Iraq-style obstacles: reluctant allies, meddlesome neighbours, a weak central government and the realisation that time is not on its side.
> 
> The US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice underscored the administration's newfound sense of urgency at a hastily convened Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels last Friday. "Every one of us must take a hard look at what more we can do to help the Afghan people and to support one another," Ms Rice said.
> 
> ...



Discarding An Afghan Opportunity
By Selig S. Harrison,_ Washington Post_, Jan. 30
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901448.html



> The British Raj learned the hard way a century ago that the Pashtuns, Afghanistan's largest and historically dominant ethnic group, will unite to fight a foreign occupation force simply because it is foreign. Applying this lesson to the Afghan crisis today, British generals have been attempting in vain to change a high-profile U.S.-NATO military strategy that is helping the Taliban consolidate Pashtun support in southern Afghanistan...
> 
> The British model for a new approach to defusing the Taliban insurgency has unfolded recently in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province. Following bitter clashes last summer between British and Taliban forces, the Musa Qala tribal council, acting with British approval and backed by Helmand's governor, Mohammed Daud, negotiated a cease-fire in early September that led to a 15-point peace agreement. The accord provided for an end to the Taliban offensive, the withdrawal of British forces and the creation of a local militia that would replace the ineffectual central government police and army units in the district. After peace prevailed for 35 days, the British pulled out on Oct. 17.
> 
> ...



Canadian Afghanistan update you didn't read
Flit, Jan. 29
http://www.snappingturtle.net/flit/archives/2007_01_29.html#006049



> In the "News you didn't read in your weekend papers" column, it has been over two months since the last Canadian fatality in Afghanistan.
> http://www.icasualties.org/oef/byNationality.aspx?hndQry=Canada
> 
> No, it's not going to last forever. Let's hope it lasts as long as possible, though.



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (31 Jan 2007)

*Articles found 31 January, 2007*

'We have to act faster,' CIDA says  
Officials concede Canadian aid flows slowly in Afghanistan 
GRAEME SMITH From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

BAZAAR-E-PANJWAI, AFGHANISTAN — At a dusty camp outside Kandahar city, a team from the Senlis Council, a European group, spent a recent afternoon handing out emergency rations. They didn't have enough to feed all the displaced people, and young men chased their truck as it pulled away, the ragged crowd scrabbling for food.

"Look at this," said Edward McCormick, 47, an epidemiologist from British Columbia. "Where is CIDA?"

The question comes up frequently. Last spring, the Canadian International Development Agency promised to spend $100-million a year in Afghanistan, making the country the biggest recipient of Canada's foreign aid. But until recently, little of that money was visible in Kandahar.

The assistance was slowed by violence in the south, officials say, and CIDA was forced to move cautiously as the agency set up programs in the midst of a war, with Afghan partners who are notoriously unreliable.
More on link

Bin Laden's brother-in-law killed
POSTED: 1246 GMT (2046 HKT), January 31, 2007 
Article Link

The brother-in-law and former best friend of Osama bin Laden was killed while on a business trip to Madagascar, family members have told CNN.

Jamal Khalifa's family told CNN they were not sure of the details of the Saudi businessman's death but said all his possessions had been stolen.

Khalifa had arranged the trip in order to straighten out his affairs regarding a heavy plant equipment business he owned on the Indian Ocean island.

He had not visited Madagascar in five or six years and was concerned his equipment had been taken without payment, his family said.

Khalifa had also at one time worked to free a Madagascan friend from internment at Guantanamo Bay.

Khalifa's family told CNN they did not believe Saudi claims he had been killed by locals.

The Associated Press, quoting a telephone interview with Khalifa's brother, Malek Khalifa, said 25-30 armed men had broken into his house and killed him as he slept.

CNN's Nic Robertson said Khalifa's death raised questions over whether it happened as reported by Saudi officials, or, as his family feared, through more sinister means.

"Was he killed by bin Laden's associates for speaking out against the al Qaeda leader or, equally feasibly, by an international intelligence agency settling an old score?" said Robertson.

Khalifa had recently denied claims that he funded the Philippine-based Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf.
More on link

Germany calls on Afghanistan to step up responsibility
Article Link

BEIJING, Jan. 31 -- The German Foreign Minister has called on Afghanistan to step up and take "ownership" of its challenges, and future. The remarks came at an international conference for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in Berlin. 

    Speaking at the two-day conference, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on participants to do everything possible to encourage Afghan responsibility. 

    Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister, said, "I believe we must do everything -- even more so than in the past -- to encourage Afghan responsibility, 'Afghan Ownership'. In my view, the 2002 Bonn agreement on the reconstruction of Afghanistan remains as important today as it was at the beginning of our discussions." 

    The Bonn Agreement was endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1154. It set the course for Afghanistan's post-war recovery. 

    The German foreign minister also urged Afghanistan's neighbors to contribute more to the country's stability. 
More on link

CIDA pumps millions into Afghanistan
But just how much is unclear 
By MURRAY BREWSTER, CP
Article Link

KANDAHAR -- The Canadian International Development Agency opened the floodgates of funding yesterday, pumping millions of dollars into irrigation and canal reconstruction programs in rural Kandahar province. 

But precisely how much the federal development office is contributing became a matter of confusion yesterday. 

$31.8M 

At a contract-signing ceremony with village leaders, Afghanistan's minister of rural rehabilitation and development, Mohammad Ehsan Zia, thanked Canada and the U.S. for contributing what he said was $31.8 million and $5.9 million respectively. 

But later, a CIDA representative contradicted the minister, saying the Canadian contribution would be $3.1 million. "It is just a matter of language," CIDA officer Helene Kadi said. "It was a typo." 

The Americans -- through USAID -- would provide $500,000, she said. 

NOT INVITED  

No representatives of the Canadian government, CIDA or otherwise, were present at the announcement. They weren't invited, Kadi said. 

The slip-up is another illustration of the befuddlement that seems to be gripping the reconstruction effort. 

CIDA claims it has -- or is about to -- spend as much as $65 million on redevelopment initiatives. Yet until lately there have been very few visible signs of that investment, almost one year after Canadian troops deployed to the volatile southern region.
More on link

Warrants Issued for 13 CIA Operatives in Germany Kidnapping
By Craig Whitlock Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, January 31, 2007; 6:38 AM
Article Link

BERLIN, Jan. 31 -- German prosecutors on Wednesday said they have issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA operatives suspected of kidnapping a German citizen in the Balkans in 2004 and taking him to a secret prison in Afghanistan before realizing several months later that they had the wrong person.

The German arrest warrants, filed in Munich, are the second case in which prosecutors have filed criminal charges against CIA employees involved in counterterrorism operations in Europe. European investigators acknowledge that it is highly unlikely the U.S. spies -- most of whom worked undercover or using false identities -- would ever be handed over to face trial. But the prosecutions have strained U.S.-European relations and underscored deep differences over how to fight terrorism.
More on link

Americans Reconsider Afghanistan Mission
January 31, 2007
Article Link

A majority now opposes the conflict almost everyone deemed sensible.

Mario Canseco - In the days that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an evident outpouring of goodwill towards the United States grasped many countries, exemplified mostly by unnamed persons carefully leaving flowers and drawings on the steps of American embassies and consulates. U.S. president George W. Bush’s approval rating experienced one of the most dramatic shifts ever recorded, as the country’s armed forces prepared to enter Afghanistan. Before Sept. 11, the country had been featured in the news mostly because of the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan.

From the start, most Americans supported their federal administration’s decision to wage conflict against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. This month, for the first time since the campaign against terrorism began, a majority of Americans expressed opposition to the war in Afghanistan. Clearly, the Bush administration has kept its primary foreign policy focus on Iraq—from the controversial conclusions of the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group to Bush’s recent call for an increase in troop levels—and spent little time discussing its goals and achievements in Afghanistan.
More on link

Troops Lacked Equipment for Iraq, Afghanistan, Inspector Says  
By Tony Capaccio
Article Link

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced shortages of body armor, armored vehicles, electronic jammers and heavy machine guns because of flaws in the way the Defense Department deploys personnel, according to the Pentagon Inspector General. 

``Service members were not always equipped to effectively complete their missions,'' Pentagon Inspector General Thomas Gimble said in the unclassified summary of a classified report to Congress released today. ``Service members performed missions without the proper equipment, used informal procedures to obtain equipment and canceled or postponed missions while waiting to receive equipment,'' the summary said. 

The report verifies claims made since late 2002 by many Democratic lawmakers, some soldiers and parents that U.S. troops on occasion were poorly equipped to counter the insurgency in Iraq. The debate began in late 2003 with complaints of body armor shortages that evolved in 2004 to complaints about armored vehicle shortages and devices to jam improvised roadside bombs. 

Lawmakers this week, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, and Senator Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat, expressed concern that the 21,500 additional and Marines to be sent to Baghdad and Al-Anbar province might not have adequate equipment. 
More on link


]Article Link
Aussie police to be sent to Afghanistan
January 31, 2007 - 9:49AM

Australian Federal Police officers are to be based in Afghanistan to assist local police over the next two years.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison said two officers would be stationed in the capital Kabul to mentor senior police and act as high-level advisers to the Afghan National Police (ANP).

Another two AFP agents will work in advisory roles with the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) in Jalalabad, in the country's east.

Afghanistan is now a major source of heroin.

"These positions are advisory roles, and form part of the Australian government's overall response to multinational efforts to improve the stability and security in the country," Senator Ellison said in a statement.

Australia currently has some 500 troops based in south-central Afghanistan assisting with reconstruction.
More on link

NATO doubts Taliban can mount major offensive
RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press
Article Link

KABUL — Taliban militants are expected to step up their attacks in Afghanistan soon, but the militia has lost strength and does not have the capability to launch a “spring offensive,” a NATO spokesman said Wednesday.

Instead, it will be NATO troops who will be launching the real offensive, Brig. Gen. Richard Nugee said, referring to upcoming military operations but giving no details.

“We do not believe that there will be a spring offensive by the Taliban,” Gen. Nugee said. “There will be an upward surge in violence as the weather gets better ... I don't think it will amount to an offensive. An offensive is a very symbolic phrase, it means a huge upsurge in a very short amount of time. We just don't think that will happen.”

Last year, the Taliban launched a record number of attacks, and some 4,000 people, most of them militants, died in insurgency-related violence, according to a tally by The Associated Press based on reports from Afghan, NATO and U.S.-led coalition officials. Militants also launched a record 139 suicide attacks in 2006, according to the U.S. military.
More on link

Reinforcing NATO mission
Article Link


DUE TO the single-minded focus of the national media on our troops and their activities, Canadians might be forgiven for thinking they have been left holding the bag in Afghanistan.

We don’t hear much about what our NATO allies are doing, so it is perhaps easy to conclude that "not much" is the answer. Some Canadians are also under the mistaken impression that the Americans have largely abandoned Afghanistan militarily to their allies, while they send their soldiers to fight in Iraq.

But the truth is the U.S. has 24,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan – 10 times more than Canada, and more than all other NATO partners combined. That’s not about to change. Fears – echoed by Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor – that President George W. Bush’s recently announced troop surge in Iraq would translate into a reduction in the U.S. Afghan commitment have proven unfounded.

Late last week, at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, the U.S. signalled it was redoubling its efforts in Afghanistan – pledging $8.6 billion more on security, including $2 billion towards reconstruction.

This is a significant boost, considering the U.S. has spent a total of $14 billion in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban five years ago.

Furthermore, 3,200 alpine-trained U.S. soldiers are seeing their tour of duty in Afghanistan extended by four months. Based in Kandahar along with the Canadian contingent, these combat-experienced forces are tasked with responding to military emergencies such as Taliban incursions, which should free up their Canadian counterparts to do more in the way of policing and reconstruction.
More on link

Heightened security in Afghanistan ahead of Ashura holy  
Tuesday January 30, 2007 (0110 PST)
Article Link

HERAT: Security was tight in Afghanistan's cities, particularly in Herat, ahead of the Islamic sacred day of Ashura to prevent a repeat of clashes between Sunnis and Shiites that left six dead last year. 
The capital Kabul also had extra police and soldiers on the streets on Sunday, on top of the already heavy security in place to prevent attacks by militants linked to the insurgent Islamic Taliban movement, police said. 

In Herat, in the west of the country, patrols were stepped up, about 500 extra policemen were ready for deployment Monday and religious leaders were asked to control their followers, authorities said. 

Banners that might inflame tensions had been pulled down after similar ones sparked last year's street battles, and public gatherings had been banned, they said. 
More on link

Forces want to scrap gear, save for new
Aircraft, destroyer, refuelling ships to be eliminated under defence plan
David ********, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 
Article Link

The Canadian Forces is recommending getting rid of ships, surveillance aircraft and up to 25 per cent of its Griffon helicopter fleet to help pay for new equipment in the future, according to the Conservative government's defence strategy obtained by the Citizen.

The cuts would include six Aurora maritime patrol aircraft, one destroyer and the navy's two aging refuelling and resupply ships. The elimination of the resupply vessels will mean the navy is going to face at least a two-year period in which it will not have its own means to refuel vessels at sea.

The government's "Canada First" defence strategy also highlights the previously announced plans to buy medium-lift helicopters, tactical and strategic airlift planes, aerial drones, search and rescue and northern utility aircraft.

The military will also look at the replacement of the CF-18 fighter, according to the strategy, which is not yet public.

But those new purchases come at a cost.

"To make these much needed investments possible, the Canadian Forces will reduce a number of platforms, including Aurora surveillance aircraft and Griffon utility aircraft," according to the strategy.

In the document, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says the erosion of military capabilities is "far worse" than originally anticipated.

"Reversing this decline will take time and involve a number of difficult decisions," writes Mr. O'Connor. "Moreover, we must consider the pressing needs of the military against other government priorities."

The first of the Griffon helicopters will be removed from the flight line starting this year. The 20- to 25-per-cent reduction of the 85 Griffons will free personnel and money to support the purchase of Boeing Chinook helicopters.

As it gets rid of the Auroras, the air force will purchase approximately 12 aerial drones to be located at Canadian Forces Base Comox in British Columbia and CFB Greenwood in Nova Scotia for domestic surveillance and overseas operations. The first of those will be in operation starting in 2008. The purchase of longer-range drones would be considered in the future.

Work will be stopped on the ongoing $900-million modernization program for the Aurora.

Another air force plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on a structural life extension for the aging Auroras will also be cancelled. The remaining Auroras will be re-assigned to Arctic sovereignty patrols.
More on link

Afghanistan's local insurgency
Seth G. Jones Published: January 31, 2007
Article Link

WASHINGTON: The rising violence and the near certainty of a Taliban spring offensive have triggered calls for an increase in U.S. military forces in Afghanistan. But a military strategy is not likely to succeed. Counterinsurgencies are almost always won by establishing a viable and legitimate government at the local level that can win popular support.

In Afghanistan, all politics is local. The country's history is littered with empires that failed to understand this reality, from Alexander the Great more than 2,000 ago to the British and Soviet empires more recently.

The Taliban and its allies certainly understand the importance of local politics. They have successfully re-emerged by co-opting or threatening local villagers, and promising better governance and security than the current Afghan government. On my most recent trip to southern Afghanistan in January, I saw that the message of the Taliban clearly resonated with a growing number of locals in southern and eastern parts of the country.

Afghans are frustrated by the lack of development over the past five years, and unhappy with widespread government corruption. This makes the Taliban's threat real and significant. The Taliban and its allies have a strong presence in local villages throughout such provinces as Kandahar and Helmand, and are preparing sustained operations.

It is telling that the Taliban's primary target is not U.S. or NATO forces, but local Afghans. This reflects the understanding that the local population represents the center of gravity, as Mao Zedong famously wrote.
More on link

Afghan Contractor Killed in Attack on Forward Operating Base
American Forces Press Service
Article Link

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2007 – Taliban insurgents attacked Forward Operating Base Bari Kowt in Afghanistan’s Kunar province early Jan. 27, killing one civilian contractor and injuring three others. 
Coalition forces took rocket and small-arms fire from two nearby ridges and returned fire with 120 mm mortars and 155 mm artillery. The base received minimal damage from the attack, although two tents were destroyed. 

During the attack, Taliban insurgents killed one Afghan contractor. Three Afghan contractors received superficial wounds and were taken to a coalition hospital for medical treatment. 

No coalition or Afghan military forces were injured during the attack. 
End

ROUNDUP: Afghan, NATO Forces Kill 30 Taliban In Southern Afghanistan
Article Link

Afghan and NATO forces attacked a hideout for the Taliban in volatile southern Helmand province, killing 30 insurgents including their commander, officials said Wednesday. 

The offensive took place in Kajaki district on Tuesday morning after the forces got information about the whereabouts of the insurgents, provincial police Chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. 

"Afghan police and NATO ground forces attacked a compound with small arms fire and heavy artillery while NATO aircraft were pounding the compound from the air," Mullahkhail said. 

He said the ten-hour clash left 30 Taliban dead, including their district level commander, Mullah Sher Agha. No Afghan or NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were hurt in the battle. 

The ISAF spokesman in Kabul confirmed that there was a engagement with insurgents in the district in which close air support was also called in. 

The spokesman said that there were some casualties inflicted on the Taliban but he could not provide a death toll number. 
More on link


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## Colin Parkinson (31 Jan 2007)

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE AFGHANISTAN COMPACT


January 31, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the first anniversary of the adoption of the Afghanistan Compact in London, England on January 31, 2006: 

"Today marks the first anniversary of the Afghanistan Compact, a milestone agreement between the United Nations (UN), the Government of Afghanistan and the international community. 

“Backed by the UN Security Council and based on the priorities and needs of the Afghan government, this five-year plan sets clear goals and timelines in key areas of security, governance and development. Canadians can be proud that our important work in Afghanistan is guided by this international agreement.

“We have joined with the international community to help the people of Afghanistan build a better future. Through programs that improve access to schools, healthcare, infrastructure and small loans to start new businesses, to name a few, we are ensuring that the Afghan people have the tools and capacity to bring about long-term and sustainable progress. 

“Rebuilding Afghanistan after decades of war and oppression takes time. We must remember that development cannot occur in the absence of stability and security. Our brave men and women of the Canadian Forces are working alongside our development workers and diplomats to ensure that progress can continue. 

“The results of our efforts thus far are very encouraging and demonstrate a tremendous commitment by the people of Afghanistan and the international community to succeed. On this important one-year anniversary we reaffirm our commitment to the people of Afghanistan and stand proud of our achievements to date.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Prime Minister’s Office - Communications
[


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## MarkOttawa (31 Jan 2007)

NATO's shame in Afghanistan
_Globe and Mail_, by LEWIS MACKENZIE, January 31
http://www.rbcinvest.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/LAC/20070131/CONATO31/Comment/comment/comment/2/2/2/



> For the past month, the news media have been replete with forecasts of a looming spring offensive by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Open sources have guesstimated that as many as 15,000 of them are mobilizing just over the Pakistani border. Many are "tier one" (really dedicated in the jihad against the rest of us) and the remainder "tier two" (in it for the money). NATO is deemed to be "preparing" for this offensive and continues to call for a modest injection of additional troops to deal with the increased threat.
> 
> There was rejoicing on the weekend over the news that a 3,500-strong brigade of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division (headquartered just across the St. Lawrence from Kingston) will stay in Afghanistan for an additional four months. One of the brigade's combat battalions of 650 soldiers is to be relocated to Kandahar airfield as a rapid-reaction force. The other two can also be deployed to the south if necessary. There was also talk of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization providing a mixed international brigade of as many as 3,500 troops to help out in the south, but no countries have yet stepped forward to volunteer their soldiers
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


----------



## The Bread Guy (2 Feb 2007)

*Kandahar PRT holds change of command*
ISAF news release # 2007-077, 29 Jan 07
Article Link

During a change of command yesterday at the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at Camp Nathan Smith, Lt. Col. Bob Chamberlain assumed command of the PRT from Lt. Col. Simon Hetherington, who has led the PRT since July.

“I am very proud to be taking command of this world class PRT,” said Chamberlain. “I am looking forward to building on the momentum that the previous rotation has gained and taking the reconstruction of Afghanistan to a new level.”

During the past six months, the PRT has assisted with:

    * 9 village medical outreach patrols that treated more than 2,500 patients
    * repairing 16 schools, re-opening 2 schools, and repairing 2 playgrounds
    * awarding nearly $3.7 million in contracts for Civil-Military Cooperation and engineering projects
    * providing training to 195 Afghan National Police and 835 Afghan National Auxiliary Police
    * 329 patrols in Kandahar Province
    * 31 assists from the PRT’s Quick Reaction Force, reacting to everything from suicide bombings to vehicle recovery calls



*Committee says pressure on army reserves likely to create a problem in 2009*
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press, 1 Feb 07
Article Link

A continued reliance on army reserve units to fill a growing need for fresh troops in Afghanistan could create a shortfall if Canada's mission is extended through 2009, the Senate committee on national security and defence was told Thursday.  Col. Art Wriedt, commander of the 41 Canadian Bridge Group, said as many as 220 soldiers are already in line to be rotated into Afghanistan in the first part of 2008, but 2009 "is going to be very problematic." He said that makes recruiting new reservists key.  There is no formal program for that, and the job has been primarily left to individual units. But since going to Afghanistan is voluntary for reservists, a continuation of the war could result in a dwindling supply of those willing to go.  It could also create training problems, said Lt.-Col. Tom Manley, commanding officer of the Calgary Highlanders, a reserve infantry regiment that is scheduled to send 90 of its 230 members to Afghanistan in 2008.  "With so many people leaving I have few people staying behind," Manley told the committee. "I will have almost no sergeants or warrant officers left behind and very few master corporals.  It will be very difficult indeed to train my regiment to generate forces for the next operation (in 2009). I don't know what the answer is." ....



*Plenty of Afghan reconstruction info on internet: minister*
CBC online, 1 Feb 07
Article Link

Canada has pledged to spend about $100 million to help Afghanistan rebuild itself and the federal government website is the best place for details, the minister in charge of international development said Thursday.  Josée Verner, minister of international co-operation, said in question period in Ottawa that the government is being accountable for funding it has announced for reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.  Michael Ignatieff, a Toronto Liberal MP, asked Verner how the government is tracking its reconstruction money in the troubled country.  "Canada has earmarked millions of dollars for development [in] Afghanistan but we are completely in the dark about how that money is being spent," Ignatieff said in French.  "Can the minister of international co-operation tell us what accountability measures are in place to ensure that the money invested in reconstruction is properly spent and getting to the Afghan people?" he asked.  Verner said the answer is a few clicks away.  "As you know, the Canadian government has made a commitment to helping with reconstruction in Afghanistan," she said.  "I would invite the member to consult the internet site to see what we are doing to help Afghanistan and you will see the results that we have obtained." ....



*CARE Canada may establish humanitarian presence in Kandahar*
Doug Schmidt, CanWest News Service, 31 Jan 07
Article Link

CARE Canada, one of the most vocal domestic critics of Canada's current military mission to fight insurgents and deliver direct aid to Afghans, is sending its own delegation in the spring to investigate establishing a humanitarian presence in Kandahar Province, where most of Canada's soldiers are deployed.  CARE Canada president and CEO A. John Watson, whose organization funds a half-billion dollars annually in projects aimed at the poor in 70 countries, wants to gauge the possibility of launching an Afghan "pro-poor investment fund" similar to those in other countries.  The program funds small rural enterprises that would bolster the country's ability to feed itself as well as re-establish former export markets.  "I don't know if it will be possible for us to operate in Kandahar, independent of what the military is doing," said Watson, who has been outspoken in suggesting the danger posed for humanitarian workers when blurring the line between those who fight and those who deliver aid.  What Canada is doing now in Kandahar, with material aid being brought by armed soldiers directly to villagers, "breaks all the rules," he said ....



*Britain to send 800 more troops to southern Afghanistan*
CBC online, 1 Feb 07
Article Link

Britain will increase its military presence in southern Afghanistan by about 800 troops to 5,800 this summer, Defence Secretary Des Browne said Thursday.  But Britain's overall deployment in Afghanistan will only increase by 300 since the military also will reduce its manpower in Kabul, the capital, by 500, he said.  The Taliban and other insurgents are expected to resume heavier attacks on Afghan and foreign troops this spring to undermine Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government.  To prepare for that, the United States is donating equipment and weapons to the Afghan army to improve its ability to defend the country on its own and to one day allow NATO-led forces to pull back.  Browne said Britain's military commitment to southern Afghanistan will be increased by about 800 troops by the end of this summer, bringing the total British deployment in Helmand province to 5,800. British soldiers have faced fierce resistance from Taliban militia in Helmand, where most of Britain's 46 fatalities in Afghanistan have occurred ....



*Afghan Parliament Grants Immunity To War Criminals*
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1 Feb 07
Article Link

Afghanistan's parliament has granted immunity to all Afghans involved in the country's conflicts during the last quarter century despite calls by human rights groups for war crimes trials, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reports.  The immunity is part of a national stability plan that says that "all those political and belligerent sides who were involved one way or the other during the 2 1/2 decades of war will not be prosecuted legally and judicially."  Both critics and supporters of the move say it covers fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- who now heads his own militant group.  Mohammad Mohaqeq -- a former mujahedin leader and one of the key legislators behind the amnesty -- told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan today that it is an attempt to bring peace and reconciliation to Afghan society.  "This was approved [on January 31] with an absolute majority of votes," said Mohaqeq, who finished third among 18 names on the Afghan presidential ballot in 2004. "It mainly says that all of those who were involved in the 2 1/2 decades of war, should [work] together and join the national reconciliation."  But human rights groups say bringing war criminals to justice -- including some members of parliament and senior government officials -- is vital for peace ....



*Royal Engineers prepare for vital Afghan dam upgrade*
New Civil Engineer web page, 2 Feb 07
Article Link

British Army engineers in Afghanistan are preparing to deliver a desperately needed upgrade to the vital Kajaki Dam, the main source of power and water for the Helmland province.  The dam is buried in the Sangin Valley, nicknamed "the heart of darkness" because of its Taliban occupancy – the dam has been transformed into a major battlefield as the Taliban and coalition forces fight to keep control of it. The current turbine that regulates flow of collected rainfall will be repaired and a second turbine fitted to boost the electricity output that accounts for 50% of Helmand’s power.  “Better turbines allow adjustment of the flow of water through the dam. That dam collects all the water over the rainy season, which is about four months, keeps it there and then releases it on a regular basis to provide regular irrigation and keep the turbines running,” said Major Jeremy Holman ....



*Pakistan forces turn 'blind eye' to Taliban: president*
Radio Australia, 2 Feb 07
Article Link

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has conceded some members of the country's security forces have not stopped Taliban militants launching attacks against neighbouring Afghanistan.  He has told journalists "a blind eye was being turned" at some border checkpoints.  But the president has also rejected as "preposterous" allegations, by Afghanistan in particular, that Pakistan's intelligence services or the army are collaborating with the insurgents.  General Musharraf says it is up to NATO and US forces based in Afghanistan to do more to tackle the cross-border movement of militants, adding that Pakistan can't win the fight against militancy on its own.


----------



## GAP (2 Feb 2007)

*Articles found 2 February, 2007*

After the fighting and dying, the Taleban return as British depart
By Anthony Loyd and Tahir Luddin  
Article Link

AMONG the many battles in his life, Nafaz Khan recalls the long fight for Musa Qala as one of special significance. As the former chief of police and militia commander in the northern Helmand town it was there that he fought alongside British troops against the Taleban. 
“I loved those British soldiers,” he said. “They were great fighters and knew each of my men by name. Together we killed many, many Taleban.” 

Soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment, who were withdrawn from Musa Qala this month as part of a deal with Afghan tribal elders after more than two months of heavy fighting, remember the experience as one of violence, dirt, heat and lack of water. For Mr Khan, though, it held particular deprivation. 

“Shrapnel from a Taleban mortar blew off one of my testicles soon after the fighting started,” he said while waiting to petition the governor of Helmand in Lashkar Gah for more men and munitions to attack a Taleban headquarters elsewhere. “But I stayed in Musa Qala with the British and fought on for another two and a half months until we were ordered to leave. The pain was terrible, but there were Talebs to kill.” 

But when asked whether the deal to withdraw from Musa Qala had left the town free of Taleban influence, as Nato and Afghan government officials claim, Mr Khan’s face clouded as if in greater discomfort. 
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Headless corpse of accused U.S. spy found
By BASHIRULLAH KHAN February 2, 2007 
Article Link

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) - Suspected militants beheaded a man and dumped his body in a tribal region near the Afghan border, leaving a note on the corpse accusing him of spying for the United States, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday. 

Villagers found the man's decapitated body in a ditch at the side of a road near Ghulam Khan, a frontier town in the North Waziristan tribal area and alerted authorities, the official said. He requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of his job. 

A note written in the locally spoken Pashto language found with the body identified the slain man by a single name, Ghafoor, and as a resident of Tanai village in Afghanistan's neighbouring Khost province, the official said. 

"Those who spy for America will meet this fate," he quoted the note as saying. 

Militants have executed scores of tribesmen accused of being spies or of collaborating with Pakistani and U.S. authorities hunting al-Qaida and Taliban militants believed to operate along the remote border. 

Hundreds of Pakistani soldiers and suspected militants also have died in the tribal belt in military operations designed to root out the foreign fighters and pressure Pashtun tribes in the area to stop offering them sanctuary. 
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National Reconciliation stands behind a terror-free Afghanistan         
Ehsan Azari  Friday, 02 February 2007  
Article Link

Spring in Afghanistan has turned now into a season of doom and gloom, for it brings recurring bloody battle into bloom. While NATO and the American military commanders are talking about inflicting a lasting blow to the remnants of the Taliban, the latter brag about crushing the Americans like Russians in 1980s.

Amidst such a cacophony of pretensions, innocent Afghan civilians are helplessly awaiting the end of war through a political dialogue that can end tragedy in their country. President Karzai has announced negotiation with the Taliban this past week. 

Six years on, since the fall of the Taliban, NATO and the US-led coalition forces, have achieved little by solely emphasising on military strategy in this country. Several military operations code-named: Jawbreaker, Mountain Loin, Screaming Eagles, Anaconda, Operation Snipe, Dragon’s Fury, and so on have failed to capture the highest al-qaida or Taliban hierarchy. The only thing achieved was the resurgence of the Taliban and reorganisation of al-qaida in safe hideouts in Pakistan. 

Adding to the anxiety, al-Qaida and Taliban have large swaths of the Pakistani north-western tribal areas under control, where they feel safe and free to promote their ideology and terrorist operations against the West. Al-Qaida is “cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leader’s secure hideout in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe,” said the outgoing Director of the US National Intelligence, Mr John Negroponte recently in a testimony to the Senate. 
More on link

8 Taliban militants killed in E. Afghanistan  
February 02, 2007          
Article Link

Eight Taliban insurgents were killed in Paktika province of eastern Afghanistan, the provincial governor Akram Khapalwak told Xinhua on Thursday. 

Some Taliban militants attacked a position of Afghan soldiers in Orgon district on Wednesday night, Khapalwak said, adding the soldiers fought back and NATO troops provided immediate aid support. 

As a result, eight Taliban rebels were killed, he said, adding there were no casualties of Afghan soldiers. 

Paktika and several other eastern provinces have been hotbeds of Taliban militants, who clash with foreign and government forces frequently. Over 300 persons, mostly Taliban insurgents, have been killed in violence in Afghanistan this year. 

Source: Xinhua 
End

AFGHANISTAN: Rebuilding 'not on track'
01 Feb 2007 15:29:11 GMT Source: IRIN
Article Link

 KABUL, 1 February (IRIN) - The international community pledged billions of dollars for the recovery of Afghanistan in 2006, and in return, the Afghan government promised to introduce policy reforms to improve its people's lives. Out of this was born the Afghanistan Compact, which established targets and benchmarks to be met by the Afghan authorities over five years. 

In February 2006, 64 countries and 11 international organisations meeting in London agreed to contribute US$10.5 billion towards the reconstruction of Afghanistan until the end of 2010. They identified security, governance and economic development as the three key areas that the government needed to focus on to ensure stability and progress.

One year on, analysts say the Afghan government is behind in meeting even the most basic targets. In a report released in New York on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the Afghan government is failing to meet the basic security and human rights needs of its citizens.  

"Afghanistan hasn't really met any of the benchmarks, particularly those addressing the wellbeing of the Afghan people," said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director at HRW.  "Kabul and its international backers have made little progress in providing basic needs like security, food, electricity, water and healthcare." 
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EDITORIAL: NATO, Afghanistan and Pakistan
Friday, February 02, 2007
Article Link

Four top commanders of the Afghanistan-based North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and devise a new strategy on the war against Talibanism and terrorism with President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistani military high command.

NATO commanders have steadily accused Pakistan of sheltering the Taliban raiders who attack across the border to destabilise the Kabul government. They are confronted with an increasingly shrill Karzai government that rebukes them for not tackling the real cause of trouble in Islamabad which allegedly nurses Islamic extremism and then sends it across the Durand Line. The media in the United States that play a crucial rule in forming American opinion has also been pointing the accusing finger at Pakistan.

Pakistan denies that it shelters the Taliban despite reports appearing in the Pakistani press that, in addition to the Taliban finding safe haven in the Pakistani tribal belt, Pakistani boys are increasingly being recruited to fight across the Durand Line and often act as suicide-bombers. But when Pakistan says it can only ensure a complete stoppage of cross-border movement by erecting a mined fence on the Durand Line no one likes the idea. However, when the Pakistan army risks internal rifts and operates against the Taliban-Al Qaeda elements inside Pakistani territory, the act is often ignored or passed off as mere pretence.
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82nd Airborne Accepts Responsibility for Afghanistan Task Force
By Pfc. Anna K. Perry, USA Special to American Forces Press Service
Article Link

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 2, 2007 – The 82nd Airborne Division accepted responsibility for Combined Joint Task Force 76 from the 10th Mountain Division in a transfer-of-authority ceremony here today.  

The task force supports NATO operations in eastern Afghanistan. 

The 10th Mountain Division has been in Afghanistan for about a year, conducting missions such as Operation Mountain Lion, Operation Mountain Thrust, Operation Mountain Fury and Operation Mountain Eagle. 

“This has been a noble endeavor for the 10th Mountain Division, and we are honored to have been a part of this … As we depart, we leave behind 3,200 battle-hardened soldiers to serve with the 201st and 203rd Corps under the great command of the 82nd Airborne Division,” said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commanding general for CJTF 76 and the 10th Mountain Division. “We know that they will work hard to continue the efforts that have been put forward over the past five years.” 

However, those efforts did not come without a significant price, the general noted. The Afghan and coalition servicemembers who gave their lives for the freedom of Afghanistan will forever be remembered and honored for their great sacrifice, Freakley said
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Added protection in Afghanistan
Navy dockyard building extra armour for army’s military vehicles
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter
Article Link

When Al Giles helps construct extra protection for the army’s light armoured vehicles at HMC Dockyard, he isn’t just protecting soldiers he has never met. The work could save his nephew’s life one day.

Mr. Giles, a plater at Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott, feels good knowing the exposed crew protection kits under construction in his shop could save Canadian soldiers from roadside attacks in Afghanistan. He also knows his 35-year-old nephew, who is in the army, could be one of them.

"He’s in Gagetown, so he could be going at any time," Mr. Giles said Thursday.

The military is hoping the 270-kilogram brackets now being built in a warehouse at the navy facility in Halifax help protect sentries riding in the back of the eight-wheeled vehicles from injuries caused by bomb blasts, flying shrapnel and gunfire.

"The last two people that were killed were killed because they didn’t have these," Mr. Giles said.

Forty-four soldiers, including seven Nova Scotians, and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2002.

The project to add extra armour to the vehicles is expected to cost under $5 million. 

It started soon after the Jan. 15, 2006, suicide bomb attack that cost Halifax-born Master Cpl. Paul Franklin both his legs and killed Dalhousie University-educated diplomat Glyn Berry.

"We feel that it will save lives in the future," said Col. Karen Ritchie, director of the mounted soldier survivability project.

The vehicles are already prone to rollovers.
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (2 Feb 2007)

A nice post today--on thanks from allies--at his blog, _Outside the Wire_, by Doug Schmidt of the _Windsor Star_ in Afstan (see photo at end of link).
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/features/blogs/schmidt.html



> MASUM GHAR — Today was a good day. Had a couple hours to kill after arriving at this military forward operating base overlooking the vast former homeland valley of the Taliban, so went for a little climb. The Canadians spilt much of their own blood taking and holding this steep and craggy bluff in the Panjwaii District during Operation Medusa last fall (something the Soviets' Red Army failed to do against the Mujahedeen two decades ago).
> 
> Other Canadian soldiers arriving by convoy in the middle of the night with me last night after a couple days out awoke to a big surprise — the Americans and South Africans who work with the bomb-sniffing dogs here spent that time constructing a giant maple leaf flag using rocks they then painted. It's on a hill overlooking the camp.
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (3 Feb 2007)

*Articles found 3 February, 2007*

Afghan town's residents fear clash is imminent
Updated Sat. Feb. 3 2007 8:10 PM ET Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan 
Article Link

Hundreds of villagers fled a southern Afghan town overrun by Taliban militants, fearful of a NATO attack on the insurgent fighters who have hoisted their white flag over the town's ransacked government centre, residents said.

NATO's outgoing commander, Gen. David Richards, said "very surgical and deliberate'' force would be used if needed to solve the crisis in the town Musa Qala and Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said: "If there is a need for an operation, there will be one.''

Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said Saturday that NATO was watching the situation but no forces were in Musa Qala. NATO troops pulled out of the town in October after the government and village elders signed a peace agreement.

"It is only a matter of time before (the) government re-establishes control,'' Collins said.

However, he said NATO had reports Taliban militants had reinforced their defensive positions.

Abdul Baqi, a villager who fled Musa Qala with five family members Saturday, said residents fear a bloody clash is imminent after the Taliban fighters swarmed the town Wednesday and Thursday, temporarily taking village elders hostage.

"I'm going to stay with my relatives and will return only if the situation gets better,'' Baqi said while sitting in his pickup truck in the nearby district Gereshk.

Resident Mohammad Wali said Taliban fighters hoisted a white flag over the damaged government compound and villager Lal Mohammad said hundreds of residents fled.

British troops fought intense battles with Taliban fighters in Musa Qala in the second half of last year. The clashes caused widespread damage to the surrounding town of about 10,000 inhabitants, most of whom were forced to flee.
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Kandahar cops learning street smarts: RCMP
Updated Sat. Feb. 3 2007 2:14 PM ET Canadian Press
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan National Police are making progress towards standing on their own two feet, despite a recent series of ambushes and targeted assassinations of officers in Kandahar province, say RCMP trainers. 

Over the last few weeks, more than a dozen police have been killed in at least three separate attacks in which Taliban militants have claimed responsibility. 

The death toll might have been higher had not been for the training provided by Canadian police based at the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) base. 

"We try as best we can to improve their survivability by teaching the in-service skills we do here,'' said Supt. Dave Fudge, whose unit has spent over a year mentoring local cops. 

"I think we are progressing. The sentiment on the street is the security situation in Kandahar is improving. That's very positive.'' 

Fudge said he's seeing a more-disciplined force emerging, especially when it comes to handling roadside bomb attacks, but noted they still have a long way to go. 

Canadian police officers have provided training in survival skills, tactics, policing, public safety skills and suspect search, among other things. 

"They're being more disciplined at IED (improvised explosive device) sites regarding scene management and actual evidence gathering,'' he said. 

This time last year, as Canadian troops were first deploying to this volatile region, the Taliban were on a killing spree, targeting lightly armed police checkpoints. In the course of 52 days last winter and spring a total of 41 officers were killed. 

Fudge said it's too early to say whether the recent deaths of 13 officers, including two senior commanders in Kandahar and one in Panjwaii, constitute a trend similar to 2006 _ or simply a spasm of unfocused violence. 

"It's certainly raised our eyebrows,'' he said in an interview. "It's a concern, but we have no indication right now that they're related.'' 

But the police commander in the Zhari district, a former Taliban stronghold, had no hesitation in calling the attacks a trend. 

Col. Akarasool said he has been targeted in the past and fully expects to remain in the cross-hairs of militants. 

"They don't want me to be safe (and) they try to kill me and other police commanders,'' he said through a translator. 

"I have been bombed by Taliban. My hands were hurt. I was injured by Taliban, so I hope I catch Taliban. They are my enemy.'' 

Asked if he feared for his life, Akarasool said with a bravado laugh: "Almost.'' 

The day he was interviewed, the chief had just returned from sweeping the road between this tiny, arid village and nearby Sangiser. After receiving reports that insurgents had laced winding gravel lane with mines, Akarasool took a dozen of his 200 officers in three pickup trucks and went for a drive, but found no explosives. 
More on link

Looters still ransacking in Afghanistan
By RAF CASERTASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
 February 3, 2007 · Last updated 12:49 a.m. PT
Article Link

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- More than five years after the fall of the Taliban regime, the plundering of Afghanistan's archaeological sites and museums not only continues but has evolved into a sophisticated trade that could be financing the country's warlords and insurgents, experts say.

The International Council of Museums, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural heritage, on Friday published a "red list" of Afghan antiquities at risk, urging collectors, dealers and museums to be vigilant when they come across objects that might have been stolen.

The list includes pottery and statuettes from the 3rd millennium B.C., golden reliquaries from the 1st century and Islamic panels from the 13th century.

"Ancient sites and monuments, ranging from the Old Stone Age to the 20th Century, are being attacked and systematically looted," the Paris-based organization of museums said in a statement.

Some of the artifacts have turned up in fancy auction houses and antique shops in London, Tokyo and New York, the group said.

"Afghanistan is now at serious risk from organized destruction and plundering," said ICOM Secretary General John Zvereff.
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Islamabad warned against nursing hegemonic ambitious towards Afghanistan
London, Feb 3 (ANI)
Article Link

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has warned Pakistan against 'nursing hegemonic ambitious towards Afghanistan', and advised it to stop "using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy".  

Some circles in Pakistan in their self-interest were out to destabilize Afghanistan "because they subscribe to a hegemonic policy against us which is a continuation from the days of Taliban," the Dawn quoted him as saying.

Spanta, who here on his first visit to the UK, asked Pakistan to reduce and control what he termed as cross-border terrorism and to stop financing terrorist cells which (according to him) were being used to train the terrorists.

He said that Afghanistan had been discussing with Pakistan about this matter to remove all the misunderstandings and misperceptions. "We want to be friend of Pakistan, we are ready to open all our roads. Today our bilateral trade has reached over a billion dollars whereas during the Taliban days it was only 23 million dollars," he added.
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Afghan peace in tatters as Taliban seize district
GRAEME SMITH From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters smashed government buildings, frightened away villagers and declared a new round of hostilities with foreign troops on Friday as the only peace deal in southern Afghanistan crumbled.

In a district touted by some military officials and Afghan leaders as a model for pacifying the volatile region, insurgents on tractors hauled down walls in a cluster of buildings that housed the police headquarters and district administration of Musa Qala, where a fragile agreement with the Taliban had endured for three months.

“Now the Taliban control Musa Qala, and the people are afraid,” said Rahmatullah, one of several local residents who described the scene by telephone. “All the shops are empty, the houses are empty.”

British troops agreed to leave the Helmand province district in October, on condition the Taliban withdraw and allow tribal elders to rule. Residents say the insurgents never left, however, and the elders' authority seemed shaky in recent weeks.
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Reserves may not last through Afghan mission
BILL GRAVELAND Canadian Press
Article Link

CALGARY — A continued reliance on army reserve units to fill a growing need for fresh troops in Afghanistan could create a shortfall if Canada's mission is extended through 2009, the Senate committee on national security and defence was told Thursday.

Colonel Art Wriedt, commander of the 41 Canadian Bridge Group, said as many as 220 soldiers are already in line to be rotated into Afghanistan in the first part of 2008, but 2009 “is going to be very problematic.”

He said that makes recruiting new reservists key.

There is no formal program for that, and the job has been primarily left to individual units. But since going to Afghanistan is voluntary for reservists, a continuation of the war could result in a dwindling supply of those willing to go.
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The Taliban
Graeme Smith ventures into the infamously lawless Pakistani province of Baluchistan to meet foot soldiers of the Taliban 
GRAEME SMITH From Monday's Globe and Mail
Article Link

QUETTA, PAKISTAN — The two men sat cross-legged on a carpet in a room filled with birdsong and sunshine.

Their hands were soft, their words polite, but their story served as a chilling warning for Canadian soldiers trying to bring peace to Afghanistan's troubled south.

In a rare meeting marked by unusually straight talk, the men described how they manipulate Afghan tribes, turn local officials against their own government and channel the frustrations of ordinary people to drive foreigners away from their ancient lands.

They spoke from personal experience. The two, relaxing at a private home in a secret location in the infamously lawless Pakistani province of Baluchistan, are foot soldiers in the Taliban insurgency.

During the first visit to Baluchistan by a Canadian news media organization since Canada sent troops to nearby Kandahar at the beginning of the year, the midlevel insurgents outlined their ideas about how the Taliban aims to defeat the foreign troops.

With no permission from their superiors to talk with journalists, and fearing the Afghan intelligence agents widely believed to be hunting Taliban in the tribal areas, the two insurgents gave fake names: Mullah Azizullah, 34, and Mullah Manan, 37.

"There is a big difference between Canada and the United States," Mr. Azizullah said, tapping his fingertips together in a pensive gesture. 

"If we attack the Canadians, they call for aircraft and bomb everything in the area. The U.S. only tried to kill the Taliban. The Canadians try to kill everybody."

Wearing pinstripe vests, gold watches and neatly trimmed beards, the two men looked different from front-line Taliban fighters encountered near the battlefields of Kandahar.

Like many of their comrades, they were born in the rebellious district of Panjwai -- they boasted about having returned three times to the lush farmland in recent months to lead attacks against the Canadians and their allies. But while many Taliban fighters are simple farmers, rough men with dirt under their fingernails, Mr. Azizullah's nails were trimmed and neatly painted with henna. He spoke a little English, too, and said he had worked as a senior official in the old Taliban regime
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Bomber kills Pakistani soldiers  
Article Link

Two Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack in the north-west of the country, police say. 
The bomber rammed a military convoy on a road near Tank, about 50km (30 miles) west of the city of Dera Ismail Khan, near the Afghan border. 

The convoy was reported to have been heading for the restive tribal area of South Waziristan. 

North and South Waziristan are believed to be strongholds of pro-Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. 

Six soldiers were wounded in the attack, police said. 

A Reuters journalist at the scene said the bomber's car had been totally destroyed by the force of the blast. 

No-one has admitted carrying out the attack. 

Controversial peace deals have been reached with pro-Taleban militants in the area, but last week the air force bombed a suspected militant camp in South Waziristan, which is thought to have killed about 20 people. 
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Taliban overrun town as peace deal fails
Declan Walsh in Islamabad Saturday February 3, 2007 The Guardian 
Article Link

· Locals flee after militants disarm new police force 
· Offensive happens two days before Nato handover 

British strategy in Afghanistan suffered a blow when the Taliban overran a town in northern Helmand where a controversial peace deal had been signed.
Hundreds of insurgents stormed into Musa Qala on Thursday night, disarming the local police, burning government buildings and threatening elders, officials and residents said.

The Taliban offensive appeared to catch troops off guard just two days before Britain hands control of Nato forces in Afghanistan to an American, General Dan McNeill. "The Taliban entered the town last night. The current situation is unclear," said Mark Laity, a Nato spokesman in Kabul.

British commanders always insisted that the Musa Qala deal, which was brokered between the provincial governor and local elders last September, was risky. After a summer of fighting that claimed several British fatalities, British forces and the Taliban agreed to withdraw from the town centre. In return, elders said they would guarantee security through a locally recruited tribal police force.
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2 million Afghan citizens registered amid final extension
Article Link

ISLAMABAD: A total of 2 million Afghans have been registered in Pakistan in the largest-ever such exercise by a host government. 

Revising the registration's cut-off date today, the government has announced a final extension of the deadline to mid-February. 

The 2 million people registered since October 2006 account for over 80 percent of the target population of 2.4 million Afghans in Pakistan. Nearly 65 percent of those registered are in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), 20 percent in Balochistan, 10 percent in Punjab/Islamabad, 5 percent in Sindh and the rest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (AJK). 

In terms of numbers per province, almost all eligible Afghans in Punjab/ Islamabad have been registered, more than 90 percent of those in Sindh, some 85 percent of those in NWFP, over 60 percent in Balochistan and more than half the eligible Afghan population in AJK. 

The registration exercise has ended in Sindh, AJK and most of Punjab. It is expected to be completed in Attock, Chakwal, Islamabad, urban Quetta and Peshawar and other parts of NWFP by mid-February. The deadlines vary in each location based on the eligible population remaining to be registered. 

Only Afghans who were counted in the Pakistan government census of February/March 2005 are eligible for registration. Those registered receive Proof of Registration (POR) cards that recognize them as Afghan citizens temporarily living in Pakistan. Valid for three years, the card does not confer additional rights or status on the bearer. 
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NATO considering bolstering Afghan border police: Canadian commander
Article Link

KANDAHAR: NATO allies are examining ways to shore up and expand the Afghan border police to combat the influx of Taliban insurgents from Pakistan, says a senior Canadian officer. 

The alliance has been under political pressure to beef up military border patrols and use high-tech surveillance to interdict the flow of illegal munitions and suicide bombers. 

But Col. Mike Kampman says the long-term solution lies in building up border guards in much the same way the Afghan National Police and the Afghan army are being reconstituted. 

"This is a big border area and a lot of people don't fully appreciate how easy it is to cross," said Kampman, who is chief of staff to Brig.-Gen. Ton van Loon, the commander of coalition forces in southern Afghanistan. 

"It's going to take a lot work and a lot of effort to build up a robust network of surveillance and presence on this side of the border." 

A consensus seems to be building among NATO partners for each country take over responsibility for the improvement of the border police in their individual provinces. 

For example, Canada could take a lead role in Kandahar province, while the British handle volatile Helmand province, said Kampman in an interview with The Canadian Press. 

If available, experts in border security and specialized trainers from each host country could be brought in and combined with military mentors, he said. 
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NATO to step up efforts to control Afghan border  
Saturday February 03, 2007 (0510 PST)
Article Link

LONDON: NATO forces are getting ready to step up efforts to take control of the Afghan side of the country's border with Pakistan, the alliance's military chief said in an interview published in the Financial Times on Friday. 
'NATO needs to work with Pakistan for a reduction if not elimination of the unlawful and illegal movement across the border,' General John Craddock, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, was quoted as saying by the business daily. 

In an interview conducted on a flight back to Europe after a visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Craddock was also asked if NATO was planning any military action to temper the flow of insurgents across the border. 

'ISAF is developing plans for that very effect,' he responded, referring to the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led grouping made up of about 33,000 troops from 37 nations. 

During his visit to Pakistan, Craddock met with Pakistani military commanders in Islamabad, describing the discussions as 'frank, candid and promising.' 
More on link


U.S. hands major weapons supplies to Afghan army  
Saturday February 03, 2007 (0510 PST)
Article Link 

KABUL: The Unites States handed over thousands of weapons and hundreds of vehicles to Afghanistan's fledgling national army, as part of its strategy to boost local security forces in the fight against the Taliban. 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the handover of 800 High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles and other trucks, and 12,000 heavy and light arms in Kabul. 

"This is the first time that we have received such major help for strengthening our army," Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said after the ceremony. 

Karzai described the package as "part of the tip of the iceberg" of the long-term U.S. commitment to Afghanistan. 

The U.S. government is asking Congress for an extra $10.6 billion for Afghanistan -- $8.6 billion of that for helping the army and police -- over two years. 

Ahead of what U.S. and Afghan commanders warn will be a bloody spring offensive by the Taliban within months, Washington also doubled its ground combat troops by extending the tour of duty for some of its troops here by four months. 

The moves come as the United States prepares to take over the 33,000-strong NATO-led force here from the British on Sunday and after the bloodiest year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. 
More on link

Runway at Helmand airport being reconstructed  
Saturday February 03, 2007 (0510 PST)
Article Link

KABUL: Work on reconstruction of runway at the Helmand airport was launched the other day. 
Reconstruction of the landing strip will be completed at the cost of $70,000 provided by the British-led provincial reconstruction team (PRT). 

Helmand airport was constructed 40 years ago, but it was bitterly damaged during jihad or holy war against the Soviet forces and the years of internecine. 

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, provincial Governor Asadullah Wafa said the airport would be opened for civilian flights once the airstrip was constructed. He said the government-owned Ariana Airlines would resume flights between Kabul and Helmand. 
More on link

Militants torch school in Afghanistan  
Friday February 02, 2007 (0057 PST)
Article Link

LOGAR: Insurgents burned down a primary school in southeastern Afghanistan, police said the other day, in the second such attack this year targeting the country's struggling education system. 
The primary school was set ablaze overnight in the Kharwar district of Logar province, the Afghan interior ministry, which controls the police, said in a statement. 

"The ministry condemns this unforgivable action of foreign mercenaries," it said, without referring to any particular country or group. 

Similar attacks in the past have always been blamed on the remnants of the Taliban regime. The Afghan government says the militants are supported by circles in neighbouring Pakistan. 

The fundamentalist Taliban have waged a bloody insurgency since they were toppled from power by a US-led offensive in late 2001. The violence claimed over 4,000 lives in 2006, the worst year since the invasion. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (3 Feb 2007)

82nd chief takes command in Afghanistan
_Army Times_, by Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press, Feb 2
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/02/aprodriguez070202/



> BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez took command of U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Friday as part of a routine rotation that has seen the bulk of 10th Mountain Division troops replaced by soldiers from the 82nd Airborne...
> 
> *On Sunday, [UK Gen. David]  Richards will turn over [ISAF] command to U.S. Gen. Dan K. McNeil* [emphasis added], who will take charge of the more than 40,000 ISAF troops from 37 nations in Afghanistan.
> 
> The U.S. has about 24,000 troops in the country, including about 12,000 under the command of NATO’s ISAF.



NATO troops to recapture Afghan town
_Toronto Star_, AP,  Feb 03, 2007 07:46 AM
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/177945



> NATO forces will recapture a southern Afghan town overrun by Taliban militants, but the operation will be careful to avoid civilian casualties, alliance officials said Saturday.
> 
> Gen. David Richards, the outgoing British commander of the NATO-led force, said his troops will not "use kinetic force in the way I think some people are concerned about" in trying to recapture the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province, which British troops left after a contentious peace agreement in October...
> 
> ...



Mark
Ottawa


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## GAP (4 Feb 2007)

*Articles found 4 February, 2007*

Canadian soldier’s legacy lives on Afghani babies helped by generosity of Sooke Quilters  
By Pirjo Raits Sooke News Mirror Jan 31 2007 
Article Link

photo below: A soldier is shown with a tiny Afghani baby wearing one of the “Boomer” hats made by people in Canada and sent to Afghanistan on military planes

When there is a need, it seems one can always count on the people in Sooke. Last fall there was a call for Boomer hats — tiny knitted hats for babies. These hats, along with assorted blankets and other items, were handmade by women in Sooke and sent through the military to Afghanistan to be gratefully received by mothers. 

The hats were called Boomer hats because of one young soldier stationed in Afghanistan. His name was Corporal Andrew Eykelenboom (Boomer) and he was killed in August 2006 while on duty saving lives. His letters home spoke of the ongoing need to help. 

During one of his phone calls home, he said, “Mom, people in Canada have no idea of what having nothing means, even our street people have more than those in Afghanistan.” 

Who was Boomer?  

A young man with a big goofy smile, one who was kind and caring. He was just one of the many dedicated men and women in our military who are willing to risk their lives for a bigger cause, who are willing to be there for their comrades and to help those far less fortunate. 

Part of an email from Andrew:  

“Well, I finally got the picture you have been waiting for. About two weeks ago a little girl brought her infant sister to the UMS while I was on duty. She had second degree burns on her hand from touching a kettle. I bandaged her hand and after gave a doll that your friend made to her. She instantly stopped crying and started sucking on the nose of the doll. A special thanks goes from her older sister to your friend for such a wonderful gift; and a thanks from me for being the one to accept her gratitude. Making the children happy is the most rewarding thing about this tour. Love Andrew” 

 His last sentence is what this is all about....”The Canadian Military is in the south, and through the work of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams they are making a difference for the women, men and children in the southern Kandahar area, so much more is needed to be done – what can we do – you and I?” 

June Wesley of the Sooke Quilters has been keeping her hands busy and her heart full as she and the other quilters knit, crochet, sew and put together small items to send to Afghanistan. The military uses its planes to deliver the hats, blankets and other items. 
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Where Defence and Development meet  
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Article Link

Apparently, some Canadians think our CF should be digging wells instead of fighting murderous and fanatic misogynists in Afghanistan.

Well, here's a photo for you: Seen at bottom of todays listings

You see what I did there? A pun on the word "well." Oh, come on, it was funny...OK, clever at least...

My point in posting this? Not much of one, except to say the CF can - how to put this delicately? - create insurmountable difficulties for Taliban fighters to take even one more breath, and at the same time dig wells and win hearts and minds. Concurrent activity, folks. Walking and chewing gum.

Not that putting the Taliban thugs into a shallow grave doesn't win hearts and minds, because it does. Imagine: your village has been terrorized by these butchers, your elders threatened, your teachers shot, your neighbours forced to grow opium crops by a bunch of thugs.
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Women weavers in Afghanistan find rugs loom large in future
Houston woman's project helping faraway people
Feb. 2, 2007, 8:29PM By MAGGIE GALEHOUSE  Houston Chronicle 
Article Link

Life definitely takes strange turns that you can't predict," says Connie Duckworth.

In 2003, not long after retiring from Goldman Sachs in New York, the Houston native flew to Afghanistan as a member of the newly created U.S.- Afghan Women's Council.

The Taliban had fallen in November 2001, and Duckworth was familiar with the abuses suffered by Afghan women under that repressive regime. The atrocities included sexual and physical violence, and women were subjected to rigid rules of dress and behavior.

Duckworth knew that she wanted to use her business experience to employ women in this central Asian country not quite as large as Texas. A Wharton graduate, Duckworth has also chaired the Committee of 200, a professional organization of the country's top women executives and entrepreneurs.

On the airplane home from Afghanistan, she started drafting a business plan that soon became Arzu Inc., a nonprofit company that now employs more than 700 Afghan women. Based mostly in rural villages, the women weave contemporary and traditional rugs. The company's profits provide health care and education to people in remote areas of Afghanistan.

Arzu visits the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft this week, offering rugs for sale along with demonstrations, photographs, and lectures.

"The starting premise is that we pay an above-market rate to the women, so they are generating cash income that can help pull them out of debt," says Duckworth. "We provide materials. The yarn is from Afghanistan, and we ship it to the areas where the women work."

The rugs cost $900-$16,000, depending on size and complexity, with traditional, tribal and modern patterns available. Duckworth says the modern designs, which range from solid colors to freestyle patterns created by individual weavers, sell fast.
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Local troops train for Afghanistan
Alan Hustak  Montreal Gazette Friday, February 02, 2007
Article Link

CFB FARNHAM – Air Force Master Cpl. Normand Daigneault struggled to lift the body of Cpl. David Tran-Hu and throw him over his shoulder to carry him 100 metres along the tarmac. 

But under the weight of Tran-Hu’s 140 pounds, Daigneault stumbled and both men ended up splayed on the ground. 

“I had him, but I didn’t have him properly, he was sitting on my arm instead of on my shoulders, and we fell,” Daigneault said. “It shouldn’t have happened. I had to pick him up again and reposition. Something like that in combat can cost lives.” 

Daigneault, who is with the 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron (438ETAH), was taking part Friday in a routine physical training exercise at Canadian Forces Base Farnham, 60 kilometres southeast of Montreal. 

The drill is ongoing work for the flight (what the air force calls a military squadron), made up of 15 of the so-called primary forces – men and women who could be in combat when they are shipped to Afghanistan in August – and nine others who are being put through the same paces and will serve as backups. 

As a helicopter swirled overhead, they set off before dawn Friday in full combat gear on a 13-kilometre march, slogging their way along gravel and dirt roads, up and down hills, with a rifle over their shoulders and a 25-kilogram pack on their backs. 

Once they reached their destination, they had to carry each other the final 100 metres, as they would have to do if they were under fire and one of their buddies was wounded. 

“The walk itself is not hard, but it is demanding,” Cpl. Jimmy Lagüe said as he high-fived one of his colleagues after completing the exercise. “Anyone who is in good physical shape can do it. You can get a sore back and blisters on your feet, for sure, but that’s about it.” 
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Why Canada must muscle up
ANDREW PRESTON 
Article Link

Whose War Is It?
How Canada Can Survive in the Post-9/11 World
By J. L. Granatstein - HarperCollins, 246 pages, $34.95

Not too long before 9/11, Henry Kissinger published one of his habitual surveys of the world. Troubled by the apathy of his wealthy, contented fellow Americans in the wake of the Cold War, Kissinger provocatively entitled his book, Does America Need a Foreign Policy? With unprecedented domestic prosperity and the absence of a serious foreign threat, Americans no longer held much interest in their role in the world. Some, such as the conservative populist Pat Buchanan, even questioned the need for one at all. Ever the realist, Kissinger warned that a nation as powerful as the United States could not hide from its international challenges and obligations. Did America need a foreign policy? The answer, naturally, was yes.

J. L. Granatstein, Canada's most prolific writer on national defence and the military, is also a realist. In recent years, he has used his high profile and astonishing productivity to sound alarm bells about our own apathy, namely Canada's declining stature in the world, the deterioration of our armed forces and our decreasing capability to safeguard our own domestic security. Like Kissinger, and for basically the same reasons, Granatstein envisions an active international role for his country.
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Trick your ride: customizing the LAVIII  
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Article Link

Earlier this month, I noticed an article online by Captain Nicole Meszaros, an Air Force PAffO, that talked about a sky-blue engineering unit being used to cut steel armour for use on the Army's LAVIII:


More than 100 Light Armoured Vehicles (LAV III) had their existing armour improved thanks to the addition of specially cut pieces of steel.

"Based on mission changes, a natural phenomenon, the Army asked us to help manage their changing needs," said Lieutenant-Colonel Frances Allen, Commanding Officer of ATESS [Aerospace and Telecommunications Engineering Support Squadron]." Generally, we support Air Force initiatives, but in this case the Army has turned to the Air Force and the Navy to improve their deployed equipment."

This is the first time ATESS has been involved in such a tri-service initiative. "The focus within the Canadian Forces has been adjusted to a CF-first focus so as the CF prioritizes, we could get involved in such future projects away from those that are strictly Air Force," said LCol Allen.

I didn't post about it, because the subject invites misinterpretation. I'll explain how in a moment.

Today, I've received information from the east coast that some journalists have been sniffing around the shipyards on what is either a similar project or an extension of this one. Which means that information on this project is going to be out there in a couple of days. And I'd bet good money that the way that information is presented is going to be wrong.

When I first saw the Air Force piece, I realized that someone wanted to talk about how one branch of the military is helping another. I suspect that's why the folks who wear the deep blue uniform on the east coast granted interviews on this project as well - to remind everyone that no matter which colour of uniform they wear, the Canadian Forces work together.
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Sexsmith proclaims Red Friday in honour of soldier
By DEREK LOGAN Herald Tribune staff
Article Link

When Pte. Farrel Starkey heads over to Afghanistan next week, his only major link back to his family in Sexsmith will be his laptop computer.

Although the Canadian Forces have digital link-ups at the Kandahar base, the wait times on them are long and the allotted time to talk to family is limited. Starkey's superiors suggested he get his own computer.

"He bought himself one with a webcam so he's hoping to be able to contact home more so we can see him because we don't know how good phone calls are from there," said his mother, Donna Starkey.

There is some anxiety in the family as the 24-year-old private heads off for his first overseas tour of duty Feb. 6. For the next seven months, Farrel will be an apprentice of sorts with the explosive ordinance disposal unit for the combat engineer regiment (4-CER) from his home base, CFB Gagetown near Oromocto, N.B. 

Although his primary role is to drive one of the armoured Bison vehicles, he will also be assisting the ordinance team in clearing landmines and explosives for the frontline combat units.

For his family, which includes two brothers and 13-year-old twin sisters, there will be a lot of anxiety and concern to deal with over the coming months. The Taliban have been regularly leaking announcements of heightened aggression against the Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan. 
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U.S. gives 8 attack helicopters to Pakistan, bolstering counterterror capability  
The Associated Press Friday, February 2, 2007 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan 
Article Link

The United States gave eight attack helicopters to Pakistan on Friday, bolstering the key U.S. ally's ability to combat Taliban and al-Qaida militants suspected of attacking neighboring Afghanistan from Pakistan's border areas.

The Pakistani army took possession of the Cobra AH1-F helicopters at Qasim air base, near the capital, Islamabad, the U.S. Embassy said. Another 12 Cobras are to be delivered later in a military aid package worth a total of US$50 million (€38.4 million), it said.

The refurbished helicopters, which are specially equipped for nighttime operations, are "important weapons in our common fight," U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said at the hand-over ceremony, according to an embassy statement.

Afghanistan, the United States and the NATO-led coalition fighting Taliban and al-Qaida rebels in Afghanistan are urging Pakistan to do more to stop the insurgents from using Pakistan's remote border areas to launch attacks.

Pakistan insists it is doing all it can, pointing to the loss of hundreds of soldiers in operations against militants near the border with Afghanistan. President Pervez Musharraf said Friday that Pakistan will soon begin erecting fencing to reinforce the long, mountainous frontier.
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Residents respond to soldier’s request for help
By Paula Vogler Thursday, February 01, 2007 - Updated: 11:20 AM EST
Article Link
  
 With boxes stacked to the ceiling in every nook, cranny, and corner in his small room as well as on the bed and under the bed, Captain Benjamin Tupper said he does not have room for any more.

The good news is that children in Afghanistan, where Tupper is stationed, are benefiting from the huge outpouring of aid Easton residents have sent in response to Tupper’s plea for winter clothing and small toys for these children. 
“Of all the newspapers and community groups that responded to my appeal, by far Easton stands out as the town that responded the strongest,” said Tupper in an email. “To date I’ve received close to 40 boxes from Easton and I’m expecting another 40 in the coming weeks. I hope those who supported this project can appreciate what a significant impact a pair of shoes or an old floppy winter hat can have on a child without these items. The smiles, and the look of amazement on their faces when they receive them, are beyond explanation.” 
Tupper said he and his fellow soldiers were able to distribute clothing on one recent mission to approximately 300-400 children with the items people have sent. They used a school in the village of Zaran Sharanwhich serves more than 400 local children as a distribution center. 
“All boys, no girls allowed,” said Tupper, “which is unfortunately common here. However if the school served girls, it would have been burned down already by the Taliban.” 
Tupper had to first secure the site and clear any booby traps or IEDs (improvised explosive devices). He said there were already close to 200 children milling around when he first arrived.
 “In order to properly secure the site, we (had) to move all these kids about 200 meters away from the school grounds, which I can tell you was harder than herding cats,” Tupper said. “After an hour, the kids were outside the cordon, the area was deemed safe, and the trailers full of your items rolled into the school grounds.”
He said every child left with something; many barefoot children left with their first pair of winter boots. A lot of the items were pre-packaged in large plastic bags to speed up the distribution. 
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US Military Kills 7 Insurgents in Southern Afghanistan  
By VOA News 02 February 2007  
Article Link

The U.S. military in Afghanistan says coalition forces have killed up to seven militants preparing to launch a rocket attack in Paktika province, near the Pakistani border.

A military statement says coalition forces fired mortars and carried out airstrikes after spotting a group of militants setting up rockets in Bermel district of the eastern province Friday.

The military says a ground patrol went to the site and confirmed that two militants died on the spot and another five were presumed dead.

On Thursday, the United States gave thousands of weapons and hundreds of armored vehicles to Afghanistan's army as it braces for renewed fighting with Taleban insurgents in the coming warmer months.
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Editorial: Now’s not time to forget about Afghanistan  
02/04/2007
Article Link

The war in Iraq has been very costly to America. According to the Associated Press, 3,083 American troops have been killed in Iraq as of Jan. 31, and 23,279 have been wounded in fighting since the war began in March of 2003. In January alone, at least 82 U.S. personnel were killed. 

Let’s not forget the Iraqi civilian deaths, which are estimated at more than 54,000. The U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq reports 34,452 Iraqis were killed in 2006 alone.

The price of the war has been just as frightening, with more than $350 billion having been spent in Iraq. Combine that with the conflict in Afghanistan and operations against terrorism elsewhere and the cost has topped at least $500 billion.

While the war in Iraq continues to haunt Americans, it seems many people have forgotten about the U.S. service members who have been killed fighting in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S. invasion in late 2001.

As of Friday, close to 300 U.S. military members have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, according to the Defense Department. Of the nearly 300 service members killed, the military has reported 192 were killed by hostile action.
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US takes over NATO in Afghanistan
(Reuters) 4 February 2007 
Article Link

KABUL - The United States, which has just doubled its combat troops in Afghanistan, took over command of the 33,000-strong NATO force in the country on Sunday amid warnings of a bloody spring offensive by the Taleban.

The Taleban leader in a key southern district was also killed on Sunday as part of a NATO offensive to recapture the town of Musa Qala from the rebels, the alliance and residents said.

U.S. General Dan McNeill now heads NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) after taking over from British General David Richards, who saw the force grow from just 9,000 as it expanded into the Taleban’s southern heartland during his nine-month command.

Last year was the bloodiest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taleban government in 2001, and U.S. and NATO leaders warn of a bloody spring offensive in what analysts say will be the decisive year in the battle for Afghanistan.

More than 4,000 people died last year and the Taleban warned this weekend they have 2,000 suicide bombers ready for what they say will be the bloodiest year yet for foreign troops.
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Caring for Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan Will Cost $662 Billion Over 40 Years  
02/04/2007 
Article Link

 According to Linda J. Bilmes, a former chief financial officer and assistant secretary of the US Commerce Department, it will cost $662 billion over the next 40 years to care for returned veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.   
 Bilmes, who now lectures on public policy at the John F Kennedy School of Government, accuses the Bush administration of being unprepared for what disability benefits and medical care will cost for veterans.   
 The costs are increased by the fact that more soldiers are surviving their injuries. In Vietnam the wounds per death ratio was 2.6:1, now it is 16:1. In addition there is a large number of soldiers who have disabilities as mental health conditions. 
end

Successes and Setbacks in the "Long War"  
By David Huntwork on Feb 02, 07
Article Link

A year ago the Pentagon released its Quadrennial Defense Review. It was essentially a strategy for a 20-year “long war” and a generational battle plan designed to prepare the military for a Cold War type struggle against the forces of militant Islam. 

According to the official unveiling: 

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, our nation has fought a global war against violent extremists who use terrorism as their weapon of choice, and who seek to destroy our free way of life. Our enemies seek weapons of mass destruction and, if they are successful, will likely attempt to use them in their conflict with free people everywhere. Currently, the struggle is centered in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we will need to be prepared and arranged to successfully defend our nation and its interests around the globe for years to come. 

It is apparent that the United States and its assorted allies are still seeking to adequately define its enemy, reach a consensus on tactics, and achieve some sort of victory in (or graceful exit from) Iraq. In this age of round the clock news and information it is easy to get caught up in the crisis of the moment. But it is also important that we examine the big picture in the War on Terror and take the time to look back at some of the successes and setbacks experienced since 9-11. 

Successes 

* The United States exposed and virtually eliminated the Pakistani Khan Nuclear Proliferation Network which peddled nuclear weapons designs and related technology, as well as delivery systems, throughout the world. Client states included Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya as well as attempted sales to Saddam’s Iraq. 
More on link


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## MarkOttawa (4 Feb 2007)

General calls for more troops
_The Observer_, Feb. 4
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2005749,00.html



> The British general who has been commanding Nato forces has called for a major reinforcement of the multinational coalition efforts in Afghanistan, saying he has 'always been without the resources [he] would wish for' during his nine months in charge and calling a crucial battle against the Taliban last autumn 'a damned near-run thing'.
> 
> Interviews from the most senior to the most junior levels in Afghanistan by The Observer have revealed a chronic lack of troops, which will be only partially allayed by the dispatch of extra Nato soldiers announced by American, British and Polish governments in recent days. A series of European governments have refused to send more troops and the UK has only enhanced the 6,000-strong British deployment by around 350...
> 
> ...



British fear gung-ho Americans
_The Sunday Times_, Feb. 4
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2583184,00.html



> SENIOR defence sources have voiced fears that an imminent push by the United States in Afghanistan will force British soldiers to adopt an overly aggressive approach that will damage relations with ordinary Afghans and play into the hands of the Taliban.
> 
> The extent of “frictions” between US and British commanders are revealed in the latest edition of Pegasus, the journal of the Parachute Regiment, in which an unnamed senior officer accuses the Americans of undermining British strategy during last year’s handover.
> 
> ...



_Pegasus_ journal here--article does not seem to be online:
http://www.army.mod.uk/para/pegasus_journal.htm

Job done: Taliban ‘are on the run’
_The Sunday Times_ , Feb. 4
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2583182,00.html



> ...
> At Nato headquarters in Kabul yesterday, they were *putting a rather desperate spin on events* [emphasis added], saying the incursion proved to critics such as the Americans that the Musa Qala agreement had not been a peace deal with the Taliban. “We will take it back but in a manner and timing of our choosing,” said Mark Laity, a spokesman. “It’s a question of if, not when.”
> 
> Whoever ends up with their flag flying over Musa Qala, the general will not be returning home as “Richards of Afghanistan” as he clearly hoped when he arrived last April. But he has acquired widespread respect from both Afghans and diplomats as well as a nasty bout of whooping cough topped with viral pneumonia.
> ...



Via _Norman's Spectator_:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/nspector4/MIND.htm

Mark
Ottawa


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